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illiterateaffairs · 1 year

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behind the scenes chapter three | friends with professional benefits

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pairing: jamie tartt x actress!reader (ted lasso)

rating: T

word count: 3,410

summary: you and jamie get to know each other. let the games begin.

a/n: this is coming out later than i had planned but i hope it was worth the wait! going to be less busy this coming weekend so hope to share more soon and get a lot of chapters in the queue for you all <3

Five days. It had been five days since you and Jamie agreed on your plan to fake date in front of the entire world. And although you didn’t regret the idea - yet - you’d still had enough time to overthink and suddenly become very nervous about things going wrong.

You hadn’t seen Jamie since your conversation in the café, but you had various text exchanges throughout the week. At some point Jamie had asked you what your contact name was for him.

what do you mean? it's your name. jamie.

just jamie?

what else would it be?

you’ve gotta add emojis luv if someone sees your phone it's gotta look like i’m ur boyfriend. mine says ur name with like 5 hearts

That’s when you realized you needed to be more thorough than you thought.

Which is precisely why Jamie was coming over to your flat today. Sure you’d known you needed to get together sooner or later to talk through the plan as a whole, but today you were armed with a checklist of things to cover.

You’d also talked things over with Margot earlier in the week. And Harry. But that conversation had been a lot more cut and dry. He was over the moon you were doing this, and sent you an email with own list of requirements. It basically started and ended with: be a couple in PUBLIC.

With Margot, she’d repeatedly asked if you were sure about the whole thing. You’d told her over and over again that, yes, you had never been more sure of anything in your life. Though by the fourth reassurance, you weren’t sure how convincing you sounded.

Either way, you were committed to this and dammit if you weren’t going to see this through. This was just another role you had to play. It’s what you did best.

From your spot on your coach, you nearly fall off of it when there’s a knock on your door.

Jamie.

Its go time.

You put your laptop down on the coffee table and jog over to the front door. Pulling it open, you’re actually surprised to see Jamie standing on your doorstep holding a bouquet of flowers.

You squint, “Are those for me?”

Jamie scoffs, “No, they’re for your elderly neighbor I just passed. I’m hoping you can introduce me.” You roll your eyes but give him a smile, “Of course they’re for you. We have to make this look convincing right?”

“Jamie, there’s nobody else here.”

“Okay, but what about paparazzi? One could be lurking about and catching me visiting your flat would be the perfect kickstart to this whole thing.”

You chuckle, “I doubt there’s any photographers around here.” Still you look around behind him, and after seeing no one, you pull him into your apartment and shut the door.

“Still, you know Google Earth. Always taking pics,” Jamie jokes, laughing to himself as he steps further into your living room.

You stop in your place before you follow him, “Did you just quote Parks and Rec?”

Jamie spins around, “You understood that reference?”

You laugh in disbelief, “Of course. It's one of my favorite shows.”

“Same,” he smiles, “Used to watch it with my Mum all the time in high school.”

“I love that,” you smile back, closing the gap between the two of you so you can take the flowers from his hands, “These are pretty by the way. Let me go put them in a vase but feel free to make yourself at home.”

You’re quick to fill up a vase in your kitchen, leaving the flowers on the counter, but are surprised to return to Jamie still standing in the middle of your living room, looking around.

“This place doesn’t seem very you,” he comments as you return, plopping down on the couch.

“How would you know? You just met me,” you ask teasingly.

“Well, that’s the point of today isn’t it,” Jamie teases back, joining you on the couch, “Still, it seems very posh and you seem a lot more chill.”

You nod, “Well, I’m just renting this place while I’m here so not much of it is mine. I’m thinking about decorating it a bit to make it more homey.”

“Well if you need any recommendations for places to look, I know some stores that have cool shit.”

“I may have to take you up on that.”

You lean forward and grab your laptop again. You glance over the excel sheet you had open and try to figure out where to start.

“What you lookin’ at over there?” Jamie asks curiously, trying to peak over.

“I want a way to keep track of all the things we need to figure out like our cover story and just things we need to know about each other,” You explain, turning your computer towards him.

His eyes widen at the very detailed and colored coded document you had laid out. “Wow, that’s…intense.”

You chuckle, “Yeah, I may be a creative but I am very Type A. I also don’t want to fuck this up so I think it would nice to have a place to keep track of everything. I can email this to you if you want? Or ooh! I can upload it to Google Drive so we can both edit it.”

Jamie shakes his head, but there’s a small smile on his face, “Sure. Where should we start, Boss?”

“Well, I feel like the most obvious thing we need to cover is how did we meet? How did we get together?”

Jamie’s thoughtful for a second before shrugging, “I feel like we could use how we actually met, you know? It’s realistic because it's actually real. And keeps it simple. We ran into each other and got coffee, or hot chocolate, as some may prefer.”

“Nice, you remember my preferred beverage,” you smile as you start typing in the doc, “Who asked who out? Did we do it that day?”

“You asked to exchange numbers, but I reached out a couple days later. Maybe we went on our first date last weekend?”

You nod thoughtfully, “That works.”

“It would’ve had to have been Friday, though,” he adds, “I had a match Saturday afternoon and told Keeley about seeing someone that night.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, “I filmed late on Friday night.”

Jamie shrugs, “I could’ve waited up for you. Got drinks at a bar?”

Your lips quirk up at the thoughtfulness - even though it was made up.

“Okay,” you continue filling out your spreadsheet, “I have a list of things that one might normally know about a significant other, but since our “relationship” is so new, I think we only need to cover what you would on a first date.”

Jamie’s eyebrows furrow, “Like…what?”

You glance up at him, “What? Jamie Tartt’s never been on a date before?”

He laughs awkwardly, “I’ve obviously been on dates. But we didn’t really do a lot of talking.”

You roll your eyes, “Oh lovely. Alrighty, then, let's just focus on what normal people do the first time they’re getting to know someone.”

“Fine,” Jamie sighs, “Hit me.”

“What’s your…favorite color?”

“Seriously?”

“What?” you laugh, “It's a completely normal question.”

“Yeah, for five year-olds,” he frowns, crossing his arms.

“Come on, you’re seriously going to sit here and tell me you don’t have a favorite color?”

“I dunno,” he shakes his head looking around, “Maybe, blue?”

“Blue? Come on, that’s such a boy answer,” you mock.

“Well, I am a boy if you haven’t noticed,” Jamie throws back defensively, “Its my favorite color your asking, is it not?”

You bite your lip to keep from laughing, amused by how seriously he’s taking this, “It is. Why blue then?”

He shrugs, “Dunno. It’s one of Richmond’s colors. Was a Man City color, which is the team I used to play for and my hometown team. I remember my mum wearing it a lot growing up.”

A genuine smile starts to form on your face as you listen to him ramble. It was the second time he’d brought up his mom. “Are you and your mom really close?”

He turns to you, a little taken back, “You ask about parents on a first date?”

You shrug one shoulder, “If it's going well.”

Jamie has to turn back away from you so he doesn’t do something stupid like blush. He decides to focus on answering your question. “We are. She’s sort of like...my rock, I guess? She’s actually the one who got me into football.”

You nod, listening intently, “And your dad?”

You notice Jamie tense slightly, but he turns back to you with a half smile, “Our relationship’s a bit complicated. Maybe that’s more of a story for a fifth date or something.”

You give him a kind smile, “That’s fair.” And then you turn back to your laptop screen.

“What about you?” Jamie asks after a beat.

You look up with raised eyebrows, “Me? My favorite color is yellow.”

Jamie chuckles, “Noted. But no, I meant, what's your relationship with your parents like?”

“Oh!” you chuckle lightly with him, “My mom is the best. Feels like she might get along with yours; she’s the reason I’m an actor.” Jamie’s smile grows, “She did literally everything in the world to support me even though she was a single mother. I never knew my dad though. He left my mom before I was born so he’s never been around.”

“Oh, that sucks, I’m sorry,” Jamie says softly.

“It’s fine. I don’t know him. And from the brief things my mom has said, its probably for the best. And honestly it's okay. Mom’s been more than enough on her own.”

Jamie nods, the smile back on his face. “Okay, anything else you got on that list besides colors and parents?”

“Oh, I have plenty,” you chuckle, “But feel free to ask me anything of your own?”

“Hmm,” Jamie thinks for a second, “What's your favorite flower?”

You look up, amused, “My favorite flower?”

“Yeah. You know that way I can be more specific next time I get you some,”

You once again have to bite back a smile, “Uh, I would say daisies are my favorite flower.” Jamie nods, committing the information to memory, “What about you?”

“Me?” you nod and Jamie doesn’t even hesitate, “I think lilies are nice.”

“Lillies are nice,” you agree, typing it into the doc.

That’s how you spend the next hour or so, asking one another trivia about each other and inputting it into the doc for ease of studying later. You learn about each others childhood pets and the careers you wanted when you were five. You learn each other's favorite foods, stores, bands, as well as the little things you hated. You learned more about his teammates, particularly those closest to him like Sam, Isaac, Colin and Dani. In turn you told him about how Margot was more like a sister to you even if she was technically your employee, as well as your childhood next door neighbor Katie who was still your best friend today.

You only realize you’d been talking for so long when your stomach lets out a growl, and Jamie doesn’t even pretend to courteously not hear it when he lets out a belly laugh.

“Leave me alone, it actually is almost dinner time, dude,” you defend, even though you find yourself laughing along with him.

“Fair point,” he amends when he catches his breath, “Do you want to order in?”

You don’t even protest the idea of prolonging your time together, thoroughly enjoying getting to know him, “Sure. I can order a pizza.”

You start searching local pizza places into Google, when you remember another item of business you had on your list.

“Ooh, that packet on the coffee table is for you.” you nod in the direction of said stack of papers.

Jamie sits up, intrigued by the mysterious document, and picks it up. He squints at the weird legalese, “Is this…a contract?” You nod, “What, you don’t trust me or something?”

“No, it's not that, it's just standard,” you shrug, “It's more or less just to appease my publicist and the like.” Jamie still looks unsure, so you sit up and start flipping pages of the document for him, “Looks, its no big deal. I already signed it myself. It just states we can’t tell anyone about this. Besides, the NDA expires in 5 years anyway. So by that time, I’ll have an Oscar and you’ll be a washed up football player, and no one will believe you if you said anything.”

Jamie huffs, “I want to be offended by that, but you called it football so I’ll accept it.”

You smirk, “See, I’m a fast learner.” Then you settle back into your spot on the couch and carry on ordering pizza.

Jamie looks over the packet again, before siding it was no use tonight, “You mind if I look this over and get it back to you in a few days?”

You nod, “Of course.”

“And your publicist knows? I mean obviously. And assuming Margot knows? Have you told anyone else?” he asks.

“Nope, that’s all,” You answer, “I get it if you want someone to confide in, but I figure the tighter we keep the circle, the better, right?” Jamie nods, “I mean have you told your publicist or professional team?”

Jamie laughs humorlessly, “My publicist is my ex, Keeley.”

You once again look up at him with your mouth agape, “Nooo, how does that happen?”

Jamie shakes his head, “Not intentionally. She took over the club’s PR before I came back to the team and I guess I never thought to find someone else. We became friends, genuine friends, but then everything got tangled up again a few months ago. And yeah. Here we are.”

You look at him for a few seconds before you let out a deep breath, “Well, that all sounds fun. A real incestuous family you got going on over there at AFC Richmond huh?”

Jamie can’t help but laugh along with you, “Yeah, look what you’re marrying into.”

You chuckle, but weirdly you feel your stomach flip at his phrasing. You brush right past it in order to collect his pizza preferences. As you finalize submitting the order, Jamie starts over analyzing your apartment again. This time he’s a bit more nosy and pulls open some of the coffee table drawers. He gasps when he pulls open the second one.

“No way. Please tell me this is yours and it didn’t just come with the place.”

When you look up, he’s holding up a Mario Kart game cover.

You scoff, “Of course that’s mine.”

“I haven’t played this in ages,” Jamie says, studying the back cover.

Another smile plays at your lips. You nod at the TV in front of you, “I can hook up my Switch if you want. It’s been a while since I’ve played with someone other than myself.”

Jamie looks up at you, an excited grin forming on his face. “You’re fucking on.”

And so you spend the next hour competing against Jamie in various Mario Kart races. You play as Toad, naturally. Jamie plays as Princess Peach which makes you laugh. In between rounds, you munch on pizza and breadsticks. You also manage to get to know each other more, and set up ground rules for your charade even as you trash talk one another.

“I feel like the most important is PDA,” you state, somehow managing to focus on not falling off rainbow road while also talking strategy.

“Well, we’ve obviously got to do some of it,” Jamie comments, cursing as he gets hit with a shell, “It would look weird if we didn’t sometimes.”

“Sure, but we’ve gotta have some boundaries. We can’t just be kissing each other willy-nilly.”

Jamie chuckles, “Well, yeah, consent is key.”

Your lips quirk, “I’m completely fine with small things like hugs and hand holding whenever it seems fit.”

“Okay, cool, yeah,” Jamie nods, “And if you’re fine with it, kisses on the cheek are pretty innocent.”

“Yeah,” you nod, swerving to avoid a banana, “But actual kissing…”

Neither of you know how to finish that sentence. However, your race comes to an end. This time you get away with first place, Jamie in second, which you’d be switching between throughout the evening. Without gameplay to distract you, you have to make a decision.

“Maybe we just take it as it comes?” you suggest slowly, “I mean, couples kiss right? So if it feels right in the moment, it's not a big deal for a peck here and there?”

“Yeah,” Jamie agrees, “And if there’s ever a time we need to make a show of it, we check in with each other. Either beforehand, or if its in the moment, we give each other a signal.”

“A signal?”

“Yeah, like we blink twice or something.”

You nod, “Blink twice. Okay. And if we’re ever uncomfortable with something, we just have to communicate with each other, right?”

“Right.” Jamie nods. After a beat, he extends his hand, “Looks like we’re doing this.”

You chuckle, but shake his hand none the less, “We’re doing this.”

You exchange smiles. Now that the sun has gone down, Jamie decides its probably time to head out for the night, feeling like you’d accomplished a lot over the course of the evening.

As you walk him to your door, you ask one last question, “There was actually one more thing I wanted to ask. If you’re free Thursday night, do you want to come to an event with me? Isabel Mercer’s new movie is premiering, and since she’s dating my costar the whole cast is going. Figure it might be a good place to make a public debut?”

Jamie smirks, “A movie premiere? You should have started with that.”

You snort, “Yeah, well, I had to make sure this mock-date went well first.”

“I’d say it went very well, wouldn’t you?” Jamie smiles, “I think we’ve got this shit in the bag.”

You laugh, “So I guess that means you’re in?”

Jamie does a half bow, “I would be honored.”

“Good, because I hate going to these things. I need someone to suffer through it with me.”

Jamie fake-pouts, “Don’t try to make this sound less fun for me.”

You shake your head, and you make your voice really high as you reply, “Don’t worry, it’ll be great!”

Jamie tsks, “You’re gonna have to be better than that when we’re trying to convince the whole world we’re madly in love.”

“Yeah, yeah, get out of here,” You tease, opening your front door and gently shoving him towards it.

Jamie turns to you with a smile, “Good night, girlfriend.”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes and give him a smile of your own, “Good night, boyfriend.”

Before you can process what he’s doing, he’s leaning in to press a quick kiss to your cheek. Before he completely pulls away, he whispers in your ear, “Google Earth.” He gives you once last smirk before jogging down the steps.

You shake your head as you lock up. This was certainly going to be an experience these next three months.

You flop back down on your couch to review your notes from the evening. After reading through for a few minutes, you remember you hadn’t checked your phone the entire time he was there. Aside from a couple emails and a text from your mom, you didn’t have much since it was a Saturday. However, you also have 2 texts from Margot. The first you had missed from earlier this afternoon, which was a link to tweet from an updates account about you. The tweet contained pictures of Jamie arriving at your flat earlier that day. The second had been sent minutes ago, including a tweet from the same account, this time with pictures of Jamie leaving literally ten minutes ago.

The devil works hard, but paparazzi and stans work harder.

You also realize that Jamie had been right. That smug bastard.

You couldn’t be too annoyed though. The comments under the tweets, even the most recent, were filled with people surprised yet supportive of your coupling. A few even conceding that you did look cute in a relationship. You smile to yourself as you scroll through.

Shit. This was going to work.

a/n: can’t wait to hear what you guys think!!! :))))))

taglist: @respondingtoshowerthoughts-blog @royalestrellas @loveslide @torpedo-belly @skewedcherries @littlemisssunshine192 @hopefulromances @breakmyheartlater @ohpuckyeah @alipap3 @meg-ro @rexorangecouny @pythagothug @bonesbonesetc @xxenia14 @rockchickrebel @thatonedogwithablog @percysaidnever @msjb2002 @loveforaugust @dicgohargreeves @whimsical-roasting @gcidrvsh @lightninginab0ttle it wouldn’t let me tag the last couple of you, but i will keep trying <3

#jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt x f!reader #jamie tartt x female reader #ted lasso fanfic #ted lasso fanfiction #mine #my writing #behind the scenes series

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fuckyeah-beringandwellsfics · 11 months

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🎃 13 👻 spooky 🧛🏻 Bering and Wells 🧟 fic 🩸 recs! ☠️

Here is a list (under the readmore, ordered from short to long) of spooky and/or Halloween-themed fics: short ones and long ones, AUs and casefics, something for everyone! Feel free to add your favorites in reblogs or replies!

Bite Me (858 words) by @tigerkid14 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Kinktober 2017 prompt: biting; Myka and Helena were apparently affected by a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula and have a chat in the aftermath.

I have wanted to know you, lover of books (1463 words) by @purlturtle Chapters: 1/1 Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Summary: Honestly I love the "I didn't know where else to go" trope, and this morning I had an undeniable inspiration - I've teased vampire!Helena before, but this is a different vampire!Helena. Then again, can there ever be enough vampire!Helenas? No there can't, so here we go. (also available as a podfic!)

Halloween (1493 words) by @madronash Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Created for Bering and Wells Appreciation Week 2022, Day Three: Special Occasions/Holidays/etc. Could also be called Fright Night: Fake Blood

Dreadful Tower (2042 words) by @nerdsbianhokie Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Half-living animatronics, a fear of drowning, and a Jenga tower. A fun night off for the Warehouse agents.

I Ain't Afraid of No… Artifact? (5298 words) by @amtrak12 Chapters: 1/4 Rating: General Audiences Summary: The Ghostbusters meets the Warehouse 13 team! or Three Times it was an artifact and One Time it was actually a ghost. Includes background Toltzmann and Erin cluelessly being really gay for Myka.

Dawn of the Dragonborn: Heart of a Hero, Heart of a Predator, Heart of Dovahkiin (8907 words) by @tryingthisfangirlthing Chapters: 5/? Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Summary: A vampire. A Dragonborn. Two women, a little in love. Coffee? Mead? Or maybe save the world… M'aiq'a is an investigative agent for the Penitus Oculatus, the Emperor's personal bodyguard, sent to Skyrim to try and figure out what's behind these damned vampire attacks that killed her foster brother. Hlenea, clutching an ancient scroll and beset by gargoyles, is the woman she quite literally unearths, sought after by vampires and hunters alike. 'Beware of becoming the very thing you despise' has never been more true. Never mind falling for one… But centuries of unlife make for layers of secrets, and trust is hard to come by. The world is running out of time, and they will both have larger roles to play than either of them ever wanted…

Nightmare Warehouse (11709 words) by @anandabrat and @starshipblueberry Chapters: 14/14 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Summary: Once upon a time, like two weeks ago, starshipblueberry said I’ve got this idea about Nightmare Before Christmas and Bering and Wells, and I said, “That’s a fabulous idea. Can we Good Omens it?” So we wrote in patchwork, one day each trading off. We weren’t supposed to peek. It was supposed to be like Christmas. That didn’t even last a day. We texted each other back and forth for hours. We left each other breadcrumb trails to follow or ignore. We thought we had the ending sorted out like five different times before we actually wrote it.

Transient (38674 words) by @tantedrago Chapters: 14/14 Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Summary: AU: H.G. Wells wakes up in a house without knowing who she is. Slowly, she realises that people can't see her and don't react to her: Helena is a ghost. The literature professor Myka Bering buys her house. As the American moves in, HG slowly falls in love with her. But there is still this problem with her being dead and unnoticable to other people. But with Miss Bering, something is different.

Aye, Zombie (57793 words) by @ifourmindbeso Chapters: 13/13 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Summary: Bering and Wells Zombie AU. Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, but in another universe where the Good Friday agreement never happened. What if Myka was the former villain? This is the result of a particularly vivid dream of mine, which may or may not have been aided by large doses of (prescribed) painkillers. So if it reads like a bad trip…that’s why. Trigger warnings for pretty much everything you can imagine - violence, assault. Also, lots of swearing.

What Goes Around Comes Around (That Halloween Story) (61467 words) by @purlturtle Chapters: 13/13 Rating: General Audiences Summary: Myka rolled her eyes at him – but she couldn’t be mad at him for long. Steve was way too good a friend to begrudge a bit of teasing. “Shut up,” she said, but her heart wasn’t in it. “You did save the damsel in distress. And her baby.” “Shut up,” Myka repeated, this time with a bit more oomph behind it. “There are worse meet-cutes, you know. Wait till Claudia hears of this; she’ll heart-eye all over it.” “Shut up!” Myka laughed.

The Courtship of Christina's Mother (73987 words) by @jdaydreamer3 Chapters: 5/5 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Myka Bering is content with her life as it is. A well-respected architect of a flourishing business. She doesn't have time for love. Or so she thought. Then fate steps in and knocks on her door in the form of Helena Wells and her daughter Christina. Love is inevitable.

Illustrated Misdeeds (99633 words) by Felix_27 Chapters: 18/18 Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Summary: Post Season 5. Myka, Pete and Helena have been reunited for their first mission in some time. Tension is a little high as the artifact chase has them following a familiar traveling carnival that has desires of its own with horrible consequences.

Death, or something like it (104700 words) by @ifourmindbeso Chapters: 26/26 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Summary: Sheriff Myka Bering lives in a small town in Mississippi. Children are dying in the most horrible way possible, and she has no idea why - until she meets the vampire. The vampire who senses something different about Myka. Suddenly, nothing in Myka's life makes sense, and she faces a battle to save her town from a wave of darkness - from both within and without.

#bering and wells #bering & wells #warehouse 13 #wh13 #w13 #myka bering #helena g wells #helena wells #2023 #october 2023 #spooktober #halloween fic recs #spooky fic recs #halloween #zombies vampires and werewolves oh my

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finalfrontierpioneer · 7 months

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2023 Fic Recs!

Happy International Fanworks Day everybody!!! To celebrate, have some fic recs! These are some of my favorite works from last year! You know the drill- all completed last year, various ratings/lengths, nothing from multiple authors (although i was SO tempted, especially by @chocolateteapotsvis as always), and in complete random order.

Thank you to all of these lovely authors for brightening up my year! :D And also enabling my procrastination lolol

Halbarry, my otp, of course:

Onward to the Horizon by ChocolateTeapots @chocolateteapotsvis (Teen and up)

Five days, three Kaiju, and eleven collective hours of sleep. It’s one more fight. They just need to pull through. For Halbarry Week Day 4: Fantasy/SciFi

sometimes I feel it comin' on at the wheel by DynamicDuo (XylB) @halifax-jordan (Explicit)

"It'll be okay," Hal soothes. "I don't need to know what's troubling you right now, but whatever it is, it'll be all right." "It focuses…on what…I want," Barry says through gritted teeth, like each word is painful to get out. Or maybe embarrassing? He peeks up at Hal through his fingers with a meaningful look, as if hoping Hal will understand…through osmosis? "Buddy, I can do a lot, but I can't read your mind."

When I Come Back, I'll Wear Your Wedding Ring by ketchup_monthly (General)

hal has some issues he needs to work through, but he loves his boyfriend very much. barry just wants to get married. aka: i wrote yet another halbarry fic furthering my "hal is a huge romantic" agenda

Entropy (Has Got Nothing on Us) by RoboticNebula @roboticnebula (Mature)

Snapshots of Hal and Barry’s life together. For Halbarry week 2023 (25 August – 31 August).

star twinkled skin by Rexs_Blacks (Explicit)

Barry gets stuck in a wall. Hal helps out. Feelings and shit.

Buddie!

glue by ProsperDemeter (Teen and up) -this entire series is SO PERFECT

“It’s just…” Connor shrugged. “No offense, man, but… you’re twenty-five. Do you really want to be spending so much time falling for a guy with a kid?” “I’m not falling for him.” -- A month away from graduating the LAFD Academy, Evan Buckley gets introduced to new recruit Eddie Diaz and things certainly change for both of them after that. -- Another season one rewrite.

I'll Feel You Forget Me Like I Used to Feel You Breathe by turningthepages (Mature)

A car accident leaves Eddie without ten years of memories. He forgets meeting Buck, falling in love, getting married, and bringing two more kids into their life. As Eddie struggles to adjust to this new life, Buck struggles with being in love with someone who doesn't want to remember him. Oh, and they have really cute kids. or Just another Hollywood Amnesia story the fandom probably didn't need but lived in my head rent free for too long.

help me hold on to you by Ink_Dancer (Mature)

"You doing okay, Buck?" Eddie asked. Buck snorted. Loudly. It echoed. Eddie clicked his tongue. "Okay." He started moving again, coming over to Buck's side and starting to gather up an armful of takeout cartons. "What're you doing?" Buck asked. "I'm taking care of you," Eddie said firmly. "Because you're not doing a very good job." Or: Buck recovers slowly from the ladder truck, the Buckley-Diaz family goes stargazing, and Eddie and Buck get stuck in an attic during a house fire.

to your front door by hammersmiths (General)

Pepa’s been eyeing him all evening, so it shouldn’t be a surprise when she says, “Why aren’t you dating Eddie?” And yet Buck still nearly veers the car straight off the road.

maybe it's the way you lean on his shoulder by allyasavedtheday @littlespoonevan (Teen and up)

“Eddie,” she blurts. “Hi. Sorry. I didn’t realise you were here.” The sound of her voice makes him move and he quickly sets the knife down, offering her a warm smile. “Hey, Maddie. Don’t apologise; I’m not interrupting your schedule, am I?” “Oh no,” Maddie shakes her head quickly, waving the idea away. “The uh- the schedule’s been retired. I was just gonna make Buck dinner but-“ “Looks like we had the same idea, huh?” Eddie replies with a half-laugh. “Well, you’re welcome to join us. I’m making lasagne. It’s not quite on the level of Bobby’s famous four-cheese recipe but Buck’s still on a comfort food kick.” * In which Maddie realises there might be more to Buck and Eddie's relationship than she'd originally thought.

Stucky:

Werewolves in the Workplace by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) @leveragehunters (Teen and up)

SHIELD was the only intelligence agency that assigned werewolf and vampire agents to work together in the field, but the program had been a staggering success. They compensated each other’s weaknesses, complemented each other’s strengths, and a werewolf could feed a vampire and shake off the effects faster than ordering a pizza. Bucky knew all that. What he didn't know was why this particular vampire, one Agent Steve Rogers, was holding out a protein bar. They were perched in the rafters of a warehouse, waiting for not-overly punctual arms dealers to show up and deal arms, had been stuck up here for a couple of hours, but none of that explained vampires suddenly offering snacks. In his near decade as a werewolf in SHIELD, Bucky had worked with a lot of vampires, and they all tended to be pretty much the same. Steve Rogers was different, didn't fit the vampire mould, and Bucky couldn't quite figure out why. Not that it really mattered. Steve was just someone he was occasionally paired with on SHIELD assignments. It wasn't like he was going to have any effect on Bucky's life.

Waking the Fire in Me by humapuma (Explicit)

Steve’s knees nearly went out from under him, but he grabbed onto the table to stay upright. He whined – he couldn’t help it. His chest cracked open, breaking him down until he was sixteen years old again, thin and sickly. The pale grey of those eyes was so familiar, but Steve hadn’t seen it, hadn’t even thought to look for it. How? A voice screamed inside. How did I not see? His entire being trembled as he whispered, “Bucky?” The Soldier’s usually cold eyes changed then, something flashed in them as his nostrils flared, harshly inhaling Steve’s scent before he said the words that finally made his buckling knees give out, forcing Steve to the ground. “Who the hell is Bucky?” A ghost found his way to the Avengers, asking for help - a ghost of a man long thought dead.

the time that's slipping by its_tortle @its-tortle (Teen and up)

“Hello?” she calls. Steve holds his breath again, even as he feels pressure build up behind his eyes. Because that’s his mother’s voice, and he hasn’t heard in twenty one (conscious) years. He doesn’t dare move. OR 'If Steve was going to travel back in time for anything before returning to his own timeline, it would be to see his mom again one last time'

Tongue in Cheek by rohruh (Explicit)

“No, no,” Bucky leans into his space, close enough that Steve can feel the warm tufts of his breath against his cheek, “go on.” “It’s just,” Steve’s not quite sure how to phrase this. He’s not sure what his motivation was in starting this whole conversation, really. “I guess I wish that I could kiss like that, is all.” Bucky stares at him, his eyes bright as the warm glow from the streetlight dances off of them. “I could teach you.” Steve’s mouth goes dry. “Teach me?” “Yeah,” Bucky snatches the joint out of his hand and leans back against the wall. “Give you a kissing lesson, or whatever.”

Backhoe by ZenaidaMacrouras @zenaidamacrouras1 (Explicit)

Steve Rogers is a seasoned activist and not at all afraid to get arrested while protesting the building of a pipeline. HOWEVER he is TERRIFIED when he realizes he’ll be chained to the same backhoe as Bucky “very handsome southern boy who also plays guitar and struts like a panther in his very tight, worn thin blue jeans” Barnes. Our brave, tiny Steve will find out once and for all: Can you catch on fire from blushing over your crush? May Contain: Extended descriptions of how to get arrested while chained to a backhoe, copious amounts of sisters, Appalachian accents, cheerful silliness interspersed with tragic background realness. Pining with a happy ending. Chicken related controversy. Tragic background realness mainly consists of parents passing away, because who doesn’t love adult orphans. Discussion of funerals. Very brief homophobic interaction in chapter 18 (marked in the chapter intro notes). There is no violence, but there are a few moments where you might think there might be violence. Overall this is a romance not a gritty, hard hitting documentary.

Various pairings:

Till You Find Your Dream by Kyele @timeforalongstory (Explicit) (Brudick)

You know, my child, that the orphanage cannot continue to support you once you become an adult.” The abbess sighs. “There is one path that is always open to you. You may choose a holy vocation, and take orders. The Sisters of Perpetual Grace will accept you as a postulant if you choose.” Dick had known to expect this. “Thank you, Reverend Mother,” Dick says respectfully, “but I cannot follow that path.” The Mother Superior nods. He looks unsurprised. “Then perhaps,” he says, “you would be interested to hear of another opportunity.” From the papers on his desk, the abbess removes a single sheet. “Are you familiar with Captain Wayne?” Dick accepts a position as governess to eight war-orphans, adopted by millionaire and WW1 flying ace Captain Bruce Wayne. The rest is inevitable.

Seven by HollyDB (Explicit) (Spuffy)

It's been months since Willow almost ended the world, and a tense summer has turned into an ominous fall in Sunnydale. Spike is back from wherever and acting weirder than usual, a new threat is rising that—for once—doesn't seem to stem from the hellmouth, and Buffy has no idea who to trust or what to believe. She also doesn’t have the luxury of time to figure it out. Some things never change.

Seven Lessons by Tessabeth (Mature) (Cazriel)

At Windhaven, teenage Cassian's in trouble again. As punishment he's paired with the strange shadowsinger who hangs around Devlon's headquarters. 40,000 words, ten chapters, complete. Some timeline tinkering. “You,” says Devlon, pointing at Cass, “need to learn self control. He’s got it. And you,” pointing at Azriel now, “need to learn to use those pathetic curtains you’re carrying around on your back, and this one knows how. So there you go. You’ve got a week. At the end of the week, I want both of you flying, and both of you able to put up a solid shield without blasting your comrades over a cliff. Now fuck off.” Azriel bends down to the Commander and murmurs something urgently in his ear. Tendrils of shadow writhe around his jaw. “No. No, I’ll manage it without you. I’ve let this go on too long; you’re too old for this bullshit. You can come back when you can fly. Go on, fuck off. And shut the door behind you.” Back out in the gelid dusk, the two look at each other warily. Azriel still says nothing. Cass sighs. “See you in the morning? Meet by the mess?” Azriel ducks his head in agreement, and disappears down an alleyway. It’s going to be a long week.

Desperate Times by Eienvine (General) (Sifki)

Sif sees the man’s lips curve up in a sharp, cruel smile. “I have long dreamed of seeing Odin on his knees, begging for his life. I cannot have that, but I can at least see his son beg for someone else’s life.” He won’t do it, Sif is certain; if there is one thing that can confidently be said about Loki, it is that he is horribly proud. And proud men do not beg. Not even to save her life.

Sit, Stay, Speak by Fenris13 @ragnarokhound (Explicit) (Jaytim)

“He’s not here. Just his suit,” he tells Babs, gathering up the costume. “The apartment’s untouched, but downstairs looks like a hurricane went through it.” There’s a crackling hiss through the receiver as she sighs, tense. “Shit. Okay. Is there anything—?” “That’s not all,” he interrupts, standing up with an apprehensive look at his unexpected new companion. “There’s a dog.”

and tell the ones you love (you love them) by LadyMerlin (Teen and up) (Jaytim)

Weeks pass and the clan remains occupied with the chaos that is Gotham. It’s no busier than usual, but Bruce feels himself tiring easily, still recovering from his involuntary jaunt through the timestream. Everyone is remarkably kind to him, giving him time and space to recover. Unfortunately, all that time gives him, well… a lot of time to think. To consider. To analyse the changes that have occurred during his absence. There are new alliances, new tensions, shifting fault lines in the geology of his family. He reminds himself that this is the best case scenario; that everyone is still alive and well, that things could have gone much worse. But he can’t help but feel there’s something he’s still missing. Something he hasn't been told. AKA: the one where Bruce learns how to use his words, and tries not to be too nosy about his children's love lives.

those kind of friends by gabrieeella (Mature) (Jeronica)

He remembered the first time he’d seen her wear her hair like that, the way it’d unsettled him a little. It was so Betty-like, and yet not Betty-like at all. Betty’s ponytail moved like spilled sunlight. Veronica’s swung around like a guillotine. Or, a series of unexpected late-night encounters force an ever-distant Jughead and Veronica to explore who they really are (and could be) to each other.

you dug my heart a grave by jilliancares @jilliancares (General) (Spideypool)

He’s laying there, groaning and in pain and clutching his ribs, but even worse— [Really? Is it really worse? Give it a good, hard think and tell me if this is worse.] —but even worse, sparks are flying. Literally. Or: Wade realizes that Spidey is his soulmate.

#fic recs #2023 fic recs #halbarry #buddie #stucky

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jwirecs · 2 years

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Recommended BTS Fics of November 💖

hello, hello! here are my bts recs of november! hopefully these beautiful stories get more recognition as well as the writers 💝

** anything in parentheses and bolded are my thoughts that can be disregarded if needed **

🔞smut || 💔angst || 💕fluff || ✅completed || 🔄ongoing || 💯favorite

10 Hours || @angelikook💕✅

↳ When your three best friends want to stay at school overnight, you can’t say no. After all, nothing will go wrong, right? Well, everything goes wrong, actually, but in ways you never imagine.

Fall Back In Love || @bukguhope 🔞💕💔✅

↳ jungkook somehow grew a reputation of sleeping around on campus, leaving him lonely and inexperienced with relationships. so when you, his old childhood best friend moves onto campus, he discovers what a relationship can feel like as he finds himself falling in love with you

Matilda || @babystrcandy🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ Loneliness had always been a constant for you, haunting you like a ghost; until your older brother’s best friend, Min Yoongi, came into your life. You both promised each other something back then - you’d always have his support and he’d always have yours. But with time and age, you weren’t sure how much that all still stood to be true.

The Lucky One || @babystrcandy🔞💕💔🔄

↳ Growing up you only had one goal: beat Jeon Jungkook. Sometimes you’d win, other times you’d lose. Sometimes he’d lose, other times he’d win. But you’d both walk away from the match thinking the other was the lucky one.

Vows || @hamsterclaw🔞💕💔🔄 (not too sure if it ended at part 2, but just incase its still ongoing)

↳ You've been in your arranged marriage with Yoongi for five years, and he's never once retaliated for anything you've done to him. One day you realise you've lost your appetite for provoking him, and you set about trying to win his heart instead.

Already Mine || @i-am-baechu🔞💕💔🔄💯

↳ “I do.” Two simple words that changed her whole world. The man that gave her love that she never had before and a child that looked just like him with her eyes, a story for the ages. It wasn’t until the mornings changed and the warmth he once had turned cold. Nothing made sense but at the same time everything did. All she wanted was him but maybe that's not what he wants...

Rope Bunny (Helping Hands Halloween Special) || @euphoricfilter🔞💕✅💯

↳ Yoongi had never been too fond of Halloween. Hated that one tacky day of the year with every fibre of his being. All it takes however, is your little surprise to convince him that maybe, just maybe, Halloween isn't all that bad.

On Camera || @agustdiv1ne 🔞💕✅💯

↳ jeon jungkook, also known as kookiemonster97, was a youtuber and, more importantly, your boyfriend. your sex life was great, amazing really, but what happens when he asks if he can film you two one day? he did have the equipment, after all.

90 Days || @ttaehyungtrashh💕💔🔄💯

↳ All you want is for your new cat hybrid friend, his unwilling older wolf hybrid brother and his other 5 brothers to keep safe and warm during the winter.

About Love || @mochiimac🔞💕💔🔄

↳ Becoming a best selling thriller author? Part of the plan. Living in the city and isolating yourself from everyone? Part of the plan. Inheriting your late uncles home in the woods, his sassy assistant and fortune after he died mysteriously? Not part of the plan. Oh, and he failed to mention the 7 ‘surprises’ he left you as well. And come to think of it… was his death an accident? Or is your imagination going wild again?

Daddy’s Money Makes The World Go Round || @underthe-northernlight🔞💕💔🔄

↳ The daughter of a filthy rich businessman is gifted hybrids by her father. But if only he knew that would lead to her gaining the confidence she will need to break free from what he deems the right place for her. Follow her as she learns to navigate the worlds and stay alive.

Pet Food || @moonlightkoo💕💔🔄💯

↳ Taehyung never wanted to own hybrids. Jungkook just wanted to be independent. You didn't want anything. But somehow you all ended up together, and nothing better could've ever happened.

Purrfection || @moonlightkoo💕💔🔄💯

↳ Bangtan-Mansion’s security camera footage shows something very interesting.

Things That Matter More || @leewriting🔞💕💔✅

↳ At first, getting a new roommate after your friend had moved out appalled you. Just thinking about sharing your space with a stranger put you on edge, but as the weeks went by and the rent went up you had no other choice but to post that stupid ad. In many ways living with Jungkook is perfect for an introverted med student like yourself. He pays rent on time and is seldom home leaving the apartment quiet and clean. On the other hand, there is the small problem of him stumbling in at three in the morning, hurt and letting blood stain your new carpet.

Chronicles of My Witchy GF || @yoonieper🔞💕✅

↳ Just Jungkook and a few cute tales about his witchy girlfriend~

Claret Cravings | Skin Of The Mother, Mouths Of The Babes || @vvh0adie💕✅

↳ Emotions run high when you tell your lil’ vampire bats that they won’t be drinking cow’s blood this week. It stresses you out, and they unfortunately feel the brunt of it.

Forever || @oddinary4bts🔞💕💔✅

↳ three years ago, your relationship with jin ended in fights and tears. When life puts him back on your path, you catch a glimpse of light in his eyes that you thought had died when you broke up. Will your relationship blossom into a well-deserved forever or will you lose the love of your life again?

Repeat Offense || @gimmethatagustd🔞💕💔✅

↳ The are only two constants in life: the promise of death and the infuriating existence of the man who ruined your life. Will your immortal punishments keep you in an infinite loop, or will you one day be able to rid the world of the evil that is Kim Seokjin?

Resurrection || @bonny-kookoo💕💔🔄

↳ In which you’re saved by the very thing that’s been trying to kill you.

Sunrises & Liquor || @aamalaaa🔞💕💔🔄

↳ after a failed academic pursuit and a few meaningless and disappointing relationships, you decided to go back to what you never thought you would: the bar industry. There you find a family, friends, heartache, misunderstandings and one particular barman who just won’t get out of your head.

Three Tangerines || @kithtaehyung🔞💕💔🔄

↳ “when yoongi told you he would be there if you needed anything, this isn’t what he had in mind”

Til Death Do Us Part || @justimajin🔞💕💔✅

↳ If someone told you that you’d be marrying the Kim Namjoon, you would think you were being lied to, or worse, that you were hallucinating. However, fate seems to have it’s own ways of making the impossible possible and before you even know it, the title of Mrs. Kim is bestowed onto you. There’s just one problem: you’re not sure if Kim Namjoon is the person he says he is and the truth of your own identity is dangling by the strength of a mere thread.

Turn Back Time || @raplinesmoon🔞💕💔✅

↳ After total humiliation at his middle school baseball try outs, Kim Seokjin wants nothing more than for his awkward years to fade away until he’s thirty. Cue a magic baseball glove, and his wish is finally granted. Seokjin suddenly wakes up seventeen years later, now the star pitcher of the team he’d always dreamed of playing for. Confused and overwhelmed at the prospect of the new life waiting for him, he turns to the only person who seems to understand him — you. Will Seokjin learn what it truly means to be thirty, flirty, and thriving? Or will he find himself wishing he could turn back time?

The Art Critic || @mooniyooni💕✅

↳ (just yoongi being a dad)

Midnight’s Minuet || @bangtansmauyeondan 🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ While gallivanting around the world pursuing his love for music and architecture, Yoongi was forced to come back home when Seokjin, his older brother, asked him for help to run the family business. Having been born with a silver spoon, Yoongi longed for a bit of normalcy and independence; hence, agreeing with Seokjin’s request didn’t come without any of his own conditions— first, he’s going to oversee the hotel’s kitchen; second, he’s gonna let him live a normal life— no luxury cars, no high-rise building apartment, no special treatment. Yoongi was pleased that everything seemed to be going well with his return… until he met you, the roadblock to everything his brother has agreed to.

Camboy!Tae Mini Series || @hisunshiine🔞💕💔🔄

↳ (tae being a wonerful camboy. thats it, we love that.)

Compromise || @here2bbtstrash🔞💕✅

↳ you're torn between the two loves of your life - but maybe you don't have to choose.

Red Riding Hood (Petrichor Drabble) || @purpleyoonn💔✅

↳ It was Halloween in Seoul and you were talking about your home traditions compared to South Korea’s with Haneul and Kingpin when you were interrupted. Now, your mates tried to tease you, but you were the one doing the teasing.

Do check out all of the other BTS Fics that i have reblogged as well!!

** if there is any fics that you guys would like to recommend, please do! i am slowly running out of fics to read **

#bts scenarios #bts fluff #bts angst #bts smut #bts social media au #bts werewolf au #bts hybrid au #bts dad au #bts enemies to lovers au #bts established relationship au #bts friends to lovers au #bts childhood friends to lovers au #bts mafia au #bts gamer au #bts recs #bts fic recs #bts strangers to lovers au

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steviewashere · 7 months

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Steddie Fic Recommendations Part 6!

Previous Recommendations: Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Tuesday is Steddic fic rec day in this Tumblr house! Get some popcorn, a glass of ice water, and read these beautiful fics, babes.

Also, any Tumblr blogs that may be tagged, feel free to reach out for me to remove the tag. I have no qualms doing so!

As always, the tags and themes vary on all of these fics. Heed all tags, ratings, and archive warnings with caution.

Hug by hotluncheddie @hotluncheddie

“All Eddie believes in, all Eddie knows, is that Steve’s house is so fucking loud.

‘The walls Stevie they’re so, so white. And your fridge! It’s just, loud and and weird.’ Eddie had said, already frustrated when Steve came to pick him up, even more so once they arrived.

And once he was inside, it was like everything doubled, tripled. Steve’s house was unbearable tonight.

But Steve had just laughed and Eddie knew he would, knew from the way he’d said it, all loud and over the top - added inflections, a good DM. But, the thing is, he mentioned it because he meant it, for real. It’s too fucking loud, thrumming under his skin.”

Chapters: 1/1, WC: 3,483, Rating: No Rating no Archive Warnings Apply Autistic Eddie Munson

————— 2. I Am Not The Sun by beetlesandstars @beetlesandstarss

“He gets back just in time for the pizza he ordered to arrive, and enters the apartment feeling kind of like he’s bringing Robin a peace offering.

Hey, Robin! Here’s a pizza. Also, I’m a man now.

(Or, Steve comes to terms with his gender with the help of his friends. He may or may not fall in love along the way.)”

Chapters: 1/1, WC: 5,899, Rating: Teen and Up no Archive Warnings apply College AU Trans Steve Harrington

————— 3. in the orbit of the sun by Inallthingsgoodorbad

“Steve knows before he opens his eyes that he will see no light once he does.

There is something you learn once you’ve been trapped underground—darkness is unforgiving and immovable, and Steve has learned the way it presses into you, the way it makes itself known.

Darkness surrounds him. He opens his eyes. Blinks. Finds no light.

—

After an earthquake, Steve and Eddie get trapped under a collapsed building. Steve isn’t doing so well.”

Chapters: 1/1, WC: 3,348, Rating: Teen and Up no Archive Warnings apply

————— 4. You’ve Begun To Feel Like Home by nobetterlove

“Eddie is 6 years old when he first meets Steve; the boy is beautiful and covered in dripping chocolate ice cream. They’re instant friends, spending the entirety of that summer together. When the end of their time together starts to draw near, Eddie comes up with a plan — to marry his best friend. It becomes a trend that Eddie and Steve dance around for more than 20 years of ups, downs, and tragedies. Read to find out what happens when a ring pop and a handful of fake marriages changes both of their lives.

Or — 5 times Eddie & Steve were fake married and the one time they finally get hitched (for real)!!”

Chapters: 1/1, WC: 14,542, Rating: Explicit no Archive Warnings apply Canon Divergence AU Different First Meeting AU Childhood Friends AU 5 + 1 Things

#stranger things #fic rec #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson

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circle--of--confusion · 2 months

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The Cardinal and the Seamstress

Final chapter, folks! Chapter 5 is here. I have had a lot of fun writing this and I hope y'all enjoy the ending.

Summary: Copa copes with his blood drinking blunder. He cares for Sarah after she wakes up and they spend the day in his room resting together. Copia is announced as the front-man and we get a Ritual!

Pairing: [dracopia] Cardinal Copia x OC

Tags/Warnings: hurt/comfort, fluff, white suit copia (yes he deserves a warning)

Words: 2.8k

Chapter 5: Here in the After

Read on AO3

banner and dividers courtesy of: @gothdaddyissues AND @ghuleh-recs

Her blood is delicious. No, it’s divine! Copia thinks as he drinks from her neck. The sweetest thing I’ve ever- Wait- Shit!

Once he notices Sarah has passed out from the blood loss, he forces his mouth from her neck and uses the end of his jacket sleeve to press on the puncture marks. In his stupor he’s managed to get her blood on the front of his jacket and now he’ll have it on his sleeve. He carefully lifts Sarah up and takes her to his bed to she can lie down and rest comfortably. Copia dashes to his fridge and pantry to have a snack and something to drink for her once she wakes up. He runs to the bathroom to clean his face and grabs a cloth to hold against her neck.

He goes to lay down in his bed, maneuvering Sarah to lay on top of him while he holds her and the cloth on her neck in place. His other hand rubs her back and over the next few hours he switches between small kisses on the top of her head and temple and mentally kicks himself for getting too overzealous. Her pulse is weak but at least it’s there.

“Too far, you horny idiot!” he thinks out loud. She can’t go to work like this tomorrow. “Cazzo! I’m going to have to call Amelia.” His free hand slaps his face and he grimaces. He moves to grab his phone on the side table and dials her number.

Amelia is understandably groggy on her end of the call. “Hello… Copia it’s the middle of the night! I know you’d don’t need sleep but I do.”

“I know. Mi dispiace, Amelia, but I wanted to let you know that, uh,” He winces. “Sarah won’t be able to come in to later today.” He closes his eyes tightly.

Amelia lets out a loud groan over the phone. “And you’re telling me this now? Copia, what did you two- You know what, I don’t actually want to know the gory details. Just please tell me the suit is intact?

He looks down to the dried bloodstains on his chest and sleeve. “It’s eh… mostly intact.”

“COPIA!”

“Goodbye, Amelia. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs, eh, bite.” He quickly hangs up while Amelia is still yelling at him. Poor choice of words, Copia! Amelia continues to text him expletives so he puts his phone on silent then sets it aside.

A four more hours pass before Sarah starts to stir from her slumber. She’s groaning and moving around on top of Copia and he rushes to stop her from doing too much, too fast.

“Oh, Sarah, please be easy with yourself. Don’t move too much.” He helps to move her so she’s lying beside him. “How are you feeling?” The back of his hands strokes her cheek.

Sarah’s voice is scratchy. “mmmm…everything hurts, Copia.” She whimpers. Her eyes are still closed.

He grabs a juice box from the nightstand. “I know, I know. Mi dispiace, but please bear with me for one moment.” Quickly, he pokes the straw through the hole and holds it up to her lips. “Drink, please. It’s juice. It’ll help you.” I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

Sarah swallows a few sips and her body seems to relax a small amount. He encourages her to drink more before he sets it aside. “How long have I been passed out?” She asks.

“Five or six hours? I drank too much. I’m so sorry, Sarah.” He strokes her face; her eyes are still closed. “You need to rest today. I have some snacks on the table once you feel good enough to eat something.”

“Mmhm. Okay.” She moves to lay on Copia and snuggles her face onto the side of his chest. “Five more.. minutes…” She’s out again.

Another hour passes and Sarah wakes up but she’s not groaning as much this time. Copia grabs another juice box and a cookie. “Would you like more juice? I also have a cookie? For your blood sugar.”

Sarah laughs and then winces. “Hm. Farm-to-table style blood donation. And I still get the cookie.”

“I really am sorry. When you’re feeling up to standing, I would like to run you a bath. It��ll help calm your muscles.” She nods against Copia’s body. His thumb is rubbing soothing circles on her shoulder.

“Please, don’t torture yourself. Copia, I kinda asked you to do this.” She moves her hand to his chest and tries to sit up slightly. He moves to help her sit up fully in the bed. “These are my consequences.”

“I shouldn’t have drunk so much, dolcezza.” His eyes glance at her neck, splotchy but it looks a bit healed from the rest she’s received so far. He moves to hold one of her hands. “Your neck is starting to look better, a good sign.” He gives her a half smile. “I’ll need to clean you up soon.”

A short while later Sarah feels like she has enough energy for a bath. He fills the tub with warm water and bubbles and helps her get ready. Copia keeps his eyes shut tight while she gets his help to undress and she laughs at his display. “Copia what are you doing?”

“Sarah, I fear if I see you fully undressed, I won’t be able to control myself.” He admits with a blush. Sarah lets out a nervous giggle.

After she’s settled into the tub, bubbles covering her upper body, Sarah confirms that it’s okay for him to open his eyes. He moves a small step stool to sit by her and takes a wet washcloth to softly blot and wipe the dried blood away from her neck. Once the cloth is set aside, Copia turns to give his full attention to Sarah. His hands are placed on the edge of the tub and she places one of her hands on his.

“I told Amelia you weren’t going to be able to come to work in the studio today,” Copia says. “That wasn’t a fun call to make.”

She smiles. “I bet.”

“I also had to let her know I got blood on the suit. She was not happy about that either. I have half a mind to think she’s going to go back and give me the tight pants again as punishment.”

“I have half a mind to let her.” Sarah nods her head.

“Dolcezza! Not you too? I assumed you’d be on my side.” Copia looks betrayed.

She sighs. “I want to be. But Copia, I put a lot of work into that suit. And do you know how annoying it is to get dried blood out of white fabric?” Sarah argues.

Copia scoffs. “It wasn’t me last night that was asking to be drank from! What was it you were saying last night? I wouldn’t mind of you drank my blood.” She glares at him. “Maybe I could keep the suit like it is. Let it be a part of the costume? That way I could always keep a part of you with me while I’m on stage.”

Sarah scrunches up her nose. “Ew. How romantic.” She settles more into the tub and leans her head side to side a couple times and groans slightly. “Now I know how those juice boxes must feel.

Copia looks at her with pleading eyes. “Yes, but you’re the best kind of juice box.” Sarah angles her head towards Copia and knits her eyebrows together. “Er... I mean… In a sense that…”

Sarah laughs at his floundering. “Copia, you’re fine.” She realizes something and pouts. “I just remembered we never got to eat desert.”

“It would’ve been tiramisu.”

“I’m assuming it’s also a Secondo Specialty?”

“Nothing gets past you.” Copia smiles and stands up. “I’m going to go find you some clothes you can borrow and I’m going to change as well. Stay here and rinse off and I’ll get some breakfast arraigned from the kitchen to be brought up. I’ll be back when you’re ready.” He smiles and walks out of the bathroom.

15 minutes pass and Sarah calls that she’s ready to leave the tub. She rinses and stands up on still shaky legs. Sarah warns Copia about her nakedness and his hand slaps to cover his eyes so loud that she can hear it before he opens the door with a change of clothes: old sweats, a t-shirt, and cozy socks. Copia takes a look at her neck now that it’s clean and applies an ointment and a bandage. Dressed and bandaged, she is led out of the bathroom and they spend the rest of the day switching from lounging in each other’s arms in his bed or the couch, watching movies, eating, and playing games. There is almost never a point in the day they aren’t touching in some way.

Occasionally they would stop to share a small kiss and sometimes the kiss would become more passionate. Copia is always the first to pull away, he insists on letting Sarah regain her strength before they, in his words, “attempt anything further.” She would laugh every time and say “ok.” At one point during their day, Sarah shyly admits to Copia that she’d been dreaming about him since they first met.

“Oh really?” he asks with a surprised but cheeky tone in his voice. She hides her face in his chest and muffles out a heavy sigh and then a “yes.” He responds with a belly laugh and then casually replies “That’s funny because I’d been wondering since that night how your blood might taste.” They both then descended into a fit of laughter.

The next day Sarah is feeling good enough to go back to work though she still takes it easy. Copia gave her an extra juice box on her way back to her room. It was announced to the clergy later in the evening that Copia would officially be taking over as head of the Ghost project. Some siblings looked over at Sarah but overall, everyone cheered upon hearing the news. A new era is coming to the ministry! A few days pass and it’s announced there will be a small Ritual to commemorate the change.

--------

Copia 4:25 pm

Amore! I got to summon my own ghouls last night! We’ve been practicing for the upcoming ritual now that it’s all been announced.

--------

Sarah: 4:27 pm

Copia my love, that’s wonderful! Is everything going well in the studio? It’s a bit awkward here. For the past few days Amelia won’t look at me or the suit. Every time I catch her looking, she makes a funny face and quickly averts her eyes. :/

--------

Copia: 4:40 pm

[Sorry for the delayed reply, we were working though a solo.] Everything is alright on my end, fortunately. I’m happy Hell knew to send us ghouls who already know how to shred on the guitar. I’m sure Amelia’s weirdness will pass.

--------

Sarah: 4:42 pm

I can’t wait to see you on stage tomorrow. You’ve kept everything under lock and key when I ask you for details! I’m just as excited as the siblings to see you perform

--------

Copia: 4:44 pm

Only ‘just as excited’? Not more? ;)

--------

On the night of the ritual the entire Clergy is buzzing with excitement. Papa Terzo will perform a few of his songs to open the show before Copia is brought on to finish off the rest of the concert. Sarah sneaks into his room before he heads down to the stage. She stalks up behind him and puts her hands on his shoulders, planting a small kiss on his upper back.

Copia nearly jumps out of his skin. “Ai! Amore, you nearly scared me to my own demise.” He turns around and he leans down to leave a lingering kiss to her lips.

“Hmm but what a way to go!” She smiles dreamily at him. “I saw Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator on my way over, they looked… interesting”

Copia’s eyebrows raise. “How so?”

“Papa is excited over something to do with the ritual and Sister kept patting his arm saying something about how ‘he’s not the lead anymore, he needs to let Copia lean how to take the reigns’ and he just smiled at her and shook his head.” Sarah says.

“I can’t believe back in the day they dated. Those clashing personalities?”

Sarah nods. “I know! Imagine if they ever had a kid?”

Copia laughs. “He would be insufferable.”

Sarah nods. “Well, I wanted to see you before the show. Break a leg my dear!” She kisses his cheek.

Copia smiles down at her. “Thank you. Though, I’m already running late. Please allow me to get to my show as on time as possible?”

“Of course, of course. I’ll see you later.” She winks and walks out of his room.

Sarah leaves to go meet Amelia [now not being weird towards her] and Alex where they wait with the rest of the siblings for the show to begin. Once the crowd lights dim and the stage lights get brighter, the ghouls enter the stage and the show begins. Papa Terzo is still as charismatic as ever. Beginning with “He Is” and transitioning to “Mummy Dust”, he’s still able to have the audience like putty in his hands. After one particularly enthusiastic ‘mummy thrust’ from Terzo, Sarah hears Amelia shout “Sweet suffering Lucifer!” and roll her eyes.

His last song is “Cirice” and while he doesn’t serenade anyone near the stage during his Cirice moment, Sarah follows his eyes as he stares into the crowd. Is he staring right at Amelia? Amelia looks mesmerized by Terzo’s singing. Sarah turns to Alex and raises an eyebrow at him.

Alex leans in and says “Hm. ‘He’s moved on’ my ass. They definitely have some unfinished business.” He shakes his head.

Papa’s songs are over and he announces Copia to the stage. Copia walks out with a new version of the white suit, free from her blood. She still blushes at the whole situation. This time, however, Copia has included a cane and a matching black and white hat. “Where did he find those?”

Alex smiles proudly. “I have my ways! He came to me yesterday asking if I could get them for his performance.”

Sarah is in awe of Copia’s stage presence. He looks like a whole new man up there. Maybe it’s because he drank her blood and now that they’re together, maybe it’s because he’s playing to the crowd, but she can’t stop watching him. While he jumps around singing about rats during the plague, or bewitching someone in the moonlight, he’s shimmying around on stage and letting loose. The new ghouls are playing their asses off and the clergy is loving him. There’s a permanent smile on her face for the entire show. Papa Nihil makes an appearance at the end of an instrumental song; he gets to play his saxophone for everyone.

The last song of the night starts off slow. Gentle piano music rings through the auditorium while Copia begins his ballad. She’s overcome with emotion as he sings and it feels like he’s singing directly to her. He probably is. She thinks back to their day they spent together after their first date. There was a warm, cozy feeling that never left her chest the entire time they were together. The soft kisses and innocent touches while they’d sat together in each other’s company made her feel so content. A particular conversation comes to mind from that day.

She and Copia had been, for all intents, lazily making out. For a few minutes. Slow, unhurried kisses because they had all the time of the day for everything else. Sarah was lounging on top of Copia when it had all started. He moved to sit up against the pillows and she sat up to straddle him so they could continue. She took one of her hands and started brushing it through his hair. When they parted to catch their breaths, Sarah spoke first.

She looks into Copia’s eyes. “I’ve really enjoyed today. I feel like I still need to say it, but I really like you, Copia.” She speaks softly, not wanting to ruin the quiet bubble they’ve created.

“I’m very happy to hear that, amore.” He gives her a drowsy smile, feeling drunk from their kissing, from her blood, from her everything. He takes his hand and holds her face in it. “I feel the same way. I’d like to spend more time with you.”

She smiles. “How long were you thinking?”

Copia’s thumb strokes softly on her cheek. “If it’s alright with you, amore.” He brings his lips to hers and replies softly with a smile, “Forever?”

Obligatory "Life Eternal" reference in a Dracopia fic? Check!

Once again, thank you to all who have read, left comments or kudos. I had a lot of fun writing this and I may write more fics in the future. I hope you enjoyed the story and the ending!

#cardinal copia x oc #cardinal copia fanfiction #dracopia #the band ghost #the band ghost fanfiction #ghost fic #my fics #personal #cardinal and the seamstress

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etherati · 8 months

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Taproot - (6/25)

So I guess Wednesdays just aren't a great day for this, so let's call it Thursday and Sunday, going forward! Also gonna start adding music recs for each chapter, but feel free to ignore if you feel like it would be too distracting. Will edit the old chapters to include them.

Content warnings: Canon-typical violence, Sypha and Alucard being on the cover of a romance novel, and a lot of vampires getting melted. HYDROSTORM!!!

🎵 Music pairing: Whatever It Takes - Imagine Dragons

< -- Back | Next -- >

Solstice night. The longest night. The sun set hours ago, here on the coast of the Black Sea, tracking its way westward toward the foothills and the mountains beyond them and, eventually, all the rest of Europe. Toward home.

Will it be dark there, yet? Will the wolves be closing in?

Sypha can’t justify hiding herself away as she waits, not tonight. The waiting has become a desperate vigil, something that recognizes its own futility but refuses to bend under the weight of that recognition. But tonight is important and if she is here, if she must still be here against all her wishes, she will at least be present for it.

She’s cleaved close to the people she cares most about all evening: her grandfather, Lily and Arn, Kiri, the others who kept her family group knit together when outside forces did their best to claw it apart, all those years ago. They eat, fresh bread from the cooking stones and warm rabbit stew, laced with exotic spices from all over their people’s collective range, little pops of heat and sweetness and green earthiness, peppery and rich.

It’s a celebration meal. Tomorrow morning, the sun is reborn. She knows that isn’t how it really works—has seen the planetary models in the castle library, knows that the sun is a fixed point and certainly neither lives nor dies—but that’s never really been the point. It’s a midpoint, a way to mark time, and the lengthening days mean warmth and easier travel and eventually better food stores.

In front of her, the bonfire crackles, raging mindlessly, consuming its fuel, throwing embers; something about it steals the breath from her lungs for just a moment. It feels something like the weight of sudden, unbearable prophecy, but almost more primitive than that. Inescapable, not like fate is inescapable but like gravity is inescapable.

There’s a shimmering off to her side, and it draws her attention before she consciously acknowledges it. It’s like a heat mirage, rising from the road in midsummer, and it hangs human-sized in the air, obscuring everything behind it. Caught up as she is in the breathless oppression of the fire, it takes Sypha a moment to realize what she’s looking at.

The mirror.

It’s—it’s the mirror. They got the message, they—they’re alive, and they got her message, and this is her passage home— but—

“Sypha?” her grandfather says from her other side, settling one hand on her shoulder. “That is what you have been waiting for, no?”

“It is, but...”

But something isn’t right. She squints into the shimmer, can make out the far wall of the study, but no one has come through to greet her. What if—what if her message fell into the wrong hands? What if this is a trick? What if—

Then, in the haze: a body flying past in flames, and a very familiar figure following after it, the brilliant glow of the chain whip’s weighted end tearing through the space ahead of him. A hoarse cry. Wood splintering, glass breaking. There’s a splash of blood across the far wall, vibrant and lurid, and was that there a second ago?

In any event: that answers that.

“Okay,” she says, shouldering the pack she hasn’t let out of her sight for days, bracing herself for whatever she finds on the other side. Her boys are in trouble; they need her. “I’m going.”

Her grandfather makes a nonverbal noise, like someone restraining themselves from saying what their heart most wants to express. It’s dangerous. Stay here. Stay safe with us.

“Good luck, my angel,” is all he actually says—or, if he says more, it’s lost to her as she leaps into the breach, sound and vision smearing, reality disappearing up itself in a twisting, sucking inversion that leaves her, momentarily, unsure that the physical world ever existed, that she ever, in fact, had a body—

—then suddenly she’s there, and the shift from quiet night spaces, the calm hiss and pop of the fire, to this cacophony—it sets Sypha’s every nerve on end, her entire body protesting everything about what just happened in waves of churning nausea. She fights it down. Not the time. Not the fucking time.

Her pack hits the floor hard and she casts around, urgent, taking it all in.

There are at least eight… enemy combatants, in the study with them. They look like vampires but they’re acting more like mindless monsters, with none of the grace she’d seen in their combat against Dracula’s generals. No weapons. No subtlety. Just tooth and claw, and speed, and ferocity. Feral.

They’ve got Adrian cornered against the far bookshelf, swiping and charging from every angle. He has a bloody gash across his face, his hair stuck to the wound, ghoulish. His eyes are wild from the fight, nearly as wild as those surrounding him. He has his sword in hand—not in the air, not aiding him as she knows it can when he’s at his best, but simply slashing inelegantly at arm’s length, keeping the surrounding vampires at bay.

She visualizes a fireball between her fingers, wills it into existence—wastes no time thinking about why he’s having so much trouble, and sends it straight into the thickest knot of them. Demons might resist flame but vampires, she knows with certainty, burn.

Two of them light up, screaming, filling the air with the acridness of burning flesh—then the Morning Star comes slashing through out of nowhere, ripping one of the feral vampires just about in half even as it embeds itself in the next one over, waves of energy rippling through it to blow the second one apart from the inside out.

That’s four down. That’s good.

“The mirror!” Trevor shouts to Adrian, and she’s not sure he even knows she’s here yet, as preoccupied as he is with getting the mob off of Adrian. He swings the whip again, a good amount of its length coiled around his fist to shorten the throw in this confined space—lands only a glancing blow, enough to enrage but not really damage, an ugly welt burned across the vampire’s face.

It hisses, furious. Sypha readies another fireball, to back up the missed shot. Trevor smirks into the thing’s face, unaccountably smug.

“Oh, that hurt, didn’t it?” he snarls, swinging the bladed star almost lazily in between them. Taunting. Backing his way toward the door, the staircase leading down. “Come on, I’m a way more interesting target than prince prissy-hair, here.”

Ah. He missed on purpose—he’s trying to goad them away from Adrian. And it’s working; they’re worked up, agitated, and maybe it’s the smell of Belmont blood so nearby, dripping from his hand where it clutches the whip’s handle, but they’re peeling away from Adrian, easing their predatory, monstrous way toward Trevor instead.

That’s all the window Adrian needs—with a pained hiss, he phases through the gap they’ve cut for him, right to Sypha’s side. Turns to the mirror without a thought, hair hanging lank and bloodied in his face, red-stained claws working at the mirror’s surface. Working to shut it down, she realizes with a chill—to seal it, so that none of their attackers decides to go barreling through and have Speaker for dessert.

A lot of things happen all at once, then.

Trevor doesn’t have a straight shot to the door—there’s one coming up behind him, cutting that path off, and with a shout, Sypha sends the fireball she’s been holding straight into its face. It catches fire, screams and flails, is easy for Trevor to sweep aside and get past, but there are suddenly more of them in the room than there had been and oh, they’re coming through the windows. Right through what should have been impenetrable wards.

Adrian seals the mirror, the Speaker camp fading from the glass. He turns to her, as if he’s just now noticing she’s there. A shrieking, wild-eyed vampire drops from the window behind them, and before she can even summon more flame, the sword in Adrian’s hand has whipped out and cleaved it cleanly in two.

“Sypha,” he breathes, staring; he didn’t even take his eyes off her to make the strike. They’re wide, wild with red, desperate and longing—and before she knows what’s happening he’s sweeping her up with an arm around her waist, pulling her into a kiss that is nothing short of ravenous. He doesn’t even try to be gentle, as he usually is with her; it’s all teeth and possession, a primal sort of hunger that seeks to pleasure but also to claim, to make her moan and make her bleed, to turn her world inside out.

It is, frankly, a fantastic kiss.

But it goes on just a touch too long, in the circumstances—they surely paint an attractive picture, Adrian with his bloody sword held aloft, Sypha with her hands ringed in fire, the two of them locked in the impassioned embrace of lovers too long separated. But they are being just a little bit invaded by vampires, and that fact demands attention, demands focus.

“Okay,” she says against his mouth, putting her hands flat to his chest and pushing; he’s immovable when he wants to be, but he’s learned these cues and he bends to it now, letting her put space between them. “Kill vampires now. Continue that later?”

A flash in his eyes, a sharp-toothed grin, and he swings back into action—maybe not as graceful as he usually is, maybe a little rushed, but no less lethal with that blade, now that he’s out from being cornered.

When she looks, she realizes that Trevor’s gone, off down the staircase already, most of the remaining vampires on his tail, and it’s the effort of a mere thought to fill that corridor with flame, purge the creatures in pursuit of their hunter, give them nothing but embers and ash to pass through to find their way back to his side.

“How the fuck are they getting through the wards?” Trevor mutters; he doesn’t expect an answer, is too busy dodging a wild, animalistic swipe of claws through the space his face had just been in, moments before. He catches the arm on its way by, lets the beast’s momentum carry it face-first into the stone of the staircase wall, taking advantage of it being momentarily stunned stupid to slam a throwing knife through its throat. The body tumbles down the stairs, out of sight.

“They’re old,” Adrian says from beside him, his presence crowding in on Trevor’s, which is comforting enough when he’d thought himself alone, but then—

“They’re not that old,” a familiar voice, one he hasn’t heard in two weeks, sharp and a little flustered and no wonder, dropping into the middle of an assault with no warning.

“Sypha,” he says, sheer relief, and before she can go on a tirade about the fact that wards don’t work that way, they don’t just turn off when they age, something else is going on and he knows, he knows—he reaches out and pulls her in by the back of her neck, presses a quick kiss to her temple, breathes her in. It’s the contact of an instant but in that instant: soft curl of hair against his cheek, smell of salt air and wood smoke, magic shimmering beneath his lips like a second skin.

“I missed you too,” she says, smirking a little as he breaks away, leans to peer around the archway. “But Adrian has your greeting beaten by a mile.”

“Yeah, well,” Trevor says, no patience for mincing words. “That’s because apparently the solstice makes vampires go feral, and in his special case that translates to ‘horny as fuck’.”

“Trevor…” Adrian growls, warning.

“Really?” Sypha asks, something in the tone saying that she already believes him. Trevor spares half a second to wonder what he missed, bailing out of the study like he did.

“Oh yeah,” he says, hooking the chain whip back to his belt, reaching to unsheathe the sword instead. The staircase is narrow and winding, and anything coming up it to meet them will be in close quarters before they can blink. He edges down the stairs, one at a time, hyperfocused on the space in front of them. “Shame we’re being invaded, this could have been a really fun night.”

“Belmont.”

Sypha laughs, all nerves, magic crackling around her. “You would have had me miss that?”

“Oh my God, no,” Trevor says, grinning despite himself, despite the situation. Suddenly, everything feels right again; it feels like things can be okay, if they just hold onto their wits and see this through, try not to get sloppy. “You’d have to be here, or he’d wear me the fuck out.”

“If we are quite done discussing this,” Adrian says from behind them, glower audible in his voice; when Trevor risks a glance up and behind at him, he can see that the gash on his face is nearly closed, that his eyes are still bright with blood but not like they’d been before. There’s a focus there now, a clarity, that he’d lacked. Good enough. “Can we consider having an actual plan?”

“What,” Trevor says, “and ruin our perfect record of jumping into things blind and pulling off stunning victories regardless?”

“They haven’t all been stunning.”

“But they have all been victories.”

“Yes, yes,” Sypha cuts in, already sounding exasperated. “Recklessness is very dashing, until it isn’t anymore.”

And Trevor’s about to say something smartarsed in return, then stops himself, wonders for a moment if all this solstice madness is catching, because of course she’s completely, totally right. “Fine, okay. Got any ideas?”

“What do they want?” Sypha asks, voice low.

Trevor jerks his thumb over his shoulder at Adrian, self-explanatory. “Single-minded, too. Took a lot to get them to go after me instead.”

“I saw some of that,” she says, considering. “So should we hide him, or…?”

Adrian grumbles something disagreeable; Trevor ignores him. “What I want to do is hide him under a rock somewhere, yeah.” That’s what his gut wants, what his heart wants. The screams echoing through the stone walls, vampires breaching their defenses anywhere there’s a window, are a solid reminder of why he needs to listen to his head instead, right now. “What would be smart to do is use him to lure them out into the open and take them all out at once.”

“Can you do that?”

Right, she isn’t up to date on all of their preparations yet. He scrapes the sword lightly against the stone as they descend, hoping to draw out anything that’s waiting for them around the next turn. “If you’re okay with no hot baths for a while.”

“That was supposed to be an option of last resort,” Adrian protests vaguely.

“Yeah, well, that was when we thought we had control over their points of entry and assumed we could bottleneck them,” Trevor says, and he can hear the irritation in his own voice. “Some of the variables have shifted. Besides, we hide you away, all that’s going to do is drive them into every nook and cranny in this place looking for you. It’ll take weeks to root them all out.”

“I’m not in favor of hiding—”

“All right, then,” Trevor whispers, drawing to a halt; up around the next bend, the light’s different, brighter. Intersection? Open landing? He almost never takes this staircase. “Do you have another suggestion?”

“We go down to the hall and we fight,” Adrian grits out, still sounding a little breathy, a little wild. “Keep the water as a backup plan, but try to fight them off first.”

Trevor shakes his head, sighs in frustration. “That could rack up casualties. Who’s being reckless now?”

Just a low growl in response, and okay, frustration is no longer the word; Trevor has officially fucking had it with this.

“No,” he says, turning to take hold of the collar of Adrian’s jacket; he tosses Sypha a look that he hopes conveys Cover the stairwell for me while I talk some sense into this idiot. Bright orange lights up between them all as she primes a spell. “You don’t just growl and get your way, that isn’t how this works.”

That seems to shake him—the snarling, bloodstained visage collapses into a mask of shame, flush rising up his face. “I wasn’t trying to threaten—”

“Listen to me, Adrian,” Trevor interrupts, because good God do they not have time for a guilt spiral. “You’re not thinking clearly right now. You’re spoiling for a fight and I get it, okay? I do. But a fight will get people killed. It could get one of us killed. And normally we wouldn’t have a choice but to risk it, but we’re in a crazy position right now—we have a way to take out all of them with minimal casualties, and it would be beyond insane not to use it.”

A huff of breath, defiant. “You don’t have to—they only want me.”

“Yeah, they do. They want you dead, and they want it bad, and they’re not going to have a, a civilized duel with you following the rules of engagement, all right?” Not that the dhampir could even handle that, right now, but Trevor’s not going to push his luck by provoking ego. “Adrian. I need you to trust me, I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

“We have talked about this,” Sypha adds, not looking up from where she’s sighting down the length of her arm, flame at the ready. “We trust each other, and we work together.”

Something about the sound of her voice, so familiar and so painfully absent for the last two weeks, seems to get through to Adrian where his own words have failed—she plucks a chord in him, or maybe just completes one, the dissonance of two notes rounding out into three, and it’s like watching a sleepwalker come back to themselves.

“Of course,” Adrian says, finally, reaching to sheathe his mother’s bloodied sword; in this close, tight corridor it would be next to useless anyway. He draws the knife from his other hip, settles it comfortably in his hand. “Lead the way.”

Isabel had not been lying when she told the Belmont: she is no commander of soldiers. She had still hoped that, crazed as their attackers are tonight, her thoughtful leadership and the Belmont’s tactical prowess would give them enough of an edge to keep the enemy forces from breaching the castle.

Hope, it turns out, while not completely useless, does not win battles.

She’s out here with her four ranged comrades, and Belmont had brought them an entire crate of bolts from who knows where; they’re not in danger of running out. But they’re also making little headway. Have they managed to thin the attacking mob? Yes. Have they eliminated it? Not by a long shot. A bigger force than they expected, maybe, but four marksmen just aren’t enough.

So. Fine. There are other ways to go about this.

The crossbow bolts are still whizzing dangerously close as she darts out of cover, gets a running leap off of the stone banister, jumps directly into the fray. The bodies are thickest where the massive doors have started to bow inward, the insane strength of those bodies undirected except for the most basic drive: break down the doors, get into the castle.

She lands among them, claws three of their throats out before they even register her presence. It’s easy to duck and weave among them, their reflexes dulled by bloodlust and unused to seeing their own kind as an enemy, and so she tries to carve the still-beating heart of the mob out of its chest, winnows and thins them from within.

A crossbow bolt plants itself into a vampire’s eye socket, less than a foot from her own. The sound of metal striking dense, heavy bone echoes in her ears, as does the screaming that follows. In the single moment’s disorientation, she catches a set of claws across her face, splitting her cheek open down to the bone, and without a second thought she takes hold of the arm that did it, snaps it in two, reels the attacker in and drives her own claws into his throat.

And if this is all she can do now, be a whirlwind of claws that rends apart her own people, the ones who would ruin everything she and hers have fought for—so be it. Her people have their orders; they know what they need to be doing. If she falls here, they will fight on.

There’s a horrible screaming of metal, mechanisms twisting under strain, and the doors begin to give way.

The sudden noise of the door mechanisms failing and the roaring of their invaders is jarring, harrowing, after so much silence and so much waiting. They’ve heard screams elsewhere in the castle, echoing in that labyrinthine way that teases and taunts but is impossible to ever actually track down—and they’ve stayed put, because they are those doors’ last line of defense.

Now, as the doors give way, the attackers start spilling in as soon as there’s a gap wide enough to pass a body through—climbing over one another, fighting each other to get in, some of them already bloodied, some of them injured and healing in front of their eyes. All of them mad.

On the upper landing, at the top of the stairs, Jeanne resettles her grip on her short sword, squares her stance. She stands among humans, but she is no stranger to fighting vampires; they’re always curious about her, always wanting to see how her strength holds up to theirs, how her relative lack of weaknesses will play out in a fight. She is no stranger to sparring with vampires, or with having to forcefully turn away troublemakers at her people’s gates. She has never killed one, never wanted to kill anyone, does not truly believe herself capable of facing an intelligent being and taking its life.

These, though?

These are horrifying. These aren’t people. They’re animals, monsters, slavering beasts. And they were human once—something even she cannot claim—but right now, they are just fodder for her sword and her claws, fodder for the blades and spears of the five who stand around her.

Tomorrow, they might be different. The morning may find their sanity restored.

Guilt can, also, come in the morning. Right now, she has a job to do.

Luca Gregori considers himself a patient man. He is practiced in all forms of acceptance, these days; he is not quick to judge. Alucard of Wallachia, infamously opposed to killing, killed his own father? He clearly had a good reason. The Belmont is more than just a general, to his Lord? The stuff of crazy gossip, maybe, but to him it’s not even worth a second thought. That vampires are not just monsters, that they are as unique as the humans they once were and as individually responsible for their choices as anyone else—this is a foregone conclusion for him, these days. But it is perhaps for the best that he has never, before now, gone abroad on this night, because this horrorscape is enough to sour anyone on the night world.

He’s bleeding from his shoulder, where one of the beasts got their claws into him. It’s his off arm, so it’s not impeding the swing of his grandfather’s blade, but it throbs and aches and he knows it’s going to draw more of them, and the whole point of being here is to get inside and let the others know that things are going to hell—but they’re going to hell so quickly that it’s all he can do to keep fighting them off, keep the entrance he’s guarding protected.

A pause in the onslaught—a chance to draw breath, halting and rough—then another is there, is leaping clear over him, alighting on the wall above his head, clearly more interested in the window above than in tangling with him directly.

Too bad. The sword becomes a projectile, spearing the intruder through the chest as if they’re made of no more than paper; all that sharpening had a purpose. The vampire tumbles, sword and all, to his feet. Goes still.

Luca doesn’t hesitate—he pulls the blade free, brings it up as he spins back toward the open grounds, anticipating another attack.

Another attack doesn’t come.

The night isn’t silent, not remotely—but the commotion seems, suddenly, to be elsewhere. He can hear a ruckus from around the corner of the castle wall, where the main entrance sits, and he supposes that the defenses there might be falling. He considers the tactical implications of abandoning his post and offering aid.

Then, from the corner of his eye: a flicker of light, in the ruins of the old, burned out estate.

From the moment his eyes met Sypha’s in the study, from the moment he held her against him and felt her pulse racing and the heat of the fire in her hands and the determination she held in her heart to save them, to save both of them—

Adrian isn’t sure how to explain it. It feels like something that’d been swirling, dangerous and intoxicating, through his brain and his gut has, somehow, settled. It’s still there, glinting in the sediment like gold dust, begging to be stirred back up, tempting the swipe of a lazy, greedy hand. But the water between them is finally clear.

He wonders: how much of this is the blood, how much Trevor’s proximity, how much the primal desperation of longing for an absent lover?

They encounter few opponents on their descent. One of them Sypha impales with a long, deadly spear of ice, one Trevor neatly beheads, and the third falls under the bite of the traitorous blade in Adrian’s hand, screaming and bleeding. And perhaps it is too agonizing a death to inflict on anyone—but they ought not have attacked him and his loved ones, then.

He remembers Trevor saying it, in the field outside the castle: If you even breathe threateningly at me or mine—

This isn’t vengeance, he knows, shaking the blood from the blade and continuing onward. It is self-defense, defense of his home. Defense of their life, of the way they’ve chosen to live, and damn anyone who thinks they have any right to punish him for it.

When they finally reach the entry hall, when his boots land in exactly the sort of bloodstain he had hoped his new carpets would never see, the scene is utter chaos—and not all that dissimilar to the scene they themselves had broken up when they strode in that front entrance a year ago. A home under assault. Those loyal to its master standing in its defense.

This time, though, the fighting doesn’t pull to an awed standstill when they enter the room—not that any of them expect it to.

Still, Trevor swears, low. He’d obviously been hoping the doors hadn’t failed yet, that this could be done cleanly. Now, there will have to be a fight, which means there will be losses. Scanning around, Adrian can tell that most of the unmoving bodies scattered about belong to their enemies, ragged-looking in a way that none of Isabel’s people had been, but there is a downed human among them, moaning and clutching his middle and probably not long for the world.

“Have any gotten past you?” Trevor shouts to the small knot of fighters holding the upper landing against the assault. This room was designed to be a funnel, to be easily defensible from this spot, and Trevor had been wise to only station their defenses here, rather than wasting them elsewhere in the hall. If his father’s generals had been half as savvy, the three of them would have had a much harder time taking that first victory. “Into the rest of the castle?”

“No,” a young woman snarls back, blood in her short dark hair, fangs flashing. “They’d have to kill us all first.” She brings her sword around in an elegant arc, takes her attacker’s hands clean off, then lodges the blade deep into the vampire’s ribcage to finish him off. She’s untrained—that much is obvious from the way she handles the blade like an edge and like a point alternately, depending on what she needs, but she’s fast and fluid and far stronger than any of her compatriots, and has a natural fighter’s instincts.

It makes complete sense, given that she’s Isabel’s resident dhampir. Something he’s been asked to accept in passing, as if it were a common thing. As if he’d met another in his life, ever.

Adrian’s self control is already worn to a thin patch, barely there, threadbare. It takes a monumental act of restraint to not just snatch this one up mid-battle and hide her away somewhere safe, if only to be sure she’ll live long enough to speak with him. Because as solid a fighter as she is, she’s getting overwhelmed.

He can’t do that, can’t deprive the battle of her strength. But there are other ways he can help her odds of survival.

“Belmont,” he says, reverting smoothly to formality. He draws his sword again, readies both blades. “Can you handle the water?”

“Can you get those doors closed?” Trevor counters, changing his sword out for his whip, the links clinking at the movement. On the other end of the long hall, the doors are gaping open to the night, their mechanisms stripped and ruined; there’s no one coming through them, which is a pretty good sign that they’re all already in here. Trevor sends the weighted end of the whip whispering through the air, taking his targets out with terrifying precision. “If this is going to be a killing pen,” he grunts between throws, “then we really need to close the gate.”

“I can do it,” Sypha says, looking between them, her gaze settling on Adrian, and it’s like she can see straight through him, right to the core of his anguish. “Go help them, I will handle it.”

There’s a suspended moment there—they are three again, they are together, they are within touching distance and are within each other’s grasp—and then Sypha leans in and embraces them both, quick and hard.

And then she is, again, gone—headed down the stairs to traverse the sea of bodies that the entry hall has become, dodging and weaving around swords and claws and worse, angling to get closer to the entryway.

Adrian watches her, watches the fluidity of her movements, the way she skirts danger so effortlessly—then her hands go into the air above her head and a gust of wind kicks up, forceful. The doors slam shut with a resonant thud.

All that’s left to do, then, is give Trevor a significant nod, the man’s hand tightening on his shoulder before letting him go— and dive into the fight.

Trevor doesn’t know exactly what Sypha had done to seal the doors, once she’d closed them. It’d apparently involved melting the moving parts and rendering them useless as doors, because she claims, in clipped shouts over the roar of fire, that they cannot be opened again now.

Which—shit. It shouldn’t have mattered, he’d all but demanded they be closed, but—

There’s a panel set into the wall here, under his hand, modeled to look like just another stone; beneath it, something Adrian connected up to the same magical—sorry, science—bullshit that lights the torches by themselves. When he presses it, it will cause an ember of flame to burn something, something that very much likes to burn, that likes it so much that it tends to explode; the pressure will tear apart the pipes running through the castle, to a lesser degree the further away it gets. But here in the main hall, it will be a downpour.

There’s a panel under his hand, and when he presses it, holy water will pour down like rain and it will melt away every vampire in the entry hall like the last grey, gritty snow of spring.

There’s also a vampire staring across at him, black braids disheveled and tattered, blood streaked across her face, fierce determination burning in the burgundy eyes. Fucking Isabel. She shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t have followed the attackers inside, the fucking idiot; this is why the status of the doors is, suddenly, important. “Why are you—I told you not to be here, we have to—”

“Do what you need to, Belmont,” she interrupts, steely, eyes only for the fight. “I was warned; I made my choice. I won’t have any of my people die because you dragged this out for my sake.”

“Fuck,” Trevor says, and then, because once is rarely enough: “Fuck.”

“It’s been an honor,” she says, ignoring his invectives, holding a clawed, bloody hand out expectantly.

And for just a second, Trevor just looks at it—looks back up at the landing, where her people are weakening, becoming overwhelmed, even with Adrian’s help. Looks to Sypha, summoning ice and fire, holding her own effortlessly for the moment but how long can that last?

An honor, she says. And against his best efforts, it has been.

He can’t wait. He knows that. This is their one chance to keep the casualties in their favor, and the window is narrowing.

His hand rests on the panel. Just another ounce of pressure.

Sypha, twenty feet away, spinning solidity from the moisture in the very air, projectiles that pierce like steel, barriers that protect her like any shield...

Trevor narrows his eyes.

“Fuck that,” he says, smacking Isabel’s hand aside, everything coming together. “Sypha! Need some ice over here now.”

“On it!” she shouts back, and it’s like she’s been listening

in and already knows what he’s asking for—the ice blooms from the air, swirling around Isabel, enclosing her within its walls like something caught in a glass bottle. Trevor finds himself, as always, impressed with both Sypha’s talents and her perceptiveness, with her almost preternatural way of knowing exactly what they need when, in any fight, in any challenge. How did they ever survive two weeks without her?

He slams the panel hard.

A half second of held breath, a building roar, and then: the rains come.

Sypha thinks, in the split second she has to spare between one task and the next, that she should get a medal for figuring things out, after this fight is over.

It’s not as if they’d had much time to explain things to her—between the need for vigilance on the staircase and the need to split up down here in the hall, all she’d managed to pick up was that they have some new allies fighting with them, and that Trevor’d had some sort of plan involving a mass dousing. Putting it all together, well—she’s just that good.

“I guess that’s that for this group,” Trevor says, shaking the water from his sleeves, wringing it out of his hair with an antsy urgency. The downpour hadn’t lasted long—a tremendous amount of water, but whatever they did to open the pipes, it had been incredibly effective. Possibly overkill. Definitely overkill in terms of their attackers, and someone with a weaker stomach would probably be turning green by now, overwhelmed by all the strangled screaming and the smell of charred flesh, bodies consumed in blue flame, ashes floating down all around them.

Sypha’s never had a particularly weak stomach. She’s seen worse; she’s done worse.

So, left standing: The three of them, and their human allies up on the landing, and the vampire Trevor had had her lock into ice—the only one of them all not sopping wet from head to toe, and thankfully so, if she’s really on their side.

“God, that feels fucking weird,” Trevor complains under his breath and to no one in particular, shaking a foot as if that will somehow empty his boots of the water she can hear sloshing in his socks.

Adrian raises an eyebrow at Trevor from the landing, sheathing his sword, his knife. He looks like a very blonde drowned rat, and he’s just as antsy, like he’s been wrapped entirely in itchy wool. And that’s no surprise from him, in the circumstances, but—

“Does it?” Adrian asks, keenly curious. Sypha narrows her eyes at both of them, wonders if maybe there’s something else in the water, some irritant or chemical that she’s just not feeling yet.

But Trevor just shakes his head dismissively. “Not the time,” he grumbles, reaching for the whip at his side, suddenly all business. “There might be more of them further up in the castle, we can’t let our guard down.”

“Then let me eliminate a distraction,” Sypha offers, pressing her hands together in front of her face. This is not her specialty, so she will have to focus, but it will do no good to have saved their ally only to have her burned by the floor they stand on—and regardless of Trevor’s grousing, Adrian is, she’s sure, legitimately uncomfortable. She summons a gust of air that rises from the space around her, a concentrated blast of dry wind that ripples through her robes, through her hair, stripping the moisture right off of her.

Once she feels her own hair brushing dry against the nape of her neck, she sends the wind outward, swirling through the hall like a cyclone, pulling the water from skin and hair and clothes, from carpets and tapestries, and carrying it all up and away.

Well. Not away. It has to go somewhere, but she’ll cross that bridge later.

“Better?” she asks.

Adrian shakes his hair out like the mane of some legendary beast. It’s still got that humidity dampness to it, that extra fluffiness, but it’s an improvement. “Much. Thank you.”

And she’s just about to go start melting their visitor out of her ice cage—she’ll need to get the story from Trevor later, of how exactly a vampire, not a dhampir but a full-blooded vampire, managed to earn such loyalty from him—when a man she’s never seen before suddenly appears through one of the side doors, right behind Trevor, wheezing and out of breath from running. The sword in his hand is coated in dark, stale-looking blood.

“Trevor!” she shouts, bringing up a fresh fireball, but when Trevor spins to face the intruder, his stance immediately relaxes, hand leaving the hilt of his sword.

“It’s all right,” he says, one hand out to her to say, stand down. “He’s one of ours. Gregori? What’s going on?”

“It’s—” Wheeze, cough. “They’re—”

“They’re what?” Trevor demands, patience thin.

A prolonged, whistling inhale, desperate for air, and then the man visibly makes an effort to compose himself, to regulate his breathing. “They’re gathered in the ruins,” he manages, then takes a deliberate breath. “Talking about a vault or something. That they’re going to get a weapon that will make them unbeat-able? That’s all I got—I couldn’t keep listening, they would have spotted me—”

“Fuck,” Trevor breathes, glancing at the doors, and Sypha knows: the hold.

“Wait,” Adrian says, holding up a hand, forestalling Trevor’s obvious kneejerk reaction of running off to defend his family’s legacy without a moment’s thought. “They should have spotted you regardless. Or smelled you. And they acted as if they didn’t?”

“Actually, yeah,” Trevor says, narrowing his eyes at Gregori. “That sounds a little bit like bullshit. Is it bullshit, or is there something else going on?”

“I saw what I saw,” the man says, puffing up in defense of his assaulted pride. “I can’t explain it, but I’m not lying to you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Trevor murmurs, after a long, considered study of the man’s face. He presses one hand across his eyes, gestures with the other. “Maybe he’s lying to get us there, or maybe they let him get away so he’d bring this information to us, which is also a ploy to get us there.”

“It is a trap either way.”

“Or they just want us to leave the castle undefended.”

Sypha sighs, fingers twitching restlessly around her magic, half-sigils that she’d trained into muscle memory to avoid accidentally conjuring fire when she’s restless. “But we can’t leave it alone, can we?”

Trevor just shakes his head. “Okay,” he says, after a thoughtful moment. “Sypha, get our frozen bloodsucker off ice. Jeanne?”

A dark-haired young woman turns at the summons, hands braced on the landing’s banister, paying perfect attention. There’s a stillness to her that’s a little unnerving to Sypha, almost like...

“They’re not getting in the front,” Trevor says, clipped, as Sypha carefully directs her fire, melting away the walls of the impromptu ice shelter. “If they come from anywhere it’ll be those little doors on the side there. You think your people can handle that?”

Jeanne looks to the newly freed Isabel, who despite seeming a little dazed, nods sharply.

“All right,” Trevor says, sounding like a man who has no idea if he’s doing the right thing, is doing it anyway and damn the consequences. “Good enough. Let’s go.”

< -- Back | Next -- >

#castlevania #netflix castlevania #fanfic #fanfiction #sypha belnades #trevor belmont #alucard #adrian tepes #trephacard #taproot #wellspring #post s2

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screadingchallenge · 2 years

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Behind the Keyboard Volume 33

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

This is the last author interview I have in my queue. If you'd like to do an interview, let me know! (Or if you did the questions, but I missed you, please let me know that too!)

Let’s meet our next author:

@hullomoon / hullomoon

How many fics have you written?

This took a little longer to figure out since I have to separate the podfics and then the fics that I podded but didn’t write but are posted together. So, the answer is 135 fics.

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

July 31, 2019!

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3.

Unless it’s super short work (under 1k) I’ll have a at least a paragraph giving the rough details. I think the most detailed outline was for all that i have are these to remember you, simply for the fact that it involves time travel and there’s no way I could write that without an outline. Then I throw on a playlist and write, usually in the evenings or on weekends. If it’s for a fest I’ll kick it over to a beta. After leaving it alone for at least a day I’ll come back to do edits. Stare at an ao3 draft page for an hour while I think of title and then hit publish.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

if only i could have a puppy! I love that I got to involve most of the town and lean more into the comedic tone of the show. The only thing I could have done better/wanted to change would be to add more reactions from the townsfolk. I feel like Ronnie would love Rothko.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Your first fic will be bad, but you’ll love it anyways. And I don’t say this to be a dick, but especially if you start writing more you’ll look back and notice all things you could have done differently or bemused at your own choices. I think that’s the beauty of any craft though, that as you improve you’ll reflect on your own work and see the improvement.

There’s no better feeling then posting your first fic, take a minute to enjoy the moment, you’ll only get it once.

Alexis is trapped in a drug lord’s palace and you have to convince her captors to read your fic in order to free her. What’s your best sales pitch for your favorite fic?

It seems only fair to rec an Alexis-centric fic and my wlw space heist, and the stars look very different today is the perfect choice.

Tell me about a story that you wish you could write but that you’re not quite ready to tackle.

There’s a couple of WIPs that I’m itching to write but either I’m blocked by motivation or time. I do have a David/Patrick, Downton Abbey inspired one that I’ve had the idea for since Tropefest but it’s gonna take a while before it reaches fruition.

What’s one question you would like to ask Dan Levy about writing?

What do you do when you feel like your motivation is gone? Y’know just asking for a friend…

What are your three favorite tropes?

Only One Bed, Found Family, and Enemies to Lovers

Do you write for any other fandoms? Which ones?

The only one that’s published is a Check, Please! fic, although I’m hoping to write/post some in October for A League of Their Own! I might eventually branch out more and if that’s the case the fandoms that I pod for are a good indicator of ones I’d write for.

#behind the keyboard #meet the authors #sc fanfic #schitt’s creek #schitts creek

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lapetitepersonne · 1 year

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Fandom Creator's Self-Rec Game!

Choose five favourites from your own creations (and tell me why, if you like!), then pass on to at least five other people. I'd love to hear what you're proudest of.

Thank you @aemelia for the tag haha 🫶🫶 Okay let's go:

Upcoming (harringrove, 11k, french, finished)

5 fois que Billy a essayé de faire en sorte que Steve couche avec lui avant qu’il n’ait 18 ans + 1 fois où Billy n'a rien eu à faire pour le convaincre.

I wrote this in a few days and it was so much fun, I loved it. It's also the fic that actually cured my two-year writer's block so, yep, kudos for that. It's also one of my rare finished projects and I learned a lot writing it: start smaller, don't take yourself too seriously and have fun.

(Don't) Fall Like Icarus (jjpope, 19k, french, ongoing)

"Il ouvrit les yeux. Tout d’abord, il ne vit rien ; mais il faisait toujours face au miroir. Il avait les yeux rougis et brillants, à cause d’un affreux mélange d’alcool, de beuh et de fièvre, le teint cadavérique et l’air fou. Apeuré. Il commença à se tourner. Il ne comprit pas tout de suite ce qu’il voyait. Il y avait deux moignons qui lui sortaient du dos. Deux bouts de chair repliés qui ressemblaient à… À des ailes. JJ écarquilla les yeux. Non. Non. Pas lui. Pitié."

I keep coming back to this fic from time to time haha the (season 1!) summer gays who helped me survive through quarantine are just very dear to me + who doesn't love a good X-Men AU with a winged main character?

Intoxication (Morgana x Gwaine, 1,5k words, english, finished)

"It’s been a week. A week of red lingerie, teasing hands and snogging for hours. Gwaine thinks his tongue could fall from all the cunnilinguses he has given this week. It gets him even harder though, hearing Morgana let out satisfied sigh after satisfied sigh while his balls get bluer by the second – he hates it. He loves it."

I think that's one of the hottest things I wrote for Kinkalot lmao (but also I might be biased bc I love pegging and Morgana x Gwaine are just the hottest straight ship ever - but also idc these two together need more love).

Waiting For You To Wear Me Down (merthur, 10k, english, ongoing)

"Every Friday morning, Merlin sat his arse down next to Arthur, greeting him with a shit-eating grin or a big yawn that made Arthur groan and roll his eyes, and they spent the next best three hours of their week. Not that either of them would ever admit it." o-o-o I just wanted to write about Merlin in messy eyeliner and big combat boots and Arthur in posh pastel jumpers, and, as usual, like in any universe, they fight, bicker and fall in love.

!! This is my first actual fic in English haha (I had another but it doesn't really count because it was a translation)! It was so much fun writing this first part - I learned so much British slang writing it :') I need to continue it, I have a whole part from Arthur's POV planned.

Okay last one is hard bc I either want to share a old but loved unfinished (BIG) project of mine or the 1,5k words fic about Draconic!Merlin fucking Arthur lmao

Let's go with the merthur fic because I actually don't know if I will ever finish the big project:

Draconian Diet (merthur, 1,5k words, english, finished)

"One thing he could not quite get used to though was the sheer possessiveness Merlin could exhibit sometimes (not that he had any room to talk but, still). It started small; just harsh stares at people who dared touch him in front of Merlin, then hands sparkling with magic on his shoulders, at the small of his back, pushing, tugging. Grabbing. Barely perceptible growls and blue eyes heavy on him."

OKAY DONE.

Tag : @lai-ah my beloved. @shizuumi151 I have read your kny fics (and loved them) so please feel free to do this thing haha, and well, anyone who sees this and wants to do it! 👍👍 I just don't know enough people here to tag anyone lmao

#I should have done this thing on my actual fic writer blog lmao #well whatever #my actual favourite fic I've ever written isn't actually published (or finished yet - but it will be)

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shadowbends · 2 years

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I posted 5,560 times in 2022

That's 2,468 more posts than 2021!

21 posts created (0%)

5,539 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@somescribblybits

@dontron-9000

@number5theboy

@camlations

@onaishi

I tagged 5,559 of my posts in 2022

#rottmnt - 1,905 posts

#leonardo - 1,067 posts

#donatello - 990 posts

#umbrella academy - 894 posts

#michelangelo - 851 posts

#i laughed - 818 posts

#raphael - 804 posts

#asdfghjkl - 571 posts

#five - 431 posts

#klaus - 282 posts

Longest Tag: 82 characters

#i’d bet $10 rise!april taught the boys how to do doughnuts in an empty parking lot

My Top Posts in 2022:

I looked at my notifs, and one of my favorite ROTTMNT fanfic writers visited my blog??? The stars in my eyes you would not believe, screams—

11 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

I don’t know if it’s turtles having me feeling nostalgic, but I’ve had such an itch to get involved in fandom lately. I’m not much of an artist, and I don’t feel quite brave enough to try my hand at fic again. Gosh, it has be over twelve years since the last time I wrote, and I’m just too rusty.

The ROTTMNT fandom is super cute, though. I’m deeply enjoying all the fic and art and other creative fan content that crosses my path, and the fans seem very friendly.

It makes me want to contribute too, even if it’s just in a small way. In line with that, I’m thinking of putting together a fic rec list? Just not sure how I want to go about doing it yet, I’m tossing around several ideas ranging from a simple list to... something a bit more ambitious. We’ll see how it goes.

Idk, though. It’s so funny to me that once again turtles have me feeling like this. I’ve dabbled here and there in other fandoms, but the only one I was actually ever a part of was the 2k3 TMNT series from back in the day. So it’s just kind of serendipitous that ROTTMNT would be the one to make me feel this way again.

20 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

STUFFED CRUST!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (BETWEEN 5,000 AND 15,000 WORDS)

Hello again, cultured turtle fans! Do you enjoy good fanfic? Hopefully so, because I’m back with more recs! Whether you’re new to the fandom and diving into the ROTTMNT fic scene for the first time, or a veteran looking for content you might have missed, my hope for this project is to point you to something you’ll enjoy!

This rec list is the second of three and focuses on short stories in the fandom, with a length between 5,000 and 15,000 words each. Much like a stuffed crust pizza, they’re the perfect option when you’re feeling for something indulgent, but don’t want to go all out. If you want to browse a little more though, feel free to check out the other lists below!

NEW YORK STYLE, BABY!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (UNDER 5,000 WORDS)

STUFFED CRUST!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (BETWEEN 5,000 AND 15,000 WORDS) — You’re here!

DEEP DISH!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (OVER 15,000 WORDS)

If you enjoy any of these fics, make sure to reblog and spread the love! Don’t forget to check out the other works by these authors; many of them have written multiple wonderful stories not featured here that are just as good. Additionally, consider leaving the authors a comment! I’m not always the best at that myself, but fic writers work hard and deserve all the love in the world.

Now, let’s get to the recs. Bon appétit!

➤ ➤ ➤ PRE-SERIES

The Corner Store by KicsterAsh

12,790 words, 5/5 chapters

Character Focus: Raphael & his brothers, w/ Splinter coming in later

Genre: Fluff, Adventure

“I know what I’m spending my three dollars on,” Raph said. He and Donnie dragged Leo to the machine, which was near the front desk of the store, and sat him down against the wall. “Make sure he doesn’t fall asleep,” Raph said to his other siblings, before rushing to the front desk.

The man, who had been watching them since they dragged Leo into view, looked at the turtle as he ran over. Raph tried ignoring that he noticed this and only looked back once he had reached the counter, where his chin just reached over the top.

“Hello, Mister,” Raph said as politely as he could in his urgency. “How much is a small cup of hot chocolate?”

The man pushed up his glasses and looked at the machine. “It’s two dollars and seventy-five cents after tax,” he said.

“I dunno what tax is, but here.” Raph slapped three dollars down on the counter and then pointed at the machine. “Can you show me how to pour one, please? I’ve never done it before.”

I have such a soft spot for this fic; it was one of the first I ever read for the fandom, and it has the perfect blend of adorable turtle tot hijinks with just enough risk involved to make you concerned and keep the story gripping. To summarize the premise: Splinter lets the boys play topside in the snow while he scavenges for food and supplies, but is gone longer than anticipated. As the hours pass and the temperature drops, a young Raphael decides to break the rules and seek out human shelter to keep his brothers from freezing. All of the turtles’ budding personalities shine through in this story, but good older brother Raph is especially a treat here.

Lost and Found (Family) by ashtreelane

7,007 words, 2/2 chapters

Character Focus: April & Michelangelo, April & The Family

Genre: Fluff, Adventure

"Wow!" April says, her eyes wide with fascination. "Are you some sort of…turtle alien?"

"Yeah! Well- not the alien part, but I am a turtle!“

"So how can you talk?" April asks, leaning in to peek into Mikey's head hole. Her voice echoes slightly in the shell.

"Cause I'm not allllll turtle, duh!" Mikey says, smiling. "Our dad doesn't really like to talk about it, but he says that we’re the product of parental love and ‘unholy sorcery’!

"Oh wow! That’s way more interesting than how I got born!"

After being left behind on a field trip and struggling to find a way home, a young April finds someone just as lost as herself. A charming little story that tells how April met the turtles for the first time.

responsibility by TheWhitesOfYourEyes

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101 notes - Posted October 27, 2022

New York Style, Baby!! ROTTMNT Fanfic Recs (under 5,000 words)

Greetings, dudes and dudettes, and anyone in between! Do you enjoy good fanfic? Well, then you’ve come to the right place! As something of a collector of fics, I welcome you to peruse the many links below. Whether you’re new to the fandom and diving into the ROTTMNT fic scene for the first time, or a veteran looking for content you might have missed, my hope for this project is to point you to something you’ll enjoy!

This rec list is the first of three and focuses on ficlets in the fandom, with every one clocking in under 5,000 words. As such, all of them are also complete. Think of these as the New York Style pizza of fanfics: thin, but cheesy goodness that’s pre-sliced and ready to go when you have a killer craving, but no time to sit down. If you want to browse a little more though, feel free to check out the other lists below!

NEW YORK STYLE, BABY!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (UNDER 5,000 WORDS) — You’re here!

STUFFED CRUST!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (BETWEEN 5,000 AND 15,000 WORDS)

DEEP DISH!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (OVER 15,000 WORDS)

With that said, sit back, relax, and let’s grab a slice!

➤ ➤ ➤ PRE-SERIES

An Act of Yokai Kindness by BiographyDivider

2,834 words, 1/1 chapter

Character Focus: Splinter & The Boys

Genre: Fluff, Angst

“Okay, boys,” Lou Jistu said, kneeling down to look his gaggle of sons in the face. “What are our Topside Rules?”

“Hats on all the time,” Blue said, pulling his beanie down a little further.

“Or hoods,” Purple chimed in, scowling at his brother for forgetting that he liked a big hood, not a tight hat. Lou nodded.

“And jackets buttoned up too, right? To your chinny-chin-chins?”

A darling little fic about Splinter taking the boys on a trip to the local library—what might be their last trip, as it’s become increasingly difficult to pass them off as human. Features both Turtle Tot goodness and some absolutely on-point Splinter characterization, and is just all around wholesome.

Coming of Age, Coming to Terms by Drifting_Andromeda

4,018 words, 1/1 chapter

Character Focus: Leonardo & Splinter, Ensemble

Genre: Family Bonding, Fluff

“Huh.” Was all he said, which made Splinter chuckle.

“That’s not the reaction I was expecting.” The rat admitted.

“Really? What were you expecting?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe some more denial? I was definitely in denial when I first realized I was attracted to men.”

Leonardo realizes something about himself on his 12th birthday, but struggles putting those feelings to words. Thankfully, his dad is there to both offer support and help him sort it out.

Cradled Close by Poppyseed20

2,903 words, 2/2 chapters

Character Focus: Splinter & Leonardo, Ensemble

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121 notes - Posted October 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

DEEP DISH!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (OVER 15,000 WORDS)

It’s me again, folks. Do you enjoy good fanfic? We’re reaching the end of the line, but I’m here to hook you up! Whether you’re new to the fandom and diving into the ROTTMNT fic scene for the first time, or a veteran looking for content you might have missed, my hope for this project is to point you to something you’ll enjoy!

This rec list is the last of three and focuses on longfic in the fandom, with a word count reaching anywhere over 15,000 words. You’ll find a variety of fic here, from novellas to full-blown novels—some complete, but many still ongoing! Though it may be heresy on the streets of New York, this is the list you want when you’re craving something really thick to sink your teeth into: a sit-down experience exploding with flavor. Don’t have time for that, actually? Then consider checking out my previous rec lists as well!

NEW YORK STYLE, BABY!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (UNDER 5,000 WORDS)

STUFFED CRUST!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (BETWEEN 5,000 AND 15,000 WORDS)

DEEP DISH!! ROTTMNT FANFIC RECS (OVER 15,000 WORDS) — You’re here!

With all of that said, it’s time for the recs. Let’s dig in!

Quick note: On previous lists, I separated the recs by the general time period they took place in. I’m not going to that here, largely because—uh. Well. Nearly all of them are post-movie! This fandom’s sure been active in the last couple of months, huh? Given that, I’ll be sorting them by a broader method, but yes. If you’ve not seen the movie, this is your warning that spoilers abound in the recs below.

➤ ➤ ➤ CANON COMPLIANT

The Aftermath by Starrcrossrose

57,262 words, 9/? chapters (last updated 11/03/2022)

Character Focus: Everyone (Leo-centric)

Genre: Angst, Family Drama, Hurt/Comfort

It would’ve been easier to say what he was feeling, but he honestly didn’t know how. He wasn’t sure why, either. He knew his brothers would understand and comfort him and be there if he wanted them to be. Hell, Donnie’s surprise sleepover and everyone showing up for it in the living room had been proof of that.

Yet he still couldn’t do it. He’d tried to talk to Donnie and the pain on his brother’s face had been enough to make him never want to speak about things ever again. He didn’t want them to hurt the way he did; he wanted them to be okay and normal and happy.

You know they aren’t happy. Why do you keep pretending to be fine when the others aren’t either?

Leo squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into his knees as he pulled himself into an even tighter ball. He wanted to go into his shell as much as possible, but at the same time, a searing energy was making his legs feel like he could run or swim for miles. He could just go and go and go until he collapsed.

Maybe… maybe that'll help.

Set a few months after the movie, Leo struggles with the long recovery time needed for his injuries to heal, both physical and mental. Unable to talk about it, he turns to unhealthy coping methods instead. The rest of the family is doing no better from the fallout of the invasion, however, with each of their own stresses mounting the longer things go unaddressed. That is until Chapter 8, when things come to a head...

There are a lot of post-movie recovery fics out there, each one unique. The Aftermath’s hallmark has to be in its slowburn foreshadowing, and excellent character writing. Throughout many chapters, we get a glimpse into the heads of just about every beloved character the series has to offer, including April and Casey Jr. Little clues to what’s going to go wrong are set up early on, but just like the characters, I was blind to how serious of a turn things were about to take until the problem finally reared its head. This fic does a good job of showing how important it is to talk to one another, even if it’s hard.

Aftershocks by Katiemonz, McBethins, octolingkiera, theashemarie, and this_kills_the_man

153,543 words, 12/15 chapters (last updated 11/06/2022)

Character Focus: Everyone

Genre: Family Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

“Good game,” Leo said to Donnie, smiling at Mikey in the same sly way as before.

“Thank you, Leonardo, but as I’ve said Uno is—”

“But you still lost,” Leo continued. He swept the cards up and began to straighten them for another shuffle.

“Second place is hardly—”

“Honorary title,” Leo cut in again. “Mikey won, so we owe him.”

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268 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#long post #tumblr #the way my rottmnt brainrot finally surpassed my tua brainrot #though to be fair #I've yet to post any s3 content #so as to not spoil my friends who've not seen it #pi says things

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sassmar · 3 years

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literary wolfstar classics (rec list part 1, pre-2010)

Okay y'all. I threatened to do it and now I am doing it. This here is a rec list of "literary" wolfstar classics (all were originally written/posted pre-2010, many were written 2005 or earlier). By "literary" I mostly just mean heartbreakingly gorgeous with, like, decent grammar to boot. Sort of a rec list for snobbish lit-crit cunts like me (& probably Remus) and especially for any of you sweet children who weren't lurking the internet when a lot of these were being written/posted and may have missed some or all of these utterly seminal wolfstar texts :). Since returning to fic a few months ago after, like, a trillion years away, I've also discovered a few "new" (i.e. post-2010 lol) authors with some breathtakingly lovely and "literary" stories, and I'll try to get around to eventually compiling those into a similar list at a later date when I've got more free time. Probably won't be for a while yet.

So, without further ado/in no particular order - literary wolfstar classics:

"redeeming time" by minx.

A true classic. Written well before HBP (and maybe even before OOTP? - I'm not sure). A post-prank narrative told entirely from James's perspective (so it's also, of course, James/Lily, although wolfstar is the main storyline) and spanning Nov. 1976 - Nov. 1977. Minx's clean, straightforward prose works so perfectly for this story; it's, like, the quintessential growing-up narrative (but with gay wizards). This, this will always be canon to me. An all-time fave.

"fingerholds" by centaurea.

As far as I know, this is the author's only wolfstar fic, and omfg it is breathtakingly gorgeous. Non-linear narrative that shifts between First War & Lost Years. It tells the story of Remus and Sirius coming together after Hogwarts and then falling apart under the terror/suspicion of war. Again, the writing is fucking beautiful - imagistic, atmospheric, rife with metaphor. This might possibly be my favorite fanfic ever, although I really don't know because that's such a tough call. But anyway, this story will make you hurt.

"vector," "gasp," & "wane" by @rageprufrock.

Pru has written a number of wolfstar classics, so you can't go wrong with anything by her, but I picked these three because they strike me as the most "literary" (i.e. achingly gorgeous) of the lot. "Vector" is a lovely reflective piece in which Sirius, sidetracked by various memories in the midst of Christmas shopping, realizes he's in love with Remus; "Gasp" is basically just a beautiful, atmospheric sex scene (complete with a charming and pitch-perfect Confession of Feelings); "Wane" is a dreamy and poetic "fairytale for Remus," spanning his early childhood up through (and slightly beyond) Sirius's death in OOTP. I adore all of them. Her lighter/funnier fics (like "Seven Things") are also great so check those out, too.

"the times" by @imochan.

Absolutely everything imochan creates is gorgeous and she's written so many wolfstar classics. But I picked "The Times" for this list because the joy, the joy in this story is just so wonderful and palpable. It's a non-magic AU set in 1930s Ireland; Sirius is a paperboy and Remus works at the news office. This story is so beautifully written and unquestionably ranks among my all-time faves. A few other imochan classics I adore include "Liars Leaving My House," "Five Ways to Open Your Arms," & "Oh, Night, and Divine (The Selfish Wish Remix)." But really, anything by her is pretty much guaranteed to be gorgeous and wonderful.

"that the science of cartography is limited" by @sashayed aka rave/dorkorific.

Another true classic. Authored by one-half of the Shoebox Project team. Written pre-HBP, shifts back-and-forth in time between MWPP/post-Hogwarts days & post-OOTP/Remus in the aftermath of the veil, with the Marauders' Map and the boys' attempts to trace Hogwarts' ever-shifting walls with language becoming a sort of broad metaphor for the utterly tangible and seemingly solid yet eternally shifting, breathy, unstable, always-already crumbling foundations of human relationships - the "built-in" loss of relational existence. I mean, just beautiful.I cannot even. Another story that will hurt you.

"the love song of sirius black" by @kaydeefalls.

Based on Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and another true wolfstar classic. A poetic imagining of Sirius's fall through the veil as a sort of dreamy exploration of various major fork-roads in his life, with each section of the story depicting a diverging (i.e. non-canon) path from Sirius's reality. And the final dream scene - ohmyfuckinggod. You will cry. Unless your heart is, like, stone, but maybe even then. I'm so sorry because I'm just now realizing I should have probably called this rec list "wolfstar for masochists" or something like that because so many of these stories are just brutal. As a side note, kaydeefalls also has a number of other lovely fics worth checking out, such as "Quiet" and "Twas Brillig, and the Slithy Toves."

"in love" by minnow_53.

I adore minnow! She has written so many charming, clever, sweet (& often hilarious) wolfstar stories, and she has this way of stepping a bit outside of the characters and creating a fly-on-the-wall sort of vibe that is just so wry and funny, but also at times becomes ridiculously poignant. I know I already used this word but her prose is just charming, idk what else to even say. I picked "In Love" for this list because it is so fucking sweet, in the best way possible, and fairly indicative of her style generally, and also, just - ugh. How can this story not make you happy. The title is self-explanatory. Other fics by Minnow that I especially love include "The Cure" and "What We Did In The Holidays" (these two are just utterly hilarious).

"beat the devil" & "the love there that's sleeping" by musesfool/victoria_p.

Musesfool has written so many wolfstar classics that I cannot possibly account them all here and I'm pretty sure I haven't even read most of them. She is, like, prolific, and you likely can't go wrong with anything by her. But anyhow, I picked these two because they are, in different ways, so particularly gorgeous. "Beat the Devil" is a First War/Sirius pining/hook-up fic with just, such great atmosphere; the story is just thick with atmosphere. And "The Love There That's Sleeping" is a MWPP-era, Beatles-infused, cut-it-with-a-knife-sexual-tension sort of thing that is also, just, so lovely.

"the shortest distance between two people" by riko.

A year-by-year MWPP era fic (each section occurring during the corresponding Hogwarts year) that is just so lovely and charming and often so funny but with so much freaking hurt, too. And these utterly perfect characterizations to boot. This story is just good, I mean, really what else can I say.

"written by hand" & "the moon's significant tremble" by setissma.

I think setissma has written a lot of wolfstar (and some of it may even be hard to find now?) but I picked these two because they are just so lovely. "Written by Hand" features this beautiful premise where Remus has to spend a summer in Romania with no way of communicating with his friends/loved ones, and so with their consent he charms the walls in his summer flat to display everything they write down (letters, grocery lists, all of it). "The Moon's Significant Tremble" is a lovely non-magic AU wherein Sirius is posh and Remus is a schoolteacher and they meet on a train when Remus may or may not be attempting to steal Sirius's watch.

"a peripheral vision" by carmine_ink.

Another heartbreakingly lovely AU set in the 1890s, Cambridge, wherein Remus and Sirius share the misfortune of falling in love in a time/place where that sort of thing is Quite Illegal Indeed, and Remus's lycanthropy is beautifully translated into epilepsy.

"the drought story" by librae.

Librae's style is just so pretty - everything she writes is so atmospheric and poetic and richly imagistic. "Drought Story" takes place the summer between sixth and seventh year; Remus's owl dies and Sirius pays him a visit for the funeral rites. I don't even know how else to describe this story, other than - just lovely.

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AND here are some "honorable mentions" aka more lovely/charming/very well-written wolfstar classics that I just don't have the time/energy to type up full summaries for rn. But these are also all very, very good!

"a few mornings in january" by omgsubtext - in which Remus maybe sort of forgets to tell Sirius he's moved in with him, actually.

"ever after" by busaikko - in which Remus is a geeky astrophysicist & Sirius a gay Scheherazade.

"delta" by fahye - in which every single sentence is so poetically crafted.

"it's not the years, honey, it's the mileage" by thistlerose - in which Remus turns thirty-five and Sirius brings him stolen library books.

"cooler than frogs" by penknife - in which Sirius has a secret, and lycanthropy is very cool.

"the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" by penknife - in which Sirius is Harry's brooding, Rochester-esque guardian, and Remus Harry's private tutor.

"a flame in two cupped hands" by such_heights - in which Sirius adorably pines.

"for someone came and kissed me there" by such_heights - in which Remus gives Sirius a scandal for Christmas.

"as red as hearts and autumn" by rosemaryandrue - in which Remus has a sexual encounter in front of mermaids under Brighton Pier.

"fire shadows" by mysecretashes - in which Remus, Sirius, and Peter spend the summer before seventh year at James's.

"being an historical record . . ." by moonpants - in which Remus is ambushed by James during truth-or-dare.

"earl grey" by mariinarusalka - in which Remus drinks tea.

"heat the winter floods" by daphnaea - in which R & S share a flat, and Remus keeps piles.

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AND, finally, just for fun, this classic essay re: the canonical evidence for wolfstar, because I love close-reading and such nerdy shit as that: "the case for r / s" by elwing_alcyone.

<3<3<3

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oh and p.s. many thanks to @broomsticks for being so sweet & acclimating me to the wild world of tumblr!!

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continuing to tag authors as i find them, pls lmk if you would like a tag or story removed

#wolfstar #r/s #rec list #wolfstar reclist #r/s reclist #my recs #fanfic #marauders #remus lupin #sirius black #literary wolfstar recs

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