#fuck wheres that tag editor update

[the-patrex]

Hi I'm gonna vault off that last ask to say Doctor Who needs more xeno/alien genitals because why not. Kay bye.

Looove the concept! And hell yeah, doctor who for sure really should play more with the alien factor of the time lords and no just be "humans but regenation"

[logangarfield]

Full offense to @staff but I learned how to use this hellsite in 2012 so why the fuck am I having to relearn how to use it because Twitter users are coming here? 

[1roentgen]

.

[rose-ramblings]

Hey y’all, GoldictheHedgefox here, and welcome to my Dragon Ball side blog! This is where I’ll dump everything Dragon Ball-related so that it doesn’t get buried under the mountain of reblogs on my main. I’ll update this post with the main tags of the blog when there’s more content to sort them with, but until then, enjoy the shenanigans!

Edit 1: #goldic’s drawings is the first and main tag you’ll see on this blog as it’ll mostly be brainrot doodles (and I don’t have enough of anything else going on to update this post further at the moment, but there will be EVENTUALLY)

[sarcasrnspasrn]

people always talk abt desire sensors for things like RNG and gacha pulls or whatever. the real desire sensor is f*ndom dot com not updating its cache until after i go to bed even though it updated yesterday an hour before tonight's bedtime

[arcielee]

Ask Me Anything

Summary: Aemond asks his professor some questions.  Paring: Modern Aemond Targaryen x Female!Reader Word Count: 3162 Warnings: The smutty smut you all wanted, fingering, p in v.  Author’s Note:  Here is part 2, you can read part 1 Hazy Shades of Spring ♥ This was the poll winner and I had to make it into 2 parts. Also, I am also celebrating that I have over 400 followers now! Thank you all so much for reading, it fills me with joy. A shoutout to my muse and editor @f4ll-for-you​ thank you for your unique perspective and helping me become a better writer! ♥ Also, I got this finished on Ewan’s birthday? Coincidence? Yes, absolutely. My planning and scheduling is terrible.  Tags (Tumblr kindred spirits): @sirenofavalon @annikin-im-panicin @nina2697 @skikikikiikhhjuuh @itsabby15 @greenowlfactif @padfooteyes​ @danika1994 (If there is a strikethrough, it would not allow me to tag you.) 

Mrs. Lannister had been kind enough to share that even though you ended your office hours early on Fridays, you would often remain to finish the lesson plan for the next week. “She’s the only one who does this,” she continued her overshare, batting her lashes. “The rest of the faculty is already gone for the day…even I’m about to leave!”

Aemond returned a warm smile that was close lipped and allowed his cheeks to dimple, noting the faintest hint of rose to her complexion when he thanked her. His gait was languid with his fluid stride to follow the hallway that snaked through the building and back to where he already knew your office would be. 

He saw the glint of your name on the door plaque and it seemed closed; he stopped and rapped his knuckles on the wood, the action pushing it slightly ajar and allowing him to step in. 

“How may I help you?” You had asked without bothering to look up. Your laptop was open and a stack of papers were tidy on the side, but your focus remained on the one in front of you. 

Aemond thought to when his brother first enrolled in your business law course, his arrogance more obnoxious than usual when he came home to say, “My professor is hot and I am definitely fucking my way to an A.” 

Aemond did not even acknowledge the cocksure idiocracy he spewed and remained silent when Aegon would return with weekly updates before he inevitably begged their grandfather for a suitable donation to help him pass your class. He remembered being intrigued by the professor who, despite the board’s pressure, then only gave Aegon a barely passing grade.

Aegon was furious and Aemond only said: “You could always attempt studying,” with his eyebrow cocked.  

His brother moaned. “Wait until you have to deal with her.”

When Aemond entered the classroom, he remembered you were bold with your gaze and without the hint of fear he often met with other professors. Aegon had once described you as a librarian in need of a good railing, but Aemond liked your tasteful, almost bookworm look, how your hair would be twisted back and the glasses you wore during lectures.

He was dutiful with his classes, but with yours he found himself pressing for more; he would push for answers, often getting a rise from his classmates with his constant disputation, but you were unfazed by it, taking the time to pick apart any argument in your eloquent way and even admitting when he was correct with his verdict. Aemond would wait after the room emptied to approach your desk, pleasantries always exchanged and he liked your smile when you once said, “Are you sure you’re only twenty-two?” 

“Age is only a number,” he replied and relished in the blush that dusted your cheeks. 

Aemond could admit to himself he had a slight crush, but he did not understand the extent of it until the semester ended, until that Friday night. 

With Aegon doing a “study-abroad” in Essos, it was put on Aemond to help with the new restaurant. His uncle had been annoying throughout the set-up, using Aemond for menial micromanaging, and he was relieved with the grand opening, just to be rid of the role of Daemon’s tedious shadow. 

Everything is perfect, though, he thought during his rounds, walking the grand staircase towards the bar when he noticed your backside. 

Aemond did not immediately recognize you. For one, your hair was down, your thick main smoothed into a cascade of curls instead of the usual bun or braid your locks would be in. Also, the dress you wore fit to your curves in a way that looked like you had been poured into the garment, not your usual comfort uniform of a top, cardigan, and jeans. 

He was enamored by the curve of your back, how you were curled over the bartop and your attention focused on something, unaware of the few patrons that lingered with the hopes to draw your attention, before grabbing their drinks and moving on. It was the moment you paused to grab your glass of wine that he recognized your profile.

He had to talk to you.

“Professor?” 

Your hesitation was understandable, but eventually you fell into the ebb and flow of the comfortable conversations he would get moments of during your office hours. His heart jumped when you offered the excuse to take you out on the balcony.  He was enamored with the way you held yourself, the smile on your lips and how he never truly noticed the beauty of your eyes or how your lashes framed them. 

Aemond noted the moments you would hem for words, as if it was an internal debate to say one thing before you would give your genuine thoughts and your upfront honesty was something he welcomed. He noticed the flush to your cheeks and nose, perhaps from the bit of cold in the night air mixed with your passion for science fiction, which he had not expected, and that was the moment he stepped in to kiss you. 

You seemed to meld against him with a soft familiarity to his touch. He loved how your expression brightened when he took your hand and how you moved to keep with his strides towards the car he called for. Aemond waited with bated breath when you paused at the car door, watching when you leaned forward and it exaggerated the curves your dress complemented. He would have followed you to the ends of the earth, but you only asked him to come upstairs. 

The next morning, Aemond woke with your curled so perfectly against his chest, his silver hair between your fingertips. He did not move because he did not want to wake you and allow this tranquil moment to end. You were cute when your eyes fluttered open to take in your surroundings and he handed you your glasses. 

You seemed to not want him to leave and he stayed until Sunday. Even then you hesitated to let him go and he made sure to follow up with you, just a simple text that thanked you for the lovely weekend. He followed to ask when you would be available and was surprised when he did not get even an emoji for a response. 

Aemond waited before sending another text, but when he saw he had been left on read, he let it be. Maybe you thought the weekend was a mistake? Perhaps you had not enjoyed yourself like he assumed you had? 

The abrupt end confused him, until he received an alert from Amazon, suggesting a new book release from an author he made sure to follow. 

Your pseudonym, an anagram of your first and last name. 

He read Hazy Shades of Spring in one sitting and knew he had to see you again. 

“Hello, professor,” Aemond stepped into your office. “If you have a moment, I came to seek out your expertise on a matter.”

Your expression was stunned, your lips parted for a moment and your cheeks rosy from his severe gaze, his one sapphire eye glinting in the office light. “Yes, Aemond, hello,” you struggled for the greeting. “Please, sit down. How may I help you?” 

There was the probability of running into him on campus, but you had not expected for him to come directly to your office. Your eyes could not help but drink in his lithe figure, the grace of his movements as he seated himself in the chair across from your desk. His expression would have been stoic except for the slight upwards curl of his lips, amused by your flustered state. 

“I had some questions in regards to one's penumbra rights,” he began, watchful of your reaction with his deliberate words. “I think I could be a victim of unwarranted appropriation and I wonder how that would hold in the court of law?”    

You could feel the blood drain from your face and your tongue pressed against your bottom lip, your teeth biting as you brought it forward to try and relax your jaw. The gesture was subtle with your attempt to calm your nerves, but it was not missed from his intense gaze.

Aemond fucking smirked. 

Your eyes narrowed on him. “You would need undeniable proof of tort liability,” you began, your voice hoarse with your reply and you cleared your throat before continuing. “It would need to be undeniable that your likeness had been used without consent.” 

There was a pregnant pause; you refused to ask what he may or may not have and you watched the dimples line his cheeks with his knowing smile. “I believe I do have proof,” he finally said, reaching into his jean’s pockets and retrieving his phone. “It’s an ebook that was just released.” 

Oh, fuck. 

You force your features to relax and watch his screen light up, filled with text. “His mien is breathtaking, the sharp contours of his features-”

“That description could be used for any protagonist worth noting,” your voice interrupts, almost shrill; you find yourself standing on your side of the desk, your hands pressed on top to anchor you.

“Perhaps,” he replied, his eye flitted to you for a moment. Your breath came out slow through your parted lips, watching as he looked back at the screen and continued to read. “The severity of his gaze was offset by the sapphire stone-”

Your moves are quick and clumsy, coming around the desk and clasping your hands over his; your cheeks are flushed and you are bold with your stare. “Aemond,” you finally find your voice. “Why are you here? What do you want?”

There is a moment that his expression hardens, a flash of an emotion that is wiped away and instead his perpetual smirk returns to play at his lips. He pulled his hands away, pushing to stand while tucking his phone into his pocket.

You fall back as he takes a step towards you, his silver hair spilling forward when he leans forward to hold you attention. “I actually came for clarity,” his eye flits to your lips and he purses his own for a moment. “I had thought we had a lovely weekend together, but every reach out I attempted since had been left on read.” 

“Aemond,” you say his name with your exhale, breaking away and looking at the floor. 

His head tilts with a slight hum as he looks over your stance; your bottom is pressed to the edge of the desk and your arms stiff at your sides, with a hold on the profile that has your knuckles white with your grip, like you could not trust your idle hands.  

“I had thought,” he softened his tone. “I thought I had done something to offend you, or perhaps… you did not enjoy yourself, until…” you looked up and saw the glimmer of hope that danced through the aloof façade of Aemond Targaryen. He didn’t finish the thought and instead said,  “I also came here because I want to take you on a proper date, to go to an agreed location, where I will be punctual and we will have dinner together.” 

You cannot form words; your face is burning and you make a noise of disbelief, a mixture of a gasp with an almost laugh that stops in your throat by the touch of his warm palm to cup your cheek. His hold keeps you from looking away again, his stare intense. “I am telling you what I want, why I came here.” He leaned forward until the tip of his nose touched yours, the breath of his words fans your jawline and you can feel the ripple of goosebumps all over. “But if you are not interested, tell me now and I will stop. I will leave you alone.” 

You did not want him to leave you alone.

In fact, that weekend was on an endless loop in your mind. After he left, you began to write, fervently, and with every keystroke, you poured the intimate, delicious details into a transcript, hoping that when you sent it in, it would empty your mind of him.

It did not and Aemond consumed your thoughts. You remembered the ease of conversation, the comfort of his presence, and how you craved his touch, how alive you felt pinned under his steady gaze. 

Now he was in your office and his steady gaze was burning; you bit your bottom lip, your fervor basked in the flame of his stare, savoring the warmth that he exuded. His scent washed over you, just his proximity made your skin feel aflame. 

The moment ends when Aemond relaxes his stance, falling back a step, and only then did you react. Your hand touches the junction of his shoulder to his throat, your fingers curling around the back of his neck to bring his lips to yours. He welcomes your mouth with a lusty frenzy and you moan when you feel his tongue move to taste your mouth. 

He closes in on you, his thigh pushing your legs apart and his hand on your jaw to tilt your head, moving to ghost his lips on the column of your neck until they reach your ear. “I love that you are a woman of action,” his husky tone and words tickle your skin. “But, remember, I require verbal consent.” 

Your hands move to his jawline, your right hand hovering and careful to not quite touch. “Yes, Aemond, please,” you beg him, your eyes wide. “I wanted to reply but I…” 

He interrupts your words with another kiss and he is hungry to taste you again. Your arm wraps around his neck and the other hand is pressed against his solid chest. His hands move to follow the curves of your hips and wrap around to cup below your ass, bringing you flush against him.

Your hands drop to unbutton your jeans and you feel his warm palms slip into the waistband of both, pulling your underwear as he peels you bare. He presses against you, lifting to set you on the desk edge before kneeling in front of you and unlacing each Converse shoe. Aemond sets them aside and returns to grab the fabric to pull it off; you burn from his stare and he leans to kiss the inside of your knee, his lips trailing your thighs and his hand pulling himself to stand again. 

You watch him bring two slender fingers to his mouth and wet them with his tongue, before they dip between your thighs. A gasp spills from your kiss-swollen lips when he touches you with familiarity, following the crease of your wet folds and the slow curl of his finger inside you. 

He watches your response, the arc of your back with the rub of his fingertips in your velvet walls until you mewl his name. Aemond hums, a smile to his lips, and adds a second finger, continuing the same come hither motion to that same sweet spot. His wrist shifts, allowing his thumb to press against the nub above with ample pressure and you moan loudly to his touch. Aemond continues his ministrations until he feels you clenching; there is a lewd sound of your wet heat and how his fingers continue to fuck you through your climax, until you whimper from the overstimulation. 

You look at him through lidded eyes, still on the curtails of your release; he licks his fingers clean with a grin, his gaze narrowing on you. “Is it better than the book?” 

Your look hardens and you push from the desk, desperate to pull his shirt over his head and the fall of his silver tresses tickle your face; your cardigan falls to the ground, your fitted shirt follows. He is still smug when you place your hands on his chest and push for him to fall back into the chair, your touch falling to unbutton his jeans. 

Aemond lifts his hips to bring it down enough, his hand wrapping around the base of his member. Your mouth waters at the sight and you step to straddle the chair, lowering yourself so he can line with your entrance before you sink further.  

You moan as he fills your velvet walls and he wraps his arms around your waist, burying his face into your neck and allowing you a moment to adjust to his size. With slow breaths, your nails bite into his shoulders and you press onto the balls of your feet to rise and lower onto his length.

There is a soft echo in the office with the lewd noises, the suction of your cunt to take him in and your wanton moans when he begins to thrust upwards, meeting your motion. He presses his lips against your ear with the hot whisper, “Stop clenching or I won’t last.” 

You almost purr from the sensation, turning your head to find his lips. “You’re fine,” your voice is breathless. “I’m on the pill.” 

He stills and you look to see his pupil blown, taking you in; without a word, his hands grip into the soft flesh of your ass and he moves to lift you. You squeak your surprise, your legs quick to wrap his waist as he takes a step towards the desk; the polish wood is cool to the touch when he sets you down, reaching behind you to clear away the clutter and laying you back on the desktop, positioning you until you are nearly folded in half. 

This new angle has you a mewling mess of tears, the flutter of your cunt encourages his fingers to bruise into your hips with a brutal pace until you see stars. 

You can feel the twitch of his cock and a low, guttural groan from the back of his throat with his peak. Aemond leans forward, his forehead damp and pressed to yours, his breath warm with his exhale until it evens again. 

He looks and notices a box of kleenex, reaching for it and is careful to clean the mess. You sit up, still feeling the trough of the waves of your release tingling over, your hand moving to pull the hair tie and your fingers comb out the braid.

Aemond rightens his jeans, but does not button them; instead, he looks at you, another hum as he reaches to cup your face, bringing his lips to your forehead and then tilting your head back to find your lips. You stare at him a moment, warm from his touch and also shy at the realization you are still very much naked. 

“What now?” You ask, pushing to stand.

He pulls you against his bare chest and your heart flutters from his warmth. “Depends,” he murmurs and you pull back to look up at him. “Which restaurant did you want to go to?”

[rosewaterandivy]

Everyone But You - a Life as We Know It au

Ch. 2 - I've Got That Lefty Curse

previous | masterlist | next

Summary: hey, you know what a funeral is decidedly not for? gettin' your dick wet. | OR eddie munson's no good, very bad lay. Pairing: e.m. x f!oc w.c.: 4.9K warnings: NSFW / MDNI, immersive second person narration w/ a name and background but no physical description mentioned, grief, character death, funeral, jason carver mention, badly repressed emotions, poor emotional regulation skills, bathroom antics inspired by the moves of Paris Geller and that one scene from Catch & Release tagging: @powderblueblood for coming up with Eddie's nickname for the rover 😘

The garage door trundles open as Eddie twirls the keys in a flourish. You squint behind your sunglasses, bringing your phone closer to avoid the sun’s glare as you triple-check the directions to CPS.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” Eddie grouses as the car comes into view. It’s big, some kind of SUV, a Range Rover apparently, if his grumbling is to go by, one that is impeccably clean.

“What’s the problem?” You walk toward the car as it chirps to unlock, “Keys,” You point to his outstretched hand, “Driver,” You point to him and finally gesture to the car, “Vehicle.”

He scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Right, sure. Lemme drive this car that’s worth more than my life, that’ll go real swell!” He choruses in false cheer before his face falls, “Yeah, no. Think fast,” He lobs the keys toward you which you step to avoid, and the pair of you watch as they rattle to the floor.

“Well shit, Sherlock, y’know you’re supposed to catch things as they’re thrown at you.”

You roll your lips between your teeth and raise a brow, “I don’t drive.”

“Riiiight,” Eddie says, scooping down to collect the keys. “Of course you don’t, your majesty. Wouldn’t want to sully ourselves with something so pedestrian.” He yanks the driver’s side door open and hauls himself inside.

Settled in the passenger seat, you buckle your seatbelt and pair your phone to the bluetooth in the car. Eddie adjusts the seat and mirror before deciding on a Sirius station for the fifteen minute journey to downtown.

“For the record,” He says, pulling out onto the residential street, “I have a driver’s license, not a boating one. This thing is a goddamn behemoth.”

The car lurches forward as he navigates toward the stop sign at the end of the block, the seatbelt seizes against your chest, jerking you backward into the seat.

“Munson, sort your shit out! There’s going to be an actual baby whose well-being we’re responsible for in here, you know.”

He kisses his teeth and huffs in exasperation, “Sorryyy, I can’t figure out the damn clutch on the S.S. Fuck The Planet, princess. Jesus H. Christ.” 

You make a mental note to have the insurance policy switched over and update the title on the cars as well. Swiping over to the notes app, you tap out a reminder and add a trip to the grocery store for good measure. The list is titled: HOW TO SURVIVE IN HAWKINS and has such gems as: whole foods - where?, research moving co.’s NYC, check out brownstone, contact attorney & set up will, utilities & electric??, and baby books!!!

While you prepped for the impending arrival of Zoë and a prolonged stay in the Midwest, Eddie prattled through the house like Jacob Marley’s ghost shuffling from one vacant room to the next. He’d sent something off to his agent and editor via email about pushing the deadline back for his current novel, and had thrown his duffle in one of the spare bedrooms upstairs, the one furthest from Chrissy and Jason’s room, naturally.

You’d settled in a room close to the nursery and across the way from Eddie. The guest bath was conveniently at the end of the hall just before the staircase. Neither of you bothered unpacking after Max left, just threw your bags upstairs and scrambled to the garage to pick up Zoë as soon as possible.

The ride smooths out, eventually, Eddie seeming to get a hang of the clutch or whatever it was, and soon enough you’re being escorted back to the caseworker’s office at CPS. 

She instructs you to sign the form with your intention of temporary custody just until the court can set a date with the judge to award full custody. Until that time, a caseworker would be checking up on Zoë and your care of her, the findings of which would be presented to the judge at a later date.

“And if you’ll sign here as well, Mr. Munson.” 

Eddie scribbles off his disaster of a signature just as Zoe is brought in.

“Oh,” You sigh, relieved as you rise from the chair. “There she is.” You adjust the strap of your tote on your shoulder and leave the room, gently taking her from a woman with a nod of thanks. Keeping your voice soft and low, you greet Zoë. “Hi, sweetheart. Hi sweet girl!”

It’s rare that Eddie ever hears you like this, voice pitched just so as not to hint at any sadness you may be grappling with currently. And Zoë, she looks so pink and cute— footsie pajamas decorated in little hearts. 

“Oh, honey. It’s so good to see you.” You brush back her downy blonde hair just as she begins to fuss, blue eyes falling to Eddie, who is rendered speechless in the office. He sniffs to clear any welling tears and quietly thanks the caseworker before joining you in the waiting room.

“I know, I know,” You soothe, rocking her back and forth, watching as Eddie steps beside you. 

Zoë continues her soft cries, not nearing meltdown territory yet, but rather expressing her confusion or discomfort. Eddie’s hand cards through her wisps of blonde hair as you turn and say, “Hey, look. Hey, look – it’s Uncle Eddie!” Which seems to placate her somewhat, as chubby arm reaches toward him.

Lifting her from your hip, you continue to narrate: “Wanna go see him? Good, he’s right here.” And place her squarely against his chest, his hands coming to grip her sides as she tucks herself against him, little fingers gripping the worn fabric of his shirt.

You watch as he holds his goddaughter, her soft cries falling away to nothing as she nuzzles into his neck. “Okay,” You breathe, “We should really get her home.”

The car seat, however, proves difficult. Eddie has grimaced and groused his way through various belt to lock combinations, determining all of them to be useless.

“Who designed this thing, a fuckin’ Space X engineer?”

Leaning against the car with Zoë, you decide fifteen minutes is more than enough time for Eddie to dick around with the car seat. “Shove over Elon, this is getting ridiculous.” 

Seamlessly, you set Zoë in the car seat and buckle her in. “See?” You ask, a taunting lilt to your voice, “Was that so difficult?”

“Well, that’s because I eliminated all other possibilities, so obviously you—”

“Shut it, Munson. And drive.”

You’re nearly back to Loch Nora when a cop lights up behind the rover. “Really, today? C’mon man!” Eddie pulls off to the side of the road, going for his wallet before stopping short. “Oh, shit.”

“Oh shit? What do you mean oh shit?!” You whisper frantically, “This isn’t really on ‘oh shit’ type of moment, if you hadn’t noticed!”

“God, would you shut up for, like, two seconds so I can think?!”

“Please, let’s not pretend you think.”

An intentional elbow jabs into his ribs with enough force for him to hiss. He’s about to snarl something not fit for tiny ears back at you when two raps on the window shocks you both into silence.

Eddie reluctantly rolls down the window with a pained smile. 

“Morning officer, what seems to be the problem?”

There’s a pause before a bellowing laugh. “Munson!? Well, of all the gin joints in all the world—”

Eddie’s face flushes pink, “Uh, right. Hi there, Hop.” He clears his throat, “How are… things.”

“Bout to ask you the same thing, kid.” He pockets his aviator glasses and leans against the door, propping one arm to rest on the roof. “D’you know you rolled through that light down on Main before turning onto Pinebow?”

“Uh, no. Sorry, must’ve been distracted.”

“I’ll say,” The officer peers into the car, gaze falling on you. “Morning ma’am. Mind getting me the registration from the glove box?”

“I, uh,” You supply, uselessly. Eddie leans over to do it himself before you can ask what a registration would even look like. Your eyes dart back to Zoë still sleeping soundly. 

“I need to level with you Hop,” Eddie says, handing the paper over to him. “This is not my car, this is not my beautiful wife, and my license is expired.”

“It is!?” You ask, furious. How could he be so irresponsible? There is a child riding in the backseat! Before you can rip him a new asshole, the officer chuckles.

“Can’t say I’m surprised Ed. Shame about the wife bit though.” He reads the registration and passes it back to Eddie. “But considering the circumstances … I’ll let this one slide.”

“The circumstances?” You prompt, wondering how the hell a traffic cop would know about Chrissy and Jason’s accident.

“My condolences,” He says with a frown and furrowed brow, as if the very idea of their absence unsettles him. “It’s a small town, I’m sure everyone’ll know by day’s end.”

Hop puts his glasses back on and steps back from the vehicle. He nods to you with a small smile, before his eyes narrow on Eddie. “You need to get this taken care of, Munson.” Slapping the roof of the car, he turns on his heel and walks back to the cruiser, “See you Friday!”

Eddie waves him off and pulls back onto the road. Offering positively zero explanations as to why this man you’d never met before today would be showing up to the house later this week.

“Munson, why does that cop think he's coming by the house later?”

“Hmm, oh, Hop? He’s not just a cop, he’s the Sheriff.” 

As if that made it any better.

“Do I want to know why you’re friendly with the boys in blue, er, khaki? Thought you were the commander and chief of ACAB.”

“That,” He says, punching the button to open the garage as the house comes back into view, “Is a story for another time. But for now, just chalk it up to the fact that Hawkins is a verrrry small town, princess.”

By Friday, your bags still remain unpacked by the door to the guest room. It would be so easy to call a car, book a flight and just leave, like it had never happened in the first place.

You’re pretty sure that’s what Munson is expecting you to do. He doesn’t trust you, nor you him. How can you? It’s not like you were ever friends. And it’s not like you’ve seen him in that way since—

A soft knock from the door has you turning to find him holding Zoë in the crook of his arm. She’s smiling and sleepy, fresh from her bath. One that had left you positively drenched, prompting a hasty retreat to find a change of clothes.

“They’re, uh, driving up now.” Eddie mumbles, and though he hasn’t said it, hasn’t complained one bit, you can see how exhausted he is. Essentially dead on your feet from your first night with Zoë. 

She’d cried and wailed all night, or so it felt, and you were sure you’d wake up to a noise complaint or violation of the HOA’s quiet hours or some such shit. Eddie had volunteered to stay with her that night, elected to sleep on the couch in the nursery because he’s “slept on worse.”

He’s said it as if he didn’t already have dark circles under his eyes, as if they hadn’t been awake for over 24 hours, and you want to refute it, to say you can keep the baby monitor on you instead, but the look in Eddie’s eyes tells you this isn’t just about staying the night with Zoë. 

It’s that he wants to make sure Chrissy’s daughter is safe, to protect her daughter in the way he wasn’t able to protect his best friend last night.

“Could you just sleep in—” You tilt your head toward Chrissy and Jason’s room, it’s closer to the nursery anyway. But you don’t get to finish your thought before he’s swept in to the room and settled Zoë in her crib for the night. The conversation effectively over.

“Right,” You say, peeling off the door frame to leave, “Forget I asked.”

But that was last night, and you’d be remiss to say that you’d made it much longer on your own. The room was far too quiet, the sheets too stiff, and you couldn’t find your sound machine to save your life.

It’s two o’clock when you stumble into the nursery, nearly tripping over Eddie’s prone leg because he’s too tall for the small couch, but he doesn’t wake. You make yourself comfortable on the plush white rug, the one Chrissy had sworn felt like a cloud and rest your head on the pillow you’d snuck in from the guest room.

Maybe it’s the white noise machine looped to Zoë’s crib, or maybe it’s the proximity of being close to her that brings a sense of calm that’s enough to lull you into sleep. And maybe, it’s the soft snores and snuffles that fall from the tangle of limbs precariously close to slipping off of the couch.

Regardless, you and Eddie had somewhat survived your first day as guardians. Had struggled through feedings and diaper changes, nap time, and seemingly endless loads of laundry. You’d read Chrissy’s parenting books and ordered more to be delivered tomorrow. Eddie had returned victorious from a Target run and you’d each set about slapping sticky notes and scribbling furiously on a huge tear away calendar— you’d even assigned colors: you were purple, Eddie was neon green, Zoë was pink, naturally.

Max, Eddie’s friend and the estate attorney, had apparently rallied the troops for a family dinner for that evening. You and Eddie were to do nothing, under strict instructions from someone named Nancy to relax and focus on Zoë. You could hear the front door opening as people made their way inside for dinner. 

Gently, Eddie passes Zoë off to you and helps you wrap the sling around your torso. After watching several tutorials on YouTube, you felt confident that everyone would feel more comfortable this way. Plus, your arms were killing you— who knew carrying a baby around could be so tiring?

Once downstairs, introductions are made. Eddie names off everyone in attendance as they stare at you like a new exhibit at the MoMa, or maybe the zoo is more accurate. Immediately, you can see that you don’t belong. Everyone is dressed down casually in jeans and t-shirts, their shoes kicked off by the door.

Whereas you, on the other hand, announce your presence with the click-clack of your heels on the floorboards. Swan into rooms with impeccable posture and sport dresses never more than a season old, unless they’re archival vintage, of course. A bold lip and manicured nails, not a hair out of place.

To the assembled people of Hawkins, you sure cut the figure of a Stepford wife.

“Hi,” A voice pipes up from the man to your right, “I’m Ste—”

A metallic clang sounds out, muffling whatever he had to say. Quickly followed by an exasperated, “Oh, goddamit!”

You smile at him, “The pleasure is all mine. Dean, you said it was?” 

“I, uh,” He stammers out, unable to land his gaze anywhere on your person.

“Right,” You say primly, hearing more cursing from the kitchen, “If you’ll excuse me.”

And, of course, the source of the cacophony is none other than Munson himself. He’s got the hood fan going on the stovetop, and there’s smoke pluming from the oven. Company has been here all of ten minutes and he’s already going to burn the house down.

You grab the sheet pan he’s using to dissipate the smoke from the alarms on the ceiling and narrowly avoid smacking him upside the head.

“I never took you for an arsonist, but hey, there’s a first time for everything.”

He coughs into his shoulder, his hand waving through the air uselessly. But before you can tell him to shove over and let you handle things, people stream into the kitchen. Eddie is shuffled from the stove by a kind woman named Joyce, only to be pulled away by an older man, his uncle Wayne, while Hopper takes over in the kitchen.

Windows are opened by Max and Lucas, allowing the smoke to dissipate. And eventually, Joyce offers to take Zoë and put her to bed after her dinner of mashed peas and carrots. Begrudgingly you let her, dropping a kiss to her downy blonde curls before she’s whisked away.

Dinner is nice as is the company, even if conversation is a bit stilted and awkward given the circumstances. You don’t say much and no one expects you to, but every so often Wayne will catch you gaze and offer a small smile. It’s easy to appreciate his silence, to see it as a comfort because god knows his nephew is normally anything but.

You’re on your second glass of wine for the evening, listening to Robin as she details the various hijinks of what she refers to as the Scoops Troop. But she keeps mentioning someone named Steve and you have half a mind to ask her who that could possibly be. Dean, for all his lack of being mentioned in these stories, laughs along good-naturedly.

It’s when you yawn for the second time in five minutes, that Eddie suggests: “Hey, you should go up and get some sleep.”

You scowl, confused and pleasantly buzzed but stand up all the same. “Fine, but no promises, Munson.”

It had been decided that you’d give the eulogy for the service today. Eddie sits with Zoë in his lap – she's dozing off and you’re thankful – and when Eddie stares up at you, you can feel your heart in your throat. Initially, it seemed that Eddie would deliver the eulogy, this was, after all, his hometown and this church was full of people he’d known most of his life.

But when he’d come to you two nights ago after Zoë had finally fallen asleep, shaking like a leaf with crescent hollows beneath his eyes that the moon would envy, and he’d said in a voice so broken and empty: “I just can’t do it. Please don’t make me.”

And so you didn’t.

Halfway through, while the crowd is chuckling sadly, politely, at your anecdotes about Chrissy and Jason. Things are going well until Zoë begins to hiccup and throws a tantrum. Ellie, Chrissy’s mom, scoops her up into her arms easily and carries her out of the church. Over her shoulder, Zoë’s arms stretch out toward the front of the church, her face crumpled as she cries for her mommy and daddy.

Me too baby girl, me too.

You force yourself to look back at Eddie, and his eyes meet yours. It's a moment of understanding that goes straight to your gut and steals the breath from your lungs; Chrissy wasn’t ever coming back.

The wake is held at the house, a tasteful catered affair courtesy of Jason’s parents. Everyone thought it best for Zoë to be in a familiar setting to try and stick to her routine. People mill about downstairs stopping every so often to shake your hand and offer their condolences, thoughts and prayers, or claim that their hearts are with you during this difficult time.

It’s all you can do not to scream as you hold Zoë like a life raft. So, instead of snapping something at someone’s handsy uncle who has had you cornered for the last five minutes or so, you talk to Chrissy in your head.

What were you thinking Chris? This wasn’t the plan at all, in fact, you’ve jumped the gun by about sixty-odd years y’know. If you care to recall, we said we’d outlive our husbands and buy a place on the Cape. Descend into spinsterhood in style, and then haunt the shit out of that property, as is our right.

Ellie checks in on you with a soft touch to the arm, ushering pervy uncle toward the hors d’oeuvres. Small miracles. You can feel the tears gathering on your lashes, and you know that your tolerance for these platitudes is quickly dwindling. You haven’t seen Eddie since he fed and changed Zoë an hour or so ago.

He’s been distant since that night, the one where you’d refused him and drawn your line in the sand.

Catching sight of Robin, you tell her that Zoë is going for her nap and she promises to make your excuses. She latches on to that guy she seems permanently attached to, (Dean, you wanna say?) and they begin to spread the word in an attempt to clear everyone out.

You take the stairs slowly, not wanting to shift the dozing girl in your arms too much, as you step onto the second floor landing. Turning into the nursery, you set her down on the changing table and rid her of her funeral dress.

No little girl should ever have one, much less be given the opportunity to wear it.

Back in her comfy pjs, you sit on the rocking chair and kick off your heels. Zoë nuzzles against your neck as you hum softly. Sooner than you’d anticipated, the rhythmic rocking to and fro has eased her into sleep. Rising as gently as you’re able, you lay her down in the crib, turn on her sound machine, and step out of the room with baby monitor in hand.

Downstairs, you can hear rumblings of conversation overridden by a male voice: “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!” 

Chuckling, you duck into the guest bathroom before any of the hangers on can spot you as they take their leave. Back hitting the door, you allow yourself a moment or two to breathe. Surrounded by people all day on what has arguably been the worst day of your life to date. Smoothing down the skirt of your dress, you pull the shower curtain aside and step into the basin of the bathtub. Once settled, you draw the curtain closed again and let your head rest against the tile wall.

“Why did you leave me alone like this, Chrissy?” You say, voice ricocheting off the bathroom tiles. “You know I can’t handle anything without you.”

Not two minutes later, and someone comes barreling in. Huh, guess you never did lock that door. 

Before you can alert them of your presence, a high-pitched giggle sounds out followed by the scuffling of feet. The door is shut, and the lock is thrown as the giggle turns into a high, breathy gasp. They sound closer now, if the wet sounds of tongues battling for dominance is anything to go by.

Rearing back, you sink into the corner of the tub and will it all to go away. The noxious, ringing laughter continues unabated only punctuated by the sounds of a belt buckle clinking against the sink, a zipper being pulled down.

If you were so inclined (which you are decidedly not), you could simply turn your head to the left and feast your eyes on the shadow sexual escapades of one—

“Oh, Eddie.”

For fuck’s sake! As if this day could get any worse.

But, oh wait, it does.

“Sock it to me!” 

Biting the heel of your hand to quell the rising laughter, your eyes blow wide at her litany of ‘sock it to me’s’ – it’s as if that’s the only thing her poorly wired brain will allow her to say mid-coitus. Eddie’s laughter, understandable given the circumstances, devolves into an attempt to shush his conquest from what has got to be the most unimaginative dirty talk you’ve had the misfortune to be privy to.

When she finally reaches her peak (“Yeah! That’s so good!”), you’ve already mentally catalogued the ways in which you could have a) killed yourself in the interim, b) killed Eddie, and c) killed this poor woman, in all likelihood saving her from a life of mediocre sex at funerals.

“Thanks.”

Well, at least she’s polite.

“Uh, you’re welcome.”

Eddie sounds embarrassed, voice tight and you can imagine he’s doing that thing where he drums his fingers against his thigh, impatiently waiting for this all to be over. His lips are probably tucked between his teeth while she washes her hands, eyes anywhere but on her.

There’s the sound of the door being unlocked and the throw away line of “Call me,” and with that, she’s gone.

The sink runs again, Eddie muttering to himself under his breath, and for the briefest of seconds when you dramatically pull the shower curtain open, you could’ve sworn you saw something akin to regret (or was it disgust?) as he looked at himself in the mirror.

“Fuck!” 

He jumps back, startled at your Houdini-esque appearance. All too calmly, you step out from the bathtub, gaze fixed on him all the while. You pluck the joint from his fingers and stow it in your pocket. 

And you haven’t launched into him yet, so maybe this isn’t the verbal crucifixion that Eddie thinks it’ll be. There’s a curl to his lips that says he’s going to be a problem, that he’s going to make a joke out of this, as if he hadn’t buried his best friend earlier today and then gone and screwed a cater waiter in the bathroom of her house during the wake.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't my Lady Disdain,” He drawls, arms loosely crossed against his chest, “Are you yet living?”

It is only in deference to Zoë that you don’t go scorched earth on his ass right then and there. There’s a soft squawk from your other pocket where the baby monitor is as she likely rolls over in her sleep.

“I am only going to say this once, Munson, so you better get it through that abomination you call a skull.”

Briefly, someone attempts to enter the bathroom, the door nudging open only to be forcefully shut as you, in an impressive feat of balance, slam one Manolo Blahnik clad heel against the door and shove it closed.

“Occupied!”

You wait a beat or two, leg slotted against the door to be sure that whomever was on the opposite side did not attempt further entry. 

If only your yoga instructor could see you now.

Releasing your hold on the door, you flip the lock and take measured steps back to Eddie who is now crowded back against the pedestal sink.

“Did ya have some fun? Get you rocks off? Add another notch to the bedpost?” You seethe, and he knows better than to interrupt when you’re like this. “What a fitting way to send off Chrissy, huh? By defiling her home because you lack something called self-restraint.”

“Hey, that’s not—”

“What, is that not accurate Munson? Because from where I was sitting, it sounded like you couldn’t wait bust your nut into the next woman who batted her lashes at you, who maybe, juuuust maybe,” You take one step closer, a mere breath away from him. “Suffers form an undiagnosed brain injury and lowers herself to slum it with the likes of you.”

“Tell me how you really feel, sweetheart,” He sneers, “All those years of therapy seem to be doin’ wonders for your self-esteem. Because you’re too high and mighty to count yourself one of the crowd, right?”

“You have no right—”

“I have no right? Are you kidding me? I'm not the one who shuts down at the first opportunity, who would rather run away than stay here and deal with this!"

"It's not like I’ve left! I'm here, aren't I?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know that?" He demands. "We are not just playing house here! And you can’t pretend that we’re not partners in this. If you’re so scared, why didn't you say anything?”

You storm toward the door, unlocking it as you turn the knob to leave. To get away from him and his pitying looks, his judgment.

"Because I don't need you!"

Eddie’s hand covers yours, “Maybe I need you!" He snaps, almost shouting. "Maybe I need you to work with me instead of against me. Maybe I need you to stop doubting yourself, because there's already so much to worry about and I can't help worrying about you. Maybe I need you to stop being so damn independent and self-absorbed. Maybe I need you to realize that you're not the only person here who lost a best friend."

The heartbreak on his face is so painfully clear that you can feel it in your chest; you can't believe you didn't noticed it before.

The door creaks open.

"Hey, are you guys – oh, sorry."

You turn from Eddie to see Robin on the stairs, hesitating. You clear your throat and blink away any tears, as you step through the door. "Can I help you?"

"I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting," You say, turning toward her and smoothing down your dress.

"Okaaaay." She looks doubtful. "Everyone’s cleared out, leftovers are in the fridge. I checked on Zo and she’s still zonked out."

You nod, “Thanks, for everything.”

“Happy to help.”

You wait until her footsteps fade away, and the front door shuts. Gritting your teeth, you watch as Eddie steps away from you and avoids making eye contact, your jaw clenched tightly enough to hurt.

There's something empty and aching at the base of your throat, and no matter how much you swallow, it won't go away.

[nicoforlifetrue]

Absolutely DELIGHTED you added 2012!Jonatello to the silly little feral turtle crossover fic, genuinely. It wasn't even necessary to add it, it's a whole side-plot that the story could probably survive without, but you added it anyway. It hasn't even shown up yet aside for tiny little hints, which are easy to miss if you're not looking for it. And yet you threw it into the pot anyway. I didn't even start reading the fic for it, and yet I was delightfully surprised to see it anyways. It's like ordering a happy meal with no expectations for the toy and getting the exact toy you would've wanted anyways. Amazing. Even though I know we're gonna get brutally murdered while reading the fic (discord member here haha) I'm perfectly content with it simply because Rotten Reflections has everything in it that makes it the perfect tmnt fic for me. It has quickly become my new comfort fic and I'm absolutely delighted I get to see it develop in real time. Getting to see the update notifications in my inbox every week has definitely been the highlight of my year so far. I always love it when I get to be a part of a fic completing its journey, and fics like Rotten Reflections is why. Thank you for sharing this wonderful fic with us, I look forward to being apart of this journey with you, your editors and crew working on the fic, and my fellow readers. I'll see you in the comment sections of chapter nine!

Hiejcue JJ dufnfhvhgj

AHHHHHHHH

Tbh me and The Crew(tm) added jonatello way back in those early stages when this fic was mostly a joke and something we just liked the idea of, it wasn't even going to be tagged originally cus it was such a background peice, but then I decided no one, absolutely no one, in the au would be bashed.

Aka Aprils misogynistic poor clearly 2012 female character writeing suddenly became an issue.

As a result of her getting the Nico Treatment (tm) her boys got pulled in as a result (cus their a trio! And her original concepts where just so good, god im fucking drooling over what I have planned for the threes growth as individuals and together and how it affected them growing up from young teens to nearly adults-)

Because they got pulled into this development with her, suddenly they had an a background act set up to just get them together, their unique set up, why they acted the way they did when they where younger and now, etc etc.

That much being dedicated to them ment that I had to main tag them instead of just background tagging them like originally planned!

God I hope you guys like what I have planned the poor discord, forever cursed with knowledge ;b

[gummiewerm]

you probably get this all the time but your neocities site is so amazing, do you have any advice/resources for people who are new to html/css or just coding in general, i eventually really want to achieve the same sort of perfectly cluttered vibes but I don't know where to start 😵‍💫 your site is seriously impressive!

aw thank you!!!

main html/css advice would be if you don't know how to do something/something breaks, search it on the internet! w3 schools and stack exchange are your best friends. also like everyone on neocities im gonna point you towards sadgrl, who has a ton of resources for this kind of stuff. my in general coding advice would be to start with a relatively easy language, but imo html is a PERFECT starting point so you're already on the right track.

AS FOR WEBSITE SPECIFIC ADVICE.... I have a few things :)

1. GO INTO IT KNOWING WHAT YOU WANT TO MAKE AND HOW YOU WANT IT TO LOOK!! this saves SO much time and heartache. I spent maybe a good 4 months debating what I wanted my site to look like before I actually started coding, and I'm glad I did. which brings me to my next point..

2. draw out a thumbnail of what you want your site to look like! try drawing a few different ideas too, it'll save you time if you draw them instead of code them in.

[Image description: A pencil and paper thumbnail for the site on the left, and the finished site on the right. The overall layout is the same for both.]

3. i highly recommend learning how to use iframes if you plan on doing a container-based layout! this is especially useful for graphic heavy sites like mine since it helps cut down on loading times

4. position: absolute and left:...px/top:...px are your besties. this positions a div wherever you want on the page (relative to the dimensions of whatever div its in) and keeps it there. great for positioning images like stickers!

5. this might just be a me thing but REUSE YOUR CSS CLASSES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND CUSTOMIZE THEM WITH HTML... if it's like 1-3 properties difference I don't like to make a new class because after a while the stylesheet gets rather lengthy. my stylesheet on odditycommoddity is so fucking messy because I didn't know i could do this starting out lmao

6. last one and most important imo.... USE AND EXTERNAL CODE EDITOR!!!!!! WHY DOES EVERYONE USE THE NEOCITIES EDITOR IT SUCKS ASS.. check out BRACKETS, it's open source and free and very sexy. if you're on a chrome book check out PHEONIX, which is web-based and by the same people. using an external editor makes it easier to jump between files, and it keeps your site from updating while it's half baked.

in terms of stylization advice/"How To Make Shit Cluttered", treat your web page like a scrapbook! hoard transparent pngs! put them all over your site like stickers! use patterns for the backgrounds instead of solid colors! whenever I make a new page on the site, i think of it as "digital scrapbooking" since it's basically the same thing as doing a physical collage.

some good resources for that would be gifcities, transparentstickers, other people's graphics pages, but you can also find some good stuff in just the "transparent" tag here on Tumblr. the only thing is I would advise against taking an artist's transparents on here + follow usage rules for transparents if theyre there, obviously regular nettiquette applies.

uhh that’s all i can really think of! have fun and good luck webmastering!!

[Image description: A divider gif of a worm wriggling across the screen. End ID]

[safyresky]

Frostmas Year 5: Behind the Scenes

Prologue | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Y5 | Y6 | Y7 | Y8 | Y9 | Y10 | Y11 | Y12

[To Read Frostmas: From the TOP on ao3 | ff dot net]

We are writing this one FRESH from the second to last edit of the 2024 version! A shorter one for sure, as this is very much the calm before the storm chapter, but a fun one anyway >:)

Let's fucking GOOOO

Jacqueline's Intro: SO MUCH LORE

So much lore I'm gonna have to tag this as CS Lore and CS FACTS

Anyway

I think this was the first time, when originally writing, that I properly opened with Jacqueline's Intro and recognized it as part of the structure of a Frostmas Year

It was a HUGE lore dump! I toned it down a notch this time around, streamlined it and such, and updated the lore as I've got the frozen heart thing tightened UP

It's a sprite thing, so it's like this:

Sprites

Personified Natural Elements

Two types:

Season (has domain over entire season's worth of elements)

Elemental (has domain over one element, i.e., fire, air, water, earth, flora, fauna, winds, etc.)

Elementals typically classify themselves by their element, but will align with a season as a catch all

The season they align with dictates how their hardened hear manifests

LORE! YAY!

(Also, I wrote this in Word so lets see if the bulleted list stays >:3)

(OMG IT DID. Well, in the editor. We'll see how it looks post posting...)

Fun fact: I did a DnD campaign with my pals where sprites were playable characters, and I made them a race sheet and EVERYTHING. They are DEFFS OP but it's a homebrew--we work on it, lol

And also we only played like, 3 or 4 sessions and then fell out bc we all moved or what have you lol

BUT the dnd-ing DID help me refine sprite lore!

Elemental sprites are WAY more common that seasonal sprites. There are only NINE seasonal sprites in existence these days. WAY more elemental sprites around

The Call NERFED sprites

You can thank Snowy and Heat for that one (as Jacqueline mentions in her intro!)

The Snow Queen and the Winter Warlock are Winter's bio parents, and this was the very first time I dropped their names. They make a proper appearance in The Call!

The Snow Queen stealing children references the original fairy tale in the most Jacqueline way possible

And the Winter Warlock is HEAVILY based on the man of the same name from Rankin Bass's Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Those movies SHAPED ME. CS Lore originally had RB lore, too! And RB movies did influence CS in general!

So many fun facts and I'm not even through the intro yet! WOW!

I did cleverly link CS when Jacqueline drops the Pyros lore 🤭🤭 I LOVE AO3'S CAPABILITIES, YOU GUYS

I CAN'T DO THAT SHIT ON FF DOT NET!

"It used to be a point of pride for me."

This line almost went "It used to be a point of pride for me. But it's hard to take pride in a lie"

Which is a BANGER of a line, but I am trying to keep the Y10 Reveal under wraps and that's as obvious as Pyros's lament to Blaise in Chapter 15 of CS.

You can see the 2020s influences now, which is very funny given this was all originally written almost a decade ago. I love seeing growth! But that's why Jacqueline is like THE HORRORS and also like NEWSFLASH, JACQUELINE! Which is a reference to one of my favourite It's Always Sunny reaction images:

It's so VERSATILE. Deffs top 10 things Dani quotes (and apparently Jacqueline. Which checks out as we are CONNECTED, muses and such. Oldest OC. Has the most dani-isms. Blah blah blah)

Then there's the "be the change you wish to see in the world" with her being like "YOU can be the change you want to see in this horrible terrible timeline!"

Which is a string of words I see on hellsite a LOT :)

Describing her fit was FUN! You can see it accurately (more or less) in this scrimbly Jacqueline, and also this Jacquie as a meme doodle!

And of course, off she goes to terrorize B-Man :)

Scene 1: Every Day Bernard WAKES UP

Their friendship is so fun to me and me alone 🥰🥰

She's such a sweetie. She's like "I will make things HELL for my brother BUT only if it's okay with Bernard first bc I don't wanna make things harder than they are for him 👉🏻👈🏻"

Him being B-Man, of course

Have you guys ever read Just An Elf by Locrain-Mode? If you haven't, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT (hence the link!) It's a group of oneshots based on Bernard and things he is NOT, and each one SLAPS. They write SUCH a good Bernard and B-Man's office just being a mess of paper was low key inspired by their work, lol (Chapter 5: One of Roemer's Singing Elves. I LOVED the idea of B's office just being like a vault/hidey hole. LOVED it)

FAVE B-Man characterization, hands DOWN. I strive to write him that good (and I hope I do! :)

"You should know first hand how frozen sprites get!” followed by "What's THAT supposed to mean?!" Is 100% Jacqueline getting a wee bit defensive on her Mom's behalf (and maybe a bit of Jack's but she's just going to ignore THAT feeling)

But B-Man is very, very right--usually post-hardening a heart, sprites rely on one emotion to get them through things so. Y'know. What'll it be for Jacqueline? ;)

And of COURSE he can see right through the illusion after he's done lamenting lol. He's an ELF. I bet they can see through all sorts of illusions!

“Yeah, I’ll say! I think I may be having a heart attack.” “Do you smell burnt toast?” “No, just betrayal.” “There’s no need to be so dramatic.”

^This interaction is my favourite in this scene, 100%. Bernard deserves to be a lil overdramatic! As a TREAT!

VESUVIUS/POMPEII! This is a fun bit of CS lore. Originally it was that Blaise and Jack were responsible for Vesuvius erupting and destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum, but that has since changed! They don’t talk about it much, only Winter really knows what happened, but take a tl;dr:

FT tells Blaise to go see Jack in Pompeii bc something bad is about to happen, doesn't specify what. Blaise, of course, assumes the worst, as you are wont to do when it's Jack. Takes the day, gets fitted by the tailors, off to Pompeii where he finds Jack who has built a nice little life for himself. He's got lots of friends and is getting involved with local politics, and Blaise is like "is this why FT told me to get over here? Does a bad thing happen if Jack wins? Everything seems fine here" and then BOOM. TREMORS. Jack informs him the mountain may be a volcano but nobody's bothered to check and he sure as shit won't. Blaise checks. Jack follows. Volcano day happens. Blaise saves Jack's life. But they can't save anyone else :(

It's ANGSTY! Can't wait to write it one day! I've already done research for it and everything!

So YEAH that's Pompeii in CS context. And yes, Jack did keep a bust!

"This doesn't feel right" says Bernard. "I should've listened" narrates Jacqueline. "my GOD I love foreshadowing" says safyresky as she types this up…

I think I'll need to make the line " I got up, standing tall and proud in my fluffy socks" a scrimbly. I just doodled it while writing this out and the sketch SENT ME. My god.

Scene 2: Bernard Hams it UP

Aka, the scene in which Dani realizes how ding dang crafty she has made Jack. WHOOPS

Exploring his POV has been fun, especially with the edits I've been making while crossposting, where it's his perspective being told to us by Jacqueline as he recounts to her in the present? If that makes sense

ANYWAY, making the distinctions and adding the little Jacqueline interruptions (see: the line about dwarfs) has been a LOT of fun

As much fun as Bernard had HAMMING IT UP in this scene when he delivered the frozen Jacqueline news to Jack >:3

Love me a Jack moment of clarity! Love having him look through the villain fog for a second like "wait is this…wrong? Fucked up?' only for the fog to be like SHUSH! NO! IT'S FINE! And regularly scheduled villainy is back in play!

Bernard asking why was interesting, because I was also wondering why Jack wanted more deets. And it's a combo of two things: 1) the obvious is she frozen? Ou. Maybe…new ally, perhaps? To get my little theme park business off the ground? And 2) oh shit I froze my bb sister :(

(in villain fog voice) YES NEW ALLY! PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GUILT UNDER THE ICE!

"And something about that terrified him" man, these blorbos are getting the shadowed fore'd out of them and it is just not hitting, CRAZY!

Scene 3: Jack's a crafty one

That's it that's the BTS for this bit. He's CRAFTY

And YES, knew that it was fake originally but needs want, as we see in the next scene--he needs Jacqueline close by to make sure she doesn't SNITCH (as well as access to her repertoire), and she needs to keep tabs on him, for the GREATER GOOD (as well as for purposes of trying to find a way to prove to everyone that she's right and fix the timeline)

And it only hit me HERE. IN THIS SCENE. THAT HE KNEW THE ENTIRE TIME AND WAS ONE STEP AHEAD OF EVEN ME!

Frostmas is exhausting

Scene 4: Cold Front Face Off at the Dome

Jacqueline channels Winter bc that's all she knows for a frozen sprite that isn't Jack, and felt it'd give best results

She's not wrong but also is not right--frozen hearts are personalized, after all. She wouldn't be sad nor filled with avarice; she'd simply be FULL OF RAGE (spoiler alert, I GUESS)

Fun fact about the Frozen reference: it came out around the time I was working on Crystal Springs for the very first time! It informed a lot of the scenes. In fact, Cold Front reunion had Jacqueline literally quoting Elsa's mantra! Not anymore--I fixed that this year--but thought the throwback here would be funny. DON’T EXPLODE. DON'T EXPLODE. RARGH. DON'T EXPLODE. DON'T EXPLODE--and so on

(The Summer Sprite blood is STRONG in this one)

Look, we all know Santa Jack was certainly…a look. A choice, if you will. Jacqueline's just SAYING what we're all THINKING

Not Jack trying to catch up Jacqueline by egging her on. And then going GOTCHYA. It's so OBVIOUS he's not buying it, it's so CUTE how Jacqueline thinks it works

(maybe it does work a little TOO well given the events of Year 10)

Translator's note: coconut frosts is magical censoring for coconut fucks.

Y'know. These fuckers:

Scene 5: Well played to well played

Was well played on MY PART! One of my FAVOURITE transitions, I LOVE showing similarities between Jack and Jacqueline, ESPECIALLY in an angsty context like this! Something, something, BECOMING WHAT YOU FEAR MOST/DOING WHAT YOU FEAR MOST TO THOSE YOU LOVE~!

This had major editing done. Like, once I knew Jack saw through the farce, I couldn't have any of the old 'he bought it' drivel. Jacqueline, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry you think you got away with this and that he actually knew the entire time 😬

He just needs to make sure he knows why she did it, which is really Jack for 'making sure she's not on to me re: resort thing yet'

Scene 6: YET ANOTHER NEW BOP TO THE RECOUNTING!

I thought Y4 would be the last one, but Y5 surprised me

This one was fun. Thanks to the people who voted in the poll so I could figure out where they were, lmao

Hit you with the COLD FRONT feels and then a banger of a Jack line RIGHT AFTER

Seriously, I am really loving these little retelling segues. I just hope they don't make the blast to the present in Y9 less jarring!

Scene 7: cookies and cocoa

Crystal Springs has a time zone! I believe it's -8:30 hours? I'll have to double check, I know I wrote it down somewhere and I'm pretty sure it's a crystal springs fact post too 🤔

I checked! It's -8:30 GMT :)

"I'm not doing a sport!" She actually IS doing a sport. Bother-your-brother-on-purpose-athon, specifically

"It was for the greater good, I told myself. I was a big, frosty liar" FACT! More foreshadowing at play here, huehuehue >:3

"It’s like wading through molasses" THE STRENGTH I EXERTED TO NOT PUT A BIT IN HERE ABOUT THE BOSTON MOLASSES DISASTER IN 1919 IS ACTUALLY ASTOUNDING.

Scene 7.5: B-Man's…house?

So, sometimes, when I write, I do say the thing I want to write out loud and that's how we get organic moments like "He was all ‘what’s all this then’ and I was like ‘this is who I am now!’ and he was all ‘oh cool let’s make a deal’ and ‘bleh all is forgiven’"

Jacqueline is just having a TIME

I think I have seen in most fics Bernard always being in the Workshop, but I picture him having a nice lil tidy house just outside of the main hub of the shop! For some odd reason, despite thinking it is a bungalow, in my head I picture TWO sets of stairs up. What the fuck is up with THAT

But anyway, that's why I have Jacquie tease B about his house--when does he ever use it? 🤭🤭

Translators note: "snow queen PLEASE" is magic censoring for bitch PLEASE

Frostmas only gets swears when Jacqueline is thinking, not when she is speaking--UNLESS she is out and about in the world, so if she says a swear she is NOT in Crystal Springs! Fun fact for you all tonight :)

Scene 8: Jacqueline's discovery

I originally wrote it so short and jumpy because I thought the chapter was getting too long at 7k words

TOO LONG. CAN YOU IMAGINE?

I added a whole 5k words. And that was AFTER getting rid of some lore drop! AH!

I think though that I like it like this now! I don’t have the patience to go month by month to see how Jacqueline has been irritating Jack, and the quick, punchy summaries make the conclusion one HELL OF A PUNCH

Okay this is the last scene and I'm OVER this and said the funny things I wanted to say so I am CALLING IT HERE. ENJOY Y5 BTS AND ENJOY THE 2024 EDITION OF YEAR 5, WHICH WILL BE FORTHCOMING 💖💖

[andromedaexists]

WUPDATE: CALL ME ICARUS

𝚆𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝚝𝚑 || 𝙲𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝙽𝚊𝙽𝚘

y'all i am so busy rn that i forgot to keep yous updated on my progress. moving forward i am going to try and be more present here, i am going to work my way through my backlog of tag games this weekend and queue up all the writing yous tagged me in.

this month is camp nano and it has kept my mighty busy. here is a list of things that has happened this month:

finished the prologue and chapters 1-10. i got them up for betas to read (if you'd like to beta for CMI, the form is still open to apply here)

got in contact with an artist and started the process of commissioning them for a cover (they just sent me the concept sketch and im!!!!!)

set an official publication date (announcement coming soon 👀👀👀)

submitted a query! (and realized that i don't want to trad pub so i'm self pubbing instead!)

started talking to formatting editors. i'm not sure if i'll be able to afford a good formatting review before publication, but i am in talks with someone who will let me use their Vellum!

started research on how to self pub/what company i want to go through (and actually set up a channel where i can dump my research once i compile it!)

cried a lot over this whole process. a lot.

so yeah! a lot has happened! a lot of good stuff, but a lot of stressful stuff as well! that's okay though, i'm just over the moon that i have an official pub date 🥰

i'm going to push through to the end of camp nano, but i am going to try and get back into weekly wupdates and just talking about writing a lot more. i was a little hesitant about joining camp nano given how bad regular nano went for me last year, but a new server i joined has really helped me find my love of writing again (thank you doom and clanky and so many others that i met through the bird app, i love you all)

anyways, enough rambling. let's get to what you guys are really here for: snippets! i am going to add a couple here (read, a snippet for each chapter i've missed updating here) to make up for my relative silence as of late:

Chapter 5:

There are two more encounters listed below it, but before Icarus can read them over he is distracted by a flash of gold entering the shop. His eyes shoot up, latching to the new patron standing in line with their back to him. It’s normal for bright colors and movement to grab his attention, but this time something feels different. He can’t put his thumb on it, but his brain is telling him that he should recognize them. It’s screaming that he should know who they are. But for the life of him, he cannot make out who it is. Whomst? The fuck? From this distance, he can’t see anything that might tell him who they are. Their plain black clothes could be the tell of an Elysian, but that isn’t a guarantee. The only truly identifiable trait is the halo of blond curls cascading over their shoulders. Why do I feel like I know them?

Chapter 6:

Ariadne whistles, a long and appreciative sound as she sees her husband’s work. The tattoo had been a beast to heal, but the hours of torturous pain and restless nights of endless itching had been well worth it. He spent days ogling the tattoo after it had first healed, the feathers look so real that you can almost feel them when running your hands over the inked skin. It is everything he wanted and then some. A feather-light touch runs down the etched skin. There is only one person who had ever touched him with that kind of reverence, his artist must have gotten up to inspect the tattoo. He is admiring his art—as he should—when he says, “Looks like you should have used more lotion.” He lets go of one edge of the hoodie to flip him the bird. It’s impossible to hide anything from his artist, of course, and he knew that his lackluster care would be noted. There are likely small splotches where the ink had fallen out due to his poor moisturizing regiment, but it’s not like he has much of a choice in that. Icarus drops the back of his hoodie with a sigh as he turns to face the artist again. YOU KNOW? HARD REACH AREA ALONE. His eyebrows raise as he speaks, his signs becoming large and boisterous. He then mimes trying to reach the middle of his back. That gets a chortle out of his artist and Ariadne. He hadn’t thought to consider how he would need to reach every part of his back before getting the tattoo, and the fact that he doesn’t have anyone in his life to help him makes it that much worse.

Chapter 7:

“Look,” Andromeda levels at him, voice growing in intensity as they say, “I understand that you don’t quite trust me yet. I mean, we just met yesterday. Hell, I don’t even know your name yet! But-” “Icarus.” He grabs the hoodie on the left and pulls it over his head. He takes a moment to pull his hair up and fasten it in a ponytail before turning and leaning back against the closet door. “My name is Icarus.” “Okay. Icarus. Y’know, that fits.” Their voice is calmer, quieter, as if that piece of information is enough to placate them. Icarus huffs. The name really does fit him, doesn’t it? Always jumping into things without thinking of the consequences, taking risks, and keeping shit close to his chest until he gets a bit too close to hubris and starts to fall apart. Falling in love with the sun personified. Burning, falling, crashing, drowning. Yeah, the name fits him. The only difference between him and the Icarus of myth is that he died at the end of his story. Icarus has no plans of dying. No, he plans of making it out the other end of his story and living to tell the tale.

Chapter 8:

“I thought the whole ‘Oh, Hestia has a pizza shop?’ ordeal would tell you that I have no idea where to go.” Huh, yeah, that should have clicked with him. It’s not like they could search up directions, they likely don’t have a phone just the same as him. Can’t risk having a way for someone to use GPS to locate him. It’s not like he has anyone to keep in contact with, anyways. “It’s just down the street. Go out the front of the building and head down West Saint Clair, it’s just past fourth street. I’d say can’t miss it but you very much could, there’s no sign out front. It’s the only building that looks like there’s someone living in it on that block, though.” “Got it. West Saint Clair, Fourth Street, not-abandoned building.” Andromeda repeats the directions to themself as they head towards the front door. “Anything else while I’m out?”

Chapter 9:

How could he forget? “Καιρὸς δε, Thanatos,” he mumbles as he stretches his arms out in front of him and rests his forehead on the blissfully cool counter. “And here I was thinking you weren’t gonna remember me.” Long gone is the shrill and timid voice of a sickly kid, replaced by one of the most soothing and deep tones Icarus had ever heard. “…Fair ‘nuff.” The vibrations of a glass hitting the counter top make Icarus look up. A glass of water, just water. He groans, that is not what he wants right now. He’s craving the sweet buzz of an energy drink, but that will require him to get up and walk around the island to grab one. Andromeda chuckles, not moving an inch as they watch Icarus suffer over the glass. “Quit pouting and drink.” He drops his head, turning his face away from the glass. “Oh come on, you big baby. Deja de hacer un berrinche y bebe.” They poke his cheek as he pouts. “Mira, food’s ready. Sit up and eat.”

Chapter 10:

“Why are we running?” they ask, gasping for air after the impromptu sprint. Icarus points to the bird as it hops along the ridge of the tent. He turns to watch their reaction, this is a big deal. Their eyes widen and their jaw drops open, they are just as shocked as he is. His smile has not left, though it dulls as their face drops to sadness and grim acceptance. What? “A crow.” Before he can say anything the look is gone. They beam a bright smile at him. “I can’t believe you found a bird! That’s definitely good luck for us.” But it’s not, their reaction sits wrong with him. He squints his eyes, watches them to see if that glimpse of despair will surface again. When it doesn’t, Icarus forces a smile on his face. If they don’t want to talk about it then he isn’t going to talk about it.

Okay, i think that's enough of a writing dump for now. here's the CMI Taglist:

@flowerprose @isherwoodj @cream-and-tea @touchingmadness @lockejhaven @marinesocks @wildswrites @the-finch-address @writingpotato07-deactivated2023 @leighvalentin @inkspellangel @cljordan-imperium @outpost51 @alleahgrinnon @smol-feralgremlin

Please fill out this form to be added or ask to be removed!

[araekniarchive]

hi, emily! do you have a list of all the tags you use to categorise your posts?

Right, so. I theoretically have a google doc with all of these on, but honestly, I'm kind of rubbish at updating it and I'm not entirely I’ve got them all on there anymore. So I did the super normal and chill thing and went to the mega-editor, looked at my blog's source code, found the record of all the tags I've ever used on this blog, and then Ctrl+F searched for 'theme'.

Suffice to say, I now have a pretty comprehensive list of all my theme tags, which I will put below the cut, because there's... quite a few.

Now, going through you might be thinking ‘that’s odd, why do you have multiple tags for the same thing’, and the answer is that I’m a very disorganised person, and despite my best intentions I have carried this over into my theme categories. I’ve had this blog for over a year now (which, what the fuck) and that’s long enough for my tiny brain to forget I already had a tag for something and make a new one a couple times over. Along those same lines, there some webs or quotes I probably should’ve tagged as one thing and didn’t (likely because I forgot I had that theme already), and while I’ll try and go back and correct that where possible, it might be worth checking in multiple theme tags just in case, as if you can’t find something in ‘monsters’ it might well be in ‘monstrosity’, and vice versa.

A HOLE IN THE WORLD [LINK]

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC [LINK]

ABSENCE [LINK]

ABSTRACT [LINK]

ADDICTION [LINK]

ADULTHOOD [LINK]

AGE [LINK]

ANGER [LINK]

ANGUISH [LINK]

ANIMALS [LINK]

APATHY [LINK]

APOCALYPSE [LINK]

ART [LINK]

BEAUTY [LINK]

BEGIN AGAIN [LINK]

BEGINNING [LINK]

BETRAYAL [LINK]

BLOOD [LINK]

CAIN AND ABEL [LINK]

CHANGE [LINK]

CHILDHOOD [LINK]

CHILDREN [LINK]

CHOICE [LINK]

CLEAN [LINK]

COLOUR [LINK]

COME BACK [LINK]

CONFESSION [LINK]

CONNECTION [LINK]

CONSUMPTION [LINK]

CONTRADICTION [LINK]

CORRUPTION [LINK]

CREATION [LINK]

DARK [LINK]

DAUGHTERS [LINK]

DEATH [LINK]

DEPENDENCE [LINK]

DESIRE [LINK]

DISAPPOINTMENT [LINK]

DISCONNECTION [LINK]

DISCRIMINATION [LINK]

DISEASE [LINK]

DISTANCE [LINK]

DREAMS [LINK]

DYSFUNCTION [LINK]

EDEN [LINK]

EGO [LINK]

ENDING [LINK]

ESCAPE [LINK]

EYES [LINK]

FABLE [LINK]

FAILURE [LINK]

FAMILY [LINK]

FATHERS [LINK]

FEAR [LINK]

FERAL [LINK]

FIRE [LINK]

FLIGHT [LINK]

FLORA AND FAUNA [LINK]

FLOWERS [LINK]

FOOD [LINK]

FORGIVENESS [LINK]

FREEDOM [LINK]

FRIENDSHIP [LINK]

FRUIT [LINK]

GENDER [LINK]

GHOSTS [LINK]

GO AWAY CLOSER [LINK]

GRIEF [LINK]

GROWING UP [LINK]

GROWTH [LINK]

GUILT [LINK]

HANDS [LINK]

HAPPINESS [LINK]

HATE THAT I LOVE YOU [LINK]

HATRED [LINK]

HAUNTING [LINK]

HEAT [LINK]

HIDING ALL AWAY [LINK]

HISTORY [LINK]

HOME [LINK]

HOPE [LINK]

HUMANITY [LINK]

HUNGER [LINK]

HUNGRY BUT NOT FOR FOOD [LINK]

I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO PUT IT [LINK]

I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LIVE WITH THIS [LINK]

I KNOW YOU [LINK]

I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME [LINK]

I WILL SEE YOUR BODY BARE [LINK]

I'LL TRY AGAIN. LET ME TRY AGAIN [LINK]

ICARUS [LINK]

IMPERMANENCE [LINK]

INEVITABILITY [LINK]

JUDAS [LINK]

KINDNESS [LINK]

LAIKA [LINK]

LANGUAGE [LINK]

LEFT BEHIND [LINK]

LETTING GO [LINK]

LGBT [LINK]

LIGHT [LINK]

LINGUISTICS [LINK]

LONELINESS [LINK]

LOOK AT ME [LINK]

LOSS [LINK]

LOVE [LINK]

MADNESS [LINK]

MAN HANDS MISERY ONTO MAN [LINK]

MEMORY [LINK]

MENTAL ILLNESS [LINK]

MONSTERS [LINK]

MONSTROSITY [LINK]

MONTHS [LINK]

MORALITY [LINK]

MUSIC [LINK]

NAMING [LINK]

NATURE [LINK]

NIGHT [LINK]

NOSTALGIA [LINK]

OBJECTIFICATION [LINK]

OF COURSE WE WILL HURT EACH OTHER [LINK]

ONCE UPON A TIME [LINK]

OPHELIA [LINK]

OTHERNESS [LINK]

PARENTS [LINK]

PEACE [LINK]

PERSEVERANCE [LINK]

PINING [LINK]

POISON [LINK]

POLITICS [LINK]

PRETENSE [LINK]

QUESTIONING [LINK]

REBELLION [LINK]

REBIRTH [LINK]

RECOVERY [LINK]

REFLECTION [LINK]

REFUSAL [LINK]

REJECTION [LINK]

RELAPSE [LINK]

RELIGION [LINK]

RENEWAL [LINK]

REPETITION [LINK]

REVENGE [LINK]

ROMEO AND JULIET [LINK]

SACRIFICE [LINK]

SADNESS [LINK]

SAMSON AND DELILAH [LINK]

SCARS [LINK]

SEASONS [LINK]

SELF DISCOVERY [LINK]

SHAME [LINK]

SIBLINGS [LINK]

SICKNESS [LINK]

SISTERS [LINK]

SLEEP [LINK]

SONS [LINK]

STAY WITH ME [LINK]

SUBJECTIVITY [LINK]

SURREALISM [LINK]

TEETH [LINK]

THE BODY [LINK]

THE GREAT WOUND [LINK]

THE HEART [LINK]

THE HERO OF THE STORY [LINK]

THE MOON [LINK]

THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY [LINK]

THE SUN [LINK]

THE WRITTEN WORD [LINK]

THEFT [LINK]

THEOLOGY [LINK]

THIS I CHOOSE TO DO [LINK]

THIS IS ME TRYING [LINK]

TIME [LINK]

TOUCH [LINK]

TRAGEDY [LINK]

TRAVEL [LINK]

TRUST [LINK]

TRUTH [LINK]

UNMAKING [LINK]

VIOLENCE [LINK]

VULNERABILITY [LINK]

WAIT FOR ME; I'M COMING [LINK]

WANTING TO BE WANTED [LINK]

WAR [LINK]

WATER [LINK]

WEATHER [LINK]

WEREWOLVES [LINK]

WHEN WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH [LINK]

WHEREVER I GO THERE I AM [LINK]

WOMANHOOD [LINK]

YEARNING [LINK]

YOU KNEW WHAT I WAS WHEN YOU PICKED ME UP [LINK]

[aceofwhump]

Question is the legacy editor any good? I've never used it because I'm paranoid about it messing my posts up lmao but I'm curious

The short answer is yes. Legacy editor, the older way tumblr did posting, is in my opinion, the superior editor. I love the legacy editor. A lot. It is definitely superior and I'm sad staff has decided to slowly get rid of it.

However! With that said I've been pretty much exclusively using the beta post editor for the last like year when staff announced that they'd be eliminating the legacy editor eventually so I thought it'd be a good idea to get used to the beta editor. Which I suppose I did. I've gotten used to it and don't use legacy much at all anymore. I also wanted to use it because I got really tired of not being able to edit in mobile the posts I made on web using the legacy editor. With the beta editor you can edit across platforms which is soooo nice. (although it appears that in one of the apps many updates I can now edit a gifset I made today via legacy editor but not the posts I've made in the past using the legacy editor so who knows what's going with that).

But there's a lot of annoying things about the new beta editor that make it inferior to the legacy editor and I'm praying that staff will improve it. For starters, and probably my biggest complaint, is how awful it is to upload and rearrange images. It's so much easier in legacy editor to move images around. In beta the page moves when you start to move the image and it drives me CRAZY!!! I always end up putting the image in the wrong place because the page won't stop moving! Legacy is wonderful to arrange images. I do think the upload is slightly better in beta purely because it uploads multiple images in the order I select them where the legacy just puts them in whatever order it wants to and I have to remember what order I wanted my gifs in.

Legacy is also better because it actually differentiates between an image post and a text post. With the beta editor everything is technically a test post. So my gifsets are not considered an "image post". Some people have noted that the beta, since it's not an image post, it resizes the images a little and sometimes decreases the quality of the gif by doing that. I haven't really noticed that myself with my own gifs but doesn't mean it isnt happening.

The legacy editor also allows me to upload my gifs without stupid errors for no reason. Lately any time I upload more than 6 gifs at once I get an error message and have to upload them one by one. Its not because of size because they're always under 7mbs so I don't know why I can't upload them all at once. I hate it actually. And sometimes my gif will be under 10mbs (like 9.7mbs) and it'll tell me that the gif is too big. Excuse me tumblr but 9.7 is smaller than 10! I never had this problem in legacy.

The legacy editor is also better when it comes to using html, inserting links as text and not the stupid thing beta does where you paste the link and it becomes that stupid post preview thing that I hate, and oh my god is it awful for text blocks! When it first came out you couldnt select multiple texts blocks at all. You can now but it isn't the easiest. And it like expands when you do and makes it weird. Idk it's hard to describe. In legacy you can just...select all the text with no problems. Text blocks are treated like individual sections in the beta and make editing a major pain in the ass.

I also don't like thst apparently new xkit won't work in beta and you have to use xkit rewritten because fuck I don't want to learn how to use that one when I've been using new xkit for years but I guess I'm gonna have to now. I haven't been having any problems with xkit yet but who knows....

So yeah I think overall legacy is better. Beta Post Editor has some good things (I like the increased image upload limit, the editing tags is good) about it but there's so many problems. Unfortunately we're stuck with it so I've been sticking to using it exclusively to make the transition easier on myself. I do suggest becoming used to how it works and to just continue to provide feedback to staff about features we dislike or bugs we come across. Hopefully they'll listen and improve it.

[badassxbirdy]

Edit: Some people are having trouble with the mobile nav link in the blog description. Click here if it isn’t working for you.

October Activity Update - Pinned Post

Happy spooky season! It’s time once again for an activity update! If you’re new here: these monthly posts help me to keep track of what the frick I’ve been doing, particularly when tumblr breaks or the brainfog strikes. This update includes things posted or in drafts for August and September, as I missed last months post. Everything else can be found in previous monthly updates under this tag. There’s also the thread tracker here.

The full activity update (along with OOC house keeping) is below the cut. Bold text = links.

If you want to see all IC interactions without the other stuff, click here. If you’d like to start something new, there are opens and memes, or you can just hit up the DM’s. You can also add Ty on Wire for IC texting.

Now onto the update!

OOC housekeeping:

I can no longer trim posts that were started in the legacy editor. I’ll be messaging folks about moving threads to a new post as and when those replies come up.

Text size! While I personally prefer small text as I find it easier to read on mobile, I know many folks prefer the opposite. So rather than relying on my memory to keep track of who to use bigger text for, I’m just going to match whatever text size my RP partner uses going forward.

RPThreadTracker does a fantastic job of tracking replies even when you don’t get a notification on tumblr itself. If you’re having issues with the current notifications glitch, I really recommend giving it a try.

There’s been a weird situation happening anons where they’ll send a really dodgy message, and tag another blog to try and incriminate them as the sender. Here’s a PSA post explaining.

Threads, replies and other IC interactions:

@astormymind

Library ghost (drafted) (Finn)

Memes from Prue and Alex are in the drafts!

@beastbitten

“I ain’t lookin’ for trouble.” (link)

@demcnsinmymind

Car trouble (drafted)

Taking Lance on a hunt (drafted)

At the motel (link)

Azzy proves a point (drafted)

Mischief at the bar (link)

@demonstigma

Kage is weird, but Ty appreciates accidental compliments. 😂 (drafted)

@derschwarzeengel

Ty tracks down Vampire!Damon. (link)

“Ken means…” (drafted)

Fence related incidents (link)

Roasting 50 shades (link)

Damon shields Ty, Ty calls him a gothy tree-hugger. 🤷‍♀️ (link) - moved from the legacy editor.

Damon encounters Dark!Ty (link) - moved from the legacy editor.

Ty gets sick and is a brat about it. (link)

“She’s a ghost AND a bitch!” (link)

Werewolf problems (link) - moved from the legacy editor.

@destroyerscved

Magic bean juice (drafted) - Edward

“How did you find me?” (drafted) - Nia

“If you actually wanted to kill me, I'd be dead, wouldn't I?" (link) - Adrian

“Drink your school, stay in drugs” (drafted) - Samantha

@discipulusmaleficus

“ This isn’t what it looks like.” (link)

Abandoned house (drafted)

@ebonyforged

Ty meets Ebony! 😁 (link)

@first-born-to-his-name

“What is your day job?” (link)

@hvbris

Ty meets Hook (link)

An appointment with Doctor Soliman (drafted)

A questionable attempt to cheer up Olive. 😂 (drafted)

@imprvdente

Ty and FBI!fish at the motel (link)

Birthday mischief (drafted)

@indyflanery

At the fair (drafted)

@jchnwinchester

“You know me?” (link)

@kingofthewebxxx

Ghost warnings? That’s new. (link)

@loyaltyguided

Cuteness with Azzy! ❤️ (drafted)

@lcbcshcart

Monster encounter (drafted)

@luposcainus

Ty is shocked to find Caspian isn’t dead. 😂 (link)

@magaprima

Demon problems part (drafted)

Demon problems part 2: electric boogaloo (drafted)

@nightiingaled

“You should have killed me when you had the chance.” (link) - Than

“I need a stronger word than fuck” (link) - Mel

Time for “The Talk” (link) - Mel

@normallyxstranger

Starter for Victor (drafted) - Welcome back! ❤️

@ourwar

Babysitting Jude and the Doctor (link)

“You’re welcome.” (link) - Homelander

@pantslessoptimism

“I totally didn’t do what you think I did.” (link)

Cannibal ghosts (link)

@stanfordprepped

“What in the reese's peanut butter fuck is going on here?” (link)

@tobeblamed

Dean is better than google. 😇 (link)

Memes/asks: 8

Drafts: 21, and I have no idea how I got so far behind jfc. ☠️

Headcanon, Dash games, and assorted silliness:

Bingo cards with Lance, Azrael, Fish, Isaac, and Michael! (link)

Mel and Killian come to blows while Tyler is missing. (link)

Messing with Killian. (link)

The bot brigade are annoying, but they have some truly banging names! Here are some of my favourites.

I think that’s everything! As always: please let me know if I’ve missed something. I never intentionally drop threads without notifying, rest assured that if it’s not here I am either having a brain fart or I simply have not seen it. Remember to be kind to yourselves, and stay safe! ❤️ — Em

[theeeveetamer]

Scarlet Blaze Liveblog: Chapter 6

So I was actually gonna make myself a PB&J sandwich before this and both the peanut butter and the jelly were hella expired. Feels like an omen.

As per usual spoilers are under the cut. And in Tumblr woes, turns out my tag bundles plugin for Xkit doesn't work for the beta post editor anymore, which means I had to just remember the tags I use for this thing. Super lame. I swear it was working last time, but they've definitely updated the post editor since then so I guess that messed it up again.

Explore Stuff

I know I said I was going to try and remain positive but like… Weird call to have Petra be like… protective… of the guy who murdered her dad… That was certainly… a choice

Ashe is literally here because Dimitri told him to prioritize his life over his loyalty JFC Dimitri you are too sweet for this world. Also Ashe is angsty because he doesn’t know what he’s fighting for now. Interesting

Dorothea… we “helped Ashe see the error of his ways”?????

I’m really starting to dislike her. I actually really didn’t mind her in Houses but between her endless bellyaching as a recruit and this line, and I’m starting to dislike her

Wait, Manuela was in charge of the deer at some point in this timeline???

This makes her “I must protect my precious students uwu” bullshit from AG even more bullshit. You had! Classes! Other than the Eagles! What about THOSE students!

More Insurrection stuff. I guess we now have confirmation that the insurrection happened as a direct result of Ionius wiping out Hrym

“Sorry, did you just threaten to make an effort?” lmaooooooo RIP to Lin

“Psst! You may be aware of this already, but the Bert can be cruel”

*looks back at all my interactions with Hubert*

Don’t know what gave you that impression, Hapi

“Count Glucester prizes his people above all, and we created a situation where he wanted to fight.” I mean. Yeah. We’re like. Trying to conquer his homeland. People uh, people don’t tend to like that very much… Doesn’t usually lead to a lot of great outcomes for the people you conquer.

Apparently I just randomly learned how to make Peach Sorbet??? Not sure what triggered that, but ok

My god my switch HATES this game it’s running like a freaking airplane

I find it hilarious that Edelgard is apparently bad at running a street stall but Hubert is okay at it lmao

I guess threatening murder would encourage people to buy more

I’m about to go grab an ice pack from the fridge and hold it on the back of this thing. This is ridiculous. I JUST cleaned the fans, it can't be the dust! I literally played like 40 straight hours of FOMT and it was fine!

Ferdie Expedition. Let’s go for a lovely mountain date.

Don’t get to stare at his face :(

Weird how much of an Empire fanboy he’s become in this timeline, considering he’s like… yo fuck the Empire in canon

Oh my god you can “restore” weapons you’ve fully forged and it literally just… takes away all your upgrades for no benefit???? WHY???? Luckily I saved the game before it stole my TWENTY FUCKING AREADBHAR FORGES JFC

Like ok my best guess is that it’s so you can reset after you upgrade the forge, since I believe after a few upgrades then forging your weapons will give you more durability and might per forge, but it’s not retroactive? But like? This is just mechanically stupid. Honestly. Just make it retroactive or don’t vary the amount you gain for forging??? What a fucking slap in the face to fully forge a weapon (which takes dozens if not HUNDREDS of rare resources) only to be told “lol go fuck yourself actually redo it”

YOU DON’T EVEN GET THE UMBRAL STEEL YOU WASTED ON FORGING BACK!

Support Conversations

Hubert/Linhardt C - Wait Lin and Hubert are talking about how interesting Shez’s powers are??? Didn’t Lin have like? An entire fucking support where he was like “your powers are not interesting to me”???

“My method of ‘hooking’ would complicate our relationship with so valued an ally” Hubert is a murderer lol

“Why don’t you try sweet talking with tea instead” pretty sure that’s Ferdie’s MO

Why. Why does this feel like Edelshade. “The only option left is aggressive persuasion, driven home at the point of an axe, let’s say” … hmmm who is the ONLY eagle to canonically have a preference for axes…

Hubert is even like “who are you talking about how dare you” and Lin is like “haha oh no one does this bug you? I bet it bugs you.”

AND THAT’S THEIR ONLY SUPPORT LMFAO

Linhardt/Ferdie C - Lin: “I’m not drawing I’m just drawing” o…kay?

Linhardt can draw apparently

Lin: It’s important to be accurate when doing research, not artistic. Ferdie: *confused Ferdie noises*

Why do I get the sense that Lin is sick of the BE’s shit

I find it weird that he only has C supports with both Hubert AND Ferdie?

Dorothea/Monica C - Anyone else get the vibe that someone on the dev team realized Dorothea’s JP VA could sing so they crammed a bunch of random singing in? I do. I get that vibe

Why is the nobility fighting over tickets to see an opera. Seems like the kind of thing nobility should be able to get into super easy while the pleb masses fight for tickets in the nosebleeds

“A lot happened and now I’m here” wait Dorothea has motivation to be here aside from just “went to school with Edelgard for a month”??? Are we ever gonna???? Talk about what that is, or???

Shez/Bernadetta B - Oh my eardrums are already broken it’s only the first textbox

Anna is a drug dealer lmao

Shez/Ferdie B - Ferdie is horrifically depressed, got it. That explains a lot

Side note, I find it very interesting that Ashe doesn’t have supports with ANY of the BE, despite being recruitable. Lorenz at least had supports with Annette, Raphael had supports with Ashe and Felix, Ignatz could talk to Sylvain and Annette, and Marianne could talk to Ingrid. Bernie gets to talk to Dimitri, Petra gets to talk to Dedue, and Dorothea gets to talk to Flayn as well. Only Lin can’t talk to any of the BL exclusive characters.

Side-side note, but I kind of want to count which student has the fewest support conversations. Linhardt strikes me as having not that many compared to the BL or the other BE. Four of his support lines only have one conversation, and two of those terminate at C support.

Side Battles

I’m pretty sure the explore points are exactly the same as AG. Lame

Dorothea: “It fills my heart to see my friends do such great things” you mean. Murder. Like. The murder we’re doing right now? Alright…

Oh Leonie is here I guess

MOMMY JUDITH!!!

So I know now that Judith is not playable, which is bullshit. Clearly she’s got a fully rigged and animated model if she can appear like an enemy like this. How hard was it to just make her playable???

Main Chapter Battle

I’m rewarding myself with popcorn after this, to make up for the PB&J disappointment

“The fewer casualties the better” know what results in the least casualties? Not… not starting a war. That really keeps the war casualties down

“When in doubt, take ‘em out!” oh Caspar, you lovable himbo

Oh look Balthus, Ignatz, and Lorenz are our recruits this time

Balthus is still dead to me for not having a support convo with Dimitri. The gay subtext was right there, ripe for the taking… At least he had a line fantasizing about a sweaty grapple between Holst and Dimitri that one time

Oh my god how many hints are you going to give me to go do that side mission

AND IT DIDN’T EVEN MATTER BECAUSE I DIDN’T DO IT FAST ENOUGH ASDFGHJKL

Ignatz: I will fight you until the end!!!

Yeah about that… *Yoink*

So what does the auto battle button do

I mean I’m not going to test it but does that mean I wouldn’t have to play this game anymore?

That sounded really pessimistic. But ok look, I’m not using the merc whistles even though this is NG+ because a horrible little gremlin part of me wants to S rank all the battles ever. This game has way too many side missions.

Petra: Stealing is evil!!!

Also Petra: Canonically prefers the thief class in this game

Someone on this team wasn’t thinking when they wrote that one, huh lmao

Edelgard: Count Gloucester was on our side once! He might surrender!

Did you??? Did you miss the WHOLE part of this chapter where that was a trick to catch you off guard??? Why the fuck would he surrender now??? When he intentionally tricked you before by pretending to side with you just to fuck you over???

I mean he’s going to because of course he is, but if anyone in the deer had an actual spine or coherent adherence to past plot events or motivation, then he definitely wouldn’t!

Yep I was right. Why do none of the deer have a spine lol it’s actually getting kind of comical

After Battle Stuff

What is with this Daddy Gloucester whitewashing. That guy was one heck of a bastard in the original Houses, but between this and Lorenz’s paralogue they’re just like “look at how awesome and wonderful and totally not responsible for anything bad ever he is” <3 and I am not here for it

I guess they took all of his evil and gave it to Rufus

Oh I got Thrysus. I didn’t get Thrysus in AG. Bullshiiiiiiiiiiit

Guessing it’s because Lorenz is the head of his house now in this route. But still.

Apparently Lorenz and Lorenz Daddy are just too valuable to replace and Shez has dialogue options about that for some reason

RETORT SARCASTICALLY!!! GET EM SHEZ

Hubert liked that lmao

“Oh right. I forgot that only mercs are replaceable” FUCKING GET ‘EM SHEZ

Wow Edelgard is real pissy about that

“That’s just the way of things in Fodlan! but I intend to change this” Ah, yes, you’re doing a great job of changing that by… doing nothing about it right now and treating mercs as replaceable. Truly a 4D chess strategy Edelgard

I’m 100% convinced that the Alliance has only held together this long because they faced absolutely 0 threat from anything ever. Like honestly we’ve been at war for fifteen seconds and the entire power structure of this place has completely fallen apart

I mean really it’s actually pathetic. They’re like those fainting goats

https://youtu.be/_JF0Jys5ITc?t=10

^The Alliance literally the second any external threat that isn’t Almyra occurs^

Seriously, how long have these guys been a country? Like 300 years right? You’re telling me they’re literally older than America and in that time they have developed exactly zero sense of national pride or ownership for their lands, and most of them are just completely cool going along with whatever the Empire does to them? Just like? “Yeah, conquer me daddy~ My lands are fertile and my people are (variably) willing participants ;)”

I’m just saying this is like the dead fish equivalent of international relations. Just lie back and let Adrestia do whatever they want to you, I guess

EVEN THE DEER WHO ARE LEFT ARE LIKE “yeah we’re here but if this goes bad we’re out lol”

Except Hilda. Hilda is cool

EVEN ORDELIA??? “Yeah, the Empire experimented on my children and basically condemned my only surviving daughter to die, but like we’d be cool siding with them I guess” like excuse me what???

Like I know everyone has a spine made out of jelly in 3H but at least there everyone had a jelly spine so it didn’t stick out so much

It’s a weird contrast from the BL who are (almost) all like “YOU CAN HAVE MY HOME OVER MY COLD DEAD FUCKING BODY!”

AKA the normal human response when you’ve been an independent nation for several centuries and an external power comes in and says “mine ;)”

And the only two Lions to defect are the two who have zero responsibility over people or land, and one of which apparently only surrendered because Dimitri told him not to die for him. The other one is Mercedes who I haven’t gotten yet but presumably it’s about her serial killer brother this time. Oh and neither of them have any family in the Kingdom to protect (since Jeritza is in the Empire and Lonato defected to the Empire like the little traitor bitch he is)

Ok this liveblog got real shady for a second, I’m putting the umbrellas down now

Wait Byleth is here too??? I thought Byleth was in the Kingdom????????????????? How did you get here?????

“Remaining in the Kingdom was no longer an option???” Why???

OH WE JUST AREN’T GOING TO BE EXPLAINING THAT ONE I GUESS

I’m guessing it has something to do with Jeralt’s unexplained and unaddressed Rhea issues. Not sure why that would be though, considering Rhea NEVER FUCKING DOES ANYTHING IN THIS GAME

Fortalices and palisades… gonna have to google that one later, Hubert

Ok so it’s a baby fort and a fence. Dunno why we had to get all fancy here

I’m sure there’s already at least one Medieval history buff in my inbox going WELL ACKSHUALLY about that last bullet lmao

I also didn’t make popcorn because it’s like 4 am and I’m too lazy to melt butter :(

[babylulururu]

Guys this is it

I got tagged for the WIP game

What do I have for wips oh God

The Personal Affairs of Wangsheng Chapter 25

Feels like this one is pretty obvious. It's just Wangsheng. 467 words staring at me like why I won't write the fucking ball scene.

It will be done. I promise.

More below the cut!

Untitled document

I don't know what this is. This is the only thing in the document:

The luminescence of the stars filled the sky, a gentle light that comforted and inspired. Zhongli loved the night sky, and found peace and solace in it's beauty.

The document was last updated on February 9th of last year so god knows what the hell it was about. Lantern Rite? I don't remember.

Matchmaking

What I can only assume was a planned sequel to Dense as a Rock but told through Hu Tao’s point of view. Probably was supposed to be, but the writing on this is kind of meh? Like all that happened was Hu Tao complaining about paperwork then Lumine wanted to go to a domain where she would eventually find the blueprint for the key to Zhongli’s dumbbell.

Monday's Melancholy

A document with no words but was planned to be a Tears of Themis AU where Rosa was an idol and was looking for Luke and ended up turning to Mister Wing for assistance in her search.

Then Raven joins the NXX and things get weird from there.

It was an AU thing where Celestine and Kiki were also in the NXX and Kiki developed feelings for Raven at some point but Wangsheng has basically taken all my writing energy away from me whoops.

Can only handle one longfic at a time.

Head in the Game

A planned Tears of Themis anniversary fic where Rosa has inferiority complex towards Mister Wing and sits and cries while playing a mix of Hatsune Miku Project Diva and Hatsune Miku Colorful Stage.

It has some words but uhhhh here's a snippit:

Hatsune Miku: Sekai Diva. That would clear her head. The rthymn game series that Rosa had played since she was a child. Whenever she would get stressed about something, she would play the game, and her stress would replace her worries with a round of concentration.

So those are words that exist.

Birthday ask

A birthday ask I didn't answer because life sucks and sometimes the wifi just doesn't work and then suddenly the house you cleaned during your birthday gets wiped away in a hurricane and I don't wanna think about this ask I'm sorry I know the person who sent it meant well and I actually have an interesting premise for it and it's somewhat developed but I really don't wanna think about the last time I would ever get to hang out in my grandma's house. ;-;

Pearly White

Another empty doc but was just honestly gonna be a cute Chitao scene with neither of them wanting to get out of bed.

Bookworms

Scrapped Alberose fic where they talked about books or some shit. Can't remember the premise other than it must have been some college/high school AU. Here's some words though.

But there was simply something different about how her classmates in front of her just admired pages as if they were simply art pieces to be looked at for a mere thirty-six seconds before flipping the page to of his book. Sucrose had watched Albedo go through at least three books in the past weeks. What they were about, she couldn't remember. All she knew was that Albedo was extremely talented in his academics and yet he still had time to read in class as if he never studied at all.

Aurora's Light

Scrapped royal AU fic where Rosa was destined to wake the king of Stellis with a kiss. In order to get out of an arranged marriage with Duke Marius, Rosa runs away with her childhood friend Luke to live out in a forest cottage for a few years until vines start taking over the forest. The two basically journey to the castle and beat up a dragon.

There's nothing in this document either. Lovely!

The Duke and the Editors Apprentice

This was a royal modern AU where Lumine works as an apprentice underneath Yae Miko. Miko was gonna set Ayato and Lumine up on a date or something. I don't remember but it was apparently a longfic. Whoops.

Sorry Wangsheng you took over my life.

It wasn't that she didn't like her boss. It was far from the truth; Lumine loved having the opportunity to work under Yae Miko as her secretary and apprentice, but it was certainly not easy. What the public didn't know about Miko was that she was crafty as a fox, always seeming to be planning something or another. Just last week she had managed to create a new persona for a member of an advice column and subjected one of the generals from the army to adapt to it. Lumine was used to Miko's schemes by now, but it didn't make work any less stressful.

Wangsheng Stay Alive Scene

Spoilers for future parts of Wangsheng. :)

The Stoney-Faced Emporer and the Starry-Eyed Princess

Another longfic. Royalty AU with Aether forcing Lumine to attend a ball and to at least consider the Emporer of Liyue as a proper suitor for her.

What I like about this one, other than the fact it has two pages (two! of a wip!), I like the idea of a romcom of Zhongli really playing into a stotic ruler and Lumine wants nothing to do with ruling type things. It's a pretty interesting dynamic I had.

Too bad it's gonna rot in WIP he'll.

Regardless of if that thought had even cross Aether's mind, there were pressing issues at hand that Lumine needed to deal with. She looked at herself in the mirror while one of her retainers, Noelle fixed her hair in time for the ballntonight. How her brother was even able to convince her to go was beyond Lumine's knowledge, but she knew that for the rest of the week, she was resigning herself to the fate of suitors asking to court her, or even worse, marry her.

I have a lot more WIPs but they're over a year old and I don't wanna go back any farther and force myself to read my old writing! I hope you like what I have in my wips that got left in 2022 though.

So now I get to force a couple people to go through wip hell with me! @peachiecure and @mottomottoprecure (don't remember if you have a tumblr that isn't your fanseries account but if you do whoops I forgot it) it's your turn to go through wip hell. :)