#i this started this fic on a whim and am partially making it up as i go and it’s fucking wild to me that you guys are enjoying it

[ghosttotheparty]

I have never smiled as much as i have reading "love me softly." I cried a little bit halfway through. My chest hurts so bad but in like... a good way. Idk if youll have another shoe dropping but im not even worried cause with eddie and tommy and wayne and linda and gareth there literally everything will be ok no matter what happens. God. Im. Thank you

i should really stop opening tumblr in public i almost crying in line at mcdonald’s

you have srsly no idea how happy this ask make me i honestly can’t stop smiling; and for some reason it makes me so emotional that you’re not worried?? that you trust me??? going through it

there is a slight other shoe that’s going to drop in love me softly but i think you’re right to not be worried; everything is going to work out the boys are going to be happy

[liamlawsonlesbian]

f1 tag game!!! thanks eve @bright-and-burning <33

Who is your favorite driver?: Charles, by a fairly large margin. him!!

Do you have other favorite drivers?: I am fond of most of the grid to varying degrees, as is probably obvious from my blog! but top-tier are Alex, Yuki, Max, Oscar, Liam

Who is your least favorite driver?: I would prefer not to name names! (but I have named names before lol)

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?: I mostly root for drivers. It's probably partially a consequence of coming to the sport through rpf, and also I feel icky about the teams as corporations. And yet (!) I do find the narratives compelling

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?: I am fond of Williams (although a lot less fond of James Vowles for what he's done to Logan recently); Ferrari and I are in a love-hate relationship

How long have you been into F1?: The year anniversary of the inciting incident is in three days!!

What got you into F1?: ro @oscarpiastriwdc had started reading f1 fic on a whim bc a podcast we both like had mentioned it and we'd talked about how we'd both picked up a little bit of knowledge from Being Online; I was having a tough day and they sent me the objects in mirror series by val @drivestraight and I was totally hooked. I started watching/reading everything I could get my hands on about the sport and then it was Monaco the weekend of my birthday and I discovered that I did, indeed love to watch the cars go vroom

Do you enjoy Fanfic/RPF?: alsdfj;akj answered by the "what got you into f1 question" but yes, I both read and write (allegedly, sometimes) f1 rpf

How do you view new fans?: I am a new fan! and I got in via rpf so I have not a single moral superiority leg to stand on. I feel like this question is aimed at "DTS fans"? And while I haven't actually watched it I don't think there's any reason that people who got into F1 that way are any way "lesser" or "fake" in terms of the way they view the sport

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?: oooof. I....do not think I would be good at that job. I am not terribly organized, for one. I'm going to say Alpine, just for a few days, because I don't think I could make Worse and I am a terrible gossip and want to know whether Pierre and Esteban are at each other's throats behind the scenes

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?: Well, ro is my irl* (met them at a rainbow alliance meeting on the second day of freshman orientation — we both introduced ourselves as "allies" lollll). A couple of other friends from college and an old friend from 1D fandom times are also into F1 independently, and my dad has started really following along since I got sucked in (he is very sweet).

*tried to think of a noun to go after irl...friend doesn't really cover it

Are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?: Yes!! I love friends!! I'm a little bit shy about messaging people but I love love to talk <33

no pressure tags: @omigodyall @oscarpiastriwdc @drivestraight @piastrisms @mcl38 @vegasgrandprix @blorbocedes @kazoologist

[greaseonmymouth]

tagging games

hokay so I've been tagged in a bunch of these over the past few months weeks, by different people, so let's have some memetic fun

1. fanfic writer's bingo

I was tagged by @mslanna !

well, i did get one bingo! I have never commissioned fanart but I have received it. i debated whether to tick off that last square - 'wants to be a professional writer some day' because eh, i could take that or leave it? i do write original fiction and i have at times dreamt about getting it published, but also, i don't actually care. i write because i enjoy writing and getting paid for it i think is highly likely to make me hate it, so.

2. get to know you better game

I was tagged by @love-lays-bleeding !

get to know you better game! answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to know better.

last song i listened to: Danser Med Drenge - Alt for at beholde dig. it's on my Carl x Assad playlist but also Danser Med Drenge are just genuinely enjoyable in general

currently watching: 9-1-1, Grey's Anatomy, and Station 19. clawing at my face waiting for new episodes for all three shows. aside from that, nothing really, though I think I'll watch Dead Boy Detectives when it drops

currently obsessed with: 9-1-1, Afdeling Q.

3. nine people to get to know better

I was tagged by @foxesonstilts ! some repeat questions, but we'll manage.

last song: TV-2 - De første kærester på månen. this is also on my Carl x Assad playlist which makes no fucking sense because this is a song about teenagers in love and first heartbreak HOWEVER it is a banger and when spotify queued it up after my playlist finished, I was like, you know what, I'll just put it on the list.

favourite colour: considering how many blue items i own it must be blue. honestly though i love a lot of colours and am also partial to green, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple

currently watching: see above

sweet/savoury/spicy: all of them? they each have their time and place but most of all they belong in my mouth

relationship status: single and not willing to mingle

current obsession: finding a pair of hiking boots/shoes. i had ordered a pair THREE WEEKS AGO but UPS lost my parcel so i finally got refunded today but i'm leaving on holiday in less than a week and i still need fucking hiking shoes and i'm losing my mind

last thing you searched: "outdoor sport store london"

4. 20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @palavapeite !

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

117 on my main, but not all of them are fics and not all of the fics are written by me, or just me (some are fanbinding posts, some are fanart, some are collaborative works). including my other two accounts, we're talking 224 works in total.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

on my main, 867,037 words, but that includes about 120k not written by me.

3. What fandoms do you write for? 

currently: Afdeling Q, BBC Shetland. though for the latest yuletide I went back to Volstovic Cycle for a stint and i wrote my first ever Ocean's 11 fic after years and years of only reading.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

that's 4 Harry Potter fics plus one Avengers/Batman crossover I wrote in 2012 on a whim after seeing the Dark Knight Rises and which became unexpectedly popular for a bit. I still love that fic though:

How to become a superhero and gain a family (minus the picket fence) - 7k, Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne, Steve/Tony. 2,758 kudos

the HP fics are:

Don't Blame Me (It Was All a Blur Last Night) - H/D, 7,468 kudos I'll Tell You a Secret (Just Don't Tell) - H/D, 5,209 kudos Here Now, Gone Yesterday (or Back to the Future) - R/S, T/J, 3,078 kudos Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them (or Draco Malfoy's Guide to Stop Dying and Start Living Instead) - H/D, 2,607 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments?

yes, usually. I stopped responding to comments on my HP fic a while ago because I couldn't summon the energy to engage with them, and more recently I turned off all comments for HP fic so that I wouldn't have to bother at all. I'm glad people are still able to enjoy these fics, but I need some distance.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I've written some dark fic in the past and I think what comes closest is this old thing I wrote for HP nextgendarkfest back in like 2011, in which some of the nextgen characters (including Harry's sons) were criminals who staged their own murders to cover up a heist they did but it implies that Harry was on to them, nearly caught them in the act, and was devastated about it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

almost all of them??? most of what I write has a happy ending because I want happy endings, damn it. if by happiest you mean 'least complicated' or 'unadulterated joyful' or something like that, then maybe...I don't know, god, I could name at least 50 fics like that just off the top of my head.

You know what, let's do the most recent one:

Et Afdeling Q Julemysterie - this is pure fluff and happy ending and it makes me smile like a fool in love, so.

8. Do you get hate on fics? 

not in a while - I used to get some nasty comments on this one old HP fic that had a nextgen teenage character working out his sexuality, and some people took offense at the character being asexual/not being asexual enough/turning out to not be asexual in the end. like, make up your mind about what the problem is at least? I also got nasty comments on another HP fic which featured aromantic polyamorous Harry in a V relationship with Ginny and Draco (and Ginny herself was in a V relationship with Harry and Blaise) for various reasons, including but not limited to people not understanding that one can in fact be both polyamorous and aromantic at one and the same time. by the time i posted the everybody is trans HP fic I was anticipating nasty comments so I turned comment moderation on for that fic.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

sometimes. in the past I would include it (and hate writing it) because I thought you had to, but these days I only write it when I feel like it. more often than not it's some kind of character moment rather than a horny thing, though I do usually try to approach the smut writing from the angle of 'what would this character enjoy about having sex with this other character? what are their focus points? what are they horny for? what are their coherence levels? what are their sensitivities? how well do they know their own body? their partner's body? how do they communicate? etc. etc.' you'd think that leads to some very unsexy smut writing but if i'm honest i think those bits of writing actually wound up being both the horniest writing i've ever done AND the most true to character (according to my interpretation of the characters anyway).

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

a few - crossovers don't hold a lot of appeal for me in general, so when I've done crossovers there's usually been a 'what if?' spark that set if off.

aforementioned how to become a superhero fic, Avengers/Batman crossover, in which Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne are longtime friends.

it's pure filth that i hide (time for genocide) - Volstovic Cycle/Pacific Rim crossover (or possibly just fusion?). Volstovic Cycle characters pilot jaegers and fight kaijus, no pacrim characters appear.

Dragons - Volstovic Cycle/Harry Potter crossover (...or...fusion?) I can never remember the difference between crossovers and fusions. Harry Potter characters ride dragons á la Volstovic Cycle, no Volstovic Cycle characters appear.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! the full list of translations (and podfics) of my fics is here. I've had fics translated into Russian and German.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes. @palavapeite mentioned this but we co-wrote an absolute deranged behemoth of a 'social media' fic (really, it was a 'livejournal' fic, but same difference) back in like 2008/2009 and it was honest to god some of the best fun I've ever had writing something and also, it was a work of ART.

I have since participated in fests like big bangs and reverse big bangs where I've written or made art, which is not quite the same as co-writing. I once ran a collab fest where I co-created a comic with three friends, which we cowrote and each drew various bits for, which was a lot of fun. and! with @gkkri we co-wrote (and illustrated) a R/S fic (but really it was a Sirius & Regulus fic in R/S disguise) back in 2017 as our last hurrah to the Remus/Sirius fandom as we were both feeling like we hadn't anything left to say for this ship and let me tell you, that co-writing process was like a dream and I'm still really proud of what we made.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? 

I don't have one??? I'm a multifandom person, I enjoy a LOT of ships for various reasons and I don't think I have an all time favourite? some ships I cycle back to over time and some ships I never even write for, just read a shitton for. like I enjoy Steve/Tony still even though I haven't written any fic for them in over a decade? and I mean, despite my misgivings about JKR and general HP fatigue, I will never not love Remus/Sirius. and so on and so forth. the beauty of fandom is that there are so many great characters and dynamics out there to love

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

er, wellllllll there's this one Matt/Foggy wip languishing in my gdocs drive that I'm not convinced I will ever finish, but I really want to. I'll cycle back to it eventually probably. I also have this one Space AU for Caius/Al that I have officially abandoned, but I still think about it!! and yet!! that wip is probably approaching a decade old at this point. I don't know man.

I only have one active fanfic wip atm and that is my current Afdeling Q wip and I WILL finish it, I swear to everything that is beautiful in this world.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I have a lot of strengths and I'm not too humble to admit it, but I think my number one strength these days is that I Do Not Care what other people think anymore, I will write whatever I damn well please, the way I want to. if other people like it: great! if they don't: okay!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plot sjkdgkfljsgd especially of the crime solving variety. I will never ever be a crime fiction writer. I'm also not great with action-type of plots because....well, I like reading plotty stuff but when I'm writing? I don't care, I just care about my characters and their dynamics and arcs and development and I will hang it on the thinnest scaffolding possible I can get away with to make the story go.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 

the kind of another-language-dialogue i see in fic most often seems to be weirdly pointless or out of character, just dropped in (usually by a monolingual English speaker) who thinks it adds flavour to the character, when really, that character has never once in canon slipped into their other language in dialogue. because, well, most multilingual people don't? speaking as a multilingual person I'm far more likely to say something like 'shit what is that called in English' than just say the word in Danish. i mean, tell me you don't understand codeswitching without telling me you don't understand codeswitching.

as a counterpoint to this actually i read a Buck/Eddie fic the other day where Eddie had lines in Spanish, and that I had no issue with because a) he speaks Spanish in the canon b) with his family 3) who also speak Spanish. in the fic he spoke Spanish with his family, who also had lines in Spanish. that author did kindly provide translations but tbh I didn't check the translations because the other thing about this fic was, it was clear from context what was being said without the translations because the dialogue followed canon-levels in this regard.

generally though, my preference would be for the tried and tested "A line of dialogue here," said character A, in Language. "The dialogue continues." it gets the point across.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

band RPF. before that I was writing fanfiction without knowing it was fanfiction or what fandom was, for stuff that Didn't End The Way I Wanted It To or similar. but first actual fandom writing? band RPF. it's backed up on a secondary ao3 account now, but this shit was first posted on forums and livejournal a billion years ago.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

listen. 224 fics written (that I know of, because the heavens only know what's been lost to the sands of time at this point) and you want me to pick ONE favourite? absolutely fucking not. also, recency bias is a thing.

i don't know man. let me pick at random:

Of Gilded Wallpaper and Meddling Dragons - Temeraire, 5,068 words

No Archive Warnings Apply, William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay, William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, Temeraire, John Granby, Iskierka Augustine Little, Romance, Fluff and Humor, dragons being dragons, bisexual awakening, agony aunt!granby, an excessive amount of gilded wallpaper, laurence blames the weather for his being hot and bothered, Laurence POV, tharkay brings sexy back 

Summary: Laurence and Temeraire have been living with Tharkay for a scant two weeks when Laurence sends Granby a letter that essentially boils down to hi John how did you know you're gay also plz help I am in trouble.

5. animal crossing picrew

I was tagged by @dejlige-dage !

i have never played animal crossing but this was fun

i am tagging: YOU. if you've read this, you're tagged.

[vrishchikawrites]

Just finished a fic on ao3 and I am now noticing a trend where Lan Xichen misses his poor Men Yao and Lan Wangji is helping him out of depression and Wei Wuxian the troublemaking gremblin is always messing with Lan Xichen, making things harder for him and Lan Xichen is always telling him that he doesn’t like him and that he hopes that he doesn’t breaks his brothers heart or else and Lan Wangji is on the sidelines and always nodding.

Don’t get me started on this other trend that always makes Lan Wangji the paragon of virtue and always and I mean always gets hurt because Wei Wuxian is arrogant and doesn’t ask for help. And always gets little A Yuan at the end and tells him when he’s growing up that Wei Wuxian made a lot of mistakes but to never stop loving him?

Like am I missing something?

People forget that the beauty of the characters are that they make mistakes and they grow since than and making Lan Wangji this angel is a disservice to his faults and his repentance.

What do you think?

You're not missing anything. And if you're feeling upset because of this, let me direct you to this absolute gem of a fic to heal your soul.

WWX is perfect here. LWJ is perfect. The writing is perfect. This author is perfect. Everything is gold.

Now, onto your ask-

Honestly, I partly blame the adaptions (outside of the audio drama) for this. And partially because I feel like a lot of this fandom just hasn't read the book. I mean, they have read a few chapters but not the entire book to truly understand the nuances.

I feel like MDZS requires a reread because you miss a lot in your first reading.

Like people say WWX never regreted GC tranfer and while he was sad, he didn't look back.

But in canon, he looses sleep over it, convinces himself it was the right thing to do, redirects his thoughts away from the loss and tries to make himself feel better.

And he ADMITS he is lying to himself. It is canon.

When you read the Guanyin Temple incident chapters, WWX's attitude towards LXC is distinctly protective. LXC as in Zewu-jun. He is cautions LXC a few times, chooses not to mention anything that would hurt or soften LXC's convictions. He UNDERSTANDS LXC and is compassionate towards him. Even in the donghua, you see WWX asking LXC to be careful and he says 'I understand, Wei-gongzi.'

WWX is very aware of LXC's vulnerable state and VERY concerned. Later, when LXC is in seclusion, WWX asks after him. Anyone who thinks WWX won't do his utmost to help LWJ's brother is a fool.

When WWX is making chaos, it is deliberate and serves a purpose. It doesn't do it to hurt others or on a whim.

As for asking for help, WWX does it constantly. With the Wen situation, he disclosed the entire affair in public, no one helped. He asked JC to honor their debt to the Wen siblings, he scoffed it away. He asked LWJ if there was any other alternative but to walk this road, LWJ walked away silently. WWX has always reached out. He spends his entire first life reaching out and being rejected. By JC, by LWJ, by the cultivation world leaders, by everyone. Just who is he supposed to ask for help?

Who has EVER indicated they would help? When LWJ was just being critical of his cultivation and demanding he come to Gusu without any explanation. And we like to soften it but he clearly states 'to hide him away'

How can WWX protect the people he wants to protect if he is hidden away in some corner of CR?

LWJ wouldn't have LSZ to raise and cherish if WWX hadn't saved that child first. LSZ exists today and is a cultivator to be proud of because WWX didn't falter in his convictions.

LWJ is fully aware of how fortunate he is and how much of a blessing WWX is. That's why he keeps coddling WWX and never takes his eyes off him ever again. LSZ and LGY both take to WWX quickly and even after his identity is revealed, they are concerned for him. That shows that LWJ never spoke an ill-word about WWX to them. It is likely he shared some of WWX's most honorable, heroic, and hilarious actions with LSZ, just to ensure LSZ knew about his savior and had some positive stories of him. This is hinted in the canon as well, like in the flower damsel bit.

Honestly, I am tired of shallow-ass takes and am very careful about what I read. I'm reaching a point where I simply do not want to read fics unless they are from authors I trust (which I can't do because pocketful but it has been a task for Ju and I to find fics without shitty things)

[lunarblazes]

i made a desertduo playlist and then decided to be a nerd and write explanations for all the songs! like a nerd!

playlist link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZGylutQpyTbgX7MY7Lrzz?si=t8_kBwBHSYG5kxTvZoIrTQ&dl_branch=1

QUICK DISCLAIMER: i am aware that a lot of these songs may have or imply romantic connotation! i would really really like it if these were not read as though those romantic connotations carry over to scar and grian. even if we’re just talking about the third life characters, i would prefer not to ship them or imply romance between them on this post. thank you so much and keep reading if you’d like to see the playlist analysis!

and now that that’s out of the way, PLAYLIST TIME!

•

passerine- the oh hellos

“you were the song that i’d always sing/you were the light that the fire would bring/but i can’t shake this feeling that i/was only pushing the spear into your side again”

this song really just... firstly, it’s one of my favorite songs, and the line i chose there pushes home the sort of terrified devotion i think the desert has. plus there’s a fun line about the cold wind blowing in from the north in the ending bits that i think very much fits their conflict with the red army, and a lot of legally obligated flight imagery that i need to have in every possible song because i’m a fuckin nerd.

•

no children- the mountain goats

“i hope that our few remaining friends/give up on trying to save us/i hope we come up with a failsafe plot to piss off the dumb few that forgave us”

i will admit that no children isn’t a perfect fit, but the general vibe of sort of defiant pessimism and betrayal fits very well with them! it’s very triumphant in its death, and i think that is very desertcore, because what’s more triumphantly dead than being the last duo left alive?

•

skulls- bastille

“when all of our friends are dead and just a memory/it’s always been just you and me/for all to see”

okay like this entire song is SO MUCH DESERT VIBES? LIKE SO MUCH. if i were to ever make an animatic for them i’d do it with this song. “a match is our only light, it’s day of the dead i’m indiana jones, yeah,” “i hope you can make me laugh six feet under when we’re bored of each other,” “i don’t want to rest in peace, i’d rather be the ghost that annoys you,” IT JUST KEEPS GOING. i think this song would work well with any third life duo, honestly, but these two in PARTICULAR just because of how it ended with them literally ‘buried’ next to each other, and again, the chaotic death vibes.

•

freaking out- mystery skulls

“i just keep out of my tongue/til all you want is done/and you just wanna leave me, oh yeah”

this song is a very third life grian song to me in particular! it could be my bias because of my little headcanon of grian burning on his red life, but seriously, this song is very reminiscent of the back and forth of loyalty that grian has with scar. the above line is sort of representative of the betrayal on red, and of course grian’s life debt.

•

night running- shin sakiura

(this song is in japanese! these lyrics are the rough english translation i found on google.) “someday we will stand at this place once again/for sure we will stand up again and again/we will watch it will the end/i want you to live freely”

this song is actually the ending theme for the anime bna, which i adore, and i just added it on a whim before looking at the translated lyrics. but um. holy hell the lyrics hurt me because they’re about running in search of someone, running for no reason, looking for something, and it just really hit, because the desert never really had a goal! they didn’t expect to survive, they were trying to survive, but what was their longterm goals? nothing. so that sort of endless search felt fitting for this. plus the song is a parallel for the two estranged best friends of the show so! perfect.

•

summer nights- siames

“it’s summertime/singing al green in your car/heading to a party/and the night air feels alive”

okay again, i will admit this song is mainly on here because i absolutely love it, but i also do think it fits well. it’s also about healing/estranged friendships, with a very distinct feeling of nostalgia for a happier time. maybe for a time when this was all a game, when there was no blood or betrayals on their hands. little canon divergent, but it’s fun for me, so into the playlist it goes!

allies or enemies- the crane wives

“are we allies or enemies/this will be the death of me, this will be the death of me/all’s fair in love and war but i can’t fight with you anymore”

. i just. points to that lyric. it literally led to both of their deaths. are they allies or enemies? it also fits with scar still wanting grian to be his friend even after he’s no longer indebted with the line “what happens now? do we have another go, do we bow out?” another very good animatic song that i’ve considered heavily. i listen to this playlist a lot

•

burn him down- kitsch club

“you must destroy, oh you must destroy, beyond all recognition/you gotta burn him down, you gotta burn him down, beyond all recognition”

this song just has a lot of fire and arson and high energy vibes. my little war criminals look at them go

•

rose- the oh hellos

“what's true is like a sickle/it'll cut you to the middle/your rose is without a thorn/but no, my mouth don't taste of metal/from the pot here to the kettle/i think we got a lot we gotta learn”

this one is like the exact opposite vibe of burn him down. the oh hellos are so poetic and this song just... feels like the healing potions after a battle. many of the metaphors here fit, i think

•

lone digger- caravan palace

“hey, brother, what you thinking/that good ol' sound is ringing/they don't know what they're missing/(they call it lonely diggin')”

okay this song is straight up just a dance song. i added it because i like it and also for some reason it feels ominous to me? i’ve got no idea why, it’s seriously just a club song, but it’s a banger and it’s in this playlist because i said so

•

feed the machine- poor man’s poison (suggested by my friend argonaughtkeene!)

“somethin’s goin” on, just look around/fear is on the rise, and there’s blood all over the ground/let’s all just blindfold the poor, we all know what’s in store/ we got ‘em now, just break ‘em down a little bit more”

this song is a VIBE for both desertduo members. there’s parts for both of them. it’s ruthless, gritty, very maniacal, perfect. listen to it and you’ll immediately understand why i added it.

•

sweet tooth- scott helman

“i hold hands with cosmic entities/i’ll take this two-ride if i please/i got this sweet tooth baby, yeah i got this sweet tooth baby/i exploit my opportunities/some broken hearts, some cavities”

sweet tooth is super upbeat and bright with these strangely dark lyrics? like i’m pretty sure it’s about addiction. in any case, i thought the “i hold hands with cosmic entities” very funnily fitting for both of the desert boys. it’s a banger!

•

necromancin’ dancin’- bear ghost

“when i’m necromancin’, everyone’s dancin’/nobody can stop me, i dare you to try/the dead are infused with insatiable groove and they’re coming for you, there’s nowhere to hide”

necromancin’ dancin’ just. bastard vibes. there’s not much more to say it’s just huge villain song vibes. i adore it.

•

crazy = genius- panic! at the disco

“if crazy equals genius/then i’m a fucking arsonist/i’m a rocket scientist/if crazy equals genius/you can set yourself on fire/but you’re never gonna burn, burn, burn”

i. yeah. y. yeah. more bastard vibes. also shoutout to an artist i saw (i think it was strifesolution?) who made a desertduo piece to this song because i have not stopped thinking about it ever

•

sweet bod- lemon demon

“i’m diggin’ up your coffin/and pouring out the contents/your sexy, sweet solution/is ripe for distribution”

you know how i said freaking out was a grian song? this one is a scar song. it’s my favorite lemon demon song and also it has the total macabre capitalism vibe that third life scar NAILED. more bastard vibes good for him <3

•

drunk- the living tombstone

“feel so much better than usual/i feel indisputable, oh/but now i’m feeling so beautiful/don’t wake me up from this spell i’m under, if i’m still breathing/i know that i will be ugly when i feel like myself again, oh/but right now i’m feelin’ so beautiful”

the descent of this song, starting off with a polite gathering and ending with a gasping drunk in the parking lot gazing at the stars that he can barely see? yes. yeah. mhm. i used a line from this song for a fic, actually, it fit so well.

•

oh no!- marina

“one track mind, one track heart/if i fail, i’ll fall apart/maybe it is all a test/cos i feel like i’m the worst so i always act like i’m the best”

bubbly pop track about false confidence, the ruthlessness of the pop industry, and the influence of the media? you know why this is here. it vibes. it rocks.

•

do it all the time- i don’t know how but they found me

“we’re taking over the world/a little victimless crime/and when i’m taking your innocence/i’ll be corrupting your mind/no need to cry i’m only doing everything i want to do because i do it all the time”

EVEN MORE BASTARD VIBES! SOMEHOW THERE IS MORE! this playlist is half villain songs and half heart-wrenching ballads and that’s the real desert experience i think.

•

the phoenix- fall out boy

“i’m gonna change you/like a remix/then i’ll raise you/like the phoenix”

BATTLE SONG BATTLE SONG! i’ll be honest i partially chose this song because i am a huge sucker for phoenix grian imagery in particular, but it’s also just a very good war song for them. villain song no 18372948 except this one originally had a hero vibe and now it’s changed specifically for them?? wild. their power

•

the other side- the greatest showman

“right here, right now/i’ll put the offer out/i don’t wanna chase you down, i know you see it/you run with me/and i can cut you free/out of the treachery/and all you keep in”

scar and grian’s desert monopoly conversation went exactly like this canonically because i said so fuck you <3

•

icicles- the scary jokes (suggested by my friend demizorua!)

“icicles don’t soften when they die/so why should i, why should i?/oh, icicles don’t soften when they die/they sharpen into sabers and they stab you in the eye”

this song actually has specific parts for both grian and scar! my cool epic friend mx demizorua pointed both of them out to me and i adored it so much. it’s a very spiteful song, just like the desert boys. also it feels vaguely murderous. perfect

•

problems- mother mother (suggested by my friend demizorua!)

“i’m a loser, a disgrace/you’re a beauty, a luminary, in my face”

literally this entire song fits them. particularly their relationship with the flower husbands, to me, honestly— the whole “when we meet at the pearly gates/you’ll get the green light/and i’ll get the boot in the face” reminds me a lot of them hdksjdks

•

tongues and teeth- the crane wives

“i know that you mean so well/but i am not a vessel for your good intent/i will only break your pretty things/i will only wring you dry of everything”

h. yeah. this song is literally gaslight gatekeep girlboss and i attribute it to the desert for that reason alone. songs to commit murder to!

•

you’re nobody til somebody wants you dead- saint motel

“you’re nobody til somebody wants you dead/and the list, it grows, and grows, and grows/it grows, and grows, and grows/and grows, and grows, and grows/until it’s everyone you’ve ever known”

this one is very self-explanatory. enemies pogchamp

•

curses- the crane wives

“there’s a fire in my brain and i’m burning, love/oh my, oh my/keep running to the sink, but the well is dry/oh my, oh my/every word i say is kindling/but the smoke clears when you’re around”

okay again! this one has two very specific parts for both of them. grian’s the first verse, which is above, and scar’s the second verse!! i really do like my fire imagery for these two don’t i? well, i blame them for having a fuck ton of tnt on them at all times and literally burning their enemy’s banners as a final act of defiance.

[samwilsonsbabymama]

Pillow Fight

Pairing: Gilberto ‘Gilly’ Lopez x Black Reader

Summary: Gilly eats your ice cream so you decide to fight him for it.

Warning: fluff, like a lot of it lol 

Word Count: 995ish

A/N: so yeah, Gilly is a big teddy bear and he looks so soft and I wanna hug him lol but i got the beginning idea from that one video, when I find it I’ll link it here lol and the rest of the fic came from this post lol I hope yall like it 

You sat on the passenger’s side of the car with the window down waiting for Gilly to come out of the store. You had asked him to take you to the store to pick up a few things for dinner, but he insisted on going in for you.

You were glad that it was finally cooling down as you felt the breeze flow through the car. The sun warmed your skin as you scrolled through your phone.

“Daaammmnn, ma!” you heard a few seconds before a figure blocked the sun. “You lookin real good.”

You looked at the man standing, well leaning through your car window.

“Can I get your number?” he said with a large smile on his face.

You rolled your eyes and continued to scroll through your phone.

“Aye ma, I’m talkin’ to you,” he said, gently pushing your phone down.

“Gilly,” you whined at his antics.

“See that’s not fair; you know my name, but I don’t know yours,” he chuckled playfully. “Come on, ma, what’s your name?”

“Gilly stop!” you laughed, and he reached in and cupped your face.

“Damn, you’re beautiful,” he said. “Your man is a fool for leaving you out here by yourself, but that’s okay, I’m here to scoop you up.”

“Gilly!” you said once again, your laughter almost uncontrollable.

“Yeah, I like how you say my name, I bet I can make you scream it,” Gilly licked his lips and winked at you.

“Oh my goodness!”

“Nah, but for real, I left my wallet,” he said laughing along with you. “Can you hand it to me?”

You continued to laugh as you handed him his wallet and you watched as he walked back into the store, but not before he left a kiss on your cheek.

Later that night, after the two of you had eaten dinner you were resting on the couch watching tv. Gilly was in his usual spot, on top of you with his head on your stomach as you scratched his scalp. When a commercial came on, Gilly got up and headed to the kitchen and came back with a carton of ice cream and just one spoon.

You watched as he made his way back to you and situated himself to lay back down when you closed your legs preventing him.

He quirked his eyebrow and frowned.

“Gilly, that’s my ice cream,” you pouted.

He chuckled and looked around the carton. “I don’t see your name on it,” he said before he took a scoop and plopped the spoon into his mouth.

“Hey!” you exclaimed as you reached up to take the carton away from him, but he was quicker than you.

“Whatcha gonna give me for it?” he said around the spoon.

“Nothin, but,” you paused as you thought. “How ‘bout I fight you for it?” you smirked.

Gilly pulled the spoon out of his mouth and smiled. “You remember what happened the last time you ‘fought’ me for something, querida?”

Your eyes glazed over at the memory. Gilly had you beneath him and moaning his name in under five minutes and you promised that you would win the next time.

“I do remember,” you said as you stood up. “But I also remember how I said that I would win the next time we fought. So, what do you say, Gilly? Wanna fight for that ice cream?” You took a step closer to him so that you were pressed up against him and looking into his eyes.

Gilly gave you a lopsided grin before he placed the ice cream and spoon on the table and before you could get ready, he had both of your arms pinned to your sides. You wiggled a bit in an attempt to free yourself and Gilly chuckled.

“You cheated!” you frowned. “I wasn’t ready!” Gilly laughed as he leaned down to give you a kiss. Taking advantage of him being distracted. You wiggled free of his grasp and made a dash for the couch and grabbed a pillow. When you turned around to face him once again, Gilly had moved to the other side of the couch and was arming himself with a pillow as well. 

You moved closer to Gilly and swung your pillow hitting his side before quickly moving away. Gilly chased you around the living room, the both of you hitting each other with pillows. Yours and Gilly’s laughter filled the air as you chased each other around. You were getting tired, but you were determined to win.

On a whim, you threw your pillow at Gilly’s face before grabbing another one and hitting him on the side. 

Gilly grunted and slowly fell to the ground, “I surrender! I surrender!” he said.

You walked over and stood over him with your arms raised as you started singing, “I am the champion, my friend! And I’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end! I am the champion! I am the champion!”

You squeaked when Gilly reached up and pulled you down on top of him. “You know I let you win, right?” he said with a laugh.

“Nope, I won fair and square. Now,” you said as you reached up and grabbed the carton of partially melted ice cream, “why don’t we share this ice cream instead?” You moved so that you were straddling his thighs, giving him the chance to sit up before you began feeding him the messy treat.

Gilly wrapped his arms around your waist and leaned forward to lick the drops of ice cream that had dropped onto your chest.

You moaned at the feeling of his tongue on your skin.

"Why don't we get another carton of ice cream and move this to the bed?" Gilly asked between licks. 

Your eyes flashed at his suggestion and you hopped right up and ran to the kitchen. You heard Gilly laughing as you rummaged around for some ice cream.

This was going to be a long sticky night.

[imaginethebeautifulworld]

Imagine this: You are at a small party and you get bored with all the mindless chattering and gossip. You say you need some fresh air and head outside. Sighing, you place your wine glass down on a table and take off your heels. "Good evening.", a voice calls out from behind you. Your eyes meet mesmerizing scarlet. You know this man. But does he know you? "May I have this dance, my fellow outcast?" Smiling as you cringe at his words, you take his hand. (1/2)

Holy shit, Anon!

Before I start, I need to tell you that I am obsessed with this ask, and literally started mentally writing this the MINUTE I read through. Please pardon a little creative license; I couldn't resist. Hope you enjoy!

Edit 22 Oct. 2021- As a special request, there is another part to this fic, told from Gil’s perspective this time. Thank you for reading!

It isn't as hard to slip away from the festivities as it should be; everyone is already so deep into their drinks that they wouldn't really notice even if you did made an effort to announce your departure.

You take the miracle at face value however, weaving through various groups and couples to the kitchen, topping up your single glass of wine and stealing a few pieces of food.

For a few minutes, all is quiet in your little haven, only the soft lighting from the stove and a jack-o-lantern keeping you company. You finish off a few bites, and just as you're about to grab some more food, a couple stumbles through the doorway, oblivious to everyone and everything.

Deciding you would rather leave than interrupt them, you slip out the back door, closing it softly behind you.

Sunset is painting the sky in vibrant lilac and rose, birdsong still carrying across the yard. The day is still fairly warm, and you slip your shoes off with a sigh, wiggling your toes through the grass as you make your way to a white bistro set.

There are two empty chairs, and you happily take the nearest one, setting your glass on the table, happy to melt into the iron.There is nothing except the beautiful sky and a newfound inner peace. Blessed silence after all the hullabaloo and gossipmongering from the past hour.

"G'evenin'."

Dammit.

You hadn't noticed anyone else slipping outside, or hanging out in the yard. And now you'll have to make small talk again and feign interest in whatever pointless topics come up. Terrific.

Not bothering to even glance at your companion, who is already making himself comfortable in the other chair, you offer a frustrated sigh. "Hi."

"Oof. Little bitterness there."

Whoever he is, he sounds concerned, if not bemused.

Despite your irritation at having your privacy interrupted, you don your manners once more, turning to him with a smile you don't really feel. "Long night, sorry."

He hums. "That I get. More like a long week I think."

The admission and his tone have you breathing out the ghost of a laugh. "You got me there."

He's surprisingly quiet for a few minutes, seemingly just as content as you are to watch the skyscape. You find you're not nearly as uncomfortable with the company as you would have expected.

Subtly, you try to figure out exactly who he is, though the design of his mask makes it absolutely impossible. Really, the only thing you can make out are his eyes, a vibrant red you're sure are contacts.

You can't help but ogle his costume; he's dressed as if he stepped right out of a portrait, and if you didn't know better you would swear that was a genuine sapphire resting against his chest. And then there's his mask-

Scarlet eyes flicker your way, his lips turning up in a grin when he realizes you've been staring. "See something you like?"

You're far too embarrassed, yet somehow- "Jury's still out."

The grin grows even bigger, showing off the fangs that complete his ensemble. 

With how pale he is, you mentally decide, it's the perfect outfit for him.

You had thrown yours together on a whim, using a thrifted evening dress, hand-me-down jewelry, and a fake tiara you had worn a few times during your childhood. Ironically, the only part of your ensemble that was expensive is the mask itself, a custom piece that cost more than the rest of your outfit put together.

Now, sitting next to someone who looks like he stepped out of the 1800s, obnoxiously blue jacket and all, you feel a little underdressed, the feeling passing by as you realize he's discarded his own shoes and socks sometime ago.

There's something familiar about him, his slight slouch teasing at a memory from long ago. 

You would think, considering how few people are actually here, you would recognize him, would be able to figure out who he is.

But his eyes are strangers to you, his voice is... unique.

The not-knowing is more aggitating than his company, enough that it is the sole reason for your next words to him.

"As lovely as this has been, do you mind?"

There's no real expression on his face as he turns to you. "Nope. Do you?"

That was a challenge. You can see it in his eyes, heard the playful hitch in his voice. God help you, he's annoying. 

"Yes, actually." Deciding to press further, because why-the-hell not, you offer your own challenge. "You're interrupting my alone time."

"Pardon the intrusion, milady, but I'm pretty sure this is neutral territory."

"I was here first," you retort, a bit childishly.

He snorts, folding his arms across his chest, falling further into his chair, posture absolutely intended to mock you. "Were you, though?"

Dammit, he had you.

You shoot him a scathing look, one that was frankly just a little on the playful side, before folding your own arms and pretending to scowl at the setting sun.

A few more minutes pass, before you hear his voice again. "So..." he says, dragging out the sound in a pointed attempt at getting you to talk to him.

You ignore him, or you attempt to at least. It's kind of hard to do that when he's standing now, just inside your peripheral, head turned towards the heavens.

Finally realizing that you have no plans of responding, he takes another step, now more-or-less directly in your line of sight. "Why're you alone out here? Party's inside, ya know."

You level an unamused stare at his pointed question, a hint of bemusement coating your reply. "I could ask you the same thing."

He smirks, some quick, passing thing, before he hides it behind a small sip of his beer. "Touché."

Somehow, that brief exchange has revitalized you, and you take another drink from your wine, watching some birds make their final rounds for the evening.

The sky is shifting, darkening with each passing moment. And inside, the party is getting louder, laughter carrying out to you from the still partially open door.

He glances back towards the house, an odd expression on his face. You follow his gaze, almost instinctively, turning back to him curiously when you can't determine the cause of his- Discomfort? Irritation?

"You ever just want to run away?"

His question takes you by surprise, and you feel your heart constrict when his focus once more turns to you, achingly familiar eyes seemingly- haunted.

Whatever annoyance you had held previously is gone, replaced with something you don’t really recognize.

Trying to ignore it, you nearly default to the normal lie that comes with small talk, especially with strangers, but there's something so familiar about him-

You give yourself a minute to actually weigh his question, tasting different answers on your tongue. It teases you, the temporary daydream of just hitting the road, abandoning everything and everyone you know to start a new life elsewhere.

After a few moments- really, it could have been an Infinity or merely seconds- you have your answer.

"I'd be lying if the thought didn't appeal to me sometimes."

He hums, sounding somewhat detached, turning once more to study the treeline. There's a heaviness around him now, an aura that almost hurts to see.

"Something tells me it's been on your mind lately?"

He studies you for some time, and maybe it's the lighting or just the contacts, but you could swear his eyes are almost glowing. Finally he offers a small shrug, all that negativity seeming to disappear into thin air. 

"Eh. Comes and goes. Let's just say my cousin's really pissing me off."

You huff a laugh at the statement, thinking of your own loved ones inside, and how tipsy they were already when you first slipped outside. "Family, am I right?"

He hisses slightly, apparently his own form of laughter, that smile once more teasing the left corner of his mouth.

Silence reclaims the pair of you for a few more moments, and as awkward as it could have been- He's good company. After spending so long having to mindlessly chatter about the weather and ambitions, it was nice to simply breathe.

Your companion- it’s still bothering you that you don’t know his name- seems as at ease as you are, content to lean against the table as if he owns the place.

The sunlight is almost completely gone now, the waxing moon taunting you from behind a few scattered clouds painted in amethyst. The stars are not so shy, several distinct constellations already twinkling above you.

With the coming night, there's a chill creeping closer, a crispness to the air that has you sighing in contentment.

He seems to mistake the sound, eyes flashing with concern as he turns back to you. "Cold?"

Your denial is barely even formed before his jacket is over your shoulders, his lingering warmth already starting to seep into your bones.Your mouth opens in a small protest- Seriously, how dare he just assume!- but seeing how instinctively he had done it, how it almost seemed his second-nature-

Rather than offer up any protests, you sigh out a small thank you, and soon slide your arms into the sleeves, marveling at how warm the damn thing is despite how thin it is.

There is another round of laughter inside, and someone decides to raise the volume of the speakers.

Some orchestral piece is playing, a haunting melody that you felt befit a Gothic novel, a spellbinding spectrum of emotions carrying past the still opened door.

You see your companion shift, straightening his posture as he turns his attention back to you. Curious, brow raising slightly, you glance over at him, wondering at his next move.

Shockingly, he's bowing, a right, proper bow, before standing upright once more, a soft smile just noticeable. "May I have this dance, my fellow outcast?"

Oh God-

"You are ridiculous," you're laughing out, even as you take his offered hand.

He's grinning again, a playful look that fits him far better than some of the ones he's had on before. "It's all part of my charm!"

You're rolling your eyes, still smiling despite yourself.

It's only when he's guiding your hands to a ballroom position that you feel the first flickers of panic. You had been expecting maybe some swaying or just kind of shuffling, not-

"Relax, would ya?"

You meet his eyes, immediately reassured by the soft expression there, eased from that inexplicable familiarity. He isn't going to pressure you, and somehow you know he will always have your back.

"Just follow my lead; I've got ya."

You believe him. 

Despite not even knowing his name, what a majority of his face looks like, or even what accent that is- 

You believe him, and you decide to trust him.

Letting go is a strange sensation, one you're not entirely sure you dislike. He seems to know you're a novice, goes at a tempo that he can easily guide you through. Despite never having danced like this before, a few moments in you feel as if a part of you has been reawakened, the next steps coming to you before he begins to move into them.

He seems almost proud of your progress, your dance becoming more a partnership with each passing moment.

The song had shifted a long while ago- now some creepy lofi piece with samplings from a children's cartoon- yet your pace remained the same.

"So..." He puts out into the air, a pensive prompt that has you smiling.

"So," you repeat curiously.

There's another weird expression, fading away before you can analyze it. 

"What's your name?"

Maybe it's the thrill of anonymity, or maybe you're too caught up in the giddiness of your newly discovered talent. Instead of giving him a straight answer, you playfully offer: "Someone smarter than Cinderella's Prince Charming." 

Pensive, you offer an extra thought. "I know the power of a name; who knows what you'd do with it."

The comment seems to amuse him, that achingly familiar smile returning as he guides you into a dip. He hovers there for a moment, slightly pensive. "You know, Prince Charming is a lot smarter than you give him credit for." 

He's guiding you back up, his eyes glowing once you're upright again. "He could do more with his beloved's name than she could even begin to imagine."

That last line, a whisper meant just for the two of you, is digging at you, tugging at some memory buried deep, deep in your subconscious. 

There's something there, a name starting to shape on your lips-

But then he's doing that half-shrug again, dismissing the exchange entirely. "No matter. Keep your secrets, princess."

The last word was spoken with such fondness that your heart actually skipped a beat.

He barely gives you a moment to process, pulling you into a different routine that soon has the rest of the world fading away again. You let yourself forget everything else for a while; you exist only in this moment, dancing on the grass with a stranger.

Except, he's not a stranger, is he?

God help you, you know this is the first time you've met him, know that you've never interacted with this man before in your life, but you know him.

With every minute you spend with him, you imagine all kinds of moments with him- 

Laughter as he wipes chocolate cake off his cheek from an impromptu food fight, annoyance at his cousin's lecturing, the soft smile of pride as he listens to his brother's speech.

And dammit, he never even mentioned having a brother.

But the daydreams keep coming.

Holding his hand in some cobblestoned square, racing through the woods, collapsing into a freshly constructed snow fort, lazing in bed running your fingers through his hair while he reads aloud-

They're so vivid that you're starting to wonder if you lived an entire life with him already.

And God, doesn't that make you sound so ridiculous. 

You've only just met this guy, literally know maybe five things about him, and yet you're already imagining a future with him.

Life isn't some fairietale, and despite the tiara you're wearing for the night, you are not a princess. Shit like this isn't real.

But the way he's looking at you, watching you with such vulnerability and longing-

He's pulling you closer, your eyes drifting shut reflexively.

You feel his breath teasing your neck, his hand pulling you closer to him.

You-

A familiar voice is calling your name.

You barely hear it over the sound of your racing heart beat, over his. Your eyes flash open in irritation, though not at him. Never at him.

"It's not midnight yet."

Given the circumstances, the weight of his hand on your back, how tantalizingly close he is, and the inexplicable gravity you've long since stopped denying, his growl actually elicits a laugh, pained as it is.

"Sadly even the most rebellious of us princesses still have curfews."

He groans in frustration, arms wrapping around you in a hug, his forehead dropping against your own. "Don't. I-" His eyes are meeting yours again, darkened by expanded irises and still nearly sparkling for how vibrant the red is. 

"Run away with me."

It's a whisper, a plea. It echoes through your entire heart and soul, that aching a crescendo of longing and adoration.You would give anything to stay with him, would follow him in a heartbeat.

But you have a family, a job, responsibilities. You can't abandon them, even at the risk of never seeing him again.

"I'm sorry," you force out, the agony resounding from every last inch of your soul. 

You never meant the words as much as you mean them now, your own heart breaking in your decision.

You step away from him, shedding his jacket and turning away.You know if you look at him, if you see his face, if you glance at his eyes once more time-

You manage five steps before he's choking out your name. You close your eyes at the pain in his voice, but it's not enough.

He's used your name, and the sound of it from his lips, the weight of it on your spirit, it's too much for you to resist.

You're turning again, once again struck by how devastatingly handsome he is right now, how much sway he already has over you. 

Every one of his approaching steps, each more confident than the last, is increasing the tempo of your heartbeat, filling you to the brim with anticipation.

It's ridiculous, impossible.

Yet you can't lie to yourself. Not about this.

"Please."

He's barely an arm's distance away from you now, hair haloed and features shadowed from the nearby sconces. And those damned eyes-

"N-"

He's murmuring your name again, slowly, hypnotically, shaping it as if he's savoring the flavor, enjoying how it feels. 

You really want to ignore the effect it has on you, but he's whispering it again, not giving you a moment's mercy. 

"Come with me."

You're powerless to resist.

"Yes." 

[tippenfunkaport]

Tippen’s work in progress fic updates! (April 2021)

It's time once again my friends for an update on all my works in progress!

The TL;DR is that I am writing a lot of stuff to prepare for Seamista and Glimbow Weeks so I didn’t post as many things this month in exchange for post A TON next month.

The big news is that I am

participating in Seamista Week in May @cephalopod-literary-society

modding / participating in Glimbow Week a week after that @glimbowweek

doing Camp NaNoWriMo

Which means I am writing a TON this month but just not stuff I could post yet.

What about your ongoing fics? I hoped to finish Glowing Up and The B Team before April and I... totally failed at that. But The B Team WILL be updating every Sunday like clockwork until it’s done in an unprecedented bout of consistency. At the time of posting, there are two chapters left and they are both ready to roll.

In the meantime, there aren't too many chapters left of Glowing Up and most of them are already written, it's just a matter of finding time between other things to clean them and get them posted. Hopefully once Glimbow Week is over I can get that one completed.

As for Prince Bow and Archer Glimmer and Going There, both of them are both my mental fallback projects in the sense that whenever I don't particularly feel like working on anything specific I always return to them so I'm fine with just working on them in the background whenever in between other things. You’ll get those when you get them, basically, and likely not until after Glimbow Week.

That said, I do plan going forward to always have one fic that is getting consistently updated weekly, like I am doing now with The B Team and then just do other updates as I can.

What are you working on for Camp NaNoWriMo?

For NaNo, I didn't set a numeric goal. I am just trying to get everything written and ready to go for Seamista and Glimbow weeks. I'm also writing as far ahead in all my multi-chapter fics as I can this month so there should be less posting delays in the future.

What's coming up?

If anyone cares, here's a little teaser of exactly what I'm working on (with the disclaimer that this is always subject to change as my whims and sudden and capricious).

Seamista Week

As of now, I am planning on writing four things for sure Seamista Week and then maybe doing more if I have extra time. These are...

a double date between Seamista and Entrapdak (Yeah, you read that right, baby!)

a long post explaining a treasured headcanon of mine about Seamista in Season Five that I am too lazy to make into a full fic

The Sea Gate from Swapped Seamista's POV set in the world of my Glimbow Swap (aka Prince Bow and Archer Glimmer)

a fun modern AU of Sea Hawk failing (... or is he?) to pick up Mermista at a bar

if I have extra time I will write a song parody (steeples chin mysteriously)

Glimbow Week

As for Glimbow Week, my intention right now is to participate every single day. I am going to try to NOT stress myself by doing two prompts for every day but if I do get extra fics written, I’ll throw em up too!

Here are some of the things I have for you...

Outlaws of the Whispering Woods! Multi-chapter Robin Hood inspired / dystopian spin on the events of Season 5 for Catradora and Glimbow but focusing on the friendships between Adora & Bow and Catra & Glimmer that I am so so excited for you to read!!

a cute high school AU

a funny college AU

a post-canon multi-chapter fic where Glimmer accidentally teleports herself... into a modern AU! Comic antics and also feelings may ensue!

something kind of different from me, my angsty as HELL (literally) take on the popular Celestial AU but focused on Glimbow of course bc it's their week

something people have been asking me for for a while... a sequel to my fic Paperworks and Proposals fic!

Yes, they are almost all AUs. Let me live.

I also wrote..

a PJO mythology inspired fic (that I planned for Glimbow Week but got too long so I’ll save it for another time so I don't have too many fics in progress at once)

a Medieval AU one-shot I wrote for my own amusement with princess / royal guard dynamics (can’t post for Glimbow Week bc TOO SEXY OH NO!)

another too hot for Glimbow Week post set in the world of Prince Bow and Archer Glimmer

a bunch of self-indulgent gift fics for all my Glimbow buddies that I meant to have done for Glimbow week but will probably instead roll out randomly as I get them finished

What about...?

The two things people ask me about the most are when am I going to continue my Horde Glimmer and when will I post the next part of Beasts AU?

The answer to that is I planned to start posting them for Glimbow Week but then I realized I didn't want to have too many fics in progress at once. So they are both partially and I will start posting them eventually but first I have to finish some other ongoing stuff. 

And, I’m telling you right now, if they announce more She-Ra I’m going to start posting the sequel to Going There, Coming Home, even if GT isn’t done yet because I’d rather have it posted before post-canon changes and I would have to rewrite it.

Once Glimbow Week is over, I will have five multi-chapter fics in progress 😫 which is too many so I’ll be working on getting those up and completed for the foreseeable future!

And that’s what I’ve got coming up! Sorry this is the longest post on earth! As always, feel free to send me asks about any of my fics or works in progress, I would LOVE to talk about them!

[clockworkgraystairs]

O.M.G!!! I loved your recent jurdan fic sooo much!! Can you write when she tells Cardan she’s pregnant?? Can Cardan get emotionally excited??I love their softness and excitement... love you 😍

Hello dear!!! Thank you so much for your words! 

I’m sorry it took me long but my job is a pain in the ass and I don’t have as much time as I would like to write. Buuut here it is!

It also came out longer than I expected bc apparently I can’t keep things easy.

Anyway, ENJOY! LOVE U TOO!

~~~~

JUDE TELLS CARDAN SHE’S PREGNANT

Jude had spent half of her life learning how to face danger.

Years and years of training, creating strategies, fighting and even killing when she needed to.

 Gods above, she was the Queen.

 The High Queen of Elfhame, and she was shrinking on one corner of her sister Vivi’s bathroom; staring at the little pharmaceutic device, the third one, showing the result.

Jude carved her face with shaking hands.

 “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She muttered, her breathing harsh.

 This was supposed to be an ordinary weekend.

 One year had passed since her official coronation and occasionally she liked to spend a day or two at the human world with Vivi, Heather and little Oak. Sometimes Cardan came with her, partially she suspected, since he’d caught some fascination for Sephora stores and some human customs, he claimed, he wanted to experience.

This time though, he’d stayed back in Elfhame, to attend some meetings Jude didn’t want to be part of.

Everything was going fine, they went to the park, to the movie theater and at last to the pizza place near her sister’s house, where Oak asked for Jude’s favorite to honor her visit. What she didn’t expect, was the sudden nausea that crept up her stomach as soon as the pizza arrived, making her ran to the toilet in a couple of seconds.

 It didn’t take much time for Vivi to suspect what was going on, even with Jude’s insistence on it probably being a stomach bug.

On their way back to her apartment, she bought Jude three different pregnancy tests under the argument that “one could never know”. Then filled her with orange juice and waited. And waited.

 So here she was. With three positive results. Pregnant.

 A loud knock on the door made her jump. “JUDE? Is everything alright?? You’ve been there ages! Are you done??”

 “Let her be Viv, don’t make her more nervous than she already is…” That was Heather.

 “What? I’m not. I just want to know if-”

 Jude stood and opened the door stopping her mid-sentence.

Two pairs of eyes stared at her expectantly. She pursed her lips and took in a deep breath.

 “So, apparently I’m pregnant.” She said to no one in particular. The words sounded strange in her mouth, as if she wasn’t the one saying them.  

 “Are… are you sure?” Viv’s face had lost all track of emotion. Jude quirked an eyebrow and handed her sister the pregnancy tests.

 What came next was a bunch of screaming and “oh my gods” and Heather swearing she’d dreamed about it a few nights ago. Maybe something else about a bet between her sister and Madoc.

 Jude was only hearing half of it. Instead her mind was worrying about one thing only. Cardan. How in hell was she going to tell him? How was he going to react?

 She didn’t even know how she felt.

They didn’t talk much about the subject. Some comments from the Court members about them providing heirs had quickly turned into inside jokes she and Cardan occasionally teased each other with. But joking about it was very different to this. To actually being pregnant. To carry life inside her that someday would become a baby, a child. For her to become a mother. For them to become parents.

 How was a parent supposed to be to begin with? She’d grown up with her kidnapper, a cold-blood murderer as the only parental figure. Her husband didn’t have a better role model.

And now they’ll have to raise a new creature into this world. It was too much to digest in one day.

 The next morning, she returned to Elfhame. Still with no clue of how to tell Cardan the news.

 She found their chambers empty, and took the chance to take a bath and put on her queenly clothes before going to search for her husband. She needed to tell him immediately, before her sense of fake bravery vanished.

 “Last time I saw him, Your Highness, he was on his way to his mother chambers.” Fand told her. Jude rolled her eyes and groaned, that was the last place where she wanted to go but her hands had already started to tremble, if she waited more time she wouldn’t be able to do it.

 One step away from Asha’s door she hesitated. Jude had meant to knock, but the door was already half-opened and she could hear voices coming out.

 “Seriously Cardan, how long are you going to keep this up?” Asha sounded annoyed. “You had your fun with the mortal girl, why keeping her at all?”

 “She is my wife.” Was all he answered.

 Jude leaned just a bit so she could peer inside the room. Cardan stood before his mother, who rested on a pile of cushions. His back faced the door so she couldn’t see his expression.

Asha sighed.

 “That didn’t stop you from vanishing her once. And we are not at war anymore so I doubt her fighting skills are needed much.” she shrugged. “Aren’t you just bored already?”

 Jude could see Cardan’s fist tightly closed. “I don’t see why my personal decisions affect you mother, nor why should I explain them to you.” His voice sounded strained. “As for Jude, she is no weapon just designed for war, and her staying is not for you to decide or even mention.”

 Asha’s lips quirked just a little. “Ah, I see now. My dear son, are you not capable to see all of the pleasures you are denying yourself just for a whim?” She raised to her feet and rested one of her perfect hands on Cardan’s shoulder. “It is not rare for Kings to take mistresses, and let me tell you, I know several beauties who would do anything for the opportunity.”

 Jude’s ears were ringing with rage. How dare she suggested such thing? To even consider the possibility of Cardan taking some vulgar… she shook her head, not even finishing the thought of it. She was so focused in her desire to take Asha’s head and slam her into the floor she couldn’t hear his answer.

 Asha laughed in a cruel way that make Jude’s stomach turn as she came back to reality. Oh gods, was she going to be sick again?

 “You ought to think of the future of your people too, you know. Elfhame will need an heir someday. And do you think the folk will not prefer a precious pure fae, instead of some half breed…” Asha’s eyes darted to the side and locked with Jude’s, making her heart skip a beat. “With filthy human blood?”

 Jude took a step back, feeling tears stinging behind her eyes. She knew what Asha was doing, that bitch, knowing she was listening behind the door. But it didn’t matter, not as her heart hammered with such intensity it was starting to hurt. Not as her throat closed in anger and impotence, making her hard to breath.  

So she just turned and rushed far from there.

 Somehow she reached one of the back balconies and stood there, staring at the sea under her. Jude knew she would be a filthy human for some of the folk for the rest of her days. She’d grown with that knowledge and she didn’t care anymore. But now, it was not only her. It would never be only her ever again. Was she really that stupid for allowing this to happen to someone else? Not only someone else, but her own child? Would Cardan even agree to the idea?

 Minutes passed. Even hours maybe, but she didn’t move. She felt as if she’d forgotten how to.

 Light steps sounded behind her.

 “Jude?” Cardan’s voice somehow filled her with something between peace and anxiousness, remembering why she was searching for him in the first place.

 She didn’t answer, so he continued. “I ran into Sir Fand a while ago, she told me you were looking for me. I should have been there when you arrived, I am sorry my love.”

 Jude shook her head, “It’s okay.” Her voice was faint, almost a whisper. She still didn’t dare looking at him.

 “Jude, is there something wrong?” He came closer to her, now standing by her side. Cardan searched her gaze but she looked down. “Have… Have I done something to upset you?”

 Jude’s heart hurt at his tone.

 “No, no you didn’t.” She wanted to tell him everything was okay, that he didn’t do anything wrong, that she was perfectly fine. Except she was not. She just didn’t know what to say first or how. “And yes, I was… looking for you.”

 She felt Cardan’s hand take hers, soft as a feather. “And you were looking for me on the sea? Unlikely, but I appreciate the effort.” He chuckled for a second, and then went back to his worried voice. “I am here now. Will you tell me what is that troubles you? You look as if you just had a nightmare.”

 That wasn’t unusual. More than once Cardan had woken her up from some bad dreams, usually ones in which he didn’t return after Jude cut off the snake’s head.  It always left her pale and shaky. Sometimes it happened the other way around, but they always found comfort in each other’s arms.

 She bit her lip and took a deep breath.  “I don’t think your mother would appreciate being called a nightmare, even if she usually is.”

 He gave her a wide grin before furrowing his brow in confusion. “Funny, I was just with her right…ah.” Realization crossed his eyes, Jude watched him clench his jaw. “You went to my mother’s chambers. You heard us.”

 Jude nodded and held his hand tighter. “I heard some of it. Many of the folk will always find me to be inadequate, that’s nothing new. But I hadn’t heard any mention of it in so long that, for a moment I, I let myself believe that-“  

 “Jude, stop, you cannot possibly think you are not good enough. Look at what you have done for Elfhame; anyone could see that!”

 “That’s not it. I know I have done things for them, saving some of their asses and stuff.” She shrugged.

 “Then I am not understanding, Jude-“ With his free hand he reached for her cheek and cupped it, tugging her into a hug.

 “I’m pregnant.” Her voice was almost a whisper, but she felt him froze.

 Without letting go of her, he leaned back, wide eyed and openmouthed. “What did you just say?”

 “Cardan I’m,” She closed her eyes and said louder, “I’m pregnant.”

 She didn’t open her eyes, afraid to see his reaction. But instead of saying anything he just gasped and pulled her back into his arms. Jude felt his heart beating fast against her hands.

“When did you find out?”

Now it was Jude’s time to chuckle. “Yesterday, even though I was feeling odd for the past days. Oak invited me a pizza but it made me sick, Vivi guessed the rest and I took some tests.”

Cardan didn’t say anything letting her continue. “When I came back I looked for you to tell you, mostly because if I didn’t right away I would be too scared to do it after. But…”

 “But you found me with my mother,” He sighed. “And what she said…gods, Jude I am so sorry. I ought to throw her back to the Tower of Forgetting.”

 She couldn’t say the thought was not appealing.

 “Every day of my life since I got here I was reminded of how I was different. Sometimes in the cruelest ways.” Cardan started to say something but she continued. “I am over it now, I know who I am, and I am happy with it. With you. But the thought of my own blood going through the same thing is… I am afraid of it being as hard as it was for me. I am afraid of not knowing how to make it different. Of not knowing how to be a mother. And most of all, I am afraid of not knowing how you feel about this.”

 There. She’d said it. She felt herself shake, but it wasn’t until a few seconds had passed, that she realized it wasn’t her. “Cardan?”

 He let go of the embrace but raised his hands to cup her face. His eyes were shimmering… and wet. He was smiling in a way she’d rarely seen, leaving her breathless for a moment.

A tear escaped his right eye and Jude quickly caught it with her thumb, still puzzled about what she was seeing.

 “My love, I feel nothing but happiness at this moment.” He kissed her forehead. “I know we usually joke about this but, one part of me always wished for it to became true one day. To love and raise as we weren’t. Giving us the chance to become better than the ones who should have taken care of us.”

 Jude didn’t realize she had started to cry too until he kissed her cheeks and felt them cold. Cardan looked down at her belly hesitantly, “Can I?” He asked.

 She nodded and pulled his hand to where someday she was going to be the size of a watermelon. He touched her with such delicacy and devotion she almost couldn’t believe this was happening.

 “We are going to have a baby.” It seemed as if he said it in order to really believe it.

 “We are going to have a baby” She repeated. Beaming with emotion. “I don’t know about you but, I think the first one who should hear the good news is Asha, hopefully she’ll have a heart attack and let us be.”

 Cardan laughed and shook his head. “You are insufferable, my sweet villain. But this time, I am afraid I agree with you.” At that, he took her hand and guided her back inside.

Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t be afraid at all.

[m-a-salter]

fic writer interview

tagged by @talldecafcappuccino and @chainofclovers; how delightful!

name: m-a-salter

fandoms (i write for): Ted Lasso lately, but I’ve also posted little stories for Hunger Games, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Death in Paradise, and Star Trek: Voyager. If we’re counting total number of words written (not posted, and of course you should not care about my unposted writing), I have been most prolific in Battlestar Galactica. Just haven’t gotten any of it out the door yet! I’ve also got some WIPs for Doctor Blake Mysteries (all Malice). In my youth I wrote in X-Files and West Wing.

two-shot: I have never posted anything but one-shots! Someday...

most popular multi-chapter: I am working on my first one, a (probably 4-chapter) bit of fluff giving Ted and Rebecca an alternate first meeting. I never would have guessed I would still be working on its first chapter on the eve of the start of season 2, but I am feeling grateful that it is an alternate timeline that cannot be disrupted by new canon.

actual worst part of writing: Proofreading? I usually experience a fairly sudden transition from feeling like a story is never going to be ready to feeling like it is so ready and I can’t wait to get it up. Once that happens, I find it very hard to have the patience to really read the thing a few more times. 

how you chose your titles: I don’t have one system. A line or phrase from the story that I think represents the theme is probably my modal style (Never Too Late, Century Partnership), but I am also partial to a bit of lyrics from the song that inspired the story (Whenever You’re Ready), and when I can’t think of anything clever, I go with straightforwardly descriptive (One Evening on the District 12 Train, Richmond Sunday Afternoon). 

do you outline: Sometimes, usually somewhere in the middle of the writing process. I tend to begin with a scene or a bit of dialogue I can’t stop thinking about, and then I use outlining as a method of brainstorming something resembling a plot that can contain that first little nucleus. Basically the amount of outlining I do is in proportion to the length of the finished product.

ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: I really would someday like to finish this series of BSG stories I have planned and partially written (Earth turns out to be perfectly habitable, nobody dies, happy endings for all in a Roslin/Adama-Kara/Lee kind of way). But I find it hard to muster the energy to write in a fandom when I’m not at least somewhat actively watching the original, so realistically it won’t be until I do another re-watch. And that might go like the last one, generating 60,000 words of notes and disconnected scenes, but not finished stories! I am still trying to figure out when in my day/week to put my writing time, and as long as it is not a fixed routine I am more subject to the whims of my own obsession. So it would be nice to get my clockwork muse up and running. 

Callouts @ me: Folks often ask me to write more. I love a first-kiss, or first-confession-of-love fic, and often have little interest in what happens next (or, what happens next is smut that I don’t feel capable of writing). My primary criticism of myself is that I don’t write consistently. Which is probably the real reason for all my unfinished work. 

best writing traits: I think my best strength is not about the writing so much, but about my attitude toward it. I am good at writing to please myself, and I generally believe that that is enough. I can easily just decide something is good enough, that it scratches a particular itch I had, and I don’t worry too much if other people are into it. And then when some people are, it’s impossibly lovely. I write fanfic in large part to try to train my brain to be more relaxed about this kind of thing in my other (non-fiction and professional) writing. The downside of this, of course, is that sometimes the half-written WIP is enough to scratch the itch. 

spicy tangential opinion: I have never cared very much about whether the  ‘ships I ‘ship becomes canon. Perhaps this is a result of some of my earliest ships: Toby/CJ, which never came close to happening, and Mulder/Scully, which was done very oddly. If TPTB aren’t going to do it exactly right, I would often rather they not do it at all, so one doesn’t have to contend with their weird takes. I don’t like to give the owners of the IP too much power over me. It seems to be an important premise of this avocation. This is not to say I don’t like using canon as a writing constraint--that is a fun exercise. And I do usually like to see my ships come to fruition in canon because I like to see hot people making out on my screen. But in my mind that is a separate payoff from knowing that the relationship is canon. And to some extent one can get one’s kicks in that way through other means: 

I would love to hear from: @allisonwithcats @professortennant @rahleeyah​ @theodore-lasso @doctoraliceharvey

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

WIP Wednesday, kind of!

for @grandthorkiday this year, I really wanted to finally finish the fic I started for it last year, but that didn’t happen because literally everything is happening at the same time this October and also it’s hard to focus on writing in general right now. but then I thought of this older Sakaar fic that has been vaguely on my “I’m almost positive this is practically done if I would just put some time and effort into finishing it (but it’s also totally possible it’s nowhere near as close to being done as I think it is)” list for ages, and I realized it totally fit the definition for Grandthorki, and I thought maybe I could finish that real quick instead!

...I couldn’t. there’s a lot more to this one that needs to be written than I kind of thought, in part because it’s so old I wrote it before Ragnarok ever came out, so it was based purely on the trailer (and then inspired by some speculation by @theotherodinson, I think), and to finish this fic I would first have to decide if it would be more straightforward to just keep going with my pre-Ragnarok speculation or change the setup a bit to fit the film. also I would have to turn a bunch of bullet points into an actual conversation that would have to...make sense? and, like, establish things? and that’s hard even when my brain isn’t busy constantly screaming.

but! I can post most of what I already wrote, just for fun and because at least this is something Grandthorki-related that I haven’t already posted elsewhere! knowing me this could backfire because then I won’t have as much motivation to try to finish it but on the other hand it’s been sitting at this exact level of unfinishedness for like three years so it’s probably not going to hurt.

warnings: I kind of don’t know what to say here because nothing actually happens but there’s a lot of discussion of rape and graphic violence, so...warnings for that!

[the basic premise/assumption here was that Thor ended up on Sakaar at some point in his search for the Infinity Stones, was forced into the Contest, and gradually gained more of the Grandmaster’s favor and attention because he’s Thor and he’s great at fighting. it’s probably been months at this point, he’s one of the Grandmaster’s champions, and that earns him a reward that he extremely does not want: a few hours with a sex slave, basically.]

The Grandmaster calls them his pets, sentient beings he keeps because they are pretty rather than for their fighting prowess, but the term seems only partially accurate given that it implies both ownership and some level of exclusivity. The latter, at least, seems to apply on a purely arbitrary basis according to the Grandmaster’s whims. There are other appropriate terms, certainly, and Thor has heard plenty from the guards and his fellow warriors. “Pleasure slave” seems to be the most accurate while still remaining within the bounds of marginal politeness.

“Grandmaster must like you special,” the guard says in a confiding tone as they walk. “This one used to be one of his favorite pets, all personal like—didn’t share him much, real picky about what anybody could do with him. Guess the mouthiness lost its shine. Oh yeah, that reminds me—” He digs into his bag and emerges with a handful of metal. “Boy’s really got a mouth on him, so use this when you get tired of it. Or if you wanna make sure he won’t bite; he still hasn’t learned his lesson on that either. Up to you though; walls are soundproof, so whatever you get up to won’t bother nobody else.”

It’s a gag, Thor realizes, reminded with a jolt of the muzzle he fastened on Loki before bringing him back to Asgard, and he cannot afford to think about Loki now. “Thank you,” he says as politely as he can, “but I have no need of…that.”

“You do, trust me,” the guard says. “Only way the boys have found to shut him up and stop him biting. Never met somebody who runs his mouth like that. Dunno why the Grandmaster liked him so long. Oh, and it opens, see—” He twists something at the side of the gag and part of the mouthpiece folds inward. Another twist and the opening widens, and it takes very little creativity to imagine how the mechanism would force the wearer’s jaw wide. “Careful with that, by the way,” the guard adds. “Two turns gets him open, three or four is good, keep going and you can dislocate his jaw—which is fine, fixed that before, it’s just the kind of thing you probably want to know you’re doing, right?”

Thor’s stomach turns over. When he is free of this place, he will come back to help the other slaves. He forces a smile. “I assure you, I do not need such an instrument.”

“You’ll thank me when you change your mind later,” the guard says, shoving the gag into Thor’s hand. Thor gives up and takes it, because if he has learned nothing else in the last few years he has at least learned the importance of picking his battles. “He hasn’t been fed today, either, so no worries he’ll puke on you. Might get him to cooperate if you promise him food after, but that never really works with this one, so, probably a waste of time. All up to you though. Anyway—” He puts a hand over the locking panel and the room’s outer door slides open. “I’ll lock you in, come get you in a few hours. Comms are open in case you need something. And ‘cause we get bored.”

“And if I prefer not to have an audience,” Thor says.

The guard snorts. “You been here this long and you don’t get how things work? In you go.”

Thor sighs and does as he’s bid. The outer door hisses shut behind him and the inner door slides open, revealing a modestly appointed bedchamber. The bed is the largest thing in it, a sturdy-looking wooden construction with prominent bedposts, but Thor’s attention is drawn immediately to the figure kneeling on the floor. He is facing away, though not by choice; his wrists are shackled behind his back and bound to a metal loop in the floor with a short length of chain. Thor has no doubt the positioning is deliberate, just another way of reminding the slave of his powerlessness. His shoulders are rigid, his fingers curled into fists—blue fingers, Thor notes, with black nails, and blue skin at the back of his neck under black hair. Probably Kree, then, which makes it a little odd that he is not being used in the arena, instead of…this.

Thor grimaces and moves to put himself in the slave’s line of sight.

[aaaaand naturally the slave is Loki, miraculously alive after dying in Thor’s arms on Svartalfheim! also he doesn’t recognize Thor at all and in fact remembers nothing prior to waking up half-dead on Svartalfheim and being scooped up by the Grandmaster somehow! this is all very upsetting for Thor! it gets more upsetting when, in the conversation I haven’t written, Loki starts working really hard to goad Thor into a temper and Thor realizes what he’s trying to do!]

“You want the gag,” Thor says finally.

Loki jerks back, his mouth snapping shut. He recovers quickly, his eyes crackling with anger, but he’s not quite fast enough to keep Thor from glimpsing a flash of fear underneath. “What I want is irrelevant. This is about what you want, that is the entire point, and I know your type, dozens of times over. You’re a warrior. You want to win. You want to hear me beg you to stop, to show mercy you delight in withholding. And I am telling you now, you can do anything you like but you will not hear me beg, not for anything. So use the damn gag.”

And with a flash of nauseating clarity Thor gets it, why Loki’s working so hard to goad others into forcibly shutting him up, because it’s the one tiny piece of control he has left. Unbidden, the image forces itself into his mind: Loki, eyes squeezed shut in pain, screaming into the gag and clinging to the very last scraps of his pride with the knowledge that if he breaks and begs for it to stop, no one will know—clinging to those scraps even though his defiance hurts him, because he has been left with nothing else that is still his.

[Thor gets real upset! upset enough to unlock his lightning powers without access to Mjolnir? yep!]

Loki’s red eyes widen, his bravado visibly wavering, and his voice shakes just a little as he says, “Well done, that’s actually a new one.”

“I’m sorry,” Thor says, “this will hurt, but I will be quick,” and he reaches out one crackling hand for the collar.

[Loki’s eyes widen etc. here instead probably] and he cringes away, raw panic breaking through his bravado, but if the guards are not already on their way they will be soon, and there is no time to spend on reassurances Loki will have no reason to believe anyway. Thor steels himself and lunges, seizing the chain at Loki’s wrists with one hand and his collar with the other, and Loki’s body snaps taut as lightning floods into him.

Once, over a century ago, a journey with Sif and the Warriors Three went disastrously wrong, resulting in Thor and Loki stranded alone on Muspelheim, relentlessly pursued by a dozen Fire Giants and unable to get far enough away to safely call on Heimdall. By the time the giants truly cornered them, they’d been running for three days straight without water or sleep, Loki’s magic was nearly depleted from several aborted attempts to hide them and open a pathway between realms, and Thor couldn’t draw down a storm from the painfully dry desert air. With no options remaining to them, Loki convinced Thor to channel the last dregs of Mjolnir’s lightning through Loki himself, in the theory that doing so might amplify what little remained of Loki’s magic and grant him the power needed to escape. It was a mad, desperate gamble that could have easily killed him and nearly did, but it worked, leaving Thor with—among other things—an unsettlingly precise knowledge of how much lightning Loki’s body could take without dying.

He has not thought of that incident in years, but he is glad of it now, especially without Mjolnir to help him control his power.

 When everything clears, Loki is sprawled on his back, staring up at Thor and breathing hard, freed of all his bonds. His expression shifts through pain and fear and shock into confusion and then, finally, a faint glimmer of recognition, and he says hoarsely, “…Thor?”

Thor exhales, relief and battle-lust tangling inside him, and holds out his hand to help Loki up. “Come, brother. It’s time to get out of this place.”

Loki stares at him for a moment longer, his throat working, and then he reaches back and takes Thor’s hand.

[whereistheonepiece]

So @lesbian-space-ranger​ and I accidentally created a new Zosan AU that we’ve been talking about since last night. A note: half of this is me summarizing, half of it is pulled directly from Discord because Cas (lesbian-space-ranger) has such great ideas.

This is a long post. I don’t feel like putting it under a read more. So. Enjoy. Or keep scrolling. Either works.

So this post happened

These roles just came to me. Didn’t need to give it much thought because Sanji has the appearance and demeanor of a lead singer and I like the idea of him using his skilled hands to play piano at the same time.

I also watched the movie Rocketman earlier in the week. You know, that Elton John biopic. I adored it and it’s been heavy on my mind lately and I liked the idea of Sanji giving a high energy performance from the piano. (Sir Elton John’s music comes into play later.)

And as for Zoro, I find the bass and/or the beat the sexiest part of the music in a song and, naturally, I can see him rocking at either.

So I asked Cas if she had any other headcanons for this AU and this thing is too good to not share.

Yeah, so Zoro and Sanji are in a boy band with Usopp and Luffy. Luffy started the band. Luffy does guitar, Zoro is on bass, Usopp is on drums, and Sanji is on keyboard and vocals.

Nami is their manager. She works them hard and has taken a 40% cut of the profits because of the guys’ naivete and inexperience. But she’s why they took off. She booked their gigs at every venue she could manage, no matter how small.

They got their big break when Nami met Vivi, who’s a talent scout for the record label Baroque Works. Nami insisted that Vivi had to see the boys perform because they’re something else and Vivi’s heard that a thousand times, but she agreed because Nami is cute. Nami and Vivi are dating. Also, re Baroque Works: Crocodile looks like a sleazy music producer, doesn’t he? So does Doflamingo.

So Sanji is the pretty one, Luffy is the funny one, Zoro is the quiet/broody one, and Usopp is the smart one.

Zoro has a lot of deals with fitness brands, but secretly finds the famous life unfulfilling. This comes back later, so keep that in your back pocket.

Robin runs their social media. She’s so good at her job, running all of their accounts and tweeting simultaneously, you’d swear she had four sets of hands. Wink.

Franky does pyrotechnics/lighting.

Brook is their stylist.

Chopper was their first real fan. He and Zoro grew up in the same neighborhood and Chopper just always idolized him. He followed them before anyone knew their names. He was their hype man, saying encouraging things like "I know you guys are gonna be great!" He believed in them even when they didn't believe in themselves.

Usopp set up their recordings before they got signed because he’s savvy. And then Chopper would sell their crappy CDs. At these tiny gigs. Like coffeehouses and stuff.

Sanji can play keyboard because his parents forced him to play piano as a kid. They had this idea that classical music would teach him discipline and make him smarter. This is how he meets Zeff. Zeff’s your typical stern instructor, but he’s the first adult to ask Sanji what he actually wants and likes. Zeff sees Sanji’s not into it so he asks him what music he likes and Sanji tells him he likes pop, so Zeff gives Sanji a more rounded education. This includes Elton John because I say so. It did inspire me to put Sanji on keyboard, after all.

But other than being Sanji’s piano instructor, Zeff becomes the one positive adult figure in young Sanji’s life and he becomes something of a mentor figure for him. Zeff has a garden and he lets Sanji work in it with him. This garden is how Sanji gets his “little eggplant” nickname. Sanji pulls an eggplant out before it’s ready and it’s so small and pitiful and Zeff won’t let him live it down. Like, Sanji keeps in touch with Zeff even into adulthood and after he makes it big and he still calls Sanji little eggplant.

Zoro and Sanji are always doing that, "Kind of flirting, not really” thing on stage.  Sanji is always like walking up to Zoro on stage and acting like he's going to kiss him but pushing him away at the last moment. And it's this huge mystery whether they're actually an item or not. This comes from Nami. Sanji and Zoro have this natural chemistry with each other that leads to speculation and Nami, knowing how boy band fan bases work, saw dollar signs. But it’s not just pragmatism on her part; she knows that one cannot simply go up to Zoro and Sanji and say “You obviously like each other. You should date.” So she makes money and helps her friends find happiness.

Usopp has speculation going on as well. People are always confused as to who he’s dating. Tabloids keep being like "Usopp dumped Nami and is now dating Luffy!" "Luffy Scorned?" "Luffy ditches Usopp and steals his girl!" And they just think the entire thing is hilarious. They collect headlines. The answer is Usopp is dating Luffy and Nami and Luffy and Nami just become really affectionate with each other after dating Usopp long enough. Also Nami is dating Vivi, like I mentioned, and sometimes Nami brings her on as a plus one. 

Sanji and Zoro keep giving conflicting answers about their relationship status. Like they'll tell one person they hate each other and another person they're gonna get married someday. Sanji has to walk this fine line of being "in love" with all of his female fans and also "in love" with Zoro. Or not. Who knows? Like Sanji enjoys the attention but he really really plays shit up for his fangirls. This makes Sanji even more popular. Just picture pages upon pages of Sanji/Reader and “Zanji” fics on Wattpad. Nami is one smart lady. "I am the smartest, prettiest, most clever person alive."

Zosan getting together really is just a bunch of Fake Dating tropes. At first it really is just to get more press for the band. Nami schemes with Usopp and Robin to push them together. Robin's a social media genius and knows how to craft tweets and Instagram posts that fans will overanalyze. 

Meanwhile eventually Zoro and Sanji admit to each other they have actual feelings and one day Usopp finds Sanji sleeping in Zoro's bed, both of them completely tuckered out. But they don’t know Nami crafted this. They just come clean and hope she won't be mad and she's like, "Yes! Finally!" and they're like "What?" and she's like, "I've been waiting for you two to realize you have actual feelings. Did you really think I'd just use you for profit like that?" and they're both like "Yes" "Of course"

Zoro’s mad at her for meddling. Secretly he’s grateful, but he doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction and he’s yelling until Sanji grabs his hand and he just calms down.

And to bring Elton John back into the picture, just picture Sanji doing a cover of “Your Song” and uploading it online and thinking about Zoro. Naturally the comments are abuzz with people speculating that he’s singing about Zoro. And like. Onstage Sanji does his rendition and sends these small glances Zoro’s way, partially because he knows it’ll get the band a lot of attention, partially because that song is sweet and beautiful and it’s such a simple way to explain his feelings. (There is a reason why Moulin Rouge included it!!) I imagine this happens before they come clean to each other. Like, Zoro comes to him and is all “I keep thinking about that song you did...” And they go from there.

And eventually the band comes to its natural end. 

Usopp goes solo and flourishes, working as a songwriter and a producer. He wrote the band’s songs and he’s had a drum kit since he was, like, ten and he can make his own beats. He’s not the singing type (though he is good at it and could reach new heights if he came out of his shell), so he’s the kind of artist who makes the beat and then gets super famous pop singers to feature on his tracks. But he also writes songs for other singers and is so good at it and produces other artists’ tracks. I also like the idea that he’s taught himself to play multiple instruments, but he prefers the drums/percussion. He totally played percussion in school and was in marching band. I was in marching band for one year. I loathed every second of it, but I know he’d be phenomenal in drum corps.

Luffy isn’t much in music anymore, but he keeps himself busy. He’s something of an influencer, the kind of celebrity who gets paid to wear fashion brands’ clothing. He’s also Usopp’s trophy husband, living off the money he made off the band. Usopp grew wise to Nami’s antics and made sure he and Luffy would live comfortably for the rest of their lives, even if Usopp were to retire. Luffy also is secretly a Buzzfeed journalist because it’s fun for him to write these hit articles and people not know it’s him because he’s writing on this super bland pseudonym. 

And then there’s Zosan. They have a falling out after the band splits and go their separate ways.

Sanji quits being a professional singer because he’s tired of the prying into his personal life, but he still mentors and/or teaches. He has a string of girlfriends and finds no fulfillment in those relationships because the women are only interested in his celebrity.

And they aren’t Zoro.

Zoro tried branching off into commercials for fitness, but his heart wasn’t in it. He kind of takes up ranching on a whim and learns that he’s really good at it. He likes the physical labor, the quiet, being away from it all, nobody knowing his name. He doesn’t pursue anyone after Sanji because he feels like if it’s meant to be, someone will appear.

And Sanji does.

Sanji finds out where Zoro is through Luffy. So he makes his way to the ranch and finds Zoro and Sanji is all “Come back. I miss you.”

And there’s just a lot of soft Zosan content during Sanji’s visit. Sanji’s always been afraid of horses, but he’s not afraid when he’s with Zoro, and Zoro teaches him they can be gentle creatures, it’s just that you just have to respect them. (Ha. Get it?) Zoro takes Sanji on a ride and they go out and he takes him up the mountain and shows him how beautiful the view is. Sanji's watching the sunset and he's like, "Damn that's the prettiest thing I've ever seen." And Zoro is looking at Sanji and he says, "It sure is." And Sanji's like, "you're not... even looking." And Zoro's like, "No, I'm looking alright. Prettiest thing I've ever seen for sure."

More soft things like Zoro taking off his cowboy hat and putting it on Sanji. Them sitting by the fire, Zoro playing acoustic while Sanji sings. Whenever people see them they’ll ask them if they’re musicians and they share a knowing smile and say “Yeah. Something like that.”

And Zoro convinces Sanji to move out there with him. The others come to visit. Luffy and Chopper are obsessed with the cows and horses and the chickens. Luffy wants, like, eight pet chickens. Usopp is skeptical. Doesn’t believe Lu can look after a pet.

And it kind of ends there. It was us going back and forth, oftentimes out of chronological order, and so here I am putting it all together because it’s too good not to share. But it was a lot of fun.

[phoenixfeatherquill]

Midwinter (1/5)

AN: I’m doing a Midsommar fic and you guys can’t stop me. I’m in the mood for dark fucked up smut, so sue me. A friend on Twitter helped me with the Swedish!

They were going to kill her next.

It was only logical.  Once the Midsommar celebrations were complete, once her title of May Queen was completed, once the community settled into their usual routines, Dani felt certain they would kill her.  Perhaps for their next ritual.  A harvest festival?  A midwinter ceremony?  Dani didn’t know.  She didn’t especially care.

The thought did not concern her.  Death was no longer something to be feared, just an inevitability she would reckon with when the time came.  She had lost her sister, her parents, and now Christian…

She did not want to think about Christian.  His death had brought her a euphoric, crazed delight, a sense of control that she’d never felt before.  

She smiled.  It was still dark, but she knew it was morning.  Her body had shifted its circadian rhythms to accept darkness as a reality in the fall and winter, She smiled a lot more nowadays, it seemed.  

“Dani? Are you awake?”

She shifted to her side.  Her bed used to be next to Christian’s and Josh’s, but now there was no more Christian or Josh.  Now her bed lay next to Pelle’s, which gave her a curious combination of fear and protection.  

“Now I am,” She whispered back to him.  

“It’s morning now,” He said softly and sat up. “Let’s walk together.”

She raised herself up on one elbow.  No one else seemed to be up, save for a few mothers who were cooing at fussy babies.  

“It’s still dark,” She murmured.

“It will get darker as we get closer to Yule. Come. It’ll be too cold for morning walks soon.”

He offered his hand to her.  Pelle had been taking her on a lot of walks lately.  He was an early riser naturally, something that Dani would never be able to relate to, but she shrugged nevertheless and pulled on a pair of denim shorts.  

Pelle shook his head.  “Too cold for those. Almost October.”

She looked at him.  He knew perfectly well that she only had about a week’s worth of clothes, all summer garments.  She was only supposed to have been here for a week.

“Here,” He tossed her a pair of fleece-lined pants.  She’d seen him wear them before.  They were far too big for her, but she was able manage them, tightening the strings as far as they would go.  He gave her a sweatshirt too and she tugged it on as well.  It smelled a little of peppermint and something flipped in her stomach.  She hadn’t worn another man’s clothes since Christian…

“Ready?” He asked her with a smile.  

“You owe me coffee,” She returned and pulled on her sneakers.  

“Deal,” He took her hand in his and led her outside.

It was that odd time of morning partial to Sweden, where darkness surrounded the community but light framed the edges, as though the sun wanted to come out but wasn’t sure how.  The cold grass tickled Dani’s ankles and she shivered a little.  Pelle squeezed her hand a little as they began to make their usual rounds about the compound.  

“I’m surprised it hasn’t snowed,” She commented.

“Soon,” Pelle told her. “Probably this week, actually. We’ll need to get you warmer clothes.”

Dani said nothing.  She didn’t see much point in that, since she was fairly certain they would kill her eventually.  Still, Pelle seemed to expect a response, so she said simply, “I like wearing your clothes.”

Pelle laughed.  “I like you wearing them too. But they’re too tall for you. You’re so small, Dani.”

His voice was undeniably tender and Dani looked up at him.  He cared for her, at least of a sort.  Months and months had passed since the summer solstice. Perhaps he was fond enough of her to be truthful now.

She stopped short in front of the remains of the burned temple.  The fastidious Hårga had not cleaned up much of the temple ruins; she could still see the blackened pieces of wood all around. She inhaled deeply and smelled the incoming frost Pelle warned her of—but in her mind’s eye, she could still smell the pungent stench of burning flesh.  

“When will you rebuild it?” She asked him.

“Spring,” Pelle told her. “One of our rituals to welcome the sun. And you’ll preside, as our May Queen.”

Dani looked at him hard. “Will I?”

Pelle looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

“I’m the last one left,” She said pointedly. “How long do I have?”

Realization clouded Pelle’s sky blue eyes.  “Oh, Dani…no. You are our May Queen. We won’t have another queen for ninety years; until the next Midsommar celebration…that is, we will still celebrate the solstice. But not like last time.”

Dani digested this.  She doubted this meant that the Hårga would let her leave.  This didn’t particularly bother her though, because Dani was having trouble remembering what there was to return to.  Her family was dead, Christian was gone, and she couldn’t quite summon the energy to care about finishing her degree.  She had friends that were probably wondering where she was.

“What will I do here?” She asked him.

“Whatever you please,” Pelle told her seriously. “We honor the May Queen. She is…our goddess, you might say.”

Dani considered.  “What does that entail?”

“Different ceremonies,” Pelle knelt down and picked up a bit of charred wood interestedly. “A ceremony to say goodbye to the sun—we’ll symbolically say goodbye to you and you will sleep in your own rooms, rather than in the common area. When spring comes again, we welcome the sun and you back into our common area. We celebrate, we feast, we make merry—”

“Sounds lonely,” Dani said without thinking.  She wasn’t sure where that came from.  When she first arrived at Hårga, she’d resented the lack of privacy.  The cacophony of coughs, snores, and lovemaking kept her up at all hours.  But somehow she’d gotten used to it and her own chambers, separate from the Hårga seemed isolating.  

“No, no,” Pelle shook his head. “We adore our May Queen. We…pamper her, you might say. The best foods, wines, ales, whatever she needs. And she may choose a consort, if she wishes.”

He tossed the charred wood towards the temple and Dani started a bit. “Consort?”

“Yes,” Pelle replied but didn’t seem inclined to elaborate.  Dani waited a few moments and when she realized Pelle wasn’t going to continue, she exhaled.

“What does a consort do?” She crossed her arms.

A small, somewhat sly smile crossed Pelle’s face.  “Oh…whatever the May Queen desires.”

“Ah,” Dani kicked a piece of burnt wood. “I get it. I don’t know if I’d be into that.”  

Pelle cocked his head.  “Oh?”

She really did not want to get into this conversation.  Besides, he’d been close to Christian, hadn’t he?  He probably had heard all about how bad she was in bed, how frigid she was, how there was something wrong with her.  She chewed her lip.  She had walked in on Christian complaining to Mark about this very subject once, and she recalled the burning humiliation and the subsequent fight.  

“I don’t want to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to,” Dani said finally. “Especially with me.”

“No one forces anyone to do anything,” Pelle told her earnestly. “It’s considered an honor to be chosen by the May Queen. But people may refuse the gift, if they wish.”

“They’d refuse with me,” Dani retorted.

“What makes you say that?”

“Pelle,” Dani sighed. “I’m not stupid. I know—I know Christian complained about me to you and Mark and Josh.”

The sun had just started its slow ascent and Dani noticed its cautious gold touch the tips of Pelle’s hair.  He was silent for a long moment, as though trying to pick his words carefully.  

“Christian was my dear friend,” He said finally. “But he—was not always honest with himself.”

He scratched his head. “My sister was not overly impressed by him. Nor my aunts.”

Pelle was referring to the strange, outlandish sex ritual Dani had caught Christian participating in with Pelle’s underage sister.  She shuddered at the memory.  

“Is that what it’s like here?” She asked in disgust. “All those women watching? Chanting?”

He shrugged.  “Not always. Maja wanted to get pregnant. It was her first time, so she was nervous. Our aunties were there to support her, comfort her, ask the gods for a baby.”

There was so much of Hårga culture Dani would never understand.  Women crooning over her as a man penetrated her—the idea seemed repulsive.  The ritual seemed to have worked, in any case; Maja had announced her pregnancy a week prior.  The news had filled Dani with the strangest emotion of all—apathy.  She did not care that Maja was having Christian’s baby. She had no jealousy, no anger, just blissful neutrality.  

“My point is,” Pelle cleared his throat. “I thought—I have always thought—Christian was unfair to you.”

Dani narrowed her eyes.  “You’re just saying that to be nice.”

“No,” He shook his head. “In fact…”

He hesitated for a moment and Dani stared at him curiously.  The sun had nearly risen now, and people were leaving the common area to prepare breakfast and start their early morning chores.  

“I would show you,” Pelle said finally. “If you were to choose me as your consort.”

Dani’s mouth went dry.  She hadn’t felt this taken aback since she’d been named the May Queen and he’d taken her face in his hands and kissed her so deeply.  Color rushed to her cheeks and she couldn’t figure out how to respond.

“Pelle! Jag måste prata med dig.”

Ulf was calling him.  Pelle cast a almost mischievous grin towards her and jogged towards Ulf.  Ulf glanced at her and gave her a cautious smile.  Dani couldn’t seem to figure out how to move her legs.  She watched the two men disappear around one of the cabins, speaking in rapid Swedish.  

I would show you, if you were to choose me as your consort.

She hadn’t planned on choosing anyone as her consort.  Spending the entire winter having her every whim catered to seemed a promising prospect (though who could really tell with the silver-tongued Hårga), but the whole concubine nonsense seemed…archaic.  She didn’t need a consort.  She was just fine on her own.  Sex was stressful and Christian had played on every insecurity of hers when they were together, making the whole prospect seem so unappealing…it had been a relief when he stopped bothering her for sex, which only happened after her family died…

She thought of the barely concealed disgust on Pelle’s face as he’d delicately suggested that Christian had been the problem, not her.  She was also forced to admit that she thought of his kiss more often than she should. It was not the gentle kisses on her cheeks her handmaids (as they called themselves) gave her when she was crowned, but something altogether deep and passionate.  

He hadn’t kissed her again, so did it truly matter?

She started towards one of the cabins, where she knew they would be preparing breakfast.  But as she crossed the commune, she couldn’t help but hear Pelle and Ulf speaking passionately.  

They were standing near Pelle’s garden and hadn’t noticed her—not that they would’ve cared.  Most of the Hårga believed her Swedish was rudimentary at best, and they were mostly right.  But while her conversation skills were lacking, Dani understood more than they thought.  

She was not an eavesdropper at any rate, so she would’ve walked on by—until she heard her name.  

“Stannar du här på grund av Dani?”

She froze.  She understood that sentence.  Ulf was asking Pelle if he was staying because of her.  In an instant, she remembered that Pelle was in university too and had not returned to finish his degree.  

“Hon är ensam.”

She is…something.  But by the concern in Pelle’s tone, Dani guessed he was explaining why.  

“Din resa är inte slut än.”

Ulf was telling him he wasn’t finished with…a journey?  His journey.  

“Mitt öde är här.”

Pelle’s journey was…here.  Here?  

“Älskar du henne?”

She didn’t understand that one.  Ulf was asking him something.  Something about her.

“Ja.”

Yes. Dani shook herself.  Enough snooping.  She was hungry.  So what if it sounded like Pelle was staying in Hårga for her?  What did it matter?  They would dispose of her as soon as she inevitably offended them. Like Mark.  Like Josh.  Pelle was too optimistic.  And anyway, why should she trust him?

The memory of his lips on hers flashed through her mind.  She swallowed hard.

Fuck.

[kinetic-elaboration]

June 25: Thoughts on Writing

So I’ve decided I want to do a bit of thinking on writing. The truth is that I actually don’t think about it that often anymore, and haven’t for several weeks, not since I realized I needed a break and declared a hiatus. I really did think I’d get over that hiatus in a couple days but it’s seeping into me instead. I told myself I’d take as long as I needed but… at some point, because creating is difficult, you do need to make a choice to just do it even though it is hard and you don’t feel ready. I’ve been trying to balance that—knowing that writing is good for me and good for my mental health—with forgiveness for myself. Something is telling me that I need a break. I’m not always great at listening to myself, the unconscious urges and instincts, so I am trying to do that.

I suspect a big part of this is that I’m inching out of the fandom. I never plan to leave or enter a fandom, I just go where I feel I want to be. But nevertheless… I am torn. A part of me doesn’t want to leave. That part thinks of all the good ideas I had and all the unfinished ideas, and wants to complete things, and to continue to explore. But another part of me just doesn’t care, doesn’t feel inspired at all. I’m not really inspired to write in other fandoms either (though I am toying with non-T100 ideas in a way I haven’t in probably about 3 years), so it’s not just that T100 isn’t an interesting place for me rn, and may never be again, but that is part of it for sure.

I could go into the other reasons but I didn’t sit down with the intention of dwelling on that. This is more about… what do I want, and what should I do? How much do I just content myself with other things and how much do I force myself to write, and in what direction? I could certainly fill my hours with other things, even other productive things. But being able to leave myself and my apartment, mentally, through writing is so important to me, and especially so now. I know that when I don’t write for long periods of time, my brain becomes stagnant and I feel dull. I already feel this happening. I’m not sure if it’s a chicken or an egg but I need the escape. I just don’t know how. I don’t even know my own instincts. What do I WANT, what’s the IDEAL, what should I be striving FOR?

So. There are a couple of possibilities.

One possible goal certainly is to finish things, to check things off a list. I love my lists and this part of me, the just do it part, has always been and will always be in conflict with the more creative part, which just wants to follow whims. Of course actually creating completed things of any sort does require discipline and forcing yourself when you don’t feel like it so I know these aren’t really incompatible instincts, but they do feel like it often. I have a lot of half-finished fics. I have a lot of ideas that have been haunting me for a while in an annoying way. And I have outstanding requests. So one thing I could do is just focus on those things that I most want to say ‘well that’s done now, good’ regardless of inspiration, and then hope that the joy of writing naturally follows, once I give myself time, space, goals, etc. The advantages of this are that even if it’s not as satisfying as I hoped, something will at least get done. Plus, I don’t need to figure out what I “really” want, or put pressure on myself to find the ‘perfect’ inspiration. It’s going to be hard no matter what, anyway.

The downside of this is that having a plan to get back into a hobby by making it the most like work as possible seems… dumb.

Another possibility is that I continue just writing fragments, individual scenes, free writes, etc., instead of pursuing stories, multi-chapter fics, or other longer projects. This is basically all I’ve been doing since finishing the AWWNH Interlude a month ago. The most story-like thing I wrote since then was Fifteen Miles, which did require a couple false starts, but which is still under 2k and pretty simple. I actually do like the scenes I’ve written and it feels good but not stressful. I have found in the past though that when I do too much of this kind of writing, it starts to feel… difficult in itself because each story is short but it’s also something I have to start from scratch. Of course it’s not like I have to do a certain number of them, so I can keep my overall output small while still not losing the writing habit entirely.

Option three: it’s not about writing, it’s about planning. To be honest, this is all a part of me wants to do. Outlines. Brainstorms. Sit on my couch with a notebook and hand write vague ideas I may or may not ever write. I haven’t actually been doing this, or at least not precisely and not much, partially because I just haven’t had the time/energy for ANYTHING recently, and partially because… I guess in a way I feel like I don’t deserve it. Like planning new projects is for when you’re done with current projects. I realize this is unreasonable but it’s the truth.

And finally, I could try to really, really detach myself from any care about what I “should” be writing, and just write whichever of my ideas most speaks to me in any given moment or, otherwise, something chosen randomly, since often it’s hard to tell what I’m in the mood for (again, creating is hard, and it’s always hard—doing nothing is always easier than pursuing even the best, most interesting idea). I don’t necessarily ever have to finish anything, and I can work for as long as I want or don’t want. Realistically, I’m probably not going to have much of an audience for my fics again, at least not in this fandom, so I might as well really lean into writing things for me. I don’t owe anything to anyone! If it’s not enjoyable for me and I don’t like the finished project, it is not worth it, and I should cease to care.

This attitude is not in my nature but I could use more of it.

The truth is I do want to be able to post things again and have people actually want to read them, to have them look exciting etc., because I’m only human and I love validation. But that’s beyond my control. So I can’t get caught up in it, or let it distract me in any way.

Realistically, I’ll probably do a combination of these things. I’ve been collecting a large document of current projects and ideas for a little bit now; it’s one of the few creativity-adjacent things I have been able to do and have liked doing. I’m going to continue with that, and I’m going to try to make time to write on the weekend. I’m going to put a slight emphasis on requests since I feel the worst about those being unfinished. And otherwise I’m just going to work on random projects, and try to be as little concerned with quality as possible, at least for now. I’m also going to make time to just plan stuff for fun, since that’s something I actually do actively want to do (and I know that it’s a lot harder than it seems… it’s still ‘work’ in a sense, still ‘productive’).

I’ve been really topsy-turvy this week and now that it’s almost over… I’m not sure what to expect from the weekend. I hope to get enough rest today and tomorrow that I can actually accomplish stuff on the weekend itself. I might be going out on Saturday… depending on the weather, just to sit outside away from my apartment. Might do some notebook-writing then. It’s demoralizing to spend a long time on something and get little in return, in terms of word counts, etc., but I’m going to try to gear myself up for that likelihood, and focus on what I need the writing for: to get out of myself, to deeply imagine another time and place and other people who aren’t me, and be in their heads. I would like that. I am going to try.

[flyflynnfly]

Hatchling - a gift fic for Crapitskizaru

The cacophony of students’ voices behind him, mixed with the squeaking of his whiteboard pen, and the bright early light invading from windows of his classroom was beginning to give him a migraine. Last night’s hangover added to his discomfort, but for that he had only his own weakness to blame.

His own, beautiful weakness. Said weakness was sitting in their seat, looking radiant and upbeat, idly playing with the plastic trays full of alligator babies. The recent hatchlings had been an unexpected boon for Drake’s Reptilian Zoology class that he taught at the local university. The tiny toothed babies peeped like laser beams, eager to climb all over each other in search for chin scritches from those brave enough to offer them. 

And certainly they were eager for [Reader] to give them a bit of love. They had no issues allowing the sweet little monsters to climb up their hand and partially up their arm, keeping still, with a sweet smile on their face. The image brought a warmth to Drake’s heart, a warmth the blossomed more when the sun was caught up in their hair, framing a gentle, familiar face and illuminating their features. Their soft mouth curved upwards, a mouth Drake knew intimately, head tilted to the side in contemplation of the baby alligators, hair curling around a long neck that he so loved to bury his face in… just as he had done the night before.

Lost in his silent adoration of his student, he hadn’t realised he had been staring for so long until the object of his contemplation looked up at him, warm eyes crinkled in amusement. They looked at him through their eyelashes, removed their hand from the plastic tub (much to the dismay of 4 little alligator babes who cheeped in protest), and sent him a small wave, hidden from their peers.

A stab of heat lanced through his body, from groin to chest when a pink tongue came out and gave those lips a slow swipe, followed by a sensual smirk. Drake felt his face flush incredibly warm and turned about face to hide the proof of it from his students. Their relationship was taboo, forbidden, not for age ([Reader] was of age, thank god) but because of his position as teacher and [Reader]’s as his student. If they were found out…

“A-Alright class, that’s enough for today. Remember your papers are due next week on the proper care for amphibians in captivity. And again, extra points for mentions of proper conservation methods.” Drake tried to get himself together as he pushed himself through the familiar paces of ending the class, unwilling to turn around and reveal the unfortunate side effect of having been so turned on by [Reader]. He did not want any rumours of his apparent perversion circulating around the university.

Students filed out of the class, leaving a mess of papers, chewed pencils, and a few alligator filled tubs. Drake huffed out a sigh of relief that he would be able to escape with his dignity intact, when a familiar voice raised up behind him.

“Professor Diez, I’ll help you put them all back in their tank. It’ll be faster for them, they’ll need their UV light time, I think.”

Cheeks aflame, Drake nodded in agreement, still not daring to turn around till the rest of the students had blessedly decided to just go away. He walked in the opposite direction of [Reader], not daring to look at them, and especially not show them how affected he was from the bloody sun lighting up their damn pretty face! What was he, a randy teenager?? He was a 33 year old man, for Christ sake!

Once the babes were popped away in their home, all scurrying to playfully fight for the favourite warm spot on the warm rock under the warm light (such a simple life, Drake thought), Drake busied himself with packing away his papers at his desk, still not looking at [Reader]. The quiet behind him made him wander if they had left without saying goodbye, the thought making him rather upset.

That is, until a set of arms wrapped around him from behind, settling with warmth around his waist, hands bunching in the fabric of his shirt, a warm body he was intimately acquainted with plastering itself to his back, a pair of heated lips pressing themselves to his neck, the act sending a shiver through him, and pulling a soft moan from his throat. He couldn’t help it, he melted back into the embrace, momentarily forgetting where they were.

The moment lasted exactly that, a moment, until the realisation of their location came barrelling back into his mind, fear lancing though him as he tried to pull away from [Reader].

“We can’t be like this here, [Reader]! People are going to see!” Drake yelped, but [Reader] has always been very strong, and held him in place with little effort.

“Don’t worry” [Reader] said with a soft laugh. “I locked the door, and there’s not another class here for the rest of the day. Nobody is coming to see. Besides, I’ve been wanting to do this since you looked so delightfully cute during class.”

“Still… it’s not proper…” He mildly protested, his excuses sounding weak to his own ears.

“No sir, not proper is what you did to me last night.” [Reader] giggled into his neck, pressing another kiss behind his ear to mark the point.

Aaaaaannndddd… that did it. Drake took hold of his love’s wrists, breaking the hold and allowing him to twist around. He fiercely took [Reader]’s face in his hands, and kissed them to shut up that gorgeous, dangerous mouth of theirs. [Reader]’s arms came up to wrap around his back, pulling him deeper into them, mouth parting to give Drake access. Drake took little time to dive right in, escalating the kiss, and allowing himself the privilege of running his hands down [Reader]’s back, cupping a pert bottom that, frankly, he cherished more than most things in his life.

Squeezing that tight behind teased a gentle groan out of [Reader], who slipped a long leg between Drake’s, applying pressure to the his arousal. Drake reached back behind him to hold on to the edge of his desk.

“Oh fuck!” Drake exclaimed, clapping a hand to his mouth a little too late, barely muffling his cry. “Oh fucking fuck…” he groaned, tipping his head back as he felt a pair of hands drag down from around his neck, to down his chest, applying pressure to his chest through his shirt, then skirting down past his waist and settling on the buckle of his belt. It didn’t take long for [Reader] to have his belt undone, his slacks open, and for a practiced hand to venture past the elastic of his boxer briefs.

When that hand resolutely settled on his cock, Drake felt his knees give a little, and set himself back on his desk, more than content to allow [Reader] to do whatever they wished. At this point there was little in the world beyond that hand, that was attached to that body, that belonged to that person, that made his heart pounce like a wildcat, and set his body on fire.

[Reader] plastered themselves close to Drake, bringing their forehead to his, and gave him one of their patented “I am amazing at this, sit back and enjoy” smile. [Reader] pulled their hand up and down his length, picking up a measure of precome to lubricate the motion, alternating in pressure and speed, leaving Drake at the mercy of their whims. He felt the muscles in his legs twitch with the cadence of [Reader]’s hand, the powerful muscles there jumping at the chance to come into action and overpower [Reader], turn them over the desk and having his way with them. But he held back, mesmerised by the pleasure [Reader] has always managed to lovingly coax out of him, no matter him mood or the situation.

[Reader] kept their hold on his length that perfect mixture of delicate and firm, the warmth of their hand and the pressure steady, even as the tempo wavered to keep him guessing. The tip of [Reader]’s thumb flicked out, dragging across the slit of Drake’s cock, picking up more precome that seemed to weep out of him like the pleasure did. It slickened the motion, adding an added share of lewdness to the sounds that came out of Drake without restraint. [Reader]’s face had slackened with lust as they followed Drake’s body, salaciously draped as it was over his desk, face red and body bucking. [Reader] licked their lips again at the sight in front of them, proud and incredibly turned on at the sight of the serious and somewhat taciturn professor lost in lust right in front of them, and only for them.

Drake had his eyes closed, a hand gripped tight on the wood of his desk, the other wrapped in the fabric of [Reader]’s clothes, which meant he hadn’t had the chance to see the movement on [Reader] going down on their knees in front of him, only felt a pull forward as said hand attached to his love pulled him down and over [Reader]. He opened his eyes in slight confusion, which was replaced by an absolute inferno in his belly when he saw and felt [Reader] wrap those beautiful lips around his cock.

He was suddenly wrapped in intense warmth, the feel of [Reader]’s hot and wet mouth enhanced by the pressure of a tongue dragging down his length. [Reader] started with a steady pace, hands now digging into the meat of Drake’s thighs, desperate for something to hold onto as they upped their pace and pressure, fighting back their gag reflex as they took in the frankly impressive length of their boyfriend.

Drake doubled over his partner, digging his hands into their hair and holding on tight, desperately trying to not plow his way into their mouth. One had to still be a gentleman, even when one’s student lover had one’s cock in their mouth in the middle of class. He felt his peak approaching, unable to stop the tell-tale twitch in his thigh that meant he was damn well close to coming.

[Reader] knew the sign, and kept going, doubling down on their efforts to make the usually reserved man come as hard as he could.

“[Reader], se-seriously… I’m going to come… fuck I’m going to come…” Drake moaned out, hands gripping hard in soft hair.

The two hands that held to his thighs squeezed in answer, and Drake took that as his permission, and just let go. His body seized, a faint ringing sound in his ears as he squeezed his eyes shut and his body went rigid, bliss taking over and unwrapping the coils of pleasure in his gut as he came, long and hard. It took him half a minute to come back to the moment, and loosened his grip from his lover’s hair, smoothing the mess he had created away to reveal a happy, brightly smiling face still kneeling between his thighs.

“Enjoyed yourself Sir? Consider that payback for last night.” A wicked grin took over that lovely face, and Drake couldn’t take it anymore. He kissed [Reader], absolutely not caring about his own taste in [Reader]’s mouth. Those clever hands helped tuck him away, zipping him up back to society’s propriety standards, and then wrapped themselves around his waist again, leaning into the kiss with abandon.

“I have to say, you’ve outdone yourself [Reader]…” Drake murmured with a small amount of embarrassment.

“I do try Sir.” They returned with a bright smile. “ Though I do think we may have traumatised the hatchlings.”

Drake turned his head to the reptile tank and was greeted by the sight of twenty or so baby alligators staring wide eyed at the couple, chirping what sounded like frantic concern at the situation. He let out a loud groan, and buried his head in [Reader]’s neck.

—

A03 LINK - https://archiveofourown.org/works/20759306

[talesfantastic]

Mun Things and Fandom Notes

about the mun. fill this out  &  tag a few people you’d like to get to know better !

tagged by the lovely @vetlanwrites tysm tagging some people I haven’t tagged before: @amalgammuses, @animus-inspire​, @kychchc​, @rotinthedark, @warofthebeasts & YOU!

name: my name is [ loud music interrupts ] nickname:  you can call me Kat or KF! preferred pronouns: she/her age range:  30+ favorite animal:  cats pets: cat and a dog tattoos/piercings: I had my ears pierced several times and they won’t stay pierced so I gave up on anything -shrug- star sign: virgo! I’m an August bby how long have you been in this fandom?: doing just the ones I currently have muses for, and not the ones I’ve only talked about -

Dragonball(Z) - I’ve been writing in DBZ since... oh geez, the late 90′s? I think the first fic I ever posted was DBZ and it was around that time. I didn’t start rping it until like, early 00′s though.

Final Fantasy - I actually dabbled in 9 a little bit around the time it came out in ‘00 (my friend had it!) but I wouldn’t say I really did much until I really got into 7, and that was around... geez, ‘05? I rped it a little with a friend around then but I didn’t really start writing it much until nearly ‘10. #latetotheparty Yet I do consider it my “home” fandom - I always come back to it.

Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons - early ‘00s! My first HM/SoS game was Friends of Mineral Town on my trusty GBA and I love it so much to this day. SO excited for the remake!

Legend of Zelda - I really, really loved Ocarina of Time from the get-go when I got it on the N64 in ‘98 (I got it again for the GameCube and the 3DS and would totally buy it for the Switch, just sayin.) Majora’s Mask creeped me out a bit and was stressful but I liked it, too. And then of course later titles like Twilight Princess were just... -chef’s kiss- but I didn’t really dig into the fandom until ‘10-’11 when I started rping Link with a friend and briefly tried joining a forum rp group (shoutout to ZRPG!) with an OC

Marvel Cinematic Universe - I want to say around ‘12, when Avengers came out? Like, I’d seen Iron Man but I didn’t really dig into it until then.

Pokémon - late 90′s / early 00′s because I first started my Pkmn journey playing Gold and Crystal. While I didn’t write fanfic or rp it, I definitely had headcanons and a lot of feels.

Sailor Moon - early 90′s! I first watched the anime as it came out, though I’ve since forgotten most of that and only have the manga/crystal in my head to run interpretations off of. It was so pretty tho.

Stardew Valley - a newer fandom for me, I really only started getting “into” it about a year ago, but man... I love it, I really do

Star Wars - despite early access to the OT as a kidlet, I didn’t actually get “into” Star Wars until the Prequels in ‘99 (fite me) when I fell in love with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and promptly, voraciously, dove into fixit and timetravel fanfic. By the time KOTOR came out in ‘03 I was hooked.

Threads of Fate - I think I got into this one on the ground floor, so to speak. My friend had just gotten it and I borrowed it from her and my brother’s PS1 in ‘00 and that was it, I was in love.

why did you choose this specific character/s?:  under a cut bc I have like... nearly 30 muses now

I’m doing alphabetical order (by fandom / first name) bc it’s just easier to go down my list:

tl;dr I picked them all because I love them. Read on to find out why. Click their names to read their bios!

Dragonball Z

Vegeta - oh man, actually one of the first characters I ever rp’d or wrote in fic, and that’s saying something. I picked him because I love him. He’s an absolute ass, but he grows so much throughout Z. (I have yet to see Super, hoping to one day remedy that but we’ll see!) I guess I picked him up for nostalgia’s sake? I really love the character and think there’s a lot of growth yet to see buried under that pride and ego. If you can unearth it.

Final Fantasy

Angeal Hewley (FF7) - actually my first muse on Tumblr, back in... oh, 2013? The blog has been deleted, but he was the first muse I ever played seriously out of FF7. There’s parts of Angeal that really resonate with me, enough that - when I was a less experienced writer - I got tangled up in him a bit too much, made him a bit too personal, and I realized I had to take a step back from writing him. But I love Angeal, and after some time had passed, having written him in various fics, I’ve felt confident adding him... even if I haven’t done anything with him here yet.

Cait Sith (FF7) - I know a lot of people see Cait Sith as all sorts of negative things, but frankly I adore the little guy. And I guess I took him on partially because I couldn’t take Reeve on and not take Cait on, but partially because I see so much in him that could be interesting to explore and would really, really love to. (Any Reeve’s or AVALANCHE - or Turks! - come at me!)

Chaos (FF7) - I picked Chaos up on a whim, as far as Tumblr goes. I really enjoy rping him/Vincent off Tumblr and writing him in fics, and I suppose I just wanted to present a different side of him than I usually see. I’ve even had a thread that has a great deal of promise so I think it was worth it.

Genesis Rhapsodos (FF7) - my third FF7 blog, I think? It’s still up, though obviously not in use, just because I’d put so much work into it. I really adore Genesis, and love writing him. I love his sass and flare, but I love that he’s deeper than all the fire and flamboyance, if you’re willing to look past that. I’m lucky that I’ve had some lovely partners to explore him with, though I’d still kill for an Angeal to throw him at. XD Or a Sephiroth, for that matter.

Lazard Deusericus (FF7) - Lazard, my second FF7 blog and an unexpected love. I picked him up because I had recently started writing him in earnest with an off-Tumblr rp partner ( @thegeeksqueaks ) and was really enjoying him, and hadn’t seen him on Tumblr yet so thought I might get more partners that way. (It turned out there were a couple but they were inactive.) His first blog was accidentally deleted - over five years worth of character development and relationships - so after briefly working him up again solo I brought him over here. He’s not getting the same level of attention but it’s worth it not to be juggling blogs.

Reeve Tuesti (FF7) - pre-Remake, most of the Reeve rpers had gone inactive (shoutout to the fabulous @engineering-robotics and @animus-inspire for coming back!) and just... I love the character too much not to see him in the RPC. Of course, I love to write him period myself so I’d love more threads there but regardless he’s so much fun.

Tristan Pierce (FF7 OC) - Triiiiiiiiiis. Tristan was actually born as an NPC off of Lazard’s blog, who took a life on his own because he was just... so full of life. He actually had his own blog, too! I’ve barely done anything with him here, but I still keep him just because he gives me feels and he’s just neat. (He does still appear in the background of Lazard’s threads though.)

Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons

Iris (SoS) - I actually picked up Iris as a muse first for a fantastic HM/SoS/SDV/etc rp group I’m in a couple years ago, and liked playing her so much I thought I’d bring her here. Elegant lady novelist? Yes please.

Neil (ANB) - unlike Iris and Trent, I haven’t written Neil anywhere else, but he’s my love from A New Beginning and just... he seems like he’d be fun to write? I’d love to flesh him out.

Doctor/Trent (FoMT/MFoMT; DS/CUTE) - Trent, like Iris, is one I write for the rp group and I legit picked him up because of the opportunity for h/c I am not sorry. But seriously though, he’s grown on me so much and I love my awkward doctor.

Legend of Zelda

Midna (Twilight Princess) - TP is one of my absolute favorite Zelda games, and Midna a favorite character. There’s just so much to her you don’t get to see that I was really hoping to get to dig into, still hope one day to. We’ll see. Worth keeping on roster.

Revali (Breath of the Wild) - my newest addition! I keep saying in complete seriousness “Genesis with more feathers” but seriously, I may have a type? I love him so much and wanted to see more of him, and by god if I have to do it myself so be it. (I have been playing a ton of BOTW lately which probably has a lot to do with it. XD)

Sheik (Ocarina of Time) - I love them so much. OoT didn’t have a ton of character building, but the sheer implications of the character speaks volumes that I want to explore. I’m lucky enough to be getting the chance to, too.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Tony Stark - did I mention I have a type? I feel he makes a good argument for it. I originally picked Tony up because I just fell head over heels for the character in the first couple Iron Man movies + Avengers. I... am less in love with him in the later movies, not gonna lie, and am so far behind on lore that I’m considering dropping him. But yeah, originally picked him up just because he had so much potential. Thx Disney, great job there.

Pokémon (gameverse)

Lily Hart (HG/SS OC) - another OC of mine, this time for a fandom that... I only really know through the games, as opposed to manga/anime. I picked her up because I really liked the idea of doing events or little ask things with her, and still may try to initiate some more of those. We’ll see?

Sailor Moon (manga/Crystal)

Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury - I actually picked Ami up because of a plot with @magicalxgirlsxrp where we were splitting up the Inners and the Shitennou for some mega threads. XD But yeah, I do like her. Even if she’s a challenge to write sometimes because she’s very much not like me, and very much smarter.

Kunzite - Kunzite I have always loved, always, and I’ve had him on here because I really wanted to explore him more. I love him even more after the teasing in Crystal of what might have been, be still my shippy heart.

Mamoru Chiba/Endymion/Tuxedo Mask - super fond of Mamoru, too; I didn’t care for him so much in the 90′s anime, but in the manga and Crystal I really became more fond. I do a few things differently, I think, but don’t we all? I picked him up for that very reason, in fact.

Minako Aino/Sailor Venus - Minako is really interesting to me because there’s so much more to her than her airheaded, bubbly persona that fits her like a glove... but is just as superficial. I mean, she’s sunny and happy but she’s also the OG Senshi, the leader of the Inners, a powerful, commanding fighter - she’s complex, and I really wanted to explore that + getting to have fun with her bubbliness.

Nephrite - another picked up from @magicalxgirlsxrp‘s enabling. But I do find him really interesting so it works out well. Haven’t done a lot with him, but we have plans. Plans I’m looking forward to.

Stardew Valley

M. Rasmodius - I knew I really wanted to do something with SDV, once I got to playing it, but I wasn’t sure who. I thought about Sebastian and Elliot, but already had interacted with a couple who were just fantastic. So instead, I did a good fallback of mine - because I never, ever get tired of playing mages. Ever. XD

Star Wars

HK-47 (KOTOR) - the attitude. I wanted to write HK entirely because of the scorching levels of sass from this droid.

Liana Raine (SWTOR f!JC) - the Jedi Consular storyline is one of my favorites out of all of SWTOR (tied with the Inquisitor, but I’m revamping her) and I really just wanted to keep playing with it even once I’d done the dedicated storyline.

Revan (KOTOR LS!F) - give me female Revan you cowards. -ahem- I have feels about Revan, okay? I love her so, so much - she even had her own blog, I love her that much. I would absolutely love to do something more with her but I will hold on to her if for no other reason than to make sure at least one black, female Revan exists in the world. (I want all the timetravel and crossover threads, hit me up.)

Tharan Cedrax (SWTOR) - another for attitude, really, and also definitely my type. XD He’s charming, he’s snarky, he’s sassy, he’s brilliant... I very much like Tharan and really felt he, like most of the companions, deserved more screentime. So, I’m here to give it to him.

Threads of Fate (Dewprism)

Duke - he’s so cool. I mean, he’s a dork, but his powers are amazing and he’s just a fun, incredibly upbeat character to play. And well, anything to spread my love of that teeny fandom.

Fancy Mel - Mel hits all the sweet spots for a mage character. She’s got flavor, she’s got amazing powers, and she had room to create a fantastic backstory with amazing crossover potential. Is she a bit OP? Yes. But she has no intention of using it for anything but her amusement/whimsy.

Rod the Bladestar - I love Rod. I love his oddly genteel manners, I love how he’s unwittingly sexist but quickly cleans up his act when put straight, I love how driven and passionate he is. Could do without such a typically-Square-outfit, but you can’t have everything. (In the right artists’ hands, he might even be pretty amazing, actually.)

Did you read all of that? Amazing. Any of them strike your interest? Hmu and maybe we could plot a thread! :eyes:

Also I sincerely apologize to mobile users who had to read all that because Tumblr can’t get it’s act together.