#it's 3:30 am i am 6 days into spring

[gaym3bo1]

mental health update:

made a new stardew farm, named my character Jun, the farm MARS and my cat Po

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

hey so can I have Kurt x reader where neither has said I love you yet and they’re just spending time together, enjoying each other’s company and s/o actually springs on him “I love you” in german? He never taught s/o that.

~Sweet How The Words Slip~

Pairing: Nightcrawler x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: not a single one this is so cute

Genre: fluff

Summary: As it turns out, you're in love with your boyfriend, and now you have to tell him.

A/N: Thank you for each and every one of your requests <3

***

Jean and Storm are sitting on your bed while you clean your bedroom. You'd asked them to sit with you so you could actually get some stuff done.

"We're happy to be here while you do your chores or whatever but you have to spill." Jean says.

"Spill what?" You ask.

"I think she's talking about you and Wagner." Storm chuckles.

"Of course I am. They spend so much time together I'm surprised he's not hiding in her closet right now. I was starting to think we'd have to surgically remove him to ever get her alone again." Jean says and even though you're not looking at your you can feel her eyes roll.

"Surgically remove him?" You scoff out a laugh as you toss an old dress you never wear hiding in the back of your closet.

"Well yeah he never leaves you alone." She says.

"Alright don't talk about him like a pest he's- welcome. He 'never leaves me alone' because I don't want him to. I enjoy being around him as much as I assume he enjoys being around me." You shrug.

"Ah the honeymoon phase. Everything is sweet and perfect and the world revolves around nothing but your love." Storm teases.

"I didn't say any of that?" You frown.

"Everything isn't sweet and perfect?" She asks flatly.

"Well not perfect! Kurt is incredibly sweet so that's not really relationship specific but we're not perfect!"

"Girl who are you tryna fool?" Storm scoffs.

"It's fine if things are perfect. You're still so fresh I find it hard to believe you're already fighting." Jean says.

"We're not fighting." You shake your head.

"Of course you're not. He's obsessed with you." Storm says.

"Obsessed is a stretch I feel like." You say.

"It's not. He looks at you like you put the stars in the sky." Jean smiles.

"You guys are being ridiculous."

"So you're telling me he's not already planning the rest of your lives together?" Storm asks.

"Don't... get ahead of yourself Storm we've only been partners for a few months now." You say.

"We know it's on the horizon." Storm says.

"Yeah he's already made it clear how head over heels in love with you he is." Jean says.

"Girl what are you talking about?" You shake your head.

"What?" Her eyes widen. Even Storm shifts, sitting up in her surprise.

"What?" You ask

"The guy's been into you almost as long as he's been an X-man and you're telling us he hasn't said 'I love you' yet?" Jean gasps.

"Why are you freaking out? We haven't been seeing each other that long."

"It took him less than 6 weeks to make you his girlfriend after he finally asked you out, he had a crush on you for years before that and you don't think it's I dunno surprising that he's not said 'I love you' already?" Jean asks.

"No, I don't find it surprising. He's probably trying not to freak me out."

"What?" Storm asks.

"I dunno I'm sure he's getting advice from Logan or Scott and they probably told him it'd be unhinged to say I love you in the first 30 days of a relationship and now he's paranoid about saying it too soon. What if I don't say it back?"

"Would you?" Jean asks.

"Would I what?" You ask.

"If Kurt came in here and said 'I love you' would you say it back?" She clarifies.

"Yeah I think I would." You nod.

"You think?" Storm asks.

"Well I've never really vocalized it, but since you've asked and I'm actually considering it saying it back feels right."

"You gonna let him know that?" She chuckles.

"Sure! At some point, but it's not like he doesn't already know I care about him." You shrug.

"But that's not always the same thing." Jean shakes her head.

"What?" You frown.

"It's very squares rectangles. Of course you care about the people you love but you can care about people without loving them too. Especially as a superhero, you care about most people, but you don't love all of them. You love him, and caring about him is nice but he'd be foolish to assume that it implies the other thing here." Storm says.

"You have to tell him how you feel, it's important that he knows how deeply you feel because I'm sure he's probably terrified he likes you more than you like him and that's-"

"Okay Jean stop. I get your point. I'll tell him that I love him just- chill out."

"Chill out?! You just realized you love your boyfriend and you weren't even going to tell him."

"Okay well in my defense if we hadn't had this conversation I probably wouldn't have had that realization today so- there'd be nothing to tell for a while maybe." You say.

"But now there is something to tell!"

"I know, I know! I'm gonna tell him, calm down."

"You better or else."

"I get it, you're invested, no need to threaten me." You scoff.

There's a knock on your door that pulls all of your attention to it.

"Come in!" You say.

"Hello liebling- oh are you busy? I didn't know Storm and Jean were here." Kurt smiles peaking his head through your door.

"Not busy! I was just cleaning and the girls are here to help me stay on task." You smile at him.

"Are we still on for movie night later?" Kurt asks.

"Of course. Did you pick a film yet?"

"I did. I hope you like the choice."

"I will. Anything's great if we're watching it together." You say.

"Agreed. Snacks?"

"I'm on it. See you in a few hours."

"Can't wait." Kurt says and slips back out.

"Wow that was so freaking cute!" Jean gushes.

"Oh man I almost said it just then." You gasp.

"What?" Storm asks.

"Just then, before he left? I wanted to say 'I love you', had to catch myself."

"Awwwww! Ugh I'm so jealous." Jean sighs.

"Wow, you really are just so into each other." Storm muses.

"Yeah, I guess."

"It's cute, don't get all shy now." Storm smiles.

"I will kick y'all out if you don't quit it."

"Fine, fine. We'll stop." Jean throws her hands up in surrender.

"Thank you. Sheesh." You shake your head.

You spend another couple of hours on your chores, talking about any and everything, besides your relationship with Kurt. Eventually though, you do need to meet him for movie night so you shoo your friends out.

Something you've been doing passively and in secret is learning German. When Kurt talks to himself it's always in German and while he's never expressed that he struggles with English, he's clearly more comfortable in the former. You figure you could kill two birds with one stone here, confess your love for him and surprise him with a bit of your new skill.

The movie Kurt picked is one you've seen before, but he seemed so excited to see it that you wouldn't tell him that. Plus you like the movie, so you don't mind watching it again. You're nearing the end of the film and part of you is getting a bit nervous. You told yourself you'd confess tonight because you can't imagine holding onto this information. I mean, you knew for 5 minutes and you almost told him. You are not equipped to keep this a secret from him.

"Wow- that was such a good movie! Did you enjoy it?" Kurt asks looking at you.

"It's a great movie. I really liked it." You nod.

"We should watch another. Do you have one that you'd like to watch? Or rewatch maybe?"

"Kurt?"

"Yes liebling?" Kurt's eyes widen, he's giving you his full attention. You bring a hand up to his face, cupping his cheek as you look at him just as intensely as he's looking at you.

"Ich liebe dich." You say. "You love me?" He whispers. "I do." You nod, smiling at him softly. Kurt jolts back, blinking wildly. "Wait sorry I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you say that in-"

"Ich liebe dich." You repeat. Kurt lets out a soft sound as the disbelief on his face melts into a smile. His eyes are so gentle, so full of emotion that they're glistening, it's almost cartoonish and under different circumstances you might've giggled.

"You- you learned to say it in German?" Kurt sounds so light, just barely above a whisper.

"Ich unterrichte es selbst." You say just as softly back. You're teaching yourself. That's what you told him.

"I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?" Kurt smiles.

"I wanted to surprise you." You tell him.

"Oh I'm surprised alright." He chuckles.

"I love you." You say grinning.

"I love you too." He says back and you gasp.

"You do?" You were fully prepared to not hear it back tonight.

"Of course, more than anything."

"I'm really happy." You practically sigh.

"As am I." Kurt wraps his arms around you tightly and there's literally nowhere else you'd rather be than here.

***

[poetlus]

THE BET — kuroo t. x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS: when theres a tied game between nekoma and fukurodani, bokuto decides he wants to prove the winner in a different way. so, he makes a bet: whoever gets a girlfriend first wins. kuroo, not one to hurt his ego, accepts; however, theres only one problem. kuroo doesnt know how to talk to girls.

WORD COUNT: 2.2k

A/N: loser!kuroo is a big part in this fic… sorta mean reader… i love him u guys. not proofread!!

It was a month before the Spring tournament, and Kuroo decided his team needed to practice with professionals, the “Big Shots” as he called them. He went up to you after practice and asked if you could try and schedule a practice game with a neighboring school, Fukurodani. You, being the official volleyball team manager, said you would try and set up a day for the team to come by. In all honesty, you enjoyed watching games between Nekoma and Fukurodani. They were always so intense and both teams were incredible and extremely thrilling to watch. Plus, the team’s managers, Kaori and Yukie, were hilarious. The three of you enjoyed making fun of your boys.

The next day, you contacted the managers and coach of Fukurodani and scheduled a date and time for them to come by: Saturday evening, 3:30 to 6:30. You ran these plans by with the team and the boys were ecstatic. They all thanked you for your hard work and went home for the night.

Saturday rolled around rather quickly, and soon enough, Fukurodani had arrived. They were earlier than expected, making an appearance at 2:45. The two teams began chattering and bickering amongst themselves as you thanked the coach for accepting your invite, and he thanked you back for the invitation. The practice matches started at 3 o'clock and ended at 7. As the sun set, so did the boys’ stamina. Nekoma and Fukurodani played a total of four matches, and twelve sets in total. 2 matches were won by Nekoma and 2 were won by Fukurodani. Both teams were far too exhausted to go on, and decided to call it quits after the fourth game. Although both captains were drained from playing their hardest, their mock rivalry was far too powerful to leave the competition at a tie.

“I’ll beat you next time, I promise.” said Bokuto with a toothy grin on his face.

“Yeah right, how about you get some girls on your arm first.” Kuroo rolled his eyes and laughed at his own remark, something he did very often. Bokuto’s smile grew wider.

“Fine!’’ The man exclaimed, “That’s how I’ll beat you. I’ll get a girlfriend before you do!” Kuroo looked at Bokuto with a puzzled expression, making him elaborate. “We can make it a competition; whoever gets a girlfriend first wins!”

Tetsuro smirked somewhat mischievously. “Well, who am I to turn down a bet?” He said as he puffed out his chest.

“Let’s shake on it, then.” Bokuto held out his hand and Kuroo took it with a tight grip. “Alright, ladies man, it’s on.”

While Kuroo was on his bus ride home, he was thinking about the bet. There was only one thing that could prevent him from winning and that was: his lack of experience when it came to being in relationships. Kuroo Tetsuro had never actually dated anyone. There was one time in middle school when he asked a girl to a dance, but that didn’t count because she never talked to him after that. He eventually came to the realization that he hadn’t even thought about dating anyone. His mind and schedule were too consumed by volleyball to have relationships. And now, suddenly, he was thrusted into the dating world because of a bet, out of all things. What was he going to do?

On Monday, he racked his brain of every girl he knew the name of and decided to go down the list. At least one of them could see him in a romantic light, right? There was no way every girl he knew didn’t find him attractive enough to date, right?

Turns out, he was wrong. So very wrong. After shooting his shot and getting rejected every single time, he was losing hope. Should he start asking random girls out? No, that was creepy. He didn’t want to be known as the school creep. But he couldn’t let Bokuto have this win– he wouldn’t let him have this win. He had one last hope: His own volleyball manager.

He was sure you’d reject him too. You had interacted with him too many times to even consider dating him, but he had no other choice. He had to ask his mean and scary sports manager out in order to preserve his ego.

After practice, Kuroo walked up to you with a sly smile on his face. You were already concerned about his behavior when you saw his off-putting expression.

“Hey,” He deepened his voice and attempted to make it smoother, more sultry. Your eyes widened as he leaned against the gym wall.

“Kuroo, what on Earth are you doing right now?” You asked him.

He continued to try and play it smooth, stroking his chin. “Oh, nothing, just… admiring your beauty…” The black haired man looked into your eyes with an odd guise on his face. You rolled your eyes at him, thinking he was playing some weird prank on you.

“I’m leaving now–’’

“Wait!” He exclaimed, his demeanor changing. He sighed and tensed up, confusing you even more. “Bokuto and I made a bet to see who could get a girlfriend first and I was wondering if you could be my girlfriend for a bit.”

You stared at Kuroo in shock, wondering if this was all some sick and twisted dream.

“Are you serious?” You asked, to which he nodded. There was a moment of silence before you burst out laughing. Kuroo’s eyebrows furrowed and he tried to get your attention again, but you couldn’t contain your laughter.

“Y/n, please I need this. You know how Bokuto gets when he wins a bet.” You adamantly shook your head after you calmed down, shooting him down immediately. After pleading some more, you finally give in after he guaranteed a week’s worth of pork buns. It’s not like he was going to stop asking anyway.

“Fine.” You rolled your eyes. Kuroo’s face lit up at your response, although he wished it would have been delivered in a nicer manner. Beggars can't be choosers, he thought to himself.

“Thank you so much, Y/n!” He grabbed your hands and squeezed them, something he did to prove his appreciation. “So, in order for me to win this bet, Bokuto has to actually take the bait. If we just walk up to him and say we’re dating, he won’t believe us.”

“And how exactly are we gonna make him believe us?” You asked skeptically.

“Everyone has to believe us. We need people to back us up.” Kuroo responded quickly. You raised an eyebrow at him. “We have to tell the team.”

“No way. Nope. Not happening.”

“What?! Why not?!”

“It’s one thing to have an airhead think we’re dating, but the team that I have to see every day? No way.”

“You’re overthinking it, Y/n! Please? For me?” You looked at him with a straight face. “For the pork buns?’’

Was it really worth it at this point?

“As soon as the bet is off, you’re telling them it was a prank. I doubt they’ll believe it anyway.” Kuroo smiled widely and brought you into a hug, which you did not reciprocate.

The day after, during the team meeting, Kuroo stood up and propped his hands on his hips proudly. “I’d like to make an announcement.” He smirked. You scoffed to yourself. How could he be so proud of a fake relationship? He really was full of himself. Everyone looked at him with curiosity.

“I am officially dating Y/n L/n! Yep! We’re together, so she’s off limits!” The boys looked at you suspiciously and you were about to call it a joke to save yourself the embarrassment, but you decided not to. You nodded your head and smiled as convincingly as possible. Yaku’s jaw dropped and Lev smiled at you, standing up to pat you on the back. Kenma raised an eyebrow and looked down, fidgeting with his shoestring.

Practice continued with a few confused murmurs and some congratulations from other team members. When practice ended, Kenma walked up to you with a certain look on his face, one you couldn’t make out.

“Hey Kenma, whats up?” You asked him, putting your pen in your pocket.

“You and Kuroo… aren’t actually dating, are you?” Your face lost it’s color when the words fell from the boys mouth. Was it that obvious that you were faking it? Could the other members tell too?

“What? Of course we are.. I mean, it’s new, but—“ You were cut off by Kenma’s semi-intimidating look. “Why are you asking?”

“Because you two… don’t seem like you’d be together.” There was an awkward silence before Kenma continued. “He doesn’t really seem like you’re type. You’re kinda…y’know, uptight? And he’s lame and goofy. It seems like the two of you would clash in a relationship. I dunno.” You thought for a moment.

“Well, you know what they say about opposites attracting. I think it was that sort of thing. Plus, he’s pretty funny when he’s not being dumb.” You tried to convince Kenma.

“Oh, okay.” He said as he walked away. You liked that about Kenma, he was simple, dismissive. If it were Yaku asking this question, it’d take a lot more convincing. Thankfully though, it wasn’t.

As the days went on, you and Kuroo got closer for the sake of convincing everyone.

On Wednesday, he bought you yakisoba for lunch. It was really good, and you were actually surprised that he did something nice for you, whether it was for a bet or not.

On Thursday, he had you come to his house for a “study date.” You studied, he ended up on his phone the whole time.

On Friday, you hung out after practice. You went to a local cafe and ate dinner together. Afterwards, he ended up falling asleep on your shoulder on the bus ride home.

This was starting to be the norm of your life, you and Kuroo would hang out, get comfortable, and end up doing “sorta couple-y” things, as he called it. There were no feelings involved, yet this ritual of taking Kuroo home was oddly comforting. It gave you something to do. Not to mention, it was a nice way to end your day. The rest of the weekend was filled with just you and Kuroo, as he had become your go-to person to hang out with.

You were sitting in your homeroom class catching up on your homework when you heard a familiar voice.

“Hey my girl,” Kuroo spoke.

“My girl?” You repeated, to which he nodded with a sly grin. You smiled lightly and rolled your eyes. “Yes, boyfriend? Did you need something?” The man scoffed.

“I was wondering if you could schedule another practice game with Bokuto and his guys?” You nodded and went back to your homework.

“Thanks babe, love ya.” He called as he left your class. Love you? Wow, he was really going all out, wasn’t he? You thought to yourself. Although you didn’t seem very affected by it, you couldn’t deny the warmth in your cheeks and the tips of your ears.

That evening, you got into contact with Fukurodani’s coach. You always loved how easy it was for them to accept and schedule a match. It was way more convenient since both schools were in Tokyo.

The day came for Bokuto and Kuroo to meet again, and their rivalry had rekindled, and possibly gotten even stronger, since the last time they saw each other.

“Hey man,” Kuroo greeted him with a firm handshake. “Remember our bet?”

“How could I forget?” Bokuto smiled broadly. “What about it? Do you forfeit?”

“In your dreams.” Kuroo uttered, having that all-too-familiar mischievous look on his face. “Y/n! Come here for a sec!” As you walked over, you saw the color drain from Bokuto’s face. You waved to him with a faux innocent smile plastered on your face.

Kuroo pulled you closer to him by your waist, leaving his hand there for longer than he should have.

“Are you kidding me?!” Bokuto shouted in disbelief.

“Nope. This is the wife. Don’t be rude, say hi.” You sneered at Kuroo’s choice of words. Bokuto looked at you, then back to Kuroo, then back to you.

“Y/n, is this real?! Are you actually dating this loser?!” You laughed and nodded your head, being used to this question at this point.

“Yeah.. he told me about your bet and decided that this was his chance to ask me out. Apparently he had liked me for a while and was too scared to tell me– his words, not mine.” Kuroo glared at you and then looked away, blush dusting his face.

After a few more minutes of talking, lying, and being backed up by your ignorant team mates, Bokuto finally believed the two of you. He stomped off with a pout when he realized he had lost his own bet.

When you and Kuroo were out of his line of sight, he brought his hand back to your waist, giving you a side-hug.

“Good job being my fake girlfriend… and thanks.” You laughed, hugging him back.

“Couldn’t have your precious ego be torn down, now could we?” Kuroo rolled his eyes and smirked. “And, for the record, you’re not very hard to date, so it was an easy win.”

“Yeah? Are you saying you wanna keep this bet going?”

“In your dreams, Kuroo Tetsuro. This was all for the pork buns.”

“Yeah yeah, in my dreams, I know.”

[fisherld3]

Detention Hearts ❤️— Part VI: “You Don’t Get to Push Me Away

Prompt: It starts stupid. Like most fights do.

Word Count: ~2,200

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Angst & Fluff, First Fight, Stubborn Melissa, Soft Making Up

Title: Detention Hearts — Part VI: “You Don’t Get to Push Me Away”

Word Count: ~2,200

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Angst & Fluff, First Fight, Stubborn Melissa, Soft Making Up

⸻

It starts stupid.

Like most fights do.

A bad day—no, a bad week.

The heat’s broken again. The copier’s jammed for the third time. The kids are wild because spring break’s too far away to look forward to but close enough that no one’s paying attention.

And you—tired, overstretched—volunteered to stay late for some PTA thing you barely had time for.

Melissa had told you not to.

Had told you, point blank, “Don’t overwork yourself, Rookie.”

You didn’t listen.

⸻

By the time you’re packing up at 6:30, your head’s pounding. You finally make it out to the lot, only to find Melissa leaning against your car, arms crossed.

She looks pissed.

“What are you doing here?” you ask, trying to keep your voice light.

“What am I doing here?” she fires back. “What the hell are you doing here? You shoulda left hours ago.”

You sigh, unlocking the door. “I had stuff to do.”

She doesn’t move.

“No. You chose to stay. You do this every time. You run yourself ragged, and then—what? Expect me not to care?”

Your shoulders tense. “I didn’t ask you to.”

That’s the wrong thing to say.

Melissa’s jaw tightens. “Right. So I’m just supposed to stand around while you burn yourself out? That it?”

You glare. “I can take care of myself.”

“You’re not, though!” she snaps. “And I—”

She stops, biting it back.

“I worry about you, okay? Is that a crime?”

Your chest tightens. You know she means well—but something defensive claws up anyway.

“I didn’t ask for a babysitter.”

Melissa’s eyes flash—hurt, sharp, gone just as fast.

“You’re unbelievable.”

She turns, stalking toward her car.

“Melissa—”

“Forget it.”

And before you can stop her, she’s gone—taillights fading out of the lot.

⸻

That night, you don’t sleep.

Not really.

Her words circle your head. The look in her eyes.

You hadn’t meant to shut her out. Not like that.

But you’re both stubborn. Proud. And now—you don’t know how to fix it.

⸻

The next day at school, it’s… tense.

Melissa breezes in late. No usual smirk, no “Hey Rookie.”

She won’t meet your eyes.

Ava, of course, notices immediately.

“Y’all fighting?” she whispers gleefully in the lounge.

You shoot her a look. “Not now, Ava.”

Barbara pats your hand gently. “She’ll come around, dear. You both will.”

⸻

By 3:00, you can’t take it anymore.

You find her in the empty copy room, muttering curses at the jammed printer.

“Melissa—”

“Busy.”

You swallow. Step in anyway.

“I’m sorry.”

She freezes.

You take a breath.

“I was an ass. You were right. I push too hard sometimes and I—I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

Still silence.

You step closer.

“It’s just—when people care about me, sometimes that feels… hard. And I panic. But that’s not on you. You didn’t deserve that.”

Slowly, she turns to face you.

Her eyes are soft, guarded.

“You scared me,” she says quietly. “Seeing you run yourself down like that. I don’t wanna lose you.”

Your throat tightens.

“You’re not gonna lose me,” you whisper. “I don’t want space from you. I want you. Even when I’m stubborn.”

A beat.

Then she sighs, shoulders relaxing.

“Damn rookie,” she mutters. “You know how hard it is to stay mad at you?”

Relief rushes through you.

“Then don’t.”

⸻

She huffs—smirk finally tugging at her lips again.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.”

You grin.

“I know.”

⸻

That night, curled up on her couch with her head tucked under your chin, she murmurs:

“Next time you’re drowning like that… let me help. Yeah?”

You kiss the crown of her head.

“Yeah. I promise.”

And when she whispers “Love you, Rookie” against your chest, you know it’s true. Every word of it.

⸻

END PART 6

[strikefourth]

Fourth Strike Apr-May-June Roundup!

Hi everyone! We're back with the latest monthly roundup from your favorite queer music collective 🌈 Read on for new music, album AMAs, t4t art shows, and more!

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Our askbox is OPEN for questions about EXPANSION, the Garages' upcoming album covering Blaseball's Expansion Era! We'll be answering as many as we can over the course of the day. Send us your burning questions/wonderings/just pop in to say hi!

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2. Gabi ( @girlballz) has a new single out on bandcamp and streaming! Check out "how can i be gay when i am just a passionate ally?" at the links below:

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3. Gabi's also a member of the Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble, who had their spring showcase early last month! The performance recording is up now for you to watch back:

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4. @dynamicentropy is taking commissions to help cover school applications fees! You can check out their art and rates over on their blog (linked below too for easy access). If you've got the money to spare, why not commission a cool young artist to draw your blorbos/original characters?

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5. Pre-orders are open for Aran P. Ink's upcoming EP DEADNAMES, releasing July 4th! If you've heard any of Ceri's song jam tracks, you know her tell-tale slick production and breakneck pacing, both of which are audible on lead single "SCATTERBRAIN," available now for listening:

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6. @girltentacles has been working towards its senior composition recital for actual years--and it shows. You can support her by checking out the concert recording over on YouTube:

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7. Nia did her first-ever event mix for FieldFX's shader livecoding jam at the end of last month! In her words, "It's 20 tracks I like at 174 BPM, mostly drum 'n' bass but with a few other genres thrown in — hopefully people will enjoy it!" You can take a listen on MixCloud, or over on Nia's blog:

What's that? You want to download it in FLAC? Well, they've got that up for you too!

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8. Resni's surreal RPG Mythic Mire is out now on Steam! Play as Faeya as you work with the digital Pixies to traverse the dream-like Tower and find out what happened to your town...

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9. Bagel's been a developer on Cloutchase, a "social media parody personification visual novel based on the real time events that were/are happening to the management of these sites. And it is incredibly lgbtqia+ and 100% Transgendah!!" Itch and socials below:

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10. June September will have a piece in The Factory's upcoming T4T art show on June 12th! If you're in the area, definitely go check it out; there's going to be tons of cool local artists showcasing work!

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11. Sunny's band, Care, will be performing at the Utah Pride Festival in SLC this weekend! They go on at 4:30 on Saturday. Also, CupcakKe's headlining. Full lineup below!

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That's all for this month! See you in July, and don't forget to send in your Expansion questions 🪙🎸

[coqxettee]

Coquette Spring Morning Routine ⛅️♡

My Coquette Spring Morning Routine ૢ✧∘* ✧･ﾟ

Now the weather has been warming up, I think it’s so important to get into a new routine, to help myself emerge out of Winter hibernation. Here is my updated Spring morning routine 🦢

I wake up around 6:30/7:00 AM (I love waking up early, if I don’t I feel like I have wasted my day lol) I’ve been sleeping in my vintage nightdress now the weather is warming up and every morning when I awake, I feel like a princess ⛅️

I put my slippers on, open up my curtains and get a cold drink because the weather has been warming up, I take it back into my room to read in bed for a little while (I work from home so don’t have to get up in a rush which is lovely) I’ve been currently reading through my Spring tbr, and it’s so satisfying to tick off each book when I have finished reading it <3

Whilst I wake up I like to play classical music (it makes me feel like I’m in a fairytale in the morning) read my current book in bed, or watch an episode of something comforting, usually a Spring or cottagecore themed show. I try not to look at social media too much because I find it overwhelming, especially in the morning before I start my day 📖

I get up and make my bed (always) and then have a shower. If it’s a Sunday I spend ages pampering myself and do the “everything shower” (but I’ll get into that when I write my Sunday routine) brush my teeth and get dressed (I try to always pick out my outfit the night before)

Then I go into the kitchen and make myself some breakfast, I usually read at the breakfast table when eating 🍓

I come back into my room to do my hair and my makeup, and to give my room a once over tidy. Then I spend about 30 minutes journaling or writing in my dream journal if I can remember anything from my dreams that previous night.

I pack my bag for the day if I have to run errands and make sure I’ve got everything, then I choose my scent and put my perfume on 🪷

Thank you for reading, I absolutely love mornings because it feels like a fresh start and a new beginning of another beautiful day. Hopefully it gave you some inspiration to construct your own coquette morning routine for Spring 🌸

[joyfuljune]

(Text version below the cut)

Welcome to Joyful June: a fanworks event where the goal is to let our favourite characters be happy!

The prompt calendar above is designed for maximum flexibility: if you can't do something for every single day in a week, you can still do one thing based around that week's theme!

(Or you can just do as much as you can anyway, whatever, the point is also for us to have some fun, but the completionism urge is strong)

Tag #JoyfulJune and #JoyfulJune25!

AO3 collection: joyfuljune25

What sorts of works?

Fanart, fanfic, music, anything that you would normally consider fanwork.

What fandoms are allowed?

This event originated on the Linked Universe discord, but any fandom is welcome! Be sure to tag the fandom clearly and if you're creating for something in a nested fandom make sure you tag the right one (Linked Universe rather than Legend of Zelda; Rings of Power rather than Lord of the Rings, etc.).

Will you be reblogging work?

I'll be following the tag and will do some reblogging, but I am but one person and can't guarantee I'll get everything, especially if a lot of people take part.

Do I have to do/post work on the day listed in the calendar?

Nope!

Is NSFW allowed?

Sure, but please tag it #NSFW and note that it won't get reblogged here (I'm keeping this blog PG).

Can I use GenAI?

No.

Any other rules?

Don't be a jerk.

JOYFUL JUNE 2025

Week 1: Seasons

1: New Year

2: Spring

3: Summer

4: Autumn

5: Winter

6: Birthday

7: Anniversary

Week 2: Nature

8: Sun

9: Moon

10: Stars

11: Animal

12: Sea

13: Sky

14: Mountain

Week 3: Comfort

15: Warmth

16: (Found) Family

17: Bath

18: Hugs

19: Sleep

20: Home

21: Quiet

Week 4: Fun

22: Dance

23: Games

24: Pets

25: Reading

26: Friends

27: Snacks

28: Music

Week 5: Time

29: Meetings

30: Memories

[jgroffdaily]

From Broadway Journal on 5 June 2025

'JUST IN TIME' PREVAILS IN TOUGH SEASON FOR NEW MUSICALS

by Philip Boroff

Jonathan Groff is scheduled to perform twice at the Tony Awards on Sunday. The enviable television exposure should confirm his show, Just in Time, as the most commercially successful new musical to-date of the 2024-25 Broadway season.

Groff, 40, who was Tony-nominated for playing King George III in Hamilton, will join other original company members to mark 10 lucrative years on Broadway; and lead Just in Time, in which Groff plays the 1950s and ’60s singer-songwriter-actor Bobby Darin. Last week, the average ticket price at Circle in the Square –which Derek McLane refashioned as a faux nightclub — was $213.52. That’s the highest average ticket price of any musical now on Broadway.

If Just in Time sustains its $1.2 million weekly gross, it could recoup its $9.4 million of production costs soon after Labor Day, based on a company recoupment chart obtained by Broadway Journal. Not bad for a show that wasn’t nominated for best musical. (To be sure, expenses tend to exceed projected expenses, especially during awards season. And the recoupment chart includes a state tax credit of up to $3 million.)

Buena Vista Social Club, inspired by the 1997 album of Cuban music, is also earning operating profits, albeit less than Just in Time‘s. At this rate, it would take Buena Vista well over a year to recoup its $17 million capitalization.

Hamilton, The Book of Mormon and other all-original musicals have produced some of Broadway’s biggest fortunes. This past season, none of the 10 musicals with original scores appear to be on track to repay their costs before the 2026 Tony Awards — if ever. Maybe Happy Ending, which has piled up awards, could become a hit if it takes home the best musical Tony and its sales explode.

Just in Time was conceived by Ted Chapin, who recruited Groff for the 92nd Street Y‘s “Lyrics and Lyricists” series in 2018. Groff is a charismatic homegrown star who first came to attention playing Melchior in the raucous 2006 rock musical Spring Awakening. In that show, he performed opposite Lea Michele, both of whom later found a mass audience on Glee on television.

Bobby Darin doesn’t have the same name recognition among younger theatergoers. “I never thought that a musical about Bobby Darin would be so popular,” said Steve, a 28-year-old substance abuse counselor and compulsive theatergoer, who lined up at 6:30 am Thursday morning outside Circle in the Square for $40 rush tickets. Steve, who declined to give his last name, said the success of the show, which is directed by Alex Timbers, has cemented Groff’s status as a Broadway leading man and box office force.

Jack Viertel, a creative consultant on The Outsiders and former senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters, now part of ATG Entertainment, said that whether a score is familiar or new isn’t a bellwether of success. “It’s about the excitement that a show creates in total,” Viertel told Broadway Journal. With a hit, “usually it’s a first-rate production that has appeal to a broad range of people.”

Groff is aiming to be the first man to win back-to-back Tonys for lead actor in a musical, after triumphing in 2024 for Merrily We Roll Along. He’s currently committed to Just in Time through Jan. 11, 2026.

It may have a life after he leaves. The show’s lead producers, Tom Kirdahy and Robert Ahrens, opened a revival of Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway with Groff in the lead role of Seymour in 2019, and successfully cycled through other stars. Six years later, the Groff-less Little Shop is still blooming at the Westside Theatre.

[sillyfanatic]

Chaos' Coffee 4

Sonic finally meets their newest employee - Shadow isn't fond of his new overly-peppy manager.

**For reference; this relationship has a bit of an age gap, I hc Sonic being around 26 and Shadow being around 37 (might tweak these numbers later but yeah!! two consenting adults baby!!!)

AO3 link :3

wc; 3234

-

It wasn’t the screech of his alarm that had woken him up this morning, but rather an abrupt shaking sensation across his shoulders. Cracking an eye open, his bleary eyes could barely make up something orange, fuzzy, and way too close to his face. He attempted to swat the disturbance away, mumbling something along the lines of “go away”.

“Sonic.” A voice came, irritated as though it wasn’t the first time it had spoken that morning. The mention of his name pulled him out of his haze ever so-slightly as he attempted to prop himself on his elbows.

“Tails?” the blurry orange figure was coming into focus now as his other eye opened, adjusting to the dim light of his bedroom. “What time’sit?” he grunted, pulling the alarm clock on his nightstand to face towards him. The bold red numbers almost seemed to scream at him.

6:40 AM

“Oh fuck.” He spat out as he felt his stomach drop.

“Yeah.” His little brother’s tired voice sounded a little clearer now that panic coursed through him – it was his body’s way of springing to action.

“How long has my alarm been going off?!” He practically fell from his bed as he rushed out of it, wincing as he stepped on some wooden chopsticks he’d neglected to throw out for a while now.

“Dunno. Been a while though.” The fox yawned, boredom lacing his expression – or perhaps it was the fact that it was ridiculously early, and he’d gone to bed just a few hours ago. It could’ve been a bit of both – it’s not like the situation was a crazy rare occurrence, in fact, it was far from the first time Sonic had slept through his alarms.

“Sorry little bro!” he threw a simple apology over, hurrying to slip off his two-sizes-too-large shirt that he fondly slept in every night for something more work-appropriate.

“Mhm, have a good day at work.” His brother sighed as he made for the door, leaving a crack in the entrance to allow some light from the hallway to filter into Sonic’s bedroom.

“Thanks!” He yelled out as he put on a pair of weathered jeans to go along with the simple black tee he’d donned. Tail’s response came in the form of a shutting door, but Sonic couldn’t be bothered to do a lecture on etiquette when he was running late for his shift.

He brushed his teeth for a hefty thirty-sum seconds, skipping his beloved breakfast and barely remembering to grab his keys on his way out. It wasn’t long before he was fumbling with the lock of their front door and rushing out to the bus stop that sat just a couple of blocks down from their crummy apartment.

As he ran the few yards that separated him from his transportation, he calculated the consequence of his late morning start. The ride to work usually took about 30 minutes, and it was currently around 6:45 (he never wore a watch on workdays, the risk of damaging it was too great for his liking), so he’d probably be stepping foot in the building around 7:15? He was scheduled for 7:00, so it’d only make him around 15 minutes late (if there were no surprises along the way). Granted, it wasn’t great, but it was much better than a few other sleeping-through-alarms mishaps he’d had in the past.

Basically, he could probably rush through some of his workload and be done on time for the café opening, but it would be preferable if no one knew for now about his little sleep-in.

Sonic managed to catch a bus fairly quickly, scanning his pass faster than he thought possible as he boarded the crowded vehicle. Holding onto one of the metal poles that jutted from the dirty floor, he chose to stand for the ride. He did so for a multitude of reasons:

Really, he wasn’t even sure that there was an available seat, and he was too lazy to bother checking. But most importantly, he heavily doubted his ability to stay awake – if he were to sit down for the half-hour commute, listening to the hum of the motor and the distant voices all while getting gently rocked by the bus… yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Lastly, he thought standing would give him a time advantage on reaching the doors once his stop came. Granted, it would be a few seconds spared, but hey, it was still something, right?

-

The sun had almost entirely risen by the time the bus made its way to a screeching halt. A quick look at the clock up front flashed the time; 7:18 AM. Off schedule already, and now closer to 20 minutes late.

Damn.

He rushed outside before the bus had even fully stopped moving, pacing down the block and waiting with an incredible amount of patience for the light to turn red so he could cross the busy 4-way lane. He didn’t waste a second – at first sight of that little white hand on the monitor, he bolted across the street, barely looking both ways, hoping people would be sane enough not to run him over. Approaching the shop, he fished for his keys in his pocket, sifting through them to find the right one.

All things considered, he was on track to beat the clock, to be juuust under 20 minutes late.

It was then he saw something unusual – as he lifted his head from his key-fumbling, he noticed a person waiting by the door. Their back was pressed against the large glass panels that made up the façade of chaos’ coffee, their hands casually tucked in their pockets.

Sonic was no stranger to eager patrons waiting outside the shop well before it opened. Though, as he approached, he noted that this person was not a regular, in fact, he didn’t think he’d ever seen him before (and although customer-service tended to melt faces together, Sonic thought he would’ve remembered features like this).

The patron before him was a black hedgehog with a dark brown muzzle; his quills were long, their inky blackness interrupted by a bold streak of scarlet that Sonic could only assume was some kind of dye. He wore a leather jacket and combat boots, the worn leather of them contrasting heavily with the vibe of the rest of his attire. Pleated dark brown dress pants and a crisp white button-up were separated neatly by a leather belt with golden hardware. There wasn’t a wrinkle or a crease in site – unlike Sonic’s own outfit, that had been haphazardly fetched from a pile on the floor and was therefore wrinkled with disuse and lack of proper storage.

Approaching the front door, he fetched his key card alongside the key he already held for the front door (why they needed two measures of security was beyond him, but Rouge seemed to insist on it heavily). He readied himself to run through his scripted apology. Something along the lines of ‘hi there! I’m very sorry but we actually only open at eight, so you’ll have to wait a bit to be served. Gosh, I wish I could change the rules!’.

However, he never even got to start his practiced sentence because as soon as he was in earshot of the other, the supposed customer spoke. “You’re late.” A deep voice, the words slightly raspy in the crisp morning air. The man who’d spoken lifted his eyes then, glaring at Sonic in what could only be described as a scowl. The cobalt hedgehog noted the ruby-coloured irises glaring towards him with curiosity – when had he ever seen a mobian with eyes like that?

Yeah, this guy was definitely new around here.

Still half-asleep, he offered a tired smile; it would certainly not be his last for the day. Ignoring the unexpected statement (which wasn’t necessarily false, but still, were customers going to start reprimanding him now?), the apology rolled off his tongue: “Hi! Actually, we just open at 8, so you’ll have to wait a little bit. I’m very sorry about that.” He put on his sincere-customer-service voice, which was honestly never sincere. Unfortunately, it was a bit too early still and so he ended up sounding a little more condescending than he’d intended.

The man before him reacted plainly, shaking his head in disdain. “I’m Shadow.” He introduced himself, though he did not extend a hand along with his introduction. It was a stated fact, not an introduction or a friendly welcome.

That’s when Sonic woke up very suddenly for the second time that morning, the realization hitting him like a truck. “Oh shit, you’re the new guy, right?” he asked, though it was pretty obvious to him now that this was indeed their newest employee, the one he was supposed to be training this morning.

This Shadow character gave nothing but a curt nod to the question, a look of annoyance plastered on his features. To be fair, he’d probably been waiting twenty minutes outside in the chilly morning air for Sonic’s lazy ass to show up, so for that, he could not really be faulted.

“I’m Sonic, nice to meet you!” he extended a hand and offered a smile that was much more genuine than the last. His outstretched hand earned nothing but a narrowing of crimson eyes.

“You’re the manager?” If he were more familiar with this new guy, he’d say judgment laced his tone as he spoke. Brushing it off, he slid his key card in after unlocking the deadbolt, motioning for the new hire to follow him.

“Yup, that’s me!” The door was locked behind them and the alarm quickly turned off by the press of a few buttons. He made his way to the staff room, looking back to see if he was being followed. The dark hedgehog was indeed walking a few paces behind him, his body language tense and uncomfortable, though Sonic supposed that was normal. Every first shift he’d had, his back was as stiff as a rod – it felt really weird to work a new job for the first time, like you didn’t belong or something. “Lemme show ya around.” He declared as they made their way across tables and chairs, heading for the door behind the counter.

Once in the back of the store, Sonic made quick work of pointing out where the staff room, the kitchen, the pantry, the storage and the mechanical room were before stopping just outside the staff room. “It’s a lot of doors; you might get lost at first. I certainly did.” He chuckled lightly to fill the tension in the air, though his half-laugh really only emphasized the awkward silence that surrounded them.

“I know how to navigate through doors without losing myself.” Came a short response.

“Good for you, then.” His retort was perhaps a little sourer than it should have been – he was in a good mood, really, but this new person seemed to be dead set on changing that. The thing about Sonic was this: he was generally pleasant to be around, and good enough at talking with others. When others were being rude to him (whether that be in his personal life or in his day-to-day life), he found it extremely difficult to bite back his tongue. His instinct was to reciprocate the energy thrown at him: because if someone was unpleasant, negative, or just downright disrespectful, why should he feign a happy-go-lucky attitude? It had never really worked for much, so he liked to meet others where they were and suffer the consequences. Breathing deeply, he reminded himself of how much he liked this job, and how Rouge’s patience towards him would run out eventually if he couldn’t keep himself in check. So, smiling, he pointed towards the last unnamed door. “That’s the owner’s office, Rouge.” Scratching at his neck, he added; “though I’m told the two of you already know each other, right? Old coworkers or something?”

“Somewhat.”

Figuring that was as much of a response as he was going to get, Sonic finally guided them into the staff room where he pointed out a few additional details, before handing Shadow an apron and a key card. “Yeah, you can put your jacket wherever, and uhm, come find me in the café when you’re done settling in, kay?”

He didn’t really wait for a response, mostly because he figured one wouldn’t come. Besides, he’d wasted enough time this morning, and if he wanted to get anything done before the clock struck 8, he needed to haul ass.

The register flashed 7:50 as he powered it on for the day. It was too late to get anything tangible done, in fact, it was barely enough time to prep the machines, to ready some coffee and to take out the pastries. Alas, it was all the time he had, and so he was keen on not wasting it.

It was about five minutes later that his new coworker materialized behind the counter, donning his new apron. It was a light brown canvas material, with copper hardware and thick black straps to adjust it. A simple version of the company’s logo was stitched on the chest in thick brown thread. Sonic had always liked their uniforms (it beat some horrendous ones he’d worn in the past – don’t even get him started on that one red vest from the small grocery store), and he found that it fit Shadow quite well, complementing his clothes as well as his natural features.

“Okay, so.” He began, clasping his hands together rather loudly. It had been a while since he’d trained someone, and besides, everyone was different in the way they learnt, so it’s not like he could refer to past experiences too much. Because they were already wildly behind, and because he was not quite awake yet (despite having two panic wake-up calls today already), Sonic decided it wouldn’t hurt to go simple. He opted to walk the other through the tasks he was doing this morning before they had to unlock the doors. Something that wouldn’t be too intimidating for a first shift.

“Most of this stuff is like, easy to figure out on your own, ya know?” He poured their morning roast into the grinder, setting the machine at a 4.3 “this is the bean we use in the morning, it’s weighed out in 100g portions by the evening shift for us” he waved a little glass container that contained the pre-weighed portions. Turning the grinder on, he waited about 30 seconds before the infernal noise of the machine ceased – seriously, it never got easier to listen to – and then continued yapping. “Usually all of this stuff would be done by like 7:30, so then we can like focus on specific tasks for the day. What with your training and me being… not on time, we’re gonna do things a little differently today, hehe” he laughed off his tardiness with an awkward chuckle.

Fetching a piece of paper on one of the many shelves under their counter, he handed it to the other. “That’s the prep list, just to give you an idea of what would usually go on here. You’ll come to be familiar with it.”

“Hm.” Was Shadow’s only response as the sheet was briefly read and promptly handed back to him, where he tucked neatly in its space.

“So, yeah, I’m gonna open the store and like I guess you can just watch for now and I’ll explain while I do stuff sometimes? I just kinda go with the flow.” He shook his shoulders as he moved away to hoist up the curtains and unlock the door, relieved to not see anyone waiting outside the store quite yet.

“Oh, by the way!” He called out through the space as he made his way back to find Shadow, who was rigidly (and awkwardly) standing near the register. “Almost forgot, what kinda music are ya into?” pulling out his phone, Sonic paired it to the speaker system of the shop, scrolling through his typical playlists. “Rouge lets us play our own music, y’know, as long as it’s café-appropriate and like, just the vibe, I guess? It’s nice.” He offered a warm smile but was met with a blank stare.

“Nothing you wanna hear?” he thrust his phone into the hands of the other, an urge for him to pick something. “I always let the newbies have their music, makes ‘em more comfortable.” He shrugs. Shadow’s nose crunched unpleasantly at the mention of the word “newbies”. It wasn’t long before he handed the phone back to its owner, the latter noticing that it was still opened to the home page of his music-streaming app.

“I don’t know for how long I will be working here.” He starts coldly. “I hope it is brief.” His arms were crossed – the only thing about his posture that appeared to come naturally. “I want this much to be clear,” dark crimson eyes peer into ones of the opposite colour as Sonic bit at his lip distractedly. “I am not here to make friends. Your attempts to get to know me will be met with silence – I have no interest in getting to know you or allowing you into my life. You and I are coworkers, nothing more.”

It was the most words Sonic had heard him say all morning. The confession itself wasn’t exactly shocking, per se, it was pretty obvious by now that this guy wasn’t the type to befriend coworkers. What was more surprising is the fact that he said it at all – most people would let it be subtext. This Shadow person, however, did not seem interested in leaving any room for interpretation.

And all Sonic had done was ask him what type of music he listened to.

The blue hedgehog was tempted to retort very quickly, something along the lines of ‘okay dude, I get it, didn’t plan on being your friend anyways so don’t flatter yourself’ but the chime of the door opening pulled him away from his souring mood as he turned to see their first customer of the day. He was quick to queue up a random playlist of 90s hits before assisting their patron in their order.

It was best to leave the brooding attitude of their new staff member alone – poking the bear wouldn’t result in anything remotely pleasant. Besides, hadn’t Rouge called for Sonic’s patience when it came to Shadow? He was starting to think she had undersold just how much of an attitude this dude had, because he would be needing a lot more than patience to put up with any of this for much longer.

Whatever. He didn’t have to like all his coworkers – they didn’t need to be his friends either. Besides, a new employee just meant that Sonic would finally be able to work a normal 40-hour work week. It would help lessen his fatigue, and that in itself would probably make it much more bearable to be around someone like Shadow. And who knows, after he was done being trained, they could end up being mostly on opposing shifts, having to deal with each-other for a maximum of two hours in a day (or at least, he really hoped it would be this way).

It would get better – he just had to wait a little, that was all.

-

<- previous part

-> following part

-

A/N

little gay hedgehogs in my mind.... they don't know it yet but they are soooo gonna fall in love >:3

[chunkypossum]

Welcome to my masterlist ! Fluff? Never heard of her (well, it's here somewhere but you might have to dig a little). I only aim to hurt (angst, whump) but somehow these characters always evade the worst of it and come out with a happy ending. One of these days I'll get them (update, I got them and I am full of shame about it). Read with caution.

I am currently writing mostly Azriel X Eris with some additional content sprinkled in. 18+ only as most fics contain some explicit content

Full work catalog under the cut

MAASVERSE

AZRIS WEEK 2025 MASTERLIST

Day 1 | Creatures - Strange Water

Day 2 | Slice of Life - Carve Me Open Chapter 6

Day 3 | Contact - Art

Day 4 | Read Between the Lines - Sigillum Chapter 1

Day 5| Favorites trope/AU - What, Like it's hard Chapter 1

Day 6 | Safe for Work - Art

POLY+ACOTAR WEEK 2024 MASTERLIST

Embers in the Wind (Nesta X Cassian X Eris)

A Dance Named Starlight (Cassian X Nesta X Eris X Azriel)

Lighthouse in the Woods (Azriel X Eris X OC)

AZRIS WEEK 2024 MASTERLIST

Once Upon A Dream

Between Us

Just for tonight

The Trees Told Me About you

When Even Moonlight Burns

What We Deserve

ERIS WEEK 2024 MASTERLIST

Under the Weeping Beech (Azriel X Eris)

Patience of Princes (Background Azris)

Mother Save us Part 2 (Azriel X Eris)

Wings and Steel (Azriel X Eris)

Travelers in the Bayou (Azriel X Eris)

Betrayal: A poem

Eris Week 2024 Art

Azris Art for Under the Weeping Beech

Eris: Legacy of Autumn

Azris Art

General Vanserra

Azriel and Eris AU Portraits

Eris: Peace of Autumn

Eris: Betrayal

Lord Eris: Young Eris portrait with his hound

Additional Art:

AZRIS

Heatwave GQ China Trend: Rhysand, Cassian, Azriel, Eris

AZRIS

AZRIS (ch 14 of Kerosene)

AZRIS

Additional Fics:

The Games that Bind Us - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete || Word Count: 32k || Chapters: one shot

Kerosene - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete || Word Count: 225,584 || Chapters: 30 || Playlist || Pinboard

*Mind the Tags Half in the Shadows - (unofficial sequel to Kerosene) Ship: Azriel x Eris, Nyx x OC || Status: WIP || Word Count: 10k and counting || Chapters: 4 and counting || Playlist || Pinboard || Moodboards

Come Hel or High Lord - Ship: Canon ships across all SJM current books (excluding HOFAS) + Azriel x Eris || Status: WIP || Word Count: 79k + || Chapters: 25 (?) || Pinboard || Tumblr Master Post

*Mind the Tags Mother Save Us From Your twisted Fate - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete with bonus chapters coming soon || Word Count: 11k || Chapters: 2 || Playlist

By Solstice End - (found the fluff) Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete || Word Count: 16,588 || Chapters: 3 || Playlist || Pinboard

The Ultimate Guide to 'The Art of Mastering the Only Way to Lose the Game - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete || Word Count: 3,516 || Chapters: 1 || Playlist || Pinboard || Moodboards

So I Start to Say Goodbye - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete || Word Count: 11,644 || Chapters: 2 (with a full fic planned)

Together Ship: Azriel x Eris(minor, implied); Mostly just Lucien and Eris working on being brothers || Status: Complete || Word Count: 7,529 || Chapters: 1

Strange Water - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: WIP || Chapters: 2 ||

*Mind the Tags Sigillum - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: WIP || Playlist

Carve Me Open - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: WIP

A Song for Spring - Ship: Azriel x Eris || Status: Complete || Word Count: 16,896 || Chapters: 2

Coming Soon

{My Coming Down} Ship: Azriel x Eris || multi chapter || Modern AU

{When Even Moonlight Burns} Ship: Azriel x Eris || multi chapter || Modern AU (vampires) || Tumblr master post

[demigodsanswer]

loving all these new fics! I have a few questions, cause honestly, I probably just missed them. 1) Are they still living in NYC in this demigod-proof building? 2) what exactly is the rough timeline for all the babies/how far apart are they? 3) you say Percy has a “spring break,” does that mean you hc him as being a teacher/working in schools?

Thanks!

yes! They are in New York! The Demigod safe building is an older headcanon I haven't used in a while, but I like it as a Greek alternative to a "New Rome" set up. What I always liked about CHB is that it's as much about creating a safe space for demigods as it is about letting them live in the real world. So, a few demigod safe buildings around the city and Long Island seemed more in line with that ethos.

They have them all pretty close together, which wasn't the initial plan, but Nella was a whoopsy, and by #4, Annabeth was tired of having all the babies, and just wanted to have the babies, so she speeds up the timeline. I literally worked out all the ages and dates last night, so here's my exact notes (please note I am so so so hopeless at math): 28 years old, they conceive Sophia, she's born when Annabeth is freshly 29, and Percy is in the last days of 28 June of the next year, when they're both still 29, the conceive Nella, who is born in March when they're 30. Olivia is conceived in February when Nella is 1 yr 11 mo. and Percy and Annabeth are 32, she's born when they are 33 in November They try for Rosie soon after, trying to keep similar gaps in ages. They start around their 34th birthday, and conceive in January, after Olivia's first birthday. Rosie is born in September after their 35th birthday. Olivia is 1 and a half, Nella is five, Sophia just turned seven. So in the spider story (set during the early days of summer), Rosie is 9mo. Olivia is 2 and a half, Nella just turned 6 and Sophia is about to turn 8, and Percy ad Annabeth are about to turn 36 (I THINK???? Earlier today I miscounted how many months in a year so no promises and tbh don't check my math on this)

Yes! Unless otherwise stated, I hc Percy as a high school Latin teacher, and he works in the same school as Clarisse (US history teacher). They also, in these stories, live in the same building.

Additional note: sometimes I write that they live in a Brownstone bought by Fred Chase for them. Not sure if I've been consistent about the apartment thing, or if I've mentioned them living in a Brownstone in some other future canon fic. I make no promises that these are all going to be perfectly consistent.

[burntheedges-updates]

over again, chapter 5: staying over

This is my updates-only blog! Follow me at @burntheedges Joel Miller x f!reader summary: you fell in love with Joel Miller in Austin, Texas, in 2001, but you thought you lost him and your whole family in 2003 when the world turned upside down. now it's 2024, and you find the surprise of your life waiting for you in Jackson, Wyoming. or, five times you and Joel fell deeper in love, on both sides of the apocalypse (and one time you did something about it) 18+ minors DNI chapter tags/warnings: fluff, flirting, banter, angst, implied heavy angst (sorry), kissing, pet names (darlin’, baby, honey, pretty girl), Joel calls reader a good girl, neck grabbing (no breath play), light manhandling, grinding, spit kink, oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), p in v sex (no condom this time, he’s 56 and she’s 49, but use a condom, y’all), creampie, masturbation, praise kink, light anal play, face sitting, if I missed anything please let me know! a/n: Well, this is part 5 of the 5+1. I can’t believe it. Next week we have the +1, which is the epilogue. I’m sorry in advance for the first part. Check ao3 for notes to skip the smut. word count: 5.5k | series main post | series playlist | ao3 | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4

Chapter 5: Staying Over

Boston, September 26, 2003 

Your phone rang at 6:30 AM, rudely interrupting a dream that involved Joel, no pants, and a very sturdy table. 

“...h’llo?” you mumbled into the receiver.

“Morning, darlin’.”

“Joel?” You yawned. “Baby, it’s 5:30 in the morning in Austin. Why are you calling me?”

“Well, baby, you see, it’s my birthday, but my fiance is all the way across the country in Boston at some fancy conference. I thought maybe she might like to help me start my day right, put me in a good mood before our daughter wakes up and makes me eat one of her culinary science experiments.” You heard what sounded like sheets rustling on his end of the phone and you started to smile. 

“Joel, she cooks the eggs that way because it’s how you taught her.”

He hummed and murmured your name. “Come on, baby.”

“You looking for a little phone sex, Miller? What are you wearing?”

He laughed, but he answered, “Nothing, pretty girl. What are you wearing?” 

As he asked, you were already kicking off your pajamas. “What a coincidence! Nothing here, either.”

“Mmm wish I could see it.”

“Just one more day, baby, and then I’ll be home and you can keep me naked in your bed all night.”

“That’s our bed, darlin’. For the rest of our lives.”

You smiled, just like you did every time Joel reminded you that you’d be waking up next to each other every day from now on. He’d done this a lot since you’d moved in at the start of the summer, taking advantage of your free time after the school year ended. Though really you’d spent almost every night together since he proposed in December.

“Well, tell me what you’re doing, baby. Or what you want me to do. What do you want, birthday boy?”

“I want you to touch yourself. Tell me everything you’re doing and how it feels. Can you do that for me, pretty girl?” You hummed, and slipped your hand between your legs. “Of course you can. That’s my good girl.”

...

Jackson, Spring 2024

(the same night you went to the bar)

You feel like you’ve lived a thousand lives since you met Tommy and Joel outside your house earlier. First the dance, then the panic attack, then the kiss. The almost-more-than-a kiss. Outside. Where people could see you. Your face gets hot again at the thought of it.

Slumped by your door, you tell yourself to breathe and calm down. You put your palms over your eyes and tilt your head back against the door, taking some time to breathe deeply and slow your racing heart. 

You’re afraid to let yourself think about it — you can feel the tears behind your eyes, ready to fall. You focus on your breath. 

It sort of works, enough for you to get yourself together and stand, starting to move away from the door. 

You’ve only made it a few steps away when there’s a knock, and your heart starts to race again. Your hands are shaking. 

Before you even open it, you know who’s standing on the other side. You barely pull it open a few inches before you see his hand appear as he grabs the side of the door, and then his arm as he pushes it open, and then Joel himself is in front of you again, moving straight towards you. He doesn’t even step inside all the way before he’s kissing you, the hand on the door pushing it shut and the other grabbing you by the neck. You wrap your arms around him, opening for him and deepening the kiss immediately. He turns and pushes you against the door, from the inside this time, palm flat against your collar bone. 

You gasp, chest heaving. Joel rests his forehead against yours. “I was standing in my empty house, frozen, and realized I had no idea what I was doing there, away from you.” He brushes his hands down your arms and around your waist, pulling you closer. “What the hell was I thinking? Can’t believe I kissed you like that ‘n walked away.”

You laugh, so, so relieved, feeling lighter than you have in years. “Me neither, baby.”

He turns his head, nosing along your ear and then down your neck, skimming his lips lightly across your shoulder. You shiver. 

“You got plans tonight, pretty girl?” He says it playfully, knowing you’ll pick up on it, that you’ll remember it too. It makes you laugh again and tear up at the same time.

“Just s- some cowboy who wants t- to get in my pants.” You know your lines, but you can barely get them out past the emotions bubbling up inside of you. You can feel him smirk against your neck. 

“Oh?” His left hand moves from your waist around to the front of your jeans, deftly undoing the button and starting to lower the zipper slowly. “And are you going to let him?”

“I dunno. You think he’s any good?” You’re smiling so wide it hurts. 

At that, Joel moves his hand inside your open pants to cup your pussy firmly, holding you tight over your underwear. You’re on fire, blood rushing in your ears. “You know he is, baby.”

You have to ask, even when all you want is to let him fuck you right there, against the door. You push your hands through his hair. “Not taking it slow after all?”

He softens his grip on you and brings his lips to your ear, resting his forehead against the side of your head. Your eyes slip shut. “We’ve got a lot to work out, sure, but I was standing there alone and I just realized I don’t want to spend any more of my life away from you, not if I don’t have to. Not when you’re right here barely 50 feet away from me.” He presses a kiss to your jaw, just in front of your ear. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to find you twice in this fucked up life, but I ain’t turning it down.” He brings his right palm up to cup your face. “We’ve never let fear take over before and I don’t want to now. I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to do this together. I want you.” 

You inhale sharply and feel a tear run down your cheek. He sees it and thumbs it away. “What about you, baby? What do you want?”

You open your eyes, meeting his gaze in the dim light of your hallway. Your hands are in his hair and his hand is still cupping your pussy, holding you gently. You know he can feel how wet you are, just from this. You curve your hips forwards and watch his eyes darken. 

“Fuck slow. I never stopped wanting you, Joel. I want you to take me to my bed and make me forget the 20 years I spent without you in it. And I want you to do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and to keep doing it every night for the rest of our lives.”

His grip tightens on your pussy as he smiles at you, slow. You see a glimpse of that cocky cowboy who swept you off your feet in 2001 in the corners of his mouth and the tilt of his brow. 

So fast it makes your head spin, he pulls his hand from your pants and goes to whisk you away towards the stairs with his arms around your waist. He pulls you close to lean on him, taking some of your weight. “Let’s get to it, then.”

“Joel Miller! Let me walk. We’re going to need those ancient back muscles, in a minute.” He laughs. 

“Alright, alright.” He slides his hands to rest on your hips. “I know we’re old now, baby, but I bet I can still make you come at least three times tonight.” You laugh, even as you feel his effect on you running through your veins and pooling in your underwear.

“Big talk, cowboy. Don’t count on that everytime, not these days.”

He hums in your ear. “You know I’m good for it.” 

You grab his hand and pull him up the stairs behind you and into your bedroom, turning and sitting on the bed. He’s on you before you can move, pulling your shoes off and your pants down your legs and tossing them somewhere across the room. You take the opportunity to strip off your shirt, moving your hands to his belt once you’re done. 

He takes off his shirt and it makes you stop and stare, eyes roving over his strong chest and arms, somehow stronger than when you last saw him like this. You look up at him and realize you’re sitting frozen on the bed with your hands on his belt, and you smirk as you loosen it and then undo his jeans. 

He inhales slowly and reaches forward to brush his thumb across your lips as you pull him from his underwear, shifting your gaze from his face to his hard cock. 

You begin to lean forward, mouth opening, tongue darting out for a taste, when he catches you by the throat and your eyes dart back up to meet his gaze. He’s looking down at you with half-lidded eyes and a lazy smirk on his face. 

“Now, pretty girl, did I say you could do that?”

You squirm, so aroused you can feel the mess you’re making. “Please, baby?” You meet his eyes and run your tongue across your bottom lip. “It’s been so long.”

“You know I love that pretty mouth. But I think we should make sure of something right quick.”

You tilt your head, questioning. Not sure what he means. He shoves your shoulder, pushing you to back up and lie on the bed before kicking off his jeans and underwear and crawling over you. He lowers himself so that his cock is brushing your stomach and whispers in your left ear, “Only good girls get to suck this cock, baby, you know that. Are you still my good girl?” 

You breathe in so sharply it’s almost a sob, and clutch at him. “Yes, Joel,” you breathe. “Always.”

He sits up a bit and smiles at you, and you can see it all there in his expression. This man is the love of your life, and it’s still mutual. You still fit together like this perfectly. You close your eyes against the swell of emotion you feel at realizing how well you go together, even after all this time.

“I thought so. Why don’t you show me how good you can be, pretty girl, and touch yourself.” You immediately move to do as he says, and he leans to the side to watch. “Let me see you get wet for me, baby.”

“I’m already wet, Joel.” You feel him settle in next to you as he watches your hand move between your legs. He pushes your left leg up and to the side, opening you up for his view. 

“I want you so wet you soak the bed, baby. I want you so wet it feels like silk when my cock slips inside that pussy.” You moan at his words, watching him watch your hand. He sits up to get a better look. 

You open your legs wider and use your fingers to spread your folds with one hand while you start to tease yourself with the other. You move your fingers lightly from your hole to your clit, dancing around it as you watch his reaction. You know your body looks different now, but under his gaze you feel the same as you did every time he looked at you back then – beautiful, desirable. Loved. Like he looks at you and sees you.

You circle your clit, letting the feeling build just a bit before moving your fingers down to your entrance. You push your hips forward slightly, watching as he leans forward. You slip one finger inside and he licks his bottom lip, gaze intent. 

“So pretty, baby. Such a pretty pussy, always so pretty for me.” He doesn’t look away from your fingers as he says it. 

You slip a second finger inside you, starting to pump them in and out, but it’s not enough. Your fingers aren’t big enough, never have been, not after having his. You squirm a little, trying to go deeper. He sees your struggle and smirks. “You need help, pretty girl?”

You bite your lip, nodding. “Please, Joel. I need your fingers, baby, I missed them so much.”

“Yeah?” He smooths his hand up your leg, closer and closer to where you want him. “You need it that bad?”

“Yes!” You cry out, squeezing your eyes shut.

“Shhh, let me help you. I’ll give you everything you want, baby.” He pulls your hands from your pussy and pins them to the bed by your hips. He holds them here as he leans down, inches away from your open pussy, taking a good, long look. You squirm. “Joel–”

“Patience.” He nips at your thigh. “Let me look at you.” He does, and you watch him do it, helpless. “I missed this, so much. This right here.” 

He leans down and slowly licks you, tongue flat and mouth wide open, lingering over your clit and meeting your eyes. “You taste so damn good, baby, thought I’d never get to taste this again.” You revel in the feeling of his beard scratching against your pussy as he licks you again, slow. You feel yourself getting wetter as you clutch the sheets in your fists. 

He lifts one hand but eyes you, so you know he wants you to keep your hand where it is. He uses his fingers to spread open your folds, and looks down again, licking his lips. He looks up to meet your eyes again – you can feel yourself staring, mouth open, breathing hard but silent – and he smirks. “I don’t think you’re wet enough yet, baby.”

You know what’s coming before he does it, but the anticipation makes you squirm. He opens his mouth and lets you see him gather the spit on his tongue before he lets it slip off the tip, right onto your clit, exposed by his fingers holding you open. You throw your head back and moan. “That’s my girl.” With that, he leans back down, and puts his mouth to work right where you both want it. You buck your hips up and he pushes them back down with his right hand. “Easy, pretty girl. Let me get my taste of this perfect pussy.”

He takes both hands and throws your legs over his shoulders, returning his mouth to your clit and sucking lightly. You whine, and it spurs him on. “Fuck, Joel.” He reaches down with one hand to tease you at your entrance while the other reaches up around your leg to pinch your nipple as he takes your clit in your teeth. He looks up and catches your eye, keeping eye contact as his touch sets you aflame – twisting your nipple gently, sucking and tonguing your clit, and slowly sinking his finger inside you, all at once. You stop breathing for a moment, overwhelmed at the competing sensations.

Joel winks at you and then returns to his work. He thrusts one finger inside of you, curling it upwards at the end of every thrust. You’re astonished to feel your orgasm building, right then and there, so quick and so strong. You know he can tell – your breath speeds up and you clench your fists tight. Your legs start to shake and you clench down on his fingers, a second joining the first, fucking you perfectly. 

Joel plays your entire body perfectly, even though he hasn’t touched it in 20 years. It’s masterful, like he never forgot a single detail, and it brings tears to your eyes. Fuck.

You’re so close, but you’re teetering right on the edge. He smooths his left hand down your torso, pressing down gently on your pelvis. He lifts his head up, fingers twisting inside of you, and says, “show me how good you are, pretty girl. Come on my face.” 

And you do. He immediately returns his mouth to your clit, sucking on it, and it tips you over the edge. You haven’t had an orgasm like this in 20 years and it launches through your body like a rocket. It overwhelms every bit of you, body and mind, setting you on fire in its wake. You cry out and lose yourself in it.

You’re slow to come down but as you do you realize you’ve locked your thighs around Joel’s head.

He seems happy with his plight, though, as he continues licking at your hole, teasing his tongue up inside of you as he removes his fingers. Like a man dying of thirst, finally given water.

You open your legs and tug him away by the hair, overstimulated. “I missed the way you taste, baby. Even better than I remembered.” His face is glistening and his eyelids are heavy, dark eyes watching you. He clears his throat. “That was one. You ready for another?” He grins. You shake your head at him, and laugh, incredulous. 

“Show me what you can do, cowboy.” You’re breathless, boneless.

He turns his head and kisses your thigh, leaving a trail of moisture from his face as he moves slowly up to your knee. Then he licks, tongue flat, all the way from your knee back to your hip, where he digs in a little with his tongue at the crease of your thigh. You let your legs fall apart at the sensation. “I want you to give me another one, baby. Turn over.” You think you know what he wants, and your heart starts to race even faster. 

You sit up, a little unsteady, arms shaking, and turn over so you’re on all fours. He nips at your ass and you know it’s because he approves. You feel him shifting around as you hang your head between your shoulders. Then you feel his hands smooth up the back of your thighs and you realize he’s on his back, face right under your pussy. 

“Sit down, baby. Put that pretty pussy right on my face.” You shiver. You know he means it. He taps your ass when you don’t move right away. 

You lower your hips, sliding your knees apart on the bed and feeling them ache a little, sitting up at the same time. You look down and you can see him waiting for you, a wicked grin on his face. “That’s it, be a good girl and sit down right here for me.” 

He reaches up and pulls your hips down and you do. Back Before, you used to worry you’d smother him like this, until one night he made you sit down, weight dropped fully onto him, and he moaned louder than you’d ever heard him. He wanted you like that, all over him, smothering him, taking over all of his senses. You were happy to oblige.

You sink onto his face and you feel his mouth open to meet you. His tongue licks at you and then sinks right inside, smooth and soft. “Yes, baby,” you sigh. He twists his tongue inside and then closes his lips around your hole, kissing you there like he would kiss your mouth. And then he sucks, lightly, making your entire body shiver in response.

As you start to rock your hips he encourages it, squeezing your hips and pulling you up and down on his face, thrusting his tongue in time with your hips. His nose starts to catch on your clit and your breath hitches at every thrust. You moan, loudly. You start to lose yourself in it, head flung back, thrusting harder than you’d let yourself if you could think straight, but he moans in response and scrapes his teeth lightly around your hole. 

The noises he’s making are obscene.

Joel’s hands leave your hips and sneak around to your ass, grabbing both cheeks and squeezing. On the next rock of your hips he lets go with his left hand and lightly trails his fingers between your cheeks, touching the pad of one finger to your asshole. You whine and push your hips back to meet it. You can feel his grin at your response.

He uses his right hand to pull you towards his face while his left toys with your ass and his tongue continues to stoke the fire inside of you. You grab his right wrist with one hand and his hair with the other as you grind down on his face. He sucks at your hole and pulls down with his hands to hold you down. 

You throw your head back again, lost in the moment. Your orgasm is close, creeping over you, sending tingles down your spine. You clench around his tongue. “Fuck, Joel, your mouth. I’m gonna come, baby,” you whisper, overcome.

You don’t know if he can hear you, but you know he can tell. He always could, and he always knew just how to push you over the edge. He pushes you back a little with his right hand, and then tugs you back down, thrusting his tongue inside of you and curling it upwards. 

His mouth is open wide, so wide you feel it everywhere as he sucks at your hole and grinds his nose into your clit.The tip of middle finger just breaches your asshole. 

Your orgasm slams into you and you cry out, tensing all over and closing his head between your thighs. You clench on his tongue and his finger, holding him inside you in both places as the fire rushes over you again. This one is stronger but it passes more quickly and you find yourself toppling forward as it leaves you. You catch yourself on one hand, and look down at Joel.

He’s fucking wrecked, face covered in your juices, and totally blissed out. He looks like he’s achieved a higher plane of existence, eyes closed, breathing heavy and licking his lips. You both just breathe for a moment, completely winded. 

And then he opens his eyes.

His gaze immediately locks on yours, and he growls. It happens so fast you barely follow it, but suddenly he’s up again and flips you onto your back. “Never thought I’d get to have this again.” His voice is low and you feel it rumble deep through your chest. He pulls you down the bed by the hips, spreading your legs and wrapping them around his waist. “This perfect fucking pussy, fucking made for me.” His left hand comes up and wraps around your throat, just holding you, as his right reaches down to rest the tip of his cock at your entrance. You can feel it there, just barely pushing at you, notched in place. 

You gasp, overwhelmed, and beg him, “please, Joel. I need you.”

He leans over you, right hand coming to rest by your head, forehead pressed to yours as he whispers your name. “I want to live right here, in bed, with you. I want to pass my days with my face buried in your pussy. I want you to sit on my cock until you can’t take it, until you cry, until you forget what it feels like not to be full of me. I want you right here with me every day until I die. Just like we promised.” With the last word, he sinks into you, steadily, filling you all the way up until his hips meet yours. You sob and clutch at his shoulders. 

“I want you just like this. Beautiful and overwhelmed. Full of my cock. So wet you’re dripping. Needy and at my mercy.” He squeezes your neck gently, just the way you like. He leans down and captures your mouth, tangling your tongues together as he twists his hips a little, keeping himself fully inside of you. You taste yourself on his tongue.

“I want you, honey. What do you want?”

You reach up and grab his ass in both hands, squeezing. 

“I want that too, baby, want to do that, be that for you.” You take a deep breath and look him straight in the eye. 

“And right now I want you to fuck me, Joel Miller, and I want you to mean it.”

He grins wider than you’ve seen him, since you found him again. He looks younger and a bit wild. “That’s my good girl.” His words sink into you like a stone falling into a pool, sending ripples down your spine. 

And then he does.

He pulls out, almost all the way, and then pounds into you. He finds a rhythm and keeps it up, resting his forehead on yours and sliding his left hand behind your neck. You breathe each other in as you lift your hips to his, chasing the same high. You can feel it, dancing ahead of you, as his cock fills you just right with every thrust. He drops his head to your shoulder and moves his right hand down to your clit. “One more, baby,” he murmurs in your right ear. “Give me one more. I need to feel your pussy squeeze me tight.” You close your eyes and fall into it, letting him sweep you away. His hips speed up as his fingers match his thrusts in rhythm on your clit and you cling to him, just trying to hold on with your arms and legs. 

He’s pushing you higher and higher, just about there, and you squeeze your pussy tight right when he squeezes the back of your neck. He opens his mouth and bites down on your shoulder and your vision goes white. You clench around him, crying out his name, and his hips stutter as he follows you upwards and over. You hear him say your name, over and over again, as your orgasms slam into you both and then leave you loose and tingling in their wake. 

You’re both breathing hard when he reaches down to ease his cock out of you before flopping down on his back at your side. He groans. You can’t move your legs, and you tell him so. He huffs a weak laugh in response. 

Somehow Joel finds the strength to roll over and reach for his shirt, which he uses to clean you both up. You smile, knowing he’s going to be annoyed with himself for doing that in the morning. He flops back down and pulls you into him on his left, hitching your thigh over his leg and pulling you close with an arm around your waist. The position is at once so familiar, like an echo, and so longed for that it makes you dizzy.

“Not sure our backs ‘n knees are up for all that vigorous activity anymore, darlin’.” He’s breathless as he says it, and you can hear his heart racing under your ear on his chest.

You know he’s right - your pussy is throbbing a little and you know it won’t go that way every time, not these days. But you tease him anyway. “Speak for yourself, old man, I’m still young and limber.” He laughs. “Got seven years on you, anyway.”

He nuzzles into your hair, squeezing the wrist you’ve thrown across his chest with his right hand. “Still blew me away, baby, even if my back is killing me. Fucking made for me, I told you.”

You inhale deeply, and settle onto his chest. His scent is comforting and it settles something inside of you that hasn’t been settled in a long, long time. “Made for each other, more like. I missed you so goddamn much, Joel.”

“I missed you too, darlin’. Every fucking day. Even when I pretended I wasn’t thinking about it.” He takes a deep breath, pulling you closer. “I hope you weren’t alone for all of it. I – well, I –” You know what he’s getting at, so you interrupt before he can twist himself up into knots.

“I know about Tess, Joel. Tommy told me. I’m glad you had someone.” 

“Course he did. Well, I’m glad you know.” He sighs.

“I do, but Joel, I had someone too. For a little while, anyway. That’s why he told me, I told him first.” You take a deep breath. “It was in Atlanta. We were as much as we could be for each other, which wasn’t enough probably. But we did ok. She was…” You close your eyes, remembering Michelle. He brushes his hand down your back, soothing you. “She was good, and kind, even in the apocalypse when most of us were hard. Including me.”

“I’m glad you had someone. I wish I was there, of course, but I wouldn’t want you to be alone, all that time.” 

You nod against his chest, agreeing. “We’ll tell each other all about it, eventually.” 

He goes quiet for a moment.

“I didn’t let myself do it often, but sometimes I tried to imagine we were wrong. That you were alive. And what it would have been like if that were true.”

You reach over and grab his hand, squeezing. He takes a deep breath and continues. 

“What it would be like to just run into you on the street. I… well. I didn’t think about it often. Because I was pretty sure you would have hated the man I’d become.” You try to pick your head up to look at him but he brings his hand up to smooth over your hair, keeping you where you are. “I wasn’t… they were never happy thoughts. I couldn’t imagine a reunion where you saw what I’d become and didn’t turn right back around and leave me there. ‘N I would’a deserved it. So I tried not to think about it.”

“Joel, I-.” He interrupts, continuing like he’s afraid he’ll stop if he doesn’t. 

“In some ways I’m glad I found you now. I wish I’d known earlier, of course I do. But I’m more… me, now. I was a ghost, in Boston. I said barely living, but I felt barely human.” He pulls you tighter against him. “You wouldn’t have deserved being around me like that. No one did. Ellie didn’t, that’s for sure. Somehow she stuck around me long enough for me to remember how to be human again anyway.”

You push yourself up and don’t let him hold you down. Looking at him, you see that his eyes are teary, and he’s frowning. 

“Joel, I used to think about it too. And I worried the same thing - that I’d become something you wouldn’t want anymore. Someone hard, and mean, and unyielding. But neither of us were right, baby. I didn’t fall in love with only one part of you. I fell in love with all of you. And I think we both know how ruthless we might have become at times in the last 20 years, to survive.”

He closes his eyes and nods. 

“It was never a question for us back then, how much you’d do to protect us. How far you’d go. And I didn’t exactly shy away from it myself.” He huffs a laugh like he agrees with you, eyes still closed. You reach out to cup his face. 

“I know we didn’t get to say it back then, baby, but we would have said for better or for worse, and I would have meant it. That’s what I used to wonder about and try not to let myself want too much - to have you there for the worst of it. Not to have to go it alone.”

He finally opens his eyes again and he’s looking at you with not a little wonder. He brushes his fingers down your cheek.

“I forgot, for a long time, what it was like to be trusted like that. To be someone’s safe place. I couldn’t, or wouldn’t maybe, let myself with Tess, and, well. She deserved more than I could give her.” You can see the regret in his eyes, and it’s so familiar. You used to think the same thing about Michelle, wishing you could give her more of you, knowing there wasn’t more to give. Not back then. “I remembered it, with Ellie. It was hard as shit, don’t get me wrong.” You laugh a bit, and he smiles. “Thought caring like that would take me out for good. Feels like it sometimes, still. But I’m remembering how, with her. And now with you.” He tucks your head back down on his chest and pulls you closer, almost on top of him. 

You’re both quiet for a moment.

“Joel?”

“Hmm?”

“This doesn’t feel real. It’s too… I’m too happy.”

“I know. I feel it too, baby.” He kisses you softly right at your hairline. “I feel it too.”

...

a/n: See you next week for the +1/epilogue! It's... not short. lol

ch 6/epilogue now posted!

Taglist:

@morgaussy @jay-zzle @bluetattoos @dins-riduur-anthe @huffle-punk (@poodlebae just realized I forgot to tag you!! Sorry!!)

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 124]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55

I have been sick as a dog since I last worked on this story. I'm not even doing any work today lol. I just want to get this chapter finished. Will probably do a couple rounds and then cook myself dinner, so there may be a gap at some point. Mostly I'll just be, like, reading when not posting. Wish me luck.

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there, or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs. So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had gone so far as to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently extract himself from the droves of cats. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet, and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to them, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way. Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

Thomas still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to the cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

“I think I’ll stick to sandwiches for today,” King Thomas said. He looked at Patton and Logan. “Do either of you want…?”

“No,” Logan said. Patton shook his head.

The king nodded and offered the entire covered bowl of chicken alfredo to Virgil. “Here, this one’s yours,” he said.

“Really?” Virgil asked tentatively. It wasn’t exactly strange for people here to offer him food, and he’d expected and anticipated getting to eat on this venture, but the king of the country offering him an entire bowl of his favorite food was something else.

“It’s not really my idea of a picnic food and you seem excited for it,” King Thomas said with a warm smile, still holding it out.

Virgil took it reverently. Despite the time it had taken to get to the cliffs, the bottom of the container was still warm. Virgil assumed it was one of the heating spells the kitchen sometimes used.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, Virgil,” the king said.

The bowl was enough for four people to have a little bit, but for one person it was a lot. Still, Virgil was offered a little of every other food in the picnic basket (and he ate a good number of the hot cauliflower bites).

“Where do you put all of that?” the king asked when Virgil finished polishing off the chicken alfredo bowl.

Everyone else seemed to have finished eating long before Virgil, though Patton still had a small plate of grapes, and he occasionally popped one in his mouth. King Thomas was currently setting up the board game they’d brought on the blanket between all of them.

Virgil shrugged in answer to his question. “It’s good,” he said, “and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

“You know we can just take the leftovers back to the castle and eat them later,” King Thomas said. “You don’t have to eat it all now.”

Virgil just shrugged again, watching as the king set out a group of 8 figures on the board.

“Here, which character do you want to be?” the king asked Virgil, gesturing at the group of figures. Virgil had not noticed the figures were different at first glance. They were all copper colored and about the size of his thumb, but they had slightly different shapes. He squinted at them each carefully, finding they all looked like people, but with different clothing. Some worse pants and some skirts, a few had hats, and one was even carrying a book.

After a few moments, he pointed at one that looked like it had vines wrapped around its arms and was wearing a floppy hat that almost covered its eyes.

“That’s the druid,” King Thomas told him with a grin. “Good choice, and luckily not one that anyone usually fights over.” He glanced at Logan who didn’t react to his father’s gaze. He just plucked the figure clutching the book off the board for himself.

Patton and the king picked pieces for themselves. Patton picked one with an apron that kind of reminded Virgil of his mom and the king picked one that was in a suit of armor before putting the other 4 figures away.

Unlike checkers, this game wasn’t just for two people, and so no one had to sit watching people play while bored out of their mind.

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They played a practice round so Virgil could figure out how the game worked, though honestly it wasn’t that complicated, so it wasn’t really necessary.

The theme of the game was all about stealing. They were supposed to steal special tokens from other players as well as characters in the game and the first person with 20 tokens won.

The other three players argued that stealing was not the point and not the main mechanism of the game, but considering Virgil was consistently winning the entire time, he would argue they were just playing it wrong. He managed to collect 20 tokens before anyone else. In second place at this time was Logan with 9 tokens.

Logan insisted on continuing to play the game to determine 2nd and 3rd place, so Virgil ended up watching them play for a bit. Virgil didn’t mind sitting and watching other people play this game, mostly because he still had the joy of victory running in his veins.

Thomas was definitely going to lose, he noted. He kept wasting his money feeding the nonplayer characters who lived on his lands. Virgil didn’t mention this faulty strategy to him in case Virgil ever played him again.

When Logan took too long thinking about his next move, Virgil took in their surroundings.

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He’d been a bit too distracted by the prospect of food and then trying to understand (and then win) the game to truly take in The Cliffs. They were settled a good distance away from the cliffside but Virgil could still see how quickly the edge dropped off. He couldn’t see the large river he was told was at its base from where he was sitting, but he did see a few of the promised wild birds (including doves) flying around. The king had promised they’d bird watch for a bit, and Virgil figured that would happen after the game was over.

A cool spring breeze brushed across Virgil’s face, and he put his hand in his hoodie pockets to warm them. Instead, his fingers hit something icy cold.

For a moment, he didn’t remember what it was. The crescent shape of it was familiar when he put his hand over it, but he had never felt it cold before.

It was the protection charm: the first charm Virgil had ever made with Logan so many months ago. It was meant to ward off small threats as well as warn you about larger threats by changing temperature…

It had always been warm.

“What?” Patton asked, having noticed Virgil suddenly tense. Virgil, despite how he drilled into his friend’s heads to stay alert had gone soft. He’d let himself be distracted by a full belly and warm blankets and fun games.

He didn’t answer Patton. He filtered the other boy’s worried face out as well as Logan’s face as he glanced at him and the king’s still focused on the game for now. He filtered out the picnic blanket and smell of food still lingering in the air and the vine covered figure set in the middle of the board on the winner’s space. He filtered out the sound of the breeze and the breath of his companions and the distant chirping of birds.

And he heard a whoosh.

Chapter 58 (Patton)

If Patton hadn’t already been looking, he probably wouldn’t have had any idea what happened.

Everything had been fine. Virgil had been sitting cross legged, idly watching the conclusion of the game they’d been playing when his posture had suddenly changed. Patton had looked over at him only to see an expression on his face he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t seem good.

“What?” Patton had asked, but the question didn’t seem to register to Virgil.

Logan had glanced up confused and also noticed Virgil’s face. He’d just opened his mouth to also ask what was going on when chaos descended.

Virgil was suddenly moving, crashing into King Thomas who hadn’t even looked up to see something was wrong at that point. Patton realized after the fact that Virgil had swiped up the board of the game they’d been playing as he jumped over it, the pieces previously stacked on it scattering all over the blanket. There were three thumps as some things hit the thick board, imbedding themselves into the surface.

When Virgil discarded the board in favor of the picnic basket, Patton saw there were small darts in it oozing a dark black liquid. The parts of the board they touched were dissolving, the grass under the new holes beginning to wilt rapidly.

Logan seemed to notice the oozing liquid the same moment Patton did and was quicker to realize what it was. He grabbed Patton’s arm and yanked him away from the board so hard he almost dislocated Patton’s shoulder, not that Patton was too worried about that. He scrambled away from it when he realized what it must be himself.

He could hear the sound of glassware smashing above them. Logan and Patton had rolled off the blanket in their quest to get away from the smoldering, melting board and apparently Virgil had pulled the picnic blanket fully over the king at some point.

Virgil himself was now gone from where he’d been the last time Patton had looked and it took him a moment to figure out where the boy had gone. The person who had been shooting poisoned darts at them had been drawn out of the wooded area they’d been hiding in by Virgil’s attacks.

They were cloaked in dark green from head to toe, explaining why they’d been difficult to spot when they were in the woods. Whoever they were, they were significantly larger than Virgil, possibly an actual adult or almost adult assassin, but they were also clearly a long distant fighter. They had not been expecting resistance let alone resistance in the form of a so quick he was almost a blur fellow assassin.

They had a bow strapped to their back, but they hadn’t had a chance to get it. Instead, they were trying to fight Virgil off with an arrow they’d managed to draw from their quiver. Virgil, meanwhile was lunging at them with a broken piece of plate in one hand and the picnic basket in the other.

Virgil dodged out of the way of the arrow striking towards his arm, though Patton didn’t think it was because he was afraid of getting scratched by an arrow, but because it may also be poisoned tipped.

Virgil was distracted by dodging for long enough that the older assassin managed to hit him in the face with the arm not holding the arrow.

He went down, but he took the older assassin with him, sweeping their legs out from under them. Patton hadn’t noticed (his mind working too slow for how fast they were moving) but they were on a slight incline. They went rolling in a tangle of arms and legs towards the edge of the cliff and skidded to a stop only a few feet away.

Virgil ended up on top, his piece of broken plate in his hands. He moved to slash it across the other assassin’s throat and managed to draw blood, but the assassin’s fist came out to shove at Virgil’s chest at just the right moment, causing the strike to veer off course and slice across the assassin’s cheek instead.

Virgil jerked to the side to avoid a second strike to the chest and went back for another slash. The other assassin rolled to the side as he did and the plate only managed to nick their ear. The point of the motion hadn’t been to dodge, however. They were lunging for the arrow they’d dropped a few feet away while they’d rolled. They grabbed it with their right hand and in the same motion stabbed back behind them towards Virgil.

Virgil rolled to avoid the hit, already slashing up with his plate as the assassin turned back towards him.

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He didn’t hit them this time but his swipe managed to stop them from stabbing him when they tried again. They shoved themselves back to avoid Virgil’s swing, putting a bit of distance between them. Both of them managed to make it to their feet during the momentary reprieve, but both also stayed crouched, eyeing each other.

They both lunged towards each other at the same time. The assassin went for a stab to Virgil’s neck with the arrow, but Virgil was already ducking down. This time, he wasn’t going for a kill shot. He grabbed the assassin’s wrist and at the same time drove his piece of plate into the assassin’s arm, slicing down from the elbow to wrist. The assassin spoke for the first time, cursing in a language Patton didn’t recognize as they were forced to drop their arrow.

Virgil took a moment to kick the arrow away from the assassin and it ended up falling off the cliff.

However, this pause gave the assassin enough time to regroup. Despite their arm bleeding profusely, they still decided to use it to backhand Virgil across the face viciously, leaving a long line of their own blood across his face.

Virgil lunged back forward, but the assassin was able to get a leg between them, kicking Virgil squarely in the chest and sending him flying back a few feet parallel to the cliff’s edge.

The assassin went to grab their bow and another arrow from the quiver still strapped to their shoulder.

Virgil, however, apparently went for another weapon too and he was much faster with a knife than any archer. A knife appeared in his hand, having been strapped to his ankle and was embedded into the assassin’s chest before they could even full remove an arrow from their quiver.

The assassin promptly burst into flames, fire catching their clothes (and from the smell of it their skin) ablaze. Panicked and dying, they stumbled two steps to the side. They stepped directly off the cliff.

There was a second of silence. They heard the sound of the body hitting the ground far below and then the flap of wings and screeching as birds below fled from the startling sound (and possible soon to be forest fire).

…

“Uh, Virgil?” King Thomas said. He had managed to get the blanket off his head at some point. When, Patton didn’t know, but seeing any of it was probably enough.

Oopsie.

Chapter 59 (Logan)

Logan and Patton had been useless during the fight, but that may have been for the best. Considering the skill differential when it came to fighting (and that differential had never been as clear as it was in this moment), that was probably for the best. They likely would have just gotten in the way.

The moment Logan’s father spoke, however, they both jumped into action.

They both knew their jobs in a situation like this. Patton pushed himself up to his feet ungracefully and all but sprinted over towards Virgil. Logan, on the other hand stood to face his father, putting himself very purposefully between the man who had no idea what was going on yet and the boy who was two seconds away from remembering what was going on.

“I can explain,” Logan said.

His father was still sitting on the ground. “You can explain,” he said slowly, “how Virgil just threw an assassin off a cliff.”

Logan thought pointing out that Virgil hadn’t thrown anyone off a cliff and instead had set them on fire with a magical knife causing them to walk off a cliff, would not be useful in this moment. He glanced back briefly towards where Virgil and Patton were standing and then turned back to his father. “Yes.”

“And what would that explanation be?”

Before even starting to speak, Logan found himself making large dramatic ‘explaining hand gestures’ that he’d thought he’d long since trained himself out of. When he was younger and in trouble, he always used to give himself away as guilty by being overly expressive with his hands (and arms).

“So,” Logan said. He was still not able to stop the hand motions. “Virgil was an assassin. He came here to kill you last fall, but he accidently went to the wrong room in the royal wing. Patton and I were having a slumber party and caught him in the act. Then we reformed him and now he doesn’t kill people anymore.” He paused and glanced back, remembering the body that had just toppled off the cliff. “Er, uh, he doesn’t kill people who haven’t shot poisoned darts at people recently anymore?”

“What?”

“Look,” Logan said. “You’re going to have to tell him you’re not going to execute him soon. Patton can only keep him from bolting for so long.”

[venlazlo]

Fields of Mistria Birthday Approximations

Still in an art rut so I calculated all their birthdays on the Gregorian Calendar under the read more for those that like to draw their favorite characters on their birthdays.

edit: compressed into a single image

Also the math isn't perfect so I will list all the flaws in the data and my own calculations at the end but I am pretty confident in what I have managed to achieve so far. The fat chunk of text at the end is by no means required reading but may answer some questions that may arise.

edit: sorry forgot abt Adeline. Shes Jan 26

Jan 1-3 Errol 7-10 Darcy*

Feb 9-11 Hemlock March 11-13 Ryis 31 - Olric

April 1-2 Olric 19-21 March

May 5-8 Luc*

June 4-6 Elsie 17-19 Vera

July 7-9 Balor 13-15 Celine 19-21 Josephine

August 1-3 Eiland 14-16 Nora 21-23 Maple 30-31 Valen*

September 1-2 Valen* 9-11 Landen 16-18 Merri

October 5-7 Reina 12-14 Holt 18-20 Dozy 31 Louis

November 1-2 Louis 7-9 Teritha 20-22 Juniper

December 6-8 Dell 19-21 Henrietta 22-24 Hayden

*The middle date of the range is my assumed option. (i.e Reina is October 5-7 so I'll just assume Oct 6) *This is based on the Northern Hemisphere since it snows in Mistria. Spring 1 translated to our calendar would be equivalent to March 1-4. *There was an extra day that could not be equally distributed so I picked a day that would be ultimately inconsequential. (Feb. 28/Winter 28) Aside from the estimated dates, putting it anywhere else only makes it so Henrietta has one day in Capricorn. and changes the bullet point above. *Darcy, Luc, and Valen have four days while everyone has three bc 365/112 produces a decimal value (3.26) so I evenly distributed an additional day to every 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th, 21st, and 25th day. >>This decision was unfortunately subjective. As opposed to doing the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, & 28th which would have affected the following: >>>Vastly increased the list of 4 day estimates to Ryis, March, Balor, Josephine, Eiland, Nora, Landen, Reina, Dozy, Louis, and Hayden. This puts too much guess work on a "center" day >>>Everyone's estimated dates are effectively shifted by -1. >>>March Would still be either an Aries or Taurus without a skew towards either, Maple would be a pure Leo, Juniper would be a pure Scorpio, and Hayden would have one day in Capricorn. >>>Had this been the decision, I would have probably put the extra day into March 1st/Spring 1 purely because the thought to do the days divisible by 4 was an afterthought and I'm too lazy to retype all the numbers and putting the extra day on Spring 1 just realigns everyone with the data presented above.

Thank you for reading!

p.s. if someone can get me Caldarus' birthday bc I have seen that screenshot where he tells you that it is his birthday but it does not show the in-game UI so the date is not visible. There's a random gaming article that lists it as Spring 25(May18-20 Taurus) but I do not trust any of them to do their jobs right honestly.

[recycledraccoon]

I think my thoughts on the penultimate episode can be summoned up as disappointment over a potential we didn't get to see, and why that's ok. (This got long, 1.4k oops lol)

Am I a fan of The Rat Grinders? ABSOLUTELY. I think I started liking them even more when they were full-on confirmed villains. As fan's of the edited show, watching with a week between each episode to theorize and think, I loved seeing and theorizing over these 6 fucked up kids. We know Kipperlily prior to the second half of sophomore year, while she obviously still had her anger and jealousy over TBK's it wasn't ENTIRELY unjustified and completely out of control (although some aspects were utterly and absolutely unfounded and ridiculous). Jawbones file mentions her language being "I think Aguefort likes them more", "The school takes it easy on them", and "Half of them don't even go to classes." All of these are true things people in this world would notice. It's not until AFTER their Mountain of Chaos chaperoned trip, at the end of the year, that KLCK switches to "I hate them." The Bad Kids further briefly discuss if Jace would have asked Jawbone/looked for "students with rage disorders." I think specifically mention it being a disorder is important. Acknowledging its there, KLCK WAS trying to get help for an issue she had. They didn't talk to Jawbone about it, but did decide Jace must have given he went on that quest with TRG's. They further briefly talk about students getting randomly mad, and yes they specifically joked about Fabian shitting in class, but WE also remember the Soil club student getting so mad after having gotten that tainted soil. With the 30 Riz rolled, Jawbone's file ALSO specifically talks about Kipperlily loving her adventuring party. We know things weren't perfect, its obvious from when talking about their name change, but its still there and canon. Kipperlily loved her adventuring party. This is all just Kipperlily, mostly with our information from the first part of ep.16. It is not touching on the rest of the members, especially Ruben and his dreamscape we saw, or of his distinct 180 musical tastes POST Sophomore Year Spring Break. The implications of something happening to them during that time is pretty evident and acknowledged. So we're fans, watching a show, spending so much time thinking about not only our infamous protagonists, but also our villains. Many of us adults, getting older, thinking on the tragedy befalling kids and feeling empathy. So yeah. It's a disappointment over an unseen potential. Specifically tho? Its the potential we could have gotten on The Rat Grinder's thoughts and motivations that could have been revealed through dialogue. Dialogue that we got very little of in what could be considered a significant exchange of dialogue and not bits. I always have high narrative expectations from this show, due to its long standing history of SETTING those standards each and every season. This one episode just fell short emotionally while watching, comparatively.

AND THAT'S OK AND ABSOLUTELY NOT THE BAD KIDS/INTREPID HEROES FAULT

On the narrative side of things, The Bad Kids have had an incredibly stressful past 3 years. From day one, they have been involved in life or death stakes situations. It's always been do or die, and they've died, sometimes more than once. They've lost people and faced traumas that go often unaddressed. TBK's ENTIRE highschool experiences have been a revolving door of violence and unhinged situations. They've also always kinda been assholes, insular and more than a little mean especially to those pegged as enemies. We know them, know they have good hearts and intentions, and love and side with them constantly throughout because The Bad Kid's are our heroes. They are still teenage assholes sometimes, but that is something we love and forgive them for. The thing about this recent battle is that they are very used to the situation they are in by now. TBK's have to prioritize, move fast and hard, and get a job done so countless people don't die while something evil rises in their world. Emotions have been high for them all season, rage especially which is absolutely unsurprising on multiple fronts, and it's absolutely showing in what few dialogue exchanges we have. The Bad Kid's entered that gym for the singular purpose of stopping the situation, saving lives, and making sure something evil didn't arise to power in their fucked up world. Nothing new. They hid, already knowing where the final confrontation was going to be FORCED to happen in due to the nature of the ritual, and prepped. On point and smart of them. Then they entered the battlefield, very quickly getting to business. They know their skills, their friends and how to work together as a devastatingly effective team making heavy hits and masterfully controlling a battlefield despite the chaos. This is what The Bad Kid's Do. They got Ivy and Oisin out of combat as fast as possible, Oisin didn't even get a turn. They took out a high-damage long range attacker and the enemy wizard. They know how powerful and important Adaine is on the field, and they knew Oisin would have been the same. They crippled the enemy with the slow spell, effectively taking Mary Ann out of the running until it gets dispelled later on. Fig saw Ruben's high damage level 9 spell and dropped her ploy to get him out of combat as soon as she could. It was too dangerous to have him up, and while the hell bit was uncomfortable in the moment, it is absolutely on brand. This is what they have to do, if they want to stop Porter, who is our real main big-bad. Remove as many obstacles from the battle so more of them can focus on the fight that really matters.

This combat wasn't ever gonna go any other way, unless the dice gods decided otherwise.

This is what The Bad Kid's Do. In regards to the IH's, it is VERY important to acknowledge that while I've mentioned having high narrative expectations, this is still primarily an improve comedy show around a group of real people's DnD game. It's also a show they have a tight filming schedule for, with back to back days and long hours which we KNOW from the talk-backs leave them very tired. Like any tv show they also have a limit on how many episodes per season they can even produce. I think it was a real and genuine benefit to Sophomore year that they were doing it live, because it gave more time between sessions for the IH's to mull over information and whats been happening in-game. This is also a very well developed campaign world they haven't played in several years, which I certainly know would effect me in how I played. We still have one more episode, the Finale, and so much always happens there. I have incredible faith in Brennan as a DM and storyteller, for all that his players have a huge say in how any story he tells unfolds. There is a VERY real chance that what happens in the finale completely changes my mind on episode 19, and I will go back to rewatch with absolute glee because I know of the coming emotional catharsis in relation to The Rat Grinders. There is also a very real chance we don't get that in the way we want it, but that will be ok too. I will still love this season, rewatch it and laugh and have fun. The best part of having a fandom, is watching us take canon apart to fuel endless au's, fix-it's, character studies, ect. Taking crumbs and going wild with it is par the course, especially when something in a show has left us wanting in the moment of watching it. I think more than anything, I would be and am more upset from infighting and genuine anger directed to each other and especially towards our Intrepid Heroes. It is not wrong to be upset with an episode of a show, but it is to take those feelings out on others, be in in defense from Rat Grinder's fans or justification from Rat Grinder haters. So yes! I was disappointed with this particular episode emotionally. I still think it was funny, I think the combat was brilliant and fun to watch. I still love this show and this cast, and could never dream of being mad at them for how they played a game, and for the fun they were finding within the act of playing it as the well-known unhinged improv comedians we know and love.

I'm excited for next week, buuut I am absolutely consuming fan-content to help deal with my emotions, both the highs and lows.

[operative-arrow]

Dragon Age 100

ALRIGHT. I am embarking upon the Dragon Age 100 challenge by @mxcatterbug (thanks @becausedragonage for rb'ing it!). And I don't have any other things to pin rn, so new pin.

I'll cross off and link to each of these when I complete them! I don't have any particular deadline and I'm not trying to hold myself to one a day or even one a week or anything like that. I'm just going to do them all. Eventually.

Under break because TALL POST

2. Love

1. Beginning

3. Hate

4. Dark

5. Light

6. Memory

7. Innocence

8. Crossroads

9. Happiness

10. Rejection

11. Sorrow

12. Scar

13. Pain

14. Family

15. Clouds

16. Water

17. Earth

18. Fire

19. Air

20. Alone

21. Hero

22. Yin and Yang

23. Friends

24. Silence

25. Challenges

26. Storm

27. Blue

28. Music

29. Heal

30. Drowning

31. Foreign

32. Night

33. Arrows

34. Holding Hands

35. Rain

36. Creation

37. Siblings

38. Spirit

39. Moon

40. Stars

41. Mothers

42. Fathers

43. Sympathy

44. Dancing

45. Annoyance

46. Demons

47. Blind

48. Sacrifice

49. Expectations

50. Food

51. Fear

52. Winter

53. Spring

54. Summer

55. Autumn

56. Blood

57. The Fade

58. Magic

59. Childhood

60. Strangers

61. Hope

62. Thoughts

63. Battle

64. Future

65. Teamwork

66. Games

67. Eyes

68. Imprisonment

69. Home

70. Hair

71. Life

72. Death

73. Refusal

74. Doubt

75. Disaster

76. Inspiration

77. Past

78. Obsession

79. Tears

80. Failure

81. Shame

82. Rule-Breaking

83. Laughter

84. Abandoned

85. Betrayal

86. Pets

87. Illusion

88. Ancestors

89. Ink and Brush

90. Maps

91. Windows

92. Lies

93. Heirlooms

94. Customs

95. Dreams

96. Treasures

97. Flowers

98. Peace

99. Masks

100. The End