#me: you need to make this snappier

[gilfrespecter]

Doodle page from the last few days ft Emerson in that one Orville Peck outfit bc it's funny and so so much of the other cowboy and a concept for a thing I need to do a shitton of research to write that I don't want to so it will float in my head till I eventually cave and do it

[buckyandgeraltsupremacy]

remus x shy!reader (part 2)

i'm a whore for slow burns and so this little mini series will be a slow burn

author: sj

warnings: fluff, full moon possessiveness, slow burn, reader is described as having longish hair and uses she/her prounouns

part one / part three / part four / part five

masterlist

---

this was your first full moon around remus since discovering he was a werewolf. you weren't nervous, just relieved you finally knew what was going on.

remus was terrified. everyone knew he got a little snappier when it came close to the full moon. he got wound tighter and tighter until happened and the last thing he wanted to do was snap at you.

you were 3 days away from the moon and you just finished with classes, following the boys to their common room to study with remus like normal.

you collapsed on the couch and remus fell into the cushion next to you. you both worked silently together for a while until you found remus significantly closer to you than he was before, your thigh pressed to his.

you weren't bothered by this, but remus was slowly combusting silently. he just felt this unexplained need to be touching you at all times. it started this morning when you were in class with him. your slytherin desk partner had his arm touching yours while you were both taking notes and remus thought he was going to lose. it.

at lunch he made sure he was next to you and that helped his need to be touching you. he usually started to ache before the full moons, but it seemed when you were close that he suddenly forgot about the pain and was only thinking about you. hence why he was trying to get closer to you while in the common room.

you sighed and put your books on the floor. you yawned and you slouched into the couch. remus studied you and noticed the tension you were carrying.

"lay down, bun. close your eyes for a while." remus said, patting his thigh. you nod and lay down your head on his thigh, hair cascading into his lap. remus felt his nerves start to calm and gently started running your hair through his fingers. he delicately plucked at your hair and fiddled with it.

about an hour later, sirius got restless and groaned dramatically on the floor.

"ughhhhh. i'm so bored. wake flea up so she can sneak to the kitchens with me and charm the elves." he said, rolling towards remus. remus stiffened.

"no. let her sleep. she's stressed and is actually resting right now. and if you wake her up, i will wait till you fall asleep tonight and find an insect to crawl into your ear and eat the little brains you have left." he said, it coming out a little more aggressive than remus intended, but feeling extremely protective of you.

the next day, all remus could think about was you. it was a saturday so he didn't expect to see you unless you wanted to come to the common room. and low and behold, you came through the portrait hole and came over to the boys with a small smile.

almost reflexively, remus' hands flew up to grab you as you passed, pulling you down almost on top of him as you passed. you gasped and giggled as you fell onto the couch next to remus, extending them over remus' sideways. remus sighed and pulled you into a hug and mumbled into your hair about how much he missed you.

"ew." peter mumurs.

"i had a theory that you would get possessive near the full moon and this is only proving me right." james says. your cheeks flush red and remus pulls back to look you in the eye.

"i just missed my bun is all. doesn't mean i'm some possessive alpha male." remus scoffs, looking towards the boys.

"your bun?! she's all of ours mate. not like you're dating the girl." sirius says, trying to get under remus' skin. remus' hands tighten around you, sirius' words already making remus' hypothetical hackles rise. remus, not wanting to admit sirius is right, just puts his head back to your shoulder and whispers, 'my bun'.

thus how you found out that remus gets a little possessive close to the full moon.

[theemporium]

Idk if you take requests like this. But I'd love, if you write that is, Marauders era character' reaction when the reader flashes at them during an argument (there was a tiktok treand going on)

Idk which all marauders you write to, so feel comfortable to write the only ones you write for. Also can you make it a fem!reader prety please? Thankyou so much!

thank you for requesting!🖤i just did this with the three main boys, enjoy!

.

Sirius: 

“He was all over you!” 

“He’s a friend!” 

“And he wants to shag you!” 

“I don’t care, you’re the only one I want to shag!” 

The argument had been going on for the better part of the last hour. Sirius had always been a dramatic person and you knew that. A part of you truly adored it because his theatrical flare was entertaining, nine times out of ten. 

But right now? It made you want to put your head through a wall. 

“Sirius, you need to drop this,” you huffed out, hands on your hips as you watched the boy pace around the room. “I don’t care about him like that, why does it matter if he does—which he doesn’t, by the way.” 

“Because!” Sirius exclaimed with no other explanation. 

“For fucks sake,” you grumbled, shaking your head as the boy only rolled his eyes. 

“You don’t even care that this is upsetting me!” he accused, his tie askew and more buttons of his shirt undone than they had been this morning. “You don’t care that he’s trying to shag you and that it upsets me. Merlin, maybe you even like the attention because he’s a pretty bloke with pretty eyes and pretty hair and—” 

Sirius was rambling. And when he rambled, he really fucking rambled and you were not in the mood to deal with it right now—especially with something so stupid. 

Without a second thought, your fingers gripped the hem of your shirt and quickly pulled it up to your chin, watching the boy slowly come to a halt as his eyes dropped to your chest. 

“Oh,” he murmured helplessly. 

“Good. Now that you’ve shut up, you can listen to me,” you said, letting your shirt fall down as you reached for him. 

But Sirius whined, tugging the edge of your shirt back up. “Baby, no, don’t cover them up now.” 

.

Remus:

Remus Lupin was a stubborn bastard when it came to giving the silent treatment. 

It was irritable at the best of times. Majority of the time, it would be a silly little thing he would do when you got into petty arguments, and it wouldn’t last anything longer than five minutes before he was pulling you towards him and keeping you close. But sometimes—on the off chance you’ve had a really bad argument—it could go on for days.  

This time seemed to fall with the latter. 

It had been a tense week. Between raging hormones and upcoming full moons, the added stress of exams and assignments and marauder shenanigans hadn’t worked in your favour. You and Remus had been snappier than usual at each other and it led to one big blow out that resulted in neither of you talking to each other for the last three days. 

But now, you were tired and done with arguing and you just wanted your boyfriend. However, Remus didn’t seem eager to talk it out. 

“Really? We are still doing this?” you questioned as you stood at the foot of his bed, watching as he lazily turned the page of his book as though you hadn’t been in the room for the last fifteen minutes. “You’re being childish, Remus.” 

And yet, the boy still didn’t reply. 

Your boyfriend was as stubborn as he was gorgeous, and you had never hated it more than you did in that moment. 

But everyone had their weaknesses and you just so happened to know your boyfriend’s very well. 

“If that’s the way you wanna play it,” you grumbled as you reached for the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your head and chucking the material at Remus without a second thought. 

He paused mid-page flip, glancing down at the material before his eyes slowly lifted to look at you, clad in only your skirt and bra now. His eyes darkened, a flurry of emotions passing through that you recognised well enough. 

“Shit,” he muttered, halfheartedly throwing his book on his bedside table. 

“Now you’re talking to me?” you teased as you watched him crawl to the end of the bed, reaching out for you eagerly.

“We can talk later,” Remus grumbled as his fingers glided up your back towards the clasp of your bra. “Got more important stuff to do right now.” 

.

James: 

It wasn’t fair. 

You were good at arguing. Merlin, you were one of the best people when it came down to it. You loved a good argument. You loved winning an argument. And there was nothing better in knowing you were one hundred percent, without a single fucking doubt right. 

But your boyfriend was making it really difficult to argue when he was prancing around the room half-naked.

You could barely even remember what the argument was about anymore. All you knew was that James had already been pissy after losing a quidditch match and he kept being short with you, and the next thing you knew, you were bickering back and forth in his dorm room. Then he pulled his quidditch jersey over his head, leaving his thick arms and broad shoulders and glistening chest on display, and every single coherent thought left your head.

“Are you even listening to a word I’m saying?” 

You blinked, your surroundings returning to you as you stared at the pouting boy a few feet away from you. His hands were resting on his hips, his lips turned down in a somewhat frown and his messy curls covering his furrowed eyebrows. He was still pissed and now you were pissed at him for distracting you. 

It wasn’t fair so you decided to even the playing field. 

Without a moment of hesitance, you pulled your jumper over your head and let it thump onto the ground. You stood there, showing as much skin as he was, and watched as his eyes widened comically as he stared at your tits in the red bra you were wearing.

“I—” he paused, gulping a little. “What are you doing?” 

“Making this argument fair,” you stated simply as though you weren’t resisting the urge to reach out and watch his abs softly clench under your touch. “Now are you gonna tell me why you’re in such a shitty mood or do I have to keep pretending I know why you’re being like this?”

.

[slices-of-naranja]

I desperately need to organize my thoughts but if I don’t get this out now I will forget it, so take some vague circular incoherent ramblings about Jason motherfucking Grace.

Jason Grace has this weird kind bluntness about him that I desperately need to study. He’s so normal in a fucked up way. Almost regular. Almost an Average Kid. Brutally honest and kind and pragmatic. He wakes up on a bus with no memory, holding hands with a girl, and he’s immediately like “What the fuck. Who are you people. Where am I. Who am I?” Doesn’t even try to play along to figure out what’s happening.

One of the first things he says to Leo is “You’re weird.” Just “You’re weird.”

Jason is judgy as fuck!! Like!! Such a judgmental motherfucker!!! “If Leo is his best friend, then his life is seriously messed up.” Like!!! What the fuck!!! Be nicer to the man you fall madly in love with!!!

He sees Mean Kid (monster) Dylan and immediately goes “fuck that dude.” (“Jason hated him instantly.”) He even mentally makes fun of the guy’s outfit!!! And he roasts the shit out of Dylan’s fucking shiny ass teeth!! He sees two girls being mean to Piper and he literally, despite not knowing where he is or why he’s there, tries to fight them!! And Leo is the only thing holding him back from immediately throwing hands!!

Mr. “I can’t even take Leo out for burgers bc he’ll set the restaurant on fire.” After the 1 (one) time Leo gets too excited and bursts into flame. (Leo not being able to control his powers as a consequence of finally starting to use them after years of repression is something i WILL be talking about another time)

Jason is a judgy, brutally honest bitch. Like, he’s kind and good natured and strong. But years of being raised by wolves, strict deadly Romans, and being praetor have made him a little bit harsh. Rough around the edges. Just a bit off. This is the dude who was like “hm. Yeah I know Nico’s ur boy but… world is ending. So.” He’s been raised to be pragmatic. Make snap judgements. Be harsh. Be deadly. Like, reading his PoV is so different from the fandom characterization.

Jason is wittier, snappier, and wayyy more regular teenage boyish than I thought. He just has that Roman Demigod Edge to him… the part of him that was trained to scream “MONSTERS! MIST! MAGIC! DANGER!!!” even when he had no memory. I need to study this boy so badly. He’s fucking fascinating.

Bc for all his judgement, he grows so quickly attached to people. Like, it doesn’t take long for him to be fiercely loyal to Piper and Leo and Camp Halfblood. I think that’s because they accepted and loved an imperfect him, and while Expectations were still there, expectations he’s been haunted by his whole life, they’re lesser. Bc Piper and Leo don’t know shit fuck about the mythical world. And the rest of the seven are just as strong and capable as Jason, so he has no need to lead. I don’t know. Jason Grace drives me crazy. Marching to his destiny like a good little soldier. No other options for a son of Jupiter. Have to be strongest, have to be praetor, have to lead a legion-

He loves Nico like a best friend. He adores and admires Leo’s wit and talent and smarts, something that is mentioned a lot in his POV. (While also pointing out Leo’s bullshit.) He envies and admires Percy’s strength. He loves Piper’s brashness and heart. He loves them all. I don’t know. He’s quick to judge but he’s even quicker to change his mind. I forgot where I was going with this. Jason Grace has always been a hero at heart and a soldier since age 4 and I think that’s why some people think he’s boring. He’s trained to be serious and stuff. We don’t get to see him goof around very much, except for with Leo, and Leo does most of the goofs. And I would love to know who Jason Grace, judgmental pragmatic kindhearted bitch, would be if he just got to be a regular teenager.

And I think that’s why he loved camp Halfblood. It gave him half a chance at being half normal. What’s one more big three kid? There’s no strict orders or rules to follow or shape him there. But unfortunately, Jason, hero at heart, soldier since age 4, trained to be selfless, trained to give everything up for the greater good, was never going to get a happy ending. Never get a chance at what Percy Jackson found. Being a demigod kills people. And Jason was one from birth, to his very core.

I think part of him would be relieved, at that. Knowing that Percy Jackson, hero with a happy ending, is someone he will never be. Never overcome or surpass. Yeah, it’s the exact reason they’re rivals, too similar to not be compared, yeah it hurts his pride and goes against everything he was raised to be, and yeah he’s had a few silent breakdowns over it, but there’s relief in knowing he’d never win. Being in Percy’s shadow at Camp Halfblood means he can be out of the spotlight. Die a hero’s death while knowing there is no other option. There’s peace in that.

Anyway New Rome represents heteronormativity and Camp Halfblood is Jason figuring out he’s gay. I will not take criticism.

[luvfy0dor]

Omg wait... so like imagine that Chuuya found someone new a few months or a year later; and in that span of time, reader changed a LOT (in a good way) but they still love Chuuya. So when they see Chuuya's new gf, they're like 'I can be a better girlfriend than her' and 'I can treat you better than she can' KSJASJDJ AHAHA

idk I've been listening to too much unrequited love songs recently 😭😭

“Once I Fix Me, He's Gonna Miss Me ♡” Chuuya Nakahara x GN!Reader ੈ✩‧₊˚

Warnings; unhealthy mindsets, reader is obsessive (?), jealousy

Description; This is a part two of sorts of THIS fic!!! After seeing Chuuya out with someone after your breakup, you feel the need to change yourself for him and try to get him back.

A/n; IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG SILVER!!!! I hope it's acceptable 3: i dunno if it's exactly what you wanted but I hope you don't hate it or nothin 😮‍💨

Chuuya doesn't want any bad blood between the two of you after he leaves, but you can't help but feel abandoned. Even if the relationship only last a couple of months you're still heartbroken- you put all your trust in Chuuya and opened up for him, all for it to be tossed out the window. He told you he felt like the chemistry wasn't there anymore and that he'd fallen for someone else, someone who made his heartbeat speed up the way you had for about a week. You still wanted him though. Just the sheer memory of his beautiful blue eyes gazing into yours made your body heat up and everytime you tried distracting yourself with other people, your mind only wandered back to him.

While out on a walk one day in attempt to clear your mind, you found yourself wandering into a cafe for some coffee. While waiting for one of the baristas to make your drink, you spotted a familiar head of orange hair sitting in one of the booths. The same orange hair that you'd run your fingers through every night not long ago. He seemed to be talking to someone, an amused smile on his face. You felt your heart drop to your stomach, dragged down by the jealousy that you felt for whoever he was talking to. Your attention was pulled back to the counter when the barista handed you your drink. "Here you go, have a good day!" The woman has a smile on her face, one that no matter how hard you tried you just couldn't reciprocate. You huffed as you walked out the door and back to your apartment, and on that walk you decided that you had to do something, anything, to make yourself better. You were content with who you were before, but if Chuuya didn't like you, you also didn't like you.

You tried to attain a healthier lifestyle, eating more fruits and vegetables than usual and buying clothing that seemed to better fit his aesthetic. You started getting more sleep,whether it be out of determination to make yourself as good as possible for him or because you felt too depressed to do anything else. When you did have energy, you used it going out and hoping to bump into him. Sometimes you'd even look at his socials medias on burner accounts in attempt to find out his plans for coming days so you could 'coincidentally' show up at the same time and place as him. Stalking his socials only made you spiral more, your jealousy getting worse every time you saw that woman on his profile. Even if she wasn't in the pictures her comments would always appear underneath them, punctuated with an unnecessary amount of heart emojis. You wouldn't be able to admit without shame the amount of times it made you slam your phone onto a dresser or table. Sure, you had gotten healthier physically and dressed like you were doing well, but your mental health proved to be deteriorating. You came to realize that when talking with anyone but Chuuya became difficult and you got snappier. You knew it'd be in your best interest to get therapy, and you figured Chuuya would prefer someone who was more stable than not, so you made time in your schedule for it weekly. All of this just for him to like you again.

As a matter of fact, on your walk back home from an appointment, you were taking in nature when you spotted him at the end of the street you were walking down. Your eyes widened when you realized that he wasn't with his girlfriend. You had every possible meeting between the two of you planned out in your head, so you knew exactly how to start a conversation. Sure, it was real cliche and definitely embarrassing, but you did what you had to. You tripped and fell down onto the sidewalk, yelping at the impact. His eyes widened and he kept a steady pace, considering walking past you, but he decided to help you up. He held out a hand for you. "oh- Chuuya! Long time no see- thank you." You brushed off your clothing once you stood up. "Yeah, no problem." He gave a small smile and went to walk passed you in his way but you stopped him again. "Hey, wait- are you busy?" You asked. He poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue hesitantly but soon shook his head. "No, why?" You smiled and fidgeted with your fingers, a nervous habit of yours that he immediately recognized and smiled to himself. He didn't exactly hate that he still made you nervous.

"Would you wanna get coffee or somethin'? On me, I won't make you spend your money, I just think catching up might be nice." You say, trying to convince him to go with you, just for a moment. "It's a little late for coffee, don't you think? How about to a bar? You're not driving anywhere, are ya?" You shake your head. "I walk nearly everywhere." He nods, waving you along to walk with him to a bar. You followed with an excited smile on your face. "You're not either, right?" He shakes his head and sighs. "My motorcycle is in the repair shop, I just dropped it off, actually. That's why I'm out." You hum in understanding. "Oh, I'm wishing it a speedy recovery then." He smiles and nods. "And a cheap one."

The bar quickly comes into view and the two of you enter and sit down on one of the stools next to each other and order a drink. "So...uh, anything new?" You ask, sipping on yours when it comes. "Yeah, I'm seeing someone I guess." His gaze was averted to the counter top. 'i guess.' An unlikely mood booster. You had to hold back a grin from appearing on your face. "Oh, I hope that's well...I haven't met anyone interesting enough." You say light heartedly, making him laugh quietly under his breath. "The girl I'm seein' is great, just...we butt heads a lot, but she's a real sweetheart." He tells, clearly still trusting you enough to let on those details. Keeping your face neutral was difficult, but you kept it up anyways. The fact that he was praising her outweighed and happiness you got from the fact that he seemed to be questioning their relationship. "Haha, I'm happy that you're dedicated to her, it only took us butting heads badly once as for you to have enough." You said, trying to sound as not-bitter as possible. You swirled your drink in its glass.

His eyebrows furrowed and looked back over at you. "No way, it was definitely more than once." He says, accepting his drink from the bartender. "It was only real bad once, and I don't even remember what it was about." You say bittersweetly, feeling your mood deflate, regardless of whether or not you had him sitting with you again. "Yeah...come to think of it me neither." You say for a moment in silence. "Did you want to get rid of me that whole time? I offered counseling, so did you just not want me anymore?" He chewed on his lip and thought. "Maybe." You took a long swing of your drink. "I honestly think I was a great partner." He immediately replies, the gentleness fading from his tone. "I'm not saying you weren't." There's a bit of an uncomfortable silence. "You don't need to defend yourself, I know the end was my fault. Damn." He says, his patience seemingly having worn thin throughout the day. "I'm...I'm sorry if that was over the top. It's been a rough day." He says , downing the rest of his drink. "On you, right? I think I should get going." He stands up but you call after him, not wanting the conversation to end just yet. You slapped a fifty dollar bill on the bar and followed him outside, straightening out your jacket as you did so. "Why are you leaving?" You ask. "Is it just a habit or somethin'? Always leaving me?" You persisted, your anger growing inside of you with each second. He turned back to you and quietly but aggressively started talking.

"I am not gonna sit with you and talk about our past relationship, it's over, and if you think you can slide back into my life by buying me a drink then you really need to rethink your strategy. I know you better than you think and I know you still want me. I have a good woman to get home to, goodbye, y/n." His presence in front of you is punctuated by a strong glare before he turns and walks away from you. "I'm better than her and you know it! Why will you never give me a chance!" You frustratedly yell back to him, but it does nothing to stop him walking away from you and only makes him pick up his pace. You bit your lip to hold back your tears and quickly walked back off to your own place, storming inside and slamming the door behind you. You collapsed onto the couch with an angry groan, making one of the few cheap throw pillows into a victim of your aggression, punching it a couple times before hugging it to your chest. Had this happened to you a couple of months ago you would have thrown and broke things out of your anger, but even if you wanted to right now you couldn't fathom doing anything but lying on the couch and crying to yourself. You felt pathetic, you didn't think Chuuya would see right through you like that, but having been with him for a few months he must've known just how persistent you can be. You sat there and stared at the ceiling, feeling your tears well up in your eyes. You had gone through almost every stage of grief when dealing with the loss of Chuuya in your life, and no matter how much you didn't want to, it was finally time to accept it.

A/n; see told you guys I'm on that request grind. I really hope this is okay silver 3:

[dingodoodles]

Hey! Sands was the last nail in the coffin of me starting to plan a 3.5 campaign for a few friends who haven't played it, any tips for dealing with this lovely mess of an adition?

Hmmmm I guess embrace big numbers and some pain you will go through to learn the other rules. The one thing I like about 3.5 is pretty much everything has a stat or mechanic. Grapple is better and the spells you can cast too. "Sleep" is waaaay better I find in 3.5. Prestige classes is where it's at. Look into those if you want some fun crazy builds. Combat might feel longer but you can always homebrew to make it snappier like we do. The one thing we took out in our homebrew is Spell resistance. I'd suggest to leave that out. It's just....not fun. It really makes combat slow and harsher than we like. Along with we take out preparing spells and spells known. BUT that's also our personal homebrew and for some might be too OP lol I just like to explore spells and figure out what a character likes to cast, but I need to have access to that spells level list to figure it out. That's how I figured out Sips liked electricity magic and stays away from mind controlling magic. As soon as you get the hang of the system you will find dnd get's scarier but in a good way. Like one or two CR 1's can kill you lol. It's harsher and more deadly which makes the stakes so much higher. Monsters are suppose to be scary, that's why we fight them. 5e makes you feel like a super hero right off the bat, while 3.5 makes you feel like an adventurer in a scary world struggling to get by. But when you do defeat that goblin or level up it feels so satisfying and earned. Hope it goes well!

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Growing pains

Summary: How did Jeff and Rio feel knowing Miles was sneaking out with a girl?

Jeff's rant became background noise as she lifted the sweater in confusion.

It wasn't Miles, not just because it wasn't his size (she had needed to buy so many new clothes with his growth spur that she would know) but it was...feminine, she could even smell faintly some perfume.

Whoever left it was using it recently.

"-Babe are you backing me up in this one or what?" 

Rio snapped back to reality as she felt her husband's hand on her shoulder, he looked at her still kind of upset yet more curious as to why she hasn't moved from that spot.

"Jeff, where is this from?" She asks immediately, not paying attention to whatever he has been insisting on her.

Arching an eyebrow, he didn't look too much into the item before shrugging with disinterest "I don't know, I normally let him choose whatever he wants as long as the price is okay; a better question is why his room is such a mess, maybe we should ground him an extra month for that-"

"Jeff" She called him again, trying to distract him from his authoritative-dad ideas "This isn't his, it has to belong to a girl."

The moment the word 'girl' came out of her mouth he seemed even more puzzled. Giving an actual look at the item from his wife's hands, he was trying to remember if he has seen it before "Does it belong to one of your nieces maybe?"

"I didn't remember seeing any of them using this, why it would be here anyways? We let the guest put their coats in the entrance, and I don't think either Ana or Camila would just leave this in Miles's bed for no reason."

As they both realized they couldn't recall anyone who could have this sweater, finally the other possible explanation popped into their minds. Not because it wasn't obvious, but more like-

"Is this happening now? It isn't too soon?"

"No, no no no, no way that boy brought a girl to our house, to his room, all while he is grounded." Just as quickly, Jeff was getting worked out again about this outrage.

Miles comes late (again,) with cakes that are falling apart, refuses to talk to them, and now he is hearing how he left his room to be with a girl?

Rio couldn't believe it either.

"This can't be right- He is too young to think of that!" She replied in disbelief.

She felt her husband's gaze rest on her as she stopped looking at the item (who could belong to? Maybe one of Miles's old friends from the neighborhood? As far she knew he stopped hanging out with everyone around here,) and saw the face Jeff always puts when he isn't sure how to tell her something.

"What?"

And her snappier response didn't seem to make him more confident about saying it.

"I mean- Look, don't get me wrong, we are both on the same side here" He prefaces, he needed to reserve all his energy to think how to get to that boy's skull that he couldn't do whatever he wanted, not to mention that when Rio got angry even he got scared. "But, he is fifteen honey."

"Yeah! A baby!"

"Well, not so baby, I mean at his age I was-"

The pointed look of Rio was all the information he needed to know he SHOULDN'T end that sentence.

"What I am trying to say, is that he is getting to a certain age mi amor, we cannot stop that."

Rio's shoulders fell, realizing how tense she was getting and this wasn't even going into how disobedient her son has been getting lately. As she looked towards the room (which was indeed a mess,) she saw the toys laying around, notebooks of old drawings pilled over the new ones that show his progress, she could almost see him as a toddler running around with a cape.

That felt like it was yesterday.

And now she had the sweater of a girl she doesn't know in her hands, in Miles' room.

Where did her little boy go?

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Since the Wip poll won, I decided to post this little thing that was actually, my first fic for this fandom.

I never got to publish it because it was missing two other scenes, but I decided to scrap it since the third one felt a bit too crazy, so I would do that idea for another thing.

So now while this is technically not a wip, I decided to publish it since I don't have any works in progress I can give sneak peaks for now.

Thanks for reading!

[radiant-reid]

Blurb of Spencer and reader angst with fluff whatever scenario you want love

Every time you think about it, you feel lucky to be happily married to Spencer for a few years. From the first time you met, you were a perfect match, both intellectually curious and endlessly supportive of each other's careers.

But recently, things had been rough.

Spencer has been dealing with a particularly difficult case at work, and it has starting to take a toll on him. He finds himself coming home later and later each night, and when he’s at home, he’s distant and preoccupied.

You knew what his job was when you agreed to date him, and it had never been an issue until now. You’ve exercised all the patients and understand inside, and it’s hard not to feel neglected now. It’s important to him, and you know that, but you should be too.

One night, after Spencer has been at work for far longer than he promised, you decide enough is enough. As soon as he walks through the door, you confront him.

"Spencer, we need to talk.” You say firmly.

Spencer looks up at you, his eyes tired and hollow. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it.” You say, probably snappier than you should have been because you surprise yourself with your anger. "You've been coming home late every night for weeks, and you barely even speak to me when you're here. I feel like you're avoiding me."

Spencer sighs, running a hand through his hair. "It's not you, Y/N. It's this case. It's consuming all my time and energy."

"I understand that.” You remind him, your tone softening. "But that doesn't mean you can just ignore me. We're supposed to be partners, remember?"

Spencer nods, looking ashamed. "You're right. I've been so focused on work that I haven't been paying attention to what's really important."

You step closer to him, taking his hand in yours. "I just want to make sure that we're okay. I love you, Spencer, but I need you to be here with me, too."

Spencer's eyes meet yours and you can see the love and gratitude shining in them. "I love you too, Y/N. And I promise, I'll make it up to you. Let's go out tomorrow night, just the two of us. We can take a break from all this and focus on each other."

You smile, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders. "I'd like that."

The next night, Spencer sticks to his word and takes you out to your favorite restaurant. You talk and laugh, enjoying each other's company in a way you haven’t in weeks.

As you're walking back to their car, Spencer stops suddenly and turns to you. "Y/N, I know I haven't been the best husband lately, but I want you to know that you mean everything to me. I can't imagine my life without you."

Your heart swells with love and tenderness for your husband. The same love you’ve felt for years. “I feel the same way, Spencer. I'm just glad we're back on the same page."

Spencer leans down and kisses her softly, right in the middle of the street. His arms wrap around you in a tight embrace and you deepen the kiss by draping yourself arms over his shoulders. In that moment, all your worries and problems fade away, leaving only the love between you.

From that night on, Spencer makes a conscious effort to be more present in your marriage. He knows that his work is important, but so are you and your relationship. You’re partners in every sense of the word, and he’s determined to never let that slip away again.

[mio-actuallywrites]

your first of many monthly’s.

You the sister to Silver and daughter of Lilia, got your uhh time of the month… not to mention your first time. (Living with boys don’t help lmao

(After the mess of my last post *ahem the angst* I decided you give fluff out because I need to actually start writing and get my blog out there lmao. 

Characters might be OOC Enjoy!!)

You sure in hell we’re surprised to wake in a pool of blood. Okay listen, you did scream but that’s common… right?? I mean you were getting older and got snappier and moodier then usual, even father called you out on it. 

 However your scream prompted your brother to come, father was out of the house… buying groceries to make food. 

“Name? What’s wrong.” Silver came running to your bedroom to see you in your bed with the covers over your body. 

“There’s… Blood!!”  You screamed again you pulled the covers down to reveal, the mess. 

“What did you do this time?” He mumbled as he sat on the bed. 

Let’s just say you were mortified to look at Silver or talk to him for those 15 minutes of silence. 

Even Silver who was usually sleepily looked petrified. 

However the slience stopped when you heard the person who you just needed to hear walk into the room. 

“Oh dear what happened?” Lilias voice rang through as he stepped in the room to see you and Silver in silence, next to your blood soaked sheets. 

“I heard reader scream and then saw them with blood.” You could hear Lilia mumble under his breathe something about it starting or whatever. 

“Well, reader ever heard of a period?” 

Since Lilia mentioned that you immediately turned red on realizing what was happening to you. 

Silver however was confused. 

After filling him in, Lilia then said he would make breakfast for you guys and to go wash your sheets. 

Let’s just say you had no excuses with the breakfast and had to eat it…

Lilia had apparently been keeping pads/tampons for you when you were 10, because he didn’t know a lot about humans. And after eating that G̶r̶o̶s̶s̶ yummy meal you couldn’t wait to finally be alone in your room… and wait for the ongoing week. 

When you went to go see Malleus and Sebek in the week, they could tell something was off with you, you would snap at the slightest of things and would have crazy mood changes. 

It isn’t until Lilia said what happened that they I stand. 

However the rest of the week went pretty smoothly. (Except Lilia cooks.) 

You were able to be alone most of the time and when you weren’t you were probably with Silver or Lilia just chatting or sitting together. 

Overall 7/10. Not the best of the best but still an interesting experience. 

A/N: I wanna thank you guys so much for my previous post. It was my FIRST ever fan fiction and to see it get more hearts then I imagined mean so much to me!! Thanks <3

[mrsnancywheeler]

Ugh I’m so pissed that tumblr ate my scrumptious ass head canon I sent 😒. I don’t even remember the song I was listening to when writing it to 😭

Anyways it was about groupie reader talking with Eddie and setting Billy off. You and Eddie talking in the studio when you’re supposed to be there for him just sets him off into possessiveness and suddenly he’s holding you by the waist, whispering something about last night and how great you felt/tasted loudly enough for Eddie to hear. Mind you he goes out of his way to whisper loud enough so Eddie can hear. Or at events when you and Eddie are hanging out at the house, he’d go up to you and either try to get your attention by talking about one of his songs or doing the same thing where he’d whisper sexual comments in your ear. Obviously you can’t resist it, but Eddie just rolls his eyes. He’s used to Billy doing this whenever he can tell that Eddie is making you laugh or smile too hard.

sorry this took me so long to respond too pookie, but I'm here for this

how dare the tumblr ask box eat your thoughts for itself, I need the meal too 😭

he's been fussing over a song and is messing around behind the board trying to perfect some different pieces, while you've been happily chatting away with eddie the whole time. well, more fairly, you could feel billy had been getting tense and snappier so you'd decided to give him some space to do his thing, by talking to eddie. mindless jokes and chattering until billy can't focus on what he was doing, he just hears your voice, your laugh. and he knows it should be him instead, he shouldn't have been to tense with you because this is making him decidedly more tense. especially since anyone with eyes can tell they eddie has a thing for you and is buttering you up. soon enough he's nixing everything he was working on to go over to you and eddie, pulling you in by the waist so his arms are wrapped around you and his mouth is right by your ear.

"hi, baby."

you're turning around to face him, but he's still got you in his arms. "hi billy, you figured everything out?"

he's suddenly kissing you, "couldn't, how am I expected too when my girl is standing right here? could only think about how fucking great you felt last night and all your little noises"

you can feel your face heating up as you playfully shove at him, laughing, "we can recreate that ever you want" and he's groping your ass, totally giving smug looks to eddie who is rolling his eyes into oblivion.

OR

times when you and eddie are just watching tv on the couch, he's got his arm over the back of it and you're nestled into his side. and billy gets so annoyed so he comes up with any reason to tear the two of you apart. whether it's also sitting on the couch and saying, "c'mere baby" and making out with you while you're on his lap

or like completely interrupting what you were watching or talking to eddie about because he needs your attention more. "hey, baby, got something I wanted to run past you"

"do you mind?" eddie is asking, knowing exactly what billy is trying to do and will succeed at if given the chance. billy is just frowning back before you're standing up. (after you've elbowed eddie in the side ofc)

"yeah of course, you can" and because he's feeling obnoxious, he's sitting down in the middle of the living room to sing this song he's been working on about you. eddie awkwardly gets up at one point and is just mulling around, drinking a cup of water and trying not to roll his eyes too much.

meanwhile you're just lovestruck by his words and voice, the face that he's writing something about you.

I imagine this being his everywhere by fleetwood mac type song because we know this man be expressing his love through songs rather than admitting to them quite yet, because that's scary.

"you know I'm proud and I can't get the words out. oh I, I wanna be with you everywhere"

[alexihawleys]

Chenford + 18 please!

chenford + things you said when you were scared

"So I'm right," she won't meet his gaze even though he's trying to catch hers. She busies herself with folding and re-folding the blanket thrown over the bottom corner of her bed, the one he'd put on her side for the nights when she gets cold and needs an extra layer (which is all of them, really). Her fingers fumble the corner once, twice, again. "You seriously don't think I can do it."

She hates herself a little for it.

She hates herself a little for everything lately, if she's being honest. There's this feeling in the back of her throat she can't get rid of, a tickle that's causing her to say things she doesn't want to, that's goading her on to be the worst version of herself because she can't not. If she's going down, she's dragging everyone with her. Is that dramatic? Sure, but she's never claimed to be anything less.

She sees the twinge in Tim's eye and something in her stomach soars, surges, squeezes. She's got him.

This is stupid, her rational brain tells her. You're self-sabotaging. Tim loves you. He believes in you. Stop picking fights with him because you're–

Shut up, she tells her rational brain, which apparently is the only part that doesn't have an issue listening to direct orders.

"Lucy, we're not doing this." His teeth are grit and his neck is tense. She can tell he's actively trying to soften his face, not to look stern and defeated in the way she knows he would if he wasn't aware of what she was doing. She would hate herself for doing this to him, but she decides to hate him a little bit for not calling her out on it instead.

"Doing what?" Her tone is snappier than she intends it to be, but it works in her favor.

He sighs deliciously. "This. This. We're not having this fight that has no point – either you believe me or you don't."

Lucy rolls her eyes, chewing on the inside of her cheek as the silence floods between them.

Usually, the silence is comfortable. The silence is nice, even, while she folds her laundry and he reads through a file, pretending he's not struggling to see the text without the dollar store pair of cheaters she'd tucked away in his desk a few months back when she'd noticed how far away from his face he was holding his phone.

They don't talk and they don't have to, because she knows every tiny movement Tim's jaw will make while he reads gory details, because he knows every ClipTalk trick she'll use in order to fold a fitted sheet without asking for help. They don't need words to know what the other is thinking, what they'll do next, when they need each other.

Today, the silence is overwhelming. She ignores the piece of her that aches for him and swallows it down – partly because it doesn't matter, partly because she doesn't want it to.

She leaves the blanket in a lopsided lump on the edge of the bed and crosses her arms. "I'd believe you if you were believable," she offers, shrugging. "If you don't think I can do better a second time, you can just tell me. I'd rather know the truth than have you pretend to support me again."

Tim rolls his eyes. "You know what," he starts, but shuts his eyes, shaking his head. "I'm not giving you what you want here."

"Oh, I know," she huffs, a dry laugh escaping her throat. "Trust me."

Tim squints at her, then stands up, rolling his sleeves up slowly. She watches, tipping her head to the side. At least he looks nice. "Enjoying the show?"

"Immensely," she deadpans, then purses her lips and lets herself meet his eye. He's staring her down and she swallows hard. "What?"

"What are you getting from this," his voice is lower, softer. She rips her gaze away and shakes her head. "Lucy, come on – you don't get to use me as a punching bag because you're scared you're going to fuck up ag-," he stops himself, but the damage is done.

She shuts her eyes, turning on her heel and heading towards the bathroom. She's not upset, honestly – she's kind of relieved, revitalized, ready to rub it in his face. At least he's being honest, this time. At least he's not pretending he's not disappointed in her. "See?"

"That's not what I-," she shuts the bathroom door behind her, muffling the sound of him. He knocks on it softly. "Baby, come on."

"Do not," she nearly growls.

She hears the light thunk of his head leaning against the door and she takes a step away from it, bristling at the sound of him sighing out a slow breath. "You don't think you can do it. You don't, and you know that." She doesn't answer and he sighs again, this one louder. "Talk to me, would you?"

"Go home," her voice is on the tip of her tongue, surprising her when it comes out firm, strong, certain. She hadn't known she wanted him to go home. She's not actually sure she does.

"What?" He sounds genuinely confused. Lucy ignores the fact that part of her mind is racing around, searching for ways to keep him here and get him to convince the rest of her mind to leave her the fuck alone. "You want me to go?"

She doesn't give herself the chance to think about it. "Go," she says again, firm, "home, Tim."

He waits. She knows this game – he'll count to ten, then twenty, then thirty. If she doesn't tell him to stay by the time he reaches sixty, he'll leave her be. It's fucked up that she knows, she realizes. It's fucked up that there's a pattern to this at all.

She swallows, then glances over at her shower and taps her fingers against the door lightly. He taps back. He's got to be somewhere around 35, by now.

"Please go home," she repeats, and it sounds different. A little raw, a little real. "I just want to be by myself, okay?"

He's quiet. She huffs. "Are you going to answer if I call later?"

She surveys her thumb nail, then bites the loose skin on her cuticle gently. "Maybe," she mumbles.

"Are you going to snap at me again?"

"Probably."

"Wow," he sounds a little annoyed, but mostly bemused. "Honesty for once."

She groans, but he doesn't laugh. She hears the floor creak beneath his feet as he makes his way back into her bedroom, then through the kitchen, then out the front door. The lock turns and the hum of alone silence falls over her as she leans back against the door and shuts her eyes.

He didn't say goodbye. She files it away, another thing she can pick a fight over later if she needs to.

She ignores her rational brain, screaming for her to figure this out before she ruins the most important relationship in her life. She'll ruin it if she damn well wants to, thank you very much.

The alone silence, the silence she wanted, doesn't feel as good as she'd hoped.

[the-ooftroop]

Oh wow...dude I just LOVE the dedication you have for AUCFT and not being all like " oh man this is stressful let me just cancel it and ruin everyone's mood for the rest of existence " especially having to rewrite most of part 3 just to make it the finale instead of part four can't wait for it 😘

oh god I cannot even fathom canceling the timeline, I need to see it through not just for the audience but to prove to myself I can actually finish out a large scale project like this

to clarify on the rewrites, most of what was already scripted is unchanged. I've just trimmed some fat off and restructured certain things to make the pacing snappier that way everything new I add feels natural and not bloated! thank you :)

[theemporium]

hiii!! would u be able to write something for remus where ur in a secret relationship and he’s your brothers best friend? maybe sirius or james sister? ty!!

here ya go, love🖤

.

The problem with being related to James Potter was that he was incredibly protective. 

He had good intentions and you knew he truly meant well, that he just cared for you and saw it as his duty as an older brother to look out for you. But Merlin, that boy would push his limits sometimes. 

That was why you decided to keep your shift in relationship a secret from him at first. You didn’t need James moseying into something that wasn’t his business so early on in the relationship. 

But weeks passed and the thrill of sneaking around was still at a high—and yeah, there was just something really fucking hot knowing you were fucking one of your brother’s best friends and he had no clue. 

Ironically enough, you didn’t like Remus Lupin very much the first time you met him.

His quiet nature came of as rude, he never really made an effort with you and anyone beyond your brother and his other friends didn’t seem worth a second glance to young Remus Lupin. 

Not that James ever agreed with you. He was very insistent that the young werewolf was a brilliant man that you just hadn’t given a chance. 

You could only laugh if James saw you now. 

“Are you sure no one saw you?” you murmured against his lips as you tugged your boyfriend into your bedroom, a spell muttered under your breath to lock the door behind him. The small perks of James inviting his friends to stay with him over the course of summer. 

“Positive, love,” Remus reassured you before he ducked his head down to the crook of your neck, letting out a small groan. “I’ve missed you.”

“You saw me less than two hours ago,” you mused playfully, fingers tangled in his hair. 

“Yeah, but I couldn’t do this,” he grumbled as he pressed kisses along the column of your throat, teeth dragging across sensitive skin. 

“Remember not to leave—“ 

“I know, baby. I’ll be careful.” 

But Remus Lupin was, in fact, not careful. He wasn’t careful in the slightest and you blame your lack of less-than-murderous thoughts in the morning for the fact you didn’t notice anything either before you headed downstairs the next day. 

“What is that?” 

You didn’t bother looking up from plate, blinking away the sleepiness in your eyes. “Hm?” 

“What’s that on your neck?” James repeated, his tone a little snappier and his words a little heavier. 

Your whole body froze for a moment as you resisted the urge to cover your neck with your hands. “What’s what, Jamie?” 

“No, don’t Jamie me,” James’ chair scraped across the wooden floor before he was beside you, tilting your head to the side. “This is a hickey! You have a hickey!” 

You pulled your head from his grasp and glared at him. “Stop making a big deal out of nothing.” 

“My baby sister has a hickey!” James cried out, hand on his chest like he was moments away from passing out. 

“Who’s the lucky wizard?” Sirius asked from his spot at the table, smirk on his lips. “Or witch. We would never judge.” 

“You’re too young to have a hickey!” James interrupted. 

“That,” you said as you pointed to your brother. “Is exactly why I’m telling neither of you anything.” 

Sirius pouted. “I thought we were closer than that, baby Potter.” 

“You have a big mouth, Black,” you stated simply with a shrug. 

Sirius grinned. “So does the bloke who gave you that ringer on your neck.” 

“BLEH!” James gagged as you rolled your eyes. 

“C’mon, tell us!” Sirius prodded. 

James turned to you, eyes narrowed. “Yeah,” he said in his ‘big brother’ voice. “Tell us. Right now. I need to know who’s head I’m ripping off their body.” 

“Stop being so dramatic!” You sighed and shook your head. “Like I said, I’m telling neither of you two anything.” 

“Just us?” Sirius questioned before nodding to Remus who had been fairly quiet during the ordeal. “So you’d tell Moony and not us?” 

Your eyes met his from across the table and you could’ve sworn something smug glimmered in his eyes. You could’ve sworn you could see semblances of a smirk tugging on his lips as he lifted his cup for a sip. 

“I know how to keep a secret, Pads,” Remus answered casually. “Japan would know by dinner time if she told you.” 

“I’m waiting on a name,” James said with a huff. 

“Keep waiting then,” you said with a shrug. “I’m not telling you anything. I’m a big girl, I can have a boyfriend.” 

“BOYFRIEND?!” James spluttered. 

“Sit down, Prongs, before you hurt yourself,” Remus muttered. 

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “Was he here last night?”

There was a pause. 

“Is he still here?”

Before you could even open your mouth to respond, both boys were bolting towards the staircase, already racing towards your bedroom that you knew very well they’d find empty because the culprit they were looking for was currently grinning at you. 

“You said you’d be careful,” you grumbled to your boyfriend who could only let out a small chuckle. 

“Can’t help myself, baby, you’re irresistible.” 

Your eyes narrowed. “Sweet talk me all you like, Lupin, but you’re on thin ice.” 

His eyes glimmered with a dark promise. “You gonna punish me, sweetheart?” 

“Maybe I will. Guess you gotta sneak back into my room tonight to find out.” 

“I’ll be there.” 

You snorted. “Yeah, good luck getting past James and Sirius tonight.”

.

[shai-manahan]

Hollowed Minds Progress Update 5/08/23

Hi! I know I failed at making a progress update last month, so first of all, apologies for that! Things have just been busy tbh and life has been too stressful that at some points I just couldn't write. It's why I've been a bit inactive here as well, and why I've been barely answering the asks I've been receiving.

I cannot report yet how many words I've written for the update so far because I haven't really taken a look at it myself, but I will do so at the end of the month if there's still no confirmed schedule by then. My eye health has just been very consistent at making my life harder as well until recently, and here's hoping I'll at least be able to function properly for a whole month🤞

Some things that will be in the next update:

For Chapter 2's Part 2:

Everything still goes as planned, except now both routes are expected to be fast-paced and action-oriented, though one is still more intense than the other.

This will be a massive one, not because of the word count but because of the variations that will play out. There won't be much issues in arranging the transitions to Chapter 3, so there's at least that, but your choices will matter a lot. So you might have to be careful with them.

One of the routes gets Alonzo actively involved, but please be assured that this doesn't mean you have to romance them. I actually encourage you all to check out both routes once they come because you'll gain more discoveries that way. 👀

Alonzo's route will be so memeworthy, I have to admit. Please try it.

There's an info dump in Chapter 2's Part 1 that I'm not really a fan of, so I'll be moving some of those to this part instead if needed.

For the overall IF:

Alex will now have a set skin tone if a lighter one is chosen for the Ripper. I will discuss this in detail soon, but I just wanted to emphasize that Alex and Ripper's mother are canonically PoC.

You will have options for your Ripper to wear contacts or glasses (or neither ofc).

You'll be able to bring a weapon with you in Chapter 2 depending on your choices so far.

You might remember a section of Chapter 1 where you can choose what your Ripper had been doing for the duration of the five months. I might reduce it to a few, just so I could have them properly recognized in the story.

There will be a couple of changes in the character descriptions in the game's stats page, with plans to make them shorter, too, for easier readability.

I will make sure you'll have saves at the end of this. So please don't be surprised if there'll be more page breaks in the future, as well as more choices (that are still as meaningful.)

In connection to above, I also plan to make the in-game descriptions snappier and easier to read while still maintaining the quality they should have. Your feedback will be very important for this, and this also applies to the beta testers (sorry I've been so silent. I swear I'll get back to you all soon lmao)

Not really too related here, but I also plan to be more consistent with my updates in the future. It's just that my irl schedule is still a huge mess, and it's very hard to be consistent when that happens.

Just a last piece of my mind. Some anons have been very aggressive with harassment the past few months, and I really have no interest for more drama right now. So if you have issues, if you think you can back your own words, send them through a DM or at least turn off anon so we could have a proper conversation.

It's honestly tiring. Being an Asian in this community can already be so tiring, so I am begging people to be mature and responsible with their words. After all, I've repeatedly said that you can always come to me with your concerns or whatever you have against me. As long as we can actually talk about it.

Anyway, that's all, and I hope the week will be good for everyone :) I have a few more things to post on Patreon tomorrow, so if you're a current patron, do look forward to that!

[slutterhaus]

.peace

AN: I love this trigger-happy bastard man, I love angst, I have no excuse. CWs: Character death, heavily implied suicide, mentions of blood, mentions of human sacrifice, mentions of Caligura, angst (no comfort) Other: Second Person POV, you and Pav kinda have a blossoming romance that's cut short. милый means darling in this context. Under read more because it's more than 100 words. Word Count: 805

Your fingertips were slick and slimy, the blood on your hands feeling sticky as it started to dry all the while the patches that stained your wrists and bits of your forearm were long forgotten. It was quiet on the train, save for Pav’s breathing, which came out in small, ragged puffs as the bandages that covered the large wound along his chest and abdomen slowly stopped needing to be changed as often. He was in pain, you knew this, and no amount of painkillers given to him by your shaking hands could help his body, much less his mind.

“And you call yourself that old one’s follower.” An airy chuckle escaped him. “Didn’t you eat people for rituals? Now you can’t handle a little blood on your hands?” 

“Sacrificed. Never ate.” You bit back. “And it’s…”

“Different?” He interjected.

“Complicated.” You corrected, taking the damp cloth you had brought back from one of the passenger carriages’ washrooms storage and wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Those people had brought me pain, I just returned the favor.” 

Silence overtook the two of you once again, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. It was like he sensed your worry, and in his bastardly ways, he tried to comfort you. “You know… maybe you and I aren’t so different after all.” This earned him a glare of daggers his way from you. “We aren’t nothing alike, Lieutenant. You let your need for revenge corrupt you. You–”

“Turned into the exact same thing I wanted to destroy. I know.” He cut you off again, though his tone seemed somewhat distant, as if he was just voicing his thoughts and not just directly answering you. “And for what? Now look at me; bleeding out on a damn couch. It’s ironic how fitting this end is for me, left to die like a dog without mercy, just like the lack of it I showed others.” 

“Pav…” You didn’t know how to make things better for his passing, the only thing coming to mind was not leaving him alone. Nothing excused his actions, the crimes he committed against innocent lives being monstrous and vile, yet maybe he was right. Maybe revenge also clouded your judgment. 

And maybe… just maybe… this festival, even though you weren’t a contestant, was also your punishment. Perhaps he was also keeping you company during your final moments. That mobster didn’t seem too pleased when you pushed him down a flight of stairs back in the city. And between two creeps, you would take Pav any day, but he wasn’t in any condition to come to your rescue if your club slipped from your bloodied hands. 

“My mom would’ve liked you.”

His words made your attention snap back towards him. “What?”

Pav chuckled, this time hard enough for him to wince and hiss from the pain. “You heard me.” He began. “This whole dying thing… life flashing before your eyes… Thought back to when I wasn’t such a complete fucking bastard, before He took my actual life away… мама would’ve like you.”

A sad smile tugged at your lips as you reached to wipe his forehead again, the now dark red stained cloth bringing as much comfort as a priest coming to a patient’s deathbed. “Going soft on me, Lieute–”

“Pav… Pavel, please.” He corrected. “My family wouldn’t like that to be how I go to meet them. I’ve always been snarky and got under people’s skin… so consider yourself lucky to see this side of me.” His breathing seemed to get slower, and every once in a while his words slurred. He was tired, they both knew it. “Maybe if it was any of the others, I’d be snappier… Guess I like ‘ya a little too much.” His face held a pained snicker, but you knew he was being at least somewhat genuine. “I’m tired, милый.”

You nodded, scooting closer from your place on the floor, tongue swirling the capsule underneath it. “Do you think I’ll get to meet them?” You asked, receiving a shake of the head as an answer. “As much as I’d like to believe we’ll see them… we’re not going to a place with pearly white gates. Not us.” He added, bringing a bloody, nearly limp hand to brush against your back. 

“Anything is better than here.” You argued, earning one last chuckle from Pav. “I suppose it is.” He agreed.

True to those words, the train door opened, the bone-saw wielding festival contestant finding the two of you peacefully asleep, away from the horrors that awaited you had you chosen to stay. And whether or not the two of you escaped the Gods or ended up in a void, nobody knew. Maybe you and Pav were somewhere much worse, but for now… so was everyone in Prehevil. 

[wildwoodsgames]

Design Diary: Heaven in the Dust (Revised) - Playbooks

So here's the thing—Heaven in the Dust was the first Belonging Outside Belonging game I ever wrote.

It was published way back in January 2019 for the Record Collection jam into a largely-unexplored design space. Sleepaway wouldn't crowdfund until the end of that year. The design jam that produced Our Haunt was three months away. You could count the BOB games in existence without running out of fingers.

As a result of that, the ideas are strong but the execution is somewhat naive. See for yourself with Hades:

Looking back on this today, what do I see?

The picklists are perfunctory—often only one unique prompt per archetype—and pedestrian. The prompts themselves are uninflected (Wanderhome hasn't reshaped the possibility space yet).

There's too much focus on aesthetic, and not enough on narrative prompts. There only unique prompt focuses on the factory rather than on Hades. This needn't be a bad thing, as characterising him mainly through the business he runs could be interesting, but right now the factory prompt is surface-level—anything broader it says is up to the player.

The birthrights need to be punchier and snappier, and you're currently making a choice without context (the rules for them are at the bottom of the next column over).

In general there's good ideas in a lot of these picklists, but not some too-obvious ideas as well.

So then, a revised edition. Meet Hades, new and improved:

To start, we have a new picklist in a new format. This solves a couple of problems.

It explicitly states what was implicit in the original version: archetypes bring certain things with them. Hades has a factory, Persephone has a garden, Hephaestus has a strike, etc.

It lets the player assert some truths: about that thing, about their archetype, about the broader setting, about what has come before, about a sliver of hope that this might not be a tragedy after all.

It gives me room to assert some crucial details about that thing—Hades is not running an artisanal workshop, or a worker-owned collective, or a functional business. They're running a Gothic caricature of an industrial factory that is certainly fucked up somehow.

Next, a familiar picklist but with a crucial recasting in the prompt: products and byproducts. The difference between a factory churning out propaganda and a munitions manufacturer that incidentally produces propaganda is vast, and the prompt now invites you to play with that difference.

Another new picklist! This one characterises Hades both indirectly (as a boss, through what they forbid) and directly (as a person, through their mode of self-denial), which is a nice change from the blank slate of the previous version.

Aesthetics have been combined and condensed, nearly thirty prompts distilled down to a razor-sharp set of eleven. Narrowing it down to just three distinctive features (though I'm not a cop, choose as many as you like in play) invites people to make bolder and more evocative choices, and lean into them harder.

Relationship questions are sharper, punchier, and there's more of them. There's also explicit permission to keep asking questions after the initial two (which I may yet keep the "ask one left and one right" wording for), something that I've certainly seen players do in playtests.

Finally the birthright picklist now tells you what it's about before you choose. More than that, each archetype locks in a core birthright, which is a snappy way to communicate what the game's take on that mythological figure is, and the possible birthrights have been edited to be more distinct and evocative.

And that's Hades, before and after!

The same thought process has been applied to all the other archetypes, in addition to the new one I'm adding for the revised edition, and there've been additional changes to lures, failings, moves, etc that I might talk about in a future post.

I'm hopeful the revised edition will be playtest-ready by the end of September, and released by the end of the year.

My inbox is open if you're curious about the game or have any questions about the approach outlined in this post. Cheers!