#oh look i'm making OCs for no reason because I hate myself

[yngjwonluvr]

𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦 // ʏᴀɴɢ ᴊᴜɴɢᴡᴏɴ

pairing: non-idol! jungwon x fem! reader

genre: smau, fluff, enemies to lovers

warnings: swearings, mention of humiliation, goofy jungwon

wordcount: 868 not proofread

author's note: Happy Sunday, y'all! Got nothing to do so I made this. I know it's boring ++I'm not good at writing but still did my best. Hope you guys like it!

synopsis: In the competitive world of business, longstanding rivals Jungwon and (oc) are forced into an uneasy partnership when their families orchestrate a merger to save their companies and make a stronger bond. Complicating matters further, they find themselves bound by an arranged marriage. They have to face their rivalry and determine whether there is true love between them or if their marriage is doomed to fail as they work through the difficulties of combining their personal and professional lives.

“What?!?! But dad-” I was about to make an excuse about the information that I just heard when my dad cut me off, saying “You can’t say no, dear; you already signed the partnership contract.” He said, making me sigh. “But I didn’t know that it was going to be him who would be my partner for this project.” I reasoned it out. “But dear, a contract is a contract. No more excuses, okay? Whether you like it or not, you’ll work with him.”

I nodded and left my dad’s office, feeling defeated by the fact that I had to work with my longtime enemy, who’s known for his looks, intelligence, and wealth. I guess you already know him….yes! The one and only YANG JUNGWON. He’s the son of my father’s friend. But Dad and Uncle being the best of friends doesn’t make me close to Jungwon. Instead, annoyance and anger took over. Why? Because he rejected me harshly and freaking embarrassed me 3 years ago at their house party when I told him that I liked him, and he answered, saying, "I don't like spoiled brats," and started laughing with his friends. And from that day on, I started hating him to the point that seeing his face made me want to break his bones.

‘Aish, I’m stressing myself more just by thinking of him.’ My thoughts were interrupted when I heard my secretary call my name. “Yes, Lia? Do I have a meeting later?” I asked. “Oh, no, Miss Yn. Your mom just wanted me to tell you that you guys are going to have a family dinner at the Yang's residence later at 7 pm,” she stated, which made me roll my eyes. “Aish, again? Alright, I’ll take note of that. Thanks for telling me.” She smiled and bowed before leaving as I went to my office to continue the work that I had left when my dad called me to his office.

“I bet the partnership will be our topic tonight,” I sigh.

----------------T I M E S K I P—--------------

I flinched when I heard my phone ringing. I groaned before answering the call without looking at the caller’s ID. “Hello?” I started. “Oh, Yn dear, are you still planning to attend our family dinner tonight?” the person on the other line sweetly asked, which made my eyes widen. It’s Jungwon’s mother. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry auntie, I must’ve fallen asleep while doing my work and didn’t notice the time,” I explained. "It's okay, dear. Take your time. We are not rushing you," she assured. "Okay, Auntie, I'll just pack my things and call Dad to fetch me." I said, "No need, dear. Take your time; I already sent someone to fetch you there since your parents are here already." Auntie said. “Okay, Auntie, I'll be leaving now,” I said, informing her that I needed to go. “Alright. Take care, dear. Bye,” she hung up, as I left my office and went to the parking lot.

I was peacefully walking in the parking lot while using my phone when something hit me—a candy wrapper. “Oopss,” my eyes automatically shut, and I felt like it rolled back inside my head. “What the heck are you doing here, Yang Jungwon? ”I turn around and see him grinning so widely that my blood boils in irritation. “What's with the full name, Missy? And chill, am I not allowed to see my lovely business partner? "He answered with a smirk while leaning on his car hood. Hearing his last two words pissed me more. "I am not working with an arrogant man, like you." He chuckled and played the lollipop in his mouth. He took the lollipop out of his mouth and offered it to me. "Do you want to have a taste?" he asked. "Yuck," I said, turning my back on him as I started walking away. "Hm, planning to ditch the dinner? "Jungwon asked. "Nah, not this time," I answered as I continued walking.

"Then should we go? "He asked, which made me stop walking and turn to face him again. "What did you say? 'I asked, wanting him to repeat what he said to make sure that I heard it right. "I said, if we should go already?" he repeated while walking towards me. "Huh? What do you mean, "if we should go? Yang, "I asked confusedly, "Oh, mom didn't tell you? "Tell me what? "I asked back. "Tell you that she asked me to fetch you." Jungwon answered my question with a smirk, holding my hand as he started pulling me towards his car. "What??? But why him, Untieeeee?" I whine while trying to escape from his grip as he laughs. "Yah, let's go; it's already 6:40," he said. "I know, and I don't want to go with you, Yang," I protest. "But you don't have a choice," he said while opening the passenger seat door. He made me sit there and go to the driver's seat. "Plus, we're going to be late. My wife doesn't like being late, right?" he added while giggling as he started driving.

‘Right, business partners also mean you are in a fixed marriage.’

[monstrouslyobsessed]

life updates and then some

oh dear, i've been gone for quite a long while, huh? i'm so, so sorry and i really, REALLY do appreciate all of your concerns and sweet messages! it's heartwarming to know that my works are still being loved even in my absence. yall deserves some explanations so ima get right in it.

mild cw ahead: bizarre financial abuse (?), depression, and nongraphic medical concerns.

these past few months were pretty rough, especially with the financial aspects, personal matters, and my health, both mental and physical, had been going downspiral to the point that my writing had become complete nonexistent and that i lowkey hated every word i put down. i won't get into too much of details, but the short of it, an estranged family member (and trust when i say they are estranged for very good reasons) pulled a fast one via some kind of legal fraud (???), which hurts my financial situation and impacted my ability to pay bills. im still a huge wtaf over it, i won't lie, but it is something getting sorted out atm via official and legal means (fun times to be had!!!). im incredibly lucky to be living with a very understanding person though who also got very angry on my behalf so don't worry about my current living situation.

health wise, doctors found something wrong with one of my organs but they couldn't determine the issue. since then, life had been a struggle.

with my health was the first thing to start for me, it's nothing fatal or too life altering, fairly mild imo (so say i with stupidly high pain tolerance, apparently), but it's kind of something i need to keep aware of with my consumption. but boy tis was not fun living with discomforts with my own body for a while. rest just fell into places afterward, unfortunately, but that's how the life go--you'll always have your ups and downs, just cherish the present while you can.

anyway, i can't promise i'll be posting regularly again given my situation(s), not as on a semi-frequent schedule, which absolutely does make me sad because i really do love making monsterfucker contents, not just for myself but for you lovely readers as well. hopefully i'll be back sooner than later. that said…

i do have a super overdue commission i'm going to post very soon! just got one last scene to get through (it's currently at 8.1k words....!) and get it edited and make it pretty--and bam! it'll be done and posted. so do look forward to that, at least.

heck, i'll leave yall with this teaser line at the start of the final scene!

“Let us give them quite a show, hm?”

just gonna...get through pron writing lmao <3 yet again, thank you all so very much for caring and i really do miss you and your kind words. please take care of yourselves, lovelies!

in the meantime, i'm going to clean out my blog a bit and i'll try to reply some of your asks later too. if you have anything random, asking for advice, or anything related to my ocs or my aus, ask away. my inbox is always open for yall <3

[karahalloway]

Morally Grey - Part III: Russian Roulette

Fandom: TRR x Mission: Impossible II

Pairing: Drake Walker x F!OC (Harper Gale)

Series: Morally Grey

Synopsis: Things continue to heat up between Harper and Drake...

Word count: 3,500

Rating/Warnings: E (swearing, multiple lemon-scented moments)

Chapter theme song:

A/N1: I know I haven't posted anything in over a month (life has been way too busy!) but in the few moments of spare time that I have managed to eek out, my brain decided that this is the series that it wants to focus on, so here is Part 3.

A/N2: Unlike previous parts, are no YouTube clips for this part - the movie skips over whatever happens between the car chase scene and Ethan and Nyah waking up in bed together the following evening, so I took Harper and Drake's lead to fill the time gap.

"I haven't...forgiven you," I gasp against his lips, even as I find myself yielding to the direction of his hands.

"This ain't an apology," he replies, tipping my head to the side so he can coast his tongue down my jaw.

My eyes shudder shut as the scrape of his stubble across the sensitive skin of my throat leaves me breathless.

Damn, he's an arrogant ass...

But I can't deny that I want to fuck him.

Whether it's because of my oh-so-close brush death... or because I'm still pissed at him and I need an outlet for the messy cocktail of emotions burning inside of me... or some kind of twisted combination of the two, the end result is the same. My brain is a mess and my body is on fire.

Which means I need to break this off now, before things become dangerously complicated between us.

"Good," I tell him, pulling abruptly away. "We're on the same page, then."

His eyes widen as I grab onto his shoulders to swing myself off his lap. "The hell—?"

"Nice knowing you, Walker," I throw over my shoulder as I shunt myself across to the other side of the car.

He grabs my wrist. "You said you'd listen."

"No," I correct. "I didn't."

He cusses under his breath as I twist away. "Look, will you just hold on, for one second, and—?"

"And what?" I interject testily, hoisting myself up onto the doorframe. "Give you yet another chance to con me? No thanks."

"You wanna be mad at me?" he grits. "Fine. Be mad. But don't pretend that's a good reason to walk away."

"Funny," I snark, swinging my legs into the Porsche. "It's working surprisingly well for me so far."

"Until you find yourself backed into a corner..."

I freeze mid-motion.

"You're on Interpol's wanted list," he reminds me. "And that kind of heat is hard to shake. Even if you decide to lie low for a while, or full-on retire, you're not getting a free pass. Not without help, anyway."

"Why should I believe you?" I snap through gritted teeth, hating the indecision raging inside of me.

"Honestly? 'Cause you ain't got a choice," he huffs. "And I know you got no reason to trust me right now. Hell, I wouldn't trust me either. But I'm in a bind, and my offer's legit. So, as far as get-out-of-jail-free cards go, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better one."

I glare out into the night. Damn it, why does he have to be so right?

On one hand, logic — and experience — tells me that I should steer clear of gift horses that seem too good to be true, as they invariably have rotten teeth.

And yet, in spite of every rational inclination, I want to trust him... I want to give into him.

As behind the somewhat gruff exterior and annoyingly pushy attitude, there is a certain frankness to him. I mean, he could've bullshitted me over the alarm, or even fed me to the wolves for kicks... but he didn't. Which makes me want to think that he has some measure of integrity.

But I've been wrong about guys before...

"Fine," I declare abrasively, wiping the wetness from my face. "I'll help you. But I want that offer in writing."

"Done," he accedes, the sudden warmth of his breath lapping the shell of my ear.

Whipping around, I find myself nose to nose with him, his hands splayed on the Mercedes' doorframe on either side of me, as if our renewed proximity somehow serves to seal the deal.

But he's wrong if he thinks he's won this round.

"And you owe me a necklace," I add, lifting my chin.

A scoff escapes him, tickling my lips. "Fuck me, you're demanding..."

I shrug up at him. "You wouldn't have chased after me if I wasn't."

He regards me for a long moment, his jaw working.

I force myself to hold his gaze, even as I feel the latent embers left by that kiss start to smoulder again under the weight of the prolonged contact.

He breaks off first. "I'll see what I can do."

A relieved breath rushes out of me.

I have no idea whether he'll come through for me on either front. But a long career in larceny has taught me to aim high, and always have a back-up plan in my pocket.

And of things don't work out...? Well, I guess I'll just have to pawn that expensive watch of his.

"Great...!" I chirp, fully conscious of the bare modicum of space between us. "So, what's the job?"

"No clue," he admits, finally backing off to slip past me into the Porsche.

My jaw drops. "What do you mean you don't know! You came all this way to set me up and you don't even—?"

"Trust me," he grumbles, sliding into the driver's seat. "I'm well aware. But my brief was to locate you first, and then report in to get the rest of the details."

"And you follow your assignments to the letter..." I surmise with a sidelong look as I plop down into the passenger seat next to him.

He scoffs wryly as he flips the engine over. "Very rarely."

Yanking the wheel hard to the right, he rams the gas pedal down to detach his car from mine with an ear-splitting screech of metal, taking the Mercedes' wing mirror off in the process.

Swerving out into the middle of the bridge, he guns the Porsche into the night, leaving the carnage behind us to dust.

"You always drive like a maniac?" I shout over the whip of the wind.

He slants me a deadpan look. "I'm not the one who almost ended up in the river..."

I roll my eyes at him. "Where are we meeting this guy?"

"Stormholt," he replies, punching some coordinates into the Spyder's navigation system. "But it ain't a joint exercise."

"Why?" I counter with an arched brow. "You don't trust me?"

"Not one bit," he grins.

I can't help but laugh. "How do you know I won't skip out on you, then?"

"I don't," he admits, meeting my eye across the width of the car. "But I'm hoping I've given you enough reason to stay."

I glance quickly away before he notices the sudden colour spreading across my cheeks. "But...umm... Why me?"

"You came highly recommended."

"By whom?"

"By my agency."

My brows furrow. "I didn't think the CIA kept tabs on common thieves."

"I don't work for the CIA."

"Then...?"

"I'm an agent with IMF."

I nearly choke. "IMF?"

"Impossible Missions Force," he clarifies.

"You can't be serious..." I blurt.

Luckily, he mistakes my disbelief for confusion as he says, "Hey, I didn't come up with the name. But at least it's accurate."

"If you say so," I mutter, sinking deeper into the seat and wrapping my arms around myself.

This can't be a coincidence... Can it?

"Here," he says, shrugging out of his suit jacket while managing to keep the Porsche tracking steady with just his knees against the steering wheel at over 80 mph.

I shake my head. "I don't—"

He cuts off my protest with an impeccably aimed toss, landing the jacket square in my lap. "It's a long drive. And the adrenaline will be wearing off now."

As if on cue, a shiver runs over my skin. Heaving a begrudging sigh, I set about pulling the jacket on. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he murmurs, grabbing hold of the wheel again.

I can feel the heat of his mocha gaze on me, but I make a point of not meeting it as I busy myself with turning the lapels up and tugging the front closed around myself to keep the midnight chill at bay.

As regardless of the one too many ways we've found ourselves up close and personal over the past hour, this is now a transactional relationship — pure and simple. So, I'm not going to indulge him with anything beyond that. It's a bad idea to play Russian roulette, and I have no intention of becoming physically (...much less emotionally!) entangled with someone who holds the keys to my proverbial release.

Making myself comfortable — albeit at the expense of now being scent-marked by the lingering spice of his aftershave, which I force myself to ignore — I let my focus drift over the shadowy forms outside the car as they zip past us on our way back down to the capital, wondering if I've just backed myself into the very corner that he warned me about.

But, I must have dozed off at some point, for the next thing I know, I am being shaken gently awake.

"Harper..."

Opening my eyes groggily, I find Dallas — Drake — looking at me with that impenetrable gaze of his.

I sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Where are we?"

"At a safe house," he replies, unclipping the seatbelt he had apparently pulled over me at some point while I was passed out. "Not far from the marina."

"What time is it?" I ask, stifling a yawn.

"Still early," he advises, exiting the Porsche, the slam of his door echoing across the exposed concrete of the underground garage he had parked us in.

Arriving at the other side of the car, he pulls the door open for me and holds out his hand.

Ignoring the offer of assistance, I swing my legs out to push myself up to standing on slightly wobbly feet, my body still in the process of shaking off the vestiges of sleep.

"You good?" he asks, peering down at me.

"Yeah," I affirm, slipping his jacket pointedly off and handing it back to him.

He doesn't look like he believes me, but he nods nevertheless. "This way," he prompts, tilting his head towards the back of the space.

Following behind, he leads me through a heavy-looking metal door and into an airy, white-washed hallway with terracotta flooring that opens up into a spacious, open-plan kitchen with vaulted ceilings and arched windows through which the dawn is just starting to peek through.

"Fridge should be fully stocked," he advises, striding past the large centre island. "And there's coffee, if you want it."

I nod silently, casting my eyes around the minimalist, but nevertheless welcoming interior... which definitely tends towards more executive Vrbo than run-of-the-mill safe house.

"Bedroom's this way," he advises, turning down a corridor. "Your clothes should be in there already."

I blink. "My clothes?"

"Figured you'd want to get changed," he shrugs. "So, I called ahead and got the bags from your rental moved up here."

"Of course you did..." I mutter, stepping after him.

This guy is nothing, if not thorough...

Entering the room, I am greeted by a four-poster bed, breezy white drapes that kiss the floor, and a cavernous en-suite... with no door.

Great...

"You hungry?"

His question catches me off guard. Twisting back 'round, I find him leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, watching me.

I suddenly feel naked under the weight of his dark gaze. "I..."

"I can cook something up," he clarifies.

My discomposure evaporates in a blaze of disbelief. "You... cook?"

He cracks out a laugh — warm and rich, like a perfectly brewed macchiato. "Call it a hobby."

"Umm... Okay," I accede, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear while I try... and fail once again to figure this guy out. "Surprise me."

"Yes, ma'am," he agrees with a lopsided smirk as he turns away.

I let out an explosive breath as he rounds the corner and disappears back down the corridor.

Who is this guy?

I shake my head. "It doesn't matter..."

I'm not planning to stick around long enough to find out, and I'm not interested in the answer anyway. This is a temporary set-up, and once I help him steal whatever it is that needs stealing, we'll go our separate ways.

Decision reaffirmed, I turn back into the room, where I find my bags stacked neatly against the foot of the bed.

Grabbing the larger of the two suitcases, I quickly extract an oversized t-shirt and a pair of boyshort undies. Since I fully expect to just hang around the safe house today, there's no need for anything fancier, and I'm definitely not going to be giving Drake any mixed signals by dressing up for him.

Locating my bag of toiletries as well, I make my way into the bathroom.

Stepping through the curved archway, I am greeted by an oasis of calm. Cream-coloured tiles lead to a claw-foot tub nestled under a large window, beyond which sits a waterfall cave shower complete with steam and pressure jets.

Four Seasons, eat your heart out.

Dropping my clothes on the floor, I quickly pull my heels off and shimmy out of my dress. Grabbing a fluffy Turkish cotton towel, I make a beeline towards the shower, eager to get under the spray and wash the night away.

Slapping the faucet onto its hottest setting, I step under the flow, and let out a sigh as the steam envelopes me, melting the tension that has built up inside of me over the past 24-hours out of me.

Once I'm sufficiently sous vide'd, I set about washing the hairspray out of my hair, and the make-up off of my face before turning the water off somewhat reluctantly.

The long soak had been a welcome reprieve, but as much as I may want to, I can't hide in here forever. Especially since I am now genuinely hungry.

Peeking out of the shower, I check to see that the coast is clear, before slipping out to quickly envelope myself in the towel.

I'm not shy about my body per se, but given the already delicate tightrope I'm having to navigate with the guy, I don't want to get caught in a — potentially even more! — compromising situation with Drake. Because as hot as he is, and as great as he is with his tongue, I can't afford to tip across that line with him... And him seeing me naked after that heated kiss on the bridge would only be adding fuel to the already dangerous fire simmering between us.

Which is why I make a special point to not doing anything with my hair apart from squeezing any excess water out of it, or even bothering to put on any make-up. As the fewer ideas I can put in his mind, the better — for both of us.

Dropping the towel, I quickly pull the fresh clothes on, before walking back out into the bedroom...

...and straight into a tell-tale smell wafting in from the kitchen.

I scoff. "He didn't..."

But the ambrosia emanating from the other end of the corridor leaves little room for doubt, and I feel my mouth start to water as I'm pulled almost unwittingly towards the source.

Poking my head around the corner, I can't help but gasp as my suspicions are confirmed. "Are you making... pancakes?"

"You told me to surprise you," he throws over his shoulder as he catches the crêpe he's just flipped into the air.

"When I said that, I wasn't expecting... this," I admit, taking in the rest of the spread jostling for space on the centre island with a slack-jawed expression.

While I'd been soaking myself in the shower, Drake had whipped up a pair of ham and cheese omelettes, a steaming pot of coffee, as well as a carafe of what looks like freshly squeezed orange juice. Not to mention the small tower of pancakes that he has just put the finishing touches on.

"Good," he grins, flipping the gas off on the cooktop, and stowing the pan. "Wouldn't want to disappoint on the first day, now, would I?"

"Technically, we're into day t—"

I very narrowly catch my jaw from smacking into the countertop as he turns to face me.

At some point during the prep process, he had thrown the buttons of his shirt open — whether to stop it from getting splattered, or whether to keep himself cool — with the result that the perfect ridges of his abs and the toned mounds of his pecs were now on full, unadulterated display... making my body crave a very different kind of meal.

I jerk my gaze away before he can realise that I'm staring.

Keep it together, Harper! Neither of you needs any encouragement, remember?

"So, umm..." I cough to clear my suddenly patched throat as I reach for the coffee. "Where did you learn to do all this?"

"My dad," he admits, placing the plate of pancakes down on the island. "He was an amazing cook."

"Was?" I ask, my gaze jumping upwards on its own accord to meet his in surprise.

"Was," he confirms, lowering himself onto a bar stool across from me, and tugging his shirt mercifully closed.

"I'm sorry," I say sincerely, passing him the caffeine. Having grown up without a family myself, I know the feeling of that particular pain all too well.

"Don't be," he replies, refilling his mug. "He died doing what he signed up for, which was protecting his country."

I reach for the pancakes. "Is that why you became a spy?"

"No," he scoffs, as if at some private joke, shunting some jam, lemons and sugar my way. "You don't apply to IMF. You get picked. Whether you want to be, or not."

I nearly spread jam all up my arm, instead of over my pancake. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that I ended up in a corner. And just like you, I wasn't really in a position to bargain my way out of it."

"Not a great feeling, is it?" I point out dryly, rolling my crêpe up.

"Nope," he affirms, taking a swig of his coffee. "But I got a second lease on life, so I ain't too sour."

I quirk a brow at him. "That's the third time you've done that."

"Done what?"

"Said 'ain't'," I tell him 'round a mouthful of pancake — which, I have to admit, tastes just as good as it smelt, and literally melts in my mouth.

"So?"

"So, which state are you from?" I press. "Kentucky? Georgia? Tennessee?"

"Texas," he replies tersely. "Not that it matters anymore."

"Why not?"

He heaves a low exhale. "I'm a ghost. I don't officially exist. I'm not in any government system and every passport I have is a fake."

I look upon him with new eyes. "You can never go back to your old life, can you?"

"No."

"Neither can I," I admit, stuffing the last of the crêpe into my mouth and reaching for an omelette.

He watches me silently for a long moment. "D'you want to?"

I shake my head. "You?"

"I'm not sure anymore."

My gaze lifts to meet his, and within those deep mocha depths, I am surprised to find specks of sadness, floating like lost leaves down a river.

An unexpected lump forms in my throat. "I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to keep apologising."

"I know, but—"

He lays a hand on my arm. "The choices I made were my own. No one else's."

The heat of his palm burns into my skin, and I suddenly realise I've made a huge mistake by engaging him. As in the course of our seemingly innocent conversation, we ended up straying out of the safety of the professional, and into the minefield of the personal.

Gulping down the final bite, I shoot out of my seat. "Thanks for cooking! This was—"

I barely make it half a step before his hand shoots out to intercept me.

Jerking my head across the counter, I find him staring at me with all the latent intensity of a wolf on the hunt.

"Wh-what?" I challenge, hoping he doesn't notice the slight tremble in my voice.

"You missed a spot."

"Wha—?"

He tugs me forward. "Just here."

I stumble to a stop before him, palm subconsciously flying out to seek purchase against his chest in a bid to steady myself.

He raises his free hand to wipe the lone smear of jam from my cheek.

I stand, rooted to the spot as our gazes meet against my better judgment... and I suddenly find myself falling into his cinnamon-flecked irises.

His thumb brushes against the corner of my lips. "Damn, you're beautiful..."

My mouth parts on its own volition...

...and the next thing I know, my lips are crushed against his.

Permatags

@twinkleallnight @lovingchoices14 @kingliam2019 @petiteboheme @angelasscribbles @aussiegurl1234 @nestledonthaveone @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tessa-liam @alyshak92 @secretaryunpaid @princessleac1 @walkerdrakewalker @tinkie1973 @twinkle-320 @knaussal @nikkis1983 @lunaseasblog @ficloverevie @indiana-jr @differenttyphoonwerewolf @kristinamae093 @eversoaringqueen12 @3pawandme  @alexabeta @veebug8 @fanfiction-she-wrote @queenmiarys @lancelotsimp @coco-lina-s @lolablackwrites @ivyflowers13 @persephone13 @hollygirl1269 @adri-ja-96 @harleybeaumont @katedrakeohd @uneravine @alj4890 @mywildheartremains

Picture credits:

Drake - Kiss - Harper - Cooking

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

OC questionnaire

Thanks to @drchenquill here, @somethingclevermahogony here and here, @mk-writes-stuff here, @elsie-writes here, and @dyrewrites here!

My last questionnaires:

Robbie, Gwen, Maddie, Noelle, Jedi, and Kelsey here.

Carmen, George, Akash, Sam, Lexi, and Ash here.

Gabriel, Carla, Parker, Rose, Alex, and Ewan here!

Below the cut I'll do: Liam, Hye-Jin, Wendy, Wade, Issa, and CJ!

#1- Liam

Which color do you hate?

“Beige. Oh my God, it's just a boring color. I thought that we were past this. Different shades of beige and brown are being used to be the ~aesthetic~ of so many people on Tiktok. Ma'am, where are you from, Boringsville??? I'm not dissing brown. Brown is a great color. But beige??? Who thought this would look nice on anything, much less everything? Why are all of your walls beige--you look like you live in a sandcastle. Man, I feel bad for Hye-Jin. Her powers appear beige! You poor thing. I have brown. An awesome color, remember. So earthly. Anyway, beige can go die with the sand in the Yukon River Basin for all I care. If I go into your house and see one beige wall, I'm leaving. A rainbow is weeping. You disgraced the rainbow. How dare you.”

If all the sounds in the world would cease to exist, which sound would you miss the most?

“I don't see the point in making me choose a favorite sound. Also, how do you know sound stopped? Ceased to exist? Sound exists as a vibration through matter. Why would that vibration suddenly stop? How do you know we didn't all just go deaf? That's a significantly more logical explanation than sound disappearing. And if you think I don't have an answer and am just avoiding the question, you're very mistaken. I'd miss people's voices. For a variety of reasons. Connection, analyzing tone, nuances of emotion or thought, even my own voice. Sure, I'd be able to learn a gesture-based language--I am not saying voice is the most important thing to hear. But considering I like a good oral debate, I would still miss it, even if it would take me time to adjust to the new mode of speaking. Next!”

What is the first rule you learned as a child?

“You are going to have to rebel and argue your way out of everything. You may or may not be able to tell, but I am a strongly opinionated person. I can make an argument out of everything. Knowing how to back stuff up with logic and facts to get your way. Push and push and push. Know your shit. If you're wondering how this was the first rule I learned, one of my first memories is refusing to eat my carrots because they were bad. I was...three and a half maybe. And I told my mom, 'if I eat these carrots, I will throw up, and then I'd have to eat more food, and you get mad when food is wasted'. I then ate carrots and threw up. Never had to eat them again.”

#2- Hye-Jin

What is one embarassing memory from your childhood that you can't shake?

“Oh, oh no. First day of class, kindergarten. I had to introduce myself in front of the class. I was so excited for my first day of class. I wore this cute little dress, my hair in high pigtails and bows. But when I stood in front of everyone else, I got so sick I threw up. I think I ate something like prune juice in the morning. My dress was ruined. Had to be walked to the nurse to change. Wore that the rest of the day.”

What would you take with you if you were trapped on a desert island for one week?

“Food, water, and shelter. Sunscreen. I'm not pale, but that doesn't mean I'll be protected from UV rays. I would like a change of clothes just so I feel clean. I wouldn't mind bringing one person along with me, but you said what, so that may not be an option. But I really think I could do it.”

What is your favorite animal?

“I actually really like snakes. They're super cool in terms of design. Love reading about them, and I have a snake themed room!”

#3- Wendy

What is your favourite animal?

“Changes depending on the day. Yesterday it was tigersharks. Today it's a water dragon. Tomorrow it may be a capybara.”

Do you have any obscure skills? What are they?

“I can basket weave. Some people think that's obscure.”

If you could change one thing about the world you live in, what would it be?

“More hours in the day so I can do what I want to do.”

#4- Wade

What is your favorite song?

“Rasputin. How can you not love that song? Mr. Brightside is up there, too.”

Do you like consuming happy, positive media, or sadder, more thought-provoking media?

“I like both. You need a balance in life. But thought-provoking in general. I like thinking about things, analyzing them. Not necessarily sadder stories, but thought-provoking.”

What is your favorite type of weather?

“I like it warm and sunny, but enough cloud coverage. The kind of weather where everything is greener, that makes you say out loud, 'it sure is a beautiful day.'”

#5- Issa

When is the last time you were afraid?

“Last week, I was staying up late working on an essay. I was home alone--something I rarely am with six siblings. It was eerily quiet. I already felt uncomfortable. I was on the phone with Alex, multitasking, so I could have someone to talk to to ease my nerves. She got up to pee, which left me alone in my living room for a few minutes. In that time, I heard a banging on our garage door. It was harsh, constant. I thought someone was trying to break in. Then as quickly as it came, it was gone. Alex got back on the line then. I would've felt much better if whatever that was happened any other time.”

Does the fear haunt you still?

“Not really. It was only a minute, maybe two. Took about an hour talking to Alex. But I stopped working on my essay for the rest of the night. Not that I didn't try, but Alex convinced me to stop when I couldn't concentrate due to my heart pounding.”

What do you do when you're afraid?

“What's with all the fear questions? Well, I usually stand my ground. I yelped a bit when that happened. I was frozen for a bit, but I actually was about to get up to check what the banging was when it stopped.”

#6- CJ

What was your favorite toy as a child?

“I had little mini figurines of a bunch of Puppets* characters. I liked them because most of my playtime consisted of me ordering them based on height. After I lined them up, I would play. I also liked burying a bunch of rubber balls in the yard, leaving them there for, like, a week, then digging them up again. My shovels were definitely a favorite. There was also some cool Alii tech thing that simulated growth of a plant. The entire life cycle, in fact. Man, that was awesome.”

What makes you laugh every time you see it?

“Issa and Alex invite us to their improv shows each Friday. Issa is the best at anything they give her. I could watch her all day. She loves putting inside jokes in her skits for me, and is great at linking back previous gags. And then Alex wins Can You Ask a Question? each time. But it's hilarious how she and Issa interact. One time, Wendy laughed harder than I'd ever seen, and she spit out her drink. Then this one asshole Ellie slipped on it during her turn. So yeah, the improv shows.”

Who is the most annoying person you know?

“Issa is annoyingly optimistic sometimes, but that's why I love her. Parker is also a bit annoying at times, but he's funny as shit, so I don't care. Gabriel is quite annoying. Everyone tells me that we're very similar, but I don't see it. Honestly, yeah, it's Ellie. I didn't want to say she was annoying cause she's mainly rude. She's constantly making fun of me for everything I do. Like she doesn't like how organized and specific I am for some reason. She asked for a pencil once, and I told her no, I have my pencils for a very specific reason, and don't let anyone else use them. I think she's hated me ever since. It's probably not as petty as that, unless it is. I don't know. Thankfully, I don't know her well enough to answer that question.”

*this universe's Muppets

TSP intro

I'll tag @gracehosborn @little-peril-stories @willtheweaver @willowiswriting @rickie-the-storyteller @mysticstarlightduck @badluck990 @unrepentantcheeseaddict @winterandwords @oh-no-another-idea @awritingcaitlin @cwritesfiction + anyone else who would like to play!

EDIT: I DID NOT GIVE YOU QUESTIONS OH MY GODDDDDD I'm so sorry

What's something that was horrible in the moment, but in hindsight is hilarious?

Do you often get lost in thought? Where does your mind go? How do you focus?

Who do you worry about the most?

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

[seenoversundown]

Amongst The Stars: Chapter Three

Josh x Quinn (Nonbinary OC)

Warnings: Misgendering of a nonbinary character, Men (that’s it. That’s the warning), Wallet chains, Jake being Sweet. Word Count: 4.1k Summary: Josh has always loved love,  and he's finally found it. Buuuut, he can't exactly tell anyone. Join him as he navigates the ins and outs of his sweet, secret romance. Author's Note: We are officially on our regularly scheduled programming. Every monday, babies. I hope you all enjoy this one and the little dual POV action. I just had to get quinn back in there for a little bit at the end :)

Can't Take My Eyes off You - Frankie Valli  “Pardon the way that I stare There's nothin' else to compare The sight of you leaves me weak There are no words left to speak”

I can’t stop thinking about Quinn after they leave. Every little thing I do draws my mind back to them. I know it’s wrong, and I shouldn’t be, but I am jealous of their partner. God, Josh, you sound insane. Pining for a person you’ve met one time, being jealous of their partner. Their partner doesn’t respect them, so their partner doesn’t factor in. Sometimes, I wish brains functioned like an etch-a-sketch because I try shaking my head to clear those thoughts, but it doesn’t quite work, and I end up with a minor headache. Oh well. I walk back up to the front of the store, disinterested in actually working now that my day has been positively derailed by a lovely and mysterious person in a pair of beat-up Doc Martens. 

I stand by the front registers, waiting to greet customers as they walk in. Hobby Lobby has never been my favorite place to work, but it really isn't so bad when you're a manager and can choose to fuck off on the clock if you want to.Which I do. I want to fuck off on the clock badly. I look down at my watch, noting that I only have 20 minutes until I can clock out for the day. There's no sense in starting a new task, I smile to myself. I'm pleased I've managed to time my “greeting responsibilities” so well with the end of my shift. I stand around for a minute, bouncing back and forth on the balls of my feet, and I let my mind drift back to Quinn. Their lips looked so plush and biteable. It should be illegal that they nibbled their lips in front of me while I didn't have the option to offer my assistance. 

I ponder their lips for another moment before my mind slips back to their concerning comment. “He’d done a lot worse for less…”  My eyebrows furrow as I try to imagine a situation in which I would be anything short of sweet and kind to Quinn. 

I meander out of the first set of sliding doors and step into the area where only the ugliest furniture goes to die. Goin’ to the Hobby Lobby lobby, I sing to myself as I take stock of the atrocious seasonal items that no customer would ever think to purchase. That's a lie; old women exist. I walk the area and make a mental note to bring the feather duster out tomorrow to tackle the growing piles of dust that inhabit the, reasonably, rejected items. I run my finger along the gilded frame of one of the paintings that’s propped up atop one of the fucking ugliest baby pink chalk-painted tables I've ever seen. Of course, it's chalk paint, I shudder. My thoughts return to the painting; it’s massive, at least two and a half feet long—a highland cow with fluffy hair covering its eyes and an inexplicable crown of leaves resting upon its stupid little horns. 

“Oh, Bessie,” I whisper, pulling my finger back from the frame and examining the dust that came with it. “They could never make me hate you. I may hate everything in this sad room, but never you.”  I decide to check the markdown schedule tomorrow because, as much as I love this goofy little cow, I will never take her home at full price. I do have some standards. 

As I'm about to turn around and head back into the store proper, I hear the entrance door slide open as a man about my age, give or take, walks through. 

“Oh! Hey, man. Welcome to Hobby Lobby,” I greet him.  “Lookin' for a dude named Josh.”  Me? I take a second to look him over. Curly, blonde hair that sits a bit too close to his eyes. Nondescript black tee with baggy jeans. A wallet chain attached to his belt loop. A fucking wallet chain. What year is this? Well-worn Adidas sneakers. He seems safe enough. A bit worse for wear, but he doesn't seem scary. 

“Ah, yep,” I stick my hand out, offering it in greeting, “that’d be me!” He looks at my outstretched hand and scoffs.  Okayyyyyyy, maybe I misjudged.  “I just wanted to talk with you, man to man.”  “About…”  “About you flirting with my girlfriend,” he cocks an eyebrow.  “Not sure what you mean, champ,” I let out an awkward chuckle.“Don’t pull that shit with me, man.”  “I’m afraid I really don't know what you're talking about. I haven't said more than ‘hi, welcome to Hobby Lobby’ to a girl in weeks.”  “So, you're gonna act like you have no idea who Quinn is?”  I narrow my eyes,  putting two and two together. This is Quinn’s shithead partner.  “I don't think they’d appreciate you calling them your girlf—” “I don't exactly care what she’d appreciate right now,” he cuts me off, “I'm here to talk to you.” 

Oh, so he reallyyyyyyyy doesn't respect them. Noted. 

“Yeah, so,” I roll my eyes, “you can talk at me, but you're not talking to me until you show some respect.”  I watch his face contort in confusion, quickly morphing into anger. “Why should I respect you?” He spits out quickly.  “Are you delusional? Just stupid?”  I can't help but laugh at the look on his face  “I’m not asking you to respect me,” I continue, “I'm asking you to respect your partner. It’s ridiculous that you're in here, trying to talk to me ‘man to man’ while you're misgendering them.”  I watch as realization dawns on his face.  “Come on, you know I didn't mean that.”  “I’m assuming you’ve been with them long enough to know better,” I watch his eyes slowly shift away from mine, “not that length of time has anything to do with respect.” 

His eyes fall to the floor, properly chastised. 

“I—”  “For what it’s worth,” I cut him off, “from the few minutes that I talked to Quinn today, in a purely professional capacity, I think they deserve better than whatever it is you have to offer.”  “Hey—”  “AND, don't forget that they’ll realize that one day. And when they do, someone will be waiting to treat them better.” 

I check my watch.  Time to gooooooo! 

“Anyway,” I pause, narrowing my eyes at him in a silent gesture to get his name.  “Craig.”  “Anyway, Greg, my shift is over. I don't intend to mention this to Quinn the next time I see them, and I’d suggest you don't either.” 

I turn on my heel and book it to the break room, practically sprinting by the time I make it to the double doors. I push through, throw my smock on one of the hooks above the time clock, and punch out. Finally, finally, I sit on the worn-out leather couch across from the lockers and let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in. 

“What the FUUUUUUUUUUCK,” I lean my head back and groan. 

I didn't have “getting accosted by a fucking freak” on today’s bingo card, but I suppose I'll have to tick it off regardless. Who does he think he is? Who do I think I am? I don't talk to people like that. I pull out my phone and send a text to Jake, chuckling at his nickname in my phone. I'm five minutes older, and I will never let him live it down. 

Me: I think I messed up  Kiddo: Elaborate on that?   Me: No 

I slide my phone into my pocket and stand up from the couch, shaking some of the nervous energy from my limbs. I’ll explain everything to Jake when I get home; I just need him to know I may be in a mood. 

I let out a long sigh and slowly made my way out to the front of the store, praying to whatever gods existed that Craig would be gone by the time I got there. I thank all my lucky stars as I walk out of the first set of sliding doors and find myself alone. I glance once more at my girl Bessie, then head out to the parking lot. I glance in every which direction, ensuring that Craig isn’t hiding anywhere, waiting to pop out and murder me. Perhaps I am being dramatic, but my gut tells me you cannot trust someone who wears a wallet chain unironically. And I always follow my gut. 

I make it to my Jeep truck and sigh as I plant myself in the driver's seat, connecting my phone to Bluetooth and clicking into my Apple Music Discover Station. Occasionally, I find something new that I enjoy. The opening notes of a pop song filter over the speakers as I back out of my parking spot and pull through the parking lot. Sam would hate this; I’ll have to add it to the bar playlist. 

I bob my head to the music, driving down the road back to my apartment “I’m your dream come true when it's on a platter for you…” For some reason that brings Quinn to the forefront of my mind, I can’t help but think about what a piece of shit Craig was to me today. I hope he’s better to them, but something tells me he isn’t. The things they said about him today…My stomach clenches thinking about it. Someone like Quinn deserves the world, and Craig is obviously not giving it to them. I could. Okay, no, that’s crazy. 

I sigh, pulling up to the stop sign next to the bar that Jake owns. We’ve lived in the apartment above it for years, but the prior owner finally decided to sell it, and Jake took him up on the offer. Jake got a job down at the docks when we were freshly graduated from high school; he decided he didn’t care about college and just wanted to set himself up with a good job that would pay him enough to put money back in savings and have a little spending money on top, and in Portland… That’s the docks.  Not that he ever needed spending money; he didn’t (and still doesn’t) ever do anything for himself. He’s always been too busy taking care of everyone else. I can’t even remember the last time he took a nice girl out for dinner. 

I pull into the back side of the parking lot and slam my car into park, practically jerking my key out of the ignition and running through the backdoor of the bar, ready to see my twin after the horrendously long day I’ve had. 

“Uh, hey, bub,” Jake greets me from behind the bar with a confused wave.  “Hey, kiddo,” I sigh, sitting at the bar top, “can I get a salty dog?”“Sure thing, gin or vodka?”  I raise an eyebrow at him, signaling he doesn't need to be in customer mode with me.  “Surprise me.” 

I watch as he takes a bottle of Tanqueray gin from the top shelf, pours a measure of it into his cocktail shaker, and then adds grapefruit juice, lime juice, and ice. He shakes it, then strains it into a highball glass rimmed with salt and slides it over to me. 

I take a sip, and, of course, it's delicious. Jake indeed found his calling here — no one on this earth can make a cocktail like he can. 

“Perfect as always, Jake.”  “I don't make them any other way,” he starts, “now, wanna tell me about how you ‘think you messed up?’”  I slam back the rest of my drink and shake my glass, asking for another.  “Slow down, you're gonna drink me out of house and home,” Jake scolds, but prepares another one, nonetheless.  “I need a little help loosening my lips.”  “Get real, you've never had an issue talking in your life. If anything, you're too good at it.”  I roll my eyes but secretly know he’s correct. I'm a known yapper.  “I resent that, you know.”  “And I don't care, stop changing the subject.”  “Fine,” I huff, “I got into a fight with a customer today.”  “Physical or…”  “Verbal, obviously. Do I look like a scrapper?”  He chuckles, wiping non-existent dust off of the spotless bar top.

“Anyway, some crazy dude wearing a wallet chain, of all things, came in and yelled at me for hitting on his partner.”  “What?”  “Yes, Jake. A wallet chain. In 2024. I was baffled, too.”  “No! Not that, you weirdo. He yelled at you for what?!” “Oh, he thought I was hitting on his partner.”  “Well, were you?”  I sit and think for a moment. I wasn't not flirting with them, but it wasn't my initial intent.  “Maybe a little,” I sigh, “I didn't realize they were in a relationship. And I do have eyes. They were too cute. I had to try and shoot my shot or whatever the kids say.”  “You’d ‘shoot your shot’ with a wall. I’m honestly shocked this is the first time this has happened.”  “I resent that, too.”  “Add it to the list.”  “Anyway, I think the guy was just insecure. But I may have been rude to him.”  Jake slowly blinks at me.  “You were rude?”  “I know,” I laugh, “he just brought it out in me.”  “How rude were you?”  “Well, I jumped his ass for misgendering his partner.”  “That's not exactly rude,” Jake jumps in, “it’s quite the opposite, I'd say.”  “I’m sure he didn't feel that way.”  “Why do you care? You did what was right; plus, it’s not like you'll ever see this dude again. Hell, you probably won't even see his partner again. No harm, no foul.”  My stomach flips at the thought of not seeing Quinn again. We don't have time to unpack that. 

“Yeah, you're probably right. I’ll never see either of them again and, as of right now, he hasn't reported me to corporate. So, no need to stress.”  “Exactly right, bub.” 

I finish up my drink and set the glass down. 

“Thank you, Jake.”  “You don't have to thank me, I’ll always be on your side.” 

I reach out and pat his arm. 

“Also,” Jake starts, “I don't know the situation, but it’s pretty serious if you actually act rude to someone else. So, don't discount those feelings.”  What is he saying? I fix him with a confused look.  “I don't understand.”  “Look, Josh,” he sighs like he’s preparing to explain physics to a five-year-old, “I’m not telling you to get in the way of their relationship. But, if the opportunity to explore this arises, don't let that opportunity go to waste. It’s no small thing that you felt connected enough to this person to do what you did today.” 

“You know, I did tell the guy today that if he doesn't treat them right, someone else will be there waiting. Maybe I’m that someone.”  “You could be, if that's what you wanted.” 

I simply hum a response. Jake has given me too much to think about. 

“I appreciate you lending me an ear, brother,” I shove my stool back from the bar and stand, “but I have chores to take care of upstairs. Text me if you need a hand down here.”  “Will do.” 

I open the door to the apartment that Jake and I share above the bar. Home sweet home, finally. I kick my shoes off and walk into the living room, planting myself on the couch, thinking about Quinn the whole time. Something about them piqued my interest. I can't help but feel that if we’d met at a different point in time, we’d be together right now. That's ridiculous. You've spoken to them for a total of 3 minutes. 

It is true that I've only spoken to them for a few moments, but I noticed them the first time they ever came in while I was working. I've watched them from afar, hoping to find a way to actually converse with them. I was shocked when they found a way to converse with me first. Jake may joke about how I’d hit on anyone, but that's not true. I’m nice to everyone, and I'm flirty with a lot of them. But Quinn is different. And it's unbelievable that I feel that way. I don't wink at every single person I see, nor do I tell them how important their work is. I certainly don't get into verbal altercations defending other people. Verbal altercations are reserved for when someone is talking shit about my family. So, what makes Quinn different? I keep replaying our interaction in my mind. I got butterflies when they complimented my tattoo. I was practically shaking when they pulled me in for a hug. I was angry on their behalf when they insinuated that they don't have people who support them. 

What. Makes. Quinn. Different. 

I never act this way about strangers, but it's as if their soul called out to mine, and mine answered. It's the only way I can explain the way I handled Craig. I called him GREG just to piss him off. I never do shit like that. But he was an absolute chode. He kind of deserved it. I can internally debate whether he sucks or not all night, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t speak like that to people, and if Quinn, sweet, curious Quinn, weren’t involved, I likely wouldn’t have spoken to him that way either. Regardless, I really need to find a way to get closer to Quinn. Good job; that sounds so creepy. What I mean is that I feel a soul-deep need to know this person. I don’t know in what capacity because it seems as though I’m entering their life a little late for it to be romantic. Which is what I want. But I could be just in time for friendship. I’ll take it if they truly want to extend the offer, but only time will tell. 

When Craig makes it back home, shopping bags in tow, Willa and I are roughly two and a half sheets to the wind. 

“Well, well, well,” Willa points an accusatory finger at him as he walks through the door, “The prodigal Greg returns.” I can’t help but snicker, knowing how much it pisses him off when: 1) Willa is here without warning 2) Someone calls him by the wrong name. 

“Hey, Willa,” He plastered on a pained smile. Willa turns to look at me, shock written on her face. That may be the nicest he’s been to Willa in months. Craig walks into the kitchen and places his bags on the counter. 

“Didn’t realize you were going to be here,” He half shouts from the other room, “But you’re welcome to stay for dinner if you want.” “Does he even know how to cook?!” She whispers. “He knows how to heat food up,” I shrug. “I’m making Eggplant Parm.” My eyes light up. It’s my favorite meal. “Maybe this is his way of apologizing,” I whisper to Willa.  She rolls her eyes but cuts me a devious look. “That sounds great, Craig. I’d love to stay if you’ll have me.”

“You girls just stay in there, and I’ll have it out in a jiffy.” “Jiffy?” Willa mouths, fighting back a laugh. “Girls?” I mouth back, shaking my head, and Willa’s face instantly sours. She knows that Craig has a hard time with my pronouns and prefers to ignore my identity. This is a regular point of contention in my relationship with Craig and, by extension, my relationship with Willa. I don’t understand why he does it, and she doesn’t understand why I let him get away with it. I don’t understand why I let him get away with it. He is quite literally just a man. 

Willa and I fall into silence for a moment before she grabs my hand and stage whispers just loud enough that Craig may hear. “I bet Stock Boy wouldn’t misgender you.” I hear a small crash from the kitchen, and I clap one of my hands over her mouth. “Stop!!”

I feel her tongue dart out and lick between my fingers, and I let out a squeal. I pull my hand back from her mouth and wipe it on her shirt. “You are an absolute monster. I’m not sure why I allow you to call yourself my friend.” “Oh, Quincy,” she lets out a cackle, “You wouldn’t know what to do without me.” 

I roll my eyes, but it’s true. She is the only thing that has kept me sane since we moved to Maine. She’s my rock. Kind of sad that your own partner isn’t your rock, Quinn. Willa picks up our empty wine glasses from the coffee table and shoots me a wink before heading into the kitchen. Surely, this will be fine. Willa trapping Craig in a room could not possibly cause anything terrible to occur. 

I can hear their muffled voices just enough to make out their conversation. ‘So, Craig. What did you get up to after Gamestop?’ I wince, waiting for his response to that emphasis. Willa has always been phenomenal at telling him that she knows precisely when he’s messed something up.  ‘Oh, uh. I just stopped by the grocery. Wanted to make it up to Quinn.’ Interesting.  ‘You were gone an awful long time to have just stopped at the grocery.’ ‘Mmm, yeah, well. I had to figure out what to make and how to make it. I’m not exactly a chef over here.’  ‘That’s an understatement,’ I wince again. What is she playing at? This situation is already precarious. ‘But, I suppose you get half of a point for trying. We’ll see.’ 

Willa walks back into the living room with two more glasses of wine for us. 

“He’s–” She starts at full volume before I shush her, connecting my phone to the Bluetooth speaker in the corner. Once the music starts playing at an acceptable volume to cover our conversation, I motion for her to continue.  “He’s lying. I can smell it on him. He didn’t just nip over to Hannaford and come home.” “I mean, obviously. He was gone for like three hours.” “You don’t care that he’s literally lying to your face.” “Technically,” I poke her side, “he lied to your face. And no, not really. If he came home and decided to be sweet for once, I’m not gonna question what it took to get him there.” “Quinn,” She says softly, reaching a hand out to pat my leg. “I know, Wills. But, just let me have this for the moment.”

She hums a non-response and drops the conversation. 

I should have questions. I should care. But, if he’s going to be sweet, I’ll take it where I can get it because these moments are becoming fewer and further between. 

“Dinner’s done,” Craig pops his head into the living room, “Y’all’s plates are already on the table.” Willa and I scramble to the kitchen table.  “Thanks, babe.” I kiss Craig's cheek before sitting down. “It looks great.”  “Anything for you, babe,” He beams. 

I see Willa’s lips quirk up in a slight grin and brace myself for whatever she’s about to do.

“So, Quincy. I’ve got a photography project I’m working on, but I need some supplies. Wanna come to Hobby Lobby with me tomorrow?” I let out a massive sigh as the color drains from Craig’s face, and I begin mentally preparing myself to do damage control, but Craig impresses me.  “That would be nice, Quinn. Y’all can get out of the house for a little bit. I’ll stay behind to clean up around here.” 

Willa sits in shock, clearly not expecting that response. 

“Oh, and Willa,” Craig smiles at her, “If you want to stay over tonight, I’ll take the couch. Don’t want you to drive home after you’ve had all that wine.” 

Maybe he’s turning over a new leaf. 

Even if Craig has decided to be a bit nicer after his moment earlier; I still can’t help the little shock of excitement that rushes through me at the thought of being able to see Josh again so soon. I’m not sure what it is about him, but I want to learn more about him. He’s the most compelling person I’ve met in a long time, and perhaps he feels the same about me. 

I’m excited to see if our friendship may blossom. 

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@demonrat444 @josh-iamyour-mama @wrldabomination @imleavingyoufornewyork@gvf-luna @lilbitx @gvfstuddedmajesty

[cartoon-buffoon]

Little play by play of this morning.

"Oh boy, I sure do love waking up, time to check Tumblr to see if any of my favorite artists have posted."

*opens app*

"Oh! Would you look at that 3 notifications in my inbox, one is somebody liking one of my random rants I made. Where's the other 2 though?"

*notices it's in the messages tab*

"oh...huh.... Well I'm either gonna get insulted, get told to kill myself, or it's a bot, one of the three is gonna be there so let's see which"

*Opens it and just sees the ominous message "puts gift under his pillow"*

"uhh... What?"

*opens it and immediately gets hit with GODDAMN FANART OF MY SONA!*

Okay dropping the bit yet in all seriousness I was super scared to open my messages because like, my time on newgrounds and reddit has changed me. Everytime I get a DM I get super anxious because my natural social anxiety + my time on other websites have made it so that whenever I get a DM I'm expecting someone to call me a slur for expressing an opinion or idea or maybe just get hate speech because I'm a furry, queer, or whatever other dumb reason people wish to hate me for.

I've faced so much negativity online seeing something like this is honestly insane to me AND MAKES ME SO HAPPY SHWJEIWVS Like someone took time out of their day to MAKE SOMETHING FOR ME!? I'm a random loser rambling online!! Now this actually isn't my first time getting fanart, like I've received a BEAUTIFUL drawing from somebody due to a angsty Boris X Bendy fanfic of mine I made in a depressive episode. I'm still VERY GRATEFUL I GOT THAT, but this is just different because this is art of my own OC and persona. I'm receiving something not because of my writings but because somebody thought "ayo this Toon guy kinda cool" and I'm forever grateful for this art and thanks for making this for me.

Adding it again because why not? Seriously, look at it and look at Toon! He has little buck teeth which I actually experimented giving him buckteeth yet it didn't look good so I decided to do something different for his mouth. Yet here it looks great and adorable on him!!!

Oh and of course the person who made me this goes by "SkitSwap", I don't know how to @ people so.... Uhh.. here's a screenshot of their blog, credits and of course my thanks to them!

[starsh0cked]

okay so. two things!! first of all, over the course of january (and the beginning of february) i participated in the kirby oc secret santa, which was wonderfully hosted by @/moonverc3x. i was lucky enough to be the santa for @/starflungwaddledee, and ended up with two of my best pieces so far!!

these were CHALLENGING, though. which is where the second thing comes in!! under the cut, i'll be going over some of the sketches, drafts and phases of either piece! there's also a speedpaint. exciting!!

i'll be starting with my starstruck piece! the theme here was wanderlust - literally one of the most whimsical words i know - and generally anything to do with the stars. i had a few things in mind, but considering how long it sometimes takes to make artwork, i decided to roll with what inspired me the most.

this is the final sketch compared to the final artwork. certainly one of the crazier transformations i've done. i had a mental image of most parts of the artwork, from the material of starstruck's bow to the lighting cast by the stars. everything except for the grass (i hate grass!!) i ended up rendering the grass and background first, anyway.

doing the background before the rest of the artwork helps define the lighting and shadows! if i decided to draw starstruck before the background, i'd have to draw it according to the lighting.

weird explanation, but in summary: background before character helps the character look like a part of the environment! character before background means extra steps need to be taken before the character fits in the environment!

starstruck's bow was also a decent challenge! i'm a fan of bows and satin, so a satin bow sounded like a good idea. it was, but i've never drawn satin before. the workaround was an active satin study! i stared at a satin bow i found on pinterest and tried to understand how light spread over the material. it's quite interesting!!

you might notice that i flipped the direction of the shooting stars. this is for composition reasons!! i wanted to make starstruck the obvious focus, and while the contrast between her warmer palette and the background's cooler palette easily achieve that, i wanted to cement it. i also added little hand drawn sparklies everywhere. because i like it.

of course, i have to talk about the eyes!! if anything, i noticed that in all of starflung's drawings of starstruck, she had really glittery eyes. literally adorable. so i made it my mission to capture her feelings in her eyes!! i had a lot of fun making them super shiny and adding little stars in there. i also needed to pay attention to the subtle gradient, though - they fade from blue to pink if you zoom into starflung's artworks - and decided to keep it vibrant.

okay. thats all for this one!! i'd like to mention that in the original sketch for this specific pose, bandee was in the background. i really regret scrapping that now. oh, well!

time for morpho dee! i'll be starting for with the speedpaint for this one, mainly because it sort of explains some of the process by itself.

i restarted the shading... three or four times at least? so yeah. i was losing it on this piece. i'll be completely honest, i contemplated dropping it for the sake of meeting the deadline. it wasn't stressing me out, but i had studies to worry about too, and i was worried that it wouldn't be of great quality? but after some advice from my beloved older sister, i managed to turn the tide!!

this is a first for me, but everything here was a challenge. if you scroll through my account and the few artworks i've posted, you'll notice that i draw gijinkas far more than orbs. now, you may be wondering why this didn't pose so much of an issue for my starstruck piece! it's mainly because i chose a far simpler pose for her than i did for morpho over here.

for morpho, the artwork needed to be dramatic. i draw cutesy things - while i've always wanted to draw something dramatic, i've never pushed myself to do it. until this artwork! i went for a dynamic pose which would (hopefully) pull the viewer's eye towards morpho dee. that's what's up with the foreshortned spear! i also realised that the plcement of his feet would be quite significant to the artwork. you might not know this, but feet are my greatest enemy. i'm still trying to figure out how best to draw them for people or orbs, but i'm getting there.

after 'lineart' (which really ended up being a cleaned sketch - this was supposed to be linelessly rendered, but i gave up on that) the pose was no longer a problem. because the shading was! hooray!!

nothing has quite bewildered me like metal shading has. i've shaded gold. satin. cotton, fluffy scarves, shiny things, grass. yet metal shading continues to elude me! this was, hands down, the most difficult part of this artwork. i struggled to make sense of how the lighting was supposed to work, even with references. and every time i thought it made sense, i ended up with something i didn't like the look of. the solution? long breaks, more references and pinterest tutorials. i have no clue how i managed this, but we got here anyways. i finished it off by colouring the lineart according to the shading.

i have experience with drawing fire, at least! it was three or four years ago in an old artwork, but i have experience! i simply had to figure out how to work it into the atmosphere. for the glow, i duplicated the layer, gaussian blurred it and used a slight glow layer! i did something similar for the durst particles, but i used motion blur instead.

i also want to talk about the spear a little bit. you might notice that i added a bit of ambient glow around the blue gem. that was with the light intensity in mind, but also for a sense of realism! i also had to keep the pink light in mind, though. so i ended up using an airbrush to create a base for the lighting and i continued from there. i added a few scratches on the handle just to give it a bit more life, too.

and, finally, a one-to-one comparison between the sketch and the final! i have literally no idea how i pulled either of these pieces off, but i'm quite proud of them.

i recommend you drop by @/kirbyoc-secretsanta for other artworks! a total of 75 artists participated, so there are plenty of super cool ocs to adore over there and new artists to find!! this was my first secret santa experience, and @/moonverc3x made an amazing host (thank you for hosting, by the way!!) bye bye!!

[misthogansnk]

Christmas gift? 🎄🦎

(Syzoth x reader)

Warning: none

Vitally important information: I created this story for Violette from my Oc, but I named her this way (Vi) so they can give her whatever name they want, and be y/n.

The fanart on the cover was drawn by me

Enjoy this Christmas special 💚

"Syzoth, come with me, let's go out and see the snow, I'll teach you how to make a snowman."

My joy and desire to show her this world and its festive wonders was so great that I didn't pay attention to her reaction, it was so obvious, but of course, my neurons were singing Christmas carols and wouldn't let me reason.

“Eh, no thanks very much (Violette)”, oh his disgusted face made me want to hit him with the Christmas lights they were trying to unravel, what's wrong with him, he doesn't want to integrate? Maybe you don't like parties. Not even two minutes passed in which I pouted and crossed my arms like a capricious child, I know, I would hit myself too, I admit it. However, I mentioned this to Kenshi and he reminded me of something: SYZOTH HAD LOST HIS FAMILY! I am a beast!!! What a festive spirit the poor thing was going to have, by the ancient gods, I'm the worst! “Leave it like that, you're going to make it worse, you're a machine for ruining moments,” Johnny emphasized, that laugh! I swear I would make her swallow the irony of him, along with the teeth of him! Suddenly, he stood up and grabbed a bag, it was from one of those expensive stores, cool, “Do you still have money left after the divorce?”, and yes, I tried to let the sarcasm show but instead of making him angry, It was worse. “(Vi), how about you make snow angels outside and leave the adults here?” He continued on his way and without wanting to respond, I stayed in front of the stove, fighting with the Christmas lights.

"Hey, 'Reptile'"

"Reptile…."

"Reptile"

"Rep-"... "Johnny, stop it," Syzoth emphasizes, cutting him off, "what's going on?"

“He's not outside, stop looking out the window, he's downstairs doing what he does best”

“A tantrum?” Syzoth laughs lightly, although at times he was annoying, he never failed to find certain sincere attitudes that (Violette) had, tender.

“Yes, that's right, you are a genius, and because you behaved, Santa brought you your gift”

Johnny handed him a package containing a sports sweater, it was thermal and clearly expensive, but it would keep Syzoth warm, accompanied by some pants.

"I know you're watching her from afar, Kenshi and I thought maybe you'd like to go out and play with your kitty." Given the green color of his blood when he blushed, his cheeks were tinted that tone but in a light and subtle way. “Johnny, you know he hates being called that, but thank you, although I don't understand why they give me this.”

“One, you spend your time shivering in the cold, two, at Christmas we exchange gifts between the people we care about, and three, she's just one tantrum away from being deported to Outworld with a sign taped to her forehead that says 'DANGER, NO RETURN' Syzoth laughed and began to change, but not before thanking Johnny and then he would thank Kenshi in the same way, but not even five minutes had passed when the Light went out and a scream was heard in unison, one of those that Mothers and Parents, when they see you doing something wrong, “(Violette)!” I tried to fix those lights to decorate the tree and ended up leaving the whole house without light...

"For God's sake, Syzoth, take her outside to play."

As Johnny sighed in annoyance at my actions and their financial consequences, he laughed at how quickly Syzoth ran down the stairs and grabbed my hand, "Come with me," words that took me to nirvana, even though I was still cold. . . , he took the time to breathe the air a little, it was a new world for him. And before you mention his family and ruin the moment again by destroying his good mood,

He told Me that the reason for his disgusted face was the cold!

“Do you feel very cold?” My curious girl's face and my eyes wide open looking at him, the last frozen neuron in my brain took effect, letting out of my mouth the silliest questions ever heard, I'm sorry, I don't reason when I'm next to him. him. He, look at him, who did it? Would he do it? Let's face it, we would get lost in the beauty of it!

“(Violette) if you know that reptiles…. "No, leave it at that," he laughed cutely and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, "tell me more about what Christmas is," he said with a subtle smile, trying not to laugh at my faces, and well. . , that's all. I did it, gave it my Christmas spirit and maybe a cold.

It's true, I forgot, I saw him shivering from the cold on one occasion and I interrupted the conversation by sitting on his lap and hugging him. Going for a blanket was not an option. I looked into his eyes, he was sitting on his lap, our faces facing each other, an awkward silence, and a hug from me that was reciprocated, "Syzoth, I'll give you warmth if you want, warm hugs." the soul" I smiled and waited for his response, which took a few seconds, although it seemed like hours. "(Vi), it's not just your soul that you are warming." I didn't understand very well, but we entered the house. And finally yes You're wondering, when I went to kiss him on the cheek, he moved my face away, then smiled at my face of fear and shame at possible rejection and brought his face closer to mine to kiss me on the lips. It was a small kiss.. ., I didn't need anything else except Johnny's scream "Who put a mistletoe there?", I swear I didn't realize, wait a second, Syzoth right? The lizard knew. About the mistletoe at Christmas?! No, it was Johnny who told him! Who cares! He kisses me!!!! What will I feel when he puts his forked tongue in my mouth? Well, that's for a future story, who knows? We will take the next step in the New Year

​

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I feel much better now! Women prevail -Danny Words: 1,905 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'House Song' -by Searows

LIV: Wasting Away to Be Useful All the Time Ain't Paying Off, Methinks

The dream changes, now Nico and Ara are on the fire escape of her parent's apartment.

"I'll go back to a witch trial," the girl leans her head on both arms and groans. "Iris messages aren't working! How am I supposed to tell them to hold on until August first?!"

"I already told Clovis I'm on my way."

"Like that's gonna fix it..." Ara stands upright, staring at the urban scenery with a troubled expression. "I never noticed how pretty this place was at sunrise..."

Nico doesn't seem as enchanted. "How is your crew holding up?"

"Jason got hurt but he's coming around," Ara lies, not wanting to worry Nico. "We caught Nike and she's helping us figure out a way to, you know, safely euthanize Leo. How's yours?"

"Steady and in great condition," Nico replies, and he's probably lying too, for the exact same reason. "How are you?"

The girl stares at her fingers, squeezing the railing and drinking in these seconds at home. "I'm trying not to think much, obviously, because... how do I even process all of it?"

"That you're soulmate's fated to die?" Nico snorts with a tone of sarcasm. "But it's so easy..."

"Not a soulmate," she mutters grumpily.

"I think it's sort of impossible," Nico pauses and glares at her. "Don't take that as a challenge."

She smiles a bit. "I don't know what to do. Do I hype myself up to get over Leo, or tell him we'll be together forever? What did Helen do that I shouldn't?" Ara squints and rubs her brow. "It's so unclear if she loved Paris or not..."

Nico shrugs, fidgeting with his ring. "Even if you figure it out, it won't make things easier. The two armies under your command are about to kill each other and you have a bunch of mentally ill gods giving out crazy orders, then there's the curse. How do you choose which one to tackle first? You just deal with them as they come."

"It's not working," Ara scowls. "Had it coming, though. All of this feels right."

Nico raises a brow. "What do you mean?"

Ara thinks of her next words carefully. "I just accepted that this is the weight I'll carry forever. At least I've gotten stronger."

Nico frowns. "You've also aged, though."

"I was going to, anyway. The only thing that I've been unable to outgrow is feelings. Leo chose his path and I must be okay with it... I love him, so I either go along or get in his way and make it worse—and since I can't offer a better alternative..." Ara sighs heavily, giving in. "I suppose I'll follow Eros's advice."

Nico's expression sombers. "So Leo will die?"

"The difference is that maybe this time it might not be permanent, and he might save another soul if he succeeds," Ara faces her friend. "Nike told us about the Physician's Cure—"

"Oh, my dad hates that," Nico pipes in.

"You know what that is?"

"The cure for death? Yeah," the boy scratches his nose casually. "One of Apollo's sons created it, but my dad forbade him from doing it again... so good luck getting it."

"Thanks," Ara says sarcastically. "You always make me feel so much better about the bad stuff in my life."

"We're talking about the last resource of last resources," he raises a brow. "You might as well go to my father and ask for Leo back."

"If I only wanted him to come back, I would drag him out of the Underworld Orpheus-style minus the looking," she rolls her eyes. "But big dumb-dumb made an oath to go back to Ogygia and get Calypso—so not only does he need to die, he has to be blasted out so he can go back to her island or he'll die regardless of the antidote he gets from the gods."

Nico frowns. "Your boyfriend is the stupidest man alive."

"He's a genius that likes to overcomplicate things, but yeah, love made him stupid," Ara mumbles, looking more sad than angry. "And I'm just like him."

"Minus the genius part."

"Whatever, man."

Nico gives her a look when she doesn't react to his teasing, and he makes an attempt to cheer her up. "Listen, sometimes the fates do things that feel unjust, but in the long run, they're for the better. Leo's choice was hard to make no doubt, he would rather cut his leg than leave you, and still, he's willing to risk his life not just for you but also for Calypso and the rest of the world... that's brave."

"I don't want him to come back to me if it means it's always going to hurt him," Ara confesses worryingly. "I'd be happier looking at him from afar."

"No, you wouldn't," Nico replies in a strange voice. "You really wouldn't."

"I mean it." Her voice trembles. "I haven't been the best version of myself since I decided to become a child of Olympus... Leo is good in a way I can no longer be, and that's why he's dying. Because he's kind and selfless, and I won't give him up because I'm stubborn and selfish, so they're taking him away by force."

She looks away for a moment. Nico squeezes her shoulder tighter than he's ever touched her in the last three years. "Ara, listen... all the bad stuff I've said to you, they aren't true. You can't be perfect, that's it."

"Exactly. I should've stayed away," she presses. "Life kept telling me that romance was off-limits, that I wouldn't be able to handle it, and yet I took Leo as soon as I had the chance, and he says he doesn't mind dying but—"

"You've experienced this too many times, just in this lifetime," Nico finishes knowingly. "His reassurance feels empty, I get it."

"He could've been loved and cared for on Calypso's island, and he didn't stay because of me," she says bitterly. "I should've been the one to jump into Tartarus. But now I've got people under my care, so I can't let myself die now..."

"I don't think this is about wrong choices or bad timing," her friend retorts. "I doubt you were more deserving of the curse in your past lives than you are now—hell, I even doubt Helen was deserving of the shit show everyone made around her."

Ara rubs her forehead and groans. "I know, I know... maybe this isn't my mess to clean... but I'm right in the middle of it, so not doing anything stresses me out all the same."

"Yeah well, you've never been good at staying out of things, we know that."

"None of us is."

"That's why we get curses all the time," he shrugs. "See? Things tend to happen when it comes to demigods."

Ara shakes her head. "Sometimes I think my stupid father should've suffocated me with a pillow when he had the chance."

Nico laughs. "Same."

"I feel like I should've gone with them."

"It's FOMO," Annabeth replies, lying on Ara's bed with a cherry facemask on.

"They're searching for that poison to help Leo—"

Nike's hollering cuts through her speech. "AN A- IS A FAILING GRADE—"

"These are literally Frank's relatives," Percy reasons, his back against the wall and a peel-off mask covering his face. "You would've made them nervous. Most people think that children of Olympus attract bad luck."

"And they're right," Ara's hanging upside down with her legs propped up next to Percy, a green tea facemask on her face.

It's spa day. Once Ara realized she could buy all kinds of beauty products in New York—as long as she had the budget—she became obsessed. The first time Percy agreed to join her many years ago, he claimed to be humoring his little sister, but he loves to lie around and eat snacks while Ara puts fresh-scented stuff on his face.

Ara agreed to have a spa day today solely because her brother and Annabeth had recently come out of Tartarus, so if there was someone who deserved to use her stash of fancy facemasks, it was them. She also knows they're doing this to help her clear her mind after her dream last night, and she'd missed being pampered by her older siblings anyway.

"There is a sea serpent watching us," Percy says out of nowhere, vaguely pointing ahead. "Been there for the past ten minutes."

Ara lifts herself on her elbows. "And why aren't we doing anything about it?"

Percy shrugs. "It's trying to figure out if we're food, Festus confuses it."

"Nice," Ara lies back down. "Good headmast."

"So Leo is trying to rebuild your dragon inside the ship? How does that even work?" Annabeth asks, rummaging in a bag of chips.

A flash goes out and then Leo's voice responds. "It doesn't—yet. You guys having a fun time?"

The three teenagers look back at the door completely unbothered. "Did you get my good side?" Percy asks.

"You know, water boy, blackfacing isn't cool anymore—it never was."

"Call me water boy again and I'm freeing Nike inside your cabin," the older boy threatens. "And this is a peel-off mask, it saves me so much money on acne products I don't even care if it looks stupid."

"You want one?" Ara lifts a thin package.

"No, I came to tell y'all Piper and Frank are back," Leo's too amused by the sight that he can't move past it. "I'm sorry, what exactly is happening in here?"

"Spa day," Annabeth explains. "Never had one of those?"

Leo snorts. "Hephaestus isn't the cleanest guy around..."

"She means with Ara," Percy shows him a shit-eating grin, though it looks creepy with the peel-off still on his face. "Haven't been invited to one yet?"

Leo's smile disappears. "I didn't know it was a thing."

"I didn't think it'd be up your alley," Ara pulls her legs down and sits upright. "The only Cabin Nine campers that ever humored me were Beckendorf and Nyssa, but I had to bribe them first."

"I wanna have a spa day," Leo pouts, looking at the Polaroid he just took. "I feel discriminated."

Ara gets up and moves to her vanity, pulling off her mask. "You're invited to the next one."

"Piper and Frank are back then—that means they got the poison?" Annabeth fans her face while Percy takes off his mask.

"Yup, so we should hold a meeting," Leo approaches Ara and kisses her hair, leaving the Polaroid on her nightstand. "You don't need skincare, there's a reason why I call you Doll."

Ara chuckles. "My skincare is the reason you think I don't need it."

"Holy 'Dite, I can't do this!" Percy moans, falling back on the bed with the mask still on. "Birdy, help me..."

The girl laughs and glances at Leo before going to her brother. "We'll meet you on deck in five, alright?"

Leo looks at the trio with an uncomfortable feeling in his chest, but he manages to show a smile when he nods, although he stays consciously away from Ara so she can't feel his emotions. "Good luck putting your face back on, Nemo!"

"You're not allowed to call me that!"

Leo exits the cabin grinning, but as he walks out, his expression turns into a frown. He can't put a finger on what is bothering him, but it feels as if he were watching Ara's life slowly slip back into its old place, erasing him from the plot.

He has this dark thought that maybe those six months with him at camp were only an intermission, and now Leo is waiting for the fates to pluck him out and toss him away as they did with Michael Yew. "Well, that was a fun season! Send the next cute boy in!" 

Each day he inches closer to his certain death, and Ara's future does nothing but shine brighter.

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

[autisticempathydaemon]

hi hi !! I was wondering if I could have one of the redacted match ups? it's such a cool concept to be putting on ^^

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why?

I believe the song I would go with would probably be Francesca by Hozier, or Unknown/Nth by Hozier. The Bridge to Unknown is probably my favourite because it's such a like emotional lyric. It depicts the story of someone willing to do anything for someone who doesn't love them back.

"Do you know I could break beneath the weight/Of the goodness, love, I still carry for you?/That I'd walk so far just to take/The injury of finally knowin' you?"

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why?

I wouldn't mind listening to a video essay, but I don't purposefully go looking for them! If the topic seems interesting I might click on it tho ^^

What is your go-to way to fall asleep?

Usually cuddled up with a teddy and listening to a sleep aid ^^ there's only a few times that I pass out a few minutes after laying down/with no help. My favourite sleep aid to go to is Ollie's gaming sleep aid where he's playing MK (I have trouble with the "traditional" sleep aids because its too quiet)

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?)

I won't say what name I chose when i first found out I was Enby because it would (potentially) give me away but the reason I chose it is because it tied multiple parts of my interests together. It felt fitting for that reason. Plus, when ppl hear my name they can usually see that I picked it myself and know that I'm queer as hell so.

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why?

I adore Milo's "getting ready" video (getting dressed up for your feisty werewolf boyfriend), it always makes me feel very special ^^ I also just adore Milo in general (probably my top fav). I also really enjoy the imperium series as it gives us a different side to the boys we love sm.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.)

I think that one of the boys I don't understand the hype for is Lasko (though, he's slowly growing on me now). I don't know what it was about early Lasko but he just didn't scratch that part of my brain for the longest time.

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to.

Oh gods I could go one about this. I would have to say the percy jackson series (and Heroes of Olympus) as that is a series that has stuck with me since middle school. Though honourable mention to Tangled (the movie) because oh how I love it so

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend?

Guy, honestly. Like don't get me wrong i would date him too, but if we're talking friendship he seems like a pretty cool dude.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.)

The ancient greeks, my ocs, sometimes also space. I never really get to a point where I ramble all that often while tired, but if I'm tired and thinking about something you will hear about it.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo.

Probably Circle K because it's the closest to my house and I usually go for a cherry slushie or orange crush.

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. 

Probably the playlist where I compiled all the Epic: The Musical Songs, or one of my many oc playlists. I will say I do often listen to my spotify Daylist though, that usually brings me a great vibe

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why?

Bear in the Big Blue House, because it was the show from my childhood. Also Grey's Anatomy because sometimes I like getting lost in the dumb drama on that show

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are!

ummm lets see, maybe that im a reader and creator. I love creating things and indulging in others creations so much its insane. I also don't have a strict like association with foods only being for certain meals. like pancakes/eggs and bacon are an any meal kinda food kinda deal. I'm also more of a night owl, though if I get enough sleep I don't mind being up at 5/6 am if its needed/gives me time to chill before the day "actually starts".

Thank you !!

So Avior went through HELL, a whole-ass hell, and made the tragic, Byronic hero’s choice to drag his lover back into that hell. That’s so Unreal Unearth-coded. That’s, like, textbook Hozier; that’s your man.

That’s half of it; the other half is that Avior is so Greek mythology, classics, Socratic coded. Like, he gives so much dark academic vibes, and he really rocks it. That’s a man who has strong opinions about Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism in the best way. Avior loves hearing you talk about Greek myths and philosophy and would be the kind of partner where you’d have lots of lively discussions on translations and interpretation of their literature.

Every day with him would be so lively; Avior is the type who’d be such a fantastic beta reader when you’re in need of him. He’s thoughtful, analytical but not cruel or harsh. The two of you just devour books, reccing things to each other constantly. Avior’d also be so fun to watch Grey’s Anatomy with in that he fucking hated it at first but he’s obsessed now. He would have a big crush on Dr. Yang, and who could blame him?

Song:

My feet are aching/ And your back is pretty tired/ And we've drunk a couple bottles, babe/ And set our grief aside/ The papers say it's doomsday/ The button has been pressed/ We're gonna nuke each other up boys/ 'Til old Satan stands impressed/ And here it is, our final night alive

I love this song and how fantastic, longing, romantic, and tragic it is. It’s a little more Imperium than Prime-coded but no matter the universe, the vibes of holding onto one another as the sky falls to pieces around you will always suit you and Avior. (This is my favorite version but I also recommend the Matt Maltese original.)

Runner-Ups:

Anton is a runner-up because he also gives tragic academic vibes but not as fun for you, you know? He reads all the same classics but doesn’t have as many strong opinions about them. Blake is your other runner-up because he’s also incredibly Hozier-coded to me but like in a derogatory way.

note: thank you for waiting and submitting 💌

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[mamamittens]

Where I'm At

This is sort of a brain dump as well as a check in with where I'm at for these various stories. If I forget one, well, that's a statement in itself but I'll add it if it's brought up.

Oh Sweet Child of Mine: One Piece: I still have the platonic Ace, platonic whitebeard, and NSFW Ace ending to do but not going to lie, my motivation for it is quite dead. I'm definitely not adding anymore alt ending besides these though, so consider the story finished as it is. Last Updated: 1/21/24

How our Seeds Grow: One Piece: I'm currently still working on the next chapter, about 3~ pages into what I'm hoping to be at least 10? Unsure. But I'm definitely not doing alt endings for this one. Once the main plot is done, it's done. Last Updated: 9/10/23

A Lone Melody: One Piece: I still have some fondness for this story, I won't lie. But my motivation to write it really isn't there. Was barely there to start with. Honestly, I only really started writing it because it seemed like there was a lot of interest but perhaps it should have just stayed an ask-box fic? Certainly got more fun interaction that way. And it was pretty clear that the reasons I was interested in the story was not the same as why others were interested. Last Updated: 8/13/23

Worst Isekai: One Piece: Due to the general state of my TBD list, this isn't even really started. I have no idea what kind of plot I'll do other than vague vibes but I really do need to put more down to actually write the story. I do like the general idea and would like to make a bullet list for plot but until I have any idea what I'm doing, this can be considered a proto-story. Still workshopped and all that. No chapters currently exist in any format.

(No working title): One Piece: currently just a self indulgent fic I've been tooling for myself shipping Nikia (OC/SI) with Thatch and now perhaps Izou. No current chapters exist online, though I've written some for it. Including smut.

Let's Get Crackin': Pokemon: A fun new idea born of my revitalized interest in the franchise. Still tooling things and have a handy document with vague plot details. I likely won't start writing anything until I at least have a set beginning/middle/end. A sort of trial run to see if this helps me actually complete a work since my fics usually die if I falter in the middle and lose interest due to frustration. No current chapters exist.

We're leaving the Tumblr fics at this point so if one slipped my mind, well... yeah.

A Friend of Charlotte: FNAF: Security Breach: I really like the general story and vibe I've made for Blaire and would like to write more, but my motivation currently just isn't there. I'd be really depressed if I finally gave up and dropped it though, as there's a lot more for her that's been left unwritten at this point. Last updated: 8/27/23

Python Scramble: FNAF: Security Breach: Also a considerable fondness, I've just once again run into the issue of bridging the start to the finish. It's where I usually tend to stall--hopefully with more careful plotting this won't keep happening but I guess we'll see. Last updated: 2/7/22

Dreamcatcher: Hollowknight: Ah, the baby of my very intense Hollowknight fixation. It's been far too long and I just... stopped writing it at some point. I still really want to finish Olivia's story though. Last Updated: 12/6/19

Seeing Fire and Lionhearts in the Night: Undertale/Underfell AU: Basically dead at this point. Really didn't plot this one out to start with, just had a brief, engaging idea. I don't like looking at it cause I just... don't know what to do with it at this point. Last Updated: 7/14/18

Monster I have Become: Undertale/Underswap AU: I could finish this in one chapter (likely a tad long) and be really sad about it because I really could have done better. It would be rushed and not very good, but it'd be done at least. And I don't know which is worse. I don't know. I just... I hate starting a fic and not even ending it. But ending it poorly feels even worse. Last Updated: 6/1/18

I'm not going to lie, this list is rather depressing for many reasons. I don't like having written this list, nor that I have fics unfinished after years despite starting them really strong with a lot of passion. I don't know what happened. For most of them my motivation just sort of... died.

And for the most part, I seemed to be the only one interested so once I lost interest what was the point? It didn't make me happy anymore to use my sparse free time indulging in my hobby like this. So why bother?

but I remember brainstorming these for hours. days. Week. Some even months or years in some form or another. And now I can't even look at them I feel so ashamed. Either it's been so long the quality of my work feels so stark--why bother now?--or I just... don't know how to continue. If it's even worth it to try.

I know there are people who may be genuinely excited to see these update. Happy to reread the story to have all the context again like it was just yesterday that it last posted. And I am so sorry if you're one of them. Because I am too.

It's just been hard lately... no. It's been hard for a really long time. And it hasn't really gotten better. So once the high of a new story wore off... I just ended up leaving. And the cycle begins anew.

I hope this list brings some closure to some of you.

Maybe it's not that serious.

Maybe no one cares. Not really.

But this is for those that still do.

Those that flooded my inbox with hyper, energetic, silly asks. Wrote long, trailing comments and disjointed tags. Got swept up in the moment and took me with you.

And the 'me' that couldn't imagine that a day would come when it's been months or years since I last touched a story I'd spend all day fawning over.

Thanks, I suppose.

And I am so very sorry it's been so long.

And that it may very well be longer still before you see more of these stories or any others from me.

[dargum]

001: First Impressions

PAIRING: hunter x OC

SYNOPSIS: where Zerith finds a strange boy in the forest while training and for some reason they keep meeting.

GENRE: slow burn, fluff, angst, crack

MASTERLIST | NEXT CHAPTER

Being the golden guard is not something simple, the job consumes me. Everyone needs my help or immediate presence everywhere. “Please me, and that way you will please the Titan, that is the priority of the golden guard”, “The Titan has big plans for you”, that’s what I constantly hear from Belos, those are the reasons that make me relevant, being an important part of the Titan’s plan. These are all the reasons why I always try to ace every task I am assigned, without any mistakes and always look for beating expectatives. I have to be useful. Even though i have all this responsibilities on me, being consumed by my job makes me not give my 100% to it, due to stress, so for work and only work related reasons, i find myself getting out of my room in my free hours to have time for relaxation, yes i may feel some guilt from it, but at the end of the day, it is an occasional -almost nonexistent- rest that helps me keep up the pace with my duties. For this very-important-for-my-duties-break I tend to go to “The Knee”.The cold weather and the snow offer a strange comfort, plus the silence that is only natural in a place like this helps even more with my relax duty.

Today the silence that tends to take over the place seems interrupted in a weird way, as I said; a place like this tends to not have tourists, and if there are they are never noisy, everybody knows that the Slither Beast lives here, fear is another of the reasons that keeps the Knee alone and peaceful. So the question here is, why does it sound like someone is trying to commit hate crimes against a tree?

I approach with caution towards the moving tree and now some screens come into the battle, against a tree? like seriously? That tree must be a criminal.

I have to make sure to keep a considerable distance to not get noticed by the tree slaughter, and get a good view of who it is. Against any prediction of mine, the tree fighter is actually a young lady, with a weird way of spelling, is definitely a completely different way of how I was trained to do. For her apparent age, she seems to be skilled.

Silence comebacks at my brain where i notice that my surrounding went back to it as well

And suddenly I feel my body strangely cold.

— Spying on people is pretty weird if you ask me — I try to look behind me, where the voice comes from, but I quickly realize that I'm trapped in some sort of ice rock, oh Titan please help me.

Kind of nervous i clear my throat to make sure that my most goldenish guard of the goldenish guardish voice comes out

— Who says that I'm spying on you? — Great, okay, lying is not exactly my greatest ability. I give up on trying to look over my shoulder, only to be met face to face with a girl hanging from a branch. Startled by this a not-so goldenish guardish squeal comes out from the depths of my soul. Titan why do you do this to me?

— Oh is that so?, cause i'm pretty sure that looking at someone from behind a tree without them knowing counts as spying, sir — Ok maybe that was not my best most smart move

— Actually it could count as stalking, so, do you have to say something in your defense?

I take a second to think about an answer, and when nothing comes to mind I just roll my eyes annoyed, because yes she is right, but why would she? — Don't you have something else to do?

Her smile only gets bigger — See?, i'm right — she gets down from the branch — Now give my a valid reason to ot let you trapped here for the rest of the day, maybe ill even use you for practice, who knows.

Now is my turn to smile as a clever enough answer comes to mind — Did you just admit that you want to use me? What kind of freak are you? — I give her a judging look but i am not able to hide my smile in front of her offended expression

— Its called torture

— So?, you like hurting people?, is that it?

— I don't do it cause i like it, It's a punish for being a total weirdo

— Punish?, oh yeah sure, keep hiding the fact that you want to see me suffer for your own satisfaction, freak. — I spit the last word, never dropping the same shit eating grin that she was giving me before, suddenly i lose all balance as i fall straight to the ground with an oof

— Oop, my bad, I have to work on durability— I take advantage of her distraction, reaching for my talisman. One strong swipe with it and I make her fall down onto her back, obviously a perfectly done move because I am just cool like that. Golden guard,  remember? I get up as quick as i can and point at her with my weapon

— So who will torture who now? i think i missed that —  I simply can’t help my smile teasing her like this, she gives me a dirty look as if something smells bad and an immature and frustrated hit to the ground, or that is what it looked like before that same punch raised a pilar from the ground i am standing on. After flying some meters back I manage to stand on my feet and before I can say anything she is already up and tidying her clothes.

— Nice reflexes.

— Nice spell — I run my hand on my cheek getting snow out of my face

— Well, it was nice meeting you but honestly, this isn't the weather to fight, you know?, doesn't the cold air burn your nose when you agitate?, weird right? — It is obvious how she walks back while making small talk.

— Why are you running away?, coward, only giving excuses

— Who are you calling a coward? stupid spy

— I wasn't spying on you! — I stomp my foot on the ground

— Yeah whatever Hunter

My expression drops to all seriousness, i look directly into her eyes with a slight frown

— How do you know my name?

 She shrugged with her shoulders — You have the face of a guy whose name would be Hunter

I blink in disbelief looking at her, there is absolutely no way she just guessed that.

Absolutely. No. Way. 

— Hey?, you okay?, i think i awake a weird trauma of yours, you know from your face, so i fell the responsibility of saying sorry, just in case you know

I blink awake — What are you saying?, i don't have traumas, is just weird that someone you never saw just guesses your name

— What can I say? i'm a genius

— Yeah, why not.

We stand in silence

— So are you gonna tell me your name?

— Hey, i guessed yours with honest effort you don't get to have me just tell you mine

I rolled my eyes at her childish argument

— Not even a clue?

— Nu uh

She started to walk away and eventually got onto her talisman. I waited until she got far enough to get onto mine and go to the palace. I sigh before taking off, surely a long day of work waits for me back there.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

OC questionnaire

Thanks to @illarian-rambling here and here, @mk-writes-stuff here, @somethingclevermahogony here, @mysticstarlightduck here, and @elsie-writes here.

Ahh these built up again!!

I did another one here where I answer for Robbie, Gwen, Maddie, Noelle, Jedi, and Kelsey.

I'll do the same and answer one OC for each set.

#1- Carmen

Theoretically, since she'd never answer these willingly

What's your favorite legend and why?

“I suppose the one about the cloud riders from Atsila's culture. Maybe because of her, maybe because I like the idea of uncontrollable things being controlled.”

How do you celebrate your birthday?

“I don't. Bad memories. But Jedi makes sure to do something kind for me.”

What's something you'd regret if you died without doing?

“Not finishing what Atsila started. And also organizing the entire base. And the online data collection. And the lab. The alphabet. The local library --”

#2- George

What's the best thing you've ever eaten?

“Oh my powers DEFINITELY the mini cake thing from Ceteri. Cupcake? Yeah that. It was chocolate I think. Don't know about the frosting. I ate way too many last time Noelle brought them. She's warming up to me.”

What's the worst injury you've ever had?

“Physical or emotional? Haha sorry - I have injured myself quite a bit while running at top speeds. We speedsters have faster... Everything *wink* - but I mean I can heal faster which is very helpful. But even with a faster runtime, I make the same mistakes as everyone if I'm distracted. I've hit things, and at top speeds *cringe* yeah it's not fun. Ran into a concrete wall once. Concussion and a few broken bones. More than a few. Eh, I walked it off.”

Do you wish you looked different?

“Nah. Pretty happy with how I look! I guess I wouldn't mind Carla's eye color. That is not fair - neither of our parents even have amber eyes. What recessive gene did she pull out?”

#3- Akash

What is your favourite weather?

“When it's sunny, but not hot. Nice breeze. Not too cold or harsh. Just...total peace. Robbie likes it a little cloudy. I dunno, maybe that's cozy for him. But I happen to like the outside.”

Where would you want to take someone to hang out or on a date?

“For me, I wouldn't mind the classic dates. Movies, dinner. But Gwen... I'd do something special. A cultural gallery or a bookstore. Maybe a play. A Superman-esque flight around the city perhaps.”

What’s your least favourite food?

“Oh my gosh man - I hate asparagus. So many people like it, but I'm sorry. Can't stand the stuff.”

#4- Sam

What is the strangest thing you've ever stolen?

“In fourth grade, this girl Emma brought a laser pointer to school. Well, it was a pen with a built-in laser pointer. I thought it was cool. So I had to stay after school for the music play I was in, and as I was walking from the bathroom, I saw the pen on the floor. I picked it up. Emma was a little rude, so I kept it. She never asked around for it, so I felt okay after that! Plus, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a pen laser pointer!”

What is your least favorite food?

“Mustard. Can't stand it. Wait, does that count as a food? Okay, nevermind. Uh.... Tomatoes. It's a texture thing.”

Who is the strongest person you know?

“Akash for sure. He's been through a lot of crappy things, and people treated him meanly for stupid reasons. But he's still so positive and helps a lot of people! Plus he's probably the funniest person I know besides my brother. But Akash is just as much a brother to me as Robbie.”

I don't think I've posted much about Sam - other than her excerpts. That was fun!

#5- Lexi

What's your worst fear?

“Oh. Okay. Wow. Um, well, there's my actual phobia of physical contact, haphephobia. Not sure if that counts or not. I guess other than that, it's losing all my friends. Most of my elementary school friends went to different middle schools, so I haven't seen them in person for a while. I don't want to lose anyone else. Ever. I'm not sure what I'd do.”

What's your love language?

“Well, it's not physical touch! *Laughs* I guess quality time. Actively doing things with someone else. That's the best I could ask for.”

When are you the happiest?

“When I'm with my friends! Just whenever we're doing whatever! As long as they're happy, and we're happy together.”

#6- Ash

Would you ever get high and if so, what is your drug of choice?

“First of all, I'm thirteen. Second of all, yeah probably - it'd be a fun risk to take. Not sure what drugs I'd take though. *Pauses* Hm. There are these devices I found that stimulate my telepathy. I wonder if those are anything like drugs. If they are, then whatever those are most similar to.”

Three things you would buy at the store to freak the cashier and the person behind you out

“Walmart has these cheeseburger onion rings I noticed last time I was with Mary. I may buy that just to make the cashier think I have terrible taste. In actuality, I'm just curious. Maybe an urn or something dark. Ooh. A pregnancy test. That would freak a lot of people out. *Pause* Was that too dark?”

What stupid opinion are you willing to die for?

“That American cheese tastes good. Liam told me it tasted like plastic. I'll admit, I need to try more cheeses. He was right about that. But plastic? Come on. He's just mad that Muenster isn't a Canadian invention.”

Why is writing Ash so HARD

Tagging @jezifster @sleepyowlwrites @dyrewrites @willtheweaver @theeccentricraven @writeouswriter @tabswrites + ANYONE

Your questions are:

How good are you with people?

How would you function in a group project?

What's your most valuable possession?

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

[cheeto-flavoured-pasta]

Writer Q&A Tag Game

I was tagged here by @bluberimufim and here by @squarebracket-trick!

Gently tagging @hyuccubus, @sunset-a-story, @full-on-sam and anyone else who wants to join

1 - What motivates you to write?

I'm going to sum it up like this: I have ideas hopping around in my brain. At some point, they hop around too much to the point where I go feral over them and know they have to be turned into something full and whole and tangible because I love them too much to just keep dreaming about it forever.

2 - A line/short snippet from your work or someone else's (please credit).

(I'm going through a "I hate my writing and everything looks like it sucks but I can't figure out why aergsgdfkjhgjh" phase, so maybe doing this could help.)

[CW// Mentions of suicide.]

"Yeah." He swallowed. "Big surprise. I chickened out last minute, but the others actually went for it and succeeded. They were too determined." Through the crack in the door, I spotted him burying his face in his hands. "Sorry, this is so sudden. I just… I can't deal with this place. Hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Can't stand it here. So I thought the only way to get out was to just — oh, fuck, what's the point of trying to explain?" His voice cracked. "Nobody's gonna get it." I paused, biting my lip. Comfort wasn't my strong suit, but I'd dealt with suicide before. I knew what it was like, sitting next to someone who tried to end it all. I'd sat next to my sister on the balcony of our old home, next to the kitchen countertop where all her pills lay, almost swallowed whole, listening to her vent her heart out and hold onto me. This was something I had experience with. This was something I could handle.

3 - What OC makes you smile each time you think of them?

I'd say either Marie or Cillian, or both, since they're kind of a package deal; you can't have one without the other.

(Skipping ahead a little bit, let's head to question six).

6 - What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

It's hard to pick one, so I'll list a few. Personally, the writing positivity and encouragement/support blogs (e.g @iloveyou-writers) tend to be my favorite whenever I'm going through a tough time, and with that are the wide range of advice and perspectives you can get from different writers. I find it hard to find other writing friends in real life, so having a community on Tumblr makes me feel like I've found my people, and I'm grateful for that.

8 - What's a piece of worldbuilding in your story that you're proud of?

Worldbuilding has always been a pretty daunting task, but creating the history and past conflicts in my world, despite it sounding so simple, is something I'd say I'm proud of. Not for any grand reason, but just for doing it and finally getting over that obstacle I didn't like before.

9 - What's some advice you'd give to other writers going through a rough patch?

Personally, I'd say that the best thing you can do when going through a rough patch with writing is to read. And I know it's not a very deep and profound piece of advice, but whenever I'm going through a rough spot, I find that taking a break and perusing someone else's work is what I need for my brain to start working again (no wonder I feel like shit lately; I've been neglecting this myself...). Writing is, essentially, reading your own work back to yourself as you're creating it, and sometimes, your brain needs a break from that. It needs variety, and the best way to achieve that is to read other things.

[elliewiltarwyn]

I have to ask top 5 npc 👀

well if you guys insist 👀 this will get extremely long, i'm sure, so i'll throw it under the cut to save your dashes lol

-----------------------------------

5. Emet-Selch

yes part of me is a basic bitch and is in agreement with everyone that damn, that villain of the award-winning expansion of the critically acclaimed MMORPG do be written ridiculously well. part of me is such a basic bitch that i am among the many who made an ancient OC named Persephone. (She isn't Ellie's ancient, and therefore not Azem, for whatever that's worth. :V)

but I mean. damn, he's written well. and I really feel his influence in nearly every corner of the ingame universe. Ellie stands firmly against him, but also can't say for certain she'd make any different choices if she had been in his position, having lost everyone she ever loved. honestly one of the best implementations of the "everyone is the hero of their own story" concept I've ever seen.

plus he's just such a rude, uptight little bitch, and it's amazing to watch.

4. Alisaie

Both of the twins are really good, and I am definitely among those who, despite their less-than-stellar introductions, eventually ended up going all "I'm having children. it's you. sign these adoption papers." but Alisaie in particular has the fierce drive and endless capacity for love that connects with Ellie so well. they're both fiery and vivacious and searching for some sort of purpose in a world that doesn't care and eventually find that meaning in the people they love. Straightforward, hates beating around the bush, so eager to cut to the point that she pops the LB immediately every dang time on like the GCD right before I try going for it--

yeah she's just really good and she feels like a sister after everything we've been through.

3. Lyse

So, I grew up in the shadow of an older brother; he was immensely popular, very self-confident, and knew what he wanted to do with his life ever since he was a kid. Everyone loved him, everyone admired his clear sense of purpose... and more than a few people looked at me in his wake and literally asked "why aren't you that cool? you should try and be more like him." not even exaggerating.

thankfully, I've done a lot of self-growth and am on very good terms with him these days. A lot of that sense of self-growth came from finding the courage to strike out on a path he hadn't laid down before me, find ways to define myself that aren't just carbon copies of his own traits. It was better for everyone for me to figure out what I wanted and how to achieve that by becoming the best version of myself -- not anyone else.

is it any godsdamn wonder Lyse resonates so much with me? plus she's a beautiful kinda-dumb punch girl, and I live for that archetype. In my canon, Ellie drops reaper after Endwalker and trains up to be a monk under Lyse, because albeit for different reasons, Ellie also empathizes a ton with Lyse's struggles and development. to the extent of fairly severely crushing on her for a long time imma be real.

2. Esteem

you ever just *clenches fist* become so traumatized that in order to cope you manifest your own inner darkness that wants you to love yourself so much that she tries to subsume you into herself so you don't have to suffer anymore, only to come to terms with the weight of all the traumas you are carrying and learning to love yourself through it all anyway, in a way that helps you master the darkness and bring it to bear against those who deserve it? is-- is this not a common experience? oh. well I mean. it was very cool to have that happen.

Ryne

i made a meme a long time ago for this exact purpose:

i love my beautiful gay daughter

thanks for the prompt and the excuse to gush, @oneiroy and @alliezweihander!!

[fixfoxnox]

When I first started reading SitO I had no idea who Jackson was and when I looked him up and saw he was the guy you play in the nuke mission in the original MW I was so glad to see you use him because the part where he dies was one of the only two scenes I remembered from that game. Recently I learned there were scrapped mission objectives that were going to have him survive the nuke. Now all I can picture is Jackson's survival being a well known thing in military circles and him making cracks about it to other people because whose gonna tell the guy that got nuked he can't joke about it? "Gaz please, this mild fever is nothing compared to the heat of the nuclear bla-" followed by Gaz trying to suffocate him with a pillow. He and Ghost start trying to out dark humor each other about their trauma while everyone around them is horrified.

AJDNNFJFJF NO PLEASE BECAUSE I KNOW THAT JACKSON IS SO EXCITED ONCE THE 141 KNOWS ABOUT THE REBIRTH STUFF SO HE CAN FINALLY CRACK JOKES ABOUT DYING

"Jackson don't do that, its dangerous."

"Can't be worse than a nuke lmao"

Gaz: *doing anything*

Jackson: damn, you make me hotter than that nuke did baby holy shit

Gaz absolutely hates it. Ghost is actually getting along with Jackson for the first time since knowing him. Soap is horrified every time. Price is silently resigned. Roach has been dealing with this for years (Roach has Jackson in his contacts as "🍄☁️" and Roach is in Jackson's phone as "🔥🪳" no one but them and Ghost think that its funny)

I also know Jackson would drop a "Where's another nuke when you need one" when he's in any situation that he doesn't want to be in lmao

Also I've lowkey been very surprised at how many people have told me that they didn't know Jackson before reading my fic. I really shouldn't be surprised since he only has like 4 missions though andjfnnfnf

It lowkey makes me wonder if there are people who think/thought that Jackson was an OC when I first introduced him. ALSO I WISH THAT JACKSON LIVED OMG

Fun facts about when I played Jackson's missions:

When I got to his first mission it took me like 30 minutes to do because I didn't realize I wasn't playing as Soap anymore (I talk a lot while playing games and was not paying attention bdbfjfnf)

So they're calling for Jackson to go do things and of course I don't realize I'm Jackson, so in my head I just have to wait for this npc to do something before I can continue. So for like 30 minutes I'm sitting there listening to them scream for Jackson to do something and I'm like "Damn this Jackson guy needs to get his shit together this is taking forever"

Then eventually I just went and did it and they were like "good job Jackson" and I was hit with the sudden realization of "oh shit I'M JACKSON"

Also after the Nuke cutscene happened, I was still like chilling and legit said outlook to myself "wow, I wonder how his next mission is going to handle this" like two seconds before they flashed the KIA on the screen sjdnfnnfnf

I am also deeply chaotic while playing Jackson for some reason like I full on do the dumbest shit while playing his missions snfjfbbf it took me forever to get through them on veteran cause I kept getting run over by the tank lmao