#primeval oneshot

[ruiniel]

In Aeternum

Fandom: Castlevania series (2017-2021)

Relationship: Alucard x Reader

Count: 2.2k

Rating: M

Tags: Pining, Alternate Universe, First Meetings, Dark Romanticism/style, Castlevania References, Reincarnation, Post-Castlevania 2017-2021, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, F!Reader, Herbalist Reader, Magic, References to Speakers, Creatures, Shapeshifting, Second Person POV

AN: Bringing back a story written on the old blog for an ask (I believe it was from @mightyarsh? Let me know if not!). Oneshot for now, TBC if there's interest for more.

Edit: here's Part II

Summary:

Alucard centered story, where his s/o in ~1476 is a herbalist who eventually dies of old age. Fast forward to the 1790s, Alucard stumbles into you: a herbalist and magician, with the same appearance of the one he knew long ago.

“There you are,” you whisper gleefully to yourself, bending down. Your gloved hand reaches to pick the buoyant cluster of white and yellow feverfew at your feet.

The forest sings with life, and sun rays brush bright, dappled fingers over the forest ground. Your satchel is almost full, and you’re pleased to see you’ve crossed most needed supplies off your list for the day. Dusk will soon be upon you, and while you’re more than capable of protecting yourself against any manner of disturbances, the wisest approach would be to head back sooner than later. Carefully, you wrap your quarry in a rough strip of paper and tuck it inside your bag with other scented packages. You rub at your nose with fingers smelling of yarrow, valerian and meadowsweet, considering being done for the day. Looking at your compass, you aim to follow North, towards the town where you run your trade and livelihood.

You take a few steps, thoughts on the newest concoction recipes you’ve been provided by a member of your guild.

At first, you don’t mind the eerie shift in the air. A smell, a reek rises and engulfs you, and though you sense no movement, the tendrils of impending threat weave around your ankles. You stop short.

The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end; your heartbeat quickens. You know this instinctual warning, you’ve felt it before.

You’re being watched.

Eyes narrowing, you wait, then take a step forward. A stir deep in the tall, dark undergrowth has you lifting your left hand, your stance gone rigid, fingertips sizzling with a rush of hot, elemental energy.

You falter as the creature reveals itself, emerging from of the shadows descended over the wood like moving shrouds; you can’t deny the beast’s unreal beauty as your gaze skims over the white, shining hide, to the golden eyes catching the last drops of sunlight spearing through the trees, watching you with an interest bordering on human.

No, you realize, swallowing hard; its eyes are human, but for all your knowledge in the arcane arts, you can’t for the life of you place its kind. You’re all too familiar with the unmistakable scent of foreign magic, and now it crackles around the dire wolf like rising thunder.

A thought, a forgotten piece of knowledge crosses your mind. Shapeshifter.

If it weren’t for your less than favorable situation, you’d be hopelessly entranced by the rare apparition.

The creature remains still, observing you with curiosity while you place your right foot behind you and drop your satchel. Your fingers form the conjuration symbol of fire.

“I don’t know what you are or why you’re here, but I warn you, one wrong move and I will not hesitate to burn you to a crisp!”

Your voice shakes beneath your bravado, but you don’t get to finish your shaking threat. Before you can muster even a wisp of a firebolt the wolf bounds in a great leap, and in primeval fright you trip over your own legs, falling to the floor amid wilted leaves and dirt. Your unremarkable life flashes before your eyes and only late you notice you’re still breathing, still in your body; still breathing, not dead.

You swivel around, rising to your knees.

Your eyes widen; you balk at the ghastly sight and scramble backwards on your arms and legs, watching the wolf ripping out the throat of another apparition reminiscent of rotting corpses. Guts splatter the trunks of trees, skin tears and bones splinter. The pestilence of ancient necromancy fills your nostrils; your head is spinning, and through your daze and the vicious, threat-induced pounding in your head, you barely see two booted feet instead of a four-legged stance. Closer they come, as your panting breath hitches in your throat.

You lift your gaze, heart struggling between your ribs. Ahead, a widening pool of murky green blood drools beneath the carcass of his kill.

“You should... watch yourself better out here,” come the soft words, and as your shocked eyes move over him, you see broad shoulders, a well-knit frame garbed in black, and looking into his face, you’re struck by a deep, wrenching familiarity.

His unblemished features possess that same stillness, but also honesty and reluctant kindness; and something else. Indefinable, like grasping at a half-forgotten dream at the strike of dawn.

You can’t speak, and mutely stare as he kneels before you. The first impulse is to back away, but through the remnants of your panic you squint at him, and recognition flares. “You!”

You’ve seen him before. You remember now. You… you know him. He’s been a recent, frequent customer in your apothecary shop, coming by regularly to purchase herbs and powders used for an array of purposes. He never skimped on payment, even for the most expensive of wares.

Those otherworldly traits you remember: in truth, how could you forget. His presence is always the hallmark of the familiar, though in what way, you cannot say.

“You…” you repeat dumbly, staring at his proffered gloved hand.

You hesitate before reaching, allowing long fingers to wrap around yours as he helps you to your feet. The grip sends a rush up your spine and warmth down your body, and you marvel at how fast you turned from paralyzing fright to cursed reactions of a completely different kind.

“I never knew you were a shapeshifter, Mr. Țepeș,” you croak, deeply embarrassed by the uncanny rebellion within. You release his hand, perhaps slower than would be deemed appropriate.

“And you never mentioned you were a magician.” He smiles as you dust off the leaves and dirt from your clothes. “But then, these are not things commonly shared among acquaintances in this day and age, are they?”

Despite the near brush with a gruesome death and his unexpected, though fortuitous, presence, you still find a shred of mirth within you. A wry smile curls your lips. “No, I suppose it is not. Though we’ve come a long way from deeming magic devil’s work, and burning witches at the stake.”

His brows furrow at that, and something twitches in his jaw. You wonder if your words had somehow upset him, though in what way, you haven’t the slightest idea.

What was he doing here?

Whatever shadow crossed his expression is gone, however, and he shakes his head. “Indeed, we have. Still, I think you agree caution is key. And please, just ‘Adrian’,” he follows, as gallant as you remember him, as if there’s not a dead abomination he’d disemboweled lying only a short distance away.

“Very well, Adrian,” you find your voice. The word is easy on your tongue, like a fresh, blooming flower. Here you are, alone and at his mercy, for you have no inkling of his true power, but your fear sluices away with his closeness. You wish you knew the reason why. “I won’t tell anyone, if you won’t,” you add, astonished at the sudden shift in mood.

“You’re a long way from home,” he ignores your light remark, watching you strangely, a near wistful gleam in burnished eyes.

“Yes, well, I was out gathering supplies, and I’ve encountered no trouble thus far, but,” you pause, an eyebrow raised as suspicion rears its head. “...you were following me?”

He looks away. “I was hunting it,” he gestures behind him. “Stray creatures of the nether still lurk in the whereabouts of my home, and I’ve encountered too many bodies around abandoned pathways and ditches to allow the prowling to continue.”

You’ve heard of this. You know of at least two families who had recently lost someone; people disappearing without a trace, none ever returned.

Misery for their plight fills you, but now your curiosity has peaked at his words, and there brims a need to know more. “You mention your home… you live close by, then?” Throughout your sparse dealings, he always kept things professional, and despite having met countless times before, you obviously know close to nothing about him.

Adrian hesitates beneath your searching stare, biting his lip. “For now.”

You’re left to wonder at the meaning of his words, your gaze straying behind him. “Oh, how horrid of me! You saved my life. Thank you,” you bow your head, your gratitude genuine.

Adrian looks up to the skies. He smiles. “Darkness falls,” he says. “My deed will prove useless if you end at the hands of brigands or whatever other things haunt this part of the wood.” Unsettling amber eyes are on you again, and something warm and sweet settles in your belly. Now, of all times.

“I…” you choke, “I better get moving then,” you avert your gaze, bending down to retrieve your abandoned satchel.

“I could escort you to the edge of the forest, if you wish.”

The words take you by surprise. Your eyes cut to his again, and in the half-light, their gold is deeper, brighter. Wolf-like, but without the trace of a threat.

“... two wards are better than one, that sort of thing,” he smiles thinly, almost shyly, his gaze intent on your face.

“... that would…” do you want him to? After all, he is little more than a stranger to you, but then again, you are not exactly powerless either, were he to try anything. The thought shames you for some unknown reason, and deep inside, there comes the truth: shapeshifting powers aside, you want him close, you want to know him beyond the placid stares and the memory of those fleeting, close-lipped smiles; beyond the all too brief encounters. Something rooted deep pushes past all sensible misgivings.

You shoulder your satchel, meeting his stare. You sense no danger coming from him, none. Instead, a pang of sadness coils around you, leaving you breathless in your confused stupor.

Your heart beats so fast it might break your sternum, but in his shuttered expression you find nothing. A cool wind shivers through the branches, lifting his pale hair, sending strands astray as he silently awaits your decision.

You nod slowly with a sigh. “... that would be very kind of you.”

You walk in comfortable silence, exchanging questions of mundane import here and there, then falling to silence again. If there’s still a waver to your step, or a hitch to your breath since you nearly lost your life today, your travel companion makes no mention of it.

You tread through dust and leaf until you reach the forest’s edge, and before you lies a vale, and a town tucked within it. You glance over to see your new acquaintance walking in a smooth, determined glide, looking left and right.

When your eyes meet, the question forms immediately, more so since you’ll use any excuse to explain the staring. What has actually happened to you? More annoyed at yourself than expected, you ask, “I haven’t seen you around here often. Before, that is,” you nibble on your lip as his gaze flicks away from you in the fallen twilight.

“I could say the same about you,” he muses, “I’ve always lived close by, actually. But I’ve been… absent these past few years, let’s say.”

Odd. And yet. “Oh, I see. I had settled here after leaving my caravan and parents to find my luck in the world. They knew I needed to channel the talents they’d noticed growing and affecting my life more and more with each passing day. For all the dangers I’ve met, great or small, I’d found some use for my skill in herbalism, found odd jobs until I scraped enough which, along with the help my parents offered when I left, allowed me to rent a place of my own.” You look swiftly his way. “I’m rambling, I’m sorry,” but the look in his eyes cuts through your cresting apology.

“No,” Adrian shakes his head, “It is no bother,” he says, an odd quality to his voice. “No bother at all.” 

It’s a long walk to your cottage at the edge of town, through the same muddy, unpaved road you’ve trod day after day, month after month, year after year. You’ve been alone for so long it’s become a way of life, and you mull over that thought, making your way to the worn, crumbled building of your little shop.

Pausing before the door, you turn around to face your unlooked-for savior. “Well, then.” You smile, catching the peculiar stares of one or two neighbors. Irritation flares—of course, none would even think of minding their own business.

“Well, then.” 

The niggling prickle of something in your mind remains, but you know better than to linger with a stranger in the evening outside your home. The town is not so large as to be impervious to wagging tongues, and that is nothing you want to be a part of.

“Thank you, again,” you offer, not knowing what else to say, for he is so still again, staring through you as though seeking something. 

“Until next time,” is all he says.

“... Under better circumstances. I hope,” you try a jest, turning to unlock the wooden door to your cottage.

“So do I.”

The wind has become stronger. You turn around, wanting to add something that disperses from your mind as you find yourself alone, the night and a rising moon your only witnesses.

MASTERLIST: CASTLEVANIA SERIES x READER

More of my work is on AO3

BLOG MASTERPOST (all you need to know)

Likes/comments/reblogs always and forever appreciated

[darkness-follows]

YOOOAOOAOAOAOA

The Boyd crowder multi part fic im working on rn

GAHAHAHAHAGAFAGAH

Sorry im a lil excited.

I'll give you a lil hint......

CITY PRIMEVAL

SPOILER ⬇️ 🚫

Maybeeeee consider watching season 1 Episode 8 of Justified: City Primeval to prepare for this oneshot.

You can even skip the entire Show and half the last episode.

Skip to min 36:00 if you like.

Kiss kiss bye bye.

A lil treat for the people who HAVE already seen it:

Or the Babes who just don't give a damn haha

Credit:

Comment please if you wish to be tagged! (I gotta start saving yall somewhere lmfao)

Update. Posted.

Here:

[ankahikoibaat]

Twenty Fanfic Writer Questions

tagged by: @reconstructwriter tagging: EVERYONE no but seriously okay @heatherfield @lowkeyed1 @littleblackraincloudofcourse @firstelevens @peterbenjaminparkour @bizzybee429 @cypresssunn @thesecondbatgirl @mid-nighttiger @noneedforbloodpressure @brachiosaurus-on @monjustmon @thegreencarousel and anyone else (i don't remember if i've ever done this before.)

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?  about to be 230 on Thursday! (what up, plan on hitting 250 before the end of the year.)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?  466,023 words!

3. What fandoms do you write for?  ....too many. whatever hits my fancy when it comes to the whumptober prompts but main focuses are Pride And Prejudice, Willow, DC, Star Wars and The Vampire Diaries.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? screaming at the cold, say the words as such, our hearts are hungry, this is where the heart lies and going up against it all. the fact that all of these are Star Wars fics and four out of the five are from NTCM. pls.

5. Do you respond to comments?  yes! I've set aside one day a week - Wednesdays - to respond to comments (and then a fic chapter or oneshot goes up on Thursdays.)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?  so there are actually a few that end angstily, some not on AO3 (I-F, I miss you.) but I've transferred at least one of those over here too so - Humari Adhuri Kahaani and Woh Miley The for them. and then love is not a victory march (ColdAtom I love you.).

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?  oh! most have happy endings? so? i won't list them all. i am particular to the ones where i have Palpatine explode. that's always fun.

8. Do you get hate on fics?  not on fic though i have gotten comments that have made me go "you could have just not said anything". some people nitpicking the way i chose to write characters - in both the Star Wars and Pride And Prejudice fandoms.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?  so i challenged myself to do this a few years ago and i've written a bit but not much? i prefer writing around it for the most part.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?  none here but Haule Haule my beloved nonsense.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?  YES! it was a couple of Primeval one-shots.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?  way back when i was writing on ff.net @bhavvyyy and i started a fic that we never completed lmao.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?  ....... okay look, for the most part i'm a multishipper but Swanfire and PremHeer my beloveds.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?  i will finish the TVD fic some day - but the time travel Star Wars fic i haven't posted anywhere is one i hope to finish but i haven't touched it in literal years.

16. What are your writing strengths?  i think i do well at bringing out emotions. i've made enough people yell at me for it!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? keeping to a plot. outlining. finishing a draft of my novel.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?  absolutely done it will do it again i used to write fic for a Hindi serial and did full on dialogue in Hindi.

19. First fandom you wrote for? i think it was Charmed to be honest. it's been almost 20 years...

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?  this is liking choosing a favorite child (except in this case the fics won't yell in my ear for not choosing them but STILL). so i will turn the table on you and let me know which is your favourite of my fics you've read.

[justfandomwritings]

Fanfiction Recommendations Masterlist

Fandoms I-Z

Law and Order: SVU

Rafael Barba/OC

The Wrong Room: complete; Rated M; Rafael Barba is on vacation with some old friends

Mi Vida: in progress, explicit, Rafael Barba finds love in a rather unexpected place with a rather unexpected person

Recovery: complete; Rated M; Hattie goes from councelor to victim and Barba is there to help her find herself again.

The Other Half of my Soul: Rated E; Barba and his girlfriend have a lot of work to put in

Little Women

Laurie/Amy

my lord, my lady: Rated E; complete; Laurie has an affinity for the title, but only when Amy uses it.

Mrs. Laurence: Rated E; complete; Laurie and Amy get married in a cute little ceremony.

Lost in Translation: Rated E; complete; Amy maaaay have overreacted a bit.

Marvel

Bucky Barnes/OC

If I Could Bring You Back Home: complete; oneshot; Rated M; she’s moved on from Bucky, but it hasn’t gone well.

Friends to Lovers to Complete and Utter Idiots: complete; Rated M; the title sort of explains it all, they’re friends; then they’re lovers; then they’re idiots.

Now We’re Even: complete; oneshot; Rated M; Bucky runs into the next to last person he expected to see in this bar, but it works out for the best.

Haven: complete; Rated M; a nameless man shows up on Iris’s doorstep holding out her ad.

These Ties That Bind: complete; Rated G; soulmates were long gone by the time she get her mark

Loki/OC

Music Maker: complete; oneshot; Rated M; a girl held captive on Asgard finds a kindred spirit in Loki (The best Marvel oneshot I’ve ever read)

After the Fall: complete; Rated M; After he falls in Thor, Loki runs to the only person he wants to see in his time of need. Has a worthy, well written, incomplete sequel; spin off; and one shot

Peter Parker/OC

Goddamn It Peter: in progress; Rated E; Reader gets accepted to their dream college and finds out Peter Parker is her roommate.

Catch and Release: in progress; Rated T; After Spider-Man No Way Home, Peter isn’t sure he’ll ever find his MJ

It All Leads to You: in progress; Rated M; you save a cat, and Peter saves you.

Me Before You

Will/Lou

This Time Around: complete; oneshot; Rated M; a fix-it fanfiction of everything wrong with that romance

MurderBot Diaries

A.R.T./OC

Squish: complete; Rated E; Murderbot accidentally binds to a CSU's handler. It doesn't want to be a pet bot's handler.

Once Upon A Time

Peter Pan/OC

Say You’ll Remember: complete; rated T; Kidnapped with Henry and taken to Neverland, she’s found by an old flame

No One Escapes: complete; rated T; she owes Rumple a debt, a debt she plans to repay by finding Baelfire, which she does… sort of.

Felix/OC

Innocence: complete; Rated T; Doomed to be wanted by every man she’s ever met, she escapes to Neverland.

Pirate of the Caribbean

Jack Sparrow/OC

A Pirate’s Life For Me: in progress; Rated T; Elizabeth’s twin sister may look like her, but they are very different people. Except for their fascination with the sea.

Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Darcy/Elizabeth Bennet

Passion at Pemberly: in progress, explicit, post-book/movie scenes from the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth.

Curiosity: complete, explicit, Elizabeth stumbles upon Darcy in a compromising position.

A Little More Time At Pemberly: complete; Rated E; What if Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth had a little more time together at Pemberley before news of Lydia’s elopement reached them?

Primeval

Becker/Jess

Just Pretend: complete; Rated T; Becker asks for Jess’s help dealing with his family, and it slowly descends into romantic comedy gold.

A Future Move: complete; one shot; Rated K; an anomaly opens in the ARC and shows the team a glimpse of their future.

Blast From the Past: complete; one shot; Rated T; Becker stumbles upon a familiar 10 year old in need of his help

Concussion: complete; Rated M; Becker has to stay awake, and Jess says some rather suggestive things to keep him up.

Distractions: complete; Rated T; Jess ends up in the line of fire, and Becker has to confront his feelings.

Into the Woods: complete; one shot; Rated T; Jess goes with the team on a mission, and Becker isn’t happy about it.

Control: complete; Rated M; Becker needs Jess, not that he can ask for her to help him with this of all things.

Head of Security Saving the Field Coordinator: complete; Rated T; Becker wants to get drunk, but this jerk in the bar won’t leave a girl alone

Queen’s Gambit

Benny Watts/OC

Meet You There: in progress; rated T; she travels to chess tournaments to support her cousin even though she knows nothing about it, till she finds someone to explain it.

Sherlock

Mycroft/OC

International Relations: complete; Rated M; Mycroft runs into a woman in a bar, and she is definitely not a goldfish.

Mycroft’s Woman: complete; oneshot; Rated T; Mycroft has met his match

His Match: complete; Rated T; Mycroft finds himself kidnapped with a beautiful, intelligent woman

Stargate

John /Jennifer

Fancy Alien Elevators Can Be Dangerous: complete; Rated M; John and Jennifer get caught in a fancy alien elevator.

John/ OC

One Night: complete; Rated M; A one night vacation from work on Atlantis turns into more

Ronon/Jennifer

The Storm: complete; oneshot; Rated K; A rescue mission turns complicated when the storm strikes early

Ronon/OC

To Run or To Hide: complete; Rated M; Ronon’s been on the run for a while when he meets a woman with a lot in common with him.

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington/OC

Lawful Good: complete; Not Rated; Dustin’s sister Lottie gets roped into his and his friends problems in Stranger Things Season 2 and meets Steve along the way.

I Want You To Show Me: complete; oneshot; Rated E; Steve finds the reader in her personal spot after the Snow Ball

Terra Nova

Maddy/Reynolds

The Reality of Denial: complete; Rated T; Reynolds is in denial

Snapshots of Mark and Maddy: complete; Rated T; a series of oneshots from Mark and Maddy’s marriage in Terra Nova

Missed Conversations and Love Declarations: complete; oneshot; Rated K; after he’s wounded, Maddy waits for Mark to wake up at his bedside.

Top Gun Maverick

Hangman/OC

Top Fuck: in progress, Rated E, Some locals near the Hard Deck start a bit of a competition with the unwitting Top Gun pilots.

Twilight

Demetri/OC

Hide and Seek: complete; Rated T; Demetri falls in love with a woman he can’t seem to catch.

Fate’s Decision: complete; oneshot; Rated T; Demetri life changes when he goes back to check on a coven he spared.

Marcus/OC

The Psychic: in progress; Rated M; Aro finally finds his Psychic, but Marcus finds something more.

Jasper/OC

Carpe Diem: In Progress; Rated M but current chapters are only worth of T; Jasper finally finds his real mate in the course of New Moon.

Major Issues: In Progress; not rated; Jasper encounters a girl in the school library. Struggling with his self-control, he manages not to kill her by talking to her and reminding himself to not think of her as prey, but as a person.

Sam/Emily

Always the Quiet Ones: complete; oneshot; Rated M; an alternate universe where Sam and Emily meet under more desirable circumstances

Seth/OC

Imprinting Has Advantages: complete; Rated M; a collection of oneshots of Seth’s life with his mate

Jared/Kim

You Belong to Me: complete; Rated M; Jared’s first day back at school has an unexpected result

Vampire Diaries

Kol/OC

Dream A Little Dream of Me: in progress; Rated M; Elena’s sister finds herself dreaming of a man who she can’t see the face of but who is clearly about to become a very important part of her life.

Tyler/OC

Dances With Wolves: complete; Rated M; in rural Virginia, Tyler runs into a woman in need of his help

Witcher

Jaskier/OC

Soul of a Warrior: complete; Rated M; Nissa is sick of her monotonous life in her small, boring town when a witcher and a bard arrive.

[thewolfparadox]

Whumptober 2022

Silent Panic Attack

Fandom: Destiny

Words: 1.8k

Summary:

While spectating a routine Gambit match, Shin Malphur notices the arrival of the Taken primeval sparks an unforeseen reaction.

Read on Ao3

last oneshot!

[fourphoenixfeathers]

Got a super good haul last night playing Legends Arceus.

Not only did I play through the entire Highlands story in one sitting, I finally got a full team of six that I'm happy with. I went from being super attached to only my starter typhlosion and thinking i needed a new team to a full team of six that I'm going to keep with me for the rest of the game.

I caught the alpha Crobat in wayward cave with my third ball. I've always loved Crobat but now it's huge. I named it Nobori. Here's a low quality pic of him in action for scale.

I tried to catch the alpha gliscor in primeval grotto, but it oneshot my only super effective pokemon and i realized it was lvl 77, so I ran for my life. It was okay though, because I found a lucky alpha gligar spawn not even three minutes later. I named that one Kudari.

I also got a bronzong in the ancient quarry, named it Eleventh (short for eleventh hour). Found a Sylveon in a distortion just minutes after thinking "i want a Sylveon but affection evolution dumb". The Sylveon's name is Nuclei bc "Ribbon" was too basic but it made me think of RNA. And last but not least, I caught a petlil named Sempervi. She has a long way to catch up, but that's okay.

[queenclaudiabrown]

One Call Solves It All

Summary: What should’ve happened anytime after 2.01

Nick was familiar with the feeling of mourning.

He had mourned Helen for eight years. The rows, the shouting, the explosive arguments…it hadn’t mattered. He’d loved her and he’d lost her on a sour note.

And then there had been Claudia.

Sweet, beautiful, Claudia, like a warrior angel. They’d kissed three times and they were his three favorite memories. She’d erased all lingering thoughts of love for Helen from his mind and shown him what real love felt like. Sure, they argued, they disagreed, and they’d never been on one proper date or said those three special words to each other, but he knew in his heart that he loved her more than he’d ever loved anyone before (in that way, that is).

And suddenly she’d been ripped from him with only his memories and a photograph in his wallet to mark her existence. Helen’s disappearance had felt like losing a limb, but like all amputees, he’d learned to cope with the feeling. Claudia’s disappearance had felt like his heart was wrenched from his chest. No amount of work or alcohol could drive the misery and longing away or dull it even a little like it had with Helen.

He hadn’t expected to mourn Stephen when the man was still alive.

Helen’s ill-timed revelation had been the perfect metaphorical example of being stabbed in the back. He’d known the man since Stephen was just eighteen, a bright young student eager to learn anything university and the world could teach him. Now he knew why he’d abruptly gone dull and shy in university- Helen had broken him.

On the one hand, it was Stephen he was angry at. He’d been a student and slept with his instructor. He’d spent eight or more years being his friend, letting Nick trust him and confide in him, helping him and hidden a foul secret that whole time. Was, on Stephen’s side, their friendship a lie as a way to make reparations for what he’d done?

But on the other hand, it was Helen he was angry at. She had been his wife, beholden by vows sworn before witnesses, and had cheated on him. She’d mocked Claudia, twice encouraged him to abandon his friends and his home to go gallivanting off without a word, and then stabbed him in the back.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he was at Helen, and a tiny spark of what could almost be called pity for Stephen grew in his chest. Stephen had been a victim as much as Nick had been.

With that though, Nick pulled the truck over, dug out his phone, and rang his best friend.

Stephen, lying on his bed brooding moping thinking, felt his mobile phone vibrating the mattress before the noise of its ringtone reached his ears. He slapped a hand down and briefly noted that Nick was the caller ID before answering it and putting it to his ear, steeling himself for whatever his ex-best friend was about to say. “Anomaly?”

“Nope.” The Scot replied. “We need to talk. I know I said to forget about it, but…” the older man gave a deep sigh. “…I’ve spent the last eight years mourning my wife. I got over her and felt something- I don’t know, a connection, I guess- with Claudia. She disappeared. My parents are dead, Stephen, and I’ve got no siblings or cousins or anyone left but you. You’re the only family I still have. I don’t want to lose you to. But I think I’m going to if we don’t talk.” There was a beat. Stephen’s heart jackhammered like a rabbit on steroids with a machine gun, almost unable to believe the words he was hearing. “So…where d’you wanna talk?”

Stephen opened his mouth, but it was dry, and no words came out. He swallowed and fought to keep his voice level. “How’s Regent’s Park?”

“Aye, that works. 1600?”

“I’ll be there.”

“…Bye.” Nick hung up before Stephen could respond.

Dread like a heavy stone settled into his gut, but like a bird desperate to be free beating its wings inside his chest hope rose up in him. Nick wanted to talk. Maybe he could repair what Helen had destroyed, mend fences and the bond that had been torn. Maybe, if he was very lucky, Nick would forgive him.

And then, maybe, he could start trying to forgive himself.

(So I literally got the idea and wrote this in like 45 minutes instead of sleeping haha)

[misc-oneshots]

Bad jokes and Perfect hair

Hope you get well soon! May I make a request for a fanfic once you’re better? I thought I’d seen a primeval fic written by you once before so can I please request a Becker x female reader fic? Feel free to write whatever plot you’d like but nothing too angsty and a happy ending please :)

Captain Hilary James Becker x Female Reader  For Anon Words: 2007

Always send me Primeval Reqs, Connor Temple remains to be my ideal man. Part of this is taken from Jurassic Park 2.

“I’m not being rude, I’m just surprised you have friends.” Becker had chided at Connor when he’d first mentioned you. “Well, actually, that was very rude.” Connor said and looked to Abby for backup who rolled her eyes at the men. That was the first time Becker had learnt of your existence, it seemed like forever ago now but he remembered it well because it was the first time the team seemed to trust him.

You had no involvement in the ARC at first, you were a close friend of Connor and, through him, Abby. It killed him that he couldn’t tell you the truth, about the dinosaurs, the ARC and the anomalys, he knew how much help you could be. But Lester would hear none of it, the ARC was invite only and you were a newly qualified palaeontologist, there was no reason to bring you onto the team.

Cutter had always predicted that Connor would eventually spill the beans and that you’d make a great member of the team and he was right. In fairness there wasn’t much more that Connor could do, he’d gotten a call about a Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus running amok on the M1, he knew the dinosaur was larger than a T-Rex, he’d need as much help as he could get. It helped that you were with him when he’d gotten the call.

It took some convincing, and by convincing, you didn’t believe him.

But in the end his pleading got you to go with him and you figured that you might as well go with him because: one, either he had really lost it and he needed your help to make sure that he didn’t hurt himself or someone body else or two, let’s just say for a moment that he could be telling the truth and there was really a dinosaur that you’d studied trashing the motorway and you could help stop it.

So you went with him and let him drive so that you could google on your phone how easy it was to commit somebody for insanity, surprisingly easy as it happens. It would be easy to say that you were shocked when it turned out Connor was right but honestly you were more preoccupied by the mighty beast flipping over empty cars with its massive snout on the abandoned motorway. If anything the crew were more shocked by your reaction to the dinosaur which was essentially running after it down the road. Action man, as Connor called him at the time, tried to catch you but you dodged him by ducking around a flipped car.

In the end he rugby tackled you, not hard enough to injured you but hard enough to scrape your knees and elbows as you crashed to the floor. He was shouting at you, some barking military order that he seemed to think you should take note off but you were too busy staring. It was a real life dinosaur.

You’d pushed him off and mocked his plan of ‘loud noises’ to push the creature into the anomaly, didn’t he know that he was dealing with what was thought to be the largest carnivore to ever prowl the earth? You were pushed back with Connor and Abby and they shot at the dinosaur until it was pushed back into the anomaly then Connor rushed forwards to mess with something until the shining spark closed. You took a moment to look around at the size of the military operation; Connor had clearly put himself in danger by telling you about the dinosaur so you found it hard to be mad at him for keeping it a secret for so long.

He ran back over to check that you were okay before asking, “Are we still friends?” “Of course you idiot.” You laughed.

He officially introduced you to Becker, though you much preferred the name Army Man, Connor knew that he’d finally got his way and would be able to get you into the ARC. “You’re not going to do some weird Men in Black memory easer type thing to me, are you?” you asked Becker, his face was full of scorn that he’d had to deal with another run away palaeontologist, like he didn’t have enough to deal with Connor, Cutter and Abby.

He didn’t like your joke, “You could have gotten yourself killed, you know that?” You couldn’t help yourself, “Correction, I could have gotten us both killed.” Behind Becker you could see Connor but his face in his hands at your quip. Becker gave you a level look, “So you’re Connor’s dinosaur friend? The palaeontologist.” “No what Connor means by that is I’m an actual dinosaur pretending to be a person.” You joked. It took a moment of Becker’s blank expression for you to realise that he didn’t appreciate your jokes.

You rolled your eyes, “It’s a joke, I’ve just seen a bloody dinosaur, I’m in shock okay?”

That was how you joined the ARC.

—-

It took two weeks of working together for him to get used to your humour and for you to learn that you weren’t allowed to run up to the dinosaurs. He’d only had to tackle you once or twice more until you understood that.

A friendship developed between you that neither expected, you respected how hard he worked to keep you all safe and he found it easier to ask you any questions about the creatures you were following because Connor always went off on a tangent and Cutter was always slightly mocking.

You’d been working closely together for four months when Becker realised that he’d done something very, very, stupid. He’d fallen for you. He absolutely had fallen head over hells for not only someone that he worked with but someone that he was paid to protect. Becker was furious with himself, he couldn’t let anyone get hurt because he was distracted by you. So he started to distance himself from you but eventually he had to stop because you’d approached him quietly and asked him if you’d done something to offend him.

He’d lied and said he had a lot on his mind and stopped pulling away from you and you’d fallen back into your habits of him coming around to your place to hang out and watch, of all things, Jurassic Park.

You were happy to have Becker back to normal, you’d missed your gym sessions where he kicked your ass and your easy conversations during quiet times in the ARC. You’d been worried that maybe he was avoiding you because he’d realised that you had feelings for him.

You were both in one of the ARC labs when you decided to pester him, “Hey Hils?” He groaned, he really regretted the day that you’d seen his file and his full name. He didn’t answer. “Hilly I’m talking to you.” You teased. “Stop it.” He snapped but his expression was soft. “Oh Hils why are you being so mean?” You asked spinning on the high lab chair. Becker stepped over to you and put his hands on either side of the chair to stop it so that you were facing him. You swallowed hard, did he always smell this good? “Final warning, stop.” He told you, his expression smug. You knew what he was threatening, he was going to tickle you, your one weakness, and he knew that you couldn’t escape with his thick arms on either side of you. “Okay.” You pouted before adding, “That’s very mean of you Hilary.” “Right!” He said as his hands dove to your side tickling you. You squealed and jumped forwards, practically splatting against his chest, he chuckled deeply and caught you. Becker looked down at you, practically bundled into his arms. You looked up at him and gave him a shaky smile and it hit both of you how close you were. In the back of his mind, Becker knew that he should never have gotten this close to you, not at work, but it didn’t stop his head inclining down towards you and gently brushing his lips over yours.

You sighed into the kiss and ran your hands up his chest and up over his shoulders to run into his hair which was always so damn perfect. He was still practically holding you up and too him in a sturdy but soft grip. The kiss was softer than you would have ever expected from someone who always shot first and asked later.

A blazing alarm made you jump away from each, chests heavying not from the kiss but from the surprise. “We should-” he started. “Yeah.” You agreed and then you were both running towards the alarm.

—-

It had taken you five minutes in the vans to get to the anomaly in the grounds of a large estate, Becker had taken that brief time to fix his perfect hair.  The vans had been parked around the anomaly and it had quickly become apparent that you were dealing with a herd. You caught side of the dinosaur briefly before you were yanked behind a van by Becker. “What are we dealing with?” He breathed, his hand left your arm and his gun was raised. “Pachycephalosaurus.” You told him and he gave you the proud look that he always did when you reeled off ridiculous names with ease. “Is it going to eat my men?” He asked you, business as always. You shook your head, “No, herbivore, Late Cretaceous. See the dome skull, its solid bone. The neck attaches at the bottom of its skull so when it lowers its head it lines up directly with the spine. Its essentially a battering ram.”

Becker was absorbing the intel when, as if on que, the van you were hiding behind was rammed into you. Becker snatched your arm and yanked you both out of the way just in time. “Thanks.” You breathed, his gun was raised again, “Don’t shoot it, it’s just scared.”

Eventually you drove the vans in a circle around the pack and herded them into the anomaly. The anomaly was kept open and guarded by Becker’s guys while the rest of you split up in the grounds to make sure that you’d got them all. You went with Becker and walked in silence for the most part, dinosaurs and your kiss on both of your minds. Your phoned buzzed and you read out the messaged from Connor, “They think that’s the entire herd. The anomaly has closed naturally, time to go.” Becker nodded and moved his gun so that it was strapped to his back and when you were both walking back he coughed to get your attention, “Are we okay? About the kiss?”

That was Becker all over, straight to the point. Gathering your courage you decided to just go for it, “Yeah we’re okay. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if we did it again.” You shrugged and continued walking like you hadn’t just admitted anything. Becker caught your hand and you stopped, when you turned his lips were on yours instantly.

Your hand found his perfect hair again and his hands held your body to him. He was the first to pull away, “Maybe this isn’t something we should be doing right now.” When your expression fell he added, “It’s not really work appropriate, is it?” “Neither is your hair, Hils.” You joked and then laughed as he rushed to push down his hair as you headed back to the guys.

[purpleyin]

Fic Writer Asks

Seen this going round and it looked fun + @takeunknownroadnow tagged me - thanks, been a while since I did something like this. :) I put most of the post behind a read more because I can never seem to do short answers.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

384 on AO3, but 117 of those are fanmixes/graphics/vids.

I also have 392 fics on FF.net, only some of which I’ve moved across (mainly Primeval and The 4400 got moved so far) so I guess that’ll inflate my AO3 number by a fair bit once I completely migrate of my fics.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

601,798 words

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I’ve written for about 32 fandoms so I’m not gonna list them all. My main ones have been Stargate Atlantis, Primeval, Fringe, The Flash, The 4400, and BBC Sherlock.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Turn Around (BBC Sherlock, Sherlock/Molly) - a 20k multichaptered based on a challenge set by Nocturnias. It took me 5 years to finish it and it’s an interesting one because I can see in it how my writing improved during those years, getting better with later chapters.

2. Why Should I Trust You (The Flash, Savitar/Caitlin) - this is a WIP oneshot collection about 25k so far. I still have another 10 one shots at least to post to it. It’s a very niche ship but the people who like it really like it.

3. Guide You Through The Night (The Flash, Barry/Frost sort of, Barry/Caitlin) - I wrote it for a simplysnowbarry event, whumpy angst with a happy ending, and it’s the most popular of any SB one-shots I’ve done

4. Burden of Proof (The Flash, Barry/Leonard) - this is only about 400 words but quite high kudos by my usually a rarepair writer standards. Partly I expect that’s just because Coldflash is such a big ship, but I got a good number of comments showing people liked the concept. I might expand on it to a longer fic sometime but who knows when I’ll have the time/energy.     

5. When Does It End (Where Does It Begin) (BBC Sherlock, Sherlock/Molly) - my most popular smutty fic, but mainly it’s a zombie apocalypse fic and I’ve had someone who doesn’t usually like zombie AU’s say they really enjoyed. I had a couple more chapters in mind for the AU it I might write as a separate fic sometime.

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

This is gonna take some working out. 1/3 of my fics are tagged angst, I gravitate towards it. 😂 At least 30% of my Savitar fics stick with canon doomed timelines etc so those are fairly angsty for all involved. I think I’ll do a top 5 angstiest, not including those though, because of how many I have.

1. For SGA my Kavanagh-is-a-serial-killer one “Attention To Detail” since so many people die. I was known for writing his character more sympathetically/better developed than just the cardboard cut out villain lots of people in fandom preferred to see him as (which was kinda of how McKay was used pre-SGA too) but a friend who grew to like how I wrote him always joked I should write him as a villain sometime to balance out making her like him in my fics, so eventually I wrote that OTT villainous version.

2. “Not Precisely A World Away” was pretty dark as far as non-Savitar Arrowverse fics go. It was an other Earth AU where Hartley was originally the Vibe of their world, named and helped by Cisco. He’s killed by Zoom and Cisco takes over the mantle, going dark with his powers to avenge Hartley.

3. A tragic/dark HP fic “The Fates” about Snape fruitlessly searching over many years for a better universe where Lily was alive and well and his mistakes hadn’t killed her.

4. Chapter 6 of Why Should I Trust You, ‘Deserve Your Silence,’ has Caitlin finally getting control of her body in the future timeline where Savitar won and him and Frost terrorize the city. Caitlin agrees to help get Frost back because she can’t cope with what Frost has done to her life/friends and it basically has a death-of-personality angle to it.

5. A Dollhouse Adelle/Topher fic “Finding Another” where the canon ending for Topher still happens and Adele has to make peace with that, as well as living with her guilt over what she played a part in.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Probably most of my moodboard notfic kind of blurbs. I used to find fluff hard but I’ve gotten better there when doing ideas to go with moodboards, so that’s improved my happy stories % a lot.

Out of longer actual fic, I find it hard to judge but probably “wherever you roam we'll be your home” (LoT, Jax & Gideon) for post-Legends happiness/friendship, or for shippy fics I think “it's the little things” (The Flash, Barry/Iris/Eddie) is the fluffiest/happiest ending.   

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Rarely. Only 7 crossovers out of my 300+ fics. My Buffy/Primeval might’ve been an unexpected one because magic and dinosaurs is a weird mix. I also did SGA/HP, The 4400/Firefly, Angel/TSSC, Primeval/The Flash, The 4400/SGA (but that was more a fusion, written before fusion became a term used). The oddest one I wrote is also my most popular, Dexter/Firefly.

8) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Occasionally. My smut tends to be very characterful and emotions driven. I thought originally I could only really write smut if it was characters in love, because I find it hard to relate to otherwise (I’m demisexual), but I surprised myself by writing some hatesex themed smut for an exchange once so that was probably a limiting preconception of mine. I’m not big on PWP as a reader anyhow, though I’ve wanted to try and get better at writing that as a challenge to myself.

9) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

These days, I usually do unless I can’t think of what to say or if they’re negative and I just don’t want to engage with that.

I sometimes don’t reply to comments that are very short ones basically just saying ‘update soon!/post more’ because I find people saying that in a curt way, usually two-three words only, seems demanding and rather rude without giving any feedback to go with it. Short comments are fine, I just don’t like people acting entitled to more asap when I obviously have a life outside fanfic.

I went through a period of a few years of not checking my account much and so missed some of the comments on AO3 - I do sometime spot those ones and reply years later apologetically.

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Hardly ever. I’ve had a few complaints about my writing style but eh, that’ll happen since it won’t always be everyone’s cup of tea. I once wrongly tagged a fic not understanding the difference between LJ tagging style and AO3 tagging styles for relationships - the person telling me so was fairly civil, it just unpleasantly meant a ship war spat broke out in the comments of that fic and that was my first impression of the fandom in question!

For a while I had someone commenting with anti-wlw, anti-polyam and anti-kink sentiments on fanworks specifically marked as containing those - I couldn’t tell if they were trolling or sincere but misguided, but either way those comments weren’t appropriate and they wouldn’t stop sharing their differing opinion despite me being clear it wasn’t wanted. Thankfully eventually AO3 abuse got round to my ticket opened about it and I believe they got a warning for being like that + they’ve not commented anymore. They still seem to follow and kudos my new works though, which isn’t welcome given how much grief they caused. I asked them not to interact with me but they ignored that request, so it may be a deliberate power thing, but if AO3 ever implements a ban feature they will be going on that list of mine.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of. Closest I’ve come to that was someone I know found out someone was reposting theirs on Wattpad, along with a bunch of other similar themed fics, and I had to ask the person to stop since they didn’t have an account there to ask the person themself. They did take them down in the end. I think the reposter thought it was flattering to the authors in question to be reposted and had no idea why people didn’t like it til it got explained to them in detail.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. :) I know at least one of my Savitar/Barry fics got translated into Chinese. I had a couple of other requests about translating HP fics but I never got given any links to the translations like I asked for so don’t know that they did get done.

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

When I was younger I did try to co-write (HP and SGA fandoms) but neither fic got out of the planning stage. I have a vague memory of partaking in a round-robin (where someone writes a section then passes it onto the next person) on yahoo groups, because those were once popular, but I don’t know if that got posted or finished either. I’d be open to it but honestly I don’t really know how people end up doing so, nor how you go about organising writing together other than collaborative documents like for betareading.

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

There’s no chance I can answer that. I’m just too big of a multishipper to ever decide.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Lol, so many. I suspect I may never finish my The 4400 fic “Pressure” because although I know it had likely only 1 more chapter to go I cannot for the life of me find my notes and I don’t remember what I had planned at all.

16) What are your writing strengths?

My characterisation and vocabulary are what gets complimented the most. I think I’m quite good on attention to detail on plots/callbacks to past canon things as well and working with themes/symbolism too.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I always worry about if my dialogue is in character enough and I’m very prose/POV thoughts heavy anyhow so I worry about waxing philosophical too much. I really struggle on keeping the same tense, which is why I try to write in present tense these days because I find that a bit easier to stick to.

I think my main problem is sticking to one project because my motivation isn’t consistent and I have too many ideas. I gotta learn to let go of some ideas, though moodboard making for some instead helps there.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If it makes sense for the character/fic/situation then it sounds good, though I do worry it might break people out of the fic for anyone who doesn’t know the language since unlike on TV etc you can’t have subtitles. I know it’s possible to do linked footnotes on AO3 but that’s not usually how people do translations, usually gotta go look at an end chapter note or google it.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I think it was Buffy fic as a teen, since taken down as it really wasn’t good.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’ve written so many it’s hard to pick but possibly “The Boundaries Which Divide” (Altered Carbon, Lizzie & Poe) where Lizzie fixes a backup of Poe. It’s a really small fandom and I wrote it for yuletide, but it was very satisfying to bring Poe back and to get into that friendship, plus I loved the imagery and parallels I got to include there.

Tagging (without obligation of course) @joanthangroff @sophiainspace​ @ttinycourageous​ @batty-writes​ @unwittingcatalyst​ @mrdcoolblue​ and anyone else who wants to!

[tzeetzeethirteen]

#Planning 18 - Spring

In the last couple of months I went on what I could call an actual writing spree, at least compared to my usual output. I managed to post more than 8 times between chapters and new stories. I am not sure how in the name of Boggy B I pulled it off, but I can say I’m happy that it resulted in another complete multi-chapter fic, and the start of a new one I’ve been waiting to share for a long time.

So, here’s the current planning setup for multichapter stories.

The Butterfly Bane is my current main priority. This is gonna be a doozy in terms of length, so I’ll take a while to be completed. As usual, I don’t have a real updating schedule so chapters will come ‘when they’re ready’, and the time needed to write them will vary a lot. Still, I really like this one and I’ll try my best to keep writing.

The Powerpuff Legacy remains on low priority, however, it will not be updated for a few months. Reason being that the writing marathon I went through to finish off Part One and to complete The Primeval Devourer Rewritten left me with a small burnout in terms of PPG fanfiction writing. I will go back to this one once the idea of writing more PPG does no more give me nausea lol

Pacifica over Yonder is still on hiatus. I decided that a rewatch is due and also necessary to get back into this story, specifically for Wander. Once that is done, I hope I’ll be able to finally resume writing this one. I’m still aiming for resuming updates before the end of 2021

As for the one-shots, as a follow up to my previous one-shot-focused status update. The next two ones in the pipeline are:

I Care About You (working title), an Ape Escape one-shot focusing on Natsumi and set after game 2.

SVTFOE oneshot, next entry for the ‘Queens of Mewni’ stories. This story will feature Crescenta Butterfly and be set early on during her reign. The MHC will likely feature a major role, but I’m still wondering about other characters’ appearance. We shall see.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, April 21

Master: You're dead! Buffy: I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you. Master: You were destined to die! It was written! Buffy: What can I say? I flunked the written.

~~Prophecy Girl~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

the consequences of your magnetic field (being a little too strong) (Fred/Harmony, T) by womanaction

Poem: Episode 77 – Primeval (Buffy & Willow & Xander & Giles, worksafe) by Kim Wade

Geist (crossover with Legion, Buffy, FR15) by EnergyBeing

[Chaptered Fiction]

Strange Land Chapter 1-4 (Spike/Buffy, M) by zabjade

Bihaldan Chapter 1-3 (Spike/Buffy, not rated) by wolf_shadoe

Warming Up To New Things Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (Spike/Buffy, PG) by sweetprincipale

Best Wishes Chapter 3 (Spike/Buffy, Xander, PG-13) by Kanita

Speranta Lumii Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by Irishrose

Bihaldan Chapter 13, Chapter 14 (Spike/Buffy, R) by Twinkles

Xandificer Chapter 107 (crossover with Dungeons and Dragons, Xander, FR21) by Datatroll

[Images, Audio & Video]

Buffy and Spike (worksafe) by hcconn

Fancast manips: Slayer 3 70s style II (Kendra, Buffy, Faith, worksafe) by christytrekkie

[Reviews & Recaps]

"Angel" had a perfect finale. by Shaharzuaretz and others

[Recs]

Recs - April 21st, 2019 by mirrored_illusions (BtVS crossover fic starting from the fifth rec down)

More Links Than A Bag Of Sausages by petzipellepingo

Best Buffy Books recced by multiple people

[Community Announcements]

Summer of Giles 2019 sign-ups will open on May 10th at summer_of_giles

Fic search: [smutty post-series Spuffy oneshot] described in more detail by Redwoman

Fic search: Spuffy picks wesley up from hospital - asked by Harvardkid08

[Fandom Discussions]

[Best episode, top 5 non-canon ships etc.] by luscious2

[Xander and Anya's relationship in s3] by crystalizeddiamonds64, luscious2

God the small moments where buffy is ‘selfish’. by neolithicdyke

Season 4 Timeline Help by DeadlyDuo

Why didn't Buffy ever mention Wolfram&Hart in her show Seasons 1-3? hosted by FaithLehane16

dang it I really wanna watch a Buffy prequel starring Giles by multiple people

Giles and Jenny (Why can’t people in this show be happy?) hosted by Megwen

The most unrealistic part of this show isn’t the vampires and dark arts.... hosted by Kardinale

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Tweets: Charisma Carpenter corrects Screenrant article about her pregnancy and exit from AtS

[ao3feed-barbie]

by Tryingmikeywinters

One-shots for different fandoms.

Requests are open!

Read the first chapter for into 😊

Words: 221, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The 100 (TV), Friends (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Total Drama (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teen Wolf (TV), Primeval, The Walking Dead (TV), Wolfblood (TV), Heartland (TV), Terra Nova (TV), Night at the Museum (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Twilight (Movies), Miraculous Ladybug, Ice Age (Movies), Bratz - All Media Types, Barbie - All Media Types, Under The Dome (TV), Nowhere Boys (TV), McLeod's Daughters, The Lodge (UK TV), Hannah Montana (TV), Merlin (TV), Lost Girl (TV), Degrassi, Descendants (Disney Movies), Young Dracula (TV), The Greatest Showman (2017), Pitch Perfect (Movies), Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Additional Tags: oneshots, CharacterxReader - Freeform, fandomoneshots

[creativerogues]

The 1 Class Band: (Probably) The Rarest D&D Party...

This is something almost everyone’s campaign has, the old troubles of not making everyone the same class.

And this brings up troubles, most of the time...

You don’t want a duplicate of something the party already has. 

The Party already has a Barbarian, a Cleric, a Ranger, a Rogue and a Wizard...

So what are YOU going to play?

Well, to celebrate this month’s “Opposite Day” Theme, we’re flipping the tables...

(Not literally, because I’m not cleaning that up...) 

And encouraging people to run Oneshots, Short Campaigns, or even a full Adventure to Level 20...

All as the same class...

“But wouldn’t that get really boring really fast if everyone played the same Class?”

Well... as it turns out... No!

Take this party of Rangers for example.

They could be entirely different races, or all be the same race, they are still Rangers...

And remember that Rangers have a wide selection of Archetypes to choose from...

The Spell-less Ranger, The Hunter, The Beast-master, The Horizon Walker, The Primeval Guardian, The Deep Stalker...

Just to name a few Archetypes...

And there are specifics in the Class itself that can result in so much more Variety...

Like choosing your “Favored Enemy”.

Or choosing a Feat instead of a Ability Score Increase.

These subtle differences, even though all the players could be the same Race and Class, can drastically change their Play-style.

And this is without including the possible hundreds of Homebrews on the Internet.

There are Re-workings for Classes, Homebrew Archetypes and Abilities...

This brings even more Variety into play...

And remember... The Party are all still the same class...

[fanfic-inator795]

Lego Batman Oneshot: No Fear

Plot: Every hero has something to fear... Both old fears and new ones... Thankfully, hugs make it better.

((Yaaay, new fic! ^v^ Thought of this while I was watching my brother fight Scarecrow in the new Injustice game. Enjoy!

Also, quick warning. Soooorta graphic imagery ahead. But I mean, graphic for Legos. So, no actual blood or anything. Still, I wanted to give you guys a head’s up!))

The full moon had already risen above Gotham, with the dark violet sky acting as its stage as it shone down on the city. Below, there were plenty of people out and about - not too surprising, since Gotham was a big city after all. Of course it would have a healthy nightlife, even after all the crime that usually happened during this time.

And speaking of which...

*BOOM!*

Several citizens quickly turned towards the explosion, each letting out a small scream or gasp in surprise. Others just instantly ran for cover out of instinct. However, as the green gas from the explosion began quickly washing over the late-night shopping and/or clubbing crowd, very few managed to escape it. 

And, as more screams of fright were heard, a raspy laugh echoed over them. “Yessss,” the masked man smirked as he sauntered through the chemical fog, a metal pack full of fear gas on his back and a hose in his hand, “Another successful experiment~”

All around him he could see people afraid - and not just of him, but of their own imaginations. From spiders and killer mosquitoes, to snakes and giant hungry rats, to- ...giant man-eating tax forms apparently (the doctor actually felt kinda sorry for that guy), everyone on this block was seeing their worst fears!

And Scarecrow was loving it.

“Now, let’s see how many more people I can frighten~ Perhaps I should take my little experiment to the bank next.” After all, fear gas wasn’t cheap. And hey, what was crime without a little robbery?

Chuckling again, the Scarecrow started heading towards the next street, but stopped when he saw something fly by out of the corner of his eye. “Huh?” Unfortunately, he was just a bit too slow, and as Scarecrow turned to try and block the attack, a bat-a-rang ended up hitting and getting stuck in his fear-gas hose, blocking it completely.

“No!” The Scarecrow’s scowl deepened as he looked up - and sure enough, he could see a pair of white, glowing eyes staring him down. “Batman... Hmph, I would be a fool if I had thought that you wouldn’t come after me tonight. However, you’re still a fool for being here!”

“Maybe,” Batman gruffly replied as he stayed in the shadows, “But come on, did you really think I’d just stay in the cave and let you terrorize everyone in Gotham?”

“Oh come now, it’s only a little experiment!” Scarecrow insisted, “A bit of late-night chemistry. Scarecrows never sleep, Batman. Always vigilant, always spreading fear - or, in my case, fear and gas. Speaking of which-” Lifting up his hose, he started to pull on the stuck bat-a-rang, “How about I give you a taste of my latest concoction?!”

“Sorry, Scarecrow!” A new voice shouted, making the villain flinch, “But-!” From behind him, a rope was thrown and instantly wrapped around him, trapping him as well as keeping him from releasing more gas.

Robin smiled proudly before hopping down from his position. “It looks like science class is canceled for tonight!”

Batman smirked, giving his sidekick/son a small nod of approval - he really was improving on his awesome one-liners, and Batman couldn’t be prouder! - before hopping down himself. “Heh, if it’s any consolation though, you should still be able to make it to Arkham’s villain arts and crafts class tomorrow.”

However, instead of looking disappointed or angry, Scarecrow simply smirked, even as the Dark Knight started walking towards him with bat-cuffs in his hand. “You know, I really am more of a chemist than an artist so, I think I’m going to skip out. Besides, every experiment has a back-up plan!”

With that, Scarecrow threw his head forward. He nearly gave himself whiplash, but (more importantly) he also managed to knock his straw hat off his head. A hat that, as soon as it hit the ground, automatically released a whole cloud of fear gas!

“Hey!” Batman shouted, glaring and squinting through the gas as he heard both evil laughter and footsteps. Maybe Scarecrow couldn’t use his arms, but he could still run and escape! But Batman wasn’t about to let that happen! So, ignoring the gas the best he could, the vigilante ran through it and after the masked doctor.

Robin however, just backed up and covered his mouth. “Uh oh...” He may have still been a new hero, but he still knew how powerful Scarecrow’s fear gas could be. The Boy Wonder could still remember nearly a year ago when Scarecrow released a bunch of it near the orphanage. Most of the kids had been affected by it, and Dick himself had had nightmares about his parents for almost a whole week...

But, as unpleasant as those memories were, he wasn’t about to let them stop him from helping his padre! So, holding his breath and going as quickly as he could, Robin took off his sparkly cape and wrapped it over his mouth and nose like a bandana. 

Maybe it wouldn’t keep out all the fear gas, but it would at least slow its effect on him. And with that taken care of, the boy ran after his father and their villain of the night. 

The two of them had actually gotten pretty far, and with all his movement (combined with his own skinniness), the Scarecrow actually managed to shake off the ropes. Now all he had to do was unclog his weapon. “Come on... Come on-!” 

He gave a small yelp as another bat-a-rang whizzed by his head. Close, but still a miss! “A miscalculation, eh Batman?” Scarecrow shouted back at him as he turned a corner into an alley. 

Batman however just narrowed his eyes. His vision was starting to blur, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He simply got out his grappling hook and shot it up towards a nearby fire escape, using it as a sort of jumping point/shortcut into the alleyway. “Are you sure you aren’t the one who’s miscalculated, Scarecrow?”

“Huh?” the still-running doctor raised an eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder, trying to find his pursuer, “And just how can you say that?!” 

...Unfortunately for Scarecrow, no sooner had he said that did he look forward and see exactly what Batman had meant. And as the doctor’s feet screeched to a halt, Batman simply glided down and stood behind him. “Because, you’re the one who just ran right into a dead end.” 

No nearby windows into buildings to jump through, no holes or pipes to crawl through, and a wall that was way too big for anyone without a grappling hook to climb. The Scarecrow sighed, muttering under his breath about how he knew there was a dead end here, he simply forgot. 

“Now,” Batman started to say as he crossed his arms, “Are we going to do this the easy ‘take-you-to-Arkham’ way, or the punching way? What’s it going to be, Scarecrow?”

“A simple enough choice, I suppose,” Scarecrow shrugged, still facing towards the high brick wall, “In fact, it reminds me of another. The old ‘Fight or Flight’ decision that the brain has to make each time it’s faced with danger - faced with something threatening and intimidating enough to cause the mind to enter into a state of primeval panic. So, tell me Batman-”

The doctor finally turned around, with a bat-a-rang in one hand, and an open hose in the other. 

“Which will you choose~?” 

With that, Batman was practically smothered with gas. The Dark Knight coughed, covering his face with his cape the best he could. “Ggh-! S-Scarecrow!” Even through the thick green clouds, he still could see the villain trying to escape. “No! Not gonna happen, Scarecrow!” 

After all, it wasn’t like this was his first time being poisoned with fear gas. He could deal with it. He just had to stay focused! Stay focused... Stay focused... Stay-!

Batman stepped forward, using his arms to push away the gas. He quickly spotted an arm and- ...Wait. The arm... It wasn’t Scarecrow’s. It was on the ground, and it had a blue sleeve on it. “What...?” 

The hero took a couple more steps forward and- He completely froze at the sight.

All around him were... were his friends. His family. Alfred, Barbara, even people like Jim Gordon and the Joker! But they weren’t just lying there. No... They were lying in pieces. Completely and utterly broken with X’s over their eyes. 

However, as horrible as seeing all of this was, Batman’s clouded mind quickly focused on just one set of body parts - arms and legs that had been adorned in bright red and green clothing. “No... No!” 

Batman couldn’t even move - the most he did was falling to his knees - yet the image of his son’s broken body somehow came closer. And, unlike the others, his eyes weren’t just X’s. No, instead Dick’s eyes were wide and filled with fear and sadness and pain... He was supposed to protect his son. So why? Why didn’t he protect him?!

All around him, Scarecrow’s chuckles echoed. In the back of his mind, Batman knew the villain was escaping, but his body didn’t budge. His eyes still couldn’t look away from his broken family - his broken son.

“It really is nice to see that I can still get a reaction out of you, Batman,” Scarecrow taunted, his pace now slow since he no longer needed to run. Besides, he always loved watching the effects of his gas. “Even if it does take an extra dose or two, I can easily say it’s worth it. Oh, but don’t worry! I’ve got plenty more for the rest of this city!”

“Oh really?” a familiar, slightly muffled voice asked. Eyes widening, Scarecrow turned around - and nearly got hit with a metal bo-staff. Yelping slightly, the Scarecrow jumped back while Robin glared at him. “Then I guess I just have that much more I have to take from you!”

“Hmph...” The doctor began to narrow his own eyes. “As if a child could ever intimidate me!”

“Yeah well, no one said that I had to intimidate you to beat you!” Robin retorted. With that, Robin leapt up and swung his staff at the Scarecrow. Again, Scarecrow dodged, but this required moving back into the alley. If he wanted to escape, he’d now have to get past the Boy Wonder. 

“Grr, little brat!” Admittedly, Scarecrow wasn’t the greatest hand-to-hand fighter, but he still had a couple tricks up his straw sleeves! After managing to dodge another would-be blow, he quickly got out a gun and started firing. “Pew pew!” 

Retracting his bo-staff, Robin ducked and rolled out of the way out of the bullets. Once he was safe though, he quickly extended his staff and used it to help him pull jump up and over the Scarecrow! 

Before the villain could even try to turn around and shoot the boy, he felt a sharp kick in his back strong enough to knock him to the ground. Not wanting to give him a second chance, Robin also made sure to push the gun away from him before pointing his staff at the Scarecrow. “Gotcha!”

“Erg, t-that’s what you think, boy!” Still desperate to escape, the Scarecrow held up a fear-gas grenade - and dropped it just before he could press the activate button, thanks to a flying bat-a-rang. A bat-a-rang that, once he had unstuck it from his hose, he had simply discarded. “NO!”

Robin grinned as he glanced over his shoulder. “Nice shot, Batda-!” He stopped, his smile falling as he noticed that his father was still on his knees. “...Padre? A-Are you-?”

“Robin. Cuffs.” “Oh! Ah, right...” 

It didn’t take long for GCPD to arrive at the alley, and with Scarecrow already in handcuffs, it was easy to take him in. Still, as successful as their mission had been, Batman still only gave half-hearted “Thank yous” as he and Robin headed towards the Bat-mobile.

Worry still clearly on his face, Dick spoke up once more. “So, uh... Batman? Is everything-?”

“Seat belt,” Batman reminded him, his voice quiet yet still just a bit stern. 

“Oh, right. Got it.” The boy quickly put his seat belt on, and the Dark Knight started the car. 

“...You’re alright, right?” his father asked suddenly as ‘Puter drove them back towards the Cave.

Smiling a bit, Dick nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think I got much of the gas, thanks to my cape.”

“Good... Good to hear. Nice work.”

“Thanks! ...And, what about you, Padre? Are you-?”

“I’ll be fine.” And with that, the conversation had ended, leading to only silence and light radio noises the rest of the ride home.

()()()()()()()()()

Bats squeaked and fluttered above as he poked his lobster thermidor. He’d only managed to eat a couple bites of it so far, and it was starting to get cold again, as had the earl grey tea that he had told Alfred to bring him.

Batman sighed. Getting exposed to any kind of gas always seemed to cause him to lose his appetite, whether it was sleeping gas, laughing gas, poison plant gas or-... 

“Ugh. Stupid fear gas...” He had already taken some antidote for it, but he knew very well that it wouldn’t really start to kick in for at least another half hour or so. Until then, he’d just have to at least try and relax. Forcing his fork into the seafood, he took a bite of the luke-warm lobster and slowly closed his tired eyes. 

...Unfortunately, once his eyes were closed, all he could see were broken friends and family members he had let down.

Choking slightly on his bite, Batman quickly opened his eyes and made himself swallow. “No...” He muttered, squeezing his fist. 

He thought he was used to whatever Scarecrow’s fear gas had to throw at him. Snakes, clowns, his parents’ disappointed faces - even visions of that one bad night in Crime Alley... He had faced them all, and he had still managed to break through these horrible, fearful visions all on his own and save the day from Scarecrow each time.

But this...? How could he just forget seeing something like this?

“...Batdad?”

Gasping slightly, Batman turned his chair around and threw a punch. Thankfully, the person behind him had not only been expecting it, but also knew how to block. “Whoops,” Dick said, looking more sheepish than frightened by the attack, “Sorry, didn’t mean to-”

“I wasn’t!” Batman shouted, a bit too loudly, “I-I mean, you didn’t scare me. It was just, uh, heroic reflexes, you know?”

“Heh, right,” Dick said, smiling for just a moment.

“Yeah. So, uh... What did you need, buddy?” Batman asked.

“Well...” Dick glanced away slightly, “I, I guess I just wanted to check up on you. I, I know you probably inhaled some of that fear gas and, well-”

“I-” Batman started to argue, but as soon as he saw his son’s concern he stopped, giving another small sigh. “Yeah, I... I guess I did breathe a bit of it in, yeah,” he admitted (finally), “But, I’m not lying when I say I’ll be fine, okay? I mean, it’s not like this is my first time getting gassed by the Scarecrow. I’m used to this sort of thing. And, and I’ve already taken antidote for it anyway so-”

“But are you still being affected by the gas right now?” Dick interrupted.

Again, Batman felt the need to tell the truth, albeit a bit reluctantly. “Ugh, yeah, I’m... I’m still being affected by it. But the antidote should kick in soon. Shouldn’t be too long now. ‘Bout half an hour wait, tops. So it’s fine, really.” 

Forcing it only a little, he gave Dick a small smile before turning back around. Maybe he ate a bit more and made it look like everything was normal, the kid would stop worrying. So, he stuck his fork back into the lobster, lifted it up towards his mouth and Batman stopped, blinking as he felt a pair of small (yet still very strong) arms wrap themselves around him. “Huh?” 

As surprised as he was, he fought the urge to try and break out of the hold. Instead, the Dark Knight put the lobster back on his plate before looking down at Dick. The kid was leaning over the armrest of the Batcave’s computer chair just so he could hug his dad, not caring how uncomfortable the position might have been for him. “Uhh... What are you doing, Dick?”

“Hugging you,” Dick replied simply.

“Well, yeah, I can see that,” Batman told him, rolling his eyes slightly, “I mean, why are you hugging me?” Even if he had gotten somewhat used to it, he still couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward about it.

Dick however, unsurprisingly, didn’t mind the hugging at all. “Now just seemed like a good time for hugging,” he explained, still refusing to let go.

“Okayyy... And just how long is this ‘hug time’ thing going to last, cause it’s been almost a minute already-”

“Eh, I’d say maybe... half an hour tops?” Even if wasn’t really able to look up at his father, Dick knew he was probably giving him a flat look. 

“Dick, this really isn’t necessary.” 

“Well, I kinda think it is, Batdad. So, I’m gonna keep doing it.” 

“Yeahhh no. Come on, Dick, let go.” “Nope, sorry Padre!” “Dick-” “Nope!” “Kid-!” “Nuh-uh!” “Richard-!”

“I’m not going to let you be all alone while you’re feeling scared, Dads.” 

“...” Once again, Batman couldn’t help but fall silent at that. And as he sat there without a word, he felt Dick hug him tighter - tight enough to feel his adoptive father’s shaking, despite his attempts to hide it. 

“You wouldn’t let me just sit somewhere all alone, feeling sad and afraid,” Dick quietly told him, “Not while fighting crime, not in Arkham Asylum, not after Joker’s big top scheme - not ever! So... So I’m not gonna let you sit here all alone either!”

“...Heh.” Batman smiled, just a little. “Yeah... Yeah okay, fair enough. I guess it’s hug time then.” He paused for a moment. “Though, maybe we should move this hug thing upstairs, just so your arms don’t get too tired. Besides, I could use some more tea anyway.”

Dick smiled. “Sounds like a good idea to me!”

With that, Batman stood up - and Dick continued to hug his shoulders as tight as he could, hanging off them now. “Huh... You know, maybe I was right to assume that your hugs are actually attacks,” Batman smirked, making Dick giggle a bit, “Come on, kid. Let’s go.” “I’m right beside you, Batdad!”

Maybe it was a bit unorthodox - and certainly different from what Batman was used to - but he supposed it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Just like how letting people in wasn’t necessarily the worst thing either. Far from it, in fact. 

“...Hey, Dick?” Batman spoke up as he pressed the button to the bat-elevator.

“Hm? Yeah?” Dick replied. 

Maneuvering his arm slightly, making sure not to accidentally shake his son off him, Batman managed to wrap an arm around Dick’s waist and return the hug. “...Thanks, kiddo.”

Dick smiled, laying his head on his dad’s shoulder. “No problem, Padre. Any time.” 

Yes, the fear was hard to deal with at times. Very hard and very tiring. And yet, the more Batman thought about it, the more he knew it was true: Even if this fear was tough, having a family was still more than worth it. 

It had taken him a while to learn that, but with Dick and the others being willing to stay by his side, he knew he would never truly forget it.

THE END

[ao3feed-mcufemslash]

Multi-fandom oneshots

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3mh74I6

by Tryingmikeywinters

One-shots for different fandoms.

Requests are open!

Read the first chapter for into 😊

Words: 221, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The 100 (TV), Friends (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Total Drama (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teen Wolf (TV), Primeval, The Walking Dead (TV), Wolfblood (TV), Heartland (TV), Terra Nova (TV), Night at the Museum (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Twilight (Movies), Miraculous Ladybug, Ice Age (Movies), Bratz - All Media Types, Barbie - All Media Types, Under The Dome (TV), Nowhere Boys (TV), McLeod's Daughters, The Lodge (UK TV), Hannah Montana (TV), Merlin (TV), Lost Girl (TV), Degrassi, Descendants (Disney Movies), Young Dracula (TV), The Greatest Showman (2017), Pitch Perfect (Movies), Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Additional Tags: oneshots, CharacterxReader - Freeform, fandomoneshots

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3mh74I6

[ao3feed-the100]

Multi-fandom oneshots

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3mh74I6

by Tryingmikeywinters

One-shots for different fandoms.

Requests are open!

Read the first chapter for into 😊

Words: 221, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The 100 (TV), Friends (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Total Drama (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teen Wolf (TV), Primeval, The Walking Dead (TV), Wolfblood (TV), Heartland (TV), Terra Nova (TV), Night at the Museum (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Twilight (Movies), Miraculous Ladybug, Ice Age (Movies), Bratz - All Media Types, Barbie - All Media Types, Under The Dome (TV), Nowhere Boys (TV), McLeod's Daughters, The Lodge (UK TV), Hannah Montana (TV), Merlin (TV), Lost Girl (TV), Degrassi, Descendants (Disney Movies), Young Dracula (TV), The Greatest Showman (2017), Pitch Perfect (Movies), Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Additional Tags: oneshots, CharacterxReader - Freeform, fandomoneshots

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3mh74I6