#snark and banter

[archivewriter1ont]

Last Line Challenge

Thanks for the tag @carbon-corrie!

I've been bouncing between WIPs like crazy this week because I finished the chapter of Cadets ahead of time, and don't have a clue what to do with myself. So here is a little bit (lots of lines, I know, but it's better with context) from the upcoming installment in A Tale of Two Snarks: Echo and Crosshair. This chapter is going to be more of a collaboration between the squad's chief troublemakers, and I'm super excited to finally be doing it! The title is "Hunter's Moon."

Echo raised a questioning eyebrow at Crosshair, the heater’s ochre light throwing shadows from his pronounced cheekbones and splashing so much color over his pale features that only the sniper could see the glint in his deep brown eyes. “Should we tell them?” he asked, approximating a whisper. Crosshair made a show of hesitating, thinking, before he gave a reply. “I thought we’d agreed to keep this a secret,” he hissed at last, side-eyeing his sibling with a knowing glare. “What secret?” The shinies had been getting younger and younger recently, but Sparks looked like a second-year cadet with his eyes as wide as saucers and his mouth slightly open in surprise – and curiosity. 

NPT: @badbatchposts, @leapingbadger (sorry if you two have already been tagged!)

[mishy-mashy]

Bruce is actually really attractive, and I have enough reasoning to make a list

He's:

Tall (. Tall enough to hit his head on the vault doorframe)

Long-legged

Has a straight nose bridge

Has high cheekbones (more noticeable in 2nd pic below)

Has a strong jawline

Sharp eyes, but they aren't small (plus eyebags if you're into that)

Overall, he has strong, attractive facial features

Has broad, refined shoulders. You can tell he works out (or he did, when he was alive)

Even has a thick, muscly neck

He has MUSCLE. Is SCULPTED. NOICE. VERY NOICE. (nice arms. Nice shoulders. Nice neck. Nice legs. Nice butt-)

(There are actually panels where you can see some of his muscles. Other than those already shown here, he's got bricky thighs-

-and in the panels where we first get his name dropped, he's got those shoulder blades too-)

The one time we see him smile, and he actually has a scary one

Has small, kinda sharp pupils, and his eyes remind me of a cat. We only ever saw him tense or defensive, so his resting/listening face is really cute

Other than the physical appearance stuff, he also:

Takes shit without batting an eye (patience, knowing it's just how Kudo is, etc)

Kudo being all "Cut the crap Bruce and give it to me straight", after Bruce tests his blood and is rightfully Concerned because they just faced AFO

Put up with Kudo's experimenting and testing over Yoichi's transferable Factor

Did ya'll see the look on Kudo's face when he realized he had Yoichi's Factor/will? Kudo was going to start in nonsense and Bruce just dealt with that.

Also something I noticed when looking back at the images here; Bruce has bandages on his arms in the void. But not when he faced AFO in the sewers.

Were he and Kudo cutting their arms open in their experimenting over Yoichi's theory? Is this why Kudo has two gauntlets instead of his one? Why we never see his bare arms in the void? That he always keeps his arms down so there's no slip?

Is smart enough to run blood tests, plus has enough common sense to pick Shinomori as his successor

He picked a guy who avoids society, has an Ability to detect danger so he can always stay away from AFO, is also a coward so he's never going to go throw himself into danger, even without knowing instinctively he stands no chance, etc.

Meanwhile, Kudo chose Bruce, who he played Hot Potato Yoichi with; but he did also trust Bruce, and put the only pure combative Ability in OFA through Bruce.

These two made their choices based on what they valued and saw the Factor needed.

Is logical, analytical, and calm.

He tried advising Midoriya on their Abilities in One For All, especially his own.

Midoriya then tried ignoring him about using Fa Jin for the first time, but found he was right, thinking: "Dammit!! I had [Lady Nagant] right where I wanted her, but... ugh! The Third was right. My parallel Quirk processes are all screwed up!" (ch. 314).

Plus, when Midoriya fixed his processing mistakes, Bruce was analyzing the way he reached his new conclusion. Pure facts, no bias, very calm, just saying it as it was.

We never see him panic. When he's caught by surprise in the sewers by AFO, Kudo, and Yoichi's little bubble event, he immediately reacts. He doesn't falter, he just knows he has to do something right now.

Was more willing to listen than Kudo to Yoichi's beckon, and probably was just following Kudo's rejection of Midoriya

While we don't see Kudo's face, we see Bruce's eyes when Yoichi calls on his heroes. Bruce was more open and receptive, or at least more impacted.

Bruce was also the one to start talking, while Kudo just kept quiet.

He actually communicates a lot

When Yoichi called them to support Midoriya, Bruce started talking to paint a picture of why they thought the way they did, so Yoichi understood where they were coming from.

(Though he seems to beat about the bush sometimes, since Kudo spoke up to be direct on how they couldn't just put their trust in some starry-eyed teenager. Plus, when Kudo tells him to just tell him what's wrong [double Factors])

When Midoriya first used Fa Jin against Nagant, Bruce came out just to tell him he knew what he was trying, but that Midoriya wasn't ready; and Midoriya found he was right. Midoriya just didn't want to listen to him then.

He asks Kudo for clarification after finding Kudo had two Factors in him after the sewer incident ("Just to be sure, All For One didn't touch you, right?") Kudo knew him well enough to go "stop beating around the bush and tell me", so Bruce was probably gonna start with questions, theories, and trying to understand everything in general, before saying "yeah you have two Factors. Don't know why".

Is strong-willed and loyal.

He followed Kudo, even to death, carrying on the cause he started until it ended with him.

Plus, when talking about how AFO needs a strong will to override OFA's own, we first see Bruce, Kudo, and Yoichi.

AFO couldn't steal OFA because the will was too strong for him, and that was back during Banjo's time. Since Shinomori never actually tried opposing AFO and just hid, we can assume the first Three (Yoichi, Kudo, Bruce) already had an accumulation of strong willpower that made OFA un-stealable. Those three are a strong enough foundation, and the main wills, that the other users just become bonuses.

Kudo, also saying that Midoriya needs allies with the same will and drive as him... hey Kudo, you're talking about yourself and your old allies, aren't you? That's why you look at Yoichi and Bruce when you say this.

Not only is Bruce attractive, but he's got good character. THE END.

[crimeronan]

eda and darius are especially hilarious because they are The Same Person. have we ever talked about this. i know i've been thinking about this for Years now and i can't remember if i've actually written any meta about it.

these are both ornery closed-off emotionally repressed adults with 10,000 personal issues and zero social life except for their weird gremlin roommate whom they treat like family even though the weird gremlin roommate is a giant pain in the ass. they both get followed around extensively by literally The Most Annoying Children In The World who refuse to take an "i'm a negligent burnout who should never be responsible for kids" hint until the kids finally manage to be so annoying and so relentless and so genuinely goodhearted that the ornery adult is like FINE. this is my FUCKING CHILD NOW. I GUESS. go on to become the child's mentor and then the child's parent or at least to blur the lines between those two. teach the kid about an area of interest they're hyperfixated on. complain mutinously the entire time they're doing it. constantly talk about how they're going to bed and/or want naps and/or don't want to work. engage in insane rivalries with extremely dangerous people sometimes for thematic plot reasons and sometimes just for the fun of it. can turn into giant really hot monsters made of magic. fail to let anyone in on what they're thinking or feeling or planning even on pain of death. truly both start out as completely miserable burnt-out bastards who then regain the life in their eyes when they start hanging out with their random pseudo-orphaned children with turbo autism.

like. listen to me. They Are The Same Person. you think they aren't because darius looks like this high-fashion super cool spy dude who managed to lead a coven without raising suspicion for 30 years and eda is an alcoholic nightmare lady who sleeps in a nest filled with animal bones and digs through actual trash piles for a living but I NEED EVERYONE TO UNDERSTAND. THEY. ARE. THE. SAAAAME

[wickerwax]

to wit -- too witty (Codywan First Kiss Bingo #5)

(Shout-out to @panravenc who made a post about sick codywan headcanons that got me thinking about how I would play it! ^^)

Cody strode on deck with his helmet already in place and precisely on time, and Obi-Wan’s attention snapped onto him like a piqued nexu.

Item One: Cody was, until now without fail, a minute or two early at a minimum.

Item Two: Cody tended to prefer his helmet off when they were having this sort of intra-ship meeting, especially in hyperspace, and especially when he had more reason to glare people down than he needed access to his in-helmet comms.

Item Three: His dear Commander had the very slightest unsteadiness in his gait, which was practically screaming something is wrong.

He nodded to Cody, who signalled him to start. His suspicion went into the stratosphere and onwards immediately. When he reached out to get a sense of him, Cody’s shields felt wobbly, and there was a throbbing sort of discomfort leaking through.

Still, he wasn’t about to have an argument about it here with witnesseswhen Cody was clearly trying to fly under the sensor-net.Obi-Wan went through the updates they had – reiterated the ETA on the drop into sublight, the overview of the supply list, and requests for changes to be passed on the the Quartermaster first. Consolidation helped avoid mistakes.

Also Quartermaster Cross (apparently short for I Will Be Cross-Referencing This And It Had Better Match Or I’ll Be Taking The Difference Out Of Your Bones) was a dedicated and extremely efficient man, and Obi-Wan had no interest in making his life harder so – to him, first.

Cody sent text-comms to his ‘padd a couple of times, and nodded along, but did not speak, did not remove his helmet. He had clearly locked his knees to keep from wobbling. Obi-Wan wanted to offer him a seat but no one else was sitting and, given the entirety of the situation, the likelihood of being not only ignored but getting Cody’s active and monumental disapproval had him hesitating.

He wound the meeting down neatly, incredibly relieved that it was a short thing today, and requested (face in his ‘padd, voice deliberately absent, nothing odd about today!) that Cody stay behind for a quick conversation about a small incident in the training rooms.

Since the training rooms were the only place where incidents happened on a semi-regular basis and mostly consisted of ‘someone got elbowed in the nose again, please remind the men to be aware of their surroundings’ it was neither an unexpected nor interesting request.

The deck cleared but for the nav’ staff, and Cody, and Obi-Wan gave him a friendly gesture and said, “Office?”

The brightness in his voice and his narrowed eyes – facing only Cody – was as close as he could get to calling Cody on his bluff without making anyone else similarly suspicious. Here, anyway.

Cody paused for a long moment, then nodded slowly. Obi-Wan, with a smile like a bantha-heeler on a good day, herded Cody into the halls and towards their joint office.

He deposited Cody in his chair, keyed the door shut, and headed over to the kitchenette with his suspicions locked and loaded. “Helmet off, my dear.” he said, setting the jug to boil. “I’m quite sure it won’t be doing you any favours.”

Silence behind him.

Obi-Wan pulled out preferred mugs for the two of them, opting for comfort. “I’ve only those terrible fake-citron splemsip packets unfortunately, but they do help. Can’t expect a fresh citron-anything with supply lines being what they are.”

He twisted around to find Cody hesitating over his helmet, hands hovering. “My dear,” he said, gentle as a summer twilight, “I know you’re not feeling well, Cody. Let’s see what we can do about it.”

The release hissed, and Cody’s face appeared. Colour burned too bright across his cheeks and forehead and he was visibly sweating, his short curls lank with it. Shadows made hollows of his eyes. “Can’t – throat hurts.” he croaked. Sniffed. Congestion made it horribly bass-note.

Obi-Wan took him in and paused. “I think we might need more than splemsip.”

Cody made a sharp negative sign.

He huffed through his nose. “You have my solemn word vow to only forage through my personal supplies for flu relief.” Obi-Wan considered that for a moment, then added, “If it gets worrying, I will be telling Helix. I’m not losing my Commander to some common cold.”

He finished making the drinks and carried them over, delivering the splemsip directly into Cody’s hands. “Force, Cody, being in full armour can’t be comfortable. Or helping.”

Cody gave him one of his favoured blank-adjacent looks. This one said, I did what I had to do. Obi-Wan poked him gently in the shoulder and watched him sway far too heavily from very little provocation, then raised a slow eyebrow.

His Commander faltered briefly, then settled into the glare of a mantled hawk as he sipped at his medicinal citron drink.

Heaving a beleaguered sigh at his stubbornness, Obi-Wan investigated the state of supplies in their office. First, he unearthed a spare robe which he deposited on Cody’s lap with a suggestion that it might prove more comfortable than armour for the time being. Rustled up some mild painkillers – drew a complete blank on decongestants, but hopefully the drink would help with that.

When he excavated himself from the tiny ‘fresher with the pills, Cody had managed to remove his armour – stacked rather more messily than his wont – and was swathed in Obi-Wan’s spare robe over his blacks.

“Well done for seeing sense, Commander,” he said, amused. “Can I also tempt you to relocate to the couch?” It wasn’t sleeping length, but any amount of reclining had to be better than the hunching currently occurring. Poor Cody’s spine was in danger of getting stuck like that should the winds change. He was stoically refusing to make a face for the old adage to apply to, after all.

“Undressing wasn’t enough for you, General?” Cody rasped, though at least less painfully than earlier. He was smirking, but the lines around his mouth still read like aching.

“Anything you wish to do is enough, Cody darling, though I believe that conversation is best left for when you aren’t actively running a fever.” He fetched water, offered it and the painkillers. “These should help.”

“Is that true?” Cody asked, not moving to take them.

Obi-Wan blinked at him. “Well, strictly speaking they’re for pain, but they do tend to reduce fevers when those symptoms are happening in concert-”

“Anything I wish to do, Kenobi.”

He drew in a slow breath. “Ah. Commander, I-”

Cody stood up abruptly – and wavered, wobbling on his feet as his body objected to the motion. Obi-Wan moved without thinking, ducking under his arm and looping his own around Cody’s waist to take his weight. The metal cup clattered loudly on the durasteel, covering the much softer rattle of the pills in their soft tabs. The water was a loss, of course, although he was more concerned about it being a slip hazard. He tightened his hold.

Even through two thick layers, Cody’s skin was notably warm. “This is really not – Could we get you situated before -”

Cody’s fever-hot palms closed around his shoulders. He stopped speaking. He – well, he hadn’t meant to bring up the bantha in the room – hadn’t expected Cody to feed him so blatant a line, if he was honest. Had been playing his part according to Cody’s lead for months now, wary of crossing lines without invitation.

The weakness this cold was having on Cody’s balance and ability to reliably keep his knees locked hadn’t extended to his hands it seemed, for he had pulled them flush together and – while it was a very pleasant thing to be pressed against his very attractive Commander, now wasn’t the best time for it. Obi-Wan would have made like an eel except he was the only thing keeping either of them upright.

“I feel dreadfully manoeuvred, darling.” he tried to joke, and lost it to a wheeze when Cody dropped his face into Obi-Wan’s neck and clutched hard at him.

“The things I want to do to you, General.” he growled. At least half of the growling was congestion.

Obi-Wan patted his back consolingly.”As I said, my dear. Post-fever?”

Cody made a noise that, in a healthier man, would have taken him out at the knees. As it was, his knees were the only ones responsible for neither of them being on the floor, and his poor Commander followed it up with a nasty coughing fit.

“Right. Cody, if you don’t let me set you up on the couch at least, I am going to carry you through the halls to a bed and let your brothers’ gossip chain do what it will.” he said firmly.

“I will never forgive you, sir.” Cody choked out, breathing all rattles and lost bolts.

“I will accept your enmity if you are well enough to perform it.” Obi-Wan shot back. “Can you even stand unaided? Cody? Would you let a single one of our men get away with that?”

To his credit, Cody gave standing a valiant try. He unpeeled himself from Obi-Wan and planted himself like a reed with particularly flimsy roots, but the intention was admirable. If foolish. He wobbled dangerously.

Obi-Wan watched with steely eyes and lowered brows. “Now, let go of my tunic.”

Cody’s eyes were brilliant with frustration. His mouth curved downward. “I don’t think I should.”

“He can be taught!” Obi-Wan ran his hands along Cody’s arms and stepped back in to brace him. “Sitting down while I comm Helix, or am I parading you across the ship with as much style as I can muster?”

“I have quite literally dragged your ass out of your horrible little womp-rat nest when that dodgy-”

“Yes, yes, sometimes the biology gets knocked about unexpectedly but we still see the medic-”

“That is not-”

Obi-Wan took a moment to brace himself properly, then hauled Cody up into his arms. Cody yelped, then groaned. “High noises still bad.”

“Why, what a shock that a bug capable of overwhelming your robust immune system should be resistant to the vicious medicinal efforts of splemsip.” He shifted Cody’s weight slightly, then nodded. “If you pull the hood up, perhaps everyone will just think I am transporting a very lost fellow Jedi.”

“Sir-” Cody squeezed his eyes against the throb of his headache and slumped into him, arguments subsiding.

“Cody, if you want to have the conversation you implied earlier, I am going to insist on you using my name when we’re off-duty. And you, my dear, are so deeply off-duty.”

He nudged the keypad with a little bit of Force use, and slipped into the hall. His senses were on high-alert and he thanked the Force that their office wasn’t so far from his rooms. He only had to duck into a side-hall to avoid being seen the once, and he tucked Cody’s head against his gently while waiting for the coast to clear, worried over the thoroughly crackly breathing.

Jabbing at the door control to his rooms, he swept Cody in and got him situated on the bed. “Don’t move,” he said, pointing threateningly at him as he clicked his comm off his belt and sent off a message to Helix to request assistance for flu symptoms in his quarters. “I’m going to get water again, and this time you’re going to behave and drink it.”

“Behave is not-” he broke off to cough again, then resumed doggedly, “-not what I thought I’d be doing in your bed, Obi-Wan.”

“Post-fever, Cody, so you’re already not behaving.” He brought one of his stashed hydro-packs over. “I should have thought of these earlier really, the straw will be easier.”

Cody took it, nearly pouting as the fever got hold in earnest and his reticence slipped. “I’d rather suck something else.”

“Have you been storing these up?” Obi-Wan asked, perching on the edge of the bed and reaching to press the back of his hand to Cody’s forehead. “Oh, darling, that’s definitely Helix territory. Drink your water.”

Bright-eyed, and in the process of glazing over, Cody gave him an awfully endearing attempt at a sultry look as he stabbed his straw into the bag. “Don’ need to store anything. Look at you.”

Charmed, Obi-Wan ran his hand through Cody’s sweat-damp curls. He leaned his head into the touch as he drank, eyes sliding closed. “That’s it, sweetheart.”

His door chimed.

Slipping away for a moment, he returned with Helix grumbling behind him. “Of course it would be you, Cody.” he said, “Half the battalion gets sniffles from some lurgy incubating since our last campaign and Sir Never-Gets-Sick over here drops like a ton of duracrete.”

“Your morning has been busy then?” Obi-Wan said, “With any luck, that other half is immune or threw it off before it took, and not just taking longer about showing symptoms.”

“Sniffles.” Helix repeated. “Hardly even worth mentioning but for the volume. Couple of the Maintenance boys have a low-grade fever, gave ‘em some reducers, they’ll be right as rain. Our dear Commander, as I hear, is well past that.”

Cody, supine on the bed, made an irritated noise. It sounded a lot like a washing unit trying to chop wood. “’m not dead, unconscious, or missing from this room.”

“Give it time,” Helix said darkly, checking his temp. “What was the plan if the General hadn’t interceded, Cody? Crawl into a vent shaft for the MSE droids to find during the night cycle?”

“Thought I’d skip right to the airlock actually.” Cody returned snidely. Coughed. “Why’s there three Generals now, I didn’t think this was that sort of dream.”

Obi-Wan dragged a hand over his face. Helix barked a laugh as he sorted through his medications. “It is not that sort of dream, Cody. Should I step out, Helix?”

His CMO shrugged, preparing his shot. “Do you want the good General Kenobi and his twins to leave, Cody?” He leaned over the bed and poked at Cody’s arm.

“I want the floor to stop moving.” Cody said faintly. “When did the General get twins? I thought we had – ow, fuck, Helix!”

“Sensitised pain reception, that’s unfortunate.” Helix mumbled, mostly under his breath. “Avoid bumping against shit, vod.” He scooped up the half-drunk hydro-pack abandoned on Cody’s chest. “Sir, I need you to take these pills and finish this pack. That’s an order, copy?”

His eyelids were drooping again. “Copy, sir.”

The pill-swallowing was an experience best left to the imagination. Cody’s very unhappy throat made it into a production that took both Helix and Obi-Wan to hold him through – the pills themselves and the coughing fit that followed.

“They really are better ingested than anything I have right now that’s intravenous,” Helix said regretfully in the aftermath. “But he should be able to sleep now, and it should get him through the worst of it.”

“That’s fine,” Obi-Wan walked him back to the door. “I’ll work from in here for the day, and I can always sleep on my couch if necessary.”

Helix gave him a slightly sarcastic salute. “I’d say don’t get sick but that would only encourage you.”

He laughed, “I’m not quite that contrary, Helix.”

“Dubious, sir, I’m dubious. Comm me if he gets worse.” Helix said, and left.

Cody was starting to drift in earnest when Obi-Wan returned to the bedside, propped up on all the pillows he could find to ease his breathing. “Back?” he yawned, wincing.

“I’m back, yes. I’m going to sit at the couch and get some flimsi done, so just tap the wall if you need anything. I’ll hear it, don’t worry.” He traced Cody’s tired, familiar face with his eyes. Every line of him was precious. “I’ll come in to bother you about drinking enough, but otherwise I highly recommend trying to sleep.”

“No- wait,” Cody flailed a hand out. Obi-Wan caught it in his. “I don’t – Obi-Wan, I don’t want to have dreamed – before.”

He threaded their fingers together and squeezed comfortingly. “Which before? I’m happy to confirm what I can for you. For example, no twins.”

A smile curled slow and lazy across Cody’s face. He squeezed back with his too-hot hand. “The talk. We’re gonna talk, right?”

Obi-Wan found his own smile, quite irrepressibly, unfolding in turn. “Yes, darling.” he whispered, and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Cody’s hand. “We’re going to talk as soon as you’re not any level of delirious.”

Cody had gone wide-eyed. The fever-flush brightened across his cheeks. “Obi-Wan.” he said, longing.

“Not a dream,” Obi-Wan told him, turning his hand over to kiss his palm, to brush his lips over the sensitive pad of each finger. “I promise. You just have to get better first.”

“Suddenly I feel the urge to be a model patient,” his bedridden Commander managed, though what slipped through his shields right then was categorically not that. “You probably won’t recognise it.”

He snorted and returned Cody’s hand to his lap, patted it. “Get some sleep, Cody. I’ll be in periodically – we’ll see if I don’t give you an aversion to nurses for the rest of your life first.”

@codywanfirstkissbingo hi hello! Number Five! I used my free space as 'hand kiss' and that should be bingo twice over xD

[charismabee]

about the livestream ama

Jonny Sims saying the Contrarian and the Skeptic were a buddy cop duo was so based and real of him

(And that the Opportunist thinks everyone loves him but they don't)

but what interested me most was him saying the Hunted and Cold would be friends. I've never really thought about that pairing before but it does work. The Hunted's main thing being keeping the body alive could help balance out the Cold's general blasé nature when it comes to death, while being rational enough (focussing on his senses and what he knows is real) for the Cold to actually take him seriously. While the Cold being able to push the Hunted to act somewhat like the Stubborn, but slightly less strongly. He's confident that they can get the job done, and with the Hunted keeping them alive they could get a lot done without either really getting sick of the other. Just two reliable guys.

A little off topic but I think they'd work pretty well as a trio with Paranoid too, given a little time for Paranoid to get used to it. Cold's confidence plus Hunted's survival instinct could give him something reliable to work with, and I think he could help him by pointing out when they're going to far in either direction and going to get themselves hurt, as both can be rather single minded (on different things, mind you, but definitelythings that could leave them with blind spots) while Paranoid thinks of every possibility and could probably bring up flaws in any given plan that the others wouldn't notice, and at least Hunted would probably take it into consideration if its going to get them hurt or killed. Like a scared little peer reviewer of any plans the other two would execute

[ryrybread]

Skimmed through the bendis run again to try to find a specific panel and instead got distracted:

[andithiel]

Horrible Goose fest fic: Pubic Relations

Three years ago I started writing a gift fic for my lovely friend @sassy-sassy3 where I took inspiration from Lil' Nas X song "Montero (Call me by your name)". Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish it, and then it's been left on the shelf, collecting dust and making me feel guilty (so much that I wrote Sassy another gift fic as a placeholder). So when I saw the @horriblegoosefest I took it as a sign for me to finally get my shit together and give Sassy all the first time goodness she deserves. I was so happy and relieved to be paired with the amazingly kind and talented @nv-md (who I've admired from afar), and she's been gently honking me on while finishing this fic. Thank you so much Ali, I really appreciated you as my goose and having you yelling at me in the doc.

I also want to thank @etalice for the encouragement I needed to do a massive sprint and for keeping me writing company. And @crazybutgood for offering to beta for me when I was struggling to meet the deadline. And of course, massive thanks to the mods for hosting this fest and all the work you've done with it (not to mention the patience and understanding you showed when I needed extensions).

Read Pubic Relations on AO3

[sockempossum]

Follow-up comic post the Wheatley Crash

[stottlemorgan]

Finally bought the Monk boxset and got to continue my first watch. Starting to watch this show again feels like coming home.

[thesongistheriver]

@guiltyscarlet asked me about the bookstore merthur AU recently, so please, have an opening scene snip

The last box dropped to the floor with a resounding thud. “I think that’s the last of it, Gwen,” Merlin sighed, rubbing his arms.

“Oh, thank you, Merlin!” Gwen cried. “I know it seems like too many cookbooks—”

“I’m running a bookstore,” Merlin interrupted. “I don’t know if there is such a thing as too many of any kind of books.”

She gave him A Look, the kind he always idly thought she should find a way to patent. “Taking over your uncle’s shop and bringing it into the twenty-first century doesn’t mean you have to approve of your resident baker needing twelve boxes of baking apparatus and cookbooks lugged around.”

He grinned then, eyes crinkling. “Perhaps not, but if it means I get free scones for life, I’ll live with the pain.”

Smacking him lightly on the shoulder, Gwen giggled. “Deal. After all, you’re not asking for rent for the cafe in this space.”

Merlin shrugged, face falling nonetheless. “No reason to. Gaius owned the building outright, and now … well, now, I suppose I do.” 

Merlin still couldn’t entirely believe it. He’d never been that close to his great-uncle Gaius, but apparently he’d been the sole beneficiary of the shop in his will. It was somewhat ridiculous; he’d studied literature at uni and had been muddling along in a low-level editorial assistant position at a barely-functional publishing house until Gaius had passed, leaving Hunith and Merlin a huge bequest and the store entirely to Merlin himself.

Still, Gaius had definitely not kept up with the times, as Gwen so kindly noted. (Had it been anyone other than his oldest friend, he might have argued the point, but here they were.) There were ancient sticks of incense in pots around the place, bead curtains, and an aroma of patchouli so thick that Merlin felt he could actually see his great-uncle, with his long white hair, round spectacles, and multicolored dashikis left over from the 1970s, when he inhaled it. 

“Well, this town could use a decent public space, anyway,” Merlin said quietly, swiping some dust off a shelf near his shoulder. “A bookstore with a lending library and thrift-book option, a nice little cafe, wifi—” 

The lights went out, and Merlin sighed. “Right. I need to call the energy provider.”

Smiling, Gwen patted him on the back. “You do that. I’m going to investigate the footprint for this kitchen you’re having them install for me.” She clicked on the flashlight on her mobile and headed into the back room where her bakery would eventually reside.

“Gods help me,” Merlin muttered, then pulled his own mobile out of his pocket.

[mikansei]

just ratiorine fic writing things: when u try to write them having a conversation to exposit the plot and they won't stop derailing it to flirt

[dragons-and-ages]

On the whole topic of Solas being immortal and unchanging and alone and lonely…

I think we need to introduce him to Shale.

[torchwood-99]

First Theloise, now Cressida/Eloise (Elossida?) Bridgerton, if you want me to give a flying fuck about Philoise, you need to stop presenting me with so much more promising alternatives.

[stopallsnowblind]

I haven’t gotten much writing done the last week or so, but I think I can dig up some moonwater fluff/(platonic) regupete sass just for you 😘

•••

“‘It’s my Merlin-be-damned house, Peter. I should be able to pick out something to read whenever I want.’

‘Technically, sure. And I suppose I should thank you for still letting me live here even when I call you a fucker, but come on, Reggie. I almost expect Remus to be this reckless, but at least he has the excuse of a wolf chewing on his brain every month.’ Ignoring Remus’ offended squawk, Peter levels Regulus with a watery but pointed stare. ‘We still only barely know what those demons you call parents stuffed into this hellhole. What were you two thinking?’

Regulus would rather fall into the depths of the ocean than admit to having only wanted to spend his time wherever Remus chose to be.

The only one in the house who remains unaware of his feelings for Remus may be Remus himself, but that doesn’t mean Regulus wants to talk to any of them about it - even Sirius knows better than that. So he sniffs imperiously and arches one shrewd eyebrow at his friend before replying, ‘I finished my book this morning and needed a new one.’

Peter, damn him, doesn’t back down. ‘Is that so?’ He drawls, the picture of a rat with cheese in its sights, and it’s only as he does that Regulus remembers one very small but important fact: the book he’s reading, that he’s nowhere near done with given that it clocks in at just shy of 1,000 pages, is one that he borrowed from Peter just the night before.

Salazar’s slithering shoelaces, he’s such a fucking idiot.

Only barely resisting the urge to slap himself across the face, Regulus mutters through gritted teeth, ‘Just drop it, you smug bastard.’”

[snarky-magpie]

(My main goal in life is to get more people into liking my two idiots because I want to start their own fandom complete with fanfic and fanart :D Just kidding, of course, but in case an urban fantasy story that's full of snark and heavy on romance sounds like your cup of tea, you can read the whole thing on ao3.)

“That was some spectacular casting, Pangolin,” he whispered in my ear, and I shivered, but not because of the cold. 

“Comes with the territory. You know, of being a nerd.” 

A rumble coming from directly above forced us to abandon our squabbling and raise our heads. And there, engaged in a complicated dance involving a tangle of wings and tails, two dragons circled around each other. Little sparks of electricity crackled on their scales, and the wind howled in the wake of their flight.

“Now you believe me?” Despite the danger, I could hear the laughter echoing in Finn’s voice, and a powerful rush of joy exploded in my chest. It defied logic, but he possessed the ability to transform a terrifying experience into something exciting. Even though I loathed things that defied logic, I could no longer pretend I loathed Finn, which didn’t bode well for the future state of my heart.

Dragons. Actual dragons were soaring overhead, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his smiling face. I was so, so screwed.

[anetherealpoetess]

i need to read a fantasy romance that actually isn't shit so so so badly.