#some snippets of the next chapters <33< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[colouredbyd]

MARAUDERS: LIVE ON TOUR.

[souliebird]

[[and then I met you || Ch. 33]]

Series: Daredevil || Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader || Rating: Explicit

Summary:

A one-night stand years ago gave you a daughter and you are now able to put a name to her father – Matthew Murdock. Everything is about to change again as you navigate trying to integrate your life with that of the handsome and charming blind lawyer’s while Matt realizes he needs to not only protect his new family from Hell's Kitchen, but from the world.

chapter masterlist

Words: 4.4k

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|| Trigger Warning: Graphic Descriptions Body Horror & Death Regarding Unnamed Children ||

All your life you have heard that there is a beauty in chaos, and while you do agree with this, you also find there is a beauty in organization. 

You like taking all the chaos and putting it into categories. You like sorting the details and finding the mysteries that need to be unraveled. You think it must be similar to how clever people feel when they solve a riddle or a puzzle, but you aren’t running in circles with philosophical thoughts - you are analyzing what is already available and coming to a conclusion. 

It is still all chaos, because everything is always chaos, but it is organized into a way that makes sense. 

And Matt’s stolen duffel bag, when first unzipped and inspected, was full of chaos. 

You, Foggy, and Karen quickly got to work looking over the different papers and forming different stacks based upon agreed parameters. 

It became clear Matt’s guess that he had found some sort of laboratory was correct. The papers all appeared to be results of different medical tests, though at first glance, the three of you could not decipher for what.

But deciphering wasn’t needed at that moment, so it didn’t matter, and once everything was spread neatly across the dining table, the next step of your beloved process began. 

Foggy gave each pile a designation and then the three of you began labeling each paper in the top corner. 

A1. A2. A3. A4. 

B1. B2. B3. B4. 

All your analyzing would be useless if you couldn’t source your data, and it was quickly clear your little group all shared the same brain cell when it came to this idea.

While you worked at the table, Matt and Jessica sat on the floor by the couches, marking up a map. You caught snippets of the conversation - this bit of evidence was heard in that alley, to get to a certain tunnel system you had to go through such and such warehouse. It was fascinating to know that Matt had memorized nearly every square inch of Hell’s Kitchen - even the parts you didn’t know existed - and it was equally amazing that Jessica knew just as much. 

After hearing them talk, it left you wondering if Frank had the same knowledge, but you would leave that question for another time. He had been assigned to the two thumb drives that had been in the duffel bag. You had furiously taken mental notes as he had grumpily explained to Matt the little devices couldn’t just be plugged into a computer. They could have malware on them or trigger tracking or something equally devious and needed to be inserted into a clean laptop that couldn’t connect to the internet. That way, if the laptop tried to send a signal or became a brick, there would be nothing lost. 

Since neither you nor Matt happened to have a spare laptop laying around, Frank went to go procure one. 

That was about half an hour ago and now you are well into your third Foggy-assigned task - highlighting any identifying information in yellow. There’s nothing easy like names or addresses listed out, but you noticed a pattern for patient labels and have determined there are at least five. 

As you jot down that Patient 031517DVA also appears on page D4 in your notebook, you find you are enjoying yourself. This isn’t exactly what you imagined when Matt talked about inviting everyone over to review what he had found, but you think it is nice. Knowing that Matt isn’t out there running around without any sort of plan soothes your nerves and seeing that he is putting in the time and thought into his next actions makes you trust he knows what he is doing. 

No one wants a shady underground lab in their neighborhood, but you need to make sure they are actually shady first and not some weird fringe group researching an unknown breed of sewer rat.

The effort going into helping Matt with this task makes your fondness of Foggy, Karen, and Frank grow even more - and gives you a fondness for Jessica. Everyone is serious about their task, and extremely thorough, and you want them to see you in the same light. You know this is not a game and you refuse to let your part in the research be the weak link. 

As you go to the next row of numbers to examine, you catch some movement in the corner of your eye. You turn your head and watch with a soft smile as your daughter emerges from Matt’s bedroom, clad in her mouse-onesie pajamas. Her sleep mask is pulled down around her neck and she looks upset, but she’s not crying, so you don’t jump to run to her. You let her make her own decisions as she sleepily looks between you and her father and you can’t help but to mentally crow a bit as she starts shuffling towards you, her little mouse-tail trailing behind her. 

Everyone’s attention is on you as Minnie lifts up her arms to be picked up once she’s within a foot of you. You dutifully scoop her up and put her on your lap, fixing her hood and mouse-ears as you do. 

“Is everything okay, sweetheart? Did something wake you up?”

She nods, then flops herself against your chest, mumbling out, “There’s monsters.” 

You begin to gently rub her back, hoping to soothe her worries as you confirm, “there’s monsters?”

Again, her head bobs up and down before she nuzzles into your neck, trying to hide herself. Across the room, Matt is up and making his way towards you, but it is Foggy who speaks up next. 

“Are they silly monsters or scary monsters?”

You smile at the question as Minnie ponders it - her little lips purse against your neck and you feel her breath against your skin as she silently repeats the words. She decides on ‘scary’ - replying in a timid voice as Matt takes his place behind you, sliding his hands onto your shoulders.

“Do you want me to help you tell them to go away?” you ask, having packed your bottle of Monster Repellent for just this cause. Little fists clutch tightly at your shirt as Mouse shakes her head and you give a soft hum in thought. “Do you want Daddy to go scare them off?”

You are sure Matt would run outside to chase away a stray cat or hungry raccoon if his princess wished for it, but she shakes her head against you, so you guess Matt will be staying inside. 

“How about we make the monsters silly instead of scary?” is Karen’s suggestion, and like the others, it falls flat. 

You consider offering to read some stories, but Matt startles you from your thoughts by sliding his hands down your arms to get to his daughter. He gently urges her to let go of you before transferring her to his arms and bundling her close. She absolutely clings to him, looking so tiny against his broad shoulders.

“I got this,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper before he turns and starts making his way back to the bedroom. As you watch him walk away, he buries his nose into her hood, and he begins to rock with each step. The itty bitty fist you can still see tightens around his t-shirt and your heart yearns to follow your family, but you know this is a Daddy-Daughter moment and you need to stay seated. 

You were worried about Minnie getting scared over sleeping in a new place - there’s so many new and different noises but you trust Matt to help her interpet everything. He’s already done such an amazing job of it in day-to-day life and you know he’ll explain away all her monsters and let her know she is safe. 

Considering the company she is starting to keep she is probably the safest little girl in New York. No monsters would dare to lurk in her shadows less they want to face the wrath of the Devil.

You know that this little group you are becoming a part of would join you in jumping in front of a bullet for your daughter and you are pretty sure even her newest best friend - Max the Dog - would not hesitate to bare his teeth if someone upset her. 

She deserves nothing less and it makes your heart soar that she is so thoroughly adored. 

Now that her research partner is on another important assignment, Jessica gets up off the floor and strolls over to the table, “anything interesting?”

“Maybe if we were scientists instead of lawyers,” Foggy replies warily, dropping his pink highlighter in favor of nursing his beer, “and knew what any of these numbers meant. We’re going to spend all night looking up these test numbers and hoping they are real. I mean, look at this,” he motions to the paper he is currently working on. “What the hell is D22S1045? And why is the result 15?”

Jessica takes one look at the paper before scrunching up her nose and blandly stating, “It’s a DNA marker. Haven’t you ever seen a paternity test?”

Foggy’s face goes slack for a moment before he is huffing, “Not since college when we had to study paternity suits, and they looked nothing like this! They were like dots we had to match, not numbers!” He uses his beer to point to you, “did yours look like this?”

Your cheeks heat up at the question and you duck your head, hating all the attention is on you with such a personal question. “No. No, mine didn’t…we just received a letter with the results. Not the data.”

“So, they are doing DNA and blood tests?” Karen asks, taking over the conversation and directing it back to Jessica. “And comparing them with each other. Could they be looking for relationships between them?” 

“I’m not a fucking doctor,” is the reply she gets, but Jessica picks up the paper to examine it more closely either way. “But none of these match. The numbers have to be the same for a parental match, but that might not be what they are looking for. Just because it looks like a paternity test doesn’t mean it is one. DNA markers are used in a lot of shit.”

“It might not be human,” you add quietly. “Matt said the lab smelled of human blood, but we don’t know that these tests are on humans. There’s no dates on these, so they could be years old.”

Karen whips out her phone and is typing away before you are done talking, “What was that DNA marker, Fog?”

Foggy repeats the string of numbers and letters and you watch Karen’s eyes scan her screen.

“It’s human,” she states after a long, tense moment. The scowl Jessica gives is near legendary.

“Great, so we have a bunch of assholes in abandoned tunnels running tests on people.”

“That sounds both sanitary and humane,” Foggy grumbles before throwing back the rest of his beer. 

“OSHA and FDA approved,” you add sarcastically and that earns you a smile from Karen. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before she guides you all back on track.

“We still have no idea what they are looking for, though. This could be cancer research for all we know - we are still at square one.”

“One point five,” Foggy argues, “we confirmed it’s human.”

“We don’t know what the tests are looking for,” Karen repeats, ignoring him, “and I don’t think looking up the significance of each DNA marker is going to do us much good. Can you and Matt go back to the lab and look around?”

As the clear recipient of the question, Jessica huffs then turns away from the table and goes right to the bottle of Macallan Matt keeps on top of his fridge. She pops off the lid, taking a long drink of it before answering. 

“That was the plan, but I’m betting it’s going to be sprayed with bleach after knowing Devil-boy was poking around. It’s not like we will get much, not that there was shit to get beforehand.”

“So, we have no who, no why, and no where,” Foggy points out. “We are doing great.”

The joy you had gotten from trying to organize the chaos of paperwork evaporates and you sink down into your chair a little. Would continuing to highlight and document be useful or was this all for naught? The rational part of your brain told you to keep going, because it was better to have it done and not need it then to need it later and it still be a mess of paperwork.

“We’ve just started, Fog, of course we have nothing,” Karen says, rolling her eyes a bit as she does. “Did you expect them to write their plans in gel pens and leave them lying around?”

“I mean, that would be useful.”

You roll your lip between your teeth, thinking that Karen is right. You don’t have much, and you’ve only just started - of course things look pessimistic. While Karen and Foggy begin to banter back and forth about the use of gel pens in a professional setting and Jessica finishes off Matt’s whisky, you let your mind wander around the facts of the case. 

Someone is out there running medical tests in a gross underground lab, probably trying to hide what they are doing. To do a lot of tests, they probably needed lab equipment, and a few years ago you would have said to follow that trail, but with all the advancements in technology, a machine to run DNA tests on probably only cost a few hundred dollars and was compact enough to move easily. Generators could keep people off the grid and there were enough tunnels under the city that years could be spent exploring them. Everything they would need could be ordered offline, and thus, was untraceable to you.

The only solid clues you had were what Matt had come home with, so you needed to keep digging there and hope that the thumb drives would contain something more useful. 

So, you pick yourself back up, grab your highlighter, and get back to work. 

Soon enough, Foggy and Karen pick their highlighters back up as well, and Jessica takes up a spot on the couch, putting her feet up and getting out her phone to tap at. The mood is much more somber, but you feel the same determination to find answers that is in you coming off of everyone else as well. 

You don’t pay attention to the passage of time, but it is not long after you grab the final stack of papers to comb through that Matt slips out of the bedroom and closes the door behind him. 

He starts towards the dining table only to stop by the couch, tilting his head towards Jessica, “That bottle was a gift from Foggy’s dad.”

“Boo-hoo, cry me a fucking river, Murdock.”

Despite the venom in Jessica’s voice, Matt chuckles and finishes making his way to you. 

His hands once again find your shoulders and he begins rubbing them, digging his thumbs into just the right spot as he begins his Minnie-update.

“Someone with a really nice sound system is having a horror movie marathon. She was actually hearing monsters.”

“My poor baby,” you instantly coo, your heart breaking for your little one. “Did you tell her it was just a movie?”

Matt hums in affirmation, “That doesn’t help with the noise, though. We walked through turning things off and found something to work as white noise. It’s still hard for her to do it with new sounds, especially so tired, but she’s a quick learner.”

“How long did it take you to learn all that stuff,” Foggy asks, interest clear in his eyes. Karen puts her pen down as well so she can get the gossip. 

“I don’t know, years? It didn’t come naturally to me like it does with her - I would train for hours to be able to pinpoint something, but she can do it pretty easily. I mean, she can’t tell me exact distance because she’s four and doesn’t know what that means, but she can point and say if it’s close or far.” You can feel Matt practically puff up with Pride over his baby girl. “She’s learning inorganic versus organic sounds now. She can tell if a loud banging is someone hitting something or if something just fell over. The other day she told me it was the wind making the window shake, because she couldn’t hear any other noises around the window.”

You smile at the story, having a feeling Matt is going to start going on about all the declarations Minnie had made during the storm and you don’t mind at all. 

“So, she’s as good as you?” Karen teases and you know Matt is just beaming.

“Better. She can actually read a sign.”

Foggy barks with laughter while you and Karen have to cover your mouths to not giggle. 

Once it subsides, you tilt your head back so you can look up at your daughter’s oh so loving father, bumping against his abdomen as you do, “is she down?” 

He gives another positive hum, “In a nice deep sleep. Frank’s on his way back up and I wanted her out before he got here.”

You don’t know if that is from Matt wanting to rejoin the group to know what is on the thumb drives or if it is from him not wanting Minnie to get excited over Frank, but you are thankful she’s conked out either way. The thought of her hearing all your discussions about what lurks in the darkness of the city makes your stomach turn. 

She doesn’t need more monsters to imagine. 

You thank Matt while reaching up to rub one of his arms - letting yourself give him a small bit of affection. You ignore the look Karen is giving you in favor of making sure Matt is all caught up.

“I take it you heard everything?”

He sighs deeply through his nose, and you take that as a ‘yes’. He confirms with his words. 

“Human testing with government trained agents isn’t what I was hoping we would find.”

“I was personally hoping for research on the mutant alligators in the sewers,” Foggy says as he gets up to go towards the kitchen, probably for another beer. “You know the ones they flush down the toilets.” 

“That’s a myth, Fog.”

“Look, with everything else that goes on in the world - weird aliens and giant green men - let me believe in my sewer gators, Murdock. They make me happy.”

“With everything that Stark and Roxon dumped in the waters, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Karen muses, resting her chin in her hand, “I mean, Matt got superpowers from something getting in his eyes. If a rat ate something that was contaminated, it could have gotten super senses as well.” 

You raise your brows up at the idea, a smile coming to your face, “a crime fighting rat?”

“A crime fighting rat that is a ninja,” Foggy chimes, a wide grin on his face and it sends you into giggles.

“How would a rat even learn martial arts?” Matt counters, “There’s not a rodent karate school he could spy on.”

“I don’t know Matt, how did you learn ka-ra-te,” Foggy emphasizes the word to make it sound more mystical. “He would learn from a secret ninja rat clan.”

“What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Jessica asks, looking over her shoulder at the dining table, disgust and confusion clear on her face. 

You and Karen erupt into more laughter while Foggy just grins like he won the world cup as he returns to his seat. Matt gives your shoulders a firm squeeze before letting go and pulling away. He disappears into the narrow passage that is his hallway, and you hear the front door open. Heavy boots signal Frank’s reappearance, and when he and Matt come back around the corner, you offer a small smile. 

The Punisher holds up a clunky looking laptop, straight from your middle school years, “Got it.”

“Does that thing even work?” Foggy asks, eyes narrowing in scrutiny. You trust Frank, but the question is valid - if you saw that in a Goodwill, you would doubt it would even turn on. 

“Of course it works,” Frank scoffs as he delivers the device to Karen. She instantly opens it up to get it started. “Old body, new hardware. Got it built just for this type of shit.” 

Foggy’s lips twitch and you wonder if he wants to say something but is holding his tongue. Jessica joins the table as Matt once again returns to standing behind you. His hands find your shoulders like they are drawn to them, and you wonder if he can’t help but want to touch you. It makes you feel special and wanted and your belly stirs with a certain type of warmth. 

Everyone’s focus is on Karen as she works - the laptop boots up and she fiddles with the first thumb drive until it is ready to be inserted. It feels like you all are holding your breath as she finally plugs it in. You expect there to be a password, but apparently there is not, as she just clicks away.

“There’s two files,” she narrates. “One labeled 082616DUK and one labeled 121417BNY.” 

You instantly recognize the first designation and push your notebook towards Karen, trying to not sound eager as you tell her, “The DUK one is in our files. Can we look at that first?” 

Her face lights up at the prospect of a connection and selects the requested file, “There’s five pictures. Hold on, let me bring them u- Oh my God.”

The little color in her face drains as a horrified expression takes over and her hand shoots up to cover her mouth. You and Froggy scramble up out of your seats while Frank and Jessica crowd around Karen to look at the screen. Matt stays where he is, tilting his head just slightly. 

When you see what is in the file, you wish you had stayed under Matt’s hands. 

The neatly severed head of a boy stares back at you with blank milky eyes, sitting on an examine table. His hair has been shaved away and there is an incision line around his skull that makes it clear someone has probably removed his brain. His mouth is open in a silent scream, showing off that he still had his baby teeth and that someone has taken his tongue. 

You want to throw up and you want to turn away, but you can’t. You can’t look away from this poor child who someone has so thoroughly defiled. Who had done this to this boy and why? You wanted to shake them and scream and demand to know what could possibly possess someone to do this to a baby? Because this was someone’s baby - someone’s little boy - and someone had taken him and ruined him. 

You don’t know how she manages it, but Karen brings up the next image and it fills you with just as much disgust and anger. 

It is that of a tiny hand with its fingers forcibly splayed, stuck with pins to keep it that way. The tips are bulbous and round, different to anything you’ve seen on a human before, and between each digit, there was a thin stretch of skin connecting them, much like the webbing of a duck’s foot. Like the head, the hand has been surgically removed from the rest of the body, and it isn’t hard to determine they go to the same person. 

The next image is of the head again but turned to be facing the left and pre-removal of the tongue, as the appendage is pulled and stretched from the mouth with a pair of forceps. The muscle is an odd shade of purple and coated with some sort of liquidy-white residue, but that is not what is unique about it. The boy’s tongue doesn’t just peek out of his mouth - it extends across the table almost three feet, if the tape measurer under it is to be believed. 

You need to turn away after that and to no surprise, Matt is instantly by your side, wrapping you up in his arms and guiding your head to his neck. “He’s just a baby,” you whisper in horror as you cling to him, not understanding how someone could be so cruel. Even if he had died naturally, there was no reason to treat him like that in death. 

“Did they…” Froggy starts, his voice low and quivering and you don’t know if it's from rage or grief, “Did they make him a frog? Did they mix this kid with a fucking frog?”

“No,” Frank replies, not hiding how he is feeling at all. The fury is clear in his voice. “They did it because he was like that.”

“What’s the other file?” Jessica demands and part of you doesn’t want to know. You bury yourself more into Matt and you listen to Karen click away at the track pad. 

Matt’s arms tighten around you and you can’t imagine what he is thinking. No one has said out loud what the images show, and he has not asked - but he must know it isn’t good. He’s gone tense under you, like he’s ready to jump into action and rip someone apart with his hands. 

And you want him to. You want Matt to find whoever did this and make them pay. You want him to punish those who hurt the child in the photos, the people who ran tests on him. 

You want to help Matt find who did this and for him to make sure they can never hurt anyone ever again.

“She’s…she’s got a beak.” Karen says slowly after a few moments, and you can’t bear to look at another autopsy photo. You hide yourself more against Matt, not at all ashamed of your choice.

“She’s Enhanced,” is Jessica’s reply, almost blank with stifled emotion.

“She’s a kid. They are hunting Enhanced kids.” 

“Why?” Foggy questions, sounding wet, like he’s starting to tear up. You don’t blame him in any way. “Why would they do that?”

Under you, the Devil finally speaks, his voice low and eerily calm, “it doesn’t matter why. We are going to find them, and we are going to stop them.” 

---

:) :) :)

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 @nennia-2000 @seasonofthenerd @abucketofweird  @mattmurdockstateofmind @imagineswritersblog @hazelhavoc @smile-child-13 @allst4rsfall @hashcakes @kezibear @mapleaye @sammanna @gamingfeline @moon-glades @nightwitherspring @phoenix666stuff @dare-devil

@ladyoflynx @hobiebrowns-wife @sarcasm-n-insomnia @lillycore 

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[letsgobarbs]

WHIPPED WIPs

Thank you so much for the tag @peepawispunk, sending you several kisses through the birds outside my window.

Won't share any snippets this week because I haven't written much, it is Ramadhan and I am spending more time in spiritual pursuits and praying. But I will share all the different yummy projects I have cooked up.

His Young Wife (Marcus Acacius x Reader)

I'm writing the last scene of the next chapter. She's a very fat one, so I am wondering if I should just post it as one big chapter or break it into two chapters.

Homecoming (Dave York x Queer, Muslim OC)

I am like 75% done with the next chapter. I am sorry the progress is so slow on this one but a very heartfelt, special thanks to everybody (especially @probablyreadinsmut and @jolapeno who read it and left very kind words on it.)

The Groom On A Bride Train (Pero Tovar x Reader)

This is for the wtts challenge @guiltyasdave and @sizzlingcloudmentality organised (kisses for you both: MUAH). I was like fully done with the first draft of it and had so many scenes written out. But then I read a book :) and then I changed the Reader's background story entirely so I am writing it again, teehee. Is that not so hot and sexy of me? But I am having a lot of fun writing it so lolz.

Javier Peña x South Asian Reader (Smut, PWP)

I haven't written more since I shared a snippet of it last week. It is a one-shot based on the moodboard I made. But this one is for sure after Ramadhan. Trying to be very halal and demure this holy month.

Dieter Bravo x Queer, Muslim Reader

I have outlined a maybe 3/4 chapter short fic. It is based on the moodboard and ficlet I previously made. I have all my bullet points, hoping the writing muse stays with me so I can flesh it out.

Regency Era Spy Master Joel Miller x Estranged Wife! Reader

Hey! Who brought this one in here??? The idea has NOT left my mind since it spawned all those weeks ago. I may have worked out some of the finer details, settings and plot of the story.

npt: @bluemusickid @coulsons-fullmetal-cellist @tinytinymenace @myownwholewildworld @mushgloomz @ohhoneypascal @604to647 @joeloverture @missredherring @romanarose @goodwithcheese @mrsmando @yourcoolauntie @for-a-longlongtime @wethairjoel @xdaddysprincessxx @lillaydee @sizzlingcloudmentality @papipascaaaal @heartlessvirgo @almostempty @inept-the-magnificent @pedroswife69 @pedrospookie @joelslegalwhre @iknowisoundcrazy @beefrobeefcal @galaxyedging @stellamarielu and anybody who would like to share <33

[madefortherain]

✶ sunday someday snippet ✶

thank you so much @zoemillinwrites for the tag!! <33 here’s another bit of the next chapter of when the world goes quiet:

Some might say he’s wallowing. James, even, may have suggested that. But in actual fact, Sirius is just thinking. Formulating questions. Plans. You know, the works. Blanket-esque, he’s draped over the sofa: head hanging off the end of a seat cushion, legs dangling over the back. All his blood trickles down into the well of his skull, making his whole head feel numb, disembodied, and swollen like an overinflated water balloon. The skin of his face tingles a bit weirdly, too, taken over by the prickling pulse of pins and needles. He’s sort of waiting for one or the other to pop his balloon-head right open, blood and brain matter spurting all over the floor, staining their nice new rug. He wonders if all his thoughts would be written in the wreckage. He wonders if they’d finally be decipherable. Maybe he could poke and prod around in the newly exposed folds of his brain, read them as a priest would the entrails of a sacrificial animal, gutted for the sake of prophecy. Only problem is: Sirius wouldn’t have his head anymore. Pity, that. He does rather like it. And—okay, yeah, fine. Perhaps he is getting a little maudlin now.

np tagging @mybelovedmoon xx

[vanya-evergreen]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE ON HOW TO REMEMBER <<33 I CANT WAIT TO CONTINUE IT!!

But I am sick right now and can't really write because I need to sleep more so 3rd chapter of how to remember will take a bit long then I wanted. But health comes first.

But during the mean time a very very small snippet of the beginning of the next chapter (I wrote this before I started writing the chapter for funzies, and I though it fit well)

Also reminder: characters will be ooc because I still just getting back into dc again. lol

Damian is furious. What make you so important to them? Damian is greeted by Titus waiting for him outside of the entrance. Damian pets his head quickly as he exits the elevator. He knows something is up now, and what his father and Alfred are hiding has something to do with you. He wants to know, no. He needs to know. He will know. Instead of walking to his room to sleep, he walks into the kitchen to feed his pets before he goes to sleep. When he walks into the kitchen, he meets 2 other people in there. One of them is grabbing food from the fridge as his laptop is resting on the countertop with his phone being right next to with articles pulled up on, and the other one is eating cereal while scrolling through his phone.

“Good morning, Damian” Duke takes another bite of his cereal as his clicks on another video of last nights fight. “How was patroll last night?” Duke looks over his phone at Damian,smirking. Damian clenched his fist and grits his teeth. Duke, laughs at him . Damian takes a deep breathe and closes eyes, he doesn’t have the energy to deal with this. He walks over to a cabinet, opens it and takes out food for Titus, as well as his other pets.

“It was fine, thomas, just busy.” Wow did he sound like his father with the vague answers. He picks up titus’ bowl and pours some kibble in it.

“Oh really, Nothing"

He stops and looks at Tim still standing in front of the fridge with the door wide open. “Drake, What are you doing?” He puts the bowl of food in front of titus and walks over to Tim, placing a hand on his shoulder.

[ckret2]

If you don't mind my asking, what is your outlining process like? Is it a bulleted list of scenes, or paragraphs describing what you want to happen? How thorough is it, and how much do you just figure out as you go? I'm about to attempt to write a truly longform fanfic for the first time, and I've been a fan of yours long enough that I feel you probably have some sage wisdom on the matter.

You know what, I get this question with some regularity, so instead of trying to remember how I explained it last time, I'll just drop one of my outlines so I can link this the next time someone asks. Here's my full outline for chapters 33/34/35. Copy/pasted from my plotting sessions in discord with my writing buddies.

This is in two parts. The first part is my actual outline, which I ALWAYS had open while actually writing the chapters—I recommend open my outline and the finish chapters side-by-side so you can see just how closely the chapter follows the outline. My outline is VERY LONG and VERY DETAILED, down to exactly what happens in the conversations; this is because I've found that, for me, "write out THE ENTIRE chapter WITH all actions & dialogue (but writing it super badly)" + "writing the chapter well (but not needing to think about actions & dialogue AT ALL") is much, much faster than "do a simple outline (but figure out the action, dialogue, and how to write it well all at once)".

And the second part is a bunch of snippets from other plotting sessions where I was figuring out how to fit the tooth fairy arc into the whole fic, so you can see how I work on overarching plot lines.

Anywhere there's a "####" divider is a separation between different plotting sessions on different days. Anywhere text is in "[brackets]" it's either a paraphrase of something one of my writing buddies said (I don't post direct quotes publicly) or some kind of note to myself.

####

[This part is my actual outline I used to write the chapters]

So! Stan's having breakfast. Bill comes into the kitchen, plops down, "gooood morning—" "go away."

"Haha funny. Anyway! I need you to take me to your dentist." "No. I took you to the mall, you almost made my niece cry, my brother left a Shopliftaholics Anonymous flier on my bed, and all I got out of is was a crummy ring. You wanna go anywhere, talk to Soos."

Nope, it's gotta be Stan. (he doesn't wanna hang out with that loser Soos anyway.) Bill's trying to get fillings, and Stan's dentist does them for free.

Which is true, but it's weird that Bill knows that. Stan's dentist is some weirdo operating out of a back alley, with a weird pay structure. He charges normal dentist rates for regular dental maintenance, but he does gold fillings for free, and he'll pay YOU if he needs to pull your teeth. He's great! Stan hasn't had to pay for dental care in thirty years! Stan also wears dentures now, but hey, at least they were free.

So, since it's Stan's dentist, he's the only one who can take Bill. Stan sees where Bill's coming from; but he says no, because he doesn't wanna.

Okay, bill's gonna try another tact.

Stan, Bill is a simple creature. A simple creature who's used to being coated tip to base in a thin layer of pure, lustrous, 24 karat gold. Having skin makes his skin crawl. He doesn't *need* any dental work done, his teeth are fine, but he'd really, *really* like to have just a *bit* of gold, *somewhere* on his body, so he feels a *little* more like himself in his final days. (you're losing my sympathy by the second, cipher.) ... And then once he's dead, he supposes he'll be leaving behind a corpse with a mouthful of free gold that whoever's disposing of his remains can do whatever they want with, do you catch his meaning Stanley?

That's absolutely *disgusting.* ... But okay, he's bribed! ...... They're not telling Ford about this, right? Right. They're shaking on it. Agreed. They'll take this to their graves. ... Or to Bill's grave, anyway.

Hey, it's free gold that Bill is offering him totally voluntarily. After all the trouble this demon's brought into their lives, the LEAST Stan can get in return is a little financial compensation.

Great! Deal made! Time to go get the cursed friendship bracelets and then they can head out—

Ohhh no, Stan isn't trusting a bit of colored lace and some mystical hocus-pocus to keep Bill contained. They're doing this PROPERLY. He's gonna MAKE SURE Bill can't escape. They're going to Soos and getting the REAL, METAL handcuffs from him. Try to get out of THAT! Now... to the car!

... Bill's right wrist is cuffed to Stan's left wrist. This puts Bill on Stan's left side. How are they gonna get Stan in the driver's seat.

... Does Stan want Bill to drive— NO, no, NOPE, he is NOT letting Bill drive, under ANY circumstances, NOT a chance. Okay fine so how are they doing this.

Cue Stan driving with Bill cuddled up against his right side and Bill's right arm stretched across Stan's chest. It's very intimate. Very romantic. You can practically hear Unchained Melody playing in the background They are both so very very uncomfortable.

[imagine a gif from Ghost]

Exactly like that but imagine them grimacing in disgust the whole time

Definitely one of the worst experiences Stan has ever had handcuffed in a car.

So after a VERY unpleasant drive they park, get out—and immediately cross paths with Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland. Stan's like ah great, last thing they need, police nearby while they're doing something weird. Well, if they don't make eye contact and go about their way—

Bill waves like HI DARRYL, HI EDWIN, HOW'S IT GOING? WORKING HARD OR HARDLY WORKING HAHA and they're like OH HEY GOLDIE HOW'VE YOU BEEN, DID YOU HAVE A NICE SUMMERWEEN and Stan is like "*Bill what do you think you're doing getting their attention, do you want them asking questions*" and Bill goes "🙂 I did not think this through 🙂"

Which is of course when they go "hey why are you handcuffed to Mr. Pines? You need some help there? I bet we've got a key that matches that handcuff model" and oh Stan BETS that Bill would LOVE to accept that offer and go traipsing off into town with the cops, so he goes "NOPE, that's fine, thank you officers, but we're keeping the handcuffs on. ... Because. They're necessary. ... For me. ... Because I'm old. ... It's to keep me from wandering into traffic."

Bill's a quick liar, he goes haha yep that's true!! This guy's cataracts are so bad, sometimes he asks us if he's dying because all he can see is a white light at the end of a dark tunnel. And the way his mind's going, woof—" "(all right you don't have to lay it on so thick)" "—he's so addled it's like he's completely forgotten the last century of transportation advancements, he'll just walk right off the curb and expect the horse-drawn carriages to stop for him—" "Hahaaa, but we won't bore you with my medical history! *C'mon,* Goldie, you're gonna make me *late* to my *heart doctor appointment.* You don't want my life on your hands, do you." "(You know, I think I kind of do.)"

The cops are like, you can't see? didn't we just see you get out of the driver's seat of your car? and they're like ......... Goldie's giving him directions. 😃

Oh! That makes sense. Okay. They'll let them get to their doctor's appointment. They wander off like y'know i think Goldie's a step up from that seeing-eye bear

They look at each other like, all right, good improv, you're not bad. They can respect each other for that. Stan thinks Bill wouldn't be bad to run a con with if he were literally anybody other than who he is. Okay, on to the dentist.

So the dentist's office is a little garden shed around back behind some other totally unrelated business. Whatever business I can think of that would be funniest. It's a ramshackle nightmare. The dentist, also, is a ramshackle nightmare.

[candy store]

He's surprised to see Stan there, on account of the fact that Stan has no teeth. Because the dentist pulled them all. ... he's not mad is he

No, no, the dentures are great! They're lower maintenance! Sort of. In a way. Anyway, he's here to refer a new customer! ... does he get any kind of referral bonus or

Yeah have a uhhh gold coin or something, here. Okay! New customer! What can he do you for?

Fillings! Okay, on which teeth? Whichever he thinks would look best with some! Dealer's choice! Bill's leaving it in his hands! All that matters is that currently Bill's teeth do *not* have any gold in them, and he'd like that to change by the time he leaves.

The dentist gives Stan a look like "is this freak serious" and Stan sorta shrug nods like "yeah he's serious" and the dentist is like okay!!! Super! This'll be fun! Let's see what he has to work with.

The dentist is amazed at Bill's teeth. Wow. So clean. Perfectly white. Did you just get these cleaned, where'd you get it done at? No? Well, looks amazing. And no wear at all, remarkable... Do you mind if he takes a few pictures? Have you ever considered having any of these pulled?

Stan's like yeesh, he forgot how creepy this guy is. He's like a serial killer crossed with a nerd with a tooth fetish.

Well, the dentist is sorry to say that all of these are pristine. Not a hint of cavities—not even plaque. It'd be a shame to drill them. You *sure* you don't want one pulled...?

Stan is 😬 but Bill is handling this like it's a totally normal question for him to be getting. Y'know what, just the fillings today—but who knows, maybe he'll feel naughty and be back in a couple of weeks haha. Just pick a couple of your least favorite teeth to drill into!

Okay, suit yourself. Let's gas you up and get drilling.

This is the first time Stan's had an opportunity to watch the dentist at work. Which is how he learns for the first time that he saves all the little tooth dust & shards off his drill in a tiny Petri dish. Yeesh. He's an even bigger creep than Stan thought.

Bill doesn't handle the gas well. It's not that it makes him sick or anything. He just forgets how to human. The dentist tells him to hold his mouth open and he holds his eyes open until they water. He keeps forgetting his mouth is occupied and talking to the dentist while he trying to drill. When he's let go, he heaves himself off the chair and immediately falls on the ground because he expected to float. Stan has to support him to the door and he keeps trying to walk sideways. Bill doesn't mind, he feels great! Waves at the dentist as they leave. Thanks for the gold, Atlantis is rising as we speak, you have seven years to prepare for the plague, tell the little lady he said hi! Byyye! Stan is desperately trying to drag him out the door, he turns to Stan like "I made up the bit about Atlantis" "okay now shut up and stop saying weird things"

But not the plague part

The fic *does* take place in 2013

They're driving home. Smushed together all intimate-like. You can almost hear Careless Whisper playing. Except this time Bill is loudly and terribly singing along. He keeps trying to take the steering wheel and turn it like a kid playing in a toy car and Stan has to keep swatting his hand away. Bill's like "I can't feel my tongue at all! I bet I can chew it off!" "Don't do that." "The last time my mouth was this numb, my girlfriend had just gotten done with me, haha. I was almost blind for the next hour from all the spores—" "I swear if you don't shut up—" "I just realized I haven't gotten any action since I died. Wow. This isn't a weird time to bring that up, is it?" "Bill if you say ONE MORE weird thing you're riding home on the roof of the car."

Bill is quiet for three seconds. "Your arm's really beefy! What's your favorite flavor of cancer?"

Mabel: "why are you on top of the car?"

Bill, eyes wide, hair disheveled, one arm hanging through the driver's door, sprawled out desperately clinging to the roof like his life depends on it: "I don't know, it's all a blur." (Note to self, mention Mabel and dipper are heading out for a sleepover or something)

Well, *that* was fun! 🙂 Bill thinks it was fun, anyway. Stan doesn't agree. Anyway, where's Soos? They need the key to the handcuffs.

Soos is having dinner with Melody's family this evening. They call him to ask where the key is. Haha, sorry dudes! He totally forgot he still had it. Yeah, it's on his keyring. Is that, like, gonna be a problem, or...

Well—pff—when are you gonna be back?? Uhhh he's not sure, kinda late maybe. Well, can he duck out and bring them the key? Uhhhh he WOULD but, he's REALLY worried about impressing Melody's parents, and the casserole's about to come out, and he thinks they might judge him if he leaves, and it would probably ruin dinner... Okay FINE, then what if they drive over to get the key? ("STAN CAN I DRIVE THIS TIME—" "ABSOLUTELY NOT") Oh sure, they can drive over if they want—anyway Melody's parents' place is in Portland.

Which is waaaay outside the barrier around Gravity Falls

Welp. That ain't happening. Looks like they're stuck.

... They could call Blubs and Durland—?

NOPE Stan is NOT calling the cops for help NUH UH, he'll WAIT ALL NIGHT if he has to. ... so. What do they do until then.

Cue them grumpily watching a game show together. Bill refuses to sit in the living room with Stan so Stan's on the couch and Bill's sitting in the entryway on the stairs and their handcuffs are strung through the doorway. Hey Stan, still glad you went with the handcuffs instead of the friendship bracelets? Shut up.

Bill's shouting out the answers to every question on the show almost sooner than they're displayed and eventually Stan is like, man, we'd clean up if we put you on this show. No one would ever figure out how you're cheating. And Bill's like HA, listen to you!! If you were Ford you'd be mad that I'm giving away all the answers before you can guess!! That's the great thing about you, Stan, you don't get irritated at Bill for stupid little reasons, you're more fun. HEY FORD DID YOU HEAR THAT, STAN'S THE FUN TWIN— And Stan's like shut up you idiot ford's in the basement he can't hear you. And what are you talking about, you irritate me all the time. I'm constantly infuriated by you. And Bill's like, oh, well, i guess i just don't care when you're irritated then lmao.

Stan's like what's with you anyway, why are you so obsessed with Stan's brother. And bill says SDFHFJF?? DSFKLGLJ??? FLKJFHGD???? EXCUSE M. EXCUSE ME?? OBSESSED??? MOI???? I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT

Is it OBSESSION to SOMETIMES PAY ATTENTION to the one person in the house he HAPPENS to know best and to whom he HAPPENS to be a teacher and muse and friend— and Stan's like oh that's a load of bull, you're not ANY of those things to him. Friend?? Friend???? HE WANTS YOU DEAD and Bill's like WELL IF THAT'S *SO* then doesn't it also make plenty of sense to keep an eye on, you know, THE GUY THAT *KILLED* HIM, like there's nothing mysterious about why he'd focus a *little* on that person—

THAT'S IT, THAT'S JUST IT!!!! There are TWO people who killed Bill, remember? That was a two-man con he fell for! But he keeps treating Ford like he was the only one there! If Ford's in the room, he's the only person Bill talks to, and if he ISN'T in the room then Bill's yelling across the house for him, and Ford wants less to do with him than anyone else, what the heck, it's creepy—

Only *one* person killed Bill. Stan's not the man who killed him; he's just the place where Bill was killed.

And that baffles Stan into shutting up a second.

Bill's like, do you even remember what happened in your brain?? and Stan's like :/ so Bill's like LMAO!! We were both trapped in there when Ford fired the gun. Completely powerless. Stan was weeping and begging for a way out even, but there was nothing Bill could do by then— and Stan's like all right I KNOW that THAT didn't happen! so Bill's like fine fine okay all right you got me, we actually had this big psychic laser fight, imagining up all sorts of fantastical weapons. And Stan's like, ehhhh, all right, that sounds more like me. And bill says but it was all IMAGINARY, it was a vast illusion, at that point there was nothing I could do to you and nothing you could do to me. We were just two victims locked inside a burning house as it came down around us. YOU didn't kill me, you didn't have the POWER to kill me. And Stan just, gives him this discontented look. Hm.

Oh, oh wow, okay, Bill sees what's going on. Stan's jealous, isn't he. He thought offering up his body to be the scene of a murder finally made him a co-star instead of a sidekick. All their lives, Ford got more attention from daddy, more attention from the teachers, more attention from the WHOLE WORLD—and Stan finally thought he'd at least get a little attention from the big bad living nightmare. Just because he let his brother shoot him in the head. You weren't special enough for anyone else, why do you think you're special enough for Bill?

Oh yeah?? Well he bets he's special enough to break Bill's face— jerks him by the chain into the living room, fist raised; and Bill immediately pulls back as far as he can and tries to shield his face.

As a helpful reminder, Bill's death actually went like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D3adyJQDqI so 1) he is VERY much lying to Stan, and 2) getting punched in the eye by Stan in the living room is still echoing in his nightmares.

So there's a split second where Bill is absolutely blind with terror, gets out a strangled "NO—!" and then they both freeze and stare at each other. Stan knows what just happened. And Bill knows Stan knows. And Stan knows Bill knows Stan knows.

Bill immediately plays it off, "come on, I just got all this dental work done, at least give me a couple days to enjoy it before you pound it in. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mine having a flatter face, all these bones and cartilage jutting out never did feel right—"

Stan feigns a punch. Bill flinches. Stan laughs at him.

And what's Bill gonna do? Fight him? He is not trained in 3D brawling. He tries, very hard, to explode Stan with his brain. This usually works on people who are annoying him. But alas. "If I had one billion-billionth of my power back I'd have already destroyed you—!" "But you DON'T, sucker!!" Bill screams in frustration and stomps off to go sulk somewhere

Aaand is immediately jerked back because of the handcuffs. Whoops.

"... Whatever I don't even care about your stupid aggressive mammal posturing. It's fine. It doesn't bother me. I'm calm. You're just making yourself look stupid. ... I wanna go to bed."

####

So!! Attempting plotting. When we left off, Bill wanted to go to bed. Which is a problem since he's still handcuffed to Stan

Cue Ford going "Bill. Why are you sleeping on the floor in front of my bedroom door."

Well you see, STAN got them handcuffed together until morning, and Bill tried to be accommodating, but Stan doesn't want to sleep in the attic and won't let Bill sleep in the guest room— (Stan yelling "and Mr. Accommodating here refuses to sleep in the living room") —so the best compromise they've got is sleeping on the floor with the handcuff chain strung under the guest room door, see. Does Ford want in? It'll take a little coordination to get the door open but they've done this once before—

Ford's not messing with this. He's sleeping in the basement. Good night.

At some point in this I've gotta establish that Mabel and Dipper are out of the house for the night. Maybe they're just leaving as Stan and Bill get home. Anyway the point is Bill and Stan are effectively at home alone for the night. Maybe Soos's grandma is still there, she's a little old lady, she wouldn't be much help in a fight

So. Somehow I've gotta get them from being asleep to getting woken up by the dentist being in the house, with the tooth fairy. There's some transitional material I'm missing that I've gotta fill in later.

Maybe Bill wakes up with the dentist's tools already in his mouth, ready to pull. Waking up at 2 am to invasive dental surgery. Bill's like, hello, very forward of you.

[horrified face]

That WOULD be a more appropriate reaction, if Bill weren't so weird.

Bangs on the door to wake up Stan, WE HAVE VISITORS, WAKE UP

Dentist realizes that Bill is stuck in place with the chain, pins him against the wall, and tries to go for his teeth. STAN SURE IS TAKING HIS TIME— Stan gets the door open just in time, Bill tumbles into the guest room, Stan goes wtf why is the dentist here?

The dentist goes uhhhh he just wanted to check on Bill's fillings, yeah, he thought one of them might be a little loose— Bill's like cut the crap, your boss put you up to this, what the heck does the little lady want with his mouth?

Stan's like what? What "little lady," this guy is self employed, what are you talking about— and Bill goes the TOOTH FAIRY, genius, why did you think your dentist pays YOU to pull your teeth! Who'd you think was funding him?! And, well, Stan can't say he ever put much thought into it. He just sort of took this whole thing at face value. But like the tooth fairy is fake right, like that's just stupid—

Which is when a fairy wearing baby teeth jewelry pops her head out of the dentist's bag. Stan's like oh well never mind, just one more crazy thing happening in this town. And Bill's like oh shit she's actually HERE, the situation just escalated significantly.

I've decided the tooth fairy's name is Pearl E. White.

Bill skips straight to addressing her by first name, which disconcerts everybody, not least of which is the tooth fairy herself. Lady, if you were toeing the line of your treaty any harder, you'd be tripping across it. What are you doing here and what do you want?

She's WELL within the bounds of the treaty, she hasn't laid a hand on Bill and she's not about to start, and she's been offering MORE than adequate financial compensation— Bill's like oh yeah I bet the queen would have something to say about you ordering your helper to rip out someone's teeth in the dead of night— and Stan's like hi, question, what the Fuck are you all talking about

Oh Bill can explain, Bill knows lots of things! So this fairy here has a *thing* for teeth. To the extent that she got into a habit of stealing them straight out of humans' mouths! And went so crazy over it that she actually dragged a fairy court into a war with humans over her teeth-stealing habits! Currently, she's only allowed to accept *already freed* teeth that are *voluntarily* offered to her by the owner, which is why she started bribing kids with money.

She starts getting into a gray area working with hired dentists—once a tooth has been handed over to a dentist, that dentist becomes its "owner," and can give that tooth to the tooth fairy—buuut the fact that he *extracted* the tooth puts it on shaky legal ground. Really, Bill thinks the only reason she's been getting away with THAT racket so long is because nobody's raised a legal challenge to it yet. Probably because most humans don't know it's even happening. And with the price of dental work being what it is, yeesh. But—by *any* reading of the treaty, hiring a human to nonconsensually rip out teeth on her behalf is beyond the pale. So she'd better have a good explanation for this!

Yeah, she does have a good explanation for this. SHE WANTS BILL'S TEETH! She'd do ANYTHING for one of his teeth! They're the most amazing teeth she's ever seen!!!

The dentist is like, holding her back from lunging at Bill's face

Okay, great! Fantastic! Bill's not above a little bargaining and he's not too attached to this body—so how much gold you got on you, kid?

Oh no, she's not bargaining. Bill already knows too much, she's NOT about to get blackmailed by a human, and she's not going back to fairy jail. So here's what she's gonna do: she's gonna have her guy rip out every one of Bill's teeth, and then rip his head apart to destroy the witness, and the only negotiating Bill gets to do is on whether or not her guy uses the local anesthetic. What's it gonna be?

Stan cuts in like hi, hey, listen, he'd love to see Bill's head get ripped apart, but—crazy thing—it turns out there's 50/50 odds that killing him will lead to the end of the world, so maybe let's talk this out—

Tooth fairy points at Stan like he's got nothing left of interest to me. He's a witness. Kill him too.

Right, cool cool cool, hey Stan you know that spell Ford's got on Bill? Well if Bill casts it on the dentist, can Stan handle things from there?

Yeah, Stan sees where Bill is going with this. The dentist & fairy don't expect Bill and Stan to lunge for them; Bill casts the can't-use-doors spell on the dentist, Stan drags Bill with him into the hallway, Stan slams shut the door, and now the fairy's bellowing OPEN THE DOOR YOU IDIOT and the dentist is yelling HOW????

They retreat to the entryway. From there they can go out the front door, into the kitchen, into the living room, or upstairs. I need to keep them from just going out the front door, I'll need to think up an excuse for that later. Something magic maybe idk. I also need to keep them out of the kitchen, but that's a likely dead end unless they feel like climbing over the kitchen table to break a window. Basically, I need them to be limited to the living room or upstairs.

The living room is the better option—it has a door to the gift shop, and the gift shop has a door straight outside, as well as doors to the mystery shack museum & the hidden elevator to the basement, lots of great options in there. But Bill drags them upstairs instead. Bill you idiot what are you doing, this is obviously the worse direction??

Shut up we're going this way and Bill doesn't care what Stan thinks about it.

Why are we going this way?? How the heck do you expect to get out of here from up in the attic?! Bill doesn't know, it just seemed like a better idea! There should be a ladder in the storage over the kids' room, maybe they can take that and get down out a window, come on

Meanwhile the fairy is hollering about how YOU DON'T DESERVE THOSE TEETH, THEY'RE TOO GOOD FOR YOU! They're the most beautiful, pristine, unblemished, perfect teeth she's ever seen in her life. (Bill's like "are they really that great?" and Stan's like "eh, a little asymmetrical, honestly.") She's NEVER seen adult teeth so pure and HE'S RUINING THEM by carving out chunks of PERFECT TOOTH to put in unnecessary fillings! He doesn't have the right to those teeth, she deserves them! ("Hey Bill so you knew my dentist was working for the tooth fairy?" "Yes." "And you knew she goes crazy for nice teeth." "Yes." "And it didn't occur to you that she'd be outraged by you carving up your new teeth." "It's in the past, Stanley, focus on the present.")

—and she doesn't even KNOW how he got MAGIC TEETH! Fully adult teeth in a fully adult mouth but SOMEHOW they're barely a month old! It's unbelievable! She couldn't believe it herself until she saw his mouth with her own two eyes! She MUST have those teeth, as soon as possible, so she can preserve them like this, who knows if she'll ever find such a novelty again— Ahhh, so THAT'S what's motivating her. Welp, nope, sorry, Bill didn't see that one coming at all.

... hey, she's been buzzing around shouting at them but they don't hear her trying to help her dentist OR coming after them directly, what's she up to? Stan leans out the door to look into the main attic.

Huh, weird. She's just flying in a circle with what looks like a container of veggies from the fridge?? He thinks it's the sliced portobello mushrooms

WHAT!! OH THAT LITTLE CHEATER IS MAKING A FAIRY RING, THAT'S NOT FAIR—

Aaand poof, the dentist appears in the ring. The fairy must have already made the matching ring downstairs.

The dentist still needs a dumb name

[Drilliam]

Dr. Illiam. It was william but the W fell off his sign

[any relation to dr acula]

Went to dental school together. Dr. Acula kept mislabeling teeth, he always thinks the canines should be longer

He switched career tracks and became a phlebotomist

and speaking of drills — Fairy yells GET THEM, the dentist reaches into his dental tool bag, and pulls out a drill. Not a dental drill. A drill.

They slam the door. The dentist goes AW, F— AGAIN??? The tooth fairy's like JUST BREAK THROUGH IT, YOU HAVE POWER TOOLS

Bill has an idea. Stan, open the window, Bill's tying bedsheets (from Dipper's bed) together. Bill doesn't expect them to climb out that window, does he? No, he expects the *fairy* to think they went out that way, and they can hide in the closet until the fairy and dentist are past them so they can run downstairs.

Stan doesn't like the idea of hiding like cowards instead of fighting. Bill's like I can see a dozen futures that end with our brains splattered across Mabel's dolls you do NOT want to fight against power tools now COME ON

So they hide in the closet. It's uncomfortable in here. They're trying to stay quiet and listening to the dentist mauling his way through the door. Okay smart guy now what? What'll they do when they get downstairs?

Whispering at each other, "Why that way? Why not the living room, it's a lot faster to get out through the gift shop." "... Yeah. Fine—" "What's the matter, Bill, you got a problem with the living room?" "What? No, I SAID fine. It's fine." "It took you a long time." "I was trying to figure out if that was the fastest way out—" "Oh, really??? You sure you aren't SCARED to go in there with me? You think I haven't noticed how you bolt out of the living room any time I come in? Or how you flinch every time I raise my hand?" "... I don't know what you're talking about." "Do you REALLY think I don't remember how you died." "..." "As if I could forget the best moment of my life. Watching you on your knees, begging for mercy, while I put my fist through your face like a cheap mirror—" "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" "ADMIT IT! ADMIT THAT I KILLED YOU TOO! I PLAYED JUST AS MUCH A PART IN IT AS HE DID!" "YOU DID *NOT* KILL ME, YOU *COULDN'T* HAVE KILLED ME, I'M NOT *CAPABLE* OF BEING KILLED BY SOMEONE LIKE YOU!" "*THEN WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME!*" "*I'M NOT AFRAID—*"

Unsurprisingly, the dentist puts a drill through the closet door.

####

For now though: Drilliam is drilling. Bill and Stan are screaming. Bill's shouting IS THIS WORTH IT?? WAS GETTING YOUR DENTAL SCHOOL LOANS PAID OFF WORTH THIS?? DO YOU WANNA BE A MURDERER MAN and he's sobbing I CAN'T STOP NOW, I'M IN TOO DEEP this man is having the worst night, like sure he's obeying the tooth fairy but it's clear she's the bloodthirsty one here

Okay count of three Stan and Bill are kicking the door open. Bill falls flat on his ass and has to scramble back up but they manage to wedge the dentist behind the door in a corner with his drill stuck in the door. Waving at their faces, menacingly. Stupid cordless magic-powered drill. The fairy's buzzing in their faces making them swat at her, the dentist starts to wiggle out, they give the door one last hard shove to knock him off balance and then run for the stairs.

And, of course, they continue the most important discussion as they go. "WHY DOES IT MATTER to you so much whether Ford killed you or Ford *and me* killed you? Why is it SO hard to admit that I threw a punch that took you down?!" "You DIDN'T kill me, you CAN'T have killed me because YOU DON'T MATTER. YOU AREN'T IMPORTANT." "Dsklfslkjf NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO *KILL* YOU?! HOW DOES THAT EVEN MAKE SENSE?!"

And Bill senses he's found a weakness he can needle. "It's true! I've looked into countless universes and you just don't matter! No matter where you go or what you do, you just AREN'T IMPORTANT! If *anything*, all you ever do is make things *worse.* You know, I first tried to work with Ford in a universe where *you don't exist*? And I couldn't do it! He wouldn't give me a chance! Because YOU weren't there to ruin his life and make him desperate enough to turn to an alien, and YOU hadn't spent your whole childhood *training* him to put up with a manipulative con artist's lies—so he'd be *ready* when he met me. Isn't that funny, Stanley?"

Bill's dragged them to a stop now so he can rip into Stan: "You were stillborn in that universe. Your brother had to grow up without a twin watching over him—so he actually learned how to make friends. Your mother was DEVASTATED that she'd lost you—but you know what's funny? I think your family loved that dead baby you more than they EVER liked the disappointment you turned out to be—"

And That's When Stan Punches Bill As Hard As He Can

Bill goes DOWN. There is blood everywhere. Oh shit Stan didn't mean to do that much damage are you okay?

And THAT'S when Stan realizes that they're in the living room. Right where Bill died. Bill goaded him into it

And Bill holds up a tooth, like, thanks for the tooth fairy bait. (Staring Stan dead in the eye with this look like, SCARED OF YOU, AM I?? WHO'S SCARED NOW)

And Stan... Stan is really big on macho, "face your fears," "stand up for yourself," "fight back" displays of masculinity. Stan's figured out Bill isn't much of a physical fighter. He might never be able to throw a punch. He's got tiny little baby hands. But—but—if his response to "I think you're scared" is plunging himself directly into the situation he's scared of, making it as terrifying as possible, and taking it without flinching... Stan, grudgingly, has to respect that. He doesn't WANT to respect that. But it's the kind of thing he respects. [when it comes to fighting, he might be able to dish it; but he can take it]

So now he kinda sorta grudgingly respects Bill. ... But also kind of feels bad for Bill? for reasons he can't quite specify. (Because it's the kind of desperate-to-prove-himself stunt that a younger Stan would have pulled, when he was scared and alone and homeless and trying to earn his fortune and a macho mask was the ONLY thing he had going for him. And he's never seen Bill like that before—all he ever saw was Mr. Big Shot Triangle who always had everything under control up until he was tricked into dying. It's never occurred to him that Bill is scrambling too. That Bill might also be lost.)

(It doesn't escape Stan that, in Bill's efforts to get under Stan's skin, Bill slipped up and called *himself* a manipulative con artist.)

But no time to wax poetic, Stan's not an introspective guy. Tooth fairy bait! A whole entire tooth! What are they gonna do with it?

I still need to figure out this part. They've gotta set a trap to catch a fairy, they've gotta separate her from the dentist, and they've got to do it extremely fast, because being stuck behind a door in the attic isn't gonna hold the dentist for THAT long

What kinda stuff traps fairies. My initial thought was "salt rings" but no i think that's demons. Not sure that works on fairies too

[iron. Not a clothes iron]

idk, chucking an iron at a fairy's head...

Like that post that's like "i know traditionally it takes a wooden stake to the heart to kill a vampire, but i think we oughta give hitting them with a pickup a shot"

It'll probably be something in the gift shop, since they're getting corralled that way. Stan hears them coming and shoves Bill through the door and follows after him. This is a very baffling experience for Bill, as the door was previously closed, and Stan didn't open it, and yet Bill is going through it, and he does not understand enough about doors to make sense of this. (It's a swinging door, it doesn't lock or latch.) The dentist is coming at the door ready to drill it (he doesn't understand swinging doors either) and obviously if he tried to hit the door it'd just swing open which would be bad news for them so Stan is like HOLD IT, that door is LOAD BEARING, if you start hacking holes in it the WHOLE SHACK COULD COME DOWN ON US! And the dentist pauses like. Now that doesn't sound right, but i don't know enough about doors to dispute it.

A load bearing door. ... that swings.

The fairy's like WHAT ARE YOU STOPPING FOR YOU IDIOT, HE'S LYING, DOORS DON'T WORK LIKE THAT— and Bill's like HEY CHECK THIS OUT. Waving his tooth around. YOU WANT THIS???

She's so outraged, YOU KNOCKED IT OUT, what if you CHIPPED IT, she's zooming for it

And Bill chucks it in... something. Undecided. Maybe I'll decide what it is later and then cleverly find a way to foreshadow it earlier in the chapter. Anyway it's totally an effective fairy trap, possibly made out of iron.

BAM, now she's TRAPPED. The dentist is dropped down on the ground to peer through the gap under the door (there's like a three inch gap at the bottom of the door) and goes NO and pounds the door. It swings a few inches open. He stares in bafflement. It swings back and hits him in the forehead. At least Bill's no longer alone in his suffering re: the mystery of doors.

Right! Looks like they've got a proper hostage situation here, don't they! If Drilliam would please drop the power tools and back away from the door. Very good. Stan picks up his bag, holds the dentist at drill point, and tells him to get walking, he'll escort him outside. Stan doesn't trust Bill with power tools, so he can stand guard over the fairy.

... which means Bill is alone with the fairy.

*So*. Bill believes they were negotiating? 🙂

She's not negotiating ANYTHING with him. Look at what he did to this poor tooth. She's hugging it.

SHE'S obeyed the letter of her treaty, even if not the spirit, and when the fairy court hears tell of this they'll back her up and come free her, and oh, THEN Bill and Stan will be in trouble—

WAIT I JUST REALIZED. HOW CAN STAN LEAVE IF HE"S HANDCUFFED TO BILL.......................

See this is wh. This is why i outline. This is. The reason i do it. Invaluable process.

Maybe the handcuff broke when Stan punched Bill. Turned out it was a cheapo flimsy chain. Maybe they're still handcuffed together and I'm just gonna have to dial back how much Bill can say to the fairy because he knows Stan is listening.

I feel like separating Stan & Bill's cuffs would be a cop out, unless I can make it a really good moment

You know what, if bill had an opportunity to talk to the fairy alone, he would've tried to rope her into getting him some help that i do NOT know how to pay off. I was gonna have him promise a tooth off of his stone corpse in return for Assistance (As Yet Undecided), but i feel like giving Bill an in with some nebulous organization of fairies might be giving him too much power too soon?? Like, "what COULD he do with a huge favor from a fairy" versus "what do I want him to currently be ABLE to do" + "what do I want people to THINK he can do," a fairy favor might be too much??

I'll try rolling with them still being chained together, see how i like that. Okay so ignore what i just said, Bill is going WITH Stan to kick out the dentist—they just shove him out the gift shop door and he stands out there making sad puppy eyes at them—and then go back to negotiate with the fairy.

And her buddies are gonna be mad when they come to get her!

Bill's like, but that's assuming they come for her, which they might just not, once they hear where she is. IF they hear where she is. She DOES know where she is, right? (Sure she does, this is the Mystery Shack.) And she does know who owns it, right? (Sure she does, he's right there—) Who REALLY owns it? (...) Are you *sure* they'll come for you here?

It doesn't matter who owns this place, HE'S been gone for decades— Oh, has he? You sure about that? You didn't think it strange that an odd person with magical teeth and weird eyes—a real bonafide freak—happens to be in this shack, getting escorted around by handcuffs? That didn't make you ask any questions?

Stan puts a threatening hand on Bill's shoulder like *hey, easy how much you spill*—most people don't notice Bill doesn't look quite human until he points it out—and seeing *that* gesture terrifies the fairy more than anything else Bill said, like oh shit, he's not bluffing, she's been hunting somebody else's prisoner.

So how about this. If *she* promises to leave and never harass them again, *they* promise not to wake up the jailer and ask how he wants to deal with her. Because Bill just wants to be left alone, and he assumes Stan just wants to go back to bed—but *him,* oh, he wouldn't hesitate to pin her wings to a board. Sound fair?

Yes, yes, it's fair, she'll leave them alone! Just let her go!

Great. 🙂 Oh, and one more thing. His payment for that tooth?

She gives Bill a gold tooth. 😠 And they let her go. She's a fairy, her word's as good as law. If she promised not to bother them again then she won't. Can't lie.

... so. What was all that about the true owner of the shack?

Oh haha yeah! Fordsy's got a bit of a reputation around the town's paranormal community. He actually wasn't much more personable with the freaks he was studying than he was with the other humans in town—he had a tendency to catch, study, release. One or two times he *didn't* release. Rumors grow with time. And well, if it's useful to pretend to be one of his specimens...

The idea of keeping a person (a person!) prisoner to study does Not sit well with Stan. "You're *not* one of his specimens." "No? Has he been studying me?" "Of COURSE not" but now he's thinking about it.

... Well. Back to sleep? ("Are you gonna let me sleep in the guest room now?" "*No.*" "Aww, I thought we'd bonded a little!" "After all the horrible shit you said earlier??" "Haha you're too sensitive.")

......... WAS the horrible shit Bill said true? Or did he just say it to get a rise out of Stan.

Naaah, he just thought it would be funny to make Stan mad. He never saw a universe where Stan and Ford weren't inseparable as kids. But then he never dug that hard. It wasn't one of his priorities.

Stan doesn't think Bill's telling the truth now; but Stan doesn't think Bill was telling the truth earlier, either. Bill's not telling Stan what the multiverse is like; Bill's telling Stan how he wants Stan to feel. Bill *could* have said everything he'd said was true, but he didn't.

"You're not a half bad liar, Cipher. It's too bad you're a lousy dirtbag bent on world domination, or you could've made a decent partner-in-crime." "Yeah? Well, my schedule's clear, I'm bored, and running a two-man con sounds fun. Let me know." "Don't count on it."

The end.

Epilogue: next morning Ford goes "did you two sleep well?" (He's not actually asking Bill he's just asking Stan. He hopes Bill got an annoying crick in his neck that'll never go away.) "Oh yeah, no problem. Got comfortable and didn't move all night." "We barely even noticed the handcuffs. Slept like babies." Well, Ford's relieved nothing weird happened last night.

There's a knock at the door. He'll get that.

It's a very sad and bedraggled dentist. Can he please have his ability to open doors back? He had to sleep outside last night. 8,C

... only the person who cast the spell can lift it. Hey Bill, get in here. "Slept like babies," huh?

The end end

####

[everything after this is various points in other conversations where I was discussing the where & how the tooth fairy arc would fit with the overall story, to show you what kind of plotting-over-time I do for the big elements of a story.]

You know what I'm gonna go with a tooth fairy. The show's featured gnomes, mermaids, subterranean dinosaurs preserved in tree sap, and Cupid. A tooth fairy works.

A dentist who worships the tooth fairy. The fairy gets a glimpse of Bill and goes "WOW I've never had ALIEN TEETH before! *Bring them to me.*"

[hell yeah alien teeth]

####

And probably the chapter after that is gonna be Stan Takes Bill To The Dentist. Where Bill goes "you don't have to worry about me running off, we can use the friendship bracelets." "Oh ill friendship bracelet YOU. And I'll do it WITHOUT MAGIC." *slaps actual real handcuffs on himself and Bill. Loses the key.*

####

He played himself. I think I'm gonna have them be handcuffed through the ENTIRE tooth fairy arc. I think it would be really funny.

Ford like "Bill, why are you sitting in the hallway outside my guest room."

"Because SOMEBODY decided to HANDCUFF US TOGETHER and then LOST THE KEY so I have to SLEEP IN THE HALLWAY with the HANDCUFF CHAIN STRUNG UNDER THE DOOR. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, *STANLEY.*"

"Right. ... I'm going to sleep in my lab tonight."

####

Things going on:

- Stan unwillingly getting dragged into his "befriending the evil triangle" arc. Woe, friendship be upon ye.

- Bill copes with traumas by setting himself up to relive them until they stop hurting. Burning down your dimension devastated you? Become a serial arsonist, stare into the flames over and over again! Flinch every time the guy they punched you to death raises a fist? Goad him into following through, now it's not scary anymore!

####

Where I am right now: Mabel has just won Bill's loyalty forever. Where I need to get to: the next "episode," which is *probably* gonna be Stan taking Bill to the dentist and getting tangled up with the tooth fairy, unless I come up with another plot I think might be more appropriate to come first. I feel like I can't just hop straight into the next episode, because Mabel's JUST befriended Bill, so I need to spend a little time showing them BEING friends so that that convincingly sticks. And I can't "just" show them hanging out coloring pictures or whatever, I've gotta have something, like, *happen.*

####

Today's mission: figure out how to jigsaw in all the plot points I need to establish before the season one finale (when [SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS].)

I've made a list of all the things I'm pretty sure need to happen:

- Bill makes progress on lucid dreaming 

- Stan emotionally invests in Bill

--- ( this will be the Tooth fairy arc)

- Ford decides Bill isn't gonna kill them

--- the eclipse

- Ford likes Bill a tiny bit

- Dipper decides Bill is harmless

--- (I'm planning a gag where bill gets accidentally locked in the bathroom all day, this'll achieve that)

- Dipper decides Bill might be useful

--- (The eclipse)

- Bill makes contact with cultists

--- (cultist visits shack looking for bill)

- Bill finds a way to sneak outside

- conversation with dipper about the third dimension

- Fiddleford finishes the gun

--- (this will probably necessitate another Fiddleford visit)

This isn't everything that COULD happen before the season 1 finale, but it's the BARE MINIMUM everything that needs to get done.

####

There's plenty of other things that could happen before or after this, but i might need a better idea of how I want to shape season 2 before I can decide what to put before and what to put after

Like, the monster truck plot. I'm toying with whether I want it before the s1 finale (which would mean Bill can use Gideon to make contact with his cultists) or after (which would mean [SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS])

Somebody else put this together into a coherent plot arc for me o|-<

I keep pushing back writing the tooth fairy arc because i keep going "no wait, i thought of something else i need to do first—" and part of that is because, i feel like, once the tooth fairy arc happens, that kicks in gear Bill interacting with Gideon (because then he's got a gold tooth), which naturally leads to the monster truck arc, which is a big event, so anything that needs to happen "early" in the fic needs to happen before then—but if i do decide to push the monster truck arc to later on, that's less of a concern. Instead I could spend more time on foreshadowing Bill messing with Gideon.

[vote push it back]

you may have a point. The main thing is if i push it back, it would make the most sense to go in season 2 (when [SPOILERS SPOILERS]), BUT: one of the things I'd *like* to do with the finale is [SPOILERS SPOILERS x100] which needs Gideon. (Alternatively, I could make up some new, lower-key method for Bill to get Gideon under his thumb without meeting him at the monster truck rally—but I'd have to think up some Whole New Plot that's Interesting enough for that.)

####

Okay so i think my rough roadmap is. Tooth fairy plot -> Gideon chapter -> the axolotl eclipse -> the season finale. These four events contain most of my "MUST be done before the finale" events

####

I think the "makes progress on lucid dreaming" can be achieved during the Gideon chapter. I can bookend the chapter with a couple of his efforts, to show how he progresses over the chapter. *Maybe* I can shove one into the tooth fairy chapter, have a dream be interrupted by the dentist waking him

Yeah, there are two dreams I know I want to happen; a replay of Bill's mom dying where he "remembers"/admits that when he realized he hurt his mom, he *kept on pushing*; and a second replay where he seizes control of the dream and rewrites it so that it's like a big fun gory game (and thus re-burying the traumatic reality of what happened). I can put those at the beginning and end of Gideon's chapter.

####

Okay I think my current road map is:

tooth fairy -> bill figures out how to sneak out/dipper finds bill locked in the bathroom -> Gideon (+lucid dreaming) -> (Bill talks to Dipper about how he perceived the universe, leading to) The Eclipse -> Ford brings home a copy of Flatworld, letting the kids learn more about Bill's backstory/Fiddleford tells Ford the gun is ready, leading to -> the season one finale.

We're in the final stretch! No more random diversions, probably!

####

[em-harlsnow]

new fanfic alert!!

summary: Mickey hates working at Old Army, and he hates the uniform, but he doesn't have any other options. Until another option calls him up and offers him a job.

snippet:

“How many times am I gonna have to tell you about that?” 

“Until I stop. Which is never gonna happen.”  Mickey scoffs. 

“How did you find it?”

“You can’t hide something in the��bottom drawer, Gallagher. You went to prison. I thought I taught you better than that.” 

“Whatever. You do the next one, I’m gonna mix some more batter.” Ian orders, and Mickey obediently takes over for pan duty. 

“If you’re hidin’ shit that bad, I think you want me to find it.”

“Why would I want you wearing my shit.? My shit.” Ian asks as Mickey moves the pancake onto the stack and Ian adds more batter to the pan.

“Because you like seeing me in your clothes. It’s caveman shit.”

“I don’t like when you steal from me. How is that caveman shit, anyway?” 

“Because it’s like… possessive or something. I don’t fucking know, man, it just is.” Mickey shrugs as he adds more pancakes to the pile. Ian keeps pouring more batter onto the pan, making different shapes. 

“The only thing I’m possessive of is that hoodie.” 

and here's the link tp read more:

I know, I should be working on my WIPs. I swear, more chapters of everything are in the works. I should have been doing my work but I did this instead.

any support is greatly appreciated!!

<33

[deadpcnned]

Hello Hello! Could we possibly get a little sneak peak into the next chapter/chapters for Sealed By The Storm? I miss it so much ❤️🙈

((note: i don't usually tag asks under jj maybank x reader but this is sort of an update on my fic since i haven't posted in a while))

my loveeee!! i have thought of this ask everyday since i received it 😭. i so badly wanted to get a snippet to you asap but every time i tried to write the next chapter, nothing came out. i just got to almost 4k words for chapter 7, so i'm ready to share a little bit. it's still a wip and this scene will likely change some before i post the final draft, but here it is.

thank you for your patience and i'm so sorry for the late reply. you guys have no idea what your feedback and asks mean to me. i just rlly wanted to have more written because i miss you guys, and i miss my sealed babies, and i don't want to leave anyone hanging <33

IF YOU DON'T LIKE BEING SPOILED, DON'T READ!!!!

a little flashback + reader's thoughts after

“There is one thing I’ll miss about the OBX,” he says, not missing a beat.

You glance at him curiously, “What’s that?” 

“The girls,” He complains. Just as you're about to call him out of his name, his eyes trail down your figure and a teasing smirk passes across his lips. “But the selection’s not too bad here.” 

Your cheeks feel as warm as they had that night as the memory passes over you. That moment was one of many you’d forced yourself not to dwell on. The warming of your cheeks was exactly why you hated thinking about those early days with JJ. The more your cheeks warmed the more you’d have to acknowledge why. 

But suppressing those feelings, had made the other memories hazy. It was hard to remember that at one point JJ hadn’t just been someone you could enjoy your time with. He’d been one of the people who offered you comfort, sometimes when no one else was around. How many nights like these had you forced yourself to forget? If you combined them all, would they have been strong enough to make you hold on a little tighter to your friendship? 

He’d been there for you that night on Poguelandia when you couldn’t sleep because your mind wouldn’t shut off. He’d been there for you at the shack when you’d cut your finger, his hold gentle yet sure. He’d been there at the courthouse when everything felt too overwhelming. At the reception in Heyward’s backyard, when you felt alone, even with everyone’s eyes on you. Even the night you left Sarah’s house. You just hadn’t wanted to see it. You hadn’t wanted to acknowledge that he was caught up in the same storm. And now he was struggling again, the same as you, and all you did was leave the room because you didn’t know how to talk to him? Because you didn’t want to learn again?

[floating-in-the-blue]

Happy Wip Anniversary: Alex Adoption Fic

On 17th of May, 2022 I started writing this story that had previously only lived as an indulgent fantasy in my head. A story about Alex getting thrown out of his home for being who he is, and being accepted into a different family for being who he is, and finding love for being who he is. Aka: Hurt - Comfort - Fluff.

Three years later, I've got about 80k and am still not finished (sob). Though I have published 33 other fics in that time so there's that at least. But what can I say, multi-chapters are not my natural habitat. But I'm still working on it on and off. Hopefully, by next year I will have finished it and started actually posting chapters.

I do have a series on AO3 for it (thanks to a different POV wip prompt), so if you want to subscribe so you don't miss the start of posting, I'd be more than thrilled :D

In the meantime, have one extra extra long snippet under the cut in celebration (containing spoilers, duh). I hope you like it <3

Note: There is no actual adoption in the Alex Adoption Fic but this is the important day in Alex's life when Emily and Mitch Patterson become his legal guardians (aka Chapter 17) Alex had spent a lot of time thinking about the day of the court hearing these last few weeks. He hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about waking up on the day. He’d assumed he wouldn’t get much sleep and once Willie had announced his plan of staying overnight, that assumption hadn’t changed, though for different reasons.

He’d been wrong.

Although falling asleep had proven difficult, once he’d managed that, he’d slept soundly through till the next morning until Emily woke him and he opened his eyes to Willie’s face next to his.

It was a weirdly assembled feeling. One part insisting that nothing had ever felt more right and normal, as if he and Willie had already spent innumerable nights together; the other part freaking out over being this close to Willie, having been this close to Willie for hours, sharing the same warmth, the same air, the same blanket and pillow.

He cleared his throat and blinked and croaked out a “good morning” that Willie returned with a huge smile.

Alex was all too aware of Luke bustling about behind him and so he turned his head and croaked out another, louder “good morning,” that Luke cheerfully returned.

“I’ll use the bathroom first,” Luke announced and slipped out of the room with a teasing grin and a wink.

“Yeah, I … okay,” Alex mumbled in the direction of the now closed door, unsure how to disentangle himself from Willie.

Not that he wouldn’t have loved to stay right here in bed, in his boyfriend’s arms for an eternity or two, but since that wasn’t an option, he felt incredibly awkward.

He wasn’t sure if Willie sensed it but, in any case, he sat up and shifted a little away from Alex, towards the wall, and Alex swiftly sat up as well, facing him.

“You sleep okay?” Willie asked, trying to comb through his hair with his fingers.

Alex’s mouth was dry at the sight of Willie wearing his t-shirt, sitting in his bed. After a second, he shook himself out of his thoughts and shrugged. “Better than I expected, to be honest.” He fumbled with his own bracelet, unable to keep eye contact. “Thank you, Willie.”

“Hey, I’m happy if I could help, pancake. Plus, you know, it wasn’t exactly a hardship or anything like that.”

Willie lightly punched his upper arm and Alex couldn’t help the smile overtaking his face.

“Did you sleep okay? Any more weird dreams?” he asked, finally looking up at his boyfriend again.

Willie hummed a little, nodding his head from side to side as he thought, fingers still absent-mindedly combing through his hair.

“Hm … I did dream about going to this pretty cool shop with … someone? I think it was my Mom but I’m not sure. Anyway, they had all sorts of knickknacks and stuff on a table in the middle of the room and then I found a room in the back where people were playing some board game that looked kinda cool. There was another room behind them with more games but I couldn’t really get to that. Didn’t want to bother the people, you know. But then I discovered that there was this wicked cool buffet lining the first room with all sorts of food though I’m not sure where people were supposed to sit and eat?” 

“… that sounds pretty cool?” Alex ventured after Willie had mused over this question in silence for a while.

Willie shrugged. “Yeah, it was pretty cool. I’m always fascinated by the details my brain comes up with, you know? But anyway, they sold Harry Potter napkins, so: not so cool after all, really.”

“Oh. Okay. Yeah. How disappointing.”

“I know, right?” Willie huffed out an exaggerated sigh and finally gave up on combing through his hair. “Did you dream anything?”

Alex tried to think but there was pretty much just a blank in his mind where he’d been asleep. “No. I’m glad about it though. This day’s gonna be enough of a nightmare anyway, I guess.”

Willie’s face softened. “Well, you won’t have to live through it alone, at least.”

Alex swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and just nodded. He was glad that Willie didn’t try to convince him it wouldn’t be a nightmare. That everything would be fine and peachy.

Luke returned just then and so Alex and Willie finally scrambled out of bed, Willie going to the bathroom while Alex endured a well-meaning pep talk from Luke. He was grateful, more than that really, that Luke continued to be so stoked for Alex living with them and becoming his ‘real brother’. Alex had given up on reminding him that they wouldn’t really be brothers since he wasn’t getting adopted. Mitch and Emily just would be his legal guardians.

Still, he sighed in relief as Willie returned and it was his time for a trip to the bathroom. He didn’t look into the mirror, just went through his routine as fast as he could. 

Only to then suffer through an uncomfortable breakfast where everyone was too nervous to really eat anything and there were constant glances at watches. Willie and Luke put a decent dent into the food but Emily and Mitch mostly just picked at theirs and Alex flat out refused any food. His stomach was already filled with so much anxiety, food wouldn’t mix well with that. 

At Emily’s urging though, he managed to at least nibble on a toast for a bit. She’d put on her stern Mom/nurse face so he had to give in.

After breakfast, they got ready. Which mostly meant Mitch and Emily gathering their papers and purse respectively, as well as the car keys. Alex just shoved his hands into the pouch of his hoodie with Willie and Luke at his sides. His own personal bodyguards and cheer squad. It did feel a little like going to his execution.

Alex stared straight ahead all through the drive to the court house. He was squeezed into the middle of the backseat, Luke on his left, Willie on his right. He had a suspicion that both were leaning into him a little more than strictly necessary.

His lips were dry and flaky but he kept on chewing them, watching the road ahead.

They were early but none of them had wanted to be late and they were all unfamiliar with the courthouse. 

Bobby was already waiting for them, hands pushed deep into the pockets of his jacket, face grim but he mustered up a little smile for Alex, who nodded.

It all seemed so unreal. He felt more like a marionette than a person.

Reggie ran up about five minutes later, face flushed, a huge grin on his face. He clapped Alex enthusiastically on the shoulder, declaring that everything would surely go absolutely great.

Except nothing was great about this.

Surrounded by his friends, Willie, and Luke’s parents, Alex stalked into the courthouse on stiff legs, hands clenched into fists inside the hoodie pouch. He’d left his baseball cap behind and fervently wished he could pull up his hood and disappear.

He moved on autopilot, following wherever the rest were leading him. Herding him, more like. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t have found the right room on his own in any case.

There was a tremor in his every muscle, so faint as from a distant earthquake but he knew it was because he’d started to unravel from inside. Hiding in his brain, his flesh, disconnecting himself from everything.

Breathe. He had to breathe.

The others had become vague shapes, blurred, shadowy. There were voices but none of the words made sense.

He just had to follow them. Just had to breathe.

His legs itched to run, his fight or flight instinct pointing firmly to ‘flight’ but flight was impossible. As was fight.

So he followed. And breathed.

At last they stopped in some corridor. There was a bench and gentle hands were urging him to sit down but he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to get up again if he sat down now so he resisted. 

The gentle pressure disappeared from his shoulder and he was left standing.

Voices washed around him as white noise while Alex breathed.

Time had lost all meaning and he couldn’t have said whether they waited for five minutes or five hours.

They waited. 

And then they went inside.

The moment he walked through the door, his senses seemed to start up again, objects and people becoming sharper until recognition settled in.

The room did not look like the courtrooms from movies and tv shows he’d watched. No wood. No jury stands. Of course. This wasn’t a criminal court and they rarely showed the other sort in the media. It resembled other utilitarian rooms and Alex took comfort from the sparse, efficient, slightly run down appearance. Some different furniture and this could have been a classroom. A cafeteria. A hospital waiting room.

It was mundane.

Strange, how something so important could happen in a room like this.

Someone ushered them to their places. Uncomfortable, utilitarian chairs. Luke and Willie snatched up the seats on either side of him, Reggie and Bobby behind them. Emily and Mitch sat next to Luke. Emily kept fussing with her blouse and hair, Mitch cleaned his glasses and then kept fiddling with the hem of his sensible blue sweater.

They all kept glancing round to see if his parents would make an appearance.

But there was no sight of the people who had born and fed and educated him anywhere. The people who had loved him for the first seventeen years of his life and would no longer love him for the rest of it.

For something as stupidly insignificant as just not being straight. They had made it his fault, his sin, his choice but it wasn’t a choice and it wasn’t a sin and with his thigh pressed to Willie’s, he knew it wasn’t a mistake.

The judge was a woman somewhere in her fifties, although the wrinkled face made her look older. Maybe she smoked a lot. She seemed stern but not unkind. He hadn’t spotted Mr Sao anywhere.

Every muscle in Alex’s body was wound so tight that he expected something to break every moment. As if all the places he’d been broken before would come undone again.

He inhaled sharply and his hand sneaked over to Luke’s thigh, palm up, all on its own. It was only after Luke had grasped his hand, warmth suffusing his skin, that he remembered that he now also had a boyfriend and that he could ask for comfort from him, too.

It still felt a little strange—his heart beating somewhere high near his lungs—to take his left hand out of the hoodie pouch as well and to extend it for Willie to hold it.

Except Willie didn’t lose a second before grasping Alex’s hand with both of his and keeping it securely in his lap.

And with every deliberate breath, he started to unwind a little, to feel warm again.

Soon, there were warm hands on either of his shoulders, squeezing.

“Okay.”

It was half breath, half croak, and so much easier than ‘thank you.’ There would be time for that afterwards. For now, he accepted all of his friends’ strength he could borrow to get through the next hour or so.

*

It didn’t take an hour. It took approximately seventeen minutes.

Judge Pearson hadn’t needed much more than the apparently thorough report from Mr Sao and the glaring absence of Alex’s parents (plus the obvious show of support Alex had with his chosen new family) to come to the quick and calm decision that Emily and Mitch Patterson would act as his legal guardians until he came of age.

There was a businesslike solemnity to the whole proceeding that felt inadequate to what was actually happening but Alex was glad of it.

Just as he was glad that the judge spared him the response of his parents to Mr Sao’s endeavors to talk to them. There was a small, masochistic part that wanted to know but as Judge Pearson said, it would have served no purpose. His parent’s decision was quite clear by their absence alone.

And just like that, he was no longer his parent’s son.

Well, technically, he still was and if they had wanted, they could have fought to get him back. They also had to pay child support since they were financially able to do so. But since there was no law that could stop them from disinheriting him, that was probably the last support he was ever going to get from them. Financially or otherwise.

Legally, he was still Alex Mercer but for all other intents and purposes, he now belonged to the Pattersons with the full consent of the law.

Once they’d left the courtroom, Luke slapped him on the shoulder and both Bobby and Reggie cheered. Willie gave him a brief hug that was much too short but soon, Emily was hugging him, too, and kissing his cheek, while Mitch clapped his shoulder and smiled encouragingly at him.

Alex, however, just felt numb.

The others were celebrating a victory but he felt like he’d played for the losing team for seventeen years.

“Sorry, I—”

He turned abruptly on the spot and followed the signs towards the nearest bathroom with quick strides. Immediately, his heart was drowned in a mixture of relief at getting away from the others for a bit and guilt for being relieved in the first place. Not to mention the vast undercurrent of mixed feelings about what had just happened and what it all meant.

He almost wished the bathroom was further away because the walking had helped at least a little but he arrived soon after he had started. Thankfully, the bathroom was quite empty. Just clean white tiles and the scent of citrus cleaner filling the room.

Except, maybe two minutes later, the door opened again and Willie entered.

Alex had been staring at his face in the mirror, still dripping from the cold water he’d splashed into it but now he turned, apprehensive in a way he couldn’t explain.

“Hey,” Willie said quietly and then continued to chew on his lower lip.

Alex had rarely seen him so serious.

“Hey.” He rubbed the sleeve of his hoodie over his face to dry off the water.

“Are you okay?”

Alex swallowed and shrugged. “Yeah …” It didn’t sound all too convincing even to himself.

Some emotion flickered over Willie’s face, pity perhaps, but then he’d suddenly crossed the room and was right in front of Alex and Alex’s breath hitched but Willie just slung his arms around his neck and pulled him close and with a shuddering inhale of breath, Alex let himself be held.

Gradually, he relaxed into Willie’s embrace and finally returned it, clinging to Willie as he buried his face in his boyfriend’s neck.

“It’s okay to not be okay,” Willie whispered after a while.

“But everyone’s so happy,” Alex protested, mumbling the words into Willie’s collar.

“Pancake,” Willie said after a moment, “they’re the ones who won something.”

Alex didn’t reply immediately. He let the words sink in and finally accepted that there was no obligation to feel the same as the others because while he had won something precious, he’d also lost something so monumentally part of who he’d been that it would need more time than a handful of months to fill the gaping holes left in his soul. All the places that had once held his parents’ love, his trust in them, the idea of family and what that entailed, had to be refilled with other things. He knew he was on a good path for that but while his body had healed slowly and painfully, his soul would heal even slower. And there would be much more pain.

He knew he’d carry those scars for the rest of his life.

*

He wasn’t sure how long they stood in the bathroom, Willie holding him, Alex holding onto him. Eventually, the door opened and an older man in a suit walked in, clearing his throat in clear embarrassment. 

With an awkward chuckle, Alex let go of Willie. He would have liked to stay longer but public bathrooms probably weren’t the best place to hang out and he did feel considerably lighter than just ten minutes ago.

Letting the guy pee in peace, he and Willie left the bathroom but soon, Willie caught his hand and entwined their fingers.

“Thank you,” Alex croaked out, swinging their hands lightly.

“Of course.”

“I hope the others aren’t too mad.”

Willie bumped into him, a reassuring grin on his face. “Nah.”

And Willie was right. When they finally found their way back to the others, only taking one wrong turn along the way, there was relief on everyone’s faces and smiles but no anger or impatience.

“You okay, dude?” Reggie asked.

And this time, it wasn’t a lie when Alex nodded. “Yeah.”

“I think we could all use a good lunch now,” Mitch said and smiled. “Anyone in favour?”

It was a little early for lunch but they were all in favour.

Later, when they’d all piled into a burger joint and were discussing lunch choices, Emily took him aside.

“It’s okay not to be happy about all of this and I hope you know you don’t have to pretend otherwise just for my and Mitch’s sake.”

Alex’s eyes prickled but he swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” He shook the hair out of his face and took a deep breath before he added: “Thank you. For–for everything. I really am grateful.”

Emily patted his shoulder and smiled. “Of course you are. Doesn’t mean you can’t still wish things had never gotten here. It’s only natural, hunny.”

He nodded again. “Yeah. But there’s a lot of good here.” He glanced over to his friends and Willie discussing the merits of curly fries vs. normal fries.

“Glad to hear it. Now, I think we should get some food into this rowdy bunch.”

“Probably a good idea.” He hesitated and then blurted out: “Can I get a strawberry milkshake?”

Emily laughed in surprise and then smiled brightly. “Yes. Yes of course you can, sweetie.”

And so Alex celebrated. Not that he had lost his parents. But that he had found a new family. One that didn’t frown at strawberry milkshakes, thinking any milkshake, especially a pink one, too childish for someone his age.

[irrevocablecondition]

someday snip!

like sunday but if i were posting it on some other day instead (ty @courfee for the tag <33)

a lil snippet from the next chapter of ostog:

"Oh."

Again, Remus should say something. Literally anything. Any response would suffice right about now. But the letter in his pocket feels like it’s burning a hole through the fabric.

He can feel the weight of it dragging that side of his body down, and if he leans into it enough, he’s sure it would slice right through.

Right through the layers of fabric, right through his leg hairs like a razor blade, right through his skin, right through to his veins until he’s fighting off ink poisoning. Until the words on the page take over every function of his body.

If not for me, then for him.

Maybe they already have.

(np tags i'm sorry i am sure you have already all done this oopsie: @shoopsthereitis @calamitoustide @inevitablestars @starsworth @arviyya )

[myloveforhergoeson]

celebrate good times (come on!!!!!!)

hi loves... needing a reason to celebrate today? so am i!!!!!!!!!

you know that thing you've been putting off forever that you really want to do but haven't? today's the day to make it happen!

saving a nice candle to burn, soap to use, sweet treat to enjoy after dinner? now's the time :)

make some time to listen to your favorite song, album, or podcast! even just a snippet! or maybe the entire thing!!!!!!

allow yourself some time to rest! five minutes here, five minutes there, the rest of the afternoon, your entire evening - whatever you can afford! you deserve it!!!!!!

congraduate yourself on the little things this week, even small victories are victories worth celebrating!!!!!!!!

if you're celebrating for the same reason i am... the SECOND year anniversary of my fic That's All She Wrote... like last year, i have a list of some things we can do together! (those with good eyes might notice this list looks familiar....) (i'm not that creative)

go back and read your favorite parts or chapters! then come back and tell me about them and i might have some juicy bts info for you... as you know my mind runs WILD! many things almost happened, so lets chat about it

make sure to comment/like/kudos if you haven't already on your preferred reading platform, (tumblr, wattpad, or ao3!)

share with your friends if you're comfortable! if they like oc fics, big time rush, and long fics! tasw is fandom-blind friendly, has an achingly long slowburn, and has a strong female lead character if those are selling points!

make a post if you're comfortable, thoughts and rambles about the story, your own interpretations of scenes, drabbles, whatever! and tag me!

questions? i got answers. you KNOW i do love to yap, so lets do it!!!!!!

but wait! that's not all! i have questions for you!

share with me your future predictions or theories for the next few chapters to the end of the story!

favorite characters? tell me why! lets talk about them!

any burning questions not answered by the narrative or parts that seem vague and you'd like more clarification on? let me know! i'm a yapping machine!

anything i left out you're missing? let me tell you how i'd include it, why i didn't, or how it might pop up in the future!

what got you reading, what kept you around? regardless of the answer i'm so appreciative for your support <3

so many things have happened in my life since the publishing of that's all she wrote... i know that i've really slowed down recently, but knowing that so many of you have stuck around and still let me ramble about my sweet little characters on this blog means the world to me. since last anniversary, i've graduated college, i'm working full time now in a job that will get me one step closer to my dream job, i've travelled to so many places i'd never even dreamed of seeing and augh... it makes me so grateful to have all yall still in my phone supporting the content that i make :3 i cannot thank you enough, for reading tasw - the whole thing, half, one word... like.... god thank you for making it such a fun project <33 here's to another great year!!!!

[cringefailvox]

BAY!!! *crashing into askbox like Pentious getting blown across Pentagram City*

Don't mean to upset you. But I'm CHOMPING AT THE BIT for the next chapter of the world we knew (over and over). It has somehow gripped my soul! Been thinking way too much about this.

Trying to do some writing of my own (or drawing, for that matter) but my mind keeps ending up at "rooftop fight against Adam" over and over and over.

I hope you're proud of yourself! LOL

Sry for the heckling. I just needed to VENT 😂 Because It's literally so good!

Thanks! BAIIIII!

AH THANK YOU SO MUCH <33 that means so much to me oh my god, i'm SO pleased you're enjoying it. rest assured this fic has also been living rent free in MY head and i'm sooo mad that my upcoming week is going to be so incredibly hectic, because only a miracle is going to let me finish chap 2 this week. HOWEVER i already have everything outlined and know exactly where i want it to go, so when i get some free time it is getting Written. trust.

and just for you, a snippet from chapter two:

alastor's coping well with the time loop as you can see 👍

[spinchip]

IM OBSESSED WITH NEVER THE DARK. I LITERALLY BINGE READ IT ALL ITS SO GOODDD. CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, BUT IN THE MEANWHILE COULD U GIVE US SOME LITTLE TIDBITS?? <33

OOOOO this is a hard ask to answer... the next chapter is dense.

I can say this pretty confidently: There is a character I've spoken of whos backstory has completely changed. Like, within the last few chapters ive scrapped their lore and rewritten them entirely. so there are posts in my never the dark tag that are completely wrong now... i think this change makes things morte cohesive and ties different plot points together nicely!

here's a snippet as well!

[autumnapricot]

Do you maybe have a little (🤏) snippet for us 🙏🥺 and happy holidays!! <3333

thank you & happy (belated) holidays to you too, dear anon! <33

you little snippet sneaking folks….always making me sweat….*nags on nails* i haven‘t worked on this chapter as much because of spending the holidays with my family. and. uhm. maybe i also started writing a completely different chapter before hating it and starting to write this one soooo. heh. (as a little treat i will just reveal what the next chapter will be about hihi)

„That‘s nice,“ Max sighs, letting himself rest back against the headboard with the warm bottle on his stomach and happily digging into the bowl Charles handed him, too. He smiles around a spoonful. „Thank you.“

All too softly, Charles regards Max, a small smile tugging at his lips.

„You‘re very welcome.“ he lets himself sink back against the headboard next to Max, pulling him into himself while Max seems intent on getting the perfect portion of yoghurt, strawberry and granola onto his spoon. „Why didn‘t you say anything about the cramps earlier in the day? I would‘ve picked you up.“

Max hums, licking some of the yoghurt from the spoon, missing the fact that there‘s a small bit on the corner of his lip. „Well, I didn‘t think anything of it and to be honest, I thought it came from the fact that you tried yourself on that dinner recipe yesterday…“

„Okay, woah, hey,“ Charles protests and Max laughs, quickly shielding himself from Charles‘ hand going to tickle him.

„Just kidding, just kidding!“

„You better be,“ Charles glares but his grin betrays him. Max giggles before he gives Charles a shrug in return, then, in a more serious response to his earlier words.

„They weren‘t that bad, really, and…okay, maybe I ignored it a little bit. It was dumb. Next time I‘ll know better. I‘m,“ he licks his lips, still missing the stain at the corner of his mouth, eyes a bit wide as he looks back up at Charles, cheeks rosy, „I‘m still not…used to these things. I guess? It‘ll be just my second heat since…“

„I know.“ Charles soothes, squeezing Max‘s shoulder sympathetically. „It‘s okay. I‘m not mad—I promise you. I just care that you‘re alright and safe.“

Nothing else matters more to him than that; Max is with him now, protected in their home, with Charles. Anything else is not as important, anything else can wait.

[hongism]

hi caly, hope you're well! i know it kinda sucks to ask you this and believe me I'm not trying to pressure you or anything, its more of a question out of despair and eagerness to have some news on moc... but do you know when the next update will be? and if you do, could you bless us with a little snippet? 🥺😔

anyways, drink lots of water and stay healthy, luv u!

hi love don't worry hehe you asked v nicely and sweetly i don't mind at all 🫶 im really really hoping and aiming to have the next chapter up by the end of the month! it's a personal goal of mine this year to try to put at least one chapter out every month if i can but if i could do more than that i would be so super thrilled and happy,,,, we'll see tho!!! ofc i can give a itsy bitsy snippet too <33

When you come to, you almost don’t realize that you have woken up at all because you open your eyes to complete darkness. The first thing you notice is the weight at your back, something digging into your shoulder blades and making you wildly uncomfortable, but that sensation is pushed to the back of your mind as your brain starts catching up with the reality you’re in. Your right arm does not feel wholly attached to your body in any way, and even when you attempt to use it to help move around in the cramped space you’re in, it refuses to budge at all. Above you, there is a firm plank of wood that slots into your faux coffin so perfectly you imagine it’s aiming to act as your grave. In your left ear, you hear a quiet yet unsettling whispering coming from outside the box. “I know you’re there,” comes the distorted yet familiar tone, “I’ll pull every splinter of wood off this box to reach you. You can’t hide forever.” You swing your left arm up as hard as you can manage given the limited space you have to deal with, ramming your elbow into the block of wood over your body. The huffs of your breathing make the enclosure feel that much smaller, and in turn, it causes your moves to lean more frantic than an organized attempt to escape. “Keep struggling just like that. I like a fight~” The voice belongs to San — there’s no doubt about that — and yet it sounds nothing like your San.

[silluuuu]

snippet sunday~

hello friends, we've all been tagging each other on discord but for anyone who's looking forward to next chapter of one for the road, here are some more crumbs xD:

---

She glances up at him, pretty sure that she already knows the answer, but: “Wanna get out of tomorrow’s hike?”

His raised eyebrow shows that he is indeed tempted by such daydreams. “Do I finally get to sleep in?”

“Yep, if you want. I still have a hike that I wanna do, but I can come back and get you.”

He shrugs. “Don’t mind hiking with you, though,” he says, focusing back on the bread and taking a massive bite.

She smiles a little, glancing back at the guidebook and once again folding down the page. “I think you’d like this better.”

“What is it?” he asks, around meats and veggies.

“…How about this,” she says. “We’ll take the morning off, spend some time in downtown Gunnison, and then we can hike in the afternoon.” She pulls the map out and twists it around to face him, careful to keep the guidebook hidden. “The hike is in the Gunnison National Forest, which is on the way out of town anyway. We’ll do that, drive a little more, and then sleep. Okay?”

“That was a long time not explaining our special morning activity,” he says dryly.

---

tagging anyone who'd like to join <33 happy sunday friends. this chapter should be out in the next couple of weeks. please stay tuned!!