#soonish anyhow

[damnprecious]

Is it any wonder I can't sleep at night when I go an open the news at 2am bc I'm fully incapable of not knowing stuff

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

I know you're primarily doing Bumbleby, but ever since the Big Cat RWBY post where Cheeta!Ruby and Snow Leopard!Weiss where introduced, I kept wondering about what Animal!JNPR would look like.

Rather than giving them feline dopplegangers as well, my mind instead kept returning to canines, domestic dogs specifically.

Dog!Jaune would a Golden Retriever, because obviously. He'd be owned by Pyrrha before she came to the zoo/animal reserve Jaune works at. Picked up as something of a runt from the litter, and the only male pup amongst all the sisters because why not.

Dog!Pyrrha would be something that looks imposing but would only be dangerous if provoked or goaded, maybe something like a Rottweiler. Or better yet, a Dobermann! Dobermanns are fiercely loyal to their owners and are known to bond with one person only. Owned and cared for by Jaune after he found her in an dank alley with, of all things one could expect, an arrow in one of her back legs.

Arkos happens by chance when both Jaune and Pyrrha are taking their dogs out for a walk in the local park. There's a whole meet-cute scenario that brings the two together and bish-bash-bosh, both Jaune and Pyrrha end up with a significant other they each believe to be out of their league.

Dog!Nora can't really be anything else but a Samoyed. Sure, it'd be funny to have her be like a massive wolfhound or something, but I think the Samoyed is basically perfect. Nora's boisterous, active energetic and playful and so is the Samoyed. If you can keep a handle on her, she's incredible to have around.

Dog!Ren on the other hand was harder to pick. After some searching however, I managed to come across the Chuandong Hound. They're described, among other things, as noble, loyal, and dignified. All of that describes human!Ren quite well I'd say. They're also protective of the people they care about and are known to stand guard if strangers come up to their owners, only to lower their alertness if their owners are fine with them.

Dog!Ren and Dog!Nora would both be owned by an established Renora couple. When they adopted them as pups, Nora named them like that on a whim because she thought it was hilarious. She still thinks it's funny now, now that the dogs are all grown up.

All four dogs, despite their vastly different personalities seem to mesh incredibly well when they all meet each other for the first time. The same goes for their owners but that's to be expected really.

Anyhow, whether you decide to do something with this or not, I just needed to get this out.

Big Cat AU is 100% funny, fluffy and lovely by the way, definitely hope to see it come back from time to time.

Whew! This was a long one for me to go through, so I apologize for the delay here.

I like the idea of Pyrrha being a doberman! But maybe keep the ears floppy instead of cropped for her. Adds to her wanting to be "normal".

Jaune is definitely a Golden boy, but I don't see him being one of the AKC purebread floof boys. No, I want him to be the shaggy, dark blonde slender boys. They have more charm.

Nora.... I have to disagree with the Sammy. I can honestly see her being a Terrier. Specifically a Jack Russel Terrier. Those little crackheads are so loving, but absolutely crazy when they get into hunting mode. Considering her backstory, I can see her being a terrier mix.

Ren's definitely works! Never heard of a Chuandong Hound before, but I can definitely see it. Otherwise maybe a black and brown Chow Chow.

I'll have to do the Dog Days AU in a different post, but I'll try to do one soonish! I just need to get an idea. If you think of a prompt before I do, shoot me an ask!

(Funny thing is: I'm not that big of a cat fan. I'm a dog person, so the fact that I'm writing a Big Cat AU is hilarious for me! I'm glad you're enjoying it though! I enjoy writing up blurbs for it.)

[psycloneandmyuu]

So Psyclone thinks he's the only mewtwo...

He is about to get a surprise. ... maybe not right now but soonish.

anyhow who wants some OCS!

[opapartblog]

Warning ! Art not completely orignal but a very , very edited picrew avatar I did using https://picrew.me/image_maker/674767 after I got twenty messages by my lovely readers to go and try it and the most requested was SYby the age he is in chapter 30 of my fic . Soooo , here is SY and LBH on the left and OG!SY and LBG , I sweeeear I will add both LBH aaaand LBG soonish as a full artwork. It feels empty without them in it with both SYs. Anyhows! Hope y’all likie!!!

FYI . Shen Yuan transmigrates into a cannon fodder or the first villain LBH meets in PIDW for context, in this fanfic . Which is the guy on the right who is the original.

[nativemossy]

returning from hiatus to inform my followers that i shaved off all my hair, dyed what was left red, and somehow became the twink of the family all in about a month and a half

[telesthisia]

how attractive are you?

“Hm... I do not believe I deserve such a high number. Is beauty not in the eye of the beholder? What may seem attractive to one does not seem that way to another. I would much rather be judged on my merits rather than how I look...” 

[xhelenaxleblancx]

[lightbringer-ultimate]

Would any of you like to see a short Blue Lions drabble? Well you’re getting one since I NEED to write one based on what happened with the final map...with some minor changes.

[profoundalpacakitten]

Duke has lost the game (if you grew up in the 2000s you've just lost the Game too). Tim roleplays Dr No. Bruce isn't stressed. A romantic getaway. The Lian Harper show is on the road.

Pairings this chapter: SuperBat, JayRoy

Pairings overall: Superbat, JayRoy, BirdFlash, TimKon, DamiJon, KaraSteph, CloneSpiracy, DukeLuke (soonish)

“I’m not asking much, Jason, just that you join us and that everyone survives the event.”

Jason snorted. “You mean the bar is literally on the floor but about seventy percent of the participants are likely to not pass?” He cinched the zip ties around the groaning goon lying on the ground. “Damn, I might come just to watch that shitshow.”

Years after the fact, Bruce will blame Clark for this. Right now, he's a tad bit too preoccupied by an event that would put any Major Crisis Event to shame: this year, the so-called bat-family (thanks Dick) and superfam (thanks Jon) will spend the end of year holidays together.

All Bruce has to do is to survive this Christmas.

I can't believe I'm still holding on strong and writing this fic, but this is bringing me such joy, even when I have like zero energy.

Anyhow.

[captaincravatthecapricious]

Collapse- Prompt Fill

Jon is a Dune fan. How can picking up one book change things? Idea from a tumblr prompt and a post by @roseunspindle (permission was granted for writing this)

cw all the typical episode 160 stuff and references to nausea and of course manipulation and fainting. Some dialogue from 160, and a quote from Dune, of course!

I am still accepting bingo prompts (card by @celosiaa​) Pick a prompt from the card and a character and let me know if you want art of fic! (I am much faster at art). I have several outlined that I need to write, and I will get to those... Soonish?  Have an excellent day and I hope 2021 treats you well!

Jon isn’t sure why he grabbed the book.  He’s read it before so it doesn’t hold the same interest it once did.   He had to work on that reading habit of his in school, and now he’s managed a few rereads, but he still prefers the unknown and interesting.

But he did love this book when he read it.  He was too young for it, of course.  But that hadn’t mattered.  He sucked the whole world into his young and greedy mind.  

And now that glossy, second hand cover.... makes him pause over it.  He doesn’t know how it survived evictions and his absences.  He must have subconsciously stored it out of the way.  But he grabs it, with a few statements, and his small collection of clothes into a very battered backpack that he’s sure once belonged to Melanie.  

He wishes he had more books.  Maybe once he and Martin reach the train station, he can pick up something else to read.  Or maybe he can borrow some books from Martin….

He stuffs Dune into his backpack.  It’s on the top, distending the fabric slightly, straining the zipper as his grandmother had always reprimanded him for when he shoved too many pleasure books into his school bag, (always to read under the desk and he was always inevitably caught and reprimanded again, but what could you do with an inattentive student who still pulled good marks?).  

He boards the train with Martin.  Battered and aging backpacks filled with worn clothes and statements and books and granola bars.  The station had been loud and busy enough to send Jon reeling with the information spilling off a crowd of people as well as the less eldritch sensory overload.  His head aching dully as they settle into their seats.  

Medicine for motion sickness sends him drowsy as soon as it is effective.  He spends the time before it works staring queasily out the window, clammy hands holding tightly to Martin as much to sooth his uneasy stomach as to hold Martin in this plain of reality.  He nods off, hands still clasped with Martin’s.  Wrapped up in the elation of having Martin with him, around him, talking to him…. almost safe.  

He wakes up in a storm of hurried breaths and crashing thoughts…. precarious as the crashing waves that haunted the lonely, but far closer and more oppressive.  Statements tumbling with his own crashing thoughts.  Fear on his breath.  His fear making him Hungry in the nauseous way of autocannibleism.  

He presses his face into Martin, only just then realizing that he’s been using Martin as a pillow.   Martin, who is dozing.  Martin, who is still a little foggy.  The last of the haze burning off with the contact.  Jon can see the steam rising between them, mainly and gentle.  The sun burning the fog off a meadow in the early morning.  

Jon sits himself up, but stays pressed against Martin.  The imprint of Jon slowly thawing Martin as the train gently sways them both.  

Jon doesn’t want to sleep more.  He would much prefer to read, but it is still more than a bit of a gamble for him to even medicated.  But…. he’s bored.  

Dune.  

Right on the top of his bag.  Leaning over starting to make him queasy (which doesn’t bode well for reading attempts), he pulls it out and straightens up.  

He turns it over in his hands a few times, until his stomach settles.  He’s fine.  Just a few more minutes before the medicine works… probably anyhow.  

He flips through the pages, still waiting for his breathing to calm as well.  

Oh.  

He remembers this words… in a half remembered haze of childhood and tracing those words on his limbs and his walls.  With his eyes, and markers, and pencils.  On the inside of his eyelids.  Carved into the air about his bed as he repeated them to himself.  

‘I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.’

Reading those words again makes his hands shake like they had when he first read them… with Mr. Spider fresh in his nightmares.  Still missing the life he could never have with his parents.  

Jon fumbles for a pen.  

He traces them again on his forearm.  

Poorly written, of course.  Hands far from steady with the rocking of the train and the rocking of his stomach and the rolling of his world after the day he’s had.  But he is once more too tired to focus on anything much, so he tucks his book away again, and shoves the pen in his pocket.  

He tucks himself up against Martin again, using an old jumper as a blanket.  He knows he is taking a bit of a liberty, but he buries his face in Martin’s neck and breathes deeply.  He’s asleep again in moments.  

The trip isn’t eventful.  Lots of track clicking past.  Lots of drowsy hours.  A disappointing sandwich and a tasteless cup of tea.  Jostled shoulders.  Cramped restrooms.  Cramped necks.  Jon’s bad leg protesting the seating arrangements.  Then the slightly uncomfortable walk to the safe house.  Weighed down with hasty shopping and their lumpy bags.  Jon limping more heavily by the time they drag themselves over the threshold.  

In the domestic bliss, time stretches.  Lazy afternoons on the couch Jon and Martin entwined stretch into years in the golden light of afternoon.  Two weeks of cups of tea.  Of trips to the store.  Of statements that Jon goes through way too fast, try as he does to ration them.  Frantic phone calls to Basira as Jon can’t make the trip to town anymore.  More cuddling on the couch.  Bickering over who does the dishes, over who makes the best eggs.  Over what to have for dinner.  Discussions of what counts as a sandwich and whether cereal is a soup.  Jon being appalled that Martin eats cereal from the box directly with a spoon.  Martin being horrified that Jon eats dry cereal from a bowl with a glass of milk.  Playing footsie through dinner.  “Yes Martin, another soup.  Means less cooking.”  Sloppy kisses over glasses of wine.  Jon being too dizzy to go on walks.  Jon retracing Frank Herbert’s words on to his arm.  Over.  And over.  And over again.  

“I must not fear…”

“I must not fear…”

“I must not fear…”

“I must not fear…”

Until a package arrives.  

It’s unassuming and labeled in Basira’s careful penmanship.  If Jon expects to see tear-staines over a lost partner, he doesn’t see them.  

Martin kisses him soundly, and leaves to take pictures of good cows.  

Jon has been tucked up on the couch.  Under a thick blanket.  Finally in better spirits now that he has statements again, ready …so ready for his limbs to feel like his again.  

He tastes copper as he started to read.  The words don’t sit right in his mouth.  Before he can even properly start… before his mind is lost to him, he can feel the wrongness building.  And when the betrayal occurs, he can’t find it in him to be surprised or hurt.  All he can feel is a hollow fear…. a hungry fear.  Gaping and endless.  Tearing into his skin as he tears at his clothes, his skin, the statement that does not belong to Hazel Rutter and has nothing to do with a fire.  Aside from the fire in his throat and in his hand, and leaping from mark to mark as Jon learns what they actually are.  A map of manipulation.  A tool to make the actual tool.  The wood and hammer and nails that make him the door.  The door that he… that he.  “ Come to us in your perfection.                         

                                                                                               Bring all that is fear and all that                    

                    is terror and all that is the awful                    

                    dread that crawls and chokes and                       

                    blinds and falls and twists and                        

                    leaves and hides and weaves and                        

                    burns and hunts and rips and bleeds                    

                    and dies!                                              

                                                                                               Come to us.                                            

                                                                                               I-“

“I…”  Jon chokes.  His eyes sliding helplessly over the room.  Over many tokens of a happy life that he is never going to have.  Because of this…. this… he can’t even call it a betrayal.  His entire life has lead to this.  Every unhappy moment.  Every instinct he has ever had.  Every poor choice.  Every step another step towards the inevitable.  His eye catches on a familiar cover.  Somehow still glossy.  Despite Jon having carried it around like a safety blanket for the last few weeks.  And he catches those smudged and traced over words on his arm and he tears at himself, trying to stop.  

“I…”

He chokes again.  Around those last few words.  The words that will wrench the thunder from the sky and rend it asunder.  

“I…”

He breathes.  Possibly for the first time since his hands ghosted over the unassuming manilla folder.  

“‘I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.’”

His vision cuts out.  He must have stood at some point, because he is falling.  Stings cut.  Nothing to manipulate.  The puppet is broken.  

He wakes with a head full of cotton, but a heart devoid of fear.  There is a clarity in his limbs.  But exhaustion sits heavily on his chest.  He feels… clear.  And real.  And… like utter shit.  

But the arms around him are solid and warm and smell like tea and toast and all the good things Jon can think of in the world.  And even if Jon could bring himself to move… he wouldn’t have dreamt of doing so.  

There is burnt ink in the air.  

“Wha’?”  Marble-mouthed.  Heavy with the exhaustion of years of poor sleep, of running and fearing and the adrenaline crash of something horrifying being…over.  

“It’s alright, Jon.  Everything’s fine.  I…. I don’t know how you did it, but you stopped reading… and I burned it.  It’s gone.  We’re okay.”  

And Jon isn’t sure he understands…. but he doesn’t care.  Because he is not afraid, and Martin told him that everything is okay.  And he thinks… just Maybe.  Just… maybe… that it might be.  

He lets himself be tucked in.  He lets himself sleep.  

Jon takes up calligraphy.  He hates it.  Utterly despises it… but he becomes decent enough to write one thing for their mantel.  In the safe house.  Miles away from fear and Jonah Magnus… if the bastard is even still alive…  

Framed in gold, traced out in neat and flowing calligraphy:

‘I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.’ - Frank Herbert, Dune.  

[caeloservare]

// since I can't get this of my mind:

Hello to all new people here! :D Nice to meet you! I'd love to plot you with you, but head empty plus I'm anxious af lately. Feel free to DM for plotting, just invade inbox with any randomest idea or go through my "askgame" meme tag and send whatever~

I might end up dropping a few of old threads. Mostly the short ones or ones I can't gather to reply to. I'm sorry, but it feels awfully off after a longer break. Of course it's not that I don't want to write with you, just lack of muse. I'll try to reply what I can of course, but if I feel muse gone, I'm afraid that's it.

I pretty much regret not being here around celebrations time and missing on all the related threads and Jimmy's birthday (what a waste... He usually hates presents lmao) :< Shame on me. Anyhow, hope your holidays were good <3

I'll try to reblog some memes or come up with some ideas soonish. I don't want to spam too much, but I think that small short things might work well~

[muffinrecord]

LeakAnon here, and the girls are: Ryo, Shizuku, Yuma, Umika (it was leaked before her uncap), Chisato, and Haruka. So it seems like a Suzune event is gonna be happening soonish.

Anon I got a bunch of messages asking if you had sent anything, so I want you to know that you are very popular. 

And OOOO. Augh, dangit, I should be saving for Matsuri then. I’m going to cry if I don’t get her. Hopefully we don’t get them until next month ish though-- since we’re already having limiteds right now?

But Chisato *and* Haruka... I wonder if that means we’ll be getting Suzune part 3? Oh lord, does that mean we’ll be getting Kagari? Ohh, that also means we’ll get Arisa as a welfare. Thank fuck.

Yuma. Man please, give me an oriko event. PLEASE. PLEAAASE.

Ryo, fuck yeah love her. I thought for sure she was getting an uncap when summer sakura came out, but no. She’s all prepared anyhow though.

It’s about time for Shizuku.

[opapartblog]

Warning ! Art not completely orignal but a very , very edited picrew avatar I did using https://picrew.me/image_maker/674767 after I got twenty messages by my lovely readers to go and try it and the most requested was SYby the age he is in chapter 30 of my fic . Soooo , here is SY and OG!SY , I sweeeear I will add both LBH aaaand LBG soonish as a full artwork. It feels empty without them in it with both SYs. Anyhows! Hope y’all likie!!!

FYI . Shen Yuan transmigrates into a cannon fodder or the first villain LBH meets in PIDW for context, in this fanfic . Which is the guy on the right who is the original.

[vera-dauriac]

Top 5 books you've read this year! (bonus: top 5 books you're planning to read this year)

Ugh. I am in such a reading funk this year. I’ve just looked, and according to TheStoryGraph, I’ve only finished 13 books this year, which is so few for me. Anyhow, let’s do this. With only 13, it should be easy to pick 5, right? In no particular order.

1. Priest of Bones/Priest of Lies—This is a reread of the first two books in Peter McLean’s War for the Rose Throne series in preparation of book 3 later this year. I ripped though both books in 4 days. I recommend this series to the Joe Abercrombie peeps who follow me. (And I recommend Joe Abercrombie to everyone who likes dark humored low fantasy.)

2. Dead Man in a Ditch—Book 2 in Luke Arnold’s fantasy series, I also recommend this to the same McLean/Abercrombie folks. Much more fantastical than either of those writers, it does have a similar sense of dark humor.

3. Moneyball—Michael Lewis’s nonfiction book about how to build a successful Major League Baseball team with little money but a better understanding of the statistics that matter is such a remarkably good book. It’s also a reread as research for a book I’m writing with my hubby.

4. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola and the Battle for the Soul of Man—When in doubt, I listen to audiobooks about Renaissance Italy, and Paul Strathern never disappoints.

5. Frenchman's Creek—A friend has been harassing me to read this for about a decade, and I don’t know why I didn’t read it sooner, since Daphne du Maurier is a great writer and I love Rebecca. This is such a fantastic romance.

Now for the books I plan to read.

1. Priest of Gallows—The US publisher keeps fucking with the release date and I don’t know if I’m getting Peter McLean’s next book in May or some time in the fall. Either way, I will gobble it up.

2. The Wisdom of Crowds—I’m so repeating myself, sorry, but Joe Abercrombie is my favorite fantasy author, and the final Age of Madness book is coming in September, and when I hold it in my hands, all else will stop until I finish it.

3. Kink: Stories—Edited by Garth Greenwell and R.O. Kwon, I have this story collection on hold at the library, and I’m supposed to be getting it in soonish. Very much looking forward to it.

4. Role Model—I love Rachel Reid’s hockey M/M romance series with all my heart. A new book is always exciting. Can’t remember the exact release date, but this year sometime.

5. The Family Medici: The Hidden History of the Medici Dynasty—I feel my Renaissance Italy obsession starting again after the Strathern, and this book by Mary Hollingsworth has been on my tbr pile for ages. Would not be surprised if I finally got to it this year.

Thanks a ton for asking!

Everyone else should feel free to put a Top 5 anything in my asks. 😊

[vagrantblvrd]

Myan just being dads. Please, I have a craving and there's only like 3 fics about it.

I’m super behind on prompts and the whatnot – Because Reasons – but I’m still working on them. Just like. At a glacial pace. Because me.

I really, really love this?

One night when Michael’s getting off work he gets gets (roughly) a million texts from Gavin who’s his roommate in this AU, right?

Making dinner because he knows Michael will be getting home soonish or resurfacing from whatever work project he’s involved with at the time because hunger?

And Michael, Michael, they’re out of this, and that, and on and on like he’s just going from cabinet to cabinet and fridge compartment to fridge compartment and so on.

Michael doesn’t get a chance to check the messages right away – first he’s driving or dealing with paperwork or whatever before he actually gets to get out of the building and in his car.

Once he does though he’s just like SIGH because Gavin, but also oh, wow, yeah. It’s been a while since neither one of them have done a proper grocery run, hasn’t it?

Work or something else getting in the way of something so exciting, and sometimes it’s just easier to grab fast food on the way home or call a place that will deliver and so on.

But he’s not in the mood for fast food or take out at the moment, and there’s a grocery store on the way home. (Also some of the stuff Gavin texted him about are staples or something they use all the time and would super shitty to wake up the next day and remember they ran out and just. Yeah.)

He calls Gavin and asks him to come up with a list of things they absolutely need Right Now he can get on the way home. The rest will have to wait until they get their shit together and do a grocery run sometime in the next few days.

Gavin tries to tell him they need ALL the things, but he’s being a little shit and they both know it so Michael doesn’t feel guilty about hanging up on him. (Or ignoring the texts Gavin sends him as he drives to the store.)

And then!

He’s at the store – kind of late at night because work and shifts and what is time?

Just a few people there – some college kids, a tired looking guy with a baby in a cart and looking more than a little frazzled, a couple bickering over coupons? And so on.

He doesn’t think much about any of it as he goes through the aisles picking up the things on the revised list Gavin texted him.

And, yeah. There’s some bullshit stuff on there Michael mentally crosses off because Gavin and annoying fuck and Michael can’t be bothered to be annoyed.

When he gets up to the register the guy with the baby’s in front of him, and wow, okay, wow.

The poor bastard looks like he hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in pretty much forever.

Tired and scruffy and moving real slow like all his energy is going into not falling over onto his face.

The baby, though?

Adorable as fuck, even if it’s just staring at Michael.

Unblinking.

Little stuffed animal that Michael thinks it might have started life off as a cow, but it’s clearly much loved – or gnawed – and talk about covered in baby drool because yeah.

So Michael’s standing in line behind this poor bastard whose baby who clearly wants to fight Michael with the way it’s staring at him.

The guy doesn’t seem to notice his baby is staring Michael down, which fine. He’s got his hands full not dropping his shit all over the floor as he unloads his cart. (Usual baby stuff – diapers and wipes and formula and other such things. Food for himself – and okay, yeah, guy loves his diet coke? But not like it’s Michael’s place to judge, right?)

He makes faces at the baby and it keeps Staring, which is fine because what was Michael expecting from a baby?

But whatever, the baby’s kind of cute. (For a baby.)

Someone’s phone goes off, this horrifically obnoxious thing that sets the baby off, startles it or whatever and the poor thing bawls its eyes out.

Full-on wailing while the asshole with the shitty ringtone answers their phone and has a Loud Conversation with whoever called them and oblivious to what they’ve done in regards to baby meltdown.

The Tired Guy is like, trying to calm the baby down and not drop the carton of eggs he’s got in his hands and doing a terrible job of both, but eventually he manages to get the eggs down on the conveyor belt-thing and picks the baby up to soothe it and whatnot.

No one notices when the baby drops their stuffed animal between the crying and everything else. (Which, incidentally is Not Helping the baby calm down but everyone assumes it’s just tired baby being tired baby and expressing itself the only way it knows how.)

Tired guy manages to juggle his baby and paying for his groceries before leaving with the still crying baby.

Michael feels bad for the guy – baby’s still crying and they can see him through the front windows trying to calm the poor thing down with no success – but not like he can do anything to help, right?

He moves up and accidentally steps on the baby’s little stuffed toy (cow???) and is like, oh shit, because that would go a long way in explaining why the baby’s still upset?

He picks it up and wipes it off best he can and tucks it under his arm – ewww, baby drool – and pays for his groceries and hurries out of the store before Tired Guy leaves.

Makes it outside just in time to see Tired Guy start to make his way to the parking lot and calls out to him waving the stuffed toy. (Knows he probably comes across as a creep or weirdo and hopes the guy won’t react badly before Michael can explain.)

Tired Guy doesn’t react badly, which is nice.

Seems confused as hell before he realizes what Michael’s holding – the fact the baby stops crying the moment it sees what Michael has is helpful in that regard – and Michael’s like lol because the baby is making grabby hands for their toy.

“Here,” Michael says. “I think the kid dropped this back there.”

The baby’s getting frustrated at not having their toy back Right Now, and Michael looks at Tired Guy for permission to give the baby to little stuffed cow and gives Tired Guy this smile because the guy looks so goddamned relived the baby’s stopped crying?

Michael hands the toy over the baby is instantly happy again, making happy baby noises as they hug the little toy cow and being adorable as hell.

Michael ends up chatting with Tired Guy. (Okay, it’s more like he’s chatting at him because the guy tries, he does, but it’s pretty obvious he’s too tired to keep a conversation going no matter how thrilled he is to be talking to someone who isn’t a baby?)

And, look.

Michael gets it, he does. Has had enough family members and friends with their own kids and that thing where it feels like they’ve not seen someone who isn’t a literal child in forever or talked about anything no child-related for an equal amount of time.

(Also, maybe. On second glance Tired Guy’s kind of not terrible to look at and while he sounds tired and his voice is a little shot, it’s also not terrible to listen to. Michael knows this won’t go anywhere because come on, his life’s not a goddamned romcom, and also the guy’s got a baby. That usually implies a SO of some sort or other relationship and all, but hey, he can still talk to the guy, right?)

Right.

He finds out Tired Guy is actually new in town, staying with a friend of his until he gets his own place and doesn’t know a lot of people here yet. (Works from home or something with computers???)

It goes fine for a bit, but eventually they hit this slightly awkward silence/lull in the conversation.

And then (conveniently) Michael gets a new text from Gavin asking him where he is – Michael told him he’d be thirty, forty minutes late getting home with the grocery stop and it’s well past that by now – and the baby thwacks Tired Guy in the face with the toy cow because it wants attention or just for the hell of it, who the hell knows what a baby’s ever thinking?

They’re both like oh, right, right, better get home, and make their awkward goodbyes. Michael halfway home before he realizes he never got Tired Guy’s name or anything and man, what a shame because he actually liked talking to the guy?

He was funny and nice and Michael’s still kicking himself about not getting his name or number – its not easy being in a new place and not knowing anyone and all that, but nothing he can do about that now.

Until, you know, later.

Because Michael helps his landlord out with handyman projects around their building he gets a percentage off their rent.

Sure, it means he ends up tangled up in repair jobs and such from time to time, but for cheaper rent it’s not a bad trade-off. (Most of the time, anyhow.)

One day the landlord calls Michael and asks him if he could check things out in this one apartment. New tenant and something to do with the wiring or something?

Michael is like SIGH because he’s been pulling doubles at work and was looking forward to a long weekend to do nothing but relax, catch up on sleep and all that.

But, whatever, right?

He garbs his tool belt and heads over to the apartment in question and boy oh boy, is he surprised when the tenant opens the door and it’s Tired Guy.

:O!

It takes a moment for Tired Guy to recognize him, and then it’s the two of them  staring at one another like idiots because what are the fucking odds, right?

Tired Guy looks a hell of a lot better than he did when they ran into one another at the grocery store. Still kind of tired, but not the kind that invites worry over his well-being that may or may not require an intervention of sorts.

“Uh, hey,” Michael says, when the staring is getting to be ridiculous. “I’m here about the call you put in to the landlord about a problem you have?”

And then Tired Guy (who, come on, we all know it’s Ryan) is like ??? and then !!! because, oh, yeah, right.

That.

He shows Michael over to where the problem issue is. Turns out to be some dumb problem the tenant before Ryan caused by trying to be a DiY’er or something with regards to rewiring something or other. Botched the whole thing and hid it to avoid having to pay a fine or whatever to the landlord and all that. The apartment’s been empty for a while before Ryan moved in – and Michael is like, huh, because he remembers Gavin chattering on about their new neighbor.

Nice enough guy he ran into in the hallway a few days ago, but Michael kept missing because working longer hours than usual and other typical reasons in this kind of scenario.

Now he’s keenly aware of Ryan as the guy moves about elsewhere once Michael told him the problem he’s having is an easy fix, maybe half an hour, forty-five minutes to deal with and feel free to ignore him while he does.

And Ryan takes him up on that, apologizes because kind of rude? But also he was working on something and he’s just a room away if Michael needs anything and so on.

Ten, fifteen minutes go by before Michael hears a baby crying. The loud, awful full-on baby meltdown and Ryan wanders back into the room holding the baby and doing his best to calm the poor thing down.

Michael glances over when he gets the baby to fall asleep – tired and fighting sleep every step of the way until it couldn’t anymore – and smiles at the picture the two of them make.

Ryan a tired dad and adorable kiddo drooling on his shoulder and just.

Adorable, the both of them.

“Cute kid,” Michael says, because the baby is cute.

Impressive set of lungs and all, but still cute.

And Ryan, tired and on auto-pilot as he rocks the baby he’s holding and murmurs nonsense to it speaks without thinking.

Just goes and says, “Oh, she’s not mine,” and makes another circuit of the room, passing right by Michael who is like.

Huh.

Because Ryan doesn’t seem like a baby-stealing lunatic, but who knows, right?

Watches Ryan  wander past again before what he said actually registers and Ryan is like

!!!

“Wait, no. I mean - “

Michael tries not to laugh as Ryan falls over himself reassuring Michael he’s not a baby-stealing lunatic (and incidentally succeeding in making himself look like a general sort of lunatic ).

Tells Michael that friend he was staying with when he first got to town has this whole. Fostering Things going on.

Looks after kids and such whether it be short-term or long-term (They’ve got a couple of kids they’re in the process of adopting because they can’t not have them in their lives for forever after getting to know them and so on but it’s a hell of a process and legal battles and all that going on to complicate things.)

But they’re out of town for something or other and couldn’t take the baby too, and Ryan offered to watch the baby for them. (Not the first time he’s done it and definitely won’t be the last.)

At the end of his explanation he’s watching Michael like he’s expecting him to call the cops or something and looking even more like a lunatic.

Michael just rolls his eyes because yeah, no. He didn’t really think Ryan was a baby-stealing lunatic in the first place, so calm down idiot.

They end up chatting again while Michael works and Ryan sits down on the couch with the baby deep asleep and it’s.

Kind of nice?

When Michael finishes up he remembers to get Ryan’s name – and his number – and a promise from Ryan to give him a call if he needs help. (Handyman projects or baby stuff or whatever, you know?)

He goes back to the apartment he shares with Gavin and Gavin is like. Knows Something Happened and gets the whole story out of Michael. (He knew about Tired Guy and Crying Baby from the grocery store and cannot stop laughing when Michael tells him Tired Guy is actually Ryan, and also their new neighbor?)

Michael is like SIGH because yeah okay. Fair enough because God knows he’d do the same if he was in Gavin’s shoes for something like this.

He doesn’t really expect to hear from Ryan again, but a week later he gets a text from the landlord and surprise, surprise, Ryan’s found another problem in his apartment.

Michael heads over and finds out it’s another botched DiY shitshow from the previous tenant and sets about fixing it while they chat.

The baby’s there again, and Michael is like huh, at the way Ryan is with her. Definitely in love with the tiny baby even if he doesn’t realize it yet (None of his business, but he hopes it works out for Ryan’s sake.)

After that Ryan texts Michael about some random something that made him think of Michael and things kind of snowball from there.

The two of them being all dorks falling in love (and not realizing it) and also there’s a baby?

Like.

The baby features a lot, this sweet little girl with pretty blue eyes named Abigail.

Ryan freaking dotes on her, spoils her, and Michael rolls his eyes and tells him he’s spoiling her even as he brings over new toys or games or whatever to grab her attention or make her laugh.

Ryan is like “Do tell,” and absolutely laughing at Michael the whole time.

One night Ryan asks him over for dinner one night (it’s a thing they do, they’re just friends for fuck’s sake Gavin, stop looking at Michael like that) expecting the usual fast food or take out or something, but no!

No.

There are goddamned enchiladas, clearly homemade because no way any of the places around there could make anything that looked half as good. (Maybe Michael’s biased???)

“Oh, hey,” Michael says, this huge smile on his face. “I thought you were bullshitting me about these.”

Ryan’s all nervous and worked up about something, and just when Michael’s about to ask him what the hell is going on, Ryan blurts out that he’s going to go through with the adoption process for Abigail.

Michael is just like, even bigger smile because he thought Ryan might do something like that sooner or later, given how much he loves her.

“Congratulations,” he says, and laughs. “When I saw the enchiladas I thought you were going to ask me on a date.”

He tries to make it sound like a joke, all ha, ha, hilarious and all that because obviously that would never happen. (They’re friends and all.)

Only.

Ryan’s not laughing.

Ryan, in fact, looks confused as hell.

“I thought I already did?”

Because look.

All this time the two of them have been having dinner and watching movies and all kinds of date-things, but for whatever reason Ryan never officially asked Michael on a date.

So Michael’s been thinking they’re just friends while Ryan is like My Boyfriend is Best Boyfriend :DDDDDDDDDDDIt’s just.

Super Awkward for a moment, and then it’s hilarious as fuck because Ryan?

And also annoying as fuck because all the smooches and ~other things they could have been doing all this time? (Almost a year by that point and Ryan you moron.)

But hey, they’ve just got stuff to catch up on and what better time than now to get started?

Smooches and Michael laughing at Ryan who laughs at himself and Michael and it’s stupid cute -

So of course Abigail chooses that moment to start crying and they break away to laugh about her impeccable sense of timing.

“Jesus,” Michael says, laughing a little as they untangle themselves from the pile of throw blankets and dumb pillows on Ryan’s couch. “Can’t wait for that to get old.”

Because cock-blocking baby that’ll be a toddler and on and on and on and wow, fun? (But also that sweet little girl with the pretty blue eyes that Ryan -and okay, Michael – loves so goddamn much.)

Ryan laughs because same? But then he goes to see what Abigail’s crying about now, and comes back out with her dozing off on his shoulder and just.

Michael’s watching the two of them with this look on his face, all soft and fond and he makes room for them on the couch where he and Ryan watch something on Netflix with a sleeping baby and really, okay, really, there are worse things than this.

(And then happily ever after with shenanigans and occasional enchilada nights and Gavin and all their other friends laughing at their dumb dorkfaces for forever.)

[weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables]

SCIO WITH BIOLUMISCENT FRECKLES!! 😍 I don't have words or emojies for how excited this makes me; it's such a striking image. have you drawn any Scio with freckles we can see?? :3

AAAH thank you so much for this lovely ask!! I’ve been trying to find the time to get a drawing done, but all I have is bw sketches, which kind of defeat the point of bioluminescence! But I plan on having a few Scio-as-Moon portraits up soonish.

Anyhow ! All the Deities are kind of glowy in their mortal incarnations if they want to be! And as for Scio, once she reawakens as Moon it will definitely look like she has bioluminiscent freckles (while as a Goddess, her whole body was luminiscent, except for her dark blue freckles). Sun has bright golden eyes and golden blood, while other Deities, like the God of Dreams, might leave a trail of luminiscent things (snowflakes or flowers or dew) behind, or have wiry, luminiscent hair.