#that can be my new tag for things of this rating so tumblr doesn't do its thing

[coldshrugs]

one of the few things i'm sure of

pairing: io laithe / estinien varlineau word count: 1.4k rating: explicit – minors do not interact notes: estinien ruminates on his feelings for io during a moment of intimacy. he's ready to put it into words.

Sprawled in a plush, high-backed chair, Io scans a thick tome of Arkasodara folklore, a recent gift from Nidhana. Late afternoon sun streams through the open window and warm light dances over her face and glints in the ink blue of her hair. Long, elegant fingers dart across the page, and her lips spread in a delighted smile now and then–something must be amusing.

Across the room, Estinien cleans and polishes his armor. He watches her wordlessly and smiles. He likes this.

His chambers are a mess, and she is to blame. Half-finished books lay open on every surface, and her clothes are stashed in his wardrobe with very little rhyme or reason. She burrows into the private spaces of his life, making herself at home, leaving little pieces of evidence for him to find when she’s pulled away to some far-flung corner of the world. He doesn’t mind; all of this and more he can bear, because he loves her–though he hasn’t given voice to that thought.

A short, deep grunt of laughter breaks the silence.

She looks up from her book with the same precious smile, eyes sharp and suspicious. “What?”

“You seem to be enjoying yourself.” He shrugs.

“And you seem to enjoy staring. Where are your manners, Ser Estinien?”

A twitchy grin accompanies her feigned indignance. She bites her bottom lip to keep up the charade, and Estinien laughs again.

The book snaps closed. “I find it very difficult to concentrate when you do that.”

“When I do what, exactly?” He continues wiping down the pauldron, but teasing her is a game he cannot resist. His gaze sweeps down the length of her body, draped so casually in the chair. She wears a loose linen tunic, though every inch of skin underneath it is familiar to him, and her long legs are bare. His eyes snap back to hers. “Look at you?”

Her chest heaves, and he watches that too. He doesn't have to guess how her body responds to his attention. Her pulse quickens, heat blooms in her chest and takes root further down. She stokes the same fire in him.

She nods slowly. “Yes. Like that.” Chewing her lip again, she looks at the closed book in her hands, the window, the floor... Estinien stops polishing and places his work aside. Unable to find anything else of interest, Io’s gaze slowly slides his way.

He leans back, half-propped on his bed. “Then come here, and I’ll do more than look.”

He never tires of her earnest surprise at being desired. Her wide eyes, as if she’s hearing it for the first time. Her careful steps across the room, almost like she’s allowing him to change his mind.

Estinien reaches for her, sure of what he wants, and tugs her closer until she’s in front of him. The hands he watched so closely as they skimmed the page now brush loose hair from his eyes, their touch warm and light. His eyes fall closed, almost distracted from purpose by the gentle affection, but proximity brings confidence. Io’s hands travel down to the leather cord lacing his shirt, and she unties it eagerly.

“You would have your way, and I would have mine. It’s my turn to look.”

His shirt is on the floor in seconds. Io touches him, roaming over relaxed muscle, tracing knotted scars. Gone is the reserved caution from moments ago, and in its place lies a heavy need. Her eyes, an impossibly deep shade of blue, turn hungry and ever darker. She lifts his hands to her hips, a silent instruction to touch her. 

He grips her tightly, kisses her belly, and curses the thin fabric that separates them. Her hands play in his hair, short nails grazing his scalp, and he groans against her when she tugs his unbound locks.

“Io,” he breathes, voice like gravel. He needs her closer, needs her on him.

Estinien slides further onto the bed and Io follows, planting a knee on each side of him. He grasps her thigh, fingertips finding purchase on her soft skin. His free hand travels up her front, rippling the fabric in its path. She shivers when his palm brushes across her nipple, the peak hardening under his hand.

Io, all sweetness and sincerity, cups his face and kisses him slowly, taking her time. Soft lips move with his, steady, patient. Her hips grind down against him, she sighs at the friction and he can no longer be delicate. Not when she moves like this, determined to feel him half-hard and aching for her through his trousers. 

His hand tangles into her hair, and his kiss is much less refined. Open-mouthed and urgent, he tells Io exactly how much he needs her. Not just now, not merely like this.

At his side in battle, and warming the other side of his bed. In the quiet moments he wants to share with no one else, and in the crowded rooms he’s forced to endure. The small joys and the monumental failures–he wants to be with her for them all.

He peels away her tunic, careful not to let it tangle on her arms or ears. It lands on the floor with his shirt. He has only a moment to draw his tongue over the warmth of her newly exposed skin before she pushes him against the bed with a firm hand.

Io’s fingers rake down his stomach and pause at his belt. “May I?” she asks, dipping to kiss the corner of his mouth. 

“Gods, yes, Io.” 

And she obliges, discarding the last of his clothes quickly before her hands are on his cock.

His low moan encourages her strokes. Estinien shudders at the insistent twist of her hand, chasing the touch, thrusting into her grip until he’s at the edge. Io’s played this game before, and she won’t dare push him over yet. The soft, playful smile she tried to hide half an hour ago is back.

“I love the sounds you make,” Io whispers, lips ghosting across his ear. She moves further up his lap, and he can feel the heat between her thighs. Her hair falls around them, a dense blue curtain. The world condenses to her face, her lips on his neck, his hands on her body. “I love…”

She bites her lip, bites back the “you” he desperately wants to hear.

He loves her. Her hand pressed hard into his chest, back arching gracefully under his hands as she takes the lead. Loves her when she sinks onto him, slowly, slowly, the little gasp when their hips meet and he’s finally buried inside her. Loves the satisfied smile she reserves for these moments with him. She saves so much for him and him alone, creates a language only they understand, and he loves her.

Io moves and, enveloped in her slick heat, the sentence goes unfinished but not forgotten.

Estinien watches once more; dark freckles peppered across her skin, the sheen of sweat catching the sunlight. She leans back and speeds her pace, and his thumb circles her clit. Tiny wrinkles crease around her eyes as she squeezes them shut. Her lips part, frozen in a moan she tries to suppress.

“Don’t,” he says. Io meets his eyes, hazy confusion knit between her brows. “Don’t hold back, not with me.”

The moan rips free, loud in the confines of his room. Louder than she’s ever allowed herself to be before. Shortly after, she breaks, legs quaking as she falls against his chest, panting between kisses pressed to his sweat-damp skin.

He continues when she cannot, cradling her closer and searching out her mouth. Languid, wet kisses pass between them until he finds his end, as warm and sweet and radiant as Io herself.

They lay on his disheveled bed, caught in a sunbeam. She twists his silver strands between her fingers, nuzzling into his neck. He strokes her back.

“We should just say it.” His fingers wander down to her leg, hiking her thigh up higher on his waist. Someone must go first. Easier to say exactly what she means to him. “I–”

“I love you, Estinien.” Io kisses his shoulder, right on top of the old scar.

He’s lucky she can’t see his ridiculous smile. He takes her hand and raises it to his lips. “I love you, too.”

[stupidlittlespirit]

Claustrophobia

Rating: NSFW, mdni Type: Longform, smut Tags: Trapped in a closet, Dubious consent, premature ejaculation, dry humping, fingering, no pronouns but female body described, slight gaslighting, Reigen being a disgusting pervert, female body described and skirt/stockings but no pronouns. Word count: 9,140 (sorry it's so long) My other works: here on tumblr and here on Ao3!

Reader and Reigen get locked in a closet during a job gone wrong, and Reigen doesn't know how to behave. (inspired loosely by @vasiktomis's fic)

Reigen isn’t in the habit of taking solo jobs he can't handle alone. Not anymore, anyway,

He's learned that, quite understandably, no one can be reasonably expected to just drop what they’re doing to serve his whim when he finds himself facing a threat bigger than the boots that he places himself in sometimes. Nowadays, he sticks to what he knows and picks the work that's least likely to result in an untimely death. Without any psychic abilities of his own, Reigen tends to go for the less spiritually-inclined call outs.

When he'd taken this job, he had assumed it to be one of those times.

The client, Kawasaki, had bemoaned a supposed ghostly presence lingering in a rundown property of his, causing damage and defacing the place, and stopping him from renovating the house for new tenants. As loath as Reigen had been to help a landlord, the price of the job had been decent enough to convince him otherwise and so he had taken it on.

Kawasaki’s description during his consultation had sounded like nothing more than squatters or trespassing teenagers looking for somewhere quiet to make out. Serizawa had agreed; broken locks, leftover beer cans and abandoned trash aren’t common signs of spirits and so Reigen had thought little of attending without any psychic backup. If he can manage without Mob or Serizawa, he will. They’re both busy enough, it wouldn’t do to drag them away from their studies or their friends for no reason. Besides, Reigen is confident enough in his own ability to handle things, for better or worse.

Still, he isn’t dense enough to wander into an abandoned den filled with potentially unfriendly squatters and disgusting creepy-crawlies all on his lonesome. Reigen can be stupid, but he’s not dumb. Instead, he had requested (see: demanded) the help of the only other person in the office he knows rarely has anywhere else to be: You.

He’s well aware that you don’t have much going on outside of working hours and you’re usually moderately willing to stretch your legs a bit when the day has been slow. A person can only stand to look at paperwork for so many hours a day, he supposes.

When you’d asked why, exactly, he needed you of all people to join him, Reigen had been blunt: “I’d rather not get stabbed over a property dispute, if that’s alright with you. Plus, I need someone to keep an eye out for roaches.”

According to his expert assessment, the work would be simple: Get in, sweet talk the people inside into moving along, and collect the fee.

Except, as is often the case, nothing Reigen ever does is simple.

When the two of you arrive, the building is empty. There isn’t a single sign of life nor death inside the entire house and he isn't really that surprised. The place is absolutely rotten. Dirty wallpaper peels from place, the once rich-looking wooden fixtures are soft and stained a gross green colour, their usual glossy surfaces dull and sickly, and the interior is so degraded that he's not sure how the landlord intends to salvage the place, regardless of damage done by potential unwelcome visitors.

Sleeping on the street would be preferable to staying here.

“So much for squatters,” he hears you mutter, the beam of your flashlight swinging around the room. It skims from tattered floorboards to broken down shelving, circuiting the room as you turn on the spot in search of the client’s woes.

“Maybe they left,” Reigen says, peering into a side room. “Makes our job easier anyway.”

“I wouldn’t hang around here, I know that much,” you sigh.

“Why?” Reigen smirks. “Not scared, are you?” He can never pass up on an opportunity to provoke you. You’re always a breeze to wind up and Reigen would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy watching your hackles rise. He’s proficient in the art of being a dick, especially when it comes to you.

You roll your eyes at his attempt. “You wish. We should check upstairs at least, just to be sure.”

Reigen agrees, though in his ever chivalrous nature, he invites you to be the first one to brave the weak looking staircase. Each step you take up the rickety stairs is cautious, ensuring you won’t fall straight through the rotted wood and accidentally impale yourself on an exposed nail, and Reigen follows your footsteps perfectly.

It’s even darker up here. The windows are shuttered, boarded up tight beyond a few ripped out panels, and there doesn’t appear to be anyone hiding in the rooms; they’re equally as dilapidated as the ones downstairs. There are remnants of life in the house, though, besides the leftover trash: discarded boxes filled with long-abandoned books and menial belongings, old furniture and forgotten blankets, but they all appear to be as old as the home.

They’re covered in grime and clearly haven’t been touched much. The squatter theory looks weak without fresh signs of habitation, but there’s always the chance people are breaking in to snoop around.

Dust particles catch in the light beams of your torches as he takes you deeper inside, glittering and wispy, passing through the air like tiny little fairies uprooted from their hiding spots. Reigen swallows a sneeze and turns away from you, covering his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

Dimly, he supposes he should have gotten masks for you both; the last thing he wants is a health and safety insurance claim on his hands if you inhale something gross. “If you see any asbestos, keep your distance,” he warns. “I’m not paying your hospital bill.”

“Thanks,” you reply, tone so dry it’s practically parched. “What does it look like?”

“No idea,” says Reigen, shrugging. “But don’t breathe it in.”

“Asshole.” He can almost hear you roll your eyes and he bites down on a grin.

The air is much cooler upstairs, icy enough to permeate Reigen’s suit and he suppresses a shiver as you follow his lead down a long hallway.

Despite his confidence in the office that the presence of a spirit here would be unlikely, he can’t help but feel nervous. Downstairs had been gross, but upstairs feels decidedly…. Unwelcoming in comparison. Like something is waiting for you both, hidden in the darkness and waiting to strike.

He knows it’s probably his imagination. This isn’t his first rodeo and usually a spirit makes itself known the moment he pokes around a bit. You’re just paranoid, Reigen thinks to himself, get a grip.

Your voice breaks through the silent air: “Can you feel that?” You whisper, coming up close behind him.

Anxiety rolls off of you in waves and Reigen can sense how tense you are even at a distance. He really ought to be a decent boss and offer some reassurance to the least experienced member of his team. You’re not usually the one who’s dragged into spooky places like this with little to no preparation; your expertise extends to paperwork and filing cabinets, and with no Esper abilities to speak of you’re completely exposed to danger. Reigen is too, he supposes, but he’s used to charging into unfriendly dens of danger without much care for his wellbeing.

He should be considerate and give you some warm words of comfort, offer to protect you if all hell breaks loose, yet he knows you’re not the type to cling to him like a frightened fawn and he’d only insult you if he suggested anything of the sort. Instead, he decides he’ll break the tension in a way that only he knows how.

He pauses at your front and you almost walk into the back of him, too busy looking behind you to pay attention. Reigen puts a hand out to keep you steady. “What do you mean?” He asks, glancing over his shoulder at you.

“I’m not sure,” you say, flicking your flashlight around in the darkness. “The air…. It feels heavy, don’t you think?”

Reigen hums and comes to stand behind you, swapping places and standing close enough that his chest bumps your back. “Actually, now that you mention it….”

Without a word, he reaches past you and motions for you to raise the flashlight a little, and you do as you’re asked, pointing it towards an empty room just off of the corridor. The beam is too weak to fully penetrate the darkness as you point it inside however, and the light barely makes a difference.

“What is it?” You whisper, craning your head around to see if you can spot whatever has caught his attention. The light is swallowed by the black expanse and it makes it seem as though the building is ten times as big as the distance you’ve just walked.

Reigen doesn’t answer your question.

The silence is deafening.

Reigen is so close to you that he can see the hairs rise on your arms in his own torchlight and he’s quite pleased when you lean away from where you’re pointing the light, pressing back against him unconsciously in order to distance yourself from whatever might lurk in the shadows. You might not be the sort of person that needs protecting, but he can’t deny that something stirs inside himself at the thought of you seeking him out for support anyway.

Nothing moves in the dark.

No one speaks a word.

It’s the most perfect set-up Reigen could imagine.

“Boo!”

His hands grab at your sides as he shouts right down your ear, as loud as he can manage. The scream you let loose is close to inhuman and in a pure panic, you lurch away from the source, scrambling aside until your shoulder collides hard against the wall. You swing your torch out violently in a feeble attempt to protect yourself from the unseen threat and Reigen dodges the heavy lump of metal, laughing his head off at his wonderfully successful prank.

The watery light lands on his doubled over form, collapsed against the opposing wall in a fit of ugly giggles, his body shaking with the force of it. He cackles at the terrified sight of you, hands still outstretched from where he’d seized your waist. “Your face!” Reigen gasps, struggling to breathe through his fits. “Man, you’re too easy!”

It doesn’t take a genius to see that you’re very admirably restraining yourself from throwing the torch at his head. You look like you’ve had the fear of God put in you, face paling and eyes wide, clutching at the ruined walls like a cartoon cat on the ceiling. The big grin that splits Reigen’s smug face suggests he’s overjoyed that he’s gotten such a reaction from you; he always is.

Furious, you lash out with one foot to kick at his shin. “Fuck off!” you hiss, breathless with fright. “Fucking asshole!”

Still laughing, Reigen nimbly avoids your attempted assault again. He looks far too pleased with himself and as soon as you can breathe again, you flounce off down the hallway and make your way back towards the staircase, leaving him pitched against the doorframe whilst he tries to get his breath back.

The darkness clearly doesn’t seem as frightening to you now that it’s clear the biggest threat in here is your jerk of a boss and you stride back the way you came, ignoring Reigen’s half-hearted shouts for you to wait. He won’t let you get too far without him. Although the house is empty, it’s still run down and dodgy as fuck. The last thing he wants is for you to be so angry with him that you fall down the stairs or cut yourself escaping his mean spirited jokes.

“Wait a second!” Reigen shouts, still struggling to sound completely serious. He scrambles after you, following the sound of your heavy footsteps as you stomp back the way you’d come.

“It’s not funny,” you snap over your shoulder. “Get lost. You can go-!” Your sentences halts halfway through, cut off almost comically, and Reigen is mildly disappointed that you’re not throwing rabid insults his way.

“C’mon,” Reigen cajoles, pushing his luck as he rounds the corner to the landing. “Don’t be like that, I thought you could take a joke!” He’s still got a stupid grin on his face as he comes closer and he takes a breath to say something else when abruptly he realises you’re standing stock still in place.

You look even more terrified than you had moments earlier and briefly, Reigen worries he might have caused permanent trauma “What is it?” Reigen asks, suddenly sounding a lot less jovial. “I didn’t scare you that badly, did I?”

At the foot of the staircase, the floorboards squeak and a foreign voice speaks aloud into the damp air: “I thought it was funny.”

He freezes mid-step, one foot suspended in the air. The voice doesn’t belong to anyone he recognises and judging by the look on your face, it doesn’t belong to anyone you know either. A cold and unpleasant sensation slides down the back of his neck, like a fat droplet of ice water trickling along his skin. The heavy, dense atmosphere is back, even worse than it had been when you’d first come up here.

Cautiously, like he’s afraid the room might explode, Reigen edges toward where you’re standing. You don’t look at him at all, eyes fixed on whatever has spoken at the foot of the staircase, and it makes Reigen’s blood run cold again. Very slowly, he ekes his flashlight up from where it points at the floor to join yours and shines it’s weak beam towards the source of the sound. It illuminates the bottom most stair and as he raises it higher and higher, the form of an impossibly black figure reveals itself.

It’s vaguely human shaped, except the limbs are longer than they should be and they’re bent at uncomfortable angles, like it’s stuffed into the space it crouches in. The thing is big enough that it takes up the entire doorway at the foot of the stairs and it seems to almost absorb the light of the torch, watching the two of you closely with a featureless face. No, not quite totally featureless. Rather than have eyes or a nose, or any other defining characteristic, It has a big, horrible smile, made up of crooked teeth that peek out from behind non-existent lips.

Reigen hears your breathing hitch in fear and this time, his responsible boss attitude does take over. He curls a hand around your wrist and inches in front of you, sheltering your body with his. The spirit is big. Bigger than the usual ones he faces off against. With only a bag of salt in his pocket and a hopeful prayer in his heart, Reigen knows he’s limited in options on how to deal with this. There’s no Mob and no Serizawa to back him up. He’s on his own for this one and he really doesn’t want to give you the impression that he can’t handle things by himself.

Maybe he can use the only trusty weapon he has in his arsenal: His mouth. Reigen holds his free hand up in an innocent gesture. “Sorry,” he says, plastering on a fake smile. “Didn’t mean to disturb you. We were just, uh, exploring….”

The spirit makes a sound of disgust, like two rusty metal sheets rubbing together, and it begins to crawl up the stairs, inch by inch. “Exploring each other, more like. Why is it always my house you kids come to fuck in?”

Reigen chokes on his tongue, his face burning. “Hey, come on, it’s not like that!”

“Of course you are, you’re all the same.” The spirit’s mouth draws back into an impossibly wider grin. “Why can’t you just get handsy in the car like everyone else?”

“Fuck off,” you snap, though your voice is weak. “No one’s coming to this shit hole to have sex.”

The spirit’s grin turns downward into a furious scowl and Reigen barely predicts what’s about to happen in enough time to yank you away from harm. The grotesque creature launches itself upward, its long limbs allowing it the capacity to make short work of the remaining stairs, and it lunges straight for the both of you with a snarling shout of indignance at your insult of its home.

Reigen manages a shout of warning before he yanks you aside, grabbing your hand in a bruising grip, and he pulls you out of the thing’s path with all the strength he can muster. You have the good sense to let him manhandle you across the landing, abandoning your torch in favour of hanging onto him, and you stagger alongside towards the hallway again.

The creature crashes against the wall at the top of the stairs, the force of its strike knocking over the old furniture that’s been discarded there to grow mouldy and old. The wood crunches horribly on impact and Reigen is always impressed by the way spirits, for such non-corporeal beings, manage incredible ways of destroying their far more material environments with ease. Right now, however, he’d rather not go the same way as that chest of drawers. He doesn’t plan on dying in a place like this and there’s no way he’s about to let you meet a grisly end either. He’s far too fond of you for that.

The spirit has the stairs cornered, which leaves little else in the way of an escape route. Reigen has no choice but to take you deeper into the house and hope to lead the thing around in a circle to free up the stairway. Barrelling down the corridor, Reigen is running blind. He realises he must have dropped his flashlight in the chaos, too, because everything in the house is so incredibly dark that he feels like there’s a bag over his head. It’s almost impossible for him to see where he’s going, there’s no way he’ll be able to get his bearings well enough to loop the property like this.

That is, until a sliver of light from another room catches his eye. Reigen pivots on his heel at breakneck speed and heaves you sideways with him through the open doorway, ever the nimble little weasel. He slams the door shut behind you and scans the room for a hiding place, breathing hard and keeping a tight, sweaty hold of your hand.

“What do we do?!” You gasp, out of breath from both the running and the fear. “We can’t get out, what do we-!”

“In there!” Reigen points across the dim room. On the far side past a broken down bed and several piles of boxes and filthy duvets, there’s a slim little closet. It’s the only thing in here that seems to still be whole and mercifully preserved from the rot that’s infected the rest of the building. It’s the best bet either of you will have at staying hidden.

Reigen doesn’t wait for you to answer. Instead, he lugs you towards it and wrenches open the doors, tumbling inside. Reigen’s back hits the wall as he flattens himself against the interior, his body folding awkwardly in order to fit into the cramped, tight space, and he hauls you in after him. You’re all elbows and knees as you land on him, scrabbling for purchase in a panic, and your body shoves at his while you try and find your balance in the darkness.

He pushes you against the opposing side, his hands clutching your waist to stop you from wobbling and falling right back out into the open, and his legs tangle up between both of yours. By some stroke of good fortune, you have the presence of mind to snatch the doors shut after yourself. They close with a mercifully quiet click! and then it’s just the two of you, panting hard and fast into the dimness as you listen for signs of your undead pursuer.

Several somethings clatter around in the hallway, followed by the sound of breaking glass and a frustrated growl, and Reigen strains to hear if the sounds are moving any closer to the bedroom you’re sheltering in.

After a few long moments, however, nothing comes.

Reigen breathes a silent sigh of relief and then feels you shift in place. You’re virtually painted onto his front, your chest squashed against his own and your face not even half an inch away from his. It dawns on him that this is quite the intimate position to be in with a person he’s supposed to be in charge of, and he feels the cool sweat of adrenaline turn into lukewarm awkwardness.

You tilt your head a fraction to give yourself a bit of room to speak and your lips brush up against his cheek. “What were you thinking?!” you scold him in barely a whisper.

“Huh?” Reigen murmurs back, trying to ignore the sensation.

“We’re sitting ducks in here,” you breathe. “If that fucking thing finds us, we’re dead!”

He hadn’t really considered that. The closet is tiny and dark, only a tiny filtering of pale light from a broken window board across the room reaches through the thin slats sitting just above your heads. It smells like dank old oak and probably a few different cultures of microorganisms. The only thing there’s room for in here is mould and dust. Neither he nor you will be able to escape if the spirit figures out where you’re hiding.

“Just shut up,” Reigen mutters, flexing his hands on your waist. “Stay quiet until it gets bored and then we can sneak out.” It’s a weak plan, but it’s all he has right now.

A few rooms over, something crashes against a wall and you flinch against him.

Reigen can feel the warmth of your body seeping into his own through your clothes, your breasts brushing the front of his shirt, your hips locked with his own. Your arms are forced almost around one another, both of you clinging to the other’s sides. Perhaps it’s the excitement of the chase, or maybe the thrill of escaping yet another near-death situation, but Reigen’s blood feels like it’s catching alight. He’s warming up all over, perspiration beading at his temples, and he isn’t quite sure how to stop it. Were he to purse his lips, he might even accidentally kiss you.

Reigen is technically in charge of you. It’s well known in the office that all of you work side-by-side, however on the paperwork side of things, he is legally your superior. He’s supposed to uphold a certain air of respectability around his colleagues yet when it comes to you, he finds that responsibility getting more difficult by the day. You argue back and forth with him, always ready to challenge his overpowering confidence when it starts to get out of hand, and he can tell you enjoy the verbal sparring as much as he does.

There’s something unsaid between you both, something heavy that’s only been building over time, but Reigen is too afraid to drop his façade of being The Boss Of You to investigate it further in case he’s read the entire situation wrong. If you were to refuse him, to laugh in his face, he'd never live it down. He couldn't handle such a dent in his ego and he'd rather die than admit it aloud.

He does his best to hide it when he chances little looks at you and so far he’s only been caught out on his less-than-professional observations once, by Ekubo. Horrible little fiend that the ghost is, he’d caught Reigen sneaking a peek at your ass as you’d cleaned a cupboard in the staffroom, chatting away to him and none the wiser of his perverseness; you’d been on your hands and knees, half disappeared into the space under the sink, and Reigen had seized the opportunity to drink in a spectacular view of you from behind.

Your skirt had risen ever so slightly too high, revealing the top of your stockings and the thin sliver of the clips that held the fabric in place, and Reigen had lurked silently in the doorway, watching closely and committing the sight to memory.

Until, of course, Ekubo had materialised out of thin air, as he is so often wont to do, grinning lasciviously, and scared the shit out of Reigen so badly that he’d almost tumbled backwards out of the room. Despite the rude interruption, he’s never forgotten the sight.

Reigen knows it's wrong, that it's fucked up that he'd view a staff member, a friend, like that, and yet he's never had the willpower to put a stop to it. Images of you in raunchy positions just like on that day have haunted his mind on late, lonely nights whilst his hand has wandered into the waistband of his underwear of its own accord.

He’s fully aware that he shouldn’t be jerking himself off every night thinking of you stuck under the sink, unable to get away from his curious hands, but he can’t ever feel guilty enough to think of anything else.

Right now, he wishes he'd at least tried. The memories of those imagined scenarios are stirred up by your closeness and he thinks, distantly, that if he'd tried to be a good person for once and made an effort to ignore them then he might not be struggling as much as he is currently. He’s never intended for you to find out about his fantasies and getting caught short like this is probably not going to go down well. He needs to stop thinking about all of this before it gets out of hand.

The sound of floorboards groaning out in the hallway outside makes you startle and you squirm between his legs, straining to look through the slats of the door. One of your thighs rubs up into his crotch, sleek material gliding against his suit, and he’s reminded that you’re wearing another skirt today; the smoothness of your legs means you’re more than likely in stockings again and the memory rears its head. Reigen grunts softly, gritting his teeth. “Stop it,” he grinds out quietly. “Quit moving.”

Much to his distress, you don't. Rather than obey his command, you use his body to push yourself further up to peek out of the slats and Reigen is forced to tighten his hold around your middle, dragging you back down. If you won't stop, he's going to have to make you. He digs his fingers into your side, bunching them up in the fabric of your shirt and pulling it downward to still you.

“Let go of me, you idiot,” you hiss, attempting to pry off his grip and straighten up. “I can't see!”

Reigen is sure you don’t intend to do it but the motion of your movement forces your hips to rock forward into his and he bites down on his lip so hard that he thinks he's drawn blood. He attempts to move away again, only to bump his knees against the wall under you. Reigen sucks in a sharp breath, ready to snap at you again to force you to back off, until the door to the room you're in bursts open like a group of police officers exercising a warrant. It slams against the wall loudly, the whole thing vibrating with the force. Nose to nose with him, you share a look of panic.

Something lets out a rattle of breath outside.

Reigen leans his head aside to press his mouth against your ear. “Don’t fucking move,” he says, barely audible, and he does his best not to notice the way you tilt your own head to let him fit in closer. His breath is hot against your skin and if he isn’t mistaken, you might even shiver a little.

The creature outside prowls into the bedroom, grunting and growling to itself as it searches between littered furniture for the two stowaways. Its nails scrape on the floorboards, the sound getting louder and louder until it pauses, right outside the closet. There’s a chittering noise that reverberates in Reigen’s chest and just beyond the wood, barely a hands-width away from your heads, the spirit sniffs up and down the seam of the closet. It sounds like there’s something wet caught in its throat, each draw of breath a phlegm filled rattle, and it scratches its claws on the door, seeking out any living forms within.

The spirit smells foul. Its scent is somewhere between death and rancid meat, and Reigen swallows against the saliva that rises and swims in his mouth, trying not to gag. The freezing air on its dead breath ruffles the hair at the tops of your heads and washes you both with the scent.

A swaying cobra, its form moves across the light that filters into the cupboard, turning it murky and dark but not quite removing it entirely, almost as though it’s trying to peer inside despite its lack of eyes. After a few minutes of unbearably intense silence, the spirit seems to give up on sniffing you out. It lashes out at the closet doors with its talons, tearing into the surface of the wood, before turning tail and lurching out of the room to continue its search elsewhere.

The aggressive swipe it takes at the closet makes the whole thing rattle loudly, bouncing the doors inward with force, and you jolt as though you’ve been hit. Instinctively, Reigen turns his head to check that you’re not hurt and at the same time, you turn yourself into him even more, afraid of the thing lurking outside. In the tight space, with barely even enough room to breathe, the motion forces your mouths to slot together. It can hardly be called a kiss; you’re doing little more than exchanging oxygen with one another, yet it’s so close to one that Reigen’s body betrays him almost instantly.

On your breath, he can smell the sugary strawberries you’d eaten on the way over here and again his mind conjures images, unbidden, of your lips wrapped around the fruit’s soft flesh as you’d eaten them in the passenger seat of the hire car, of the smile on your face when he handed them over; a bribe from a stopover at a gas station to stop your complaints about the long drive and an entirely selfish gesture on his part, purely for the reward of your attention (and perhaps, too, for the guilty pleasure of watching you lick your fingers clean when you’d finished).

The thought reignites the heat in his body and almost instantly, all of the blood in his brain sinks to his crotch. Reigen gets hard so quickly that he almost passes out. He isn’t sure where he finds the resolve, but somehow he manages to hold back the tiny little groan that threatens to spill from his throat, instead breathing in sharply through his nose at the sensation. Reigen’s eyes flutter shut momentarily, both in pleasure and in anticipatory fear of the look on your face.

He knows you must have noticed; his suit fabric is cheap and thin, barely a barrier to hide behind, and with your own legs exposed by your skirt there’s no way you could miss it. The weak light allows him to make out that you glance down and then back up to him.

Embarrassment burns on his face.

“It’s my cell phone,” Reigen lies without hesitation, defending his pride before you can even begin to question it. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He knows better than to throw out an insult to protect his own decency, however he’s starting to panic a little more than a seasoned sleuth should be and it has nothing to do with a ghostly presence.

You clear your throat softly and nod, looking away. The smirk on your face only makes his cheeks burn more; you’ll never let this go if he doesn’t act fast and distract you. “Look, we need to make a run for it while we still have the chance,” Reigen says quietly, trying to will away his arousal as best he can. “We open the doors and sneak back to the stairs. Don’t say a word and follow my lead, got it?” He’s being stricter than he usually is, partially to conceal his humiliation and partially because he needs to put his mind to something that doesn’t involve his dick.

“Sure thing, boss,” you whisper back, and Reigen can hear the amusement in your tone. He chooses to ignore it. When you get back to the office though, he’s going to make you clean that damn sink again in penance and he won’t feel the slightest bit of guilt for watching you do it. Maybe this time, he’ll even take a picture for his private collection….

Lower down in the closet, the light is completely swallowed again by darkness and Reigen has to blindly take one hand off of your waist to slide it along the door until his fingers bump against the knob. He takes hold of it and twists, attempting to push the door outward slowly. Except, the door doesn’t move. It doesn’t even budge. Confused, Reigen twists the metal further in case he hasn’t moved it around far enough and tries again. Still, nothing happens.

“What are you waiting for?” you say, frustrated.

“It won’t open,” Reigen grunts, rattling the doorknob as hard as he dares. He can’t afford to make too much noise and draw the spirit back towards you both, but he can’t risk losing the chance to run for it, either.

“Please tell me you’re fucking kidding,” you say in a strained whisper. “Reigen, stop messing aroun-”

“I’m not!” Reigen growls, jiggling it again. “I can’t get it- it won’t open!” He applies a little more pressure, wrenching it back and forth a few more times until, after one particularly frustrated yank, there’s a sickening crunch of dead wood and more light pools into the closet via a new, small hole.

He’s ripped the entire thing off.

“Oh,” says Reigen quietly.

You stare at him in utter disbelief.

“This place is falling apart,” Reigen says, immediately protective of his screw up. “It isn’t my fault-”

“You pulled the fucking handle off, Reigen!” Your voice rises momentarily before you wrestle it back under control at Reigen’s rather brusque shhh! “You pulled it off,” you repeat, far quieter this time but still distressed. “We’ll be trapped in here for hours, you idiot!”

You’re right. The only two people who know you’re both here are Mob and Serizawa. Mob is busy with friends and it’ll take Serizawa a little while to catch on that something is wrong. The job is about forty minutes from the office; allowing for travel and the time it takes to complete the work, Reigen can safely estimate that it’ll be a while before your absence is questioned. That means he’s going to be stuck in this stupid little closet, half hard and totally distracted, with you glued to him for a long time.

He tips his head back against the closet wall and sighs, closing his eyes as he tries to wrack his brain for potential options.

Reigen wonders if he should just try throwing himself at the door and facing off with a hungry spirit. It might be more preferable than his current situation, at least.

It’s uncharacteristic of you to be so mute when Reigen fucks up, and after a few minutes of miserable silence he opens his eyes again to check that you’re still there. You are, of course, but there’s a look on your face that Reigen rarely sees you wear. Despite the shitty light, he can just about make out that your eyes are becoming wide, gaze darting around the closet, and he can feel your chest beginning to rise and fall far quicker than normal, just like it had when he’d made you jump. Your breath is coming in fast, short pants and your hands grasp at the front of his shirt.

You’re starting to panic.

Abruptly, Reigen remembers you confiding in him a while ago whilst the two of you had watched some terrible horror movie together, lounging around in his apartment one evening, about how much you disliked the thought of being trapped.

The protagonist had been buried alive and you’d barely been able to finish the rest of the movie, too caught up in the anxiety of the scenario to remember how unlikely it would be for a similar fate to befall you. You’d clutched his arm so tightly that he’d found a small bruise the next morning in the shower and he can still recall how excited he had felt to have a souvenir of your presence….

Focus! Reigen warns himself, straightening up as best he can to force himself back into the moment. Now isn’t the time!

He squeezes your waist gently, a reassuring reminder that he’s right here with you. “Calm down, I’ve got it all under control,” Reigen lies through his teeth, slipping back into his false bluster the moment he knows he’s fucking things up. “We can wait until the spirit goes back to sleep and then-”

“Spirits don’t sleep!” You snap. “I’m not waiting-”

“They totally do!” Reigen replies, annoyed that you’re questioning his ever profound knowledge. “Look, I’m the professional here, you don’t even come out on jobs so why don’t you just-”

“You got us stuck in here in the first place, mister professional,” you say angrily. Both of your voices are stage whispers now, caught between concealing your presence and yelling at one another. “There has to be a safety release in here!” Your body twists viciously as you squirm around, hands flitting across the inside of the closet in an urgent attempt to free yourself from its confines.

Somehow, despite the tiny space, the ferocity of your search manages to turn you around until your back is flat against his chest instead, your body ramming his.

Reigen is torn between biting his own tongue off in frustration at the feeling of you writhing against him and yanking you closer to seek more contact. He drops the doorknob onto his foot, praying the sound will be muffled enough that it won’t draw attention and freeing up his other hand to grab a hold of you before anything more mortifying occurs. He needs to distract you, for his sake and yours.

“Hey, stop!” He attempts to prevent you from going any further, wrapping his arms around your waist and anchoring you down. “Easy, just stay still-”

“Get off of me!” you snap, tilting your head toward him and wriggling against his grip even harder. With every move, your ass bounces off of his lap and Reigen prays to whatever god is listening that he doesn’t make any more of a fool of himself than he already has today. The sensation is sinful, like he’s fucking you with your clothes on, and Reigen isn’t sure that he can hold out like this.

“Wait,” you pant, halting your search in the darkness to reach behind yourself for his slacks’ pocket. “Your cell phone, you said you brought it in, right?” You slide your hand down behind your back, right past his midriff, and grope around for the lifeline, palming at whatever you can reach. “Call Serizawa, he can exorcise that thing and let us out!”

Those gods must be laughing at him.

Abruptly, Reigen lurches his body aside, feebly trying to avoid your intrusive touch and acutely aware that his lie is about to be found out. “Stop,” he begs you softly, starting to panic himself. “Please. You gotta stop touching me or I’m gonna-” He drops his hands from your waist to grab yours where they rest, halfway into his pockets and you wrestle with him for a second to try and move him away. Reigen swears under his breath.

The proximity and your wriggling make a horrible, delicious concoction and his body reacts accordingly: Reigen is hard again. He can’t fight it anymore, not with your hands so close to his cock and your breath so hot against his cheek.

What happens next is a complete accident, an automatic move he makes before his brain catches up: Hands clamping down around your waist, Reigen purposefully rolls his hips into the soft curve of your ass, hard enough to gain the exact, exquisite friction that he’s been denying himself the entire time he’s been in here with you. Everything occurs so fast that he just about has time to clamp his hand over his mouth to stifle a pathetic little sob as he cums, hard, in his pants. He squeezes his eyes shut, stars blooming behind his eyelids, and pants desperately as he tries to catch his breath.

At his front, you’ve gone very still.

For a few minutes, no one speaks. Only Reigen’s ragged breathing and the sounds of birds somewhere way off beyond the confines of the house fill the silence, until you finally find your voice again: "Seriously?”

Reigen isn’t a stranger to making an idiot of himself, but this is definitely a new low for him. He knows how much trouble he’s going to be in when the two of you get out of here and he can practically smell the oncoming harassment lawsuit wafting through the stale air. Although, maybe that’s just the scent of his sweaty embarrassment….

Ever keen to save face though, Reigen does his best to play stupid. “What?” He asks, voice frayed at the edges.

“Did you just blow your fucking load-”

“Absolutely not-!”

“My ass is wet, Reigen,” you hiss. “I can feel it through my skirt!”

The thin material around the front of his slacks is soaked through, he knows you can. “No, it isn’t,” he scoffs, denying it without hesitation. “You’re imagining things.”

“Liar.” You tilt your hips back minutely, just enough to rub up on his spent erection, and Reigen breathes in sharply. “I didn’t realise you were so into ghouls and near death experiences,” you whisper, sounding amused in spite of your annoyance.

“It’s not a ghoul,” Reigen corrects automatically, mouth moving independently of his brain. He swallows thickly and shifts in place. “And even if something like that did happen,” he says, trying to sound dismissive. “It’s because you won’t stop moving, it’s only natural.”

“That’s… A pathetic excuse,” you admonish, head tipped back toward him. “Even for you.” Your tongue darts out to wet your lower lip, however in such close quarters, the motion effectively wets the corner of his, too. Hot spit brushes against his lip and Reigen’s mouth parts almost of its own accord, an automatic reaction to the stimulus. The angle is awkward but your mouths slide together, the slickness of the skin unbelievably arousing.

“S’not an excuse, it’s your fault.” Reigen protests weakly, lips catching against your own as you nudge your nose along his cheek. He knows he should really apologise for his indecency, that he should try to find a way out of this situation as quickly as possible, and yet…. That heavy, unspoken feeling that so often follows him around when he’s with you is filling up the interior of the closet like thick cotton wool. Your words are sharp and stinging, but you don’t seem to be as disgusted as you sound. It makes his head swim and his legs feel weak, and in some kind of unfortunate miracle, Reigen can feel his cock stir with interest again already.

“You’re really blaming it all on me? You’re the one who dragged me along to this and you’re the one who got us locked in this closet.” You laugh quietly under your breath at him, disbelieving and more than a little entertained. “God, you’re insufferable.” You press backward again and Reigen chokes back a whimper.

“I told you to stop-”

“Stop what, boss?” you ask, feigning innocence, and fuck does he hate how much you’re able to get under his skin. No one else toys with him like this, teases him. No one else dares to question his leadership or to wind him up until he explodes. No one else except you.

Reigen grits his teeth so hard he swears he feels them creak under the pressure. “If you don’t quit moving around like that, I’m not going to be held responsible for what I do next,” he grinds out. He knows you’re provoking him on purpose and he shouldn’t fall for it so easily, but he’s powerless like this and if there’s one thing Reigen hates; it’s feeling fucking powerless.

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it?” You ask, words heavy with ridicule. “Cum in your pants again?”

Reigen has had enough of your attitude.

“Fine,” he snaps. “You want to play dirty? Let’s see how you like it.” He’s been aching to touch you for so long; if this is the only chance he’s going to get, he’ll take it. Reigen isn’t one to watch opportunities pass him by. He wants to grope and grab and feel his way all over you, and he just doesn’t have the willpower in himself to resist it anymore, especially when you’re winding him up like this.

Reigen’s hands drop from where they hold your waist, inching to your hips and down to grope at your ass. It’s just like every wet dream he’s ever had about you; you’re stuck with nowhere to go, at his mercy as he touches and grabs whatever he can reach.

You breathe in sharply at his touch and your back arches, silently seeking his attention. “That’s so inappropriate,” you whisper, and he can hear the smirk in your voice. You don’t mean a word you’re saying. “I should report you.”

“Oh yeah? So do it,” he challenges, pawing at the curve of your backside greedily. “I’m sure they’d love to hear all about how you started it.” It feels like a dam has broken inside him, a flood that he’s held at bay for so long that it’s too overpowering to put a stop to now that it’s begun to overflow, and without your outright refusal, Reigen feels justified in his act. His hips rock forward again and he shudders, his own arousal not forgotten.

At his front, you snicker to yourself at his neediness to chase the feeling and he feels one of your arms snake upward to loop around his neck, your hand clutching at the back of his hair. The action prickles goosebumps along his skin.

“Fuck,” Reigen gasps as he moves, words tumbling out in soft pants. “You couldn’t just stay still, could you? Moving your ass like that, in your stupid fucking skirt and your stupid fucking stockings.” As his hips roll into you, his fingers travel to your skirt to find the tops of said lingerie and he runs his touch up the nearest strap of your garter belt.

You make a soft sound of surprise. “Stockings? How do you know I wear stock-”

Reigen pings the elastic, cutting off your words and making you gasp at the sensation, your fingers tugging at the strands of his hair. Reigen smirks, pleased to finally get the upper hand even if only for a moment. “I’ve seen them before, in the office- drives me fuckin’ crazy, ” he pants into your parted mouth. “Every time you bend over, your skirt is too short.”

“It is? I had no idea….” You pout, lower lip touching his. The words are faker than Reigen’s confidence and it makes him grin.

“I knew it,” he says, ego emboldened. “Tease.”

“Pervert,” you fire back with a smirk, legs opening a little wider as his curious hand trails up from the band of the lingerie toward your inner thigh.

“D’you wear them every day?”

“Only when I know we’ll be alone together,” you confess.

Something about your admission turns Reigen on even more. The thought that you’re only wearing them for him, for his attention, is mind blowing. He can imagine you slipping them on in the morning, thinking of him as you study yourself in the mirror before you leave for work. Reigen squeezes your ass again and uses the leverage to his advantage as he continues to work himself against you, head filled with the intimate images.

His fingers slip up your leg until they brush against the crotch of your underwear, the curve of your pussy hidden underneath. Much to his pleasant surprise, he notices that he’s not alone in his needy desire. He can feel that you’re similarly affected by the closeness, enough wetness seeping through the lacey fabric that he suspects you might have been aroused for just as long as he has. “Look at that,” Reigen teases softly, a smug grin spreading on his face. “Acting so high and mighty when you’re just as desperate for it.” He can’t deny the swell of narcissistic pride that rises in his chest; he’s making you wet. You. The object of his obsession, the person he’s only ever dreamt of having like this. It’s his touch that has you keening and sighing, even if you won’t admit it.

You scoff, refusing to give him the satisfaction. “Am not-!” Your protests are smothered in favour of a hushed groan as Reigen’s thick finger nudges past your underwear and slides easily up into your cunt, your wetness offering no resistance at all.

“You were saying?” Reigen smirks, slowly inching his finger in and out, bit by bit. You’re so warm and tight around him, hips grinding down, back and forth in time with his motions. Every movement has your ass rubbing on him and Reigen lets out a shaky sigh as he presses up to meet you.

His dick strains against the fabric and silently, he wishes he had the room to free himself and fuck you silly. Now that he doesn’t have to pretend to be anything but the perverted mess that he is, Reigen ruts against your ass like a dog in heat. The enclosed space feels stifling with both of your bodies heating it up, sweat pooling at the back of his collar as he works himself up all over again. He knows he'll look a mess by the time you both manage to escape this place.

You’ve begun to make pretty little sounds against his mouth, hushed moans mixing with his desperate pants as he works his finger inside you and it’s so obscene that Reigen almost finishes on the spot. You’re both making too much noise and at this rate, you’re at risk of getting killed if the spirit returns to find you both doing exactly what it had accused you of breaking in for. Reigen knows he needs to quieten down and find a way to shut you up, too. In the fraction of free space between you, he nuzzles his mouth to yours. Although what you’re engaged in is amorous enough, the gesture is so intimate in comparison that it makes his heart flutter. “Can I kiss you?” Reigen asks, surprisingly timid considering how vigorously he’s fucking your ass.

Debauched as you are, you roll your eyes. “Finally,” you murmur. “He asks.” You sound almost relieved by his request, as though you’ve been hoping he might offer such a thing, and Reigen grins to himself.

When he kisses you, it’s sloppy; messy, unskilled and full of spit. He licks his way into your mouth enthusiastically and sighs at the touch, a trembling breath that whistles through his nose and dampens the skin of your cheek. You grunt at the force but you allow him to continue, coaxing his tongue with your own in an attempt to slow him down. Reigen doesn’t listen. He’s too confident in his own ability to take advice from you and far too excited to calm himself down anymore.

Between your legs, he presses a second finger into you, relishing in your gasp of pleasure. You’re so wet that his palm is quickly becoming slick with your arousal as he pumps his fingers and Reigen relinquishes your mouth with a lewd smack. “Fuck, you’re really into this aren’t you?” He says, bumping noses with you. “So wet and-!” Reigen’s words end in a choked off moan as you let go of his hair and drop your hand to reach behind you, cupping his cock mid-thrust.

You grasp him firmly through his damp slacks and let him grind into your grip. “You’ve got a big mouth, Reigen,” you pant, teasing. “Someone ought to teach you how to use it.”

Your hand is all he needs. Reigen is too greedy to stop himself when he knows his end is near and even if he wanted to, he’s helpless to stop it. He ought to at least try and hold on, to make up for his earlier premature finale and prove that he’s good at this kind of thing so you’ll think he’s somewhat of a decent fuck and maybe even ask for it again, but he just can’t.

A tension builds in his lower stomach, red hot and carnal, and then he’s cumming all over again, spilling into his already-filthy underwear. Reigen shudders violently, seizing you in another clumsy kiss. He almost bangs heads with you as he attempts to cover the pathetic little moans that bubble up out of him by smothering them into your mouth. Reigen’s knees feel weak again and he slumps against the closet wall behind him, breathing hard and totally spent.

You tip back the short distance with him and laugh . “So soon? I was just starting to enjoy myself….”

The back of Reigen’s neck heats up and he curls his fingers. “Sounded like you were enjoying yourself plenty,” he snipes, out of breath but still able to find a sharp-tongued reply.

You choke on a moan and wiggle your ass to encourage him. “I could stand to enjoy myself a little bit more,” you say, cheeky.

Reigen grins. He might be selfish when it comes to his own pleasure, but he won’t leave you high and dry (or wet, as the case may be). “Relax,” he whispers against your ear, cocky now that he can have you at his mercy instead. “We’ve got plenty of time, you said so yourself, right?...”

•••••

In the end, it takes Serizawa three hours to come to your rescue. He exorcises the spirit and frees you both in under five minutes, and when you finally return back to the office, Reigen still has you clean under the sink before he lets you go home for the day.

reader during this fic like

[bluishfrog]

Welcome to FIC ART FRIDAY!

What is it? Well, it's pretty much in the title; we all pick a fic we like and create some art for it. We have so many lovely fics in the dteam-adjacent fandom, so let's decorate them with some art! We want to host the first Fic Art Friday in a week (May 10) and then we can just keep it a regular thing.

How does one participate? We all individually pick a fic we like and that we want to draw art for. We post our art works on fridays with the tag #fic art friday. That way we can see each other's work. I will definitely be reblogging it all here but you are not required to do that.

Who can participate? EVERYONE :D Whether you are a new or ancient Tumblr account, whether you have been drawing for years or just started right now, you are happily invited to participate.

What kind of art? Any! Medium, style and whatever is totally up to you. It doesn't have to be a big, time-consuming art piece either. Doodles, sketches, we love to see it all!

In terms of rating, I usually make sure to stay within the same rating as the fic that inspires my art but that's just how I go about it.

Do we have to draw every week? Absolutely not! We do want to make it a regular thing but it should more be something that gives us a little push when we want to make art for a fic anyway and not a "we need to force ourselves to push out fic art every week". It's supposed to be fun :D

Should we ask the writers whose fic inspired our art for permission first? We can if we want to! But according to the answers on this post, it is not something that is required.

Happy creating and we are so excited for the first Fic Art Friday next week! :D

Love,

Yumi (@mahikamihan) and Blu (@bluishfrog)

PS: if you have any questions or if you just wanna talk about your art and need some motivation, feel free to reach out to us! Both our asks and dms are open :)

[devsgames]

"Is Tumblr Blaze Worth It For Promoting My Indie Game?" - a Postmortem

Lately I've been thinking about marketing and promotion of my games and wanting to explore new avenues. Tumblr Blaze was one of those things I wanted to dip my toes into a bit to understand how it works and if it has potential for advertising my sort of stuff. Like as not, there's no point in making games if nobody actually plays them after all!

Conversely I have also heard bad things about Tumblr Blaze; that it's not very targeted, the reach is fairly limited, and people on this site generally hate anything that is Blazed to them.

I wanted to test all these waters a bit to see if it's something worth investing in, and share what I found for my own benefit and the benefit of others. Finding various info on topics like this for indie dev can be a pain, so why not share my findings?

The Plan and Goal

While Centauri Dark is still in development and is the thing I actually want to advertise more of right now, Bombing!! 2 is already out and is much more marketable with some cool art made by community members. I think as a first impression it tends to show well, so I decided to make my test post with that to get exposure to it and see how it goes.

My goal was mostly to see what a Blaze post does for advertising a launched indie game and how much "eyes on" it actually gets in terms of actual engagement.

Posting

From the outset I knew I wanted to make a post that 1) wasn't annoying to people just looking at the webbed site 2) featured a call to action of some kind I could measure 3) wouldn't break the bank.

Here's what I came up with:

The intention was to flash some cool looking art to grab their attention, explain what they're looking at, and then link the game a couple of times while mentioning "Buy or Wishlist" for good measure as a call to action.

Since Bombing!! 2 is such an art-forward game, I found the coolest art pieces made by community members that felt the most "Tumblr" to match the audience, and would also show off the range of art you could make in the game. I also wanted to make it personal, like me writing a message to whoever would read it instead of something that sounded like a standard ad. Generally I think it was a fairly reasonable little post that catches some interest and doesn't overstay too much of a welcome. What I think also helps is it's explicitly a "hey this might interest you" sort of framing (as opposed to a more "why am I even seeing this" sort of post you tend to get from Blaze sometimes).

I also think it's worth emphasizing that writing a posted explicitly intending to be Blazed was a much stronger approach than just Blazing some random post I had made for my own followers months ago, because I could align it to my promotional goals. It also assumed that random people on the Internet would be the ones seeing my post, and not the followers and friends who already know me and my work.

Blazing

As I looked into Blaze early on there was actually a few key things I wasn't fully aware of about the system.

It guarantees a minimum amount of views

It guarantees it will be Blazed for a minimum of 24 hours no matter how many views

You pay a single base rate for the whole campaign (great compared to some ads which tend to price based on views/engagement).

You can define an audience explicitly (some info that was floating around lead me to believe this wasn't the case).

Campaigns come in a few amounts:

I paid for the 2nd tier; $17 USD for a campaign, which amounts to $25 CDN. I wanted to go a little more into it than the lowest tier offered, since I figured the lowest wouldn't give me as much data as I would've liked and I wanted to know what to reasonably expect should I decide to do it again in the future.

Since Bombing!! 2 sells for ~$20USD I also figure if the Blaze campaign prompts at least two people to buy the game then the Blaze would have paid for itself.

Blaze lets you use tags to define which audiences you want to reach. Unfortunately it doesn't let you view that data after you've applied it, but the tags I chose were generally anyone who spoke English and has an interest in Digital Artist or Video Game circles.

The campaign ran for 24 Hours, starting yesterday and ending today.

The Results

I definitely noticed a sharp uptick in engagement during the campaign! It hit the target audience of ~7k around one hour into the campaign, after which point I noticed engagement take a sharp decline.

Here's the Blaze campaign analytics provided by Tumblr (which was also very helpful to have):

So it seems ~12.5k views from Blaze, ~370 likes, ~80 reblogs, 5 shares elsewhere. The post itself has ~520 notes, so I assume there's some reblogging and liking happening from beyond the Blaze campaign that isn't pictured here. The good thing is that despite having reached its 7k target after only 1 hour, it continued to circulate and be Blazed until 24 hours later. Eventually the post made it to ~12k views overall, which was nearly double the amount promised by the campaign - I attribute this mostly to a strong post/target audience/subject matter and I'm sure it's not standard.

Here's the general velocity of engagement around when the post was Blazed:

It jumped much more than I honestly expected, but you can tell Blaze seemed to put it in front of people's faces more than my regular posts do. You can see it drops off sharply as I hit the quoted amount as well, back down to the normal amount of engagement I get on Tumblr.

But this stuff isn't really what I was looking for; I was looking for sales and keeping an eye on 'conversions' - or how many users followed my call to action because of the post. Likes and stuff are fine and cool, but how many people bought or wishlisted the game on Steam as a result of seeing the post on Tumblr?

Tumblr and Blaze obviously have no way of telling me this, so I'm looking to Steam to show me changes there.

Here's what Steam shows me happened to the Bombing!! 2 views yesterday:

That's not nothing! This shows the last month's worth of traffic to the Bombing!! 2 page, and that number was at least double yesterday as it was regularly. It's very cool to know a number of people did actually click through to the game page in order to view the game from the Blaze post.

But the real REAL question is how many bought or wishlisted the game because of this post?

I'll start with Sales, on a graph of 1 month of data:

Flat line :( Which is fine though, as the game wasn't on Sale and was just reaching people for the first time. I didn't honestly expect any immediate sales from this, and was more focused on other engagement anyways. Honestly I would be surprised if someone saw the game on a Blaze post and bought it immediately. I mean it's good but it's probably not THAT good!

Now to Wishlists, which can be a good indicator of who might likely buy your game in the future. Basically if someone has added a game to their wishlist, there's reason to believe they might buy it in the future, which is good for your game.

Here's the Wishlists for Bombing!! 2 from the last month:

That's 23 Wishlists in one day! That's roughly ~18 Wishlists more than an average day!

It's hard to know if some of these are because of the post or just a statistical fluke. However, when compared to previous trends on the game page that's quite a noticeable difference. It means even if no one bought it now, they were interested enough to add it to their shortlist. Looking at it another way, if two people who Wishlisted decided to buy the game in the future the campaign will have paid for itself.

Conclusions

I think like any advertising if you go into it with a plan in mind and try to build something around a specific action, Blaze seems pretty worth it to me especially if I just want to get eyes on something. On top of the obvious data telling me people were interested in the game, there was a few folks who just plain complemented the game or acknowledged it 'was the first Blaze post they were actually interested in', which felt worth it in it's own qualitative sort of way. It's also worth noting my game sells for $20USD, so the margins are large enough that making it back isn't too challenging.

I think having an idea of the message I wanted to send really helped, and I'm sure I'd happily do this again with a larger audience and another plan (and probably will do it for when Centauri Dark releases).

[chlorinatedpopsicle]

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-023-02717-0

In an online survey of 1124 heterosexual British men using a modified CDC National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 71% of men experienced some form of sexual victimization by a woman at least once during their lifetime.

If men would like male sexual victimization to be taken more seriously, maybe they should start by not responding to news about instances of male sexual victimization with jokes and/or "he's so lucky!!" comments. I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about, but here's a small example:

I don't know about you, but I never see women making “I got raped by a priest” jokes, “don't drop the soap” jokes, or “fellas, how would you react if you found her? [picture of unconscious or dead woman]” jokes, etc. I only ever see men and boys doing that, strangely enough. Until men and boys stop doing that all the fucking time, I'm gonna find it hard to sympathize with their plight.

The study examines how men may feel discouraged from speaking out about instances of sexual victimization because – as a result of male socialization and male gender expectations – they are afraid of showing any emotional weakness / vulnerability; men may see any display of emotional distress as emasculating. This is true. However, one has to ask: who are the ones who perpetuate these male gender expectations in the first place? Who are the ones pushing these ideas of masculine stoicism; the idea that men mustn't show weakness? In case you've been living under a rock, liberal women have been encouraging men to show more emotional vulnerability for decades now. Liberal women push the “men's mental health matters!!! male SA victims are valid!!!” stuff harder than anyone, even MRAs. Just as men are the ones making the rape jokes, these masculine gender expectations are taught and upheld almost entirely by men. They created the stigma all on their own.

Anyway, let's address the elephant in the room: 71% is a big number! I have to wonder, though, how many of the reported sexual victimization incidents were rape, and how many were things like unwanted sexual comments, groping, and leering. Those things are definitely distressing and even psychologically damaging, but nobody should deny that they are not on the same level as sexual assault – something experienced by a staggeringly high number of women and girls. Anyway, here it is:

As I expected, forced penetration (what I would consider rape) doesn't make up a whole lot of that percentage. If you want, you can scroll through some of the tags on my blog to see how statistics for female SA victims differ. Well, probably. Tumblr's tagging system is finicky.

I'm sorry, but I'd rather focus my concern on the things that men are doing. Like mass-scale sex trafficking and prostitution. And violent pornography. And spycam terrorism / voyeuristic porn / deepfake porn. And forced child marriage and bride kidnapping. And barring girls from going to school. And female genital mutilation. And forcing women to wear head-coverings and then brutally assaulting and arresting them if they don't comply. And constant femicides. And "honor" killings. And incestuous rape and sexual abuse at horrifying rates. And brutal domestic violence. And every war in the history of humanity (and all the violence that war entails). And committing over 90% of violent crimes. And raping the female patients in their care. And raping babies and corpses and animals like it's nobody's business. And other quirky male activities. Thanks for the ask!

[aziraphales-library]

Hey! So I just read a Tumblr post about a costumer always going to this one coffee shop and asking for the most disgusting thing ever and NEVER drinking it (and one time they took a sip, they said yuck). And it got me thinking. Do you have any fics here about A or C doing something once as a joke or whatever and then it scaling and they can't back out now, but like, humorous? Could be this sort of setting, could be any other setting. The only tags I can come up with for similar things is the fake dating/married, but I'm pretty sure I've already read most of what's there and I want something different to that anyway. Hell, it doesn't even need to be A and/or Z who are stuck in that situation. I just really wanna read more stuff like this.

Hi! There isn't a specific tag for this kind of fic, really. But you might find similar fics to enjoy on our #misunderstandings tags. And here are some fics I think fit the idea you're describing...

Would you like to get a drink? by AppleSeeds (G)

Crowley has been drooling over the handsome checkout operator in his local supermarket for months and finally summons the courage to approach him. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for Crowley's brain to shut down completely.

Calling All Catchers by Quefish (E)

Crowley is horny and puts out a personal ad, Aziraphale knocks on the door.

Ways to Make You Smile by WickedWriter (M)

Crowley has always been awkward around anyone who he develops feelings for. While Aziraphale is always nice to him, he can't help but screw things up when trying to flirt. But when he starts making latte art to impress his angel, it was only a matter of time before he found a way to cock things up again. Rated M for adult themed jokes and puns

Sansevieria by KissMyAsthma & leukozyna (M)

Crowley is on the prowl for a rare plant. Unwilling to pay such a high price, he takes a stroll to the plant shop to look for an alternative... then meeting a handsome stranger who happens to own the plant of his dreams. How far will Crowley go to seize a cutting of this botanical masterpiece? Or: when you want to get a cutting of a rare, expensive plant, what do you do? You slither your way into the pants of its owner (too bad if you fall in love on the way)

Thrown for a Loop by MickyRC (T)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a large amount of yarn will be assumed to be a knitter. It is a truth universally acknowledged among crocheters that this is annoying as hell. In his many years crocheting, Aziraphale has never been one to let that assumption stand. But faced with an opportunity to join a knitting group run by a very sweet new shop owner, he decides to play along. Even if it means he has to pretend he wants to learn how to knit. Even if it means he has to hide his skill with a crochet hook. It’ll be worth it to get to know Crowley better. Probably. Hopefully. (It will.)

Waking Up Slow by the_moonmoth (E)

“Then you’ll just have to come back with me," Aziraphale said. “You what?” “You’ll have to come and isolate with me, at my cottage.” The thing about messing with people, Crowley thought, was that sometimes, they genuinely surprised you. After both being exposed to coronavirus, total strangers Crowley and Aziraphale are forced to wait out their isolation together. A tale of soft winter romance by the sea.

- Mod D

[bloopitynoot]

Shadowgast Bakery/Coffee/Tea Shop Au's I Love

Okay I promised this after the Shadowgast Fics that made me Ugly Cry list, but instead I ended up doing a Space Opera-AU list. OOPS.

That's fine - it gave me some extra time to read again for this list!

So here it is, in all it's fluff and glory - some of the Bakery/Coffee Shop Shadowgast AU's that I love.

____

Starting with the longer forms:

1 Labor of Love

Labor of Love (43331 words) by OMGitsgreen (let me know if you know their tumblr so I can tag!) Chapters: 6/6 Rating: Mature Summary: "He still looked devastatingly attractive in every possible way and it wasn’t fair because he looked like he had just rolled out of the bed. Essek needed at least an hour in the morning to talk himself into being even vaguely pleasant. “Oh! Guten Morgen, and welcome back to the Xhorhaus Bakery,” Caleb said, a certain pleasant crinkle to his expression. He was smiling a soft, gentle smile that caught Essek off guard. “What can I get you this morning?” At Xhorhaus Bakery, where the Mighty Nein bake up Rosohna's most delectable treats, magic is something that is in the air. For Essek Theylss, there might just be love there too. COMPLETED

Why I loved it: This is one of my favourite fluffy fics. It's the passion for magic, the softness in the baking, and the transformation of lonely-to-in-love Essek that has my heart. This is truly a comfort fic for me, it's just so unbelievably sweet.

____

2 always the lonely ones know

always the lonely ones know (19348 words) by jolychetta/@hearthianhatchling Chapters: 6/6 Rating: General Audiences Summary: Essek Thelyss doesn't like unexpected changes, but when his usual coffee shop is replaced by a new one, he has no idea how much his life is about to be shaken up. He should hate the Chaos Crew Café and its people, but he keeps returning every day. It definitely has nothing to do with the handsome barista who served him the first day. In the following weeks, everything unravels - Essek's life, his feelings, and the friends he suddenly finds himself having. Learning to become your better self is hard work, it turns out.

What I loved about it: This fic gave me that perfect taste of the "I don't care about the results of my actions but oh no, I have friends and I think I developed a conscious" but also "this iced mocha is life changing". I loved the entirety of this fic, it was as much a fluffy coffee shop au as it was a story of unlearning and coming to terms with your actions. I almost wish it was a longer slow burn!

_____

3 read between the lines (Everything is gradual)

read between the lines (everything is gradual) (3047 words) by Chanse @spottedenchants Chapters: 1/1 Rating: General Audiences Series: Part 1 of in which caleb owns a cat café Summary: Caleb’s gaze roams, his eyes narrowing in a manner Essek can only deem analytic. If this was all a hazing prank-- “You are Jester’s… acquaintance?” Lovely. Even better. His reputation precedes him. - AKA a fateful encounter is had on one sunny day in Nicodranas

What I love about this: This is part one in a hefty cat café universe (I know it says one chapter but I think there are at least like 14 parts??)- and all of it is absolutely adorable. Caleb owning a magical cat café is honestly the most wholesome and expected thing. You've got the high strung disaster hot boy, you've got the mostly confident ginger magic man just interacting so awkwardly. If you like disaster first encounters that evolve into the cutest of relationships- this entire universe is for you. Oh and also, in later parts, Frumpkin is in charge of the cats and his thoughts are a jellicle dream.

___

On to the shorts list!

(not that these are short listed- rather they are literally just shorter in word count fics)

4 The Nicodranas Harbor

The Nicodranas Harbor (2220 words) by TheBeeIsLost (if you know them here please let me know so I can tag them!) Chapters: 1/1 Rating: General Audiences Summary: Essek didn't want to be here, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. after weeks of keeping himself cooped up in his own home he decides to finally go out and see what all the fuss about this city is. He found a bit more than he thought he would.

What I loved about it: This fic was an absolute whirlwind. Essek leaves the house one time and stumbles upon a ginger wizard barista who has him completely rattled. Very short, very sweet, and Essek Thelyss will be back.

___

5 serve with lemon and honey

Serve with lemon and honey ((1032 words) by quothhh (if you know them here let me know so I can tag!). Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Teen and up Audiences Summary: "I don't suppose you can brew me anything stronger than chai today?" Essek asks as he sits at his regular seat along the bar, fingers rubbing at the Ludinus-shaped migraine already pulsing between his temples.

Caleb laughs and tucks his book under the counter. "Ja, actually, I think I can.”

-

In which Caleb Widogast is definitely just a barista and Essek Thelyss definitely isn't a Dynasty spy.

What I love about this: The absolute wizard flirting is so lovely in this fic. It is in two parts! I do wish this world was explored more, it would have made a lovely longform. But as it is, it is wonderful. Just two- normal- absolutely not magical, absolutely not a spy, guys, just at a teashop/art gallery/bookstore/apothecary. Oh and there's a recipe in the notes of the first part *chefs kiss*.

________ And as always- I will happily accept shadowgast recs and theme recommendations for future lists! Up next: I want to do a corporate/business AU list.

[littlethingwithfeathers]

How to Use A03 if you're used to Algorithm Fed Content: A kind primer.

There's a post making the rounds where someone, I'm going to assume earnestly, asks the question, "How do people figure out what's good to read on AO3?" And predictably, while there have been some people trying to answer that question assuming that it's being asked in good faith, there have been some people ridiculing this person. Basically, spewing out the fandom equivalent of "git gud noob." Like I said... I'm assuming this person was asking out of actual ignorance and curiosity, mostly because I see a lot of people also lamenting the fact that algorithm-fed apps and fandom spaces are creating a generation of fans who don't know how to actively search for and curate the content they consume. So when they get on a place like AO3 or even Tumblr to an extent, they don't know how to find the things they want and how to curate their experience. And so I guess that's why I pulled up short when this person's question has been getting so much snark. Here's a teachable moment. Even if they are being a troll in this case (which I doubt) here's the chance to give the facts on how AO3 works so they can use this amazing archive themselves. And not just them but anyone who happens upon the post. So... I'm not an AO3 whiz by any means. I don't spend a lot of time digging around in the tags and tools and bells and whistles of the search engine. If someone else wants to reblog with some tips there, go for it. It's the best thing about AO3 in my opinion... other than the lack of censorship. But here's my tips on how to find something you'll like. This is pretty much what I do.

-Go to your fandom of choice's tag. Filter for the rating you want (Teen, Explicit, etc), and then just start scrolling. Take a peek at things that sound interesting from the tags or summaries. You might have to scroll for a bit, and you might hit some stuff that's not for you, but you'll find something eventually. Especially if it's a bigger fandom like SPN, MCU, Hannibal, or Critical Role. -If you discover/know that there's something that bothers you (unfinished work, ABO dynamics, whatever) you can filter for those tags! This is how you curate your experience. It's an active process and there are no shadow-bans or anything in place to keep sensitive content corralled into a certain area. There's a rating system, and there's tags, but nothing to actually make those mean anything unless the user blocks them. While it takes more thought than mindless scrolling, you get to play a role in actively searching out new things for yourself that an algorithm might gloss over. -Likewise, if there's something you really like or are in the mood for, search for that tag in particular. Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Coffee Shop AU... whatever your jam is. -Be careful using metrics like views, comments, and kudos as benchmarks. They fluctuate wildly by pairing, and from fandom to fandom, and are heavily influenced by date of publishing. And just because the majority of people like something, doesn't mean it's for you. If something sounds interesting... read a few paragraphs and see what's up! -Check out the Collections page under the "Browse" tabs. Often these are curated lists either from individual fans or from fanfic writing events like Big Bangs, Zines, and gift exchanges. Fanfic events like these often attract pretty experienced writers so not only is the quality likely to be very good, it's also likely to have some pretty prolific authors -When you find an author you like, and have read your fill of their offerings, see what they have bookmarked or what collections their works are in. You might find some similarly interesting stuff. It's also worth seeing if they have a blog or other social media listed on their about page. They might post some links there or be part of communities elsewhere on the internet that can open up new search avenues for you. -Don't be afraid to read old stuff. Fandoms change and evolve. There's a golden age of MCU fanfic in the 2010s that's just unlike anything else. And the Hannibal fandom has been and always will be a trip, but man it's been a wild ride through some interesting places and obsessions. -And lastly... for the love of god, comment on old stuff. It's not creepy or weird. In fact, if you like someone's writing who hasn't written in a bit, leave them a nice comment. There's this magical thing that happens when you do. Sometimes... THEY START WRITING AGAIN! (saying this from experience here.) Remember... the A in AO3 stands for Archive. It's not a social media platform. It's a library. There is -supposed- to be old stuff there. And you are absolutely allowed to read it and enjoy it and tell the author that. In fact... please do. As I said, feel free to add on if you want to give tips of your own. But be kind. I see a lot of talk about how algorithms are changing the face of fandom and how people interact with fan made content. Let's reach out and educate instead of ridicule.

[original-art-stories]

The Magnus Archives Fic list lying on my computer>

The horror and everything else. Mostly Jon centric probably...

Anatomy of a Mask - A new archival assistant is hired. Her name is Mary Sue. Starts as a comedy and absolutely does not end that way.

Plus One - Jon attends a series of parties for which a plus one is mandatory.

Decree Nisi - Elias and Peter divorce (again), and the judge is tired of their bullshit.

Reflection - Jon is haunted by himself, and refuses to take any of his advice.

Rosemary and Thyme - fantasy AU featuring romance, quests, and fairy politics.

What Belongs to the Sea - Selkie AU, mind the tags on this one.

Bell, Book, and Candle - “By the Ride or Die Pact of 2009, Jonathan Sims can call upon Georgie Barker at any time for aid with no strings attached. Despite their rocky history, their childhood friendship, and Jon’s barely recovered alcoholism, this pact is sacred and must be upheld.”

Things Could Always Be Worse - Jon swaps place with an alternate-universe version of himself, who is heroic, chivalrous, and wears plaid. It’s terrible. Inspired by the parodic “straight TMA” blog.

👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨 👁‍🗨

Sex Repulsion and Asexuality Save the World (Though That's Not What Jon Claims): canon divergent from MAG 160, in which Jon is so sex repulsed that a changed word in the Hazel Rutter statement saved the world. Crack is treated seriously.

Refusing to Give Up Tomorrow: safehouse hurt/comfort ft. MAG 160 divergence

The Eyespot Chronicles: Trilogy of works. AU where instead of going Somewhere Else, Jon and Martin stay in the OG universe. However, Jon is a moth.

Déjà Vu: Time-travel fix-it where Sasha, Tim, Jon, and Martin all wake up on the day of the day of season 1, episode 1, with memories spanning from that day to the moment they died.

terror management theory: AU where Mr. Spider kills Jon, and now Jon can't permanently die. Despite this, the fic is rather light-hearted (or at least crack)

Other Kingdoms: A season 3 fix-it, in which Martin uses a Leitner to wake Jon up. Do note that there are references to sex happening (Jon's demisexual in this), but it's rated T so nothing is shown.

When No One Looks: Dark Avatar!Jon AU set during the latter half of season 1

Chamomile: In which post season 4, the NotTea becomes a pet.

If The Archivist Had Been Meant to Fly...: Wingfic in which Jon saves Martin from Simon Fairchild

Molt: This is my favorite take on Web!Martin. This is also a darkfic, to the point that the author was made so sad by chapter 1 that they wrote chapter 2 as a fix-it to chapter 1. Also, as a warning that I would've appreciated but isn't in the tags or summary: there's a scene alluding to corrective rape, but this doesn't actually happen.

Drawn Out of the Unknown: Canon divergent s3 fic, official summary is "While investigating a possible location for the Circus's base, Martin and Tim find something unexpected.

The fic series that contributed to me listening to TMA was this Good Omens crossover by Bibliocratic. Really enjoyed it and finally between this fic and seeing TMA all over my tumblr dashboard (plus having a project to work on with my hands) I finally listened, so I'm thankful for that.

The other series I really love is>

The Magnus Institute vs the 21st Century: a series of emails and IMs which is just utterly hilarious. It's the Magnus Institute going through GDPR compliance processes and it's just fabulous.

And then one I'm still sort of following even though I don't read much TMA fic right now is

 dustsceawung by callmearcturus. It's a Moth!Jon fic with Martin as someone who moved to a town in a different fairy court (in a fae AU). Not complete and hasn't updated in a while but I really like the tone.

The world is too much with us is one of the many many many time-travel fix-it fics (I think that's a genre all it's own in the TMA fanfic community at this point). Spoiler to be on the safe side, it follows Jon after he's dropped back in 2014 by the Spiral, and relives what amounts to the next four seasons of TMA, using the experiences he had the first time 'round to try and avoid the apocalypse--and keep everyone alive in the process. Oh, and he's got the added bonus of already being an Avatar of the Eye. Very much angsty with a happy ending. This one's completed, so feel free to binge.

Martin x Jon 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41149674As everything ends, as the tower crumbles around them, Jon and Martin hold each other in a firm embrace. What they see of the world shatters, and Jon breaks with it. He awakened, alone, confused, and something was terribly wrong with him.

Tim drags Jon to a party in celebration of his promotion with one goal in mind: getting  Jon drunk off his arse.

Martin is moving to a different position within the Institute and celebrates as well.

through the clouds like a moonbeam: Jon gets wings during the apocalypse. Martin likes them; Jon doesn't.

I’ll bear the waiting now: AU where Jon is the new head archivist with two assistants, but there's a disembodied voice that only Jon can hear. Do note that there is something that looks a lot like suicide but there's a happy ending. (Alternate summary that spoils the fic: Martin is a "ghost" and also Jon's "late" boyfriend. )

true kinda love: Season 3 Co-Archivist!Jonmartin

hiding: Season 3 jonmartin kissing to hide from the Circus

The Garden of forking Paths - Jon and Martin search for each other through universes.

“What about him then?” Georgie asks.

“Who?”

“Him,” she says again like it is obvious who she means, holding up the sketchbook revealing a spread that has several loose sketches of Martin. It surprises Jon it took Georgie so long to find Martin in the book considering he had at least one-third of its entirety dedicated to him.

To graduate from art school, Jon needs to paint a nude portrait, but none of his friends are too keen on modeling for him. As a last resort, he asks a handsome barista.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46426702When Martin needs a fake boyfriend to bring to his family reunion, Jonathan Sims is the last person he would have expected to volunteer.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51906919Tomorrow, Martin begins his new job as a lighthouse keeper. He knows (hopes) he'll enjoy it. What he doesn't know (yet) is that a very, very curious selkie lives near and is intrigued enough by him to come visit.

https://archive.transformativeworks.org/works/30210444/chapters/81277828 The last fic I read (time travel)

This list has become a behemoth, comprising various lists created by others. I've saved it, but now I need to free up space. This is the process I'm undertaking for every list I've saved.

[steddieas-shegoes]

don't worry, bee happy

happy thursday and welcome to my weekly fic recs where I give the top 3 (to me) fics by some of my favorite authors! this fandom is really lucky to have so many talented people to make this possible. remember to check the tags before reading and always be kind to creators who are doing this for free because they want to. like, reblog, kudos, and comment on fics as much as you can to give them love!

this week had to bee @scarcrossdlvrs! bee has a knack for making steve even hotter than he already is, i can't explain it, just trust me. there aren't many authors who can completely change a scene by putting one single sentence of emotional upheaval in their work, but bee can and does. again, can't explain it, just trust me.

bee's tumblr | bee's ao3

Batter up! Rated E | wip/bang fic I don't even go here (baseball fandom), but I do with this fic. This is seriously one of the best bang fics out there and it's got the perfect burn speed. Also rock star Eddie!!!! They're SO HOT YOUR HONOR. Favorite part: Genuinely just the flow of this entire story is so appealing. Normally, I'm a please give me 7-10k a chapter girlie, but the shorter chapters work here SO WELL. The flashbacks, the news articles/interviews, the art pairings!!!

follow me between the jaws of fate Rated E | 7,893 words I'm not usually super into sex pollen. Like, I'll read it because it's fuckin' nasty, but it doesn't make or break a fic for me. BUT THIS ONE. Good LORD. See above where I said Bee makes Steve hotter somehow for this one because woof, bark, etc. Favorite part (this is so very explicit):

“You’re a fucking mess,” he says, and Eddie whines. He doesn’t touch Eddie’s dick just yet, his fingers dipping into the sticky, cooling spend caked in his pubic hair and bringing it up into both their lines of sight. He presses his forefinger and thumb together and spreads them, a string of cum spreading between the two, and then he wipes it on Eddie’s cheek.

“Filthy,” he says, but his voice is so gentle, so affectionate that it very nearly hurts.

the anatomy of a home run Rated E | 5,713 words Sometimes Good Boy Eddie Munson just really fuckin' slaps. Again, Bee is here making Steve hotter. Favorite part: Honestly, the dialogue for the entire thing. It was extremely realistic, sometimes fumbling, sometimes confident, sometimes shy. Exactly how it would be between these two in this situation.

[shygirl4991]

Tumblr Sexyman Tornament

Summary: The crew receive  a letter from SMG3 to join a tournament that can change the boys into men, the great tumblr sexyman tournament. The crew must go through multiple challenges to win tumblrs votes. Who will be victorious in this grand tournament? 

A gift for @alianarepasa

Tags: humor,silly, adventure, tumblr sexyman,

Everyone at the castle was running around excited, a mail toad arrived giving everyone letters to some event. SMG4 opens the letter and scoffs  “Tumblr sexyman? This is 2024 who even cares about this stuff!” Bob rolls his eyes hearing SMG4 “THAT’S WHAT SOMEONE WHO ISN'T SEXY SAY!” 

Four put the letter away and was ready to toss it till he heard Boopkins speak up “Oh but SMG4 Don't you know the host for the event is last year's winner!” hearing this SMG4 looks at the host name and goes pale “What...SMG3 WON SEXYMAN!” jealousy started to build up at the thought the internet found SMG3 of all people sexy. He snaps his fingers and turns to his crew “What are waiting for we have a competition to get to!” Everyone cheered as they ran through the portal. SMG4 eyes go wide seeing so many familiar faces in the crowd, then his eyes settle on the host himself.  Ignoring his friends calling out to him he stomps up to the host “So you manage to win tumblr sexyman huh? Must have been because true sexyness wasnt around!” he smirks at Three making the man roll his eyes. The man turned to face four “Oh i didn't expect tumblr’s pathetic man to be showing up!” 

The tension rises as the others watch the pair bicker on the stage, Boopkins frowns “Why can't we just get along and have fun with this?” SMG3 and four get close their bodies almost pressed against each other as they smirk “Just you wait and see im taking your title, no one can beat my level of sexy,” SMG3 chuckles leaning forward at this rate any wrong step and the pair would end up kissing  “Then show me how sexy you can be, cause a loser like you don't know how to rizz anyone up.” Mario, seeing the tension between them steps forward, everyone gave him a confused look “HEY YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!!” 

Both mens faces go red at that moment realizing how gay they must have looked as they step away from each other, then in sync yell “SHUT IT YOU ASS!”  SMG3 takes a deep breath “Alright everyone! Let the games begin and SMG4 get off my stage!” he shoves Four off the stage making the man glare at him. SMG3 takes out a whiteboard and starts drawing on it, everyone watches excited for their first challenge. He points to the board and smiles “Okay everyone now that we have all invited accounted for let's begin! Your first challenge will be confidence, to be sexy you must be confident in all you do!

Everyone was taken by Ugandan knuckles to a personalized booth, each contestant had different prompts that will help them show their confidantes. SMG4 walked into the booth ready to show his stuff, looking around he noticed a computer with his youtube channel pulled up. He gets closer to the computer “My channel?” he hears a chuckle as the lights turn off, SMG4 jumps in fear “Uh hello? What's the challenge?” with a blink the lights turn back on. He looks down to notice he was now wearing a dress, then a camera comes out of the wall with a note “Well four, I'm sure your fans are excited for your new video!” 

Hearing this, four panics “What i'm not making a video in a dress!” Another note appears catching his attention giving him a warning if he doesn't he will be kicked out. He sighs looking at the camera “Hey everyone it's me…Princess SMG4…” he could feel himself cringing, he needed something to spark a fire. Remembering that his rival did these challenges with no issue he smiles at the camera placing his hands on his hips “And i'm about to show you some royal class memes!” After passing the challenge he was ready to get out of the dress “No no SMG4, real sexyman will finish the whole thing in a dress!” Hearing the smug tone in SMG3's voice  angered four as he stepped out of the booth. To his surprise half of the people that started are gone, he walks up to the crew that gives him different looks “Don't ask.”

Mario gives him a thumbs up “You make pretty bride!” he glares at Mario for his comment. Meggy giggles and pats his back “Hey it's not bad you have to wear a dress, i was in a battle with no splatgun!” Everyone talks about their first challenge, they all sounded intense so why was he making a youtube video in a dress. A bell rings catching the crews attention “The votes are coming in hot guys time for challenge two!  The internet is a sucker for bad boys, so your next challenge is to show how bad you all can be!” 

Everyone nods getting ready, SMG4 glares at Three “How am i supposed to do that in a dress?!”  Three laughs at the man “Not my problem! Alright viewers at home get ready to vote!” SMG4 walks up to the stage confusing three, suddenly four jumps three and they start fighting, knocking over the camera and ruining the set. Three gets up rubbing his head to notice he was now wearing the white dress they put on four “OI! GIVE ME BACK MY CLOTHES!” SMG4 running off in threes outfit sticks his tongue out as he attempts to catch up with the others. He was already falling behind as he watched the others rob banks and pirate movies, he looked around thinking how he can be a bad boy.  An idea comes to mind as he sneaks up to Mario, he just robbed a restaurant of all its spaghetti. He was laughing and not paying attention to the bag, SMG4 grabs the bag and starts running “IM SORRY!” 

Mario turns looking at his best friend in shock before getting angry and starts charging after the meme guardian. Four started screaming as he was being chased, he did his best to avoid the fat Italian as the votes started coming in. Three fixes his dress annoyed that it was dirty and smiles at the camera  “Times almost up everyone you have five more minutes to commit your crime!”  SMG4 slides in a small gap knowing that Mario wouldn't fit, he lets out a sigh of relief until he starts hearing singing. He starts to shake as he turns looking through the hole. That's when he saw Mario’s arm stretch towards arm. Panicked, he grabs a chair and starts to smack Mario’s arm away till the timer rings letting everyone know the challenge is done.

SMG4 fixes threes hat to make sure it doesn’t fall off his head, he drops the bag of food which Mario jumped the moment he saw it. SMG3 walks up to the final contestants “DUDE WHAT IS WITH THAT GAY AS DRESS?” SMG3 glares at him “Shut it bob, and I know lots of people love seeing someone as sexy as me rock a dress!”  Three glares at his partner before pointing the letter in his hands “Everyone has placed their votes, we know the winner!”

SMG4 eyes go wide surprised “what two challenges and that's it?!” Three scoffs at the comment “Sexyman isnt about skill its about being sexy to the viewers, we can have all the challenges wont change the mind of fans you of all people should know that idiot.” Four sighs looking down, SMG3 would know better than anyone about how fans can be given the creepy fan mail the man gets. The drum rolls and as three opens the letter “In fifth place Mario…which is surprising he ranked so high when he mostly ate paste,” he sighs as he changes the card to see the next person. 

“Fourth place is Toad! Many people watching loved how you hacked into SMG4 channel and posted that video of him in a dress!” SMG4 eyes go wide as he turns to Toad who was laughing, flipping him off, in a panic he takes out his phone and curses to himself. The internet graveyard has no internet beside the starbucks, he was going run to the cafe close by only to get grabbed by Three. “Third place, Meggy for her display of confidence in the badass showdown against the infestation of rat memes that i didn't want to deal with!” SMG4 struggles against Threes hold “Let go bitch i need to delete the video!!” ignoring his partner he flips to the next card his eyes going wide. Looking up he stares at Bob “Uh Bob..for his sick raps…and dad body? The fuck?” SMG4 stopped struggling to look at the card alongside Three. The card showed they recounted the votes multiple times to make sure it was correct. 

Now it was the time everyone was waiting for, SMG4 seeing how he was the only one, got excited. He expected to hear his name only to be surprised “It’s me again! Wow I'm shocked you guys find me so sexy you voted for me when i wasn't even a part of this!” Four grabs the note reading it “That's bullshit then what about me!?” SMG3 smirks “I did say your tumblr’s pathetic man congrats!” Four stares at three “What…WHAT DO YOU MEAN PATHETIC WHAT ABOUT ME IS!” The two start fighting as the crew congratulates each other for their placement. Then they turn to watch the pair fight, Bob decides to make it fun by starting bets as the men argue through the night. 

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hi Steph!! Hope you are doing well, and otherwise, have some hugs! (you can also have hugs if you are doing well xD)

Random question, because why not: any pet peeves you have when reading something? Mine is when I see a discontinued fic that is marked "completed", learned the hard way to check for the abandoned tag hahah

Hi Lovely!

Thank you for the hugs! I could be better, but just trying my best to go day to day <3

Ooo, I like random questions, hahah! Hmmm, ooooooof this is a tough one because I don't want to sound pretentious or like a douche, because everyone has a writing preference AND not everyone can have a beta AND not everyone's first language is English, so this is VERY VERY personal and subjective... Please don't take my word as gospel.

For me, immediately, it's primarily grammar mistakes that take me RIGHT out of a story. I love grammar and spelling. Biggest one for me is – and I KNOW this is a stylistic thing, but it's the easiest thing to spot right away – are stories written in ALL lowercases and no line breaks for dialogue. It bothers the snot out of me and will pull me right out. I don't read stories if I can see the first few paragraphs beyond intros (because sometimes it IS a style choice for the intro part of a story). The story has zero capital letters starting new sentences... I don't know WHY it bothers me, but it does. Lowercase titles don't bother me, just the full story itself. BUT a lowercase title usually has me clicking warily into a story. The lowercase stories with poor line breaks is usually the no-go for me.

Following that, also grammar-wise, is if the author uses "it's" vs "its". My brain always separates contractions, so I will stop DEAD in reading to try to make sense of "the dog wagged it is tail". I can't help it, I wish I could read past it without noticing it, but I do, and I can't fix my brain from doing that. In the same vein, is if the author uses "wary" vs "weary". I know "lay" and "lie" is big for many but it's one of the few that don't bother me. Basically, if an author uses the wrong spelling of a same-but-different-word.

And finally, because I got spoiled with AO3, is improperly-tagged fics, or when an author "tumblr-tags" a fic... With the latter, it just effs up the search results, stop doing it, I don't want to read through all of it to find the 3 actual tags on a fic for the fic, Tumblr-talk in the notes of your story, that's what it's for. For the former, I've read stories that "are worried about spoilers!" so they don't tag the big triggering event in their story and I've genuinely stopped and never read stories by authors ever again because of it. I GET not wanting to spoil a story, but I don't want to be reading a fic that is progressing along as a fluff and adventure fic and then suddenly Sherlock is a serial killer.

I don't know, spoiled, first-world problems, I know. AND I DO read fics that don't have tags, but I go into those stories knowing anything-goes based on whatever it's rated. It's when a story HAS tags, that doesn't tag certain things because "spoilers" well, it defeats the purpose of having a tagging system.

Again, pretentious douchecanoe, I am, I guess.

Bleh, aside from those, really nothing else... It's all mainly grammar issues for me.

AGAIN I want to stress – since I do have a few authors who follow me – this is ALL personal and NOT everyone has these issues, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[bug-decal-kissing]

Hey friends!

3 boss's, by creatorcindy, was updated today, with 2/2 Chapters released! It has a rating of Teen And Up Audiences and No Archive Warnings Apply, with additional tags "prism / scrabby and selly belongs to chaos!, jupi/jupiter is liqu3ds on tumblr, emma seenoevil is mine, this is on crack, Fluffpeople getting drunk, wine mention, beer usage, selly does not want to deal with this."

You can read it here:

EVEN AFTER THEY'RE DEAD EVERYONE IS VIBING <3 IT FILLS ME WITH A COMFORTING JOY <333 They're all so sillay so 💅/j

NSFW works are below the cut :].

A new work, Authority Chain by my_own_new_paradise, was published today, with 1/1 Chapters released! It has a rating of Mature and Graphic Depictions Of Violence, with additional tags "Violence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Orbo is the antagonist, prismo has ADHD, human prismo, human scarab, alternative universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Physical Abuse, Protective Prismo, Scarab loves Prismo but can't confess his feelings, Prismo loves Scarab but is too shy to confess his feelings, Cosmic Owl and Prismo are BFFs, They work on a company, Graphic Descriptions of Physical Abuse, Authority Abuse, Scarab suffers from stress, Scarab is afraid of his boss, Prismo will do whatever he must or have to do to protect Scarab, Regret, Hurt, Scarab doesn't abuse his authority, He's just severe, Cosmic Owl tries to prevent Prismo from getting into trouble, Flirting, take italics away from meseriously, I hate them so much, Prismo wants to be a well known writer, i changed the rating to Mature"

You can read it here:

Rattling on the bars of my cage, they need happy things to happen to them, they need to hold hands and be in love and have everything be nice forever/silly

[xviruserrorx]

Title: "An Undesirable Hunger"

I really really really enjoyed writing this one. I changed tenses than from what I normally use and kinda matched the style to how I'm writing for my main fic (which why haven't I've done this before?) And Its good, I think it's good. Anyways... For @merlinmicrofic and the prompt "Hunger/Hungry" and I'm trying to do a fic everyday for Aromantic-Spec Awareness Week so I wrote for the prompt "Oriented AroAceApl"

Merlin Micro Fic - Tumblr | Ao3 - [Prev <- • -> Next]

Aromantic Awareness Week 2024 - Tumblr | Ao3 - [-> Next]

Fandom: BBC Merlin

Prompt(s): Hunger/Hungry, Oriented AroAceApl

Relationship(s): Morgana-Centric, minor relationships - Morgana & Gwen, Morgana & Arthur Pendragon & Uther Pendragon

Character(s): Morgana Pendragon, Uther Pendragon, Arthur Pendragon, Gwen

Important Tag(s): Pre-Season/Series 01, Big Sister Morgana, Siblings Morgana & Arthur Pendragon, barely mentioned but it's there, Background Morgana & Gwen, Background Morgana & Uther Pendragon, Food as a metaphor, Oriented AroAceApl Morgana

Rating: Gen

Warning(s): None

Word Count: 500

“Surely one of Camelot's fine young men has caught your eye.” She bites her smile but it fades for her soon. “Perhaps you'll even marry,” Uther continues.

Or

Over the years Morgana can't find herself to care for trivial things which she finds soon rears it's head on her twenty-first birthday.

Continue reading below or over on Ao3

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It was always there, the part of the garden reserved when Morgana came to Camelot. For a tree, Uther said. Wasn't till three summers into her stay when the gardener showed her the seed and planted it.

Though it wouldn't bear fruit; not for years. The garden was new, and she was impatient.

She's a woman, as all the castle whispered. It's at the feast celebrating those twenty-one summer's that Uther rambles on, consumed by wine.

“Surely one of Camelot's fine young men has caught your eye.”

Arthur makes a face, sticks his tongue out and lifts his fork to continue his meal. She hasn't even begun to eat.

She bites her smile but it fades for her soon.

“Perhaps you'll even marry,” Uther continues.

She places her fork back and brings her hands to her lap. She listens and doesn't speak as he drones on about the different Lord's son's and newly knighted men.

The feast can't end quick enough before she's back in her chambers.

“Here, my lady.” Gwen hands over an orange. It's peeled and she can see the white pith from the peel is stuck under her nails. “I know you didn't eat.”

She takes it. It's not sweet, not savory, not anything perhaps. She smiles as she feels the skin break and the pulp burst between her teeth. It's bitter. She eats the whole thing. Her fingers are sticky and she feels full despite it all.

She still smells the fruit on her hands as she sits, embroidering the next morning.

Gwen runs her hand over wrinkled sheets. “Attending the tournament?”

“I have to. Uther's holding it for me.” She pulls the needle up and through and feels for the underside. “I can't see why.”

“For potential suitors,” Gwen replies matter-of-factly.

The cloth leaves her blind as the needle pokes through and breaks her skin. It's coated red and blood pools on the surface of her finger as she gasps from the sudden pain.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

“Yes. Silly me.” She licks the blood from her wound. It's rotted, it's been for years.

It doesn't leave her mouth. The same as Gwen stays in her eyesight as she sits for dinner that night.

“You've caught the eye of Sir Bertram,” Uther remarks as the plates are laid before them.

“Have I?” She isn't hungry. Why isn't she hungry?

Uther smiles, nods, favoring the honied fruits.

Grimacing, she pushes her plate away from her.

“Aren't you going to eat?” Arthur talks; mouth full and crumbs all around it.

She shakes her head. “Not hungry.”

She's made up her mind as a servant takes her plate away. Not more or less. Just something different.

So she walks where the seed was planted. Red cherries hang on the branches that have taken years to grow. 

She rips them from their stems. They stain her fingers and stain her lips as she bites into them. 

She smiles; their bittersweet. 

So she cradles her hunger and indulges it.

[girls-are-weird]

MASTER LIST: One Fic for Each Fandom [A-I]

i've been working on this for months now, y'all, i'm so tired. Dx

many, soooo many years ago, i came up with the idea of recommending one fic, not necessarily the best or biggest or most popular fic, but definitely my ultimate favorite fic for every fandom i was in at the time or had been in at some point up to then. there are some fics i love so much that i go back to them periodically, maybe every couple of years, even if i'm not active in that fandom anymore. so i thought having a list of them somewhere i could easily find them was a pretty good idea.

narrator: she forgot where to "easily" find the list.

but i still liked the idea a lot, and i told myself when i found the list again, i would update it with fics for all the fandoms i've joined/read for since then. well, a couple of days as of the first drafting of this post, i finally found my original list on my old livejournal (christ, i'm old) and decided i would start on that update, but to post on my tumblr blog instead.

so here it is. they're not all romance, though most of these will include one or more of my favorite ships for their respective fandom (which you can find at my ships archive), even if it's just in the background. some of the fics are the same as i had in my original list, but some of them are not, simply because i've found fics i love even more since then. needless to say, most of those that were 'ported from my original list are quite old or written before canon was finished (the list is from 2006… please refrain from commenting if you weren't born back then, lol. i'm acutely aware that my early fandom life is basically ancient history to most of you). even some from more recent fandoms might be pretty old or non-canon-compliant, simply because i've been collecting fandoms since time immemorial. some might contain elements that would be considered problematic in this day and age. some might be unfinished. they're all special to me in some way.

some fandoms seem to have slipped through the cracks in the transition between FFN (where favorites and alerts are very organized but i always forgot to use them, and there's no read history) and AO3 (where subscriptions and history are unreliable and impossible to search through, and there's no way to see which fics you've left kudos on)-- srsly, how hard is it to just save everything in this age of big data? smdh. some of the links might not work, as you might imagine-- it'll take me some time to find new links, or to figure out if the fic is still even on the internet. if you've heard of these fics and know where they can be currently found, please let me know! because of that reason, i haven't listed ratings for every single one, though i've tried to add that in where i can find it. still, i hope this is helpful for someone, and i'm going to keep it pinned on my blog so i NEVER, EVER forget where it is again (and can regularly update it as i am sucked into more fandoms).

back in the day, i had hoped this format could catch on as a meme type of thing, so that other people could take it as a template and make their own fandom recs lists. so i'd love to see yours! be sure to tag me if you decide to do this. :)

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[ FANDOMS A-I BELOW, J-Z HERE ]

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THE ADVENTURES OF SHIRLEY HOLMES

the case of the mysterious man (and sequels!) by HA senidal / @ha-senidal (PG/T).

with newcomer blake hewitt joining her and bo, shirley investigates a stranger who might know something about the recently stolen mona lisa.

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AA! MEGAMI-SAMA / OH! MY GODDESS

no mere mortal (and sequels!), by ed sharpe.

keiichi's cousin kenji comes to visit the temple for a week. what mischief will he get in with the three goddesses?

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AGENT CARTER

renegades by inkdust / @ink-dust (M).

or, peggy & daniel against the world

the real world doesn't have a hollywood ending. in fact it doesn't even pause. but they're a team. a wonderful team.

post-finale.

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ANNE WITH AN E

the secret of distance by lil_redhead / @royalcordelia (T).

anne and gilbert embark on their journeys, but stay close to each other at heart. courting across 1000 miles isn't easy, but they're more than willing to step up to the task. (a post s3 story).

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ARTEMIS FOWL

endings and beginnings by novawastaken / @nova-fanart-dump (T).

begins right after the second to last chapter of the last guardian and continues on to the final chapter and beyond. spoilers for the last guardian! SPOILERS! no romance in here, but artemis/holly romance in the epilogue.

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ATTACK ON TITAN

stress relief by pepin-bones (M).

soldiers lead stressful lives, which means they need ways to unwind and cope with the stress of what they see and what they do - sometimes in unconventional ways. but eren thinks it's ridiculous, or at least he did…

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AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

annakpok by dariussobreitus (E).

a "stolen" wife amdist a world rebuilding after a century of war, a repentant fire nation trying to redeem its wrongs and earn good deeds. excuse for invasion or not, the wife who left the northern tribe chief will be reclaimed, even if the poles of the south, and the capital city of the southern tribe, annakpok, must melt.

an AU of the avatar series with events inspired by the movie troy and their versions of the illiad. there will be differences, in both characters and events, with emphasis on key characters, battles, war, strategy and hopefully some the nuance within.

while serving in similar roles to the illiad/troy counterparts, the avatar characters are very much themselves and not heavily influenced by the illiad characterizations.

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BACCANO!

the successful wooing of chane laforet by splashfree (T).

“i’m in love with you, chane laforet,” he says. “and at the end of the day, that’s all there is to it.”

claire and chane go on a date. wackiness ensues.

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BANANA FISH

fool for lesser things by snow_falls / @nightofviolet (E).

"he knew irrefutably that if eiji left he would take something fundamental to ash with him, and without that, what would be the point in living? he might as well have let Foxx finish him, if he was going to cop out now. no, sing was right, the little brat, what the fuck would be the point if he didn’t go with eiji? god, he was an idiot."

or the fix it fic we all need. the alternate ending i cherish in my heart of hearts.

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BLEACH

next, home by inlay (T).

rukia was sitting in his room the first time he opened his eyes after. he does not know if this was a dream, or reality—remembers only that she looked very pale, and that there was a small, black hell butterfly perched on her finger. in this vision, she looked startlingly similar to the girl who used to crouch on his windowsill before school, shiny black shoes and black hair. he watched her for as long as his eyes could stay open, waiting for her to notice him and tell him what was happening. the battle hadn't felt like the deciding, dramatic finale he'd been subconsciously expecting, and he keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop.

what next?

(or, sometimes it takes a couple lifetimes to learn the difference between a love and a soulmate)

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THE BOOK THIEF

a changing of hands by antistar_e (kaikamahine) / @kaikamahine (T).

it happens like this, in a single fateful moment. a pilot sneezes, and the bombs, when they fall, are off-target. [AU].

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CAPTAIN PLANET

heroes for earth (and sequels!) by stephensmat (T).

our world is in peril. the conscious soul of the earth is aware that since the error is ours, the power to stop the chaos must be ours as well. an updated retelling of the series pilot. an origin story based on the premise of the show.

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CARD CAPTOR SAKURA

haikei (and its sequel, kitaku), by ciircee (PG/M).

when eriol left japan tomoyo promised to write. a history of time, in letters. ExT. part of third arc universe.

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COWBOY BEBOP

tuesday's gone by neviana (M).

she always had a way of surprising him. everything from emptying her glock into the ceiling of the bebop when he left to the icy glare she gave him upon his return. though somehow, this stunt seemed to top them all … spikeXfaye.

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DANCING WITH THE LION SERIES / ALEXANDER TRILOGY / ALEXANDER THE GREAT RPF

non frustra vixis by aramley, meretricula / @meretricula (NR).

in 2008, the previously all-women st. hilda's college at oxford began admitting men. in 2009, classics afficionado, rowing prodigy, and all-around posh bastard alexander macedon decided his new ambition was to join his best friend at hilda's and start a men's rowing dynasty.

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DARK

face your fears by narrative_bear (T).

the inevitability of an event doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to experience. the recent birth of mikkel nielsen weighs heavily on michael kahnwald, who begins to withdraw from his family. in an effort to reconnect with his wife and son, michael decides to accompanies them to the nielsens’ where he is forced to confront his past.

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DERRY GIRLS

maybe someday series by areseebee / @areseebee (T).

capturing moments when james and erin are growing up and growing together at 17, 19, and 27.

these fics all take place in the same timeline and build on the overall story in each part. while personal space can stand on its own, smoke break and someday are best enjoyed as companion pieces.

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DIGIMON ADVENTURE

if you by chichamunkyhead.

sora poses as yama's girlfriend… sorato, takari, jyoumi, hint of kenyako. that's all of a summary you're getting!

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DRAGON BALL/Z/GT

automatic flowers (and sequels!) by rayne.

running away was never the way of the son family and pan son learns this lesson the hard way as she returns home to face a problem she never could quite solve.

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THE DRAGON PRINCE

a delicate arrangement by jelly / @jelzorz (M).

it’s not that it’s a bad idea. in all honesty, ezran thinks it’s a well thought-out, completely reasonable, perfectly sound idea that could solve a lot of his own problems, callum’s problems, and katolis’ problems, in one fell swoop - if it works, that is. it’s a little risky, he’ll admit, but it’s not the same as, say, running away from home at ten years old with his brother and a moonshadow elf assassin (whose mission was to kill him, mind) to return a dragon egg in the midst of a centuries-long war, and hey, they’d managed that all right. compared to that mess, politics should be easy, right?

right?

[or, the arranged marriage rayllum romantic drama no one asked for]

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FINAL FANTASY VIII

new seed (and sequels!) by klepto_maniac0 / @klepto-maniac0 (E).

an accidental start to something not so innocent. how far can a relationship run on pure lust before it turns into something else? set in a time when things haven't gone downhill yet.

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FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST (2003 ANIME)

he who searches for himself, by yuuki hikari / weatheringtea / @weatheringtea (M).

this story continues on fullmetal alchemist where episode 51 finished off. alternate ending to the series, not based on the movie. FMA gen!fic. characters and events up to 51 are included. the rating is for language and later violence.

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GUNDAM WING

a toast to the bride and groom, by orla.

in this fic by orla, duo made the mistake of opening the floor for speeches at his wedding. see what everyone has to say.

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HARRY POTTER

paradigm of uncertainty (and sequels!), by lori summers.

carla says: this fanfic series is the bible for any self-respected H/Hr shipper. lori's a wonderful storyteller. it is SO well-constructed.

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HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

persephone by sunflowerb (M).

she was meant to be the price for peace; her life in exchange for the dragon master's mercy. her captor wasn't supposed to be a ghost from her past, and she wasn't supposed to become his ally…or his lover. and when news spreads of a blonde-haired girl at the dragon master's side, there will be repercussions for dragons and vikings alike. AU. hiccstrid. multichap

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THE HUNGER GAMES

lone star state of mine by jenye (M).

modern AU. there are three types of people in dawson, texas: those who are trying to flee, those who embrace their small town fate, and the mellarks. mellark ranch; largest cattle ranch south of dallas, employer of ranch hand, katniss everdeen, and home of the ohio state buckeyes' running back, peeta mellark. and peeta mellark is coming back home today.

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INUYASHA

dressing wounds (and sequels!), by personification of fluff.

SM [completed] rated R for citrusy situations. when sango finds out how much miroku cares for her, it's the battle of the sexes! the prize? sango's heart, of course. fluff-filled chapters, and an attempt to break every cliche and fill each plothole!

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[ FANDOMS J-Z HERE ]

[annabtg]

I was fine with my best friend's girl because jily wasn't together... but dude my heart broke for James in this one. She's not only physically cheating on him but emotionally also. I didn't feel bad for Lily or Sirius, but cried I for James. He was clearly uncomfortable with the way he was fidgeting with his tumblr, but loved her too much to deny her cheating on him. I know you want to convince us he's okay with it, but I just couldn't see it in my pov. It was hard to read a fic where James loved her more than she loved him, and reminded me of unfaithful by rihanna... and Sirius doing that to someone who took him in when his family kicked him out... like mate why would you do that?

I'm sorry I just hate cheating, and I can't ever justify it 😭😭😭

Hi, anon! Thank you for giving my story a shot! :)

First, let's clarify a couple of things from the text:

James wasn't fidgeting because of Lily and Sirius. This happens before he hears anything about it - unless we assume that just because they're in the kitchen together, he imagines something is happening? But he literally has no reason to do that - the narration makes it clear that this hasn't happened before, that Sirius is their best man etc.. So no, that's not it.

James is fidgeting because that's what he does - Sirius's POV explains us that a sign of half-drunk James is that he doesn't fidget, so then when he decides to sober up and go home, he's back to his usual habit.

In fact, the whole scene before Sirius and Lily interact is supposed to give out the whole bleak mood of war and hopelessness that leads to Sirius wallowing in misery and coming back to thoughts about Lily that he normally does an excellent job of banishing.

Sirius knows that James is okay with it, and even points it out in his POV that if James wasn't okay with it, Lily wouldn't do it. Lily prioritizes James always. She feels comfortable with Sirius, she loves him and cares about him, but she's not going to give up James for him. And the fact that she does this whole thing with Sirius is for his benefit, and what hurts her isn't that she can't have her cake and eat it too, it's that she wishes this could be enough for Sirius because that's all she can give and she's sad that it can't make him happy.

That said, a few more things:

I think it's well-established by now that I am one of the staunchest proponents for soulmates, never-had-eyes-for-anyone-else Jily. Most of my Jily is super fluffy, it's first kisses, it's James falling for her the first time he lays eyes on her, it's Lily noticing James throughout the years and discovering just how wonderful he is, and honestly sometimes it pains me to read stories where they date other people or they're not each other's first etc.. I have to exercise caution when I read that sort of fic - it's usually stuff by people whose writing I love and trust, or short oneshots where I know everything will be over soon and I don't have to dwell on it too long. Or, you know, sometimes I just appreciate the heartbreak. It can be cathartic.

Which is why I understand that you might have been expecting something similar from a new story of mine and been surprised and even upset it wasn't it. I admit that the snippet and summary don't give you an explicit setup for the story, which was a stylistic choice, if I'm honest. It's a story about deep feelings, and it would be weird to have the summary be like "Sirius is feeling lonely, so Lily, who is married to James, decides to spend the night with him." I mean, technically it's what happened, but you'll agree it doesn't quite convey the vibe, does it?

I did write in the post that the story is Sirius/Lily and rated E, though. And the AO3 entry contains tags such as "Married James/Lily", "Ex Sex", "Sirius Black/Lily Evans smut" (I guess it's technically Lily Potter but I've used the tag like this before so I just recycled it), "not infidelity not open relationship but a secret third thing" so I think, going in, people know more or less what to expect. If it's not for them, it's not for them and that's fine. I appreciate SO MUCH the readers who stick with me no matter where the Muse takes me, but not everyone can do that and they shouldn't feel forced to.

You might wonder, of course - if this is how I feel about Jily, why did I write this story? I've talked before about why Lilypad intrigues me, but there's one more thing to remember - life doesn't always go the way we want it. And while romantic, fluffy Jily fic is wish fulfilment and makes me feel good, sometimes one wants to explore grittier situations and messier feelings. As far as I'm concerned, this story would never work as a Jily fic - have Lily sleep with James while she's married to someone else, knowing that she won't leave her husband for him? Oh hell no. That's not how I see Jily. And instead of trying to shoehorn James and Lily's characters into a situation that doesn't fit them, I think it's better practice to instead choose the characters this situation could work with. Admittedly, one of my greatest challenges with this story (as @jamesunderwater can confirm) was getting the characterizations right and making sure everything made sense in context. I didn't set out to write angsty smut for the sake of it (it just so happens that the story turned out much smuttier than I originally intended, lol) but I wanted to write all the feelings that went with it. The conflict of getting between two people, of missing someone you can't have, of wanting different things, of different kinds of love - I think all that can make for a beautiful story. (I don't know if what I wrote is, indeed, a beautiful story, but I tried.)

You're well within your right to hate cheating, and you're well within your right to consider what happened in this story cheating. (In my opinion, it's not. It's a messy situation but the term 'cheating' doesn't do it justice, because no one is being dishonest.) I have a feeling you're young, because I could never justify cheating when I was young either. Growing up and going through a few relationships taught me that things aren't always clear-cut, however. I wish I'd had a relationship like the one I envision for my ideal Jily - meet young, only face some high school drama, get married, be together till death do us part. The flipside is that I matured in a way that perhaps I wouldn't have if this had happened to me, and I learned to see different POVs and appreciate different situations. And I think all of this enriches my writing more than it hinders it. :)

Again, thank you for reading (or making the effort!) and I appreciate you reaching out! Hopefully you'll like one of my future fics better. ❤