#wishboneverse: of smoke and bone

[wishbonetea]

osab update !! three years later !!

part two is officially Done (with a 260k word count), i'm just waiting on the last round of edits from my beloved editor who i definitely owe my life to, and i've already started on part three

i'm optimistically aiming to post the first chapter of p2 on the 29th april for dan's birthday, since the first chapter is in her pov, and y'all can shout at me if i'm late

also i was scrolling through old comments (i promise i will reply to the ones that came in after i finished part one) and found the biggest lie i ever told:

[jeanjosten]

of smoke & bone by @wishbonetea · descent to the end

i just realised i never got around to posting the promo lmao but ch38 is up!

—

“Allison! How’s it going with the new building?”

Allison thought back to Kevin’s reaction at Jeremy’s apparent interest in Jean, and wondered how Jeremy felt about the situation. “Kevin punched Neil,” she said.

“Why?”

Why, as if there could be a reason for hitting Neil, some kind of justification. It made Allison smile. Neil was an instigative bastard and the whole world knew it. But the answer to Jeremy’s question would have to come with an explanation about Kevin and Riko’s relationship, which wasn’t yet public. It was possible that Jeremy already knew, having spent a year at the same art school as them, but if Kevin had kept it hidden from the media, it was just as likely he could have kept it hidden from his friend. Allison knew that it would be better to rip off the bandaid and let the press frenzy over it for a couple months before getting bored and latching onto the next story, as holding off the inevitable would only make it worse, but she didn’t expect Kevin to be as smart as she was about these kinds of things. Kevin might have spent the last few years in the spotlight, but Allison had been bred for it, and she’d spent over twenty years hiding magic and monsters from the people of Earth. Not even the mafia could trump that.

Besides, she was in a rush and she didn’t think she could explain Kevin’s part in a yakuza family within a couple minutes.

So what Allison said was: “Neil doesn’t take Kevin’s arrogance too well, and he likes to fight with words.”

Jeremy smiled, like he knew exactly what Kevin had said to irritate Neil and thought on it with fondness.

Renee had told Allison how Jeremy had taken to Jean’s less than kind attitude, and wondered why Jeremy didn’t think of that as fondly. It was another clue to Jeremy and Kevin’s history, and Allison always liked to know as much as possible before placing her bets.

“I heard you met Jean Moreau,” she said.

Jeremy was well-practised at hiding his displeasure, but Allison was better practised at spotting someone hiding behind a mask. “Yes,” Jeremy said. “He came with Renee when we had lunch a couple weeks ago.”

“What did you think of him?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was hired at The Foxhole Court,” Jeremy said, as if he were being interviewed by a vulture-like reporter. Allison supposed it wasn’t the strangest of comparisons. “He’s certainly a Fox.”

[read more on ao3]

[wishbonetea]

not the shadowban mention in the tags lmaoo i swear i’ve never done anything wrong in my life

sometimes a meme comes along thats just so perfect for ur friends fic that u just gotta

[[READ OSAB ON AO3 UPDATES FRIDAYS]]

[lautjess]

A fanart of Neil from Of Smoke & Bone, a fanfic written by the incredibly, amazing @wishbonetea

In general, Neil Josten managed to keep his two lives in balance. On the one hand, he was a nineteen year old art student in Prague with a part-time job in a mostly-normal coffee shop. On the other, he, Allison, and Renee worked for an inhuman creature, running errands in exchange for wishes. For the most part, these two lives rarely intersect. But it's fair to say that the Foxes bring their own brand of trouble, and Neil's two lives soon start to collide.

[wishopenastar]

Fan cover for @wishbonetea's Of Smoke and Bone longest fic ever.

Evryone should read it.

[wishbonetea]

of smoke & bone · ash and broken bones

In general, Neil Josten managed to keep his two lives in balance. To most, he was a nineteen year old art student with a part-time job in a mostly-normal coffee shop. On the other hand, he worked for an inhuman creature, running errands in exchange for wishes. But when he’s paired with Andrew Minyard for a collaborative art project, Andrew starts to unearth secrets too dangerous to reveal. Neil knows a threat when he sees one, but when his two lives start to collide, Neil will learn that some things are worth fighting for. ⁂ An art school AU with a secret world of magic and monsters. Updates on Fridays.

first jean pov in this week's chapter!

read on ao3

[image description under the cut]

Renee rose from the couch and unravelled a glamour from her legs. The first sight of her crescent moon blades strapped to her thighs had Jean step back in surprise and horror.

“You keep them with you?” he asked, too incredulous to catch himself.

“Not always,” Renee answered, watching Jean with a serene expression Jean didn’t believe for a second. She could keep Natafi hidden away, but Jean knew her calculating and cold nature intimately. It was too strong and too innate to wither away like Renee clearly wanted it to.

“Tell me you don’t use them,” Jean said. “Tell me you’re not that stupid.”

Renee’s response was not comforting. “I do, but not as we used to. I’m not risking another Cataclysm again.”

“You don’t know what you’re playing with.”

“No one does.”

“The Solasanlae did. They warned us—”

“And where are they now?” Renee cut in. Allison flicked a quick look her way, clearly not used to Natafi’s temper rising beneath Renee’s mask. Renee took a deep breath, squeezing Allison’s hand as if it were an anchor to her new identity. “The Solasanlae left us to our fates, believing we did not deserve forgiveness. But we were children. We didn’t know what we were doing, and we didn’t deserve to be cast out for believing the words of those who raised us.”

Jean assumed this was an opinion Renee’s therapist had led her to believe, which only solidified his own opinion that no shrink could understand what he and Renee had gone through.

[jeanjosten]

of smoke & bone · encores and buzzkills

chapter 37 is now up!

—

“Do you wonder what’s at the centre of it all?”

Oh, oh, oh. She’s sharper than she looks. Andrew’s smile was amused this time, almost genuinely so. “I hope you’re not accusing me of being interested.”

Bee smiled. “It wasn’t an accusation.”

But Bee was wrong. Any assumption was an accusation, and every accusation came with some path of crumbs to lead her astray from the truth. ‘Evidence’ collected in a biased basket. Beware of the big bad wolf, but who knows what’s lurking in these woods.

Even Andrew wasn’t sure what was hiding. Sometimes the easiest way to picture the space in his brain where his sexuality lay was if he imagined it as a dark wood on a night with no moon. The stars were dim and they shifted across the sky, causing chaos in their wake. With no path or stars to navigate, Andrew was well and truly lost in that forest. Alone but not in a way that made him feel safe. Each shadow put him on edge, every rustle in the bushes behind him was a reminder that this was not just any wood on any dark night.

Neil was…Andrew didn’t know what to think of Neil. Half the time he was so infuriating Andrew wanted to grab him by the hair and bash his face into a block of concrete. Sometimes he wanted to use one of those knives Neil hid in his coat and carve his own name into Neil’s skin. MineMineMineMineMine. Sometimes Andrew wanted to buy a car and drive as far from Neil as he thought possible.

Andrew thought about Bee’s question and eventually settled on, “He has this way of making people want to kill him.”

It was the truth, but not all of it. Omission was the easiest way to lie, of course. Neil did have a way of making people want to kill him, and Andrew was first in line. But to summarise Neil Josten as a walking death threat was to underestimate him, and Andrew knew far too much about being underestimated to make that mistake. What is at the centre of Neil Josten, Bee wanted to know. Andrew hadn’t a clue, but it wasn’t a path he would ever go down. The mystery that was ‘Neil Josten’ was a maze Andrew needed to steer clear of, lest he get lost in that dark forest forever.

[read more on ao3]

[wishbonetea]

wip wednesday because i forgot to do this last week

Jean startled when he caught sight of Jeremy. He stopped short, mouth twitching with discomfort. Jeremy wanted to ask what had happened in the train station, why he was back so quickly, except Jean looked like he was seconds away from shutting down on him.  “Hey,” he said, as if that could fix anything. It didn’t fix anything, but it did bring Jean out of whatever made him pause. He joined Jeremy at the wall, leaning against it for stability, and Jeremy felt a wicked sense of déjà vu. He almost made a joke, some crude version of, “Come here often?”, but stopped when he saw that Jean was trembling slightly, in faint and scattered bursts. Not knowing if it would help or make it worse, Jeremy bit the bullet and carefully leaned to one side to press his shoulder into Jean’s. Maybe he could be nothing more than something to lean on, but he wanted Jean to know that he was there.

[ read part one on AO3 ]

[wishbonetea]

of smoke & bone · relative pain

chapter 33 now up, featuring jean and jeremy's first meeting 👀

---

Renee scoured the tables until she caught sight of Jeremy’s familiar smile. He waved them over, and though Renee could read the curious expression on his face, he didn’t start pointing fingers at Jean behind his back—or, thankfully, to his face.

Renee and Jean walked over, and Jeremy greeted Renee with his megawatt smile. “Renee, it’s good to see you!”

Jean didn’t look inclined to introduce himself, too busy looking over the café and its temporary inhabitants. Renee smiled at Jeremy and said, “It’s lovely to see you too. This is my friend, Jean.”

Jeremy stuck out his hand to Jean, turning his smile onto him. Jean looked over sharply at the movement, and Renee’s own smile dropped at the tension cording Jean’s shoulders. But that tension was gone a moment later, his shoulders loosening smoothly enough that it could only have been a learned behaviour. Renee’s smile didn’t return so quickly.

Jean looked down at Jeremy’s hand, still hovering mid-air like he hadn’t noticed Jean’s hesitation. Renee guessed that it would take more than hesitation for Jeremy to take back his friendly greeting. Eventually, Jean reached out and clasped Jeremy’s hand in his own. The handshake lasted a little too long, but Renee didn’t know which one of them was slower to let go. She wished Allison was here to witness this, as she always had the better eye for bets to place.

“Hello,” Jean said.

Jeremy stared at Jean a moment too long, and Renee briefly wondered if Jean had accidentally spoken in Seraphic, but then Jeremy shook himself ever so slightly and smiled. “I’m Jeremy. Animation at PSUA.”

Renee tried to remember everything she told Jean about PSUA, but she didn’t think she’d mentioned the different disciplines it taught. Either way, with fresh fluency in Czech, Jean will have known what animation was. Jean’s nod proved her assumption correct.

“Jean Moreau. Life model.”

[read more on ao3]

[wishbonetea]

of smoke & bone · make a wish

part two is finally here!! i can't believe i posted my sneak peak a year ago when i thought this would be ready in like,,,, a month, but then again i also said part two would be ready soon when i finished uploading part one and that was literally three years ago

read on ao3

[image description under the cut]

The first thing Dan registered when she woke up—the first thing she always registered when she woke up—was Matt’s arm wrapped around her waist and the warmth of his breath against her chest. She blinked fuzzily at the ceiling, trying to rid the awful taste in her mouth with her tongue. Despite the warmth of Matt’s arm and breath, it didn’t quite cancel out the throbbing headache that kept her just out of comfort’s reach. As a film major, Dan often liked to imagine her life as a movie, but hangovers adjusted the tone from the indie coming-of-age genre she aspired toward and settled uncomfortably as a psychedelic yet gritty cult classic that only men liked. Dan tried to count her blessings: at least it wasn’t raining.

SCENE: A modern apartment. Morning sunlight streams in through a double-glazed window, where only one curtain has been pulled shut. Clothes litter the wooden floorboards, and two empty wine glasses are set on the desk. ACTION: DAN scrubs at her eyes with the heel of her hand, and blinks groggily at the ceiling.

Lights, camera, action, Dan thought, wishing for darkness, silence, sleep.

[wishbonetea]

wip wednesday because i've had two jeremy pov chapters in a row and these two are writing their own scenes

“They really hurt you.” He almost left it there, but Jean turned away from Jeremy as if he could shoulder this burden alone forever. Jeremy wouldn’t let him. He twisted to stand in front of Jean, trapping him against the wall without touching him. He wanted to put his hands to each side of Jean’s face, blinker him, but he didn’t want Jean to lash out and he needed to make the most of Jean’s attention. “You are not okay in ways I can’t even imagine. Can’t you see that?” “I’m still alive. That’s all that matters.” “Fifteen minutes ago you asked me if I’d kill you if you asked me to.” In reaction, Jean’s hand automatically reached for his neck, but this time Jeremy saw it coming. He grabbed onto Jean’s wrist and held it out of the way, hoping his grip wouldn’t bruise but desperately needing him to realise that Jeremy wouldn’t let him deal with this alone. “Your worry is misplaced,” Jean said eventually. His tone was flippant, misplaced against his violent reaction, but Jeremy wasn’t going to call him out on it. “I promised I would not kill myself.” “So you asked me to do it so you could keep your hands clean,” Jeremy said. It was an awfully unsympathetic response, and he hoped that one day he could earn Jean’s forgiveness. Until then, he haphazardly followed up with: “I wouldn’t, by the way.” Jean was silent for so long that Jeremy wondered if he’d already backed out of this conversation to wait for the next, but then Jean said, almost absent mindedly, “Because you’re not capable of it or because you’re not willing?” “Is there a right answer to that question?” Jeremy asked. Jean didn’t answer the question, but he didn’t press Jeremy for an answer for his question either. “What do you want, Jeremy? Why are you here? Why are you always here?” “Because you were right,” Jeremy said, more honest than he thought he was capable of. Jeremy had been hiding so much for so long that he’d forgotten what the truth tasted like on his tongue. “I try to tell the world that I’m not a waste of space, I’m desperate to find proof that my future will be significant enough to justify my existence. But I don’t know if I can do that, if it’s even attainable. How can you quantify something like that?” It wasn’t a question Jeremy expected an answer to, but Jean answered anyway, as unhelpful as it was honest: “You can’t.”

[ read part one on AO3 ]

[wishbonetea]

wip wednesday!

“What do I need to do?” Jean asked. “Nothing,” Alvarez said, making their way over and leaning against the counter at Jean’s side. They swept up their mug with one hand and grabbed the spoon from Jean’s with the other. “There’s no drama, but if I can hold your hand that would be great. Skin to skin contact helps a bunch and I want Laila to walk in and think we’re having an affair. She keeps telling me she’s going to run off with Jeremy so I figure this would be good payback.” Jean frowned, but Alvarez must have read something in his expression that wasn’t there because after Alvarez poured oat milk into their tea—they had swapped from almond milk as soon as they found out Jean hated the smell of it—they batted the spoon in Jean’s face. “Relax. They’re not actually going to run away together. She’s too obsessed with me and Jeremy’s is delightfully pedantic about chore wheels. She can’t stand it. I love it.” Jean ignored that and held out his hand so Alvarez could get this over with. For all of Alvarez’s chatter—their t-shirt choice of the day was one that had a ‘certified yapper’ slogan—they knew how to enjoy silence.

[ read part one on AO3 ]

[wishbonetea]

!!! this is incredible

Drew this fanart of @wishbonetea's fanfic Of Smoke And Bone GO READ IT I cannot stress this enough!!!!

Anyway it has teeth, Andreil and weird chimera hybrids(??) so what more could you want?? (Though I must warn it will take up most of your daily life to obsess over it.. beware)

[wishbonetea]

last line challenge

tagged by @c-c2224 but because you posted more than one line i'm gonna cheat too

“You okay, Kevin?” Nicky asked, stepping back to admire his handiwork. “You look a little pale.” “I’m fine,” Kevin said, though his voice sounded thin even to his ears. “Okay, Neil.” “I don’t sound like that,” Neil said. “Yes you do,” Nicky argued. Kevin half expected an answering ‘No, I don’t’, but Kevin only heard that sort of back-and-forth from Jeremy. Neil didn’t reply to Nicky because he saw no need to. Jeremy would have replied because he knew the value in filling a silence and drowning out awful thoughts. But Jeremy wasn’t here now, and Kevin wasn’t capable of drowning out his own thoughts. He wasn’t capable of much, these days. In a reckless moment of impulsivity, Kevin pulled at the velcro straps of his splint, needing to see the state of his left hand. His skin was clammy, but Kevin ignored that as he focused on how crooked his ring and pinky fingers were. The doctors had fixed every broken bone in his hand, but some damage was irreparable. Kevin tried to close his hand into a fist but his fingers wouldn’t curl correctly. Sixty percent, seventy at most. It wasn’t enough. He tried to force it. Seventy-five percent. His hand twitched, a spasm starting from his pinky finger and soon taking over his entire hand in the ultimate act of betrayal. You cheat. You paid them to say that. Who did you go to first, hm? Which journalist did you beg to start a rumour that you were more talented than me? Which journalist was irrelevant enough to lie? “Stop it,” Kevin whispered, but Nicky was standing close enough to hear. “I’m not doing anything,” he said. “Exactly,” Kevin snapped, grabbing hold of his irritation and using it as the lifeline it was. He turned to Neil. “Get your shoes on. We’re going to be late.”

tagging @sirfatcat-mccatterson @jean-meowreau @strangeoffputtingrat @dykekarkat and anyone else who sees this

[wishbonetea]

of smoke & bone · digging your own grave

at some point tumblr will stop shadowbanning me from the main tag, but chapter 35 is now up!

—

Someone could have reminded Wymack that the café would be closed before the next snowfall, but Neil was glad no one mentioned it. Dan only nodded and pulled out her phone. It wasn’t long before Neil’s phone vibrated in his pocket, but it kept buzzing even after he’d assumed Dan had added the others to the Foxes’ group chat. He pulled out his phone with a frown and saw why he’d received so many notifications.

Dan added Andrew to The Foxes Dan added Aaron to The Foxes Dan added Kevin to The Foxes Andrew left the group chat Dan added Andrew to The Foxes DamnWilds: no DamnWilds: stay or ill get wymack to fire u all Andrew set the nickname for Andrew to Aaron. Andrew set the nickname for Aaron to Andrew.

Dan shot Andrew a withering look. “Why are you like this?”

Neil looked up at Andrew, who was grinning at his phone like it was his favourite thing in the world. He must have felt Neil’s eyes on him, because when he looked up he turned straight to Neil.

“‘I’m Fine?’” he said, meaning Neil’s nickname in the group chat. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all day.”

Neil ignored him. Wymack had slipped back into his office when Neil wasn’t paying attention, and he returned with three orange aprons that he threw one-by-one at Kevin, Aaron, and Andrew. Andrew caught his with faster reflexes than Neil thought possible, whereas Kevin reached out with his left hand and the ties looping around his forearm was the only reason the apron didn’t immediately fall to the floor.

“You’re each going to shadow someone for the next hour,” Wymack said, “so I hope none of you had plans.”

“And if we did?” Aaron asked.

“Cancel them.”

Dan’s immediate response was throwing her hands up in surrender. “I’m not on rota.”

The problem was quickly solved by Andrew immediately stepping to Renee’s side and Aaron shuffling toward Matt.

Neil took one look at Kevin and gave him a cool look. “How does it feel being the last kid picked for the sports team?”

“Sports are stupid,” was all Kevin said.

[read more on ao3]

[wishbonetea]

of smoke & bone · wishing and forgetting

chapter 34 now up, with the foxes up to their usual bullshit and andrew not helping at all

—

Despite the new countdown the Foxes were running on, Neil had spent the rest of his Sunday like he always did: in his studio. Allison had claimed that it was unhealthy to run away from his problems, but Neil didn’t know what else to do. His life had always taken unexpected and unfamiliar twists and turns onto unpleasant paths, but he didn’t think he’d ever reach a point where he’d sit down and process. He moved forward, because that was the only option he’d ever had.

Besides, Neil knew that Allison hadn’t spent a significant time reflecting on The Foxhole Court’s impending eviction either. She’d spent her Sunday afternoon with Renee, helping Jean move into his new apartment in Anděl.

It had taken Neil all week to figure out the basics of the video editing software Dan recommended, so when Neil arrived at his studio first thing Monday morning, he finally felt like he was working at a satisfactory pace. The endless clicking and dragging on his laptop’s trackpad was making his hands ache, but at least he spent most nights drawing in the Painting studios with Kevin. Without a pencil in his hand, Neil didn’t know what to do with himself.

With the promise of a bottle of expensive whiskey, Neil had managed to convince Andrew to come to his studio to work on their CSC project in the morning so Neil could go to a typography tutorial in the afternoon. When Andrew showed up, Neil set the blue-tinted bottle on his desk.

“A man who speaks my language,” Andrew said with a satisfied hum, snatching up the bottle and sliding it into his bag without so much of a sip. It only took a glance at Andrew’s unsmiling face to confirm that, as per their deal, Andrew had used a wish to stabilise his mania for their collaborative studio time.

“Riddle me this, Neil,” Andrew continued, “but where does a man on the run pick up the language of the angels?”

[read more on ao3]