#yeah this chapter is....rough

[stiltonbasket]

Dear Stilton, when are you going to update Travellers through the Empty Gate? I love that fic and keep checking to see if there is a new chapter, when there isn’t I get sad. And it’s Christmas! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I'm currently working on chapter 30 of TTTEG. I've been very busy for the last several months (hence the delayed updates for my major WIPs), but chapter 30 is a unique challenge because it involves topics I'm incredibly uncomfortable writing about...and which I now have no choice but to write about, because I laid the rails for this arc several chapters ago. I'm going to try to get this chapter out before New Year's, though!

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Dawn

I am back because i got home from work and I got no chill! :D @spotaus

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Okay. So why this one? Because i realised it was a while since i wrote a drabble from Horror's point of view and that is criminal and it is a great excuse for me to showcase some stuff from the quiet and very observing sockets of Horror! (also gives me an excuse to not think about the drabble order i got now and that thought i messed it up a bit which I need to think of a solution for)

Ready? Let's go!

*------------------------*

Horror makes sure to carefully close the door to the greenhouse. It is still early but he is used to those.

He enjoys the cool fresh air as he walks towards the house, small basket filled with fresh monster food. Horror is happy he got permission from Crop to harvest the plants in there for their meals.

He quietly opens the door and listens for a moment. He saw Cross leave the farm a little while ago to do his own morning workouts and by the sounds of it the other three are still asleep.

Which is good because he needs his own sleep. Horror knows very well that Dust is the one to wake up with Nightmare if something bothers him in his sleep.

He found the two of them awake and reading a book one too many times for Horror to believe they just had an allnighter.

Horror likes being up early. Maybe strange for him but he got used to it in his old universe. The best time to check his traps and search for food had been in the very early morning, or very late night depending on how you look at it, as most people would be asleep.

It is a leftover habit and he just kept going with it when he joined Nightmare's gang.

He puts the food away in all the right places and goes about getting the ingredients for todays breakfast. He notices the fresh milk and eggs and the choice is obvious. Some pancakes would be great.

He starts preparing the ingredients as he takes the time to measure it all. The milk makes him chuckle.

Watching Cross realises there was a cow had been funny. Finding Cross in a tree shaking with a cow under it had been hilarious. Crop ahd been apologetic as he explained that his cow, Betty (Killer had mutters "of course it is claled betty") was aparently mischievious.

Horror had his doubts but Cross swore that the cow would know when he left the farmhouse. That the cow would stand at the edge of her field and stare at him.

Cross did not go to the east side of the farm anymore. aparently that was Betty's territory in his mind.

Nightmare liked petting Betty however so you have your ups and downs.

Horror mixes the ingredients slowly but surely. Thinking about Nightmare, "Shouldn't you still be in bed?"

silence before a soft mutter "Not tired anymore."

Horror chuckles as he shoots Nightmare a look. He looks fully awake and adorable in his new wool sweater. Horror grins "God powers?"

Nightmare shrugs "I mean probably. I never needed sleep before. that is still new." They hadn't really noticed anything that could be connected to Nightmare's godhood at the moment. Maybe it had gone domant, at least that was Cross's guess. Dust just thinks Nightmare's magic is now focussed on healing instead of weird god shenenigans.

Speaking of healing! Horror gives him a stern look "bandages?"

Nightmare rolls his eye lights but mutters his answer "All still in place and good. Killer replaced them after the bath last night,"

Horror nods. With that secured he relaxes abit "Want to help?"

Nightmare is already by his side and stands on his tiptoes. Horror chuckles as he gives him a look "Need a chair?" he would offer a stepstool but the chair is more stable for him.

Nightmare looks at the counter annoyed before nodding his agreement. Horror grabs a chair and puts it near the counter. Nightmare climbs it easily.

Horror really wants to pick him up but they do have the rule that inside Nightmare should walk around himself to carefully train his spine. It is still much to early to already start carrying him. Horror knows that if any of them start they won't stop.

Nightmare reaches for the ingredients, some fruits for inside the pancakes, before pausing and staring at his sweater.

Nightmare has been very careful with his new gifted clothes. Horror himself is also very careful with the set of clothes Dust got him.

Horror frowns at the food he is making. He really hopes he can quickly find soemthing to do here to earn money. At the moment only Dust has something and it is starting to show, even Killer seems to be getting annoyed with himself over it.

Until now Horror and Cross helped around on Crop's farm. Which he was happy to do as it only seemed fair as a way to repay Crop for letting them stay. Horror has also been learning the basics about farming, farmland and farmwork from Crop. It is still a lot and not everything sticks in his skull, probably falling out of that hole. But he is getting better at it. He hopes with this Crop can maybe get the news out that both of them are more than willing to help around with heavy duty work and get a bit of cash flow.

Killer... Killer has a very specific set of skills. Sadly not specifically useful on a farm. Even if he is great with the animals and can herd pretty much anything, which is very useful but well. Most people won't let you near their animals unless they trust you and Killer is Killer.

Horror just feels bad that Dust is pretty much still Ngihtmare's main caretaker, got the rough end with the backstory they settled on, and has to deal with work to get cash. Only to spend all of it on them all.

Horror can see it is starting to wear him down. He just hopes they can figure out how to balance everything better.

It is another reason he loves these mornings. Because morning time means Dust, and Killer, both sleep in and Horror gets time to supervise their babybones. Horror adores the time wiht Nightmare. Especially when alone because then others don't watch them nervously the whole time.

It is exhausting to be seen as something dangerous even if he knows it is true. It is why they mean so much to him, they never treated him like that. None of them did.

A glance confirms that Nightmare has carefuly rolled up the sleeves and is taking extra care with cutting the fruits, using one of the duller knives which won't be able to cut bone. Horror turns back to getting everything else ready. He has to concentrate to push his intent into the food. He wants them to enjoy and like it. Feel the things he can't say to them.

Horror knows what he wants and feels but also knows none of them are ready to hear it. Horror has known that from the moment he realised what he felt was. The curse of being the only emotional stable one.

He still remembers all the way back near the start of them meeting and chuckles to himself. they did not get along at all.

Nightmare immediantly looks up "What is funny?" he looks adorably confused.

Horror thinks for a moment "Remember when you brought me in?"

Nightmare blinks before giving a slow nod "Yeah... I had hoped you would calm Killer and Dust."

Horror chuckles "Can't believe you thought i could do that."

Ngihtmare shrugs as he finishes up his task and just sits normally on the chair "I mean... It worked." his hands find the glass of juise Horror got him.

Horror pauses for a moment before nodding. Nightmare is kinda right with that one. It hadn't worked right away but he made it work. Mostly because he had had a lot of motivation.

Nightmare, still a fully active god at that point, had offered him that he would slowly but surely fix the food problem in his universe in trade for his service, something about it being too severe for him to be able to instantly fix but if Horror worked for him he would work on it. Horror had figured Nightmare had known about his little weird immortality situation with his own universe's core and accepted.

Turns out he just wanted him to fix whatever had been going on with Killer and Dust. Because they would fight. Constantly. And those two got very close to killing each other a few times.

Horror had eventually managed to somehow form a connection and bond with Killer. It had been rather easy and Horror was able to become friends with him over coworkers. Eventually find him not just annoying but funny. And later think fondly of his antics.

Dust took longer. Which had been a combination of Dust just being an introvert and not looking for connections or at least not in the way that made that clear to Horror. And well Horror heard bits and pieces of what Dust had done and had honestly been disgusted with the idea that Dust just murdered his whole universe and his own brother. Just to fight one human? Just to end a timeloop?

It was well after he managed to get them to stop, or at least contain the damage of, their fighting. Well after he started working for Nightmare more permanently that Horror realised how the multiverse worked.

And how fucking unfair it was.

Because aparently? stupid fate or some shit? That decided how your universe worked. His would always have ended up with a famine and starvation. Killer would always lose control and be controlled, abused and used by the human. Cross would always be the end of his universe. Dust... Dust would always have to kill his universe. No matter what he tried or solution he tried.

It wasn't until later Horror learned that Dust had tried everything. Multiple times. That Dust had learned to play multiple musical instruments in the time of resets. That he had learned to cook, and tinker. He master chemistry. Everything in the hopes it could give him a solution.

But the fates had already decided his ending, much like for all of them there was only one ending possible for them. And in the end locked him in a dead AU make by his own hands when no other options was left. Just like all of them had been.

Horror has to admit it took him a long time to get Dust to admit those things to him. Msotly because Horror had been standoffish before and that he accidentally gave Killer advice to treat Dust like one of the many stray cats he interact with.

He hadn't specifically said that. horror had just told Killer that maybe Dust would like Killer more, or at all, if Killer learned to respect his boundaries. Horror had mentioned how Killer could learn each cat's limits so why not Dust?

Worst part was that it actually worked.

Horror rubs his face "I give him cat advice." his voice sounds pained. Dust had been so mad at them both.

Nightmare nods "I remember. Dust left for three weeks." he snorts "which really is very catlike..." more thoughtful "And then you two got mad at me for not telling you where he went." He blinks and shrugs as he drinks from his orange juice.

Horror ignores the cat comment as he looks at Nightmare "Why didn't you tell us?" Dust had actually been recruited to help Nightmare with the balance. Something Horror only started to do after helping Killer and Dust be less homicidal.

Nightmare blinks at him wiht those wide sockets "I didn't want to force any of you... If you wanted to leave..." he speaks softer and softer "I wasn't going to stop you if you wanted to leave... if you didn't want to stay..."

Horror frowns and picks Nightmare up. He embraces him and hums "I am sorry we left..."

Nightmare shrugs as he pushes clsoer to him "You came back..."

hah... yeah they did. Much like Dust did all that time ago. He was gone for a few weeks before returning after killing Ink bringing back one of his fucking sketchbooks as proof. Obviously killing Ink does little in the long run but it was quite the powermove. Dust had glared at them daring to say anything. Killer of course had muttered something about Dust bringing back a kill much like a cat.

Horror is still not sure how he managed to stop Dust from Killing Killer that day.

Horror puts Nightmare at the table and gets a small yogurt and fruit snack ready for him. Just so he can eat a tiny bit. See how his magic will handle food today. Nightmare starts eating it when offered and that is a good sign. Means his magic is actually sending out the signal that it needs food today.

Horror goes back to flipping pancakes. Horror tries to stay in the here and now but his injury makes his mind likely to wander. and with already having been thinking about them.

He still remembers one of the early missions, after Horror learned about fates cruel games. Dust had still acted the same but Horror had tried to be more friendly. He had been close to giving up on it as clearly it wasn't working as Dust was still standoffish. Only for Dust to pull him out of the way of an attack from Ink, getting hit instead.

Later Horror had demanded why he did that and Dust had just shrugged. He hadn't had an answer for him. It confused Horror to no end. Horror was immortal because of that fact that his magic had been used in the core and bonded to that. Meaning as long as the core in his universe was fine he would return to life.

The gang had known this and Horror knew that Dust knew this. And yet. Dust had heard all of that and looked at the large monster Horror had become saw soemthing worth protecting. Something that needed protection.

Horror thinks he fell a little bit in love that day.

Much like how one day Horror just realised he couldn't stand the idea of not being near Killer or never seeing him again. That even if Killer could be annoying that he didn't wish him any pain or harm.

How it warmed his soul that Killer, and Cross later, would hide behidn him. Seeing him as someone safe that would protect them. See him as someone trustworthy.

Cross, so eager to please and desperate for affection and affirmation. but once he relaxed so smart and funny. Loyal and always ready to help...

But now is not the time to try and see what any of them thought or felt. They are dealing wiht a lot at the moment and they need to concentrate with trying to make staying here work.

The front door opens and Cross walks in quietly. He sneaks a glance at them and smiles when Horror catching him looking. Cross waves to Nightmare "Hey guys. All good?"

Horror nods "Nightmare helped." he flips another pancake as Nightmare drinks his juice with a smug little smile.

Cross grins "Good to hear. I will quickly get cleaned up and help. Dust and Killer?"

Nightmare hums "Still asleep." and he sips his juice again.

Cross nods "Good to know. be back in a bit" and he goes towards the bathroom. The pipes groan softly as Cross no doubt turns on the shower.

Horror finishes the last pancake and gets to wrok on getting the drinks and coffee ready.

Another day for them to figure out how this will work. Horror is just happy they are all here, everything else can wait as long as they stick together.

*-------------------------*

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[lineffability]

I just finished reading one of those smut fics that shift your world view and leave you wordless with their intimate beauty, you should read it too

[mjduncan]

If you like age-gap romances where the main characters' chemistry is OFF THE FREAKIN' CHARTS, you're not gonna want to miss this one! Have you pre-ordered your copy yet? You can grab one HERE!

[naffeclipse]

Hello, I was wondering if we can have a little sneak peak for the next chapter of Apex?

Pretty please, with a cherry on top 👉👈

I have the outline plotted for the next chapter, however, I'm working on two gift fics at the moment and I just finished finals. I'm taking a few days to relax and reward myself for a semester completed. I'm also hoping to get a chapter of Of Fox Maws out. So, I think once I have my gift fics ready to go, I'll tackle the next AP chapter, then get after OFM.

[amethystina]

So I just happened to glance at the tags on Who Holds the Devil today

And, not going to lie, the "Fix-It" one made me go:

"... and what exactly have you fixed so far?"

The answer, obviously, is nothing. I have fixed absolutely nothing. Sometimes I feel like I've just given them new problems to deal with x'D

[lost-hope-but-funny]

maglor sees his brothers lot.

in the winds, in the sand, everywhere.

in the shadows, in the moonlight that shines on the water surface.

---- ---- ---- ----

they talk to him, too.

with laughter and running around, not leaving any trace on the shores.

with rolling their eyes and nudging into different directions, because, káno, you can do better

he sees his brothers corpses in their gaunt, empty eyes.

they whisper to him but it is mostly just noise in his head, loud, like their screams.

---- ---- ---- ----

by the time they smile with their bloodied teeth and cold hands, maglor doesn't want to see them.

[ghost-proofbaby]

please please tell us that there’s some sort of happy ending with these two. the tension is INSANE

full transparent truth - i don't think the ending will be as happy as you all are hoping for.

but that's because, please keep in mind, this is one night only between them. everything changes, yes, but them ending totally in love and in some sort of stable relationship just isn't realistic. once the series ends, i'll be open to additional requests because i certainly see a happy future for them!!! hell, i would even be open to writing a sequel/another series of them if i had a good enough idea for it!

that being said, it is technically happy ending. just... not as happy as i know some of you would want.

[waywardsalt]

alright so with the bellum x linebeck fic i’ve mostly been focusing on getting down the summaries for each individual chapter, and once i have those summaries done and edited, then i will start properly writing the fic. i am currently up to 31 planned chapters.

i don’t want to just. post them because of spoilers, them being an early draft, and simply because at the end of the day it’s going to be a fic anyways, so there’s no real point and i just. don’t want to share them.

however! i do want to share one! just one! which one?

that’s up to you! (the person reading this that’s interested enough in this bellum x linebeck fic)

(rest of this section is under cut since the first poll is finished and later polls will be in reblogs to this)

because there’s 31 right now (30 excluding the first chapter which i’ve already shared the draft of), i’ve split them up into some groupings for this poll, so for this poll just vote for a grouping (or technically just vote for the chapter? i mean you can just throw a dart and pick a random grouping) and the grouping here that wins will be the chapters available for the follow-up poll. if there’s a tie i can just do the next poll with two groupings (if its a 3-way tie i’ll poll the winning groupings due to the poll option limit)

there’s no context for these beyond how far into the fic they are, just pick a number and i’ll show the summary for the winning chapter number

[simplykorra]

trespasser - chapter five

tw violence (this story is very dark and heavy by design - totally understandable if that’s not your thing)

A week passes and nothing happens. Which fucking sucks really because Ava had kind of keyed herself up for something to happen. She has no idea what going to war with the Catholic church would be like but so far it’s been pretty fucking boring.

Even when a small group of nuns from another sect came by for a visit to the Cat’s Cradle library there was no big scheme or plot to take Beatrice away.

In fact, Ava didn’t even see them.

So a week later after the Cardinal’s failed visit, Ava’s about as tense as she can be and is desperately needing some kind of release.

She fights, she trains with some of the Sister Warriors, but none of them are really able to do much to her. In fact, it’s more frustrating than helpful because she has to move at about a quarter of her capable speed and she can't use the halo if only because it distracts the other Sister Warriors too much

Beyond that, Beatrice is finally starting to come around just a little. She still hasn’t given the okay to move out of the dungeon and into Ava’s bedroom, but she’s admitted she’s growing tired of the long nights down there.

Neither of them really sleep anymore. Ava can, but years in Reya’s realm have made it so she knows how to use the halo to ward off the effects of it. As for Beatrice, it’s not even a conversation. Whatever powers the demon gave her are what she uses to keep herself awake twenty-four hours a day. She never looks tired - exhausted? Sure, all the fucking time. But never tired.

Tonight though is different, it’s hard, because Ava is jittery and can't still and despite not needing sleep, the hard ground they sit on still fucking sucks.

So when she shifts again, for the twelfth time, Beatrice speaks up. “Ava,” she says, her voice a bit sharp.

“Sorry,” Ava sighs. “I’m sorry, this ground is made of rock, Bea.”

“You don’t have to stay here.” Beatrice has said this to her in more than one context over the last week.

CONT ON AO3

[milogoestogreendale]

[moonw0lf]

me wanting to share the alien au I made of sun and moon but not sure anyone would read the fic or pay attention to it 🥲🥲

[taruruchi]

I was supposed to make something simple-ish but I spent more than an hour on this but that's not important (it is, that's why quality is meh)

This is their dynamic

[wexhappyxfew]

CHAPTER 3

August 7th, 1945 - 0500 Camp Toccoa, Georgia, United States War Correspondent Esther Armstrong

It was a pitiful way to fall asleep that night. My mind felt rattled awake with the raindrops of the metal roof that was placed on top of the building we now slept it, sounding as if gunshots were ringing out above our heads. I could hear Mercy tossing and turning before she finally was able to settle; I almost wish I could have willed myself to bed as quickly as her, but my mind was filled with thought and question of tomorrow. I am hopeful for the day, concerting my doubts of Lieutenant Sobel at the minute and rather holding myself to a more positive outlook. I am willing myself for a day of good.

- Esther Armstrong, on Day One of Training, from Stroke of Luck

[find the newest fic update here]

taglist: @mads-weasley @icantdecideofthename @thoughpoppiesblow @cetaitlaverite @sergeant-spoons @vintagelavenderskies

-> if you would like to be added/removed please let me know! :)

[inazumaneko]

Fun fact: this is what Sun’s art tends to look like in “don’t spare your gaze” 👀

[theophagie]

I'm not good at this staying away from social media on purpose thing. Anyway cringe diary time but whenever I'm with my friends and the partners topic comes up I'm left 🧍‍♂️ because oftentimes they lament things that honestly sound good to me... and then I reflect on what kind of relationship I would be comfortable in in general and go "mhhh yeah let's just be sympathetic and say nothing else right"