#< That’s the title of the fic haha

[reineydraws]

i think a side effect of loving mishanks for many people is becoming very endeared by the "rayleigh is mihawk's parent" au's haha :') first one's part of this fic i posted where smolhawk challenges rayleigh to a duel ⚔️✨️ second one's just a random kid!mishanks doodle. i think their shenanigans (incl buggy!) would be cute.

[easyaesthetics]

If you like Canon-divergence, angst & eventual recovery, read the epilogue here!

(Thank you @purrpurrazzi00 for the fic art)

[sysig]

You're still standing off to the side. Somehow, center stage has shifted from under your feet without you realizing, and you're standing in the wings, performing to no one.

Starring Role (Patreon)

[pizzaqueen]

Inspired by @eddiemunsonsmum’s reblogs and tags on this post

615 words / rated T / established relationship

The sign behind the counter boasts the “World’s Largest Sundae” with a picture of what does look like a pretty damn big sundae beside it. Eddie grins, glancing back to Steve sitting at their booth, his heart skipping a silly little beat just from looking at Steve. He shakes himself, turns back to the waitress, and points. “One of those, please.”

He’s still grinning when he gets back to their booth, sliding into the seat across from Steve, vinyl creaking under denim as he settles in.

Immediately, Steve’s eyes narrow. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, no, I don’t believe you.”

Eddie shrugs and spreads his hands. “I guess that’s your problem.” But he can’t stop his lips from twitching, which does nothing to ease Steve’s obvious suspicion. And then, minutes later, the biggest sundae Eddie’s ever seen in his life arrives at their table.

The waitress has to hold it with two hands, gingerly setting it on their table with a thunk; she wipes her hands down and says, “Enjoy, boys,” and shuffles away.

“Jesus Christ,” Steve mutters, staring at the frozen dairy monstrosity.

Layer upon layer of ice-cream sits in a giant sundae dish, chocolate sauce drizzled over it, topped with a swirl of cream and a single bright red cherry. A silver spoon is sunk deep into one mound of ice-cream, glinting in the diner’s dim light.

Glee fills Eddie from head to toe, and his eyes widen. “That’s a lot of ice-cream.”

“You’re not going to eat all that, are you?” Steve sinks back into his seat, pointing a finger at Eddie. “Because you’re not getting back in my car if you do.”

“No. That’s way too much ice-cream for one person to eat.”

Steve crosses his arms over his chest. “Uh-huh.”

“I mean, no one could eat that without throwing up.” Eddie points over to the sign. “It is the world’s largest sundae. It’s probably humanly impossible.”

“Then why would they sell it?”

“Capitalism?” Eddie lifts his shoulders. “All I’m saying is, I guess I made a mistake, Steve. No one person alone could eat all of this.”

The tick in Steve’s jaw tells Eddie Steve knows exactly what Eddie’s doing. He rests his elbows on the table and leans over. “You wanna bet?”

Eddie grins, tongue between his teeth. “You know I do.”

“Okay,” Steve says, pushing up his sleeves, “you’re on,” and he picks up the spoon.

“Should I get a bucket just in case?”

Steve looks up. The fire in his eyes licks along Eddie’s skin. “I’m not throwing up,” he says, and digs in.

And Eddie watches as Steve neatly and methodically works his way through the whipped cream, then every single scoop of ice-cream spoonful by spoonful, and, finally, he sets down the spoon, picks up the cherry, and pulls it off the stem with his teeth. He sits back, chewing around a victorious grin, brows raising at Eddie. “Well?”

“Marry me,” Eddie says, more than a little breathless.

Steve snorts. “Sure.”

“I’m serious.” Eddie leans across the table, glances around, and lowers his voice: “I am going to marry you one day, Steve Harrington.”

Steve’s smile softens, and his eyes warm. He kicks Eddie under the table and says, “I know.”

Warmth flows through Eddie, and his heart kicks against his ribs, and he smiles back. “Hey,” he says, clearing his throat, “you owe me a sundae.”

Steve rolls his eyes and throws a balled-up napkin at Eddie, but he gets up, goes over to the counter, and, loud enough for Eddie to hear, says, “I’d like one of those world’s largest sundaes, please.”

Oh, yeah. That is Eddie’s future husband, right there.

[heart-of-the-morningstar]

Oh babes, it's happening ;)

[daffi-990]

WIP Wednesday 📝

Tagged by @tizniz

It’s nice having something to share ☺️. Here’s something that’s not angsty from my secret buddie wip

Eddie smiles at him, all warm and bright like the sunrise slipping in between the curtains. His fingers caresses Buck’s cheek as they travel up to card through his hair, his thumb gently stroking over Buck’s birthmark before pulling Buck towards him for another kiss.

Their lips move languidly against one another’s, the soft sounds of their kisses and content exhales filling the room.

“I love you,” Eddie says, burying his face into the crook of Buck’s neck.

He’s heard Eddie say those three words countless times over the past year and a half, yet he still feels them ignite a warm sensation that spreads throughout his body like he did that first time.

Like there’s a star in his chest bursting with colour and light, its shimmering particles embedding themselves into Buck’s bloodstream until he’s glowing with Eddie’s love.

No pressure tagging: @diazsdimples @spotsandsocks @hippolotamus @hoodie-buck @the-likesofus @wikiangela @wildlife4life @watchyourbuck @wellcollapse @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @sibylsleaves @steadfastsaturnsrings @rainbow-nerdss @exhuastedpigeon @elvensorceress @eddiebabygirldiaz @queerdiazs @spagheddiediaz @devirnis @dangerpronebuddie @diazheartsbuckley @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @monsterrae1 @missmagooglie @captain-hen @bekkachaos @neverevan @jeeyuns @jesuisici33 @giddyupbuck @honestlydarkprincess @homerforsure @kitteneddiediaz @lover-of-mine @lonelychicago @disasterbuck @inell @smilingbuckley @bucksbignaturals @ladydorian05 and as always, anyone who has something they’d like to share -> consider this your offical tag 🏷️

[wikiangela]

tease tidbit tuesday

tagged by @thewolvesof1998 @elvensorceress @diazsdimples @tizniz @bidisasterevankinard @spotsandsocks @jesuisici33 @dangerpronebuddie 💖💖

started another bucktommy wip 🙈 they consumed me, and im not even mad haha

I was just thinking at work and thought about buck telling tommy about the will (this is gonna get there i promise lol and I think the sperm donor thing too bc this is bucktommy endgame fic and buck wants it all out there haha)

ngl im lowkey annoyed bc I had a whole convo in my head and it was so good, but couldn't write it down and forgot half of it, but I think it came back to me more or less haha

___

In Buck's defense, he doesn’t mean to ask this question right then. It just slips out. He's lying in the big, strong arms of his very hot, amazing boyfriend, both sweaty and still breathless. He’s blissed out and fucked out, and so content and still dizzy after a mindblowing orgasm. He doesn’t have a lot of control over his thoughts and words right now. So he surprises even himself when the question flies out of him.

“Do you want to have children?” he asks casually, absentmindedly playing with their intertwined fingers where they're splayed on his chest.

“What?” Tommy asks, surprise and even shock evident in his voice, and only then Buck realizes what he said, and he feels his eyes widen and face starts to burn, and he stares at the ceiling, but feels Tommy’s gaze on the side of his head.

“I- I- I mean, like ever, some day, down the line- not like- I mean, you know, I- I just thought we should talk about it if- if- if it’s going where I hope it’s going- because I- we’ve been together for a while and I hope that- I think I-” he starts rambling and stumbling over his words, panicking just a little bit. Fuck, they’ve been doing so good the past few months, it’s honestly his best relationship he’s been in, probably the longest, too, and now he goes and screws it up by being too much, too soon, too serious-

“Evan.” Tommy’s hand lands on his cheek, and he gently turns Buck’s head towards himself. He meets Tommy’s soft gaze, and relaxes a little instantly. Tommy doesn’t look freaked out, just surprised, but there’s a hint of a smile dancing on his lips.

___

no pressure tags: @thebravebitch @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @watchyourbuck @eowon

@loserdiaz @evanbegins @ladydorian05 @wildlife4life @diazpatcher

@lover-of-mine @monsterrae1 @weewootruck @loveyouanyway @spagheddiediaz

@rainbow-nerdss @epicbuddieficrecs @pirrusstuff @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @nmcggg

@rogerzsteven @giddyupbuck @tommykinards @underwaterninja13 @exhuastedpigeon

@911-on-abc @steadfastsaturnsrings @theotherbuckley @buddieswhvre @fortheloveofbuddie

@hoodie-buck @your-catfish-friend @hippolotamus @daffi-990 @honestlydarkprincess

@aroeddiediaz

[thetomorrowshow]

Whumptober 1 - Race against the Clock

welcome to whumptober :)

title: the life of the ebony clock went out

fandom: limited life smp

cw: blood, gore, body horror, temporary character death

~

Jimmy’s out of time.

By some cruel hope, he’d believed that he wouldn’t be first. Not again. It had happened three times, now, once and again and again, and maybe it was folly to think that Fate didn’t have her cold fingers wrapped around his neck, but he had come to believe that Grian and Joel would cover him.

He’s not quite out of time, he supposes. The numbers on his wrist still showed some minutes, last time he checked. Not like that’ll last.

Who would sacrifice time for the Canary?

It would only bring his time up to around an hour. One more death, and he would be gone—and he’s certain that such a death would come swiftly. Even well-meaning friends wouldn’t be able to save him.

He hasn’t even died, not quite yet.

He fell off the bridge, hit the ground. Hard. Missed the water.

It was a common mistake, one that everybody's made at least once, but this time is different. This time leaves him here, in the grass, staring up at the blue sky above.

His communicator keeps buzzing.

If Jimmy could see himself, see through his flesh, he thinks he would see that every bone in his body is broken.

He can’t move. Paralyzed, then. He remembers falling, falling, then hitting the hard ground with several ear-splitting cracks, his spine buckling under the impact. His head had whipped forward and then back rapidly, whiplash that’s probably more than whiplash leaving his neck stiff and immobile. His boots are too tight on his feet and shins, a sure sign that they’ve swollen immensely. His elbows have shattered, his left hand turned entirely the wrong way. There’s a rib torn out of his chest, another one digging into his lungs. The back of his skull is crushed in so deeply that Jimmy feels if he could lift his head, his brains would drip out.

He’s bleeding. He’s bleeding from all over, from gashes and tears in his back and his legs and his arms, split open by protruding bones or ripped by the ground and grass. Blood bubbles up on his lips, spills down the side of his face. The only thing he can smell is blood. All he can taste is blood.

It’s more pain than he’s ever experienced, every part of him screaming out in a discordant chorus of agony.

There’s a couple of ways he might die here. It could be the pain. The shock of so many broken pieces. His steadily collapsing left lung, desperately trying to pull the weight of the punctured right. Blood loss from so many wounds. Brain death, the matter leaking slowly through the mess of his skull. Choking on his own blood.

He hates how aware he is. Canary’s curse, aware enough of death to send a warning to others. If this were anyone else—if it was anything but his last life—it would have been death on impact. It isn’t fair that he has to experience death, when everyone else just gets to die.

It isn’t fair. It’s torturous, and it isn’t fair.

He draws in another gasping breath, cringing as his ribs scrape against each other and his throat gurgles. Everything . . . everything hurts. Everything hurts so much, it’s terrible and overwhelming; black and blue spots dance across his vision as he watches the clear blue sky. . . .

He hates—more than the awareness, more than the pain—that he’s alone.

He’s always so alone.

He choked to death on an arrow, once. Slow, heat from the scorching desert suffocating him.

He bled out, traitorous slashes in his back, face-down in the marshy earth.

Shock took him, as an Enderman dug its long fingers into his abdomen and pulled out his organs, dragging them out of his stomach.

Always alone.

Is it too much to ask that someone just hold his hand? Sure, he’s not entirely certain that both hands are still attached to his body, but it’s the thought that counts.

More blood leaks from his mouth. His heart flutters, its jolts coming fewer and fewer.

He hasn’t got long yet. A few minutes at most. The time on his wrist continues to count down.

Joel had wanted to give him extra time. Joel was determined to not let him die first, had promised to help him when his time got below an hour.

He isn’t here. It’s just Jimmy and the end, as it always is. As it always has been.

Another breath, another jab of the rib into his lung. His left lung strains and strains, blood steadily filling his chest.

Maybe he’ll drown in his own blood. He doesn’t particularly want to. He wishes he could close his eyes, quickly and painlessly slip away.

Even more blood floods his throat. He doesn’t have the strength to cough, nor tilt his head to the side.

The sky is quite blue above him. The air is pleasantly mild, the sun warm.

This would be his kindest death, if it weren’t for the pain.

Early on in the game, he and Grian and Joel had gone swimming fully-clothed, then hiked up to a sunny hill and laid out in the grass, letting the sun dry their clothes.

This could be that day, lovely and full of laughter, sleepy and happy and Green.

It isn’t.

This day is Red.

There’s too much blood. Blood all over him, more outside than in. It feels like the majority of the blood in his body is in either his throat or his chest cavity.

One final breath, a breath that nearly doesn’t make it past the blood. The pain, thankfully, is starting to numb, his lack of oxygen finally dragging him from awareness.

Though his consciousness is dimming, Jimmy feels it when his other lung collapses. A sharp pain lancing through his chest, barely distinguishable from the rest of it. Whatever little air he’d been managing to get vanishes, swallowed up in the loss.

There’s nothing in his throat but blood. Too much blood to come out his mouth, so it goes back down into his over-full chest.

Too much blood.

Jimmy’s last coherent thought is that he’s going to need some therapy for this one.

-

Grian: did tim survive that?

Tango: ?

Inthelittlewood: what?

Smallishbeans: he fell off the skynet

Grian: water bucket?

Smallishbeans: he was so far out

Smallishbeans: I’ll go find him

Smajor1995: how many lives have we lost to these bridges

Grian: far too many

Etho: I wonder whose idea that was

Smallishbeans: im gona be sick

Grian: ?

Inthelittlewood: honestly if timmy pulled that bucket i’ll be well impressed

GoodTimeWithScar: Joel… the clockers will get revenge…

SolidarityGaming drowned in his own blood.

Grian: OH

Inthelittlewood: OH NO

Etho: !

BdoubleO100: UM?

Tango: OK UH

Smajor1995: oh nooo

Inthelittlewood: haven’t seen THAT death message before

Grian: OH NO

Grian: oh tim

Etho: I have

Inthelittlewood: ??

ZombieCleo: oh that sounds awful

BigBst4tz2: ohh jimmy

Smallishbeans: iwasn’t fast enough

Smallishbeans: nobody go over there

Inthelittlewood: oh geez

Smallishbeans: lots of blood

Grian: guess he didn’t survive it after all

[satoruxx]

WIP GAME

rules — list the names/titles of docs in your WIP folder + open your inbox to have people ask about them!

@twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat thank you for the tag ari my love !! had to dig very deeply into the files for this... and i'm gonna be so honest i forgot about half of these oops

anyways pls do ask me anything about these bc i need to talk about them and talking about them will make me get inspired to write them :3333

the space between comfort and chaos. (part 5)

wolfhybrid!toji fushiguro x f!reader :: hybrid au, grumpy x sunshine, ongoing series (i'm obligated to put this here even though i think everyone knows about it)

dead reckoning.

geto suguru x f!reader, implied gojo satoru x f!reader :: canon au installment, angst, fluff, pining, unresolved feelings, bittersweet

untitled drabble.

wolfhybrid!toji fushiguro x reader :: hybrid au, in another timeline, how you and wolf!toji would meet if things played out differently, grumpy x sunshine, random thoughts about first meetings

say you'll love me to death, because i will.

vampire!sashisu x reader :: poly!sashisu, vampire x human, mutual pining, fluff, slow burn, lots of blood ??

crawling back to you.

tigerhybrid!ryomen sukuna x reader :: hybrid au, drabble, obssessive behavior, bickering, animalistic tendencies, jealousy, extremely grumpy x sunshine (he's not even grumpy he's just a hater)

ROYALTY AU

dying by your hand.

royal knight!gojo satoru x princess!reader :: royalty au, slow burn, childhood friends to lovers, bodyguard trope, mutual pining, lifelong devotion

angel eyes see the good in devils.

gladiator!toji fushiguro x princess!reader :: royalty au, forbidden romance, grumpy x sunshine

the illusion of a regime.

prince!geto suguru x princess!reader :: royalty au, enemies to lovers, slow burn, arranged marriage

no pressure tags: @vagabond-umlaut @ryomance @pupkashi + anyone else who wants to do this !!

[strangersteddierthings]

You Left Me Scars Through Memories (Tangled in my DNA) - Prologue

"I love you so much," Stephanie Harrington says, reaching out a hand to tuck some hair behind his ear. It's more an excuse to touch than to clear his face of hair. It's at a length now that will result in the tucked hair falling back into his face with barely a shake of his head.

Steve blinks up at her from where he's sat in her lap, his face far too serious for a toddler just a few hours shy of three years old.

"Your life is going to be so difficult and it's my fault. I'm so sorry," she whispers, sweeping him into a hug. He snuggles into her embrace instantly and it brings tears to her eyes. He should hate her for what she's done. Perhaps he will, once he's older and can understand what she's apologizing for.

"I'm going to tell you a story," she settles back into the chair, a big plush thing that she sits in every night to read a bedtime story to Steve, or tries too anyway. He's at the age where he's wiggly and full of energy until he drops.

"Once upon a time, there was a man and a woman. Husband and wife. And they loved each other very much," she starts, running one hand up and down on her baby's back, soothing, "and they wanted nothing more than to have a child.

"But try as they might, no child would come to them. And soon resentment began to grow. The wife, convinced that having a child would remove the resentment, set off to make a bargain with a witch, said to live deep in the woods.

"She told her husband she was going to visit her family so as not to arouse suspicion. Consorting with witches wasn't something that was done, you see."

This is the longest Steve has sat still in her lap in months. She thinks he might be asleep but continues the story anyway.

"It took her almost three weeks to find the witch, deep in the woods. Upon arrival, the witch had tried to turn away the wife. But the wife was persistent. 'Please,' she begged the witch, 'if we can have a child then my husband will love me again.'

"The witch was not moved by this plea. 'You would bring a child into a loveless marriage?' and the wife argued that once they had a child, their marriage would no longer be loveless. The witch disagreed but the wife would not be deterred.

"'What would you give up to have this child?' the witch asked after being pestered by the wife for almost a week. And the wife had said anything.

"'Anything is dangerous,' the witch said. 'I can give you the means to have a child, but the universe will decide the price.' And so, the wife agreed, and the witch pressed a folded piece of parchment into the wife's hand.

"When she finally returned home, she had been gone for eight long weeks. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, they say, and husband and wife reunited. Still, the wife waited three more months before preforming the ritual the witch had pressed into her palm.

"Soon, they had a child, a daughter. But with her arrival came the universe's price. A life blessing is not an easy thing to give, and the price for life is the highest to pay. Free Will was that price. And when the daughter turned three, she learned her daughter also paid the price. Her daughter, and her daughter's daughter, and her daughter's daughter's son. Forever more. The wife, now mother, was angry to learn this. Why should her child have to suffer for her own sins?

"She told her husband what she had done. She had to, you see, because how else could he be expected to raise a child that would do everything you told her to? Words would need to be picked carefully.

"It was years later before the mother could track the witch down again, to demand the witch undo the curse. 'I made the bargain, why must my child also suffer the consequences?'

"'You said anything,' the witch responded, 'and I told you that was dangerous. It was foolish of you to think your actions would not affect others. All actions do.'

"The mother said, 'can it not be undone?' and the witch said, 'All curses can be broken.' When the mother asked how, the witch just looked at her and said, 'go away, and do not seek me again.' And the mother had no choice but to obey."

Steve still has not stirred on her lap and when she looks down, she can see he is asleep. Even if Steve had stayed awake for the whole story, she knows she'll have to retell it to him when he's older. When he'll remember all of it. Perhaps she should write it down, too, just in case.

"You see, Steve, what was supposed to be a blessing became a curse. One of obedience. People will tell you to do things and you will be compelled to obey. You will become someone you will never truly know, because anyone can make you anything," she says as she stands and places Steve in his bed. "But don't worry. Mommy will teach you how to trick and cheat the curse as much as you can."

[f-imaginings]

in terms of inspiration and such does it feel easier or more difficult to write as you inch closer and closer to weirdmageddon? or has it made no notable difference? you’ve been working on this story for so long so i imagine it must feel kinda strange to be getting so close to what might be the end of it!

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

Another wonderful question!! You are so good at these!

I think my inspiration to write is more closely correlated to the comments and feedback I get for the story, so the more people who tell me they enjoy it, the more it inspires me to write, and I've had a wonderful abundance of attention since BOB so I am being spoiled every day by nice words. I think my drive to finish the fic is pretty sustainable at this point, and I'm already getting ideas for a sequel haha. Finishing the fic was my new years resolution (even though judging by past chapters, it's been taking roughly a month to churn each one out since they're so long and intricate) so it looks like sometime in the new year I'll likely finish the story, maybe around April or June depending on how I balance writing with my workload and social obligations. I'm determined to finish it though (so I can start a cathartic sequel hahah)

I think in terms of us being towards the end of the story though, I have noticed it's made a difference on how I plan out the chapters. In the past I had all the time in the world to build the story and relationships and take things in new imaginative directions, but with the end of the story on the horizon we're left with a limited amount of time to tie up all the loose plot threads. I am being a lot more deliberate with how I plan the chapters. I write notes about plot direction and what details to include for every chapter, and I find that with every chapter approaching the end I've been writing three lots of plot notes corresponding to each 'episode'. So there's the general overview of events from the show and what I want to include from Ford and Bill's perspective, and then there's the refined version where I drill down into what factors I want to explore for each POV (for example the notes for the next chapter include Kryptos' storyline, Ford's storyline and Bill's storyline) which really breaks down what plot beats happen in each POV, and then there's the order of the different plot points, so I can weave between the different POVs in a way that flows thematically and brings out the best contrast between the characters journey.

I try to pull together similar themes in each chapter too, so for example the last chapter had overarching themes (lmao I made myself laugh by saying the themes of chapter 61 were 'dogs' and 'what if my family secretly hates me' hahah) and then I try to place story beats from different POVs together in a way that the themes compliment or contrast each other - so for example in the next chapter the themes of finding purpose after being stripped of it will apply to characters we encounter during Kryptos' POV and during Ford's POV. I've got this planned out meticulously all the way to the end, but before I start each new chapter thats when my second and third plot plans come into place. There's just something about reading the work through again once it's been posted on ao3 that makes me realise what threads I want to pull into the next chapter and that means my second and third plots happen once the last chapter is posted. I also rewatch the show's episodes about a million times lmao and add to my notes about what little details I want to highlight and bring back from the old chapters, since this fic is technically canon divergent, not fully canon adjacent.

I get inspired all the time for this story though, from all kinds of places too. Lots of times from my work (since I work in a mental health org) or from therapy or my own reading. I attended a DSFV training session through work a few weeks ago and what I learned there gave me inspiration for how I want to tackle a possible redemption arc in a sequel, especially around cycles of violence and how it can relate to perpetrators. I'll talk about healthy relationships in my own therapy sessions, and I'll get inspired to work in stuff about relearning independence after codependency. I'll read a baller fanfic (usually from other fandoms since I've been saving myself to read all the billford fics after my fic is finished, because of that one time someone accused the fic of plagarism - but since most ppl have wised up to the fact that those claims were just one person being a big meany I've read one or two fics and there is some gold out there in the fandom!!! Like Theseus' Guide To Ruining a Perfectly Good Boat by @stump-not-found theres a few chapters out but I am loving the characterisation and how punchy the prose and stakes are!) and reading fic is a great inspiration, same with published works too, I'm currently reading Youthjuice by E K Sathue which does very interesting things with description.

Anywho sorry for the essay in response haha! You always ask such great questions jada! I just finished doing my second plot through for chapter 62 today too, what timing!

[phoenixcatch7]

Up next, the only model I have of one of my rare fandom OCs. I typically only make one per fandom, so this is mdzs!

This is Crow, a nameless and amnesiac raven. The animal reincarnation of an ancient demonic cultivator puppeting the skeleton of their previous life. Wwx named them upon meeting them when he mistook their species in the dark, and then found it funny enough he kept the name.

It's vanishingly rare these guys get lore, but this one does!

I typically keep to book or anime continuity, and crow is my nod to cql/the untamed. In this, crow is the only known member of a rare and unorthodox species - a yin skeleton.

To 'become' a yin skeleton, a few criteria must be met: a creature of sufficient power and resentment must die an unsettled death and yet refuse to become a resentful spirit. Their corpse must then be left, undisturbed and unburied in whatever state it was left in, in a location of immense resentful energy with full exposure to (the purifying yin of) the moon. After many years, once the flesh has rotted off the bones, the skeleton left will rise once more and mindlessly seek out its soul. Should it encounter the soul in their new body, and the soul accept the undead shell rather than fleeing or destroying it, the bond between mind and body will be forged anew, and the skeleton becomes a second body of the soul, allowing it to cultivate immense amounts of yin energy without damage to the current vessel.

Having no organs, it of course cannot talk or feel pain, though resentment puppets its limbs and allows it to see and hear just as well as any reanimated skeleton - better, even. Though it can carry out orders and operate from a significant distance, a yin skeleton will always be drawn back to its soul, seeking out what it can never again have.

Crow is the reincarnation of whoever created the burial mounds, the losing side. It's been so long since they first reincarnated, gained their yin skeleton, and cultivated to sapience that they no longer recall anything about their human life, including their old gender. Wwx theorises that they could be Xue Chonghai himself, or one of his disciples, but any clues are long since lost to time and they're not really interested in finding out. Nonetheless, they have 'lived' in the burial mounds undisturbed and undiscovered for centuries, learning and experimenting with yin energy with their decreasingly limited intelligence and total lack of resources or modern knowledge.

Wwx encounters them for the first time utilising corpses for a dance ritual to expose the sky above the thick smog. Think a rain dance, but in reverse. Though they're not a fighter (nothing to fight in the burial mounds if you're part of it) or good at using their words (nothing to talk to in the burial mounds period), they nonetheless possess a deep understanding of yin energy/resentment and its interactions with its cultivators that wwx reverse engineers and uses to reach even greater heights. Vaguely endeared and deeply interested in the most unusual thing to happen in the mounds in literal centuries, their raven body often leaves the mounds to scavenge for berries and the like for wwx to eat, because lord knows what he was eating in canon.

When wwx breaks out of the burial mounds, they intermittently visit him, acquiring a veiled hat and covering robes to avoid getting hunted down, pretending mutism and the bird being a talking service animal trained for translation. They could not look any more like a demonic cultivator if they tried, though, so results are mixed. They are often one crow among the many that follow wwx around being ominous and creepy, so it's no surprise he thought they were one too at first!

With a reason and desire to explore and socialise (with like, one person lol), Crow slowly grows to genuinely like wwx and shows initiative by spying for information. This works worryingly well, being just a bird and a super powered undead. When wwx brings the wens to the burial mounds, Crow is introduced to them all and in turn shows them the way to the old sect ruins, where they settle. They bond with wn, unsurprisingly, and are extremely fond of him and the small human who is soon unafraid to approach them. During the first siege of the burial mounds, wwx orders them to hide and guard a-yuan, and they do so, though they struggle to care for him as his fever climbs. When lwj comes and rescues a-yuan, they follow him in secret, often checking in on the pair in between general spying and stalking and trying to clean up the mounds.

When wwx is forcibly brought back to life in a new body, his own skeleton wakes up and tries to find him. Crow takes care of it like an exasperated child minder, keeping it from running out in public or off cliffs in search of him, until they encounter him halfway up dafan mountain. A dark human shape looming in the shadows of the trees just off the path looking straight at him, following the narrative it'd be the first time the audience meets them lol. The very image of Bad News.

Crow leads wwx to a clearing, where there is the outline of a tall, broad figure standing just inside the shade cast by the trees. Red eyes, tumbling and tattered hair, flowing robes. It steps out into the moonlight, and wwx's skeleton is skinless and bare but for the cloak Crow has forced it into. Wwx reaches for the grasping bony hands with zero hesitation, and thus wwx gets his own yin skeleton - the first ever human to do so.

As a demonic hippie, essentially, Crow isn't really a fighter - preferring to cultivate through dance where wwx chooses music - though they aren't afraid to dish the pain. Like any other undead, the skeleton does all the work, fighting unarmed with immense brute strength, speed and endurance. Like wn, basically. When not covered from head to toe to participate in society they typically wear very loose, gaping clothing to allow Crow to climb around on the bones. They typically rest in the exposed ribcage like a birdcage, but when making a point they often climb into the skull to peer from an eye socket (which is why the design has a single red eye. All very goth. I was going to use a normal eye but it looks absolutely HORRIFYING on a skeleton XD).

Crow, being a bird in charge of a skeleton in a pit of death, cares very little for appearances, and their yin skeleton is clothed in repaired and stolen rags from the corpses. The only thing remaining of their past life is a weirdly indestructible cloak/outer robe embroidered with falling red leaves. Shoes are very hard to wear when you don't have any skin or muscles, and it's not like it can get scratches or sore feet anyway, so it's barefoot, only using wraps to give the illusion of shoes. The whole chest was supposed to be exposed so you could see the ribs! But there weren't any chest pieces like that so I had to settle. It does look SUPER cool though. The feathers on their chest are from the bird! It's hard to tell given the dark colours and the blood, but they're the same blue as the wings! The arm guards and wraps are basically just falconry gloves so Crow can land safely and not fall off the bones lol. The moon/yin bleaching has left the bones really white, unlike natural skeletons which are yellow. The bleaching white is for hygiene and aesthetic I think.

Due to the bird cultivating resentment, Crow successfully reached immortality in their flesh and blood body. Perhaps they could have been human by now had they stayed in the reincarnation cycle and led good lives, but they prefer the life they have. If they could speak eloquently enough they could revolutionise the study of yin, but wwx is the only one who really listened. Eventually, perhaps, if they form the undead trio with wn and sl (and a-qing, technically) and one of the two teaches them the modern writing system. Due to all the spying and exploring (breaking and entering) they do, they often struggle to have patience with surprise or denial. Crow may have bitten someone in frustration. Or five.

Luckily, lsh and jl regard them as the creepy but helpful uncle, and enjoy petting the raven as much as it enjoys being pet. The adults who know of them are mostly warily resigned to ominous eyeless staring and a bird randomly sharing personal details of their enemies. It's how they show their love.

Man but I'm SO happy with the design, it came out SO WELL!!

If you've read this far, yay! Tell me what you think ^u^

[phoenixtakaramono]

OPERATION BABYLON - PART VI

aka the butchlander sugar baby AU.

We have the first reader interactive poll for this threadfic! I recommend reading the update to the end (with a detailed breakdown of each choice) before making your decision.

Tumblr Navigation (note I have not shared the prologue here with its premise setup; I’ve only started sharing this twitter threadfic on tumblr starting from the 2nd 🔞 scene): I | II | III | IV | V | VI

Update Schedule: weekly/ biweekly

(You can read the rest of the threadfic update here!)

Keep in mind, all of my AU Butchlander threadfics on Twitter are the unpolished first draft versions of what’ll eventually be polished up into long fics on AO3 under the Shock and Awe series. So you may regard this threadfic as an experimental first prototype and exclusive preview whose contents may or may not be changed in the future final draft version. We’re just loosely playing around with ideas and concepts for now!

If you don’t have a Twitter account, screenshots are provided below the line break so you can read this update on Tumblr as well:

A more-in-depth breakdown of the choices:

A) Tell the truth. To avoid suspicion, Billy lays low and comes up with an excuse that he's booked for the whole day plays hard to get. It'll lead to Homelander running into "William out on a date" with another Supe—and a jealous Homelander running interference lol and sabotaging it, potentially leading to a "private tour" at The Seven meeting room and some 🔞 inappropriate office s*x ;) the setting depends if I decide to have it as a Vought HQ gala event or a Capes for Christ baptism

The payoff: a lead into the investigation The con: Billy's relationship with one of his long-time regulars is irreversibly damaged (it'll come bite him in the arse much later in the threadfic)

B) Homelander wants to be his sugar daddy. So Billy wants to test that and see if he can get our caped crusader to unknowingly fund his little CIA operation by exaggerating his rent and monthly overhead costs to tug at the hero's supposed generous philanthropist heartstrings. It'll lead to the sugar baby/daddy relationship being developed more aka a lil à la Pretty Woman-styled "shopping spree" with Homelander raining gifts on Billy's head say bye bye to Billy's CIA-assigned base, potentially leading to a 🔞 scene for "William to show him his gratitude"

The payoff: a bigger base and money for a more in-depth investigation The con: Homelander will lowkey stalk monitor him, so it'll be harder to keep his covert activities a secret from him or sneak out

C) The cute "Waiting for you :)" type of option. Billy doubles down on the act and reforms himself into Homelander's dream lover. It's tooth-rotting romantic fluff and flirty back-and-forth banter between them, but keep in mind what'll happen when Homelander inevitably realizes the "William who's literally almost perfect in every way and is too good to be true" isn't actually real much much much later as a direct consequence of this early choice.

The payoff: a happy Homelander (speedrun gaining his trust and affection by taking our bbg on dates <3) The con: the future fallout (and reconciliation) will be much more dramatic

Choose your poison! You can also vote on Twitter (link to the poll). I will add the final results together, and we’ll see which story route comes out on top.

A/N: A bit of Billy’s POV as we begin to pull back the curtains. How deep does this rabbithole of deception go? Far. Very far. Did y'all see the twist with Popclaw? Didn't expect that, did ya?

I am, by the way, open to ⚠️🔞 reader suggestions~. I make no promises that I’ll write it, but this threadfic is meant as a shameless excuse to write 🔞 butchlander spice, haha, and provide y’all some content during our butchlander drought. I have one reader suggestion thus far, and it involves candle wax. 🕯️

[prince-liest]

dr prince!

I was so busy waiting for the next update of once bitten that I didn't realize until yesterday that you'd posted something else! I just read lady's first and oh my god. oh my god holy shit oh my god.

I almost cried several times, and somehow, against god's will, you've caused me to develop a crush on your fem!alastor specifically. I just want to hug her so bad. your writing never fails to be funny, sexy, emotional, and thoughtful all at the same time; I love love loved reading your note at the end about alastor's relationship with gender. your portrayal was such a perfect balance of her still being alastor while also clearly being affected by a different upbringing/socialization. ugh, I love your writing so much.

I also think this and your 666 series has proven to me that I am SO here for alastor tentatively asking for friendship and vox not being an asshole about it. I love -- and I think this is what I find appealing about hazbin in general -- seeing the worst sinners in hell find something warm and happy together in the middle of all the bleakness. lady's first and I love her, I love her not are going to be tucked into a warm place in my heart for a while, I think. maybe forever.

Aaaaa, thank you so much! Yeah, Once Bitten is going to take a minute to update because I've been on a road trip and not written anything at all for over a week, haha. But Lady's First was my mental break foray into a softer radiostatic dynamic and also because I cannot seem to unhinge my jaw from the death grip it has on putting Alastor into compulsory heterosexuality situations and all the processing required to deal with them. Yes, there IS more coming. Sorry, blorbo, you are now here for me to work through the current concept I'm hyperfixated on.

I forget if I've mentioned elsewhere, but I actually expected a lot of people to give Lady's First a pass because it's M/F and because it's a genderbend, so it's genuinely really touching to me that what possessed me in the writing of it has resonated with many others as well! I'm especially glad that the characterization came through and made sense with the specific changes I made—and big handshake on wanting soft resolutions for these literal demons from hell, hahaha. Unpicking their humanity is my favorite part of this fandom!

Anyway, thank you so much! This ask made me really happy to receive, haha

[splickedylit]

I know most of my new followers are for Homestuck but I just reread the entirety of Eyeshield 21 and: football manga good. So you'll have to forgive a brief interlude of "Splickedy's favorite minor character (and guests)" haha. Anyway do you think any of the gangsters Agon canonically cuckolded ever mistook Unsui for his twin brother and beat the shit out of him?? Ignore me.

...also tho relatedly I made a post about college Hiruma/Unsui in January and now I'm 26,000 words in, because,,, idk I've lost control of my life? Because "I realized in college that I'm queer and I have a million tons of repressed emotions behind a very cracked dam" is a big mood and maps onto Unsui too easily for me to resist? Because I'm still incredibly amused by the thought of how pissed off Agon would be if his brother started dating Hiruma? All of those things, lmao.

[daffi-990]

WIP Wednesday📝

Tagged by @tizniz 🩵

Okay so I owe you all some more info about my secret buddie wip … are y’all ready???

This wip is actually a sequel …

To Rival Firefighters 🚒 !!!!!

Whhhhaaat?!?!!! Crazy right?

Someone of you might be like ughhh why are you writing a sequel? But I hope most of you are just as excited as I am.

I didn’t have any plans to revisit the rivals world so soon (or at all, but I hadn’t ruled it out), but James asked me if I’d ever revisit it, particularly the shooting. Some ideas were thrown around and then like a week later I had words in a new doc and things have just gone from there.

So everyone who is a fan of the Rivals universe, say thank you to James 😘❤️

Without further ado, here’s a little something from Eddie’s POV.

Prev snippet here

Buck definitely breaks a few traffic laws to get to the hospital as fast as he does, and when he stops in his tracks in the doorway to Eddie’s room, Eddie feels like he can breathe properly for the first time since he woke up.

Buck’s got dark circles under his eyes and he’s carrying a tiredness that isn’t from a lack of sleep. He looks like shit, but he is still the most beautiful thing Eddie has ever seen.

“Hey, Buck”

Buck lets out a relieved laugh that quickly turns into a sob, rushing forward to envelope Eddie in a hug that both heals and fractures his heart.

He closes his eyes and wraps his good arm around Buck, ignoring the throb of pain in his injured shoulder. He’ll put up with a little bit of pain if it means holding Buck in his arms like this.

Buck is shaking, his tears soaking into Eddie’s hospital gown as he repeats Eddie’s name over and over again like a prayer.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Eddie murmurs. He kisses Buck’s hair, breathing in the scent of him. Here. Alive. “I’m okay.”

No pressure tagging: @diazsdimples @diazheartsbuckley @disasterbuck @hippolotamus @spotsandsocks @smilingbuckley @watchyourbuck @wikiangela @wildlife4life @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @wellcollapse @exhuastedpigeon @elvensorceress @eddiebabygirldiaz @rainbow-nerdss @monsterrae1 @missmagooglie @queerdiazs @spagheddiediaz @lover-of-mine @lonelychicago @bekkachaos @captain-hen @steadfastsaturnsrings @try-set-me-on-fire @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @princessfbi @fiona-fififi @glorious-spoon @giddyupbuck @honestlydarkprincess @beyourownanchor6 @jeeyuns @jesuisici33 @kitteneddiediaz @actuallyitsellie @inell and as always, anyone who has anything they want to share -> consider this your official tag 🏷️