#((gonna try posting all the stuff in my inbox and drafts in a while... even tho theres like 20-

[forsaken-fates]

So Elliot, what was your opinion on Two Time? Were you friends.

Pizza anon questioned.

>[Elliot shrugged, leaning against the counter as they tried to remember a few faint memories about the ex-cultist.]

"Two Time was... alright, I guess. Freaked out everyone and I a bit, but still alright."

>[He paused, his gaze hardening slightly.]

"... 'Friend' depends on how you see it. Like... we used to talk, but not as often as I do with my 'actual' friends. I guess we were more like 'acquaintances', if anything..."

[robinvomit]

†  realizing he’s in love (in the worst, most sudden ways possible) : tim.

♦ sub title: aka, tim saying "oh" a lot. ♦ request: yes; just tim stuff ( none of this is my usual in depth style. ) ♦ beta’d: nope ♦ a/n: one of my shorter, tiny blurb drafts for all my tim anons. this is, 100%, shit writing. + gonna add a little thing here rq since i've been asked about it: tim, canonically, does drink a lot of caffeine lol and his sleep issues are not related to that. i am fully aware - i grew up reading these comics? i am also aware he is not actually the coffee addict of the family ---- that would be, very well known, barbara. so please don't get bent in my inbox thinking i don't know things about the characters i am writing lol ive spent just about all 26 years of my life with them. i actually have a whole, old, post about his lover switching him to hot chocolate because /caffeine/.

When You Call Him Yours (Casually, Like It's Nothing) it happens in the middle of a mission debrief.

you're standing next to him, arms crossed, expression sharp as you go over details with the team. tim's half-listening, skimming data on his tablet, fully absorbed in work mode until you say something offhandedly.

"well, yeah, but tim's mine, so obviously i trust his intel."

tim's brain short-circuits.

his fingers freeze over the tablet screen, breath catching, stomach flipping so violently that he might actually be dying.

yours.

you called him yours.

the conversation continues without him while he's just standing there, processing, staring at nothing, trying to reboot his entire existence.

by the time he finally snaps out of it, the conversation is over, and you've already walked off.

tim just stands there, blinking, feeling like he's been hit by the batmobile.

"oh," he mutters to himself, completely dazed.

When He Instinctively Pulls You Into His Lap (Without Thinking)

it's late. you're both exhausted, curled up on the couch at the manor, half-watching a movie neither of you are paying attention to. tim's mostly staring right past the screen, and you're leaning against him, half-asleep, boneless and warm.

and then, without even thinking, tim just moves.

one hand grabs your wrist, the other tugs at your waist - effortless, casual, instinctual. in one smooth motion, you're in his lap, legs draped over his, his arms lazily settling around you.

you blink, startled. "tim?"

tim, meanwhile, is absolutely not functioning.

because oh, shit.

he didn't even think about it.

it was natural. automatic.

like his body just knew you belonged there.

"oh," he says blankly, blinking rapidly. "uh. sorry."

you tilt your head, clearly not bothered, just amused. "are you? because you haven't let go."

tim looks down and he is, in fact, still holding you.

tightly.

like he has no intention of letting go.

"…huh."

When He Catches Himself Staring (For Way Too Long)

you're just talking. laughing about something, gesturing with your hands, eyes bright and expressive.

tim is listening. he thinks.

actually, no.

he's staring.

hard.

like he's trying to commit every tiny detail to memory - the curve of your lips, the way your nose scrunches slightly when you laugh, the way your hands move when you talk.

and then?

you catch him.

you pause mid-sentence, raising an eyebrow. "tim?"

tim blinks. realizes. malfunctions.

he was just staring at you. like an idiot.

for god knows how long.

"oh," he says, clearly panicking. "uh. yeah. sorry. i—"

you smirk, leaning in slightly. "you okay there, boy genius?"

tim, whose entire brain just blue-screened? absolutely not okay.

he just clears his throat aggressively and looks anywhere but at you.

"fine," he mutters, ears red. "totally fine."

When He Lets You Take His Coffee Without Complaining (And That's… Not Normal)

tim does not share coffee. he does not share most things.

it is a known fact. a rule. a law of the universe.

but then one morning, you take his cup right out of his hands.

no hesitation. no asking.

just a casual theft.

and instead of stopping you - instead of glaring or grabbing it back like he normally would;

tim just lets you.

no argument. no protest. nothing. just continues with what he was telling you.

jason, sitting across the room, watches the whole thing and immediately loses his shit.

"oh my god," jason cackles, pointing at tim like he's a science experiment. "you're so fucking gone."

tim blinks, confused. "what?"

jason gestures wildly. "you just let them take your coffee, dude. you don't even let bruce take your coffee.. you tried to threaten alfred once."

tim opens his mouth. closes it. turns to look at you, where you're happily sipping his coffee without a care in the world.

"oh," he mutters. "oh, shit."

you pause, glancing between them. "what's happening?"

jason grins like it's the funniest thing in the world. "tim just realized he's in love with you."

tim chokes on air.

you blink. "…just now?"

jason nods.

tim groans, face in his hands.

When You Leave for a Few Days, and He Absolutely Cannot Handle It

it's just a short trip. three days, tops. nothing serious.

tim thinks he'll be fine.

he is not fine.

the first day? manageable.

the second day? sucks.

the third day? absolute hell.

when did he become so.. attached? he has no idea.

he doesn't sleep right. he doesn't focus. he keeps checking his phone, scrolling through old messages, rereading things just to feel like you're still close.

and when you finally come back?

tim doesn't even hesitate.

the second he sees you, he's pulling you in; arms tight, head tucked into your shoulder, breathing you in like he's been drowning without you.

you freeze for a second, startled.

then, softly—"missed me, huh?"

tim exhales shakily, something he refuses to acknowledge. doesn't even try to deny it. just holds you tighter and mutters into your skin;

"don't ever leave me that long again."

and that's when he knows.

he's never letting you go.

Bonus: What Happens After Tim Realizes He's in Love Denial. He will fight for his life trying to pretend like he's fine.

Overthinking. Oh, you thought he was bad before? Now he's worse.

Jason making fun of him. Every chance he gets.

Dick being proud. "Aww, my baby brother's in love!"

Tim finally accepting it and immediately becoming the softest, most devoted partner of all time. ( he just isn't great at it all the time. because ---- long story short; he will forget. )

[olldtimerbuckley]

Hi Buckley! Hope you’re having a good day!

I don’t know how this works but here I go.

 4

A

꒰ 𓅫 ꒱ “we’re gonna need to talk about some things after this, aren’t we?”

I was thinking of (young adult) Ellie working at Joel’s furniture company, she’s his apprentice, and oddly they’re good friends, but lately they are secretly pining for the each other hard. One day Joel has to pick up some light work stuff from a far storage, and takes Ellie with him for help. But oh no! they ended up trapped inside because the lock malfunctioned, and in the meantime they wait for Tommy to release them, they also release some spicy tension…

Ps. I picked thigh because Joel is enamored with Ellie’s.

Yeah I think that’s all :D thank you!

I know this has been in my inbox forever and took so many liberties with this prompt, but it's already shaping up to be the lightest, tropiest, most unserious thing I've ever written. I'll post it to AO3 after I polish it up (I wrote half of it in a fever-induced haze) and have a little more written. Early estimate is 3 chapters.

@jammingjoellie I hope you like it so far!!!

Head Over Hardwood Part 1

Minors & Antis DNI

Joel x Ellie

Warnings: Age gap, inappropriate workplace romance, no smut (yet) just a lot of UST

Length: 4.9k

“God fucking shitdick. Where the hell is it?”

Joel smiles as he watches Ellie from his workbench, something he's been doing a lot lately. Smiling, of course. Not watching her. Because shamelessly leering at his nineteen-year-old shop apprentice would be extremely inappropriate, and while he might, occasionally, skirt the bounds of their workplace relationship, he's not fool enough to believe she's seriously interested in him.

What they do isn't even flirting, it's just… teasing. Harmless teasing.

So, there Joel sits with his chin resting on his fist, watching (not leering) as Ellie aggressively pats herself down like an overzealous TSA agent, a constant current of profanities pouring out of her carmine mouth. When she bends at the waist and shoves her hands into the lower pockets of her work pants, he snaps his gaze away from her so fast his neck cracks.

The last thing he needs right now is to get caught staring at the cute little curve of her ass. Still, the image of her bent over burns behind his retinas.

Holy Hell.

As if seeing her sucking on that creamsicle earlier wasn't enough to whittle down his self-control. The length of it disappearing past her lips before her cheeks hollowed, her tongue working around the stick and lapping at her sticky fingers, the sloppy, suckling noises she made…

His cock starts thickening in his jeans.

That's just fuckin’ great. Fifty-six years old and he's poppin’ a woody at work.

Joel shifts in his seat, his tired eyes darting over to the bathroom door. As unprofessional as it is, it certainly wouldn't be the first time he's taken care of himself at work since this spitfire of a girl slammed into his life like a wrecking ball whose sole purpose was to test his patience and raise his blood pressure.

A soft snarl draws his attention back to Ellie. Or rather, down to Ellie; crawling around on her hands and knees, her face is almost pressed to the floor.

I guess it's time to act like an adult. One of us has to.

Joel sneakily adjusts himself before standing and leaning back against the table, both hands gripping the edge. “Are you lookin’ for somethin’?” he asks, trying to keep the amusement he feels bubbling in his chest from reaching his voice.

Huffing and puffing, Ellie shoots a glare up at him, her eyebrows pinched tight in aggravation. “My favorite drafting pencil. I swear I just fucking had it,” she mutters, slumping back onto her knees.

As he takes a few strides closer, she lifts her chin to keep holding his gaze, her lips parting and neck arching until he's standing directly in front of her. God, her open mouth is almost level with his crotch. If he was in this position with any other beautiful woman, in any other context, the things he would do…

Joel swallows down his filthy thoughts and clears his suddenly dry throat. Focus. “What's it look like?”

Flailing her hands around, Ellie launches into an animated description, “It's light blue stainless steel with a white foam grippy thing that's perfectly molded to my fingers. The label is too worn down to make out, but it looks–”

“Kind of like this?” he interrupts her tirade, plucking a pencil that bears a striking resemblance to the one she’s yapping about out from behind her ear and holding it in front of her face.

She blinks. Her eyes widen. Then the pink coloring her cheeks darkens, steadily creeping over her nose and up to her hairline. “No?” she squeaks, wincing at the sound of her own voice.

Joel clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Riiight.”

Letting out a drawn-out sigh, Ellie rises to her feet, brushing off the sawdust shavings peppering her thighs on the way up. When she grabs the pencil, her warm fingertips brush over his knuckles. The contact is featherlight, but it lingers on his skin, tingling up his arm like a pulse of electricity.

“Thanks, man,” she says softly, moving a piece of hair behind her ear. Her mossy green eyes are downcast at her hands as she fiddles with the pencil, rolling it back and forth between her fidgety fingers. “It's, uh, been a long day.”

“You're damn right about that.” Joel crosses his arms. “The sales floor closed an hour ago. What the hell are you still doin’ here?”

“I thought I'd take those measurements Tommy brought in and start drawing up the blueprints for that job on Sugar Hill Drive,” Ellie explains briskly. Turning away from him on her Converse heel, she prances over to her desk and begins leafing through various work orders and number sheets.

May is the tail end of Spring – and tax season – meaning Against The Grain’s normally steady trickle of business is booming with bored housewives redesigning their kitchens and equally bored husbands commissioning custom billiard tables for their man caves. Joel would rather work on his own projects and sell them in the showroom, but scheduled jobs keep the lights on. Plus, this year he has a lovely mentee to offload some of his more boring work onto.

Although, she appears to be just as enthused as he is at the prospect.

Even from clear across the room, he can see Ellie's supple lips curl into a frown. “Jesus, is there anything on the docket besides French country cabinets?” she grouses, separating the sheet she needs from the rest.

“Let's see…” He snags the discarded papers from her desk – making sure to avoid knocking over her growing collection of succulents – and wets his thumb before flicking through them. “That hipster bar in Austin put in a custom order for a live edge bar top. Maria says we should upcharge ‘em since they're commercial and don't know their asses from a hole in the ground.”

That wrings a smile out of her. “I knew I liked that woman,” she sighs wistfully. Folding one leg underneath her, Ellie plops into her chair, her favorite pencil gripped safely in hand.

“Let me grab you a calculator–”

“Pfft,” she scoffs. “I don't need a calculator.”

Joel lets out a low whistle. “Well, aren't you a regular Albert Einstein.”

Her neck rolls along with her eyes as she skewers him with a sardonic sideways glance. “Why yes, I have tits and I can do math,” she states snappishly. “Stop the presses!”

“Woah, now. You know that's not what I meant.” He casually hitches his thumbs into the band of his jeans and cocks his knee to the side, shifting his weight onto one leg. “I'm perfectly aware that pretty girls like you can do math.”

Ellie tuts at him chidingly, but she's still wearing that crooked grin of hers. “Careful there, buddy. I could report you to our nonexistent HR department for that kind of talk.”

“Report me? You're the one who was just talking about your…” Warmth crawls up from his collar, heating his face. He makes an awkward gesture to his torso. Please don't make me say it.

She grins like a cat that's got a mouse by its tail. “My what?” she asks coyly.

Looking past her, he stares out of the window he keeps cracked to balance out the varnish fumes and heavy scent of sawdust floating around their workspace. Outside rolling gray clouds are piling one over the other, prematurely canceling out the sun.

“Well?” she presses impatiently.

“... tits,” Joel finally hisses the obscenity through gritted teeth.

Slapping a hand flat on the desk, Ellie throws her head back and barks out a laugh that's closer to a cackle. “Dude! I can't believe you just said that!” Her voice is distorted by several more maniacal giggles. Any embarrassment he feels is quickly overwhelmed by the look of sheer glee she's aiming at him.

The traitorous smile that tugs at his lips pulls at dormant muscles. “You said it first!” he retorts defensively. Good God, could he sound any more childish?

This girl.

This fucking girl.

“Yeah but you're you,” she counters glibly, like the meaning behind her cryptic words is somehow obvious. Then she smirks, twirling her pencil around idly. “Besides, I'm just stating a fact. I objectively have tits.”

“And you're objectively pretty too,” Joel volleys back in a low drawl without missing a beat.

The twirling stops. “That's not… I-I don't–” Ellie sputters for a witty comeback before landing on a flustered, “Shut up.” Bowing her head to excuse herself from their conversation, the tips of her hair dust over her bare shoulder where one sleeve of the open flannel shirt she's wearing has slipped down her arm.

His flannel shirt.

The one he gave her on one of Texas’s rare cold nights last winter, wordlessly tucking it around her little body after catching her shivering. He hasn't asked for it back, and she hasn't offered. Not that he minds; it looks better hanging off of her small frame anyway.

Quietly, Joel studies the seashell curve of her spine that is almost guaranteed to put a crick in her neck. The chaotic contortion of her body, twisted like a pretzel with one slim leg dangling like a fishing line, contrasts with the still lake of her face; smooth as a windowpane, only her fox-like eyes move, following the rapid strokes of her pencil across the page. Watching her work is mesmerizing. He could stare at her, uninterrupted, for hours.

As if on cue, a harsh cough from behind his back reminds Joel that they're, unfortunately, not alone. In the doorway, Tommy stands with his hands on his hips, and judging by his raised eyebrows and knowing smile, he's been there for a good while.

Joel can feel his own smile wilt as he lumbers over to his smug-as-shit-looking little brother. By the time he's within spitting distance, his face is creased with its usual scowl. He drops his voice to a low growl, “How much did you hear?”

“Enough to feel like I need a post-sex cigarette.” Tommy elbows Joel in the arm affably and adds, “I mean, Good Lord.”

“Don't start,” Joel warns. “We're just… friends.” He can taste the dishonesty of the word as it leaves his mouth.

But what’s the alternative? There’s not a singular term in the English language to accurately define the odd, flirtatious, and sometimes combative relationship between him and the decades-younger woman whom he spends at least five days a week with. And even when not basking in the vibrant warmth of her presence, most of his waking (and sleeping) hours are consumed by thoughts of how soft her skin would feel under his fingers. What her lips would taste like. The kinds of noises she’d make if he—

“Friends?” Tommy snorts. “Man, you bring her to every family dinner.”

“I couldn't let her keep livin’ on takeout and pizza,” Joel protests feebly. He still remembers the moan she made around her first bite of meatloaf, like it was the first decent meal she'd had in her entire life. “And your wife is the one who started invitin’ her in the first place.”

Tommy's expression is incredulous. “Last week you drove twenty minutes to her apartment in the middle of the night to fix her water heater.”

“Her super is a real dirtbag,” Joel says matter-of-factly. “Who knows how long it would have taken him to get to it.”

“Brother,” Tommy grabs his shoulder, looking him directly in the eyes with his are-you-actually-this-fucking-dense stare. It's a look Joel is well-acquainted with because he's usually the one giving it. “You cosigned a loan on her car. Are you really tellin’ me that's just some good ‘ole southern hospitality?”

He's got a point… not that Joel's ready to surrender it. “As her employer, I think it's important that she has reliable transportation.”

Tommy shakes his head slowly. “You know, as much as you bust my balls for bein’ pussy-whipped, at least I'm gettin’ some.”

Smacking his hand off his shoulder, Joel makes a throaty noise of disgust. “Gross.”

While it's true that he's not getting that, he is getting something; her smile, her gratitude, her time. Plus, he genuinely likes doing things for Ellie. Likes making her life easier, even in small, arbitrary ways. It's been so long since he's felt useful to anyone outside of his job. 

“Seriously, why the hell haven't you asked her out yet?” Tommy asks, bringing the count of how many times they’ve had this exact conversation up from a million to a million and one. “You've been pining over her for months now. It's not cute anymore. If anything, it's getting sad.”

Joel takes a deep breath and tries to pretend that the pity in Tommy’s eyes doesn’t sting. “Besides the thirty-seven years worth of reasons between us that say it's a bad idea, there's also the legal and ethical concerns on account of me bein’ her boss and teacher. She'd feel like she has to say yes just to keep her job.” He looks over at her and feels a staggering, confusing mix of want and loss lodge itself in his throat. “I can't …” His voice is thick. “I won't put her in that position. It ain't fair.”

It also ain't true.

Joel's seen her working alongside Tommy's crew on construction sites enough times to know that she doesn't take shit from anybody – and he means anybody. He's watched all fiery five and a half feet of her come toe to toe with a man twice her age and size before stepping in to prevent the situation from turning ugly. Then subsequently having to deal with her snarking at him all the way home about how “she can handle herself and doesn't need some prehistoric cowboy coming to her rescue like a white fucking knight…”

It was frighteningly adorable and he'd spent the better part of her tongue-lashing trying to stave off a smile. Not that he'd ever admit that to her, of course. He does (at least slightly) value his life.

All of this is to say that Ellie is perfectly capable of standing her ground and saying no. A no he could handle. A no would almost be a relief. If he's honest, what he's really afraid of — terrified of — is that she'd say yes. That she'd pry open the door to his empty, misanthropic existence and make herself at home in his heart, giving him something new to lose. He can't take another loss. Not after—

Even the hint of her name in his mind tightens the knot of grief in his throat, choking off his air supply.

Just as Tommy opens his mouth to call out Joel on his bullshit, Maria pops up behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Hello, you,” she says softly, pressing up on her toes to graze his cheek with a kiss before turning her icy blue gaze on Joel. “Joel,” she adds as an afterthought.

“Maria,” he greets her warmly, uncharacteristically grateful for his sister-in-law's timely interruption.

Maria wedges herself between the two men and into the crowded doorway. “Hey, Els!” she shouts.

Without pausing from her draft, Ellie bites back a belligerent, “What!?”

Over the sounds of Tommy and Joel’s muffled snickers, Maria heaves out a loud, exhausted exhale. “I see you've picked up Joel’s good manners,” she says curtly, but her smile remains bright and intact.

Finally breaking from her work, Ellie spins in her chair with a flourish and nods at Joel, her eyes light with amusement. “Don’t give this guy all the credit. I like to believe I came out of the womb with this sunshiney attitude,” she declares, matching Maria’s wry sarcasm.

“Cute,” Maria deadpans. “Well, now that I have your attention: will you be attending Teddy's birthday party tomorrow?”

“Depends…” Ellie crosses her legs and shoots Maria a look full of suspicion above her steepled fingers. “Will there be cake?” she asks the question in a slow and serious tone, arching her scarred eyebrow.

Maria hums an affirmative. “Chocolate cupcakes with ganache frosting.”

“I don't know what the hell ganache is, but it sounds delicious.” Ellie claps her hands together. “I'll be there.”

“Fantastic. We'll see you then.” Maria tucks her hand through the crook of Tommy’s arm.

“Make sure you guys head out soon! There's a storm rollin’ in and this guy needs his beauty sleep,” Tommy adds, pinching Joel's cheek and ignoring his attempts to swat away his hand.

Ellie treats them to a winning smile. “I'll make sure to tuck him in nice and gentle tonight,” she purrs, giving Joel a cheeky wink before whipping back around and leaving his heart beating a quick staccato rhythm against his ribs.

Teasing, he reminds himself. It’s just teasing.

Linked arm in arm, the couple begins to leave, giving Tommy one last chance to mouth “Make a move already” to Joel behind Ellie’s turned back. In retaliation, Joel snaps a lacquer-stained rag at Tommy's departing backside. As their indistinct chatter about birthday plans for their son fades into the distance, Joel picks up on the gentle pitter-patter of rainfall.

On his way to shut the window, he clicks on Ellie's desk lamp to give her eyes a break from the encroaching darkness. Once closed, it's just him, Ellie, and the warm glow of light flooding her corner of the room. The soft sounds of her tuneless humming blends with the howling of the wind. It feels like they're the only two people left in the whole world. It’s a thought that should be alarming, but all he feels is peace.

After making sure all the windows are secure, Joel returns from the kitchenette with two steaming mugs. “Don't worry, it's decaf,” he says as he places the cup of tea that's mostly a cream and sugar concoction on her desk.

Truth to be told, this has become his favorite part of the day: when they linger just a little too long, hovering just a little too close.

Tilting back in her chair, Ellie props her feet up on the desk and grabs her mug, clutching it with both hands. She sends him a bemused little smile. “So, what are your big Friday night plans? Is it JAG reruns? Or M*A*S*H reruns?” she asks, her voice teasing and sweet. Her raised legs are almost close enough to brush his waist, and Joel thinks about how easy it would be to close his hand around her ankle and pull her closer. To pluck that cup out of her hands, lean down, and kiss her.

Instead, he grips his mug tighter. “I actually might switch it up and watch a movie tonight.” He takes a sip of his coffee and savors the bitterness on his tongue before swallowing. “What about you?”

“Ohhhh. I have some big, big plans.” She ticks off each one with a slender finger, “First, I'm going to microwave Ramen, then I'm going to crawl into bed and scroll on my phone until I pass out, and then I'm going to wake up with the imprint of it on my face.”

Joel frowns. “I thought Fridays were designated game nights with you and your friends.”

Ellie's lips part in surprise, like she didn't expect him to have her schedule memorized. Like where she is and who she's with isn't constantly on his mind when they're apart. After a quick recovery, she clears her throat. “Jesse's band has an out of town gig tomorrow. They're staying at a motel this weekend — leaving me all on my lonesome,” she emphasizes the last part with a sigh, dramatically tossing her hand over her forehead.

His frown deepens at the thought of her going home to an empty apartment. “You didn't go with them? I thought you went to every show.”

“And miss out on your nephew's birthday party? I could never.” She nudges him in the side with her shoe and smiles. “I'm the only one who can keep up with the little guy.”

“Shit, that reminds me; I need to take his present out of the storage unit and put it in my trunk.” A one-of-a-kind piece of craftsmanship, Joel had carefully carved the children's rocking horse from wood ash to resemble a dragon. Then, unsatisfied with his vision to simply stain it, Ellie had painted finer details along the face, tail, and saddle. “I'll only be gone a minute.”

Ellie jumps to her feet. “I'll go with you!”

“Are you sure? It's lookin’ a little…” Joel trails off, grimacing at the window. Rain is pelting like bullets against the glass, but she's already brushing past him and skipping towards the backdoor, unbothered.

“Dude, don't be such a pussy. It's just a little drizzle,” she says dismissively. As she goes to leave, a gust of wind catches on the storm door, slamming it wide open and drenching them both in cool air and unrelenting rain.

A bolt of lightning fractures the apocalyptic-looking sky.

“Just a little drizzle my ass,” he mumbles under his breath. “Get to the unit. I'll deal with this. The garage code is–”

“Your birthday!” Ellie cuts him off as she jogs ahead, having to yell above the thundering rain. “Yeah, I got it.”

The door is rolled halfway up by the time Joel makes it to the small steel building. A small hand shoots out and grabs the sleeve of his shirt. “Get the hell in here!” Ellie whisper-yells urgently. His head narrowly misses smacking against the corrugated metal as she pulls him inside. Without wasting another second, she flicks the lightswitch and hits the garage door button in two hasty motions.

“God, I'm fucking soaked,” Ellie groans. It shouldn't, but the strained, breathy sound of her voice goes straight to his cock. He turns to look at her, only making the growing situation in his jeans worse; her high neck, rain-soaked tank top is suctioned to her skin, revealing every slick curve.

Suddenly enthralled by the dimly lit maze of junk and back stock, Joel starts making his way to the back where he stashed Teddy's gift. He can feel her following him, her squeaky feet shuffling close behind. “How did you know the passcode was my birthday?” he asks curiously.

“Uh, because it's your password to literally everything,” she answers flatly. “You're not nearly as mysterious as you think you are.”

Joel ignores her comment as he comes to a standstill in front of a lumpy package. “Ah, here it is."

Saddling up next to him, Ellie crosses her arms and stares down blankly at the nondescript brown wrapping paper and messily tied twine string. Then she glances up at him. Then back down. This occurs four more times. Finally she fixes him with a hard look and asks him outright, “Are you kidding me?”

He lifts his hands defensively. “Hey, it's what's on the inside that counts.”

“Joel,” she breathes his name, and even with her voice’s patronizing inflection of annoyance, the way she says his name makes his knees a little weak. He wouldn’t mind her moaning it. “This is for a five-year-old’s birthday party. I expected better from a man who's so detail-oriented.”

Joel can't keep the stupid grin off his face. “Was that a compliment from the Ellie Williams?” He smacks his lips. “I never thought I'd see the day.”

“Well you are a master of your craft, Mr. Miller,” Ellie simpers, batting her eyelashes up at him coquettishly.

He nods. “Keep talkin’. I'd like to hear more of this.”

“And ceaselessly humble, too.” Her buttery smile softens the sarcastic dig, and Joel notices the faded freckles on her lips for the first time.

Only then does he realize just how close their faces are.

Have they ever been this close before? They must have been. He's guided her hands, adjusted her grip, and positioned her shoulders during the early days of her training. But he's always gone out of his way not to actually look at her this closely – only from a safe distance – because he's worried that once he starts, he won't be able to look away. That the plumpness of her lips and vivid green of her eyes will pull him in like a slow tide until he's stranded in the middle of an ocean, drowning in the beauty of her face.

Now that he's here, it's nothing like drowning. There's no struggle. No panic. He's simply falling, falling, falling.

Seconds pass. Her lips part, but she doesn't say anything. Wait, is she leaning in? Is she–

BOOM. An unearthly loud crack of thunder sends them leaping away from each other.

“I'm going to take a look through the Christmas stuff Maria stores in the back!” Ellie blurts loudly, speed-walking away from him, her spine stiff as a board. “There has to be a big red bow or something sparkly to spice up your shitty wrapping job.”

Worried he's made her uncomfortable, Joel hangs back at the end of an aisle of storage racks and runs a hand through his hair, mentally chastising himself for letting his self-control slip so easily. All she did was smile at him for Christsakes. Maybe Tommy’s right. Maybe he should just ask her out. No matter what the answer is, at least it would put an end to this unbearable tension.

The very familiar sound of Ellie cursing disrupts his thoughts. When he follows it, he finds her reaching for a bin on a top shelf labeled “Christmas” in sharpie on an old piece of tape, her body fully extended as she bounces unsteadily on her toes.

A pair of Dickie's has no business sclupting a pair of thighs like that, he thinks as he approaches her from behind.

“Here, I can—”

“I almost have it,” she mutters, her fingers scrabbling to pull the box closer to the edge.

Joel snorts. “Clearly.” Instead of waiting for her to bring the box down on her head, he tries to bypass her and take it down himself.

The cheeky little brat shoulder-checks him out of the way. “I said, I almost have it!” Ellie insists stubbornly.

“This is ridiculous.”

“You're ridiculous.”

“You're gonna knock over the whole damn shelf!”

“No, I'm not–hey!” Ellie exclaims as he circles her hips with his hands, thumbs resting above the swell of her ass. If he looks, it's only for safety reasons before bending his knees and boosting her up to compensate for her lack of height. “Did you… did you just lift me up off the floor?” Thankfully she sounds more awed than indignant.

“Yeah,” Joel grunts, his forearms straining, “and you're getting heavier by the second, so if you could hurry–”

Just then the light cuts out and Ellie jerks in his arms, throwing him off balance. After a few failed attempts to regain his footing, Joel loses his grip on her and they both go down onto the cold concrete floor. It's too dark to see, but he can feel her elbow dig into his ribcage, her skull knock against his superplexus, and her ass land snugly against his groin.

For several disorienting moments they lay there in an awkward tangle of splayed limbs heavy breathing.

“I think the power went out,” Ellie states.

A chuckle rumbles through his chest. “Your skills of observation never fail to impress me, kid.”

Joel can practically hear her eye roll in the pitch black silence.

“Are you okay?” he asks, the playfulness in his voice replaced with genuine concern. His body may have cushioned her fall, but it was still a hard landing.

She wiggles against him, and he inhales sharply through his nose. Christ, she smells like strawberries and cream, and he wants to bury his nose in her hair and taste her throat. “Yeah,” she answers. “You?”

“Yeah. But could you…” Get off of me before you can feel my hard-on stabbing you in the back. Being pinned beneath her on the ground is a dangerous, exciting position to be in, and if she doesn't move away soon, she's definitely going to notice.

“Oh, right.” Her hand presses into his kidney as they begin the uncomfortable process of disentangling their bodies. “I think Mission Make Joel's Wrapping Job Look Less Pathetic might be a failure.”

“Ya think?” he quips.

She sighs. “I'll borrow some crafting ribbon from Dina tomorrow. Just please tell me you have your phone so we can get the fuck out of here without killing ourselves in this death trap. I left mine charging inside.”

Joel extracts his phone from his back pocket. Luckily unharmed by the fall, the battery sits at a concerningly low 17%, filling him with a new sense of urgency. After swiping down and turning on the flashlight (a handy trick Ellie taught him), he holds it up to see her already turning the corner, feeling her way with her hand.

The bright light shines over her shadowy figure as she nails the garage button with her tiny fist. It clicks. Then… nothing. She hits it again. Still nothing. After grabbing onto the door itself and giving it a couple of rough tugs, she finally huffs defeatedly and turns to him. “Damn thing won't open. You have the keys though, right?”

The screen in his hand flashes with a warning: “battery power 15%”.

“Right!?” Ellie repeats, louder. Panicked.

Joel's stomach sinks. This. This is the throat closing, lungs filling, drowning sensation he was expecting earlier. He shoves his hands into his pockets to confirm what he already knows: they're empty.

Shit.

[wonysugar]

haii guyss…

i feel like it’s been a while since i actually TALKED here? hope you guys are doing okay :] i know some of y’all are already thinking “where is part two of wonder why i’m bitt—“ LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF i’m just coming on here to tell you a few things that i feel needs to be mentioned,,

so! i want you guys to know that I’M SORRY FOR BEING SO INACTIVEEE writing has gotten a lot harder over the course of the last few months and that i’m really trying:(( life has gotten busier, i have a lot less time to even open google docs in the first place, let alone to actually sit down and finish the million drafts i’ve startedfjksfm and not only that, but i just, feel like i don’t like writing as much anymore?

before you potentially panic!! i’m not deactivating or anything lmao, i think i just need a bit more time to find a pace i’m comfortable with, if that makes sense? basically, granted it’s my complete fault, i’ve committed to writing MULTIPLE wips and as much as i wanna finish every single one of them and post them for you guys to enjoy them, I DON’T LIKE THEMMM I NEVER DOOO… i’m burnt out mane it’s like everytime i write something anymore i just hate it and never wanna talk about it again, yknow? (hence why i kinda don’t find the will to answer asksfkskd but i promise i see all of them and they genuinely all make me smile thank you) THAT WASN’T THE CASE WHEN I STARTED THIS BLOG! i liked writing, i thought it was really fun and partially the reason why i think i borderline HATE it now is because i feel the need to always perfect my fics and have everybody like them (which will obviously never be the case, and i need to come to terms with the fact that my stuff is not for everyone, and that it’s okay!!) basically, the fact that i kinda have a platform now is a bit scary and pressuring considering and i always feel bad that i can’t seem to keep up with your guys’ demands and i’m really sorry but i need time to adjust i think?!:&;&

so all i ask of you guys is that you please please pleaseee bear with me as i’m trying very hard to keep content coming for you guys and that i’m trying to keep that flame burning; if you’re curious about whether or not i’m working on something in particular, please just check my wipsfksmdm seeing all of the asks about sequels is kinda stressful and i always feel bad for taking too long to write them WHICH LEADS TO ME RUSHING THEM I’M SORRY:(( and also i’m gonna be emptying my inbox today so that it’s kinda like a fresh start? feel free to drop your ask again if you really want it answered, i’ll try my best to! :] and say hi i miss all of youfjdkfm

thank you for your time and patience aahh i didn’t mean for it to be this long #notreadingallat, but yeahh it really means a lot to me and i’m sorryfkendn thank you again mwah i love you all, take caree

[genericpuff]

I'm curious - how many unanswered asks do you have in your inbox? Or do you just delete the ones you don't plan on answering?

do you feel good anon

do you feel good about yourself with this question

targeting me like that

geeeeez

ok but more seriously LMAO i have an embarrassingly large amount of unanswered asks but i do read all of them <3 a lot of them honestly are just from folks like, sharing their anonymous opinions about either LO and LR, with the odd one about comic advice, sharing webtoon recommendations, and other things of that nature!

In the case of the LO asks, it's stuff that often has already been spoken about at length before so I don't really have anything to add (but trust me, I'm usually in total agreement, if I heavily disagree with a take I'll usually try to respond to it but it's rare that that's the case because most of the takes are just things like "wow the art in this panel sucks" like yep it sure do LOL) and often it just feels like my inbox is just like, a comment box for people to get their feelings out anonymously and honestly that's fine, I just also can't really respond to every single one unfortunately, but I do read them and I love y'all's takes!

With LR asks, y'all are way too sweet to me and send me just the kindest things about LR, and I hope y'all know that even if I wind up not getting back to your ask about it, I do read everything you send and appreciate so much the amount of support you've all shown for this project since I took it on <3 A lot of those asks are literally my version of "do it for her" where I read them and it reminds me of why it's so worth doing what I do :') <3

Whenever people recommend me other works to read, I add them to a list and I am currently trying to tackle it :) (honestly that list isn't as big as you'd think, a lot of the recommendations are for the same stuff, like other Greek myth retelling comics or otherwise just bad webtoons that people want me to suffer thru LOL) I just recently finally got a physical copy of Song of Achilles and while it's slow going, I'm gonna be sharing my extended thoughts about it, either in a big Tumblr post or maybe a video if I can motivate myself to do it 🤔

And of course, the comic advice asks... these ones admittedly I do tend to actually move into my drafts because I really, REALLY do want to respond to them, but I'm also not someone to half-ass responses to questions like that. That is a bit of a bad habit on my end because it often means I'm spending crazy amounts of time going over topics that can be researched, but I also just really love talking about comics so it doesn't feel good to get a comic advice ask and just leave it at "idk just start" like yeah, do that, but also I want to pass on all the things I WISH I had known when I was first starting out and I'm glad people see me as someone to learn those things from! So when it comes to those asks, don't worry, I'm picking away at them <3 (but also man, I should probably just like... put together some kind of hitchhiker's guide to comic making or something huh LOL)

Anyways! I do have a lot of unanswered asks and honestly, I'm not really one to delete them, even if I don't get back to some of them it is still nice to read them in their own little curated space separate from my main blog, it's kind of like a personal comment section between myself and those of you who took the time to write <3 The only asks I tend to outright delete are ones that are just like, way too bad faith to even want to give any attention to, or bot spam lmao But for the majority of y'all who have sent genuine asks to my inbox and never saw a response and worry that I might have ignored it or deleted it, I hope you can have reassurance in knowing that they are all still there and even if I can't make time every day to respond to them, receiving all your personal takes about LO and your amazing feedback and kind words about LR is something I'm always excited to see whenever that little notification pops up in my Inbox tab. I see you and appreciate you <3

[bunni-v1]

hi i just wanted to pop into your asks because it'll take me a while to rb and get all of my thoughts out about the posts of yours that i read (and also i want to reread them) but I just wanted to say that I love how (from what I've seen of your works) you have such a good grasp of characters and their mannerisms/thoughts/feelings like- it's actually so impressive. I dont want to clog your inbox so I'll just focus on the aventurine hcs you wrote- he means a lot to me as a character and it feels like a lot of people miss the mark when it comes to him (I'm admittedly also very particular about him because I'm so invested in him as a person) (not to overexplain but it's not like thats a super bad thing he's just very convoluted and it happens so it makes sense that people sometimes mischaracterize him) but your headcanons fit him SO WELL i was kicking my feet and everything. I love how you detailed the very real and rough parts of a relationship with him, and i think you have a very eloquent way of wording your thoughts that would make 20 minutes of reading feel like 2. also dumb thing to be happy about but in your pinned comment you mentioned you write him with more melanin in mind and that made me lowkey so happy because i dont think I've consciously ever seen someone else think about him that way when writing him and it's such a low bar for me to be happy about this but i just wanted to let you know how much i appreciate that little tidbit (even if it doesnt change anything about who these characters are it's just . idk really nice to see) (i hope this was somewhat coherent I'm gonna go back to sleep now tysm for the food) (and also tysm for the cookie run kingdom hcs oh my god we've been fed)

Hi I’m gonna cry 🥲

Stuff like this is always so nice that I don’t know what to do with myself. It feels nice to have my efforts validated, because I really really really do try to be as accurate as possible to the character — even when the ask or the situation might make them be a little ooc.

With Aventurine, I took so much care because he is a character that means a lot to me. It took me a long long time of writing to get his headcanons done, and I’m still not satisfied with his but perfection is impossible.

To put it into perspective, my headcanons (ALL OF THEM) are written over a period of multiple days with multiple drafts, rewrites, and edits before I am totally satisfied. Other fics that I get out in a short period of time STILL take me multiple hours and rereads and edits before I put them out. I really do care, very very deeply about what I write.

Even with characters I’m not a fan of (like Malleus from twst, for example) I really try hard to do right. Because while he might not be my favorite, he IS someone’s and that should be enough for me to care. Putting my biases aside to write from canon is so important, and without shaming other authors (because they’re so incredibly talented too), I wish I saw that more in fanfic too.

That’s why I take so much time and care and dedicate so much to my work, because I care a lot. I’m always so happy when that care comes through and people see and feel it.

While I don’t get every ask done (because the volume of asks I have is impossible), the ones I do I make sure that they’re good, because they deserve to be.

[david-talks-sw]

any new Star Wars essays in the making, or are you moving on?

I don't know, honestly.

Part of it is "life gets in the way," I'm working a lot and so whatever time I have left is spent just messing around or meeting with my loved ones.

I've got a bunch of stuff in my drafts. I don't mind sharing it here, most recent to oldest:

Sort of a joke post of me pointing out how stressful being George Lucas' producer must've been, like this guy really DIDN'T WANT to write his fucking scripts, did he? Poor Rick McCallum. Abandoned because who gives a crap.

'Ask' reply on how EU-fueled fandom perception of the Jedi was flipped by the prequels.

'Ask' reply about the themes in Ahsoka and why the show doesn't know what it's about. Problem is, I go about it starting from the basics, so nobody's gonna sit through reading a tematic breakdown of the first Pirates of the Carribean movie, The Batman and the original six Star Wars films before I even get to the show at hand.

"Part II" post about what Ahsoka, Rebels and TCW get right about lightsaber duels, which the Prequels never did.

Quote collection & analysis on just how complex the Prequels were meant to be (in the late 80s, Lucas intimated that the Sequels were the story that was supposed to have gray morality, not the Prequels)

Quote collection on how the themes and principles of Star Wars align with Lucas' own opinions and philosophies.

Quote collection on Lucas defining Anakin's flaws.

Quote collection on Lucas talking about the fact that we need to be more proactive, which aligns with what Lumi points out sometimes about the Jedi: they should've been more politically engaged because we all should be.

Why I approach Lucas as "word of god".

Personal life/joke-y post dating from the time of the WGA strike about how Jack Black's School of Rock lyrics "In his heart he knew, the artist must be true, but the legend of the rent was way past due!" applied to me. Abandoned because I didn't wanna bum everyone out.

Correcting the notion that Dark Times-era Jedi such as Kanan or Ezra or Ahsoka represent what Jedi were supposed to be.

A comprehensive end-all outlook on how Anakin's flaws all tie together. I've written this one twice and I don't know how to differentiate it from my other posts.

A secret "Part 3" to my TLJ Luke post, in which I point out that RJ's being too "indie", while being a strong point for a big chunk of the film, hampers the film's ability to make Luke feel as badass as he does on paper. I want to illustrate a storyboard for this one, but that takes time.

The evolution of Star Wars' approach to transmedia.

Debunking Star Wars myths: a (very) comprehensive outlook on children in the Jedi Order.

Problem is that only like 2/3rds of these are fully-written... and I still need to find the relevant clips, turn them into GIFs, etc etc.

There's many other interesting Asks in my inbox btw. But I'm already behind on all these, so I haven't begun to touch them.

Then there's the drawings.

I wanna draw a comic of the meeting between Yoda and Dooku in Dark Rendezvous. I wanna finish the comic fight between Maul and Ben. I wanna draw Mace, Shaak Ti, I've got a Luminara fan-art that was supposed to be ready for Jedi June 2022 and an Anakin drawing that looks weird. No time, nor am I skilled enough. (Like, I trace, that's what I do, it's not a secret I've said so before... but it takes me a long while to do so. I'm not fast at drawing, let alone coloring.) I could commission some of these, but there are obvious obstacles there.

There's fun tidbits I've discovered here and there but nobody will care about them and I usually try to not drown my blog with bs posts.

Then there's the bigger problem.

All the things I've listed above? I'm not 100% motivated to finish. But a lot of the new stuff I wanna write about is hella negative.

I had a lot of stuff I wanted to say about Ahsoka. But it wasn't all good. It was mostly me bitching, be it about the show or the fandom's reactions to it.

I've also got more stuff to say about Filoni's take on Star Wars, but I've talked about why it's inaccurate like 8 times already, and I don't actually dislike the guy, like there's plenty of things he knows and does that I think are awesome but also people won't stop putting him and his takes on a pedestal and--

oh shit, there's Acolyte too, I forgot about that, gray morality galore, here we come. But here too, like... I've talked a couple of times about why this entire gray morality thing is actually just the gen X-ers trying to make the prequels "cool" and "complex". but I've never explored properly, with quotes and research and shit. but i've talked about it so many times that at this point it'd end up like the Filoni rants, redundant. "we get it already." as if this show didn't have haters lined round the block for absolutely sexist reasons.

Don't get me started on the mountain of lies and/or idiocy that is the YouTuber Star Wars Theory.

And yet he said one thing a few months ago which struck a chord within me and it's the fact that Andor is awesome, excels on all levels because it's treated seriously, like a proper show, not a Disney Plus one... why wasn't Obi-Wan Kenobi? Why wasn't Book of Boba Fett? And I've already established multiple times that I enjoyed Kenobi (yes, including the Reva parts) and I've established that I know what they were going for in Fett and I've established that this is mainly a "Disney Plus didn't know how to structure a fucking show pre-WGA strike" issue more than anything else... but when I think about how these could've been treated instead? When I look at the characterizations and emotional stakes of like Fargo Season 5? It's infuriating. Because it's not bad (talking about Kenobi, BOBF is awful)... but it could've been EXCELLENT and instead it was just "okay" to "good".

I just miss live action lightsaber duels, man. Like, good ones.

and i dunno. maybe I should just let it rip on all this. "go off, king!"

but I think there's so much negativity re: Star Wars that adding my thoughts on these subjects, no matter how structured and reason, will just blend into a wave of needless, un-constructive hate.

maybe I should finish the writings in the drafts and just post them with no gifs, maybe just still images?

but doing any of that feels like a step back.

So that's where I'm at right now.

[lixenn]

General update

Since I realised it's been ages since I did some kind of progress report on my projects I'd thought I should make a post about the current state of affairs to keep you guys updated properly.

I know this is probably super old news rn but I'm currently in a very low creative mood (I don't really wanna call it an art/writers block? I just tend to have phases in my life where I pretty much don't write or draw anything and I'm in one such phase rn), so I haven't touched my WIPs in ages. I do miss writing a lot but I'm not at the point where I want to force myself to write, so I'm just playing a waiting game at the moment.

So for writing projects:

I'm still stuck on chapter 6 of Causality which ngl is frustrating even after I managed to get over the initial block I had in the writing by switching POVs. I know need to figure out how to handle the different POV which I might take a while? But also might not, I'm too much of a mood writer OTL I would say the chapter is about 70 % done so I just need to finish the draft and edit but again actually finishing it is the struggle, so I'm asking for patience on this 😔

Now the Guide... I was debating doing something special for the one year anniversary on Thursday (which is wild it's been a year TT one year ago I just started working on my thesis and I was delirously happy because I finally found fandom friends) but since I have a job interview on that day which means I will be stressed out of my mind the entire time this is not gonna happen OTL I still have one very vague idea for a Guide chapter in the back of my mind but except for one rule I don't really have that much to base it on so this will require more time and probably a brainstorm session in discord dms. I might - and this is a very big might - share a future scene of Causality that's not super spoiler heavy as a compromise but this kinda depends on if I'm willing to get over my relucatance of sharing sequel stuff. It would fit for White Day cause it's romance... I will think about it lol

Now the work on the wiki is pretty much on hold because after I got the handle on the initial set up I kinda just need to get over myself and write all the entries which... is a lot of work that I'm too low on spoons for at the moment. I'm honestly considering updating Chief's character profile with the new/corrected info that I have in his wiki page because at this point it's going to take me ages until I get the wiki live and the outdated info is nagging at me. It probably wouldn't be too much effort to do but yeah... Maybe you guys could tell me if you are interested in that? Or if you are fine waiting cause at this point I don't mind either way.

Art stuff:

So I currently have two(?) art challenge asks in my inbox still and they will be my priority unless I get a comm but I'm also asking for patience on those 😔 I promise I haven't forgotten, art is just hard too atm so everything takes longer OTL

Otherwise I don't have any active art WIPs but I have two new OC designs sketched that I want to transfer into digital art, so that I can comfortably throw them into the wild. Also I do want to make ref sheets for my main OCs but that shits hard when your art style is all over the place and you don't know how to draw most stuff without finding specific refs. A problem for future Lix I suppose ^^'

General life stuff (aka what am I doing with my time):

I'm pretty much reading fanfic 24/7 and have been doing for weeks. This is a very common state of affairs when I'm trying to cope with stress and don't have energy for creating things, so it's nothing new. I'm pretty sure I can credit my low creative energy on being kinda depressed/anxious/stressed/lonely about my life situation which can mostly be summed up with: hanging in limbo. I'm someone who benefits from structure in my life and since I don't have either work or lectures I'm at loose ends and it's slowly but surely dragging me down. I don't mind the free time but I also feel anxious and uncertain about my future which always sucks. I can't long term plan for shit rn because I have no clue where I will be in a month and that's so fucking annoying TT Also I feel the constant pressure of needing to find a job sooner rather than later and it's a drag, my guys. Theoretically I know that my worth is not depended on what I can bring to society but my heart can't really fully except it especially since I do need the income eventually, I don't wanna bum off my parents for another few months.

So yeah...

I might go rebloge some more ask games just to get some kind of writing done even if it's just answering questions, it's better than nothing and I miss interacting with you folks. Also, I don't want all of my actual posts be me complaining about my current state of affairs because that's just depressing lmao

Anyways! Gold stars to anyone who actually read this massive post that totally got out of hand ⭐ Keep being awesome my dudes!

[softguarnere]

Fic Writer Interview

Thank you for the tag @mercurygray!

How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently 6, but hopefully that number will go up over spring break

What's your total AO3 word count?

119,136

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Like A Girl (Like A Man) - Band of Brothers

Just A Kid - The Outsiders

Bear The Burden Alone - The Chronicles of Narnia

For Whatever We Lose - Band of Brothers

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, absolutely! I share my writing because it allows me to connect with people who share my interests. If I'm not posting replies, it feels more like a one sided conversation, imo. Also, it seems the polite thing to do

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

It's about to be Like A Girl (Like A Man)! You'll see why soon >:)

What the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

On AO3, it's probably Bear The Burden Alone, but I try to keep the fics that I post here on Tumblr kinda upbeat with hopeful -- albeit open-ended -- endings.

Do you write crossovers?

Yeah! For Whatever We Lose is actually a crossover with The Pacific, and I'd love to do more crossovers in the future

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yep! I've deleted the comments, but some people were VERY ANGRY about the background Babe/Roe content in LAGLAM -- you know, despite the fact that the plot of the fic is driven by a queer woman's decision to cross-dress. Guess they had to draw the line somewhere, but the hypocrisy of it all makes me chuckle

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Kinda? I deleted most of it from the original LAGLAM drafts and instead just alluded to it, but things are going to be different in FWWL. Get ready for crappy ocean metaphors and religious imagery, babes!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope not :( That would stink

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I think it would be fun!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Everlark! (said while frothing at the mouth because they make me go insane) I've been obsessed with them since I first read The Hunger Games at age 9. I could write you a whole novel about why I think they're perfect together, but I'll spare you the ramble (unless anyone wants it?)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Tears in my eyes when I tell you that it's probably the requests in my inbox. I keep telling myself that I'll get to them, but I've just felt unmotivated with all the stuff I've had going on in my personal life/at school. I really really do hope to get to them someday, though, because some of them will be really fun to write

What are your writing strengths?

I have no clue, lol. I tend to get compliments about how I describe settings, so I'm gonna say that!

What are your writing weaknesses?

My abuse of commas and italics.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Personally, I love doing it. Especially in a fic like LAGLAM, where even though most people don't speak the language I'm using (Cherokee), I feel like they can still see the importance to the characters and to the story. And I like tricking people into caring about Indigenous language preservation. My teachers told me that anything can be a vessel for carrying language on, and by God, I took that to heart

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Oh boy. I was in the fifth grade. I had won many writing competitions. Two classmates approached me and told me that they wished The Hunger Games had more post-Mockingjay Everlark content, and that since I was a good writer, they wanted me to write it. I was traded many cosmic brownies and other such snacks throughout the year for my services in providing my classmates with Everlark fics on pages of notebook paper that are probably crumpled up in a landfill by now. At the time, I had no idea I was writing fanfiction, but it was the start of my favorite hobby. Look at me now, baby!

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I've always wanted to write for TURN: Washington's Spies but have never had the courage haha

What's your favorite fic you've written?

I have a couple of one-shots that I'm pretty pleased with, but currently I'm going to say LAGLAM because it's been so special to me <3

Tagging (but no pressure!): @almost-a-class-act @latibvles @footprintsinthesxnd @liebgotts-lovergirl

[countercharmda]

okay! so, i've mentioned it a couple of times, but i think sometime this week i will be doing some cleanup here. ( expect this around december 1st. ) this will include my inbox, my drafts, my posts, my likes, and my follower count. i will probably also be changing my url to the new one i have saved then! it's gonna be very fun and nifty.

the short of it is that i will be softblocking ( or hardblocking, if preferred ) folks who have not expressed interest in writing ic or chatting ooc. if you just got here and are panicking for xyz reason? worry not! here is my interest tracker if you're a bit too nervous to reach out ooc. this meme is also good, if you would like me to come up with some ideas! ( i will hopefully get to these in a timely manner ). and of course, if this feels too much like an ultimatum or a stressor for you, then you are genuinely more than welcome to softblock ( or hardblock ) me and continue on with your day. please curate your space! NOTE: neither of these are required if we are already talking or plotting ooc!

the long of it...will be under the cut, because i am ultimately feeling a little bit rambly.

i've been trying to figure out how to approach my larger following of people who have not reached out to me, and i think this is a good start. i've only been in this rpc for two months and so much i feel like has happened already, and one of the best things to come from it is watching this turn into...more of a community if that makes sense. i like seeing what all is going on with my mutuals and stuff on the dash. i'm aware this is a very chronically online take, but in my defense i have been...chronically online since i have been a child, and i don't believe in dismissing online friendships. i like having people to send memes to in discord dms and tumblr ims, i like feeling like i can talk to people. as mentioned in m a n y posts on this blog, i'm a chatty guy! this is why i mention that i won't cut a mutual if we're not writing ic, because i think talking ooc is just as important -- if not more, sometimes.

simultaneously, though, i find myself feeling anxious about being overlooked or forgotten. this is an insecurity i've had for my whole life. while i'm more confident nowadays that i am, in fact, the shit, i still don't want to feel this way in a hobby -- and i don't want any of my mutuals to feel this way, either. i think that if i cut my follower count down and shift my priorities in this way, then it'll help lessen this feeling for both parties.

i also want to stress that this is a hobby, and i do not want anyone to feel like they owe me anything ic or ooc. i work a hectic job, i have chores to do, and i might even be going back to college in january. there will always be real life obligations that are more important than writing blorbos on the internet. i will never intentionally make you feel guilty for not having the spoons to reach out to me. if you still uncomfortable with this post or this change, that is completely okay, and i encourage you to softblock ( or hardblock ) me. i want you to feel comfortable enough to have fun!

[imaginidol]

Do u have any tips/advice on starting a fanfic blog ??

Hi!! I appreciate you asking me first of all, it makes me feel like I'm getting better to the point where I can give my own tips <3

I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE THIS IS SO LONG :(

I've given you here my 4 best tips that have helped me :) I hope they are of some use to you as well!!

I'll tell you what--the one thing that really helped me grow personally was consistency with writing. I did have a point where I went MIA for a while because of school, but I took advantage over this whole summer to write, write, write! Sure, if you read some of my old stuff it's actually pretty bad and poorly written lol, but I just kept going until eventually I found a decent-ish writing style that works for me. Sometimes I'd have a REALLY nice fic written, and other times it feels like my writing just wasn't it/downgrading. It's a lot of yo-yo'ing, but keep going at it and soon enough the ideas and words will come to you smoothly.

What I also started with was moodboards!! Like this Mingi moodboard, for example, which eventually became an inspiration for a short fanfic story that I went along with based off the pictures. You know what else is cute sometimes, too? Posting song links if a certain song is an inspiration for a fic. I'm gonna start diong it, and most definitely will be linking from anything like orchestra to noise music if it fits a vibe lol. I'll admit, I haven't gotten to give a really detailed moodboard + fic like that Mingi one in a while and I'd like to go back to it. And, it's currently my post with the most notes ever, so I really would advise you to try a fun mood board with pictures and feel your way around the vibes and write!

As for HOW to write -- I'm currently working on "show, don't tell." I like reading a few of my absolute favorite fics from other people and I study how they use methods of showing emotions, gestures, events, etc. in discriptive manners--it makes me feel as though the fic comes to life and I'm really there, feeling and experiencing everything my y/n does!! Also this is a short fun challenge that I give myself -- I don't ever use "Y/N" in any of my fics because i feel like it disrupts the flow of the reading lol (this is just my own preference though, you don't have to do this!) instead, I refer to anyone directing their attention to you as "You," or if your partner is speaking to you, something like "thank you, my love/how have you been, love?" :P ALSO!! I alwaayyysss have a second tab open on google where I look up synonyms/antonyms of words so that I don't repeat them so much. Like, angry synonym, and I'll choose the word vexed instead. Works wonders and actually enhances your vocab!!

Requests will come in soon, and they will definitely challenge you to think outside the box and get creative!! Who says all stories have to be happy endings? What if they're about self-reflection? Love? Friendship? Or just silly buffonery 😆 I could ask you a few requests as well if you'd like as a way to get started :') Also, interact with followers as inbox msgs come in! I wasn't too good at this at the start and it is one thing I wish I could go back and work on.

Thank you if you actually even made it all the way down here! My hope with this blog is that my fanfics will help me become a decent enough writer to a point where one day I'll have enough creative experience to draft a full YA novel, which has been a dream of mine since elementary school! I hope these tips help you in anyway, and I can't help but thank you and anyone else who even gives a second thought to this blog for all the ways you guys help me fix and enhance my writing.

-ii

[inspotlight]

ok so i know i dont have to like. justify myself for not being super duper online, buuuuut im gonna anyway: i'm still heavily grieving and the last week and a half have had some significant firsts without my nanny, so ive been throwing myself into reading (and even more so, absolutely inhaling audiobooks) so i'm just doing whatever i can at the moment. i have a bunch of stuff drafted and i fully intend on working through it in the next few days & not dropping anything, but if you would like threads dropped or would like new threads or to plot, you're more than welcome to hit me up for any of that. im also spending more time on my fear street multi right now bc i found a bunch of fan made audiobooks of the fear street and point horror books on youtube so im heavily leaning into all of that for spooky season, so if you wanna interact w/ any of those babies, that multi is @shadysideohio. also, we kinda randomly booked a trip to denmark two weeks ago and i leave on the 2nd so im just. really trying to get things queued for while im away. so like. drop me your open starters or some ask memes into the inbox or throw me starters or like my starter call (that i might have actually lost idk) but i feel like ive been Disconnected from neens blog the last week or so and i just wanted to make a post to say that i am still here fully just. also still going through it.

[rainebelowzero]

I posted this on accident yesterday 😒

Sorry I haven't been that active, I just got a new job so I've been coming home and going straight to sleep, but I'm almost done with two of the last four requests in my inbox (which btw I'm so so sorry it's taking so long) so they should be posted soon

notes: This isn't nsfw, sorry 💔 but I really wanted to post something for Kurt's birthday and this has been sitting in my drafts for like two months so I figured I might as well post something

cws: none really?? there are references to sex, but nothing actually happens, Kurt does dumb stuff for views 😎

“I'm back, Kurt!” You shout as you shut and lock the door to your apartment behind you. You don't get a response, which is unusual for someone like Kurt, who's usually constantly up your ass. Sounds of shuffling and grunting come from you and Kurt's bedroom, and you look in that direction with confusion before rolling your eyes.

He's probably jerking off again, who's surprised? You think, laying your jacket on the back of a chair. You walk over to the room, expecting to see him hunched over in his chair, but instead, you see him on the bed, tangled in the bed sheets and some kind of rope. His shirt was riding up a little bit, and you had to admit you did kind of just want to have your hands all over him.

One of his hands was tied at the wrist to the headboard, and the other at the elbow, his arm just sort of hanging down. It was really sloppily tied, but he was somehow still stuck. He somehow doesn't notice you, too focused on trying to get untied as you stand in the doorway, watching him struggle and being unable to hold back a laugh.

“What the fuck are you doing?” You ask him, amused. His eyes widened, even bigger than his puppy like eyes usually are. You can hear the gears turning in his head, trying to make up an excuse that wouldn't sound weird, but there was really no way he could think of anything.

“Uhh…I'm..I-I was just..waiting for you.” He says, clearly lying. You cover your mouth, trying not to laugh because you don't want to make him feel bad.

“Really? Is that why you're recording?”

Kurt's eyes darted to his phone, sitting propped up on the desk, facing him. He sighs, looking down.

“Fine, it was for a video. I know y- like, you told me to stop doing dumb stuff, but I- I thought it would get views.”

That left you more confused. “What- okay, you know what? I'm not gonna question whatever weird shit you look at on the internet, do you want help?” You ask, and getting a nod from Kurt, you walk over to the side of the bed and start pulling on the knots. He just stares up at you while you untie him like you're a god, just completely in awe of how hot you are to him.

“There you go.” You say. He doesn't say anything, just keeps staring at you as he sits up. “Uhhh. What?”

You look down and immediately realize what's happening as he tries to pull the bottom of his shirt down over his lap. He looks at you, silently begging. With a sigh, you put your hands on your hips.

"...fine, take your pants off." You say, and Kurt is very happy to oblige.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Update

Hey-ya! Lampman’s back at it again, broadcasting to you from my new office!

I just want to give you all a little update about a change of plans. I am not going to make the follow-up post on the season finale that I had originally planned. Mainly because I just don’t feel like writing it anymore.

I feel a little bad about it, because i did say I would do it… but sometimes you just gotta let things like that go. Besides, a lot of the important stuff I would have talked about will be covered in the asks I got sent, so I will still be discussing the season finale in those, don’t you guys worry about that.

Now, as you have all probably noticed by now, I don’t stress too much about getting stuff out ”on time.” That’d kinda defeat the whole idea of having a hobby that you do for fun. With that said, like I’ve said before, I would love if I could catch up on season three before the last episode airs. Even if I won’t watch it on the day it airs, I at least wanna watch it and get my liveblog out within the week. Especially since it comes out just a few short days before my birthday.

So yeah, that’s basically what I’m aiming for. But before I get to season three, I gotta get going on answering those asks. It's been a while since I checked the inbox actually, so I'm not sure how many there are, hold on, lemme go check real quick...

Oh. ooohhhhh…

This… might take some time…

Or, well… there is a really quick solution to this…

Nah, I would never do that!

(and fun fact: I actually have two answered asks sitting in the drafts that I haven’t published yet. So technically, that number should be 73)

I think that I’m gonna try to answer a bunch of asks in one post. So instead of seventy short posts, you’ll get like ten long posts instead.

I better get to it! See you all again shortly.

[poohsources]

HELLO EVERYBODY! been a while since i did one of these, i hope you're all doing well, and have a great day / night wherever you are. i'm officially back from my vacation which means i'm officially returning to this blog. yay! now you might be wondering what exactly this means, and truthfully, i'm not too sure yet either. what i do know is that i plan on being around here more regularly. also, i'm planning to finally start working on the christmas giveaway gifts ( if you're one of the winners i've messaged previously, i'll message you again in a few days to discuss details ).

another thing i'm not sure i've mentioned here yet: i got a new job last month which means i definitely don't have as much time anymore as i did previously. it's also one of the reasons i've been so absent since the start of the year because i had to get used to it, learn some new stuff, etc. my schedule changes every week so i can't even give you reliable info on when i'll be able to be here and do stuff but i promise you that'll be something i'll figure out.

anyway, as for content i've planned, i really should start going through my inbox and try to answer as many questions there as possible. things have been really piling up in there and i'm very sorry about the delay in answers. there are also a few requests (primarily for certain kinds of memes ) that i will be working on slowly but surely. in terms of memes, i have some half-finished ones sitting in my drafts so i might just post these sometime soon. additionally, there are some other things i started working on a while back ― like some psds, templates, etc. ― that i might try finishing. so just a whole bunch of new content to use.

one new thing i might try out in the future is something one of you mentioned when i made that post about putting some very time-consuming or image-heavy templates behind some kind of temporary paywall. not sure how exactly i'm gonna do this yet ( i have a few ideas and websites, like patreon, in mind already, but i first want to see all the different possibilities i have on what site and what makes it the easiest and most user friendly for both you and me ). but that is something that's probably gonna take a few weeks / months still ― we'll see.

even though i could probably go on for a while and tell you about everything that's going on in my mind regarding this blog and its future, that's gonna be all for today. because honestly ― none of it is ever set in stone and while i do have some exciting things i wanna do here, real life can always get in the way so i feel back if i make too many promises i then have to delay. but i'm gonna try my best because i care about all of you people, the rpc as a whole, this stupid little hellsite i could curse multiple times a day, and although it's not much i do wanna contribute a little something to make this a nicer place for everyone.

so yeah, take care everyone, don't forget to drink enough water and get enough sleep, and i'll talk to you again soon. 🧡

[chickenscript]

a sense of solace (rise! Donnie x reader)

Anon: hey! I saw that you do requests and was wondering if you’d write something with rottmnt Donnie and a platonic reader? maybe something where one of hyphen has just had a bad day and they seek out the other in need of cuddles or a shoulder to cry on, thank you!!!

A/N: I always love writing for don (^◇^；) sorry this came so late anon and i do hope you get to see it! 

P.S wrote this a while ago and I'm so sorry for my absence! I finished out my spring semester recently and I was all around busy. I'll have some more time now to work more on my art and writing though!

Also, I'm not sure who sent in this request and I'm having a hard time finding it in my inbox T口T I hope whoever did is able to read this sometime! And I hope you all enjoy it too of course.

I'm gonna do some draft digging and revise/post anything that's nearly done! So expect to see those soon (´꒳`) and I'll try to start working on more requests once I'm done!

                                                        --- 

It wasn't the best day for you.

You had an argument with someone close and it left you in emotional shambles with a stubborn soreness deep in your chest. The number of places you could think to go to in this state was countable on just a couple fingers and there was only ever one out of them that you wanted to find yourself at.

So, you got to the lair in record time. You greeted Splinter as you passed through the main section of hideout and didn't yet see any sign of the turtles.

You weaved your way through the repurposed subway tunnel, noting how everyone must be off doing their own thing somewhere, until you found Donnie's room where he seemed to be intently fiddling with Shelldon at his work table.

You announced your arrival with a, "Hey."

To which he responded by echoing the greeting while still intently poking at hardware with his tools.

"So, what brings you in?" he asked without missing a beat as you came to stand behind him, watching him work over his shoulder.

"Well, honestly," you decided to bite the bullet and just be frank with him, "I need to take my mind off some stuff." you said with a sigh in your voice.

Donatello paused, placed down his work utensils, and turned his swivel chair so he could look at you- his goggles still fitted over his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

You pawed at the bend of one of your elbow, feeling a dull ache behind your eyes that you’d been fighting for the better part of the day. 

You were still nervous to go into detail, but that's what you were here for and you couldn't just chicken out now. This was one of your best friends and worst case scenario was he wouldn't be able to make you feel better.

Which you doubted would happen.

"I ah, it's just been a rough day." you spoke quietly as you looked down at your shoes.

Donnie gave a hum before getting up and flicking up his goggles so they perched like they typically did on his head. He was clad in only a lavender t shirt today that fit largely on his lean body type. It seemed he'd forgone his tech shell too for a more comfy, home body look today.

"Only one way to solve that." He declared as he purposefully strode over to the busy, gargantuan monitor that he often used to game and pulled up Netflix.

He then turned to you with a slight smile, "Movie night?" he offered.

You nodded. Watching something with him always brightened your mood.

You kicked off your shoes by the door and plopped yourself down on the cushy, extra large bean bag Donnie bought online the other day. It was big enough to easily fit you and two of the turtles. Not to mention it was heaven to just sit back and sink into.

Donatello joined you after grabbing a bag of Japanese brand chips from his stash and putting on some B rated horror movie for the two of you to have a go at more than anything.

As the starting credits kicked on, you found yourself unfortunately thinking of what happened earlier and subconsciously drifting closer to Donnie. Your mind didn't stay in its bubble for long as your friend popped it.

"The movie just started. It isn't already that bad, is it?" his voice had that usual near deadpan to it and you snickered softly.

“No, just- kind of hard to focus.” you leaned against his side.

Donnie munched at the chips and you thought for a moment maybe he didn’t hear you until he nudged you a bit.

“Whoever it was,” you had the feeling he suspected who it was seeing as you let the turtles know a lot about yourself.

“doesn’t deserve to be on your mind if they caused trouble for you.”

You couldn’t deny he had a good point.

“Besides,” he looked at you from the corner of his eye with a small smile, “it seems like you came here to get your mind off things; not to sulk.”

That tugged at the corners of your lips and you nudged him back.

“Yeah.” 

Even though you didn’t entirely feel better yet, the moment Donnie wrapped an arm around your shoulders to give you a side hug, you were definitely more at ease. 

“It’s their loss and just means there’s more of you for us.”

You laughed and punched Donnie in the arm. He grinned, taking the limb back and still happily crunching at his shrimp flavored snack.

"Stingy are we?" you reached over and stole some of the chips.

Donnie just shrugged and reclined further into his seat, looking like the picturesque image of a couch potato.

“We just value you." He scratched the back of his neck and clicked his jaw, "We always will.” he partly mumbled the last bit.

You felt touched by the sentiment. You had spent a lot of time with the turtles since you first met and you didn't know what things would have turned out like for you if you hadn't. Something you knew April felt the same about. Your mutant friends just had that way about them that changed your life like no one else could.

Your smile turned into something more genuine and less cheeky as you leaned back with Donnie.

“Same here.” and there was no way you could simply express what you felt in words. Which Donatello seemed to perfectly understand as his brows relaxed and he brushed the side of his head against yours.

The space behind your eyes ached for a different reason now.

You really did love these turtle knuckleheads.