#CryptidBytes

[blaackbiird]

commission done for @cryptidbytes for their fic Why Don't You Cast Yourself On Me? (a frankly outstanding piece of literature that I have devoured numerous times by now - I highly recommend it if you haven't read it yet)

Thank you so much for letting me work on this, is was such a fun time and I'm super proud to have contributed to this wonderful story

if you're interested in commissioning me, you can reach out to me here or through my twitter.

[madanimalscientist]

Love your hh/hb musical ask idea and now I've got to know

Fizz/Ozzie (romantic)

Angel Dust/Lucifer (any dynamic/ relationship type you prefer)

Oooooh for Fizz and Ozzie, I have two:

La Cage Aux Folles does have some fun Fizz/Ozzie energy and also "With You On My Arm" is just so sweet and cute and romantic it has their vibes SO MUCH but also the banter is adorable in such a fun way.

Life is a celebration with you on my arm/ It's worth the aggravation with you on my arm/ Each time I face a morning that's boring and bland/With you it looks good!/ With you it looks great!/With you it looks grand!

But I will give you a second one - "Accident Waiting to Happen" from The Drowsy Chaperone. It captures the sweetness and zaniness of these two, and is a very cute duet, and captures the 'I didn't intend this but I'm glad it did' vibes they have especially.

When men say I'm sweet and they fall at my feet/My heart doesn't beat any faster/ But when you lose control it touches my soul/So I'm bracing myself for disaster/ You're an accident waiting to happen/A catastrophe destined to be/ I'm the rags in the cellar/A broken umbreller/A branch hanging loose from a tree/ I can see myself jumpin' and clappin'/ For a man who lives dangerously/ You're an accident waiting to happen/So hurry and happen to me

For Angel Dust and Lucifer....that is an interesting dynamic! I like them as having a sort of friendship makes sense, or at least, Angel views Lucifer more of the time as "Charlie's dad, great short king energy, but his mental health could maybe use a bit of a boost" which means he's more approachable than Angel realized. Meanwhile I could see Lucifer seeing Angel as a pretty decent sort, chaotic in a fun way mostly, definitely brings some fun to the place, knows a lot about relationships. So I could see one coming to the other for advice about something maybe but also I had the mental image of both of them trying to talk the other up if one was feeling a bit down/insecure and it turns into a mutual admiration fest like "you're great", "no, you're great" (and possibly a bit drunk when this happens) so I picked "You're the Top" from Anything Goes because it's a cute funny song but also the innuendo potential of the lyrics XD (also face it, Luicifer has switch energy but Angel def ain't a top ;p)

I can just hear Angel going

You're the Nile/You're the Tower of Pisa/ You're the smile/On the Mona Lisa/ I'm a worthless check/A total wreck, a flop/ But if, baby, I'm the bottom/You're the top

[soot-and-salt]

Wanted to jump on here and say I adore your writing! You've got such an excellent narrative voice and your characters come across as multifaceted and a true delight to read.

I saw you were answering asks so I wanted to throw one your way as well! At one time, how many fics do you think you're working on? Are you an all in one go writer and focus in on one chapter/ addition to a series at a time or do you bounce around?

Why hello there, Cryptidbytes! Always good to see you!

First of all, you are exceedingly kind to me. I'm blushing. Thank you so much for your incredibly lovely compliments. I swear, I am trying my best. Me and my imposter syndrome are locked in a fight to the death and that bitch got hands.

I'm (unsurprisingly) kind of a chaotic mess when it comes to writing. I'm trying to get better. I've had a lot of great success with, you know, THINKING before I write something and making outlines, etc. Usually I have a few irons in the fire because my brain worms are truly a fright to behold.

I try to be an all in one writer. A lot of my one shots are very much written in one day and thrown on AO3 and may god have mercy on my soul. I don't have a lot of writing time in my week. I have a stressful day job that sucks the life out of me and personal stuff I deal with that leaves me with little free time. Some weeks I only get one or two nights to write so shorter one shots tend to go faster.

Lately, though, I'm trying to not be so focused on outside validation and to take my time, even if it means that something takes longer to come out. That's why the word count on We Shoud've Been Enemies installments have gotten so much bigger. Instead of trying to write everything in one night in 3k words, taking two weeks and letting in breath in 6k words have made for MUCH better stories, I think. But it does slow me down, and I'm still working through how I feel about that.

I always have multiple WIPs, even if it's just a file with a title and a scene or some notes or something. Right now I'm currently mulling over:

-the rest of WSBE

-a crack comedy fic involving Alastor and a very unlikely partner in crime

-a QPR with Rosie/Vox/Alastor

-and starting to outline for an Alastor human AU series

So yeah, I do bounce around. Sometimes an idea grabs me and won't let me go and I have to drop EVERYTHING to write it (like I Shine Only With The Light You Gave Me, for example). Usually that happens when I see fan art or get a song lyric stuck in my head and I have to do something with it before I implode.

Right now it's a toss up between WSBE #7 (which I want to finish so fucking bad) and the Alastor crack fic because it's been in my drafts since April and I am dying to let it see the light of day.

There are not enough hours in the day, honestly. We're in the "dead season" at my job right now and I have literally thought of taking a day or two off just to write, which is kind of insane. It's fanfiction, soot, not the next great American novel. But having this many incomplete ideas held in your head can drive you a little crazy.

I gotta stop writing essays to these questions. Sorry about that. Fantastic question!

[shmothman]

Had to.

GOD. that’s him that’s my crying buddy…

[demonforthesemen]

When I write the "Lucifer and Lilith wake up one day and realize that they are in a them-centric semi-nonsexual throuple with Alastor, who absolutely made the decision to make a place for himself in that relationship" fic, then you will all see.

(It will come complete with special shoutout to @cryptidbytes because they were the one who said Alastor would be the one to look at lucilith and be like, "I deserve only the best and that is the best" and take direct action from there)

[henchy5824]

WIP WEDNESDAY

It's Halloween, baby!

Tagging @pennedinblood @tianrenart and @cryptidbytes to keep the fun rolling!

I hope everyone is having fun! :)

[that-agender-from-pluto]

I'm safe (dark one Emma might hurt me, but this isn't her, so it's fine)

No pressure tags <3

@bifuriouswaterbender @el-loves-writing @loserluizard @eamons-redguitar @tboybuck @cryptidbytes + anyone who wants to join <3

the og post was way too long so I'm making a new one

thanks for the tag @lombolica !! :D

You're stuck in a room with the last character in your gallery how safe are you

very safe

the worst thing that could happen is him being clumsy, so I think I'm alright (unless monsters find him I guess)

tagging (no pressure): @flaretheidiot @lemonic-whimssyy @wibbly-wobbly-blog @cryptidanathema @virtualunease @aurlworthfightingfor @angrysheep @sugarplumanderson @time-travelling-chaos @fateisnotafactor @monstrousmaws @sinfulauthor @idkaguyorsomething @vampireopossum and anyone who wants to do this!

[cryptidcola]

HAPPY BORFDAY.

<3

Thank youuuu 🥰💕💕

[poludniica]

she is not stupid I swear, just a little oblivious...

also I can't not mention how @cryptidbytes and me thought about almost the same scenario at the same time, pretty amazing lol

[ghost-captain]

tagged by @cryptidbytes :0

lockscreen, homescreen and last song played!

uhhh I'll tag my friends who see this because I don't remember y'all's URLs rn like a bad person dances

u don't gotta tho

[cryptidcola]

Good times and good friends in ACNH!

ft. @phaselock-and-roll, @hopeless-ar0mantic, @cryptidbytes <3

[demonforthesemen]

@cryptidbytes eating your tags because yes! YES!!!!

If put to use, his love is a dangerous prison. If he is loved in return, that love eventually warps until it's poison. And it's his fault, isn't it? He is the origin of sin, the tempter, the snake in the garden full of promises he cannot keep. He is the reason the road to hell is paved with good intentions - but as long as he doesn't act, there can be no intent, and so things remain in the safety zone. (Extremely obviously flawed logic considering not acting and not intending and therefore isolating himself had pretty bad repercussions, but he's not exactly thinking clearly.)

Anyway when he finds out - and I have a whole lil story in my head for how he finds out - that Alastor does feel something, however hard to pin down, for him, he panics. It feels like a betrayal. Alastor was supposed to be safe to love, safe from his love, and now that safety net has disappeared right out from under him.

Of course I love Lucifer falling for Alastor and having a whole crisis about it because (perceived or real) unrequited love is a bitch, but consider: Lucifer being deeply messed up over the way his very loving marriage ended.

Lucifer's only experience with romance being the one to fall first, the one to fall harder, and the one left behind.

Lucifer realizing he's fallen in love with Alastor and it's not ideal in any way, shape, or form, to put it mildly, but there's a strange relief there. Lucifer feeling safe with this love because he doesn't have to do anything with it, because (as far as Lucifer knows), Alastor is certainly amused by him but he most definitely doesn't feel any real affection for him.

Love grew and changed and soured between Lucifer and Lilith, but with Alastor it can remain in stasis, untouched and forever boxed up like a collector's item, only pristine and beautiful and worth something if left alone.

[cryptidcola]

Tagged by @nukasoda to make myself in this Picrew!! Thank you!!! 😁💕

Tagging (no pressure!) @phaselock-and-roll, @lyriumrain, @psijics, @extraterrestrial-apis, @cryptidbytes & if anybody else wants to do this, consider yourself tagged! :^)

[cryptidcola]

I was tagged by @psijics! Thank you!! :^)

My lock screen, background, and last song played:

I am nothing if not totally predictable. Lockscreen & homescreen from here!

Tagging @extraterrestrial-apis, @cryptidbytes, @thats-amnesty-babe, @bright-cherry-bombzz, @maedhros-the-tall; no pressure if you don’t feel like doing it!

[demonforthesemen]

@cryptidbytes lmaoooo Angel's the only one who laughs and encourages more "funny" stories out of him because he also presents his trauma as funny little tales (Lucifer returns the favor of laughing and asking for more).

Everyone else is like. This is not funny pls. Even Alastor questions what the fuck is wrong with them.

(Angel: You're one to talk, Mr. Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile.

Alastor, said smile getting creepily wider: There's a difference between presenting a strong front and whatever you two are doing.

Lucifer: Sounds to me like the big bad radio demon just can't tell a good story. I hate to say it, but maybe you should stick to your day job 😈)

Human Lucifer the type of guy to tell a funny story about his childhood, only to have everyone look at him uncomfortably like, "That's not funny, that's trauma holy shit," and then he, uncomfortable and irritated about it, responds with, "Oh so suddenly this isn't a safe space anymore"

[demonforthesemen]

@cryptidbytes

My own aro ass fully loves this. And for Lucifer specifically, I feel the comfort would come from the certainty of making a choice. Alastor can't fall out of love because he's already not in love - but still, he's choosing to be there, trying to make this work. There's not something there that can be extinguished by time; instead, there's a mutual decision every day to be at each other's sides. And that's its own type of vested interest, isn't it? To actively choose someone, over and over again. Not to mention the fact that Lucifer fell exactly because he wanted to offer choice to humanity. For Alastor to use that gift to choose him, well it's flattering. It's a declaration.

It may not be the declaration one might expect in a relationship, but Lucifer finds himself treasuring it more than he would the expected one.

Thinking about aroace Alastor in a relationship with Lucifer and some specific hurdles they'd face.

Lucifer having to deal with the fact that Alastor is just never going to love or want him in the traditional romantic/sexual sense, never in quite the same way Lucifer loves and wants him. And it's not that he didn't know Alastor is aroace going in, nor that he thought that he could change Alastor - but it's one thing to know something in theory and another to know it in practice. He didn't realize that once he was in this that a part of him would pipe up and say, "Oh hey. It kind of feels like I'm more invested in this relationship than the other person is. Again."

Alastor having to deal with the fact that a part of Lucifer is always going to miss what he had with Lilith, because you don't just forget falling to Hell with someone and then creating a family and home - a kingdom - with them. The grief of losing them stays. For his part, Alastor would be happy forgetting Lilith ever existed, but it would be unfair to ask Lucifer to cast aside those thousands of years (thousands of years that will always belong to someone else). Worse, he knows it would be unfair, and it rankles. It feels like losing a competition he didn't realize he'd entered.

Both of them feeling inadequate, wondering what it would take for them to be enough, to feel like they're enough. Both of them wondering why they can't be satisfied with what they have; feeling petty and stupid and small for wanting more than the other can give.