#Fic: Fire burn and caldron bubble

[milomoonsies]

lmao i finally have time to work on this goofy ass burlesque fic and this is the only thing i came up with today this is dogma, this is how the lord built this silly silly big-tittied fictional dead man and i stand byy it

[witchesnet]

HALLOWEEn HEXATHLoN 2024 👻 October 26-31th 👻 Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble, it’s time for our fifth HALLOWEEN HEXATHLON! We welcome all new witchy creations from any fandom (gifs, fics, videos, fanart, moodboards, etc.) The event is going to between the 26th and 31th of October and each day you can pick from a separate prompt or song to give you inspiration. Day One [Oct. 26.] your favourite witchy villian/antagonist and/or song prompt: grand commander - i hope you die in a fire Day Two [Oct. 27.] witches masked/hidden/faceless and/or song prompt: royal & the serpent - underneath the mask Day Three [Oct. 28.] classic or modern witches (brooms or stillettos) (cloaks or leather jackets) (the forest or the city) (etc.) and/or song prompt: twin temple - i know how to hex you Day Four [Oct. 29.] dance, magic, dance (witches dancing) and/or song prompt: emily wolfe - no man Day Five [Oct. 30.] a prophecy/vision/dream and/or song prompt: hunter as a horse - the passenger Day Six [Oct. 31.] free choice and/or song prompt: dead man's bones - in the room where you sleep

💫We are going to track #halloweenhex as well as #witchesnet so make sure to tag us in the first 5 tags. ✨⭐To further your creativity consider listening to the playlist specifically created for the event. If you’d be interested in last year’s halloweenhex posts, you can check them out here. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to send us an ask! 🥰

[magpiefngrl]

halfway through 2024 book review

June isn't over yet but I'm looking at a couple of very busy weeks so it's unlikely I'll read a gazillion new books or something by end of month. So we do this now!

books I enjoyed so far

Aliette de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen series, set in a post-apocalyptic Paris with fallen angels and magic and dragons in the Seine. I didn't quite love the three main novels, but I enjoyed how unique the world-building was. However, I REALLY loved the last two novellas about Asmodeus and his husband Thuan, who are a delicious pairing. The novellas are: Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances and Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders.

Pacat's Dark Heir, which I enjoyed so much that I went back to reread Dark Rise and then again, Dark Heir. I liked the second novel a lot more than the first (and I actually ended up appreciating the first novel more on my reread). Needless to say, I am very, very impatient about the end of the series.

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel. KJC has done it again. The sequel to her Doomsday Books series is fantastic, with a vivid cast, an excellent main pairing, and superb pacing. Couldn't put it down. A great historical m/m romance.

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'd heard a lot about Miles and it was fun seeing him bullshit his way across the galaxy.

The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold. A novella in the Vorkosigan saga. Very touching and emotional and a great character study of Miles. Really loved this.

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. This dude is seriously amazing at crafting unusual murder mysteries. This one is structured as vignettes of shop-owners in a Tokyo neighbourhood and, as the stories progress, more light is shed on the mystery of a strangled woman.

Faithful Place and The Secret Place by Tana French. Fantastic prose, absorbing murder mysteries that are more like deep character studies as well as an incisive portrait of contemporary Ireland.

The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski. This is pretty grim at times, ngl, but it has a daring structure with lots of POVs, switching between numerous timelines, a frame device, lots of found materials (essays and chapters from fictional books). All that worked for me very well. I love some experimentation with craft. I wouldn't say it was my fave read, but I'm happy that I finally reached the end; completing a series always gives me a dopamine rush so yay

progress on my reading goals

A reminder that my two goals for the year are:

to read (some or all of) the Vorkosigan saga

to read less or no US authors

I'm doing pretty well on those two scores. Read a few installments of the Vorkosigan saga, and (besides Bujold and a poetry anthology by Maggie Smith) have read no other US-based authors. My intention was to diversify my reading and, indeed, so far, I've read French, Japanese, Polish, UK, Australian, Irish, and currently reading a Ukrainian author.

fics I loved

I've not read as many books as I normally do so far, esp in the last couple of months, but I read a lot more fic than recent years. I've read some fab stuff in a variety of fandoms. The fics I'm going to rec below are the longer ones that I read on my ereader:

Tarnished Gold by Prim_the_Amazing (bingqiu/svsss, M, 118k) Inventive premise. Couldn't put it down.

Memory (T, 23k) and Out of the Dead Land (M, 62k), both stucky, both orphaned by one of my top authors ever. The second one gave me the worst fic hangover I had in ages. I had to go and rewatch Captain America.

contrapasso by damagecontrol (jegulus, E, 41k) Very horny. I like that.

Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble by pastapug (jegulus, E, 40k) Lush language, fascinating setting.

Beholden by Faith Wood (faithwood) (drarry, E, 123k) Gave me all the drarry feels.

Shout out to @hoko-onchi-writes's WIP: To Hold You in the Earth's Unholy Din, which I am loving <3

That's all, folks. Here's hoping for more wonderful reads till December!

[vilain-herodes]

James’ skin is a deep gold, his lashes dark and too-long, hair a tangle across the pillows. Regulus feels him like standing in the sun without shade for miles. He comes from the ocean, the peach groves. He’s a summer at noon, thick with cicadas. Who can look like this and not be loved instantly, without abandon? 

fic: fire burn and caldron bubble by pastapug

[twisted-leader-of-something]

Week 2 - Trick or Treat!

Author’s Note: This week, I will be writing about Trick or Treating, one of my favorite things to do when Halloween rolled around when I was a child. So, hopefully that translates into this wholesome fic based on the 1952 Disney short, Trick or Treat, which I used to watch every October to get me in the mood for Halloween! 

Trigger Warnings: Crowley says something mean gets pretty badly hurt, Malleus gets scary because someone was mean to his favorite dorm. Only one divider in this fic due to this being short. 

“Yeah! We’re going to get so much candy!” The devil costume wearing Grim said, cheerfully as with his little bag, which he hoped would be full of candy by the end of the night. 

“Yeah, now that the school’s event is done, we can go trick-or-treating around the school. I still can’t believe the others wanted to let us trick-or treat around the dorms.” Yuu said, with their witch outfit and a broom to carry their bag, despite the irony. 

“I’m quite excited.” Quentin smiled over under her sheet and jack-o-lantern on her head, making her look like a ghost with a pumpkin on her head. “I haven’t done this in a long time.”

“We’ll have so much fun.” Yuu smiled. 

“Let’s do the staff first,” Quentin suggested. “that way we can hang out with everyone else later.”

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Grim said happily, as the three went up to the staff room. 

Dire Crowley was not in the mood. 

First Sam demanded some crazy supplies out of nowhere, then Divus soon after, then Vargas caused a mess in the field, and Trein had come in a given too many complaints about the guests of the week. . . On top of all thing things he’d gotten from the guests! There was so many complainants and so much to clean up! 

There was a knock at the door.

Argh! He had no time for this! 

So, Crowley marched up to the door, and there stood the Ramshackle residents. 

“Hey Headmaster!” Yuu smiled. 

“Trick or Treat!” Grim smiled, offering up his bag to the Headmaster. 

“What is it at this time of night?!” Crowley demanded to know, which seemed to make the two first years flinch in fear. “I’m busy!”

“B-But Headmaster, you said that today-” Yuu tried to explain, but Crowley didn’t seem to be listening. 

“I told you we’ll have no trick or treating this year!” Crowley said. “We don’t have the money or the time!”

“Headmaster Crowley, but-” Quentin tried to speak up, but the door was shut in her face. 

“Get out of here! I’m busy!” The Headmaster demanded, and the three did.

And so, in the courtyard, there sat the three Ramshackle residents, sitting on the bench, upset and angry at their Headmaster for being treated so coldly.

“But. . . He said it was today. . . “ Grim pouted. 

“Maybe he forgot, you know him-” Quentin was about to say, but someone familiar came into the area.

“What is the residents of Ramshackle Dorm doing here?” A powerful, yet gentle voice spoke. And when the three residents looked up, there stood Malleus Draconia, in a costume that made him look like a prince. 

“Ah, Tsunotarou, good evening.” Yuu said, trying to smile, but wasn’t doing a very good job at it. 

“What troubles you three?” The Fae prince asked, curiously. 

“Headmaster Crowley.” Quentin explained. “He promised we’d do trick-or-treating this year for Grim, but he told us he already said no.”

“I’ve heard no such thing from him.” Malleus simply said. “As far as I’m aware, the trick-or-treating is still going to happen. But, I shall go and see.”

And so, Malleus did. But, from the thunder clouds in the sky and upset Malleus that came back, it didn’t go over well. 

“That forgetful fool.” The fae seemed to growl. 

“T-Tsunotarou?” Yuu asked fearfully which seemed to make Malleus snap out of his anger. 

“It will be alright, Ramshackle Dorm.” Malleus smiled. “I have an idea.”

And so, the group travelled to a nearby classroom and instantly, Malleus prepared his plan. He summoned a caldron, grabbed the ingredients needed , and gave some to the Ramshackle members, and started to chant. 

“Double, double, toil and trouble! Fire burn and caldron bubble!” Malleus started, and gestured to the Ramshackle resident to drop their ingredients, and as he ingredients came into the pot, Malleus called them by their names. “Eye of needle! Tongue of shoe! Hand of clock that points at two! Neck of bottle! Tail of coat! Whiskers from the Billy Goat!”

And after an explosion, the potion seemed to be ready as Malleus gave a happy nod, and grabbed a nearby empty spray bottle and managed to get the whole caldron into the bottle. 

“And now, we are ready. Let’s go.” Malleus smiled, as he started to walk away towards where he came from, with what he summoned seeming to disappear. 

“Hey! Malleus! What exactly are ‘we’ going to do?!” Quentin asked, as the Ramshackle residents trailed behind the Diasomnia dorm leader. 

“Hmmm? We’re getting your candy from Crowley.” Malleus said simply, “If he won’t give it willingly, then we’ll take it with force.”

“EH?!” The Ramshackle students yelled, almost in unison. 

“Tsunotarou! We’ll get into huge trouble!” Yuu called out, “Crowley maybe was being mean, but we can’t curse him!”

“But he deserves it.” Malleus said, simply. “He promised you he would do this for you, and cannot go back on his promise. Angry or not, he’ll give you candy.”

Seeing as Malleus didn’t seem to be able to be reasoned with, the three Ramshackle residents simply shrugged and went along with him, soon arriving close by Crowley’s office. And then Malleus started to spray so of the potion unto the things nearby. 

The candles and lanterns started to move and dance around the four creating a light show of green, the paintings came off the walls and moved around the walk and talk, the carpet slid under doors and playfully started to mess around with the area.

And, they all started to sing. 

♪ Trick or Treat! ♪ 

♪ Trick or Treat! ♪

♪ Trick or Treat for Halloween! ♪

♪ When ghosts and goblins by the score, ♪

♪ Ring the bell on your front door, ♪

♪ You better not be stingy or ♪ 

♪ Your nightmares will come true! ♪

And then Quentin seemed to recognize this song. She knew that song well.

It was an old song from her childhood. 

It was an old song for Halloween, meant to warn people on Halloween to be nice people and to follow the old traditions, or face the wrath of the dead and the living for not respecting the special occasion between both sides of the world. 

And then, Quentin seemed to understand Malleus’ motives as the spirit opened the doors to Crowley’s office, seeming to really scare Crowley. As soon as the doors opened, Malleus rushed inside the office. 

“So, are you going to give them their candy, or not?” Malleus growled at Crowley, which seemed to scare the poor headmaster. 

“Ah! Y-Yes! Mister Draconia! Right away!” Crowley said, quickly scrambling to find his promised, which earned a confidant nod. 

Grim, upon seeing Crowley getting the candy said confidently, “Ha! Serves him right!”

“Indeed.” Malleus agreed. “He’s quite the scaredy cat.”

Upon hearing the two’s insults towards him, Dire Crowley immediately forgot his fear of Malleus and became angry once more. “Scaredy cat?! How dare you address your headmaster that way!” and then, he made the candy disappear into his pockets. 

“I’ve been waiting for this moment where I could finally cast a spell on you!” Malleus cried with joy, and he pulled out the spray bottle and sprayed Crowley’s cape. “Hocus pocus, magic shower, put his coat within my power!” 

And instantly, the coat seemed to come to life, fidgeting and spreading themselves out like wings.

“Coat!” Malleus commanded, and the Crowley’s coat seemed to listen, as it seemed to stand in attention, completely still. “Get the candy out of his pockets!”

And, the coat did as commanded, and started to flap around, and even hurting Crowley in hopes of getting the candy out of his pockets. 

Poor Dire Crowley was not having a good time as he yelped in pain as the coat tried everything it could to get the candy Dire Crowley was hiding out of the pockets. It hit Crowley against his own desk, hurt him with pens and pencils and papers, got him on the chandelier, and even tried to get the painting to help, pulling on Crowley's outfit. And few times the candy threated to spill out, but Crowley grabbed the candy again and put it in another pocket. Until eventually, the candy came spilling out of Crowley’s final place he’d tried to hide it. 

After the candy had spilled, Malleus once more smiled. “Sorry for the wait, Ramshackle, the candy-”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Crowley said, seeming to assert his dominance towards his students, which seemed to frighten Yuu and Grim, not so much Malleus and Quentin, “I am the headmaster here! You will listen to me! And if I say no candy, then no candy!” to which, Crowley walked over to his desk and locked it. 

Malleus however, was not happy. “Fine then, my dear headmaster, you’re getting what’s coming to you.” and once more, he sprayed the potion unto Crowley. This time, he sprayed a lot unto the coat, and some even seemed to get on the hat. 

“Smash that desk to pieces, coat, with him!” Malleus commanded, and the coat did so. And the poor man was being smashed into his own desk, scattering papers everywhere and destroying the innocent desk to pieces, where the candy was stored. Until eventually, there was nothing left of the desk, and the candy was sitting on top of the broken desk, like gold from a mine. 

“Yay!” Grim cheered.

“I’m not sure if this candy is safe to take.” Yuu laughed, but Quentin seemed to respond. 

“Oh please. That old man got what he deserved.” She laughed. “He, of all people, should know better than to be mean on Halloween.”

“YOUNG MASTER! Here you are-YOUNG MASTER!” A familiar voice came into the room, as Sebek Zigvolt, Silver and Lilia Vanrouge came into the room. “Briar Witch! Are you alright?!”

“Oh my, what happened here?” Lilia asked, mischievously. 

“Crowley was being quite rude, so I taught him a lesson.” Malleus smirked, and Lilia seemed to understand what Malleus what he was saying. 

“Aha~ How fun.” Lilia commented. “I wish I could’ve been there.” 

“Are you three alright?” Silver asked the Ramshackle residents, which he was met with three smiles. 

“Yeah! I’ve gotten so much candy!” Grim smiled. 

“I had no idea Crowley had so much in his desk.” Yuu smiled. 

“It was fun to see Crowley’s coat coming to life.” Quentin commented.  

While Silver and Sebek seemed confused, Lilia simply smiled. “Come now Ramshackle dorm, it’s time for the Trick-or-Treating to start.”

“Really?! Yay!” Grim smiled, rushing out the door, with Sebek trialing not far behind telling Grim to wait for Malleus. 

“Aha. That was fun.” Quentin smiled, and started to explain what happened to Lilia and Silver, who seemed pretty interested in her story. 

“Thank Tsunotarou!” Yuu smiled. “Thanks you to you, we got candy from Crowley!” 

“It is nothing, Child of Man.” Malleus smiled. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

[milomoonsies]

hiiiii im a liiiitle late i read chap 4 + 5 of fbacb and then FORGOT to comment and stuff (can you believe that). so, here i am. i have a few points i need to make:

1. i love ur braiiiiiin n writing sm <3 i so needed some fluff and you deliveredddd

2. the end was so good asfgdkflznfksbridb the happy ending with the gallery n all that got me in my feels---

3. special mention (again) to italian james who still hits as hard as he damn well should (i want him give him to me plsplspls)

4. last but not. freaking. last. THE SMUT??!!! hello?!??!?!€??+#!!(_;2)€-2(&;'-#;&(#&(€!@)_(@!&+';#8"(# error 404 page not found over here i can't even express-- i have no words.

have a great dayyy x

OH WOW thank youuuu 🥰🥰🥰 I'm so glad you enjoyed it! This means so, so much!! Italian James has me in a chokehold and every time I think of writing another fic, he just...stays Italian?? He's a Ligurean Sea deity ❤️

Hugs and kisses babe, hugs and kisses!!

[magpiefngrl]

book/fic acronym

Ooh i had an idea, have we done this one before?

Spell your name with the titles of your fave books and/or fics.

I liked this game so much I did it with both books and fics. (can you tell school term is almost over?) It was interesting to see which letters were easier to find titles for and which not. Consider everything below a huge rec.

Mo Dao Zu Shi by MXTX || Misethere by Astolat

Autobiography in Red by A. Carson || a better happier st sebastian by halsinator

Game of Kings by D.Dunnett || The god of scraped knees. by spqr

Prince's Gambit by CS Pacat (i debated putting Pawn here) || parley by cafecliche

Introducing Mr Winterbourne by J. Chambers (this was hard!) || I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor by birdsofshore and IDK My BFF Hermione? by lettered and In the dark, the light by phrynne and in the blossom season (in the pouring rain) by varnes (and I could rec a few more! What is it with the letter i and fics?)

Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo || Every Me and Every You by Bixgirl1

Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien || Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble by pastapug

Northern Lights by Pullman || Need by @bixgirl1

Girl, Woman, Other by B. Evaristo || Ghost in the Garden by thistle verse

Role Model by Rachel Reid (how was this the hardest one??? Took me ages to find a book) || run all the lights by fahye

Lolita by Nabokov || Let Me Have You and I'll Let You Save Me by frayach

Tagging anyone who wants to do this! Maybe @bloody-wonder, @doh-rae-me, @unhelpfulfemme, @sitp-recs and @wolfpants can get the ball rolling, if they feel like it?

[witchesnet]

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble, it’s time for our fourth HALLOWEEN HEXATHLON!

We welcome all new witchy creations from any fandom (gifs, fics, videos, fanart, moodboards, etc.) The event is going to be between the 26th and 31th of October and each day you can pick from a separate prompt or song to give you inspiration.

Day One [Oct. 26.]

prompt: A Witch Who Deserves The World

song: Madalen Duke - How Villians Are Made

Day Two [Oct. 27.]

prompt: A Witch Family/Found Family/Coven/Group You Love

song: Florence and the Machine - Which Witch

Day Three [Oct. 28.]

prompt: A Witchy Quote ↳ your favourite quote said by a witch or your favourite quote about witches

song: Lola Blanc - Angry Too

Day Four [Oct. 29.]

prompt: Witch(es) + Element(s)

song: Dominique Fils-Aimé - Where There Is Smoke

Day Five [Oct. 30.]

prompt: The Witchiest/Most Magical Color(s) of Your Choice ↳ one color, more colors, color palettes - as many colors you want :)

song: Elley Duhé - Middle of The Night

Day Six [Oct. 31.]

prompt: Free Choice

song: The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell

💫We are going to track #halloweenhex as well as #witchesnet so make sure to tag us in the first 5 tags. ✨⭐

To further your creativity consider listening to the playlist specifically created for the event. If you’d be interested in last year’s halloweenhex posts, you can check them out here.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to send us an ask! 🥰