#I drew HANDS for this that's how you know I'm REALLY invested

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Hey, have I mentioned that J-Dog and I are playing Wizard101?

Everybody meet my Diviner, Melody Hexbolt!

Her personality is if you took a stereotypical Mean Girl Academic Beta Bitch trope and then instead of giving her an Alpha Bitch to follow around, you gave her a sarcastic loser nerd (that’d be J-Dog’s Wizard, Benny Feignrite)!

We haven’t sufficiently traumatized them yet, but we’ll see how the kids are feeling at the end of Arc 1 and if that merits a more serious redesign.

Benny is up next! (No I haven’t forgot about OC-tober, it’s just that the Wizard Game is consuming my every waking. . .and sleeping thought).

Oh also @givemethesleep it's not lore but I think you might enjoy.

[poguelandiarafe]

tough guy | rafe cameron

paring - rafe cameron x gf!reader

warnings - mentions of violence and getting stabbed

summary - rafe is telling you, topper and kelce about his day and brings up the fact he got into yet another fight. you don't like this so decide to put him in his place, knowing you're the only one who can (not set in any particular season).

--------

to anyone else, dating rafe cameron would be scary, a struggle even. he's a man known for his reputation and will do anything to uphold it. whenever he enters a room all eyes are on him and it amazes you how he commands such attention without any effort at all. his features are strong and bold, just like his personality, and it's this that drew you in in the first place. the way he kept everyone at a distance, not letting anyone in.

except you.

you love a challenge and were determined to be let into his world. you're headstrong, stubborn, and know exactly what you want in life, stopping at nothing to get it. you're hot too, of course, but it's your determination that rafe thinks made him fall for you. it's like he's dating himself your personalities are so similar.

and you love to push his buttons, calling him out about whatever dumb shit he does.

--------

you're sitting on the sofa at tannyhill, rafe's arm slung over your shoulder to keep you next to him as he rambles on about another reckless thing he's done today. topper and kelce are scattered around the living room, taking turns to finish the joint you don't want anymore, listening to rafe. they're seemingly invested in whatever he's saying whereas you sit there scrolling through instagram, paying barely any attention to him.

"and then he pulled a knife on me," he laughs, "was fucking crazy."

your ears perk up, throwing his arm off your shoulder and sitting up to properly look at him. he looks at you briefly before going to carry on what he was saying but you cut him off.

"are you fucking crazy?" you ask, finger poking into his chest.

the room goes silent. topper and kelce freezing, in shock you spoke to rafe like that without him immediately shouting at you.

his eyes narrow at you and his brows furrow, "no? what's that meant to mean?"

"you were reckless, rafe. you can't start throwing punches every chance you get. jj literally pulled a fucking knife on you and you're here laughing about it." you say, voice raising from anger.

"you don't tell me what to do." rafe says, jaw clenched from being spoken to like that in front of his friends.

you match his intense stare, "i think i have every right to if you're putting yourself in a situation where you could die."

"he tried to sink my boat, i'm not just letting that shit slide! it's not like he'd actu-" he starts before you cut him off.

"don't you dare say he wasn't serious! what if he was, huh?" you snap, getting up and standing in front of him, "what if he actually stabbed you and i got a phone call saying you were in hopsital or that your body had been found? then what?"

it's quiet for a moment, rafe thinking over what you said. he feels guilty now, not really thinking about the consequences if something were to actually have happened, his adrenaline having clouded his rational judgement at the time.

"alright, alright. i get it baby. i'm sorry." he holds his hands up in mock surrender.

"you're not invincible just because you're rafe cameron. i don't want anything to happen to you."

he stands up, pulling you into him but you don't budge, arms crossed over your chest.

"i'm sorry for being reckless," he whispers into your hair, before he smirks, "but don't act like you don't love that i'm rafe cameron."

you roll your eyes, wrapping your arms around him now, "not when you're acting like this, i don't. just... promise to cool it. it hurts me when you come home covered in blood and bruises from yet another fight you've been in."

"okay, i promise i'll try. you're lucky you're hot." he mutters.

"you're lucky i put up with your shit." you counter, a smile on your lips.

while you and rafe were busy arguing, topper and kelce were silently smoking the joint, sharing looks every so often as they listened in.

"how does she get away with speaking to him like that?" topper whispers to kelce in disbelief.

"i have something he can't live without." you quip with a wink, overhearing him.

"okay, gross." kelce says.

"his words." you shrug.

[hunnitastic]

🌸~Kisses and Confessions~🌸

||art by @/partycoffin ||

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Wally Darling x GN!Reader

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||Work is also available on my ao3 account ||

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Third person p.o.v

It was a lovely day in the neighborhood. You were sitting outside playing julies complicated hop scotch game while frank stood by reading a hook. Right now you were shockingly winning even though you couldn't understand a lick of the rules she came up with. "Gosh darn it! How am I losing to you so quickly?" Julie complained as she stomped her foot in anger. Frank looked over and scoffed. "Julie if (y/n) is so confused by your rules and yet still manage to win at this game then don't you think maybe you ought to change the rules and make it more playable?" He spoke keeping his eyes peeled to his book. With you hands placed proudly on your hips you let out a victory laugh. "Hahaha! Well, looks I win Julie! You owe me that cake now!" You beamed in joy.

Julie threw her hands up in defeat. "Arg! Alright fine you win!" She cried out loud and playfully slapped your arm. You let out a chuckle and patted her back. "Hey frank how long did it take for us to finish the game?" You asked looking over at the other who was very well invested in his book. "Approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes." You blinked in awe. "Wow it felt way longer then that!" Julie nodded in agreement.

As the 2 of you cleaned up the sidewalk and proceeded to doodle with colored chalk you looked up and saw wally strolling down the sidewalk, hands rested behind his pockets. "Hi wally! Wanna join me and Julie for some chalk art?" You asked as you waved your arm. Wally stopped looking down at your little drawings. He held back a chuckle seeing a doodle of frank looking like an angry monster. "Those look really good. I particularly like this one of frank looking mad." Wally hummed as he pointed at the drawing. "EXCUSE ME?!?" Frank yelled as he scrambled to look at the drawing. "I do not look like that! Julie!" Frank yelled some more. "How did you know I was the one who drew it?!" "Because (y/n) doesn't draw me like that!" Frank and Julie argued as you and wally watched them bicker back and forth.

"So you up for some drawing?" You asked holding up some chalk. "It seems fun but I'm afraid I might have to pass." You cocked your head to the side. "I'm on my way to howdys shop to grab a few things." "Oh! Sorry to keep you waiting then! Go on and head to the shop, oh and tell howdy I need some more glitter glue please? Julie used up all of mine for Sally's last play" you spoke with a pout.

Wally softly chuckled and nodded his head. "I'll be sure to let him know." He hummed getting ready to head off. "I'll see you later then (y/n)." Before you could wave goodbye you watched with wide eyes as wally lifted his hand, pressed it against his lips and sweetly blowing you a kiss with a wink. Your face flushed a bright red and your heart skipped a beat as you watched your neighbor walk away.

Since...when did he know how to blow a kiss? You don't ever recall barnaby ever teaching wally how to blow a kiss. And barnaby usually teaches wally a whole bunch of things. Perhaps you'd have to ask barnaby yourself.

"Me? Teaching wally how to blow kisses? Nope sorry little bud but I never taught him how to do that." Barnaby hummed looking down at uou as you walked beside him. Holding a hotdogs in his hand. "Really? So...you mean he learned how to blow kisses all by himself?" You asked slightly surprised by this fact. "I guess it is kind of shocking isn't it? Little wally learning how to do something without my help this time! My buddys growing up" Barnaby spoke as he faked a sob causing you to chuckle. "Might as well start getting used to it. Once wally learns something new he'll be doing that non-stop for days." You blinked slightly confused. Who would blow kisses every single day?

That sounds absolutely ridiculous!

.

.

.

Oh wow barnaby was actually right. As each day passed wally would continue to blow kisses to every neighbor he ran into. He'd blow a kiss at Eddie as he passed by delivering his mail, He'd blow a kiss to howdy after leaving the store and even blowing a kiss to frank while he was out catching butterflies. But for you, it was completely different. Wally wouldn't just blow kisses in your direction. Whenever he greeted you he would grab your hand a place a soft kiss on your skin. Whenever he'd pull away he would never let go of your hand. He'd firmly grasp it between his fingers. His thumb rubbing in slow circles over the top of your hand in a soothing notion. You didn't mind of course. It was rather nice to be greeted with a kiss on the hand. Especially when it's someone you fancy over.

Day by day you'd gotten very used to the casual greeting of the platonic hand kisses. But today was much more different than it was before.

You were at poppy barn helping her make sugar cookies for julies little tea party and sleepover that was going start in the afternoon. As you were busy mixing the dough poppy plopped down on a chair next to you. Dusting the flour off her apron with her feathers. "Thank you once again for helping me dear." You shook your head with a smile. "Aw it's no problem poppy! I always enjoy baking with you. It's much more fun than staying at home." You hummed as you begun to roll out the dough. "I'm looking forward to what the others will bring to the tea party!" Poppy nodded in agreement. "I believe frank told me he was going to bring lemon custard." Your mouth watered-down you heard the word 'lemon.' Frank had always told you how rich custard was and it seems today you'll finally be able to try it!

"Wow that sounds yummy. I hope this time Julie has actual tea instead of fruit punch. Last time she added too much sugar! I didn't get a wink of sleep that night either!" You huffed while cutting out cookie pieces. Poppy let out a chuckle, flinching when she heard the oven ding. "Oh! The first batch is done!" She got up and grabbed her mits and pulled out the pan of freshly baked cookies. "Now we need to wait for them to cool and then we can decorate them!" Poppy sung, her feathers ruffling in excitement. You smiled as you proceeded to place the next batch of cookies onto another tray. You hummed a sweet tune looking forward to the party and sleepover later tonight.

As the hours pass, and after you helped poppy stack the cookies on a bigger tray, you rushed home to get your sleeping bags and dress in another more casual outfit. Once you made sure you were neatly dressed and had everything you needed you quickly ran back to poppys barn. The two of you happily walked towards julies hose together. Chatting about you've been up to. You even brought up how wally has been greeting you with hand kisses. Poppys eyes widened. "Oh does he now. I know the dear likes to blow everyone kisses these days but I dont believe I've ever seen him be as gentlemanly with anyone else other than you (y/n) hun!" Poppy chirped. You lightly blushed looking at the ground. "Oh I'm sure he's just trying to be more neighborly. I am still pretty new to home after all!" You stumbled over your words.

Poppy squinted her eyes leaning her head down towards your level. "Perhaps it's something more than just wanting to be more neighborly hmm?" The bird teased. You chuckled and shook your head. "Oh stop! I'm fairly sure wallys just trying to be nice" you softly spoke thinking about what poppy had just said.

Could wally possibly...be doing more then just trying to be friendly towards you?

As the two of you reached julies house you noticed you were the last ones to arrive. Uh, you didn't think baking cookies would have kept you that long. After setting down the tray outside in the back on a neatly decorated table you noticed wally talking with howdy and barnaby. Your face wanted up when you made eye contact with your little crush who begun walking your way. Your heart fluttered once wally was a few inches away from you. "U-uh hi wally! Nice to see you at the tea...party....today-" you paused as you noticed wally leaning forward.

He lifted his hand and cupped your cheek. Tilting your head to the side wally softly pressed his lips against your cheek giving you a gentle loving kiss. Your eyes widened and face flushed a bright red. A few seconds passed before wally pulled away holding both of your hands, intertwining your fingers with his. "Hello (y/n), I'm glad you were able to come today." Wally spoke in his casual monotone voice. You couldn't manage to stare at your neighbor in the eyes. "O-oh wally, I couldn't pass up the chance to spend some time with all my friends!" You stuttered feeling wallys soft grip on your hands. You glanced up looking at the others droopy eyes and sweet cat like smile. "Ahahahaha-" you let out a nervous laugh. Wally tilted his head to the side. "Is there something wrong? You look rather nervous." Wally asked leaning closer to your face. You shook your head. "NO, NO, NO of course not! I'm all good!" You exclaimed out loud.

Good going (y/n), way to make yourself look like a fool!

Throughout the duration of the teaparty wally didn't seem like he wanted to leave your side. At the table while the others mingled over sweets and tea, wally scooted his seat close to your seat, your shoulders brushed up against each other. You listened to julies story about how one time her and frank where chasing butterflies and frank ended up rolling down a hill. You chuckled as Eddie held back frank from tackling julie to the ground for bringing up the story while poppy and howdy panicked at the scene.

As soon as night time fell and everyone cleaned up outside the rest of the gang set up their sleeping bags in the living room. Of course some furniture had to be moved around to make enough space for poppy, barnaby and howdy to all fit in. But once everything was set up, Sally rushed to set up a pillow fort for her special puppet shadow show. She's been working on it for days just for this special occasion and she's been very eager to show off her skills!

Crawling underneath the fort and finding a comfortable position to sit in you waited for the show to start. You chatted with howdy about his day. He told you about his massive shipment he received early in the morning that took him hours to stock up on the shelves. You promised him next time you'd be there to help. A moment later Sally crawled underneath the fort, a big flashlight in hand. "Ok guys! I finally found my flashlight! Now, gather around as I tell you the tale of a princess and her knight who saves her from a big scary dragon!" Sally exclaimed waving her arms up in the air as she plopped down in the ground. 

Just as you were getting comfy in your spot, you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist. You looked behind you to see wally staring right at you with his usual droopy eyes. "Are you excited for the shadow puppets (y/n)?" He asked pulling you closer resting up against his chest. You were thankful it was ŕatger dim under the fort else wally would gave been able to see you blush like crazy. "U-uh yeah! Sally's been talking about it all week, I've been looking forward to...it..." you slowed your speech when you felt wally lean down rubbing his cheek against yours. "I've been looking forward to it too. I'm glad I get to watch it with you" he softly hummed pressing a kiss against your cheek once more.

You were extremely confused on how wally started to randomly become very touchy with you. You didn't mind it at all! Really, you enjoyed it but you still didn't know if wally saw you as something more then just a neighbor. Which it slightly frustrated you not knowing if he reciprocate his feelings back. Perhaps maybe after the shadow puppets show you'll talk to wally privately to finally ask. 

You adjusted yourself in wallys grasp while the others crawled into the fort, while poppy slightly struggled she currled up behind wally. You looked over and patted your lap motioning for poppy to rest her head on your lap, which she gladly did. You hummed softly patting her head as the phppet shadow show began.

In the middle of the little show wally would sneak kisses in between. One kiss on your cheek, one kiss on the crook of your neck, one kiss at the back of your neck etc. You couldn't help but shiver with every kiss given. It distracted you from focusing on Sally's play that you flinched when she let out a loud "ROAR!!" Startling both you and poppy. Well that definitely woke you up. "And after the prince destroyed the dragon, he took his princess by the hand and rode happily into the sunlight. The end!" Sally finished with a bow.

Everyone clapped while julie hooted and hollered. "WHOOPIE! HOORAY!" she yelled furiously clapping. You let out a chuckle. "That was really good sally! I'm impressed you managed to learn shadow puppets so quickly." Sally proudly grinned. "Why thank you (y/n)! I bothered howdy for days as practice!" Howdy nodded his head letting out a chuckle. "I'll admit it gave me something to do during slow days. You've gotten really good the first time you showed me sal." howdy spoke before yawning.

Julie clasped her hands together, Startling frank who glared at her. "Alright I think its time for all of us to hit the hay!" The others nodded in agreement while yawning in synch. You let out a yawn as well and stretched your arms as wally finally let you go from his grip as you each crawled to your sleeping bags. "Julie why must you insist on sleeping next to me?" You heard frank complain as he settled in his blankets with julie snuggling up beside him. "Because frank! I like sleeping next to you!" Julie sleepily sung while rubbing her tired eyes. "But Julie do you not recall the other times we had a sleepover and you kept repeatedly hitting me in the face while you were sleeping?" Frank grumbled while julie let out a weak laugh. "I pinky promise I won't hit you at all! And if I do then next sleepover I'll sleep next to (y/n)" you snapped your head looking over at the two. "Hey- what!? But I don't want to be slapped in the face by Julie! She hits hard!" Frank smirked as he settled in his sleeping bag. "Trust me, I know." He ended with a snicker. You let out a groan laying your head down on your pillow waiting for the others to fall asleep.

A few hours had passed. You opened your eyes and peeked around the room seeing the others sleeping peacefully while frank was being squished to death by Eddie and julie. You smiled before looking over at wally. You reached out about to tap his shoulder when you paused. You began to grow nervous. You never had to talk about your feelings to anyone before other than poppy at times let alone wally. Would it be a good idea to talk to wally? What if he didn't feel the same way? What if he brutally rejected you? The fast racing of your heart got your nervous shooting up. You shot up out of your sleeping bag and quickly, yet quietly, ran out of the living room to the backyard.

You sat on the swing set outside. Lightly swinging back and forth. Shivering at the cool air that hit your skin. "Agh...what am I thinking? He's just being nice is all..." you looked up at the night sky. Staring at the stars that twinkled brightly. "Wally probably thinks I'm weird..." 

"I think you're very lovely (y/n)."

You flinched hearing the sound of wallys voice coming from behind you. You jumped off the swing stumbling as you turned around seeing wally standing a few feet behind you. His figure luminated by the moonlight. Drowned in a soft light glow.

'He looks so beautiful...' you thought to yourself.

"OH-UM...wally I thought you were sleeping hehe" you nervously laughed fidgeting with your fingers. "I couldn't really sleep. What's got you up at this time of night neighbor?" He asked walking forward standing much closer infront of you. Your face scrunched up as you looked down at the ground. "Well...I uh-...the same with me. I couldn't really sleep either" you lied while rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet. Wally tilted his head to the side. You could feel his eyes piercing right through your lie. "Hmmm is that right?" He asked resting his chin in the palm of his hand while his arm rested underneath. You slowly nodded your head, refusing to make any sort of eye contact with your crush. "You seemed rather tired during Sally's shadow puppet play. I saw you yawn many times."

You hitched your breath.

"You seemed to sleep peacefully a few hours ago before you woke up so suddenly. Are you sure it's because you couldn't sleep and its not something else?"

Your face flushed red as the embarrassment grew. He watched you sleep so he most certainly knew that not being able to sleep wasn't an excuse. You looked up finally feeling defeated when you gazed right into his eyes. You let out a sigh and shook your head. "No...it's not because I couldn't sleep." You turned around wrapping your arms around yourself. "What seems to be bothering you friend?" Wally asked. You cringed at the word 'friend'. "Well...I just...wally I-" you struggled to find the right words to say. Wally patiently waited for you to speak. You let out a shakey breath before you finally found the courage to confess.

"Well..you see..these past few days you've been...er...doing certian things that make my heart flutter. At first you only blew kisses, not just to me but to the others as well. Hehe I was rather impressed you learned how to do that without barnaby teaching you. But, later you've been giving just me all kinds of kiss. Fist it was in the hand and then it was on the cheek, my neck and- ARG" you slapped your hands over your face feeling more embarrassed than ever. "Wally... I'm just confused if you...see me as just your neighbor or as- something more. I can never understand what you do or say." You mumbled into your hands.

Wally walked up behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders and carefully turned you back around facing him. He reached up and slowly removed your hands from your face before cupping your softly. His eyes staring right into yours. "Silly (y/n). You're so sweet and kind," he begun, his thumb softly stroking your cheek. "I love all my friends the same but, you're much more different then they are." His smile widened when he saw your eyes light up. "I only begun to notice it a while after you moved to home. But I very much adore everything about you." Wally could feel your face heat up between his hands. "I don't think there's anything about you I could ever dislike. To me, you're the most wonderful person I've ever met." He finished as he went and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on your forehead.

A smiled painted its way onto your lips as you reached up and softly grasped his hands with yours. Your heart skipping a beat as you leaned into the kiss. All of your nerves suddenly disappeared. You pulled wally into a hug. His body going limp yet he didn't seem to mind it at all as you squeezed him tightly.

"I love you wally..."

.

.

.

"I love you more (y/n)."

While the two of you were outside having your moment the others had woken up and watched the entire thing go down behind a window. Julie happily stimming from excitement while slapping frank on the back. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!" Frank let out a grumbled grabbing julies hands and placing them down by her sides. "It was very much obvious that these two had a thing going on. However I think wally may have been a bit TOO obvious." The others nodded in agreement.

As you pulled away from the hug you glanced over and noticed the other peeping from the window. "HEY!" you yelled causing them to scrambled and fall. Poppys feathers flying in the air as she squawked. You shook your head and let out a chuckle. "We sure do have some crazy neighbors don't we?" You asked as the both of you began walking back inside. Wally nodded in agreement. "But I enjoy their company very much." He leans down to give you another sweet kiss on the cheek.

"But I enjoy your company most of all~."

||THE END||

[[OUAGH I hope I did a good job here. I tried to add as much fluff as possible so it ended up being pretty long. My apologies. But with this story finally out of the way ill be able to work on requests in about a week or so! Thank you all for the support! It means alot to me♡]]

[lavandaea]

Finished Sweet Home in one night because tradition demanded it (I did the same with the season one)

Here some thoughts:

•It kinda hit me how all the casualties in the first chapter, at least in that scene, they were caused not by the monster but by the army trying to kill it. Even if he hadn't killed or even hurt anyone. It protected a child and returned her to her mother. It is as if from the beginning they want to tell us "now this is the world we live in. Is this what we have become or what we always have been?"

•I whish Hyun Su could have had more screen time, I mean, he is the main character...his face appears at the middle of the poster...he is literally the bridge that unites monsters and humanity. But I also know they needed to show how things were with Eun Yoo and the others in the refuge. However we could have had glimpse of lab stuff, Wooi Myung/ Yi Kyungs husband past, and so.

•I am so invested on creating theories about Hyun Su's monster form psychology. Like it kinda looks like a wing, but why a wing? Why just one? What even was Hyun Su's deep wish? (I think it was that everyone disappeared) So, what does that have to do with his monster form?

Also. How can he fly with it? Huh. Not that I'm complaining tho, it looks cool.

•"What do you want" "What should we do?" *smirks mutherfuckingly*

I cannot. I just can't. His eyes. The tension.

The strangers to apocalypse friends to apocalypse lover-enemies it's apparently what I needed.

Evil Hyun Su had enough with the baby steps. I don't understand how they thought leaving us like...that was a good plan. Guess I will have to wait half a year to find out.

If these two (three¿) don't get more screen time in season 3 I'm really, really, throwing hands. They were so cute in season 1 and now we know he has been watching over her all this time??

Tell me that that's not cute as hell.

It kinda shattered my soul when after saving her from falling into the well she kept trying to get to him and he "drew a line" with his wing. And she was going to keep trying. I'm not fine. And for the record, I never was.

•The kid....is she annoying? Yes, she is. But what she has of annoying she also has of interesting. Like how is she possible? Why?

From what I know and remember Yi Kyung was pregnant. That's all. They better do some explaining there in s3.

•I can't help to find parallels between her and Yeong Su. They are both young and traumatized. They hold very little knowledge of the world and for them is more than enough. Angry with their moms and adults/humans and they will make it everyone's problem.

•Eun Hyuk appearing at the very end of the final chapter with smirking villain vibes has me on a chokehold.

Suddenly I remembered that I have to go through deep academic stress for mid-2024 to arrive.

Huh.

Until next time.

[skaruresonic]

You do realize IDW (presumably) gets looked over by an editor and is created by a team of freelancers, right? Therefore you can't hold it to the same standards as a fic someone created for free in their spare time? And yet, despite of all of that quality control, the book still reads like really bad fanfic?

When I say I made a visual novel, that is not a flex, it's a statement of fact. I sat down one day, downloaded RenPy, taught myself to code in RenPy, wrote an eight-hour story, and drew all the sprites. Without help. The experience provided a lot in the way of intrinsic motivation and gaining new skills. I learned how to organize and what NOT to do when making a visual novel by committing every possible mistake you could make when developing one.

And yet, despite all that effort, I limited my audience to a small circle of mutuals precisely because I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands. My biggest fear was to have someone go "aww look at The Hater's work, they think they know how Sonic works, how cute."

Moreover, I wanted to avoid comparing my work to IDW because I did not want comparison to overtake the focus of the work, to the point where bad-faith actors would feel compelled to put my work on blast out of a sense of vengeance... which shouldn't have been a worry to begin with. (And tbh there's a lot about the way that it's written that I would change.)

Point is, mocking something folks do for free is way more of a dick move than laughing at a bad commercial product intended to capitalize on another's IP and generate profit.

"But fics aren't VNs, but your friends have egos, but but but!" - I don't care. As a former fic writer, I know how ball-bustingly hard it is to write fic. You'd kind of have to have something of an ego just to post something online these days, especially given how fic and other fannish work has been reduced to mere "content."

In some ways, it's harder than creating something original; if something in my villain's psychology strays a little askew, I can yell "redo" and start over as if nothing happened. But if I write Eggman wrong, I'm going to piss off a slew of invested fans with very different ideas than me as to what constitutes a "good" Eggman portrayal.

[sugarpopss]

Better Uses for Company Time

ALRIGHT first installment of the 90's wall street chubby Aegon. I think I'm just going to do short snapshot style fics for this AU, but idk honestly we'll see. I KNOW that the next one is going to be blowing Aegon after he fills up on hors d'oeuvres at a charity event, that's already in the google doc babe.

tagging the babes I blabbed about this to @khaleesihel and who drew the LOVELY Aegon art that I stared at while writing @who-told-you-this-was-butter

Ummm Aegon is a sleazy trust fund baby, reader is fucken h o r n y, implied fem reader, slight mention of how hot I think Rhaenys is (I'm right)

You weren’t sure if Aegon actually worked at T&V Investments. 

He was certainly around a lot, grab-assing on secretaries and making tiny paper airplanes out of sticky notes and generally being a menace to productivity levels, but he didn’t seem to actually work. 

When you’d first been brought on as a receptionist, you’d been told to just ignore him. 

“He’s like furniture.” Rhaenys had said. You’d nodded, but hadn’t really internalized the information. You were a smidge busy dealing with the fact that you were being shown around  by the hottest hiring manager you’d ever met. 

But it turned out that Rhaenys had a point. Aegon had, in the time since your hiring, become something of a fixture of the building in your mind. His presence was as normal as the weird noises the fax machine made. 

This normalization did nothing to help that fact that you’d wanted desperately to ride him like a pony since your first day at the office. 

It really wasn’t your fault. Aegon was hot, in a pathetic, trust fund kind of way. Besides, you had a feeling he knew exactly how difficult it was to focus when he leaned over the reception desk, smelling of nicotine and too much cologne, and said something absolutely disgusting to you. 

Maybe that’s why you’d gotten the job in the first place; maybe he’d told the previous receptionist that he could ‘help her out of her pantyhose’ and she had straight up quit instead of entertaining Aegon's nonsense the way you did. 

Good for her. 

But you couldn’t quit. In addition to needing to pay the inflated rent of Kings Landing, you got to see Aegon in the office practically every day. It may have been distracting, when he got in your space, but it wasn’t unwelcome. You couldn’t imagine not taking the opportunity to get an eyeful of his pretty face-all soft, rounded angles and big violet eyes, just begging to be looked at, to be given attention. 

It was hard to not give him attention, sometimes. You thought you were decently subtle, at least. You didn’t outright ogle-Aegon may have been an HR disaster in waiting, but not you-just took a ‘prolonged glance’ every now and then. Very casual, very professional, and not at all indicative of how badly you wanted to fuck the guy who slapped your ass when you showed up for your interview. 

Alright, maybe you sometimes gave him a bit of attention. Maybe sometimes you made idle conversation out of his gross remarks, just so he’d keep leaning against the reception desk and you could keep stealing peeks at how the edge of the desk dug into his soft hip. 

You weren’t one to defend objectifying people, but it was completely Aegon’s fault for wearing such tight jeans all of the time. Paired with the soft looking sweaters that probably cost more than your utility bill, he just looked so good all of the time.

Maybe it was how you could make out just the faintest shadow of his collarbones when he moved, or how easily you could imagine smearing your lipstick over his blurry jawline, or just maybe it was how badly you wanted to get your hands up under that stupid angora sweater, onto where you were sure he was plush and warm and sensitive. 

All things you definitely did not spend company time thinking about, of course. 

[dereality-existence]

Got a good question for u :>

Since I find ur artstyle very nostalgic, and as an artist myself (i usually draw traditionally), i was wondering on how ur art journey was like (like how u found ur style, how much u enjoyed other ppl's art + ur art, etc), basically, how would u say ur art journey was like? (u can summarize it into a nutshell if u wanna XD)

The question is indeed interesting. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. Both of my parents used to draw, one of them actually graduated from art school. So, this is apparently invested in me, ahahaha. For me, drawing is almost like a "necessity". I can sit quietly, and at some point the "need" just arises to sCrIbbLe something, u know. This is just a "need" of mine; that's why I wouldn't entirely call myself an artist. But I would certainly call myself a varied creative person??? Like… There's a whole story about this topic, but it will be too long to write about it here. Therefore, while I was a toddler and then a kid, I redrew a lot. There were a lot of coloring books that I painted, or special magazines on drawing. I started trying to draw seriously at age ten when I got access to the Internet. I am a passionate Sonic fan, and we have a huge base of fan characters, which I naturally wanted to join back there. So I drew and came up with a lot of characters in Sonic style. Then I saw digital art of fan Sonic characters, and I wanted to do the same. I studied this topic, downloaded the necessary programs, and drew for the first time with a mouse, in addition to my traditional drawings. Then, I wanted a tablet, and my mother saw the point in buying it for me, so she bought it for me. At the beginning, I just drew Sonic fan characters of mine. Drawing people didn’t work out for me for a very long time, although I tried. I suffered for a long time because of this. Something started to work out only in my teenage years. It somehow came out on its own, and my style formed on its own. I won’t say that there was a certain inspiration from someone. Actually, I love other people’s drawings more than my own. In general, I have a very negative and contemptuous attitude towards myself, so to speak. I still struggle with this; it’s hard to draw something when you always don’t like what you get, hate yourself, and envy others. I really can’t adequately say whether my drawings are normal or not; I see everything in a bad light. I'm in some unhealthy love-hate relationship with myself and my stuff lol. Consider me to love anime style, anime style of visual novels (so in love with cg art of visual novels⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝), and some cartoons. By the way, Hazbin style is very convenient for my hand as it is close to my original style. Especially Charlie’s nose; this is how I usually draw all noses in general, so it's really comfortable.

[fluentmoviequoter]

I just read "Lay Here With Me" and I loved it😍😍

But I had a request idea right now in my art class I'm really struggling(I'm not very good at drawing) so what if you could write something like a x fem reader were were struggling so he tries to help us?( if you need a art project for the reader to struggle on the project I'm doing is I have to do a self-portrait and a comic about edger Allen poes "tell tale heart")

Warnings: fluff, overworking/stress, I used the art project from anon's request. 1.0k+ words.

A/N: Thank you; I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm sure you are better at drawing than you think and the finished projects will be amazing!!! I hope this is what you wanted; let me know what you think and best of luck in your art class (PS feel free to send me another ask and let me know how it goes, I'm invested in your success now)!🤍

A Masterpiece

The blank page on your desk is mocking you. So are the freshly sharpened pencils and organized materials lining your desk. It's been far too long since you looked away from the paper; your eyes burn, and the sketchpad is now all you can see.

Your art class is informative but sometimes overwhelming, like right now. With two assignments due and a lack of inspiration and confidence in your ability, staring at the blank page has become your only option. The rejects in your trash bin are forgotten as ideas float in and out of your mind, each seeming worse than the last.

‣‣‣‣‣

Dalton saw the assignment sheets on your desk last week. Now that you aren't answering his texts, he determines that you're either up to your waist in charcoal finishing them, or struggling. Dalton just turned in a big assignment, so he has free time that he was hoping to spend with you. Looking at his unanswered texts, he vows to see you today, even if he only sits in your room and watches you draw.

‣‣‣‣‣

Someone says your name before the door opens. You don't turn around, focusing on the shape of what will eventually be your self-portrait.

"Hey," Dalton says, kneeling beside you and rubbing his hand on your back.

You hum a greeting, reaching for your eraser. Dalton's hand wraps around your wrist, stopping your movement as he crouches in front of you.

"Hi, sweetheart," Dalton greets again, brushing loose hair away from your face. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"I can't do it," you lament, eyes dropping to your lap.

Dalton stays quiet, giving you a minute as he looks at your paper.

"Why do you want the eraser?" Dalton asks, his thumb rubbing circles on your wrist.

"The shape is wrong." You point to the paper.

"Close your eyes."

You furrow your brows, but Dalton shakes his head.

"Trust me. Close your eyes."

You comply, closing your eyes as you unconsciously lean closer to Dalton. His hands move to your waist as he sinks to his knees before you.

"Self-portrait, right?" You nod, and Dalton gently squeezes your waist as he continues, "Imagine what the picture would look like."

"But, I don't-"

"If I drew it. What do my drawings of you look like?" Dalton interrupts.

"Got it? Okay. Now, what would you change to convey all of the things I can't see? I can draw the outside all day, but only you can draw an accurate representation of what's really inside that beautiful mind."

You open your eyes and blink several times before you focus on Dalton.

"But you see a version of me that I've never known," you point out quietly.

"Then draw the version that you do know. And every time you draw, you meet a new version."

You wrap your arms around Dalton's shoulders and slide out of your chair, joining him on the floor as you hug him tightly.

"And guess what? Eventually you'll meet the version that I see, and the beauty is blinding."

You push your face into the crook of his neck, smiling widely at his overly cheesy declaration.

"It's a two-part assignment, right?" Dalton asks, rubbing your back again.

"Yeah. I can't draw, Dalton, so why do I even try?"

"You can draw. You're in an art class, I've seen them, not to mention you're still trying. Even if it takes a while, a masterpiece is still a masterpiece."

"But I don't make masterpieces."

"Most artists only have one or two and you have time. Maybe it's the next drawing, maybe it's ten years down the road. There's also a possibility that you are the masterpiece, not its creator."

"Stop saying things like that."

"Or what?"

"I'm going to kick you out to overthink in peace," you threaten playfully, leaning back to look into Dalton's eyes.

"What's the other part?"

"A comic for Tell-Tale Heart."

"Hmm. That one's harder to role play for ideas," Dalton muses.

"Well, if I'd been watching you sleep for the past week," you begin, "and decided to kill you."

"That would never happen," Dalton interjects, standing up. He helps you to your feet and sits down on your bed, pulling you with him. "I don't sleep."

You laugh and lean against him, looking up at your ceiling. "I just don't want to make a scene-by-scene storyboard, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it. What was your favorite part of the story? Can you even have one?"

You shrug and then tell him the part that stood out to you the most.

"Then lean into that piece, show its significance," Dalton explains.

"You know what would be way easier than drawing for the rest of the night?" you ask, turning so you're face-to-face with Dalton.

Dalton's arms wrap around you as he leans back, smiling at you above him.

"What's that?" he asks.

"Laying here with you and forgetting about it for a little while," you answer before kissing his nose.

"That sounds like an excellent plan. And when you're ready to try again I can help, okay?"

"Want to draw it for me?" you ask excitedly.

"I said help. I'm your best friend, not the nerd you can pay off to do your homework," Dalton argues, playfully rolling his eyes.

"Oh, we're back to best friends now?"

Dalton smiles and shakes his head, gently grabbing your face as he pulls you down into a kiss. His heart beats under your hand, and you have an idea for your comic, but ignore it for now as you push your fingers into Dalton's hair and continue kissing him.

‣‣‣‣‣

Putting the finishing touches on your projects, you're tuning out the world and remembering everything Dalton told you last night. You don't hear your door open or close or the footsteps approaching behind you.

"Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump," someone imitates heartbeats into your ear.

You drop your pencil and spin around quickly, your hand over your heart.

"Dalton!" you simultaneously greet and admonish.

"They look amazing," he announces, his hands on your shoulders as he looks at the finished projects.

"You can't scare me like that then compliment me."

"I just did. C'mon, let's celebrate. We can do anything you want to do."

"The idea of watching you sleep doesn't sound too bad now," you mumble, pretending to be mad.

Dalton smiles and gets on one knee, holding your hands and dramatically proclaiming, "Don't! My heart can't take it; you may as well bury it in the floorboards!"

[ryuichirou]

Replies

And an update on Ko-fi situation: our page got republished and is once again available! Thank fuck Jesus yikes.

Alright, replies replies! Some related to our drawings, some related to our hcs about Lilia and the Tweels …

Anonymous asked:

Finny is such a cute puppy 😭❤️

He really is <3 He needs more appreciation, I think, he’s a good pup.

Anonymous asked:

I'm gonna be a huge perv and feel free to ignore this. But when Ciel said come....I thought there would be something else in his hands instead 🫣

After all good puppies come when told!

Also I'm not super familiar with how you see SebCiel but I also thought of another place where he could 'come' 😔

I KNEW IT I knew someone would comment on that! Thank you, Anon lol There are several ways to interpret this command, so Ciel really should have known better!

We ship these two! So who knows, maybe if Finny wasn’t present……… 🤔

 (also to address your other ask: no worries whatsoever! <3 )

irregardlessly-tish asked:

What was the first twisted ship that caught your attention and which one would you say is your most recent ship in the fandom? 👀

Oh good question!

Our first twst ship is Azul/Idia. These two were pretty much the reason we fell into this fandom in the first place. Our very first twst posts here are fanart of these two, and we weren’t even sure we’d be getting this invested in twst back then. We kind of thought we’d just post a couple of things and move on 😭 Who knew.

Our most recent ship… has to be Crewel/Deuce, right? It’s hard to tell because this is one of the ships we’ve been talking about here and there, but it’s been just about a month since we’ve posted them for the first time.

Anonymous asked:

A little critique for fem!Lilia, I think there’s not really much physical differences between fem!Lilia and original Lilia, so as a way to avoid confusion, maybe you could try giving fem!Lilia a different hairstyle like short pigtails, cause I always imagine fem!Lilia having them, or maybe a low tied bun similar to the three good fairies from sleeping beauty. Don’t get me wrong, I love your fem twst art, but it’s just a bit tricky to tell fem!Lilia and male!Lilia apart.

But that was the entire point, Anon. Even before posting the sketches of the girls I’ve said a couple of times: I really like the idea of fem!Lilia looking pretty much the same as the original Lilia. It’s supposed to be confusing – that’s the comedy and the interesting part of it, at least to me. I love that it’s tricky to tell them apart, just like with Idia, whose baggy clothes hide her entire body.

Who knows, maybe she used to have a low tied bun when she was living in a forest with Silver. But maybe she didn’t 🤷 I feel like Lilia’s hair isn’t a commitment – she does whatever she feels like doing, just like the original Lilia. And I just happen to love it when her hair is identical to male!Lilia.

Funny enough, I think I drew the original Lilia with pigtails a couple of times lol

m1lk-n-cook1es asked:

Any Lilia/Epel headcanons?

Sorry, Anon; while we don’t mind them as a ship, we are not into them enough to have a proper hc list :( 

Anonymous asked:

So, i was wondering what would happen if someone were to break the hearts of Floyd and Jade. Like, imagine the Tweels (either together or separated) genuinely falling in love with someone, only for that certain someone to break their hearts.

Why am i mentioning this? Easy, i would love to see how "Dark" and "messed up" the situation would go if that were to happen, like what would happen to that poor fool who broke their hearts?

Remember that one infamous line jade delivered  in chapter 4? "If i were to be betrayed by someone the way you were. I'd lash out with torrent of unmitigated verbal abuse to break them down mentally, then bind them and drag them beneath the waves." I would LOVE to see that, honestly.

Anon! Sorry for the late reply.

That Jade quote still lives in our heads as a reminder that we should definitely do something about it, because this is such a juicy piece of Jade’s personality, but we never get to using it to its full potential. One day we will..! Still, we think about it pretty often. It’s a pretty good indicator of just how much Jade (and presumably Floyd as well) would hate the feeling of betrayal. We always talk about Azul being the most yandere-coded because of how petty he is and how unforgiving he is, but Jade and Floyd probably aren’t much better. Their only advantage is that they don’t get as attached as Azul does (and he isn’t someone who gets easily attached either, so that’s saying something). Which in a way makes the betrayal scenario even worse for these two: if they end up actually getting attached to someone and that person backstabs them, well it’s over for that poor fool indeed lol

It could happen to one of them or to either of them, and honestly a lot of it depends on who betrayed them. How close they were, what kind of relationship they had… But in general, I feel like Jade didn’t lie when he said about dragging someone beneath the waves. I think these two might actually drown a person, then force the guy to drink a potion that allows him to breather underwater, tie him to a pole in an abandoned ship and leave him there in the cold darkness of the ocean, unable to die or move. And then they would come back from time to time to torment this person, maybe torture him, maybe just bully him a bit, maybe rape him. But always, always come back just in time before the potion’s effect wears off to force him to drink more of it. And then, after a couple of months of this life of nothing but loneliness, terrifying underwater ghost haunting and eel torment, they would suddenly stop appearing, as if they got bored and got over it. Just so that person doesn’t get too used to relying on them bringing the potion to keep him alive and all.

I can see this type of scenario for either Idia or Riddle, but it would be a bit different for both of them, I think. And of course, this is just one of millions of other options…

[fuckmeyer]

Hi!

I want in in the DVD commentary thingy! If you have the time, please comment on this one from In The Afterlight, please! (I'm also on my phone, so I'm not sure how many words are here, sorry 😬)

""Would you like a ride to Seattle?”

"Huh?"

"Next Saturday. Do you want a ride to Seattle?"

"What? With who?”

“Me. Obviously.”

“Why?”

Edward sucked in a breath. "Well, I couldn’t go to La Push. And I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks. And frankly, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."

This again? What is it with everyone dissing my truck? “The Thing works just fine, thank you very much."

"But can it make it there on one tank of gas?"

"I don't see how that’s any of your business."

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."

"Wow. Edward." The audacity. My veins crackled with electricity as his name left my lips. "You’re giving me whiplash. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."

"I said I can’t be friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Thanks. Cleared that one up.” The alarm silenced. For a moment we observed the flood of students scattering back into the buildings.

“Will you go? With me?”

I sighed, squeezing the coat closer to my chest. It smelled so good...

I shrugged out of it. “Honestly, I don’t think so. No.” The word fell between us like an iron curtain. Stunned, Edward accepted his coat without looking at me. We descended back down the sidewalk towards the school. “One minute it seems like you hate me—”

“I don’t hate you—”

“—and the next minute you’re like this suave—” sexy “—gentleman. Personally, I would like to be friends.” He gave me a look. "Well. I don't want to not like you, anyway." We rounded the corner of the building in silence. “Y’know, I even listened to your Girls! Girls! Girls! picks.”

His eyes lit up; the rejection washed away. “Really?”

My eyes fell to the ground as I nodded to keep him from seeing the blush on my cheeks. “That riff in ‘We’ll Be Together’ is awesome. ‘Song of the Shrimp�� made me laugh. And ‘Where Do You Come From’ is...really cute, actually.” We stopped at the metal roof covering the path to class. "They were good tracks. Doesn't change my mind about the album, but..."

“Come to Seattle with me,” he breathed, wrapping his hands around one of the metal supports, stopping close in front of me. “Please.”

His spicy breath drew me deeper into his gravitational pull. I had to shake my head to clear fuzzies from my brain.

“See, that’s the thing,” I said. “I think we have a lot in common and everything—” he smirked “—but you aren’t honest. I know something's up. And if you can’t talk to me... how can I trust you to drive me to Seattle in one piece?” All the while, he stared blankly. I think, if he was more of an open book, I’d see his face fall. Instead, I watched his eyes go dead and dull. “Your whole ‘I wanna be friends’ thing is moot if you don’t have the decency to tell me why you treat me this way.”

“I...appreciate your honesty. I wish there was some way to reconcile my feelings on the matter.” His lips twisted. "Unfortunately, I...can't."

Can't? Or won't?

“No one can force you to do or not do anything," I said, my voice stern. “You're in charge of your actions. You’re choosing to not be my friend. Which is fine. But since that's the case, my answer is no. I’m sorry. The answer’s no.”

Unlike previous moves with Renée, this time I wouldn’t be sucked into the orbit of friends who didn’t actually want me around. This time, I would invest in people who wanted me.

I exhaled the rest of the poison from my lungs. They filled again with the heavy, cold air.

"No," he said softly, "I'm sorry."

“Rejection is unfortunate for everyone,” I echoed.""

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

*Quick additional (sincere) question: Why send anonymous asks? Is it to avoid the answerer eventual bias? or to protect ourselves of possible public shaming lol?

hi, welcome to the party!

IN THE AFTERLIGHT CHAPTER 5: SCARY STORIES - DVD COMMENTARY

""Would you like a ride to Seattle?” [this is the best Edward can do when asking a young lady out on a date. little hermit loser!!!]

"Huh?"

"Next Saturday. Do you want a ride to Seattle?"

"What? With who?”

“Me. Obviously.”

“Why?”

Edward sucked in a breath. "Well, I couldn’t go to La Push. And I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks. [liar] And frankly, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."

This again? What is it with everyone dissing my truck? “The Thing works just fine, thank you very much."

"But can it make it there on one tank of gas?"

"I don't see how that’s any of your business."

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business." [i HAD to include this line. imagine a BILLIONAIRE saying that shit to do. boy, if you're so concerned with the "wasting of finite resources," maybe don't have a private jet? or a car?? maybe kill cows instead, THE LEADING CAUSE OF METHANE GAS EMISSIONS???? FUCK OFF INTO THE SUN!!!!]

"Wow. Edward." The audacity. My veins crackled with electricity as his name left my lips. "You’re giving me whiplash. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."

"I said I can’t be friends, not that I didn't want to be." [one of my biggest regrets writing ITA is sticking too much to canon, both in terms of specific lines and general plot outline. if i was rewriting this, i would have veered off from canon within the first two chapters.]

"Thanks. Cleared that one up.” The alarm silenced. For a moment we observed the flood of students scattering back into the buildings.

“Will you go? With me?”

I sighed, squeezing the coat closer to my chest. It smelled so good...

[so, i get that canon!Bella making irrational choices when it comes to Edward is a product of both the "dazzling" spell she's under *and* her love for him. but also, if you're going to set her up as a shield *and* set her up as this responsible 30-year-old, then i think it's really important for her to have moments like these where she's able to resist his charms and protect herself. to me, her resisting him in this moment is partially due to the shield she develops later on.]

I shrugged out of it. “Honestly, I don’t think so. No.” The word fell between us like an iron curtain. Stunned, Edward accepted his coat without looking at me. [ok but this poor guy has NEVER asked anyone out and has been surrounded by humans who would never dare reject him LMAO he is SHOOK--] We descended back down the sidewalk towards the school. “One minute it seems like you hate me—”

“I don’t hate you—”

“—and the next minute you’re like this suave—” sexy “—gentleman. Personally, I would like to be friends.” He gave me a look. "Well. I don't want to not like you, anyway." [it's weird looking back and seeing how well they know each other (yet how distant they are!)] We rounded the corner of the building in silence. “Y’know, I even listened to your Girls! Girls! Girls! picks.” [i don't like this album at all. i REALLY wanted to reference Elvis Presley's "Crawfish" until i found out it was a song from the movie he starred in. the movie was not good.]

[also, here's a playlist of every song rec in In the Afterlight]

His eyes lit up; the rejection washed away. “Really?”

My eyes fell to the ground as I nodded to keep him from seeing the blush on my cheeks. “That riff in ‘We’ll Be Together’ is awesome. ‘Song of the Shrimp’ made me laugh. And ‘Where Do You Come From’ is...really cute, actually.” [i don't agree with any of this.] We stopped at the metal roof covering the path to class. "They were good tracks. [NO THEY ARE NOT] Doesn't change my mind about the album, but..."

“Come to Seattle with me,” he breathed, wrapping his hands around one of the metal supports, stopping close in front of me. “Please.”

His spicy breath drew me deeper into his gravitational pull. I had to shake my head to clear fuzzies from my brain.

“See, that’s the thing,” I said. “I think we have a lot in common and everything—” he smirked [he's thinking, "You have no idea how little we have in common." idiot] “—but you aren’t honest. I know something's up. And if you can’t talk to me... how can I trust you to drive me to Seattle in one piece?” All the while, he stared blankly. I think, if he was more of an open book, I’d see his face fall. Instead, I watched his eyes go dead and dull. “Your whole ‘I wanna be friends’ thing is moot if you don’t have the decency to tell me why you treat me this way.” [i really really wanted this Bella to not accept bad behavior from her boyfriend EVER. the main point of writing this fic was to create a healthy relationship between them and see if it could actually work. lo!]

“I...appreciate your honesty. I wish there was some way to reconcile my feelings on the matter.” His lips twisted. "Unfortunately, I...can't."

Can't? Or won't?

“No one can force you to do or not do anything," I said, my voice stern. “You're in charge of your actions. You’re choosing to not be my friend. Which is fine. But since that's the case, my answer is no. I’m sorry. The answer’s no.”

Unlike previous moves with Renée, this time I wouldn’t be sucked into the orbit of friends who didn’t actually want me around. This time, I would invest in people who wanted me.

I exhaled the rest of the poison from my lungs. They filled again with the heavy, cold air.

"No," he said softly, "I'm sorry."

“Rejection is unfortunate for everyone,” I echoed.""

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

*Quick additional (sincere) question: Why send anonymous asks? Is it to avoid the answerer eventual bias? [will i be biased? probably! but not in a negative way] or to protect ourselves of possible public shaming lol? [would never ever shame you for any ask. takes a lot of courage to reach out to an internet stranger!!!]

send me 500 words of my fanfic & i will give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet

[hugmekenobi]

Ch13 Snippet

I am terribly sorry for how far behind I have gotten, but here's a lil something cause I'm back to being to work on it more now! Some very light smut included below the cut!

Phee raised her hands before she half-turned to Shep. “Lead the way, Shep. I’ll catch up.”

You all made to follow Shep, but you couldn’t help but notice Tech linger to look back at Phee and it warmed your heart. You just wished he would clue into the part of his brilliant brain that would realise he and Phee had potential.

“Leave them alone.” Hunter whispered as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder to turn your gaze away and focus on walking behind Shep.

How are you not more invested in this?

“It’s not that I’m not invested but I know my brother, and this is something he needs to take at a very slow pace.”

“You’re so good.” You knew he was right. You focused instead on taking in your new surroundings.

--

The more you got to see of Pabu as you walked, the more you loved it. Everything was so pretty and letting Omega run ahead with Lyana felt completely safe, there wasn’t a threat to be found. It felt natural to be here.

“Upper Pabu is the oldest part of the island.” Shep informed you all as you paused to take in the magnificent view of the island and its crystal-clear blue waters. “As we’ve grown over the years, we’ve expanded the wall into Lower Pabu.”

You leaned over the wall to take it all in.

“Hi, Shep!”

“Hi, Mr Eenta. How are Sari and Micha?” Shep replied warmly to the old man that had approached them.

Mr Eenta let out a cheery high-pitched laugh. “They’re doing good. Thanks for asking, Shep. I see we got some newcomers here too. Although we haven’t had some quite as lovely as you join our community in a long time.” He added with a kind smile in your direction.

You smiled in thanks at the man and elbowed Hunter playfully. “Gotta up your game, I might just run off with him.”

“Ha ha.” Hunter replied drily as he drew you into his side and pressed a soft kiss to your hairline.

Mr Eenta laughed at your words. “I best be off but welcome to the island! Feel free to stop by anytime!”

“Nice to see you!” Shep waved him goodbye.

“Uh, do you know everyone here?” Wrecker asked Shep.

“Of course. We’re all like family. Now, if you’ll continue to follow me, I can show you were you and (Y/N) will be staying.” Shep said to Hunter. “I have a place for the rest of you too and Omega can go to either house, but I gather it would be best to show that to you after dinner?”

“Staying?” Hunter repeated.

Shep paused for a moment. “Well, I imagine you two’ll want some privacy before dinner tonight. There’s plenty of time. Unless I’ve read things wrong, or you want to stay as a group-”

“You have read things correctly.” Tech said without looking up from his datapad.

“Tech-” Hunter started.

“Yes, please, take them somewhere far away from us.” Wrecker said in an exaggerated manner.

You punched his arm.

Shep paid little attention to the teasing insinuations. He remembered what it was like to be young and in love. “We’ll pass my home on the way anyway so you can see Omega get settled and join us in an hour or so?”

You and Hunter glanced at one another before Hunter nodded his agreement and you both walked beside Shep trying not to look too eager or walk too quickly.

--

You didn’t remember much about the place you were staying. All that really registered with you was the discarded pieces of armour and weapons by the door and the short route from the doorway to the bedroom. From what you did recall; it was very cosy and homey, but right now your focus was on the fact you were sat across Hunter’s lap at the edge of the bed. Your kisses were slow and deep, there was no residing worry of being interrupted or needing to be rushed and the two of you were perfectly content with not rushing things, both too intoxicated by the feeling of your lips on each other’s skin and the noises leaving your mouths.

“I want to call this in.” You panted against his lips as your fingers traced the red scarf.

Hunter groaned as he felt you grind against him. “But I-”

“I want to call this in.” You repeated seductively as you lifted it over his head and pulled back to look into his eyes. “Please.” You murmured as you pressed delicate kisses along his jaw.

[thirst2]

It's been said, before, and I think anyone remotely familiar with open-source has experienced or heard it but I'm still always taken aback by how much technological infrastructure was built to be general-purpose and malleable by the common user and how much corporations obfuscated and erased this.

Even in the tagging system for .mp3 files – ID3, an open standard –, I'm finding all kinds of functionality they accounted for that makes a lot of sense for a music file to specify (like lyrics synch.ed to timestamps and being able to specify events in the song like the outro or intro or the refrain or an interlude).

And I was just completely unaware of them because no music player on Windows ever offered them (alright; I mostly used iTunes, at the time, but the point stands).

iTunes saves any ratings you apply to songs in its own database; I never used the system in part because I've never found a need but, primarily, because I didn't want to invest a bunch of time and effort into something I'd lose the second I switched music players.

Oh; but did you know ID3 (v2) has a rating tag? One that iTunes could have used and then I'd take my ratings wherever I take my files with me?

Not only that but rating for a song are marked by an E-mail of the person rating; I expect it was largely to provide a unique identifier of some sort (and very 90s/00s to assume an E-mail is one's primary form of unique ID) but that means that songs can be rated by multiple people.

When your friends give you a copy of their favorite songs on a USB drive, those songs would've had their ratings.

Like a lot of tech. (especially early) architecture, this part fails to account for the presence of bad actors and spam but it also means you could reach out to those who rated the song, before you; their E-mail's right there.

Back when we traded AOL handles and the notion of communicating with those you knew but weren't nearby was exciting and new, we could have reached out to the friend of a friend of a friend at school who'd rated the song before handing it off until it reached us.

Even – now –, accounting for not wanting to attach your E-mail to a file that you'd, then, have to worry about getting into hands which might abuse that personal info. about you, being able for multiple people to tag a song is cool.

If I setup a Raspberry Pi at home and setup the Music Player Daemon on it for Jude and I to both put our songs on to listen to, etc., we could both tag the songs with our ratings and see what the other thought of the music we were sharing.

Like…this is some cool functionality ideas; this is some nice architecture. You just need the players to implement the functionality.

But they didn't; iTunes setup their own rating system (whether to tie people to their music player or not, I have no idea) and I never bothered to use what could be a sort of communal feature.

When I get excited about tech., these are the things that initially drew me to it – the ability to not only make my life, as a spoonie, easier but the ability to make all kinds of stuff we do everyday easier and with more people and to connect us all even more.

From the ability to making things more accessible without having to rely on others as much for it to…I dunno; the possibilities are endless.

Instead, the sheer joy so many of my generation had at creating their personal web pages by playing around with HTML and CSS became harder to construct because these businesses didn't care to make these experiences accessible because they didn't make them money.

I will never not be angry about that.

In any case, I'm at the point where anything further I might say is something I've already said before here on the subject; but I'm going to have these other tags be more accessible in my player. There's some really neat functionality in there that someone might want to utilize if presented in a more user-friendly manner (the original job of the music player implementations, to begin with…).

[pacificwaternymph]

"I know you're there, Scott." Delilah shut her book and glared at the corner, where the dark purple, wavy aura of perpetual misery that seemed to be the necromancer's default hung around seemingly nothing.

She didn't get a response, predictably, and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I may not be able to see you, but I can sense your emotions. You're not nearly as subtle as you think you are."

That drew a reaction. Scott groaned, and a second later appeared from a cloud of smoke, perfectly visible once more. Delilah laughed, standing up and brushing imaginary dust off of her pants.

"If you were hoping to eavesdrop on my next appointment, I'm afraid you'll have to try harder than that," She said, grinning. Scott just pouted in response, crossing his arms petulantly.

"I wasn't trying to spy on you..." he muttered, not that Delilah believed him for a moment. She had put up wards all around her property to alert her when someone entered her house for a reason.

"Right..." Delilah didnt say anything else and waited, one moment, two.

"But... just out of.... pure curiosity, who is your next appointment?"

Delilah rolled her eyes, and considered him for a moment. It seemed unwise to tell him, but at the same time, she'd already caught him once. He was unlikely to try to pull the same stunt twice in a day, especially when she'd just proven several of his usual methods useless.

"You're out of luck. They don't come for another hour, I'm just catching up on notes." She scooped her spellbook off of the chair and held it up for emphasis. "And it's Joey."

Actually, it was no one at all. Delilah didn't have any appointments scheduled on Sundays. She'd promised herself one day a week away from the drama and the high tensions that constantly cut through the battlegrounds of the supreme witch tournament. But Scott didn't know that, and Joey's name was the most likely to draw a reaction.

If he was already here, Delilah reasoned, she might as well try to make a little progress. She could hear a voice that sounded suspiciously like Pyrite berating her for working on her day off, but what could she say? She was invested in these particular clients.

Sure enough, Scott's lip curled up in a sneer at the mention of the only other male contestant.

"Oh. Him," he growled, looking much more displeased than he had a moment earlier.

"What's that look for?" Delilah asked, despite knowing exactly what it was for. "I thought the two of you had struck a truce."

"We did," Scott looked away, still scowling. "But that doesn't mean I have to like him."

Delilah shrugged. "Fair enough." She gestured towards the couch, an invitation for Scott to sit down which he ignored. After a moment of watching him, Delilah just snorted and plopped herself back down in her armchair. "You know it really is a shame the two of you don't get along better."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, immediately defensive. Delilah just gave him her most innocent look.

"I only mean that you two have a lot more in common than you might think." Not that either of them were willing to admit it. Delilah felt a spike of repulsion at even the idea that the two of them could share anything radiate from her client. The aura around Scott's head became sharper, choppier.

Delilah countered it, projecting as much tranquility as she could to gently smooth it back down. Her eyes started heating up.

Scott sniffed, clearly sensing what she was doing but saying nothing. "How so?"

Oh, where to start. She could go into detail about how Scott and Joey both seemed to really resonate with her own story. Joey had told her many times how he was kicked out of his own home for having fire magic, usually as a segway as to why he was determined to become Supreme Witch.

Scott had never explicitly said anything about mistreatment at the hands of other witches, but Delilah wasn't blind. She knew of the taboo around necromancy. He didn't have to say anything for her to know that he wasn't used to receiving a warm welcome for his magic.

But she couldn't get into that without revealing details about Joey's life that weren't hers to share. So instead, she thought for a moment about what else she could say.

"You're both stuck in the past," she finally settled on. "So... determined to win back what you once had that you completely miss what's right in front of you."

Was it a little blunt? Yes. But it was true. Joey was so certain that becoming supreme witch would earn him the love of his family and the other ice witches. Delilah wasn't so sure, but he was dead set on it. And Scott...

She could feel as the openness created by her influence over him slammed shut. His face scrunched up, and his shoulders hunched.

"We're nothing alike," he hissed. "Joey is arrogant and conceited. Whatever he's trying to get back could never compare to what I've lost."

"I know you miss him," Delilah said, her voice softer now. "There is nothing wrong with grieving the loss of someone close to you. But what you are doing is not grieving. You have not allowed yourself to move past the first stage, and as such have not had the proper time to process your feelings and learn to let go. There are many things in your life that could bring you joy if you would let them. But the past is long gone, and clinging to it won't do any good."

It was a speech she'd given many times to many people over the years. She'd given a similar one to Joey just a few days prior. But for Scott... for someone with his abilities, the promise of being able to bring him back made him especially unable to move on. It worried Delilah.

"And I know, I know. Easier said than done. But that's why I'm here, remember? I want to help you, Scott. Are you going to let me?"

Scott didn't immediately blow up in her face, which was already a good sign of the progress they'd made. But she still felt his resistance, his unwilling give up his pursuit.

"I should go," he said eventually, instead of answering. "I've bothered you long enough. Sorry for trying to... ya know, eavesdrop."

"Yes, please don't do that again," Delilah shook her head and stood up, walking over to the door. "And next time, if you need to talk to me and can't wait for our next session, I would appreciate a heads up. We'll work something out."

Scott followed her awkwardly. "Right... sorry." Delilah saw the sickly gray-blue of guilt start to bleed out from the center of his aura. She relented and sighed.

"I forgive you. Just... keep those things in mind, okay?" She opened the door. Scott nodded silently and trudged out, feeling far more melancholy than he had when he came in.

Delilah watched him go. As he reached her front gate, she huffed, her eyes flashing, and a slight pink surrounded him. Nothing serious, just a slight boost to lift his spirits. It would dissipate shortly, but it would at least give him some time to recover from what turned out to be a much heavier conversation than she thought it would be.

Delilah closed the door, and went back for her spellbook, already calling her wand to her so that she could write log the day's events.

@amostfoolishgold

[sorrel-haven]

Find Another Way

Ghost has been hard at work finding a temporary solution that didn't involve causing Tofu more harm. Naria comes to check on her.

Collab with @ro-valerius

This one is very long I'm so sorry. (not actually sorry)

Ghost sat in her research chambers on the floor against a bookshelf. She had tomes and papers scattered around her. Ghost’s personal grimoire sat in her lap as she scratched out the latest runes she tried working into her latest draft. The torn out pages scattered around her spoke to how well it was going. She sighed and leaned her head back against the shelf as she tore out the page and tossed it aside. 

Ghost couldn’t get the events from her last visit to the Flower house out of her head. She really messed up, her own stubbornness was the true cause of that mess. While she didn’t understand the pushback, she shouldn’t have pushed the issue. Definitely not her most shining moment. She just hoped she could make up for it. She was starting to really like getting to know all the flowers… 

Naria adjusted her grip on the umbrella in her hands as she walked towards the Thaumaturge’s Guild. She didn’t know what had happened between Ghost and Fiora, but the fact remained that Fiora had almost gone full voidsent on the Curse Breaker. It fell on Naria to make amends, seeing as how she had brought the miqo’te to the house to begin with, brought her into the whole curse ordeal with Tofu.

The other members of the guild had come to know Naria by now, gesturing to where Ghost’s research chambers were without much fuss. Naria approached the door and drew in a deep breath. Steeling herself, she reached up and knocked.

Ghost jumped at the sound of the knock. She stood and left behind the grimoire on the floor as she crossed the room to answer the door. She cracked it open to see who was there.

“Oh! Uh… hi Naria. Wha- what brings you here?” she asked sheepishly.

“I brought your umbrella,” Naria said, holding said umbrella up with a sheepish smile. “And… Well, I should apologize for my sister. May I come in?”

“O-oh, ah, yes… Please come in-” She looked around the room as she began to open the door wide enough for Naria. “P-please excuse the mess.”

This time the mess was an actual mess. Naria looked around as she entered, her face not revealing the concern she felt for the state of the place. It was starting to look like Fiora’s room in there…

“I see that the little…spat didn’t deter you much,” she said, trying to sound light-hearted to mask the worry that had formed. She placed the umbrella down carefully on a table as she turned her attention back to Ghost.

Ghost laughed dryly. “I… need to find a better solution,” she said as she crouched down to pick up some stray papers from the floor.

“Well, I don’t know exactly what went down, but…I appreciate that you’re helping. It’s not any of your responsibility, and yet…” Naria said, her voice trailing off as she offered another smile to Ghost.

“But it is… I may not have been originally tasked with breaking his curse specifically, but I was given this research by the guild. I now have… Personal investment sure, but it’s still my job to find the break in this curse.” Ghost was trying to sound objective. Trying. Failing.

Naria let out a soft sigh through her nose. She glanced over the pages of sigils and writing, noting a frantic nature to the more recent notes. 

“Just…don’t overstress yourself, alright? Fiora’s doin’ enough of that on her own- I mean. Fiora’s got that covered,” she said, correcting the light slip into the accent she had begun to pick up from Tio.

Ghost picked up a paper and stared at it. She already had failed Naria’s request - she very much had been stressing about it. She almost didn’t notice the tears welling up in her eyes before one fell onto the paper in her hand. Ghost dropped the papers she had gathered and covered her face with both of her hands.

“I messed everything up!” she said, muffled by her hands. “I should have stopped, but I didn’t and I really upset her…”

Naria closed the distance between them and put her arms around Ghost gently, though she was mindful of the fallen papers. Ghost froze up at the touch, a small gasp escaped her as her breath caught in her throat.

“Hey, stop that… Our…family has a very notorious stubborn streak. It can be hard to get through to most of us from time to time. And when it comes to Tofu, Fiora is the most stubborn of all,” Naria said, patting the miqo’te on the back softly. 

“She spent…what was it, twenty-four years? She spent most of her life being tortured by the cult who’s research you now hold. And she was blind for the latter half of that. Tofu was the one that rescued her from that fate, and…well, he came home with that curse for his troubles. She blames herself… That’s why she works so hard to find a cure for him, why she wants to help him without causing him undue discomfort in the meantime. To her, Hana and Tofu are her world, more so than the rest of us for now.”

Ghost put a hand on Naria’s shoulder as she gently pushed out of Naria’s embrace, but left her hand there. A thread of connection as she digested Naria’s words. She looked at Naria and the freckles that dusted her nose and cheeks. The bags under Ghost’s eyes were even more evident after crying. 

“I’m sorry… the more I learn, the more I think about how much of a jerk I was to push the issue,” Ghost said, dejected. Her shoulders slumped as her eyes drifted to her hand on Naria’s shoulder.

“I just- want to help people.” She looked down, “But… maybe I just cause more problems… maybe they were right…" The last part Ghost said was barely a whisper. Naria took Ghost’s hand in both of hers. 

“You are doing what you feel is right. There is no ‘best way’ to go about doing something to help others. What I can say, though, is that you’re not causing more problems for us. Fiora would still be stuck in her research if not for you and yours. She’s just…touchy. N-not physically, Gods no, don’t try to hug her she might flip, but like- you know what I mean,” she said, stumbling through her attempt at comforting the miqo’te. 

Ghost looked at her hand in Naria’s as her cheeks turned a little pink.

“Thank you, I needed to hear that.” She sniffled, but smiled softly. She looked at the papers she dropped and stooped down to get them. Naria crouched down to help.

“In any case, we’ll figure this out. Together. You, me, and Fiora,” the hyur said with a soft smile. 

Ghost smiled again, “Together…” she murmured, testing how it felt on her lips. She glanced at a page that Naria picked up but then tilted her head. She took it gently from Naria and turned it upside down. “Hmm, maybe I can work with this…”

She wandered over to the work table and pushed aside some books and papers. She took a pin from the pincushion nearby and pricked her finger tip. She drew the sigil on the table in her blood. When she finished, she touched the top of it and it lit up. She lifted her finger and the glowing sigil lifted off the table. With a flick of her finger, she spun it. It glowed brightly before it popped and a butterfly appeared in its place.

Naria stepped closer, examining the butterfly with a curious expression. It fluttered as a shimmering blue with thick black lines and rounded wings. A single orange dot adorned the bottom wing on each side. She tilted her head; it seemed like an ordinary butterfly. Her eyes flickered over to Ghost.

“What…will this do?” she asked. 

“This is going to help with excess mana, before it can attack his organs. Won’t you Morpho?” Ghost said holding a finger under the butterfly for it to have a place to land. She turned back to Naria, “Not all of it mind you, but enough that it should be more manageable.”

She took the butterfly to another part of the chamber where she had a smaller table set up with a small alchemical station. She picked up a crystal and held it out to Morpho. The butterfly flitted from her finger to the crystal which began to dissipate at the butterflies touch. Morpho glowed for a few seconds after the crystal disappeared. She smiled at the results.

“So a…siphon of sorts? Seems promising enough,” Naria said, making her way over to where Ghost was testing. She stared at the butterfly for a moment. “Better you name it than him, he’s got Callum’s sense…might call it ‘Flappy’ or something like that…” she grumbled to herself. 

Ghost giggled, “Unfortunately, my name for it is just Morpho, I named it when I was younger and less creative. But this familiar has served me well.” She smiled for a moment before launching into a bit more explanation. “Morpho will need to feed on a small sample of his blood to create a bio link, but maaaaybe it would be best for someone… else to present the idea to Fiora? Perhaps… someone present… nice… pretty…?” 

“Come now, with as much blood as he’s coughin’ up, you won’t need to hurt him to get any. I think…she will appreciate that you’re trying a different method of mitigation-” Naria started, not even realizing the manner of speech she had fallen into as the last of Ghost’s words settled in belatedly. She blushed. “A-anyway, I think she feels bad, too, so it would be good for both of you to apologize to each other.” 

Ghost’s shoulders slumped a little. She had been hoping that Naria would have agreed. She was terrible at apologizing. Not for a lack of remorse but for an overwhelming need to be liked. The fact that she needed to apologize was bad enough, but what if the recipient rejected her apology? That was far worse.

No use fighting it. If Naria was most likely going to insist, she would acquiesce now.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it.” Naria patted Ghost on the head gently.

“It’ll be fine. She’s…more level headed now than she was at the time, I think she’s more ashamed than anything,” she said softly. She offered Ghost a more reassuring smile. “She’s not very good socially, either. I think she’ll understand your intent, so long as you express it earnestly.”

“I just… hope this goes better than my last visit.” Ghost walked over and retrieved her umbrella. “No time like the present right? Would you do me the honor of accompanying me while I try not to make an ass of myself again?” Naria held out her hand for Ghost to take.

“Naturally.”

---

Fiora sat at the dining table, stacks of books scattered around her as she scribbled almost furiously in a notebook, flipping pages in one book, pulling another closer to examine, and knocking over a stack to get a book near the bottom. Her sightless eyes darted across ink that had aether infused into it, a trick Daen Lad had learned that Fiora abused relentlessly. She scowled into the last book, flipping through until she found the page she was looking for, scribbling more notes into her notebook. She didn’t notice the door opening, nor did she register the footsteps behind her. She was too engrossed, too close to a breakthrough…

Ghost looked to Naria, concerned at the idea of interrupting Fiora. She recognized the fervent, singular focus for what it was. It was the moment where something was just at the tips of your fingers, but still grasping at air. She took in a breath, and approached the table.

“Fiora…?”

Fiora jumped, the stacks of books at her elbows toppling over as some fell to the ground along with her inkwell and notebook. All of that, accompanied by a gasp, and then Fiora squared her shoulders and took in a deep breath to compose herself. She cleared her throat. 

“Ahem, yes, can I help you?” she asked, sounding somehow composed in spite of the mess her surprise had made. She did not, however, turn to face Ghost. 

“I uh… came to apologize… for my behavior last time I was here.” Ghost nervously twisted the umbrella in her hands.

“Ah, yes, well, good. Because I…uh… needed to apologize, too. I should not have…lost control like that. You are trying to help, as…unconventional as the proposed method was,” Fiora stated firmly, still not looking over at Ghost. Naria did say that she was just as awkward socially, after all. 

“Still… I was out of line. I still want to help, if you’ll let me.” Ghost paused. “I- I have a new proposal, one that I hope you’ll approve of.”

Fiora glanced over at where Ghost’s aether stood, then at Naria, who was standing by with an almost palpable smile on her face. Fiora didn’t need to see to know it was there. She let out a huff through her nose. 

“Well, let’s hear it,” she finally said, trying to sound more certain of herself than she felt. 

“Do you have a pin? Or a needle… I forgot them. Um it’s for me! I need to summon the familiar, and I use my blood to do it so…” Ghost mentally kicked herself for not bringing a pin with her. 

Fiora stood from the dining table and made her way over to her alchemy table- the mess on the top of it had been too much for her current fervent research escapade- and opened a drawer to pull out a small vial of pins. She did not bleed, so she did not see the point of storing them more carefully. She picked one out and held the sharp end, tossing the vial almost carelessly back into the drawer and pushing it shut with her hip as she made her way back to Ghost. She held it out to the miqo’te.

Ghost took the pin and nodded in thanks. She stepped back to the table and cleared a small section to begin the summoning. As before, she used her blood to draw the sigil. Fiora could see the aether she poured into it as she drew. The sigil glowed as she pulled it off the table to initiate the summoning and the butterfly popped back into existence. 

“This is Morpho, and for now they’re a siphon.” She held out a finger for the butterfly to land on. “They will be able to siphon off a good portion of excess mana from Tofu before it can be used to attack his organs… after consuming some of his blood to create a bio link.”

“It hurts my eyes to look at. But if it works, it works. The blood…if he is coughing up blood already, will that work? I will not allow for further injury, not while he’s already so bad off…” The last of Fiora’s words were soft, scared even. It was plain to see that she was terrified of losing him, even if she wouldn’t say it.

Ghost nodded. “That would suffice, the fresher the better however so we will need to wait for a coughing fit.” Fiora nodded as well.

“I can…accept that,” the au ra said. Her following words were spoken softly, as if she didn’t want Ghost to actually hear them. “Thank you…for looking for another way…”

“Of course,” Ghost said, equally as quiet. She let Morpho flitter off of her finger as she turned from the table. “So, where is the sickroom? The sooner we can get his blood the better.”

Fiora was quiet for a long moment. “Naria, why don’t you lead her…?” she murmured softly. As much as she loved her brother, or rather, because of how much she loved her brother, she didn’t think she could handle being around him in that state. It would break her. Naria walked over to her, resting a hand on her head as she pulled Fiora closer, kissing her forehead gently.

“Yeah, I gotcha, I’ll let you know how he’s doing, too,” she whispered quietly into the au ra’s bangs. Naria turned a brighter smile to Ghost, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Follow me.” With a last brush of her fingers against Fiora’s cheek, Naria stepped towards the stairs, pausing for Ghost to follow.

Ghost and Morpho followed suit. She looked around as they walked through the hallways. A curiosity began to overtake her about where Naria might reside. A thought that would have to be entertained later as they got to their destination.

Naria drew up to Kore’s door and knocked softly, but didn’t await an answer before she let herself in. A small gasp escaped her as she found Tofu leaned over the edge of the bed, blood dripping from his mouth. At the sound of the door, he wiped as much as he could off of his face with his hand and tried to smile at Naria.

“You have…the worst timing,” he tried to joke.

“Or the best,” Naria and Ghost both piped up. Naria looked over at Ghost and smiled lightly, gesturing for the miqo’te to explain.

“I need your blood.” Ghost said simply.

“Frightening,” Tofu muttered without any hint of inflection.

Ghost quickly crossed the room and took Tofu’s hand, examining how much blood was there. 

“Yes this should suffice,” she said as she directed Morpho to land on his hand and take in the blood. “Let Morpho here take care of that, it will just be a moment.”

“You know, without context, this is very alarming for me,” Tofu said, though he watched with curiosity as the butterfly landed on him. “What is this thing? Why does it need my blood?”

“Sorry, I needed it to be as fresh as possible.” Ghost looked up at Tofu now that Morpho was at work. “Um, so I’m not sure how much you may have heard about me… I’m Ghost, a Cursebreaker with the Thaumaturge Guild, pleasure to finally meet properly. This is Morpho, my familiar who will be taking in excess mana that is attacking your organs… Enough of it that it will be less of a concern for the time being.” 

“Rrrrright I absorbed about half of that. Ghost, huh? Nice to uh…meet you, I guess? I guess you probably know my name already, huh… Tofu, regardless,” the viera said, taking advantage of the fact that their abrupt and confusing entrance had distracted him from the pain in his- Nope, there it was. He winced and put a hand to his chest. “Dammit, knew I had gone too long being able to ignore it…”

He straightened up, pushing the pain aside again, and tried to smile politely at Ghost. 

“Sounds like you’ve been hard at work, as well. Sorry you got all wrapped up in this, but…thank you,” he said. 

“Well I was assigned the case by the guild, this was even before I met Naria and learned you were affected. Having a living person affected by a curse I was researching… Made this particular case take precedence.” She smiled.

Morpho finished consuming and left a clean spot on his hand. It then flitted over to rest on Tofu’s shoulder. Ghost smiled and noticed a pile of clean towels and handed one to Tofu for the rest of the blood. Tofu took it gratefully and got what blood he could feel on his face wiped off and wiped off his hands as well. Naria walked over and took the towel from him, dabbing lightly at his eyebrow.

“Did this one wake you up, too? It’s in your hair…” she murmured gently, glancing at his pillow and noting the blood there as well. “I’ll get one of the other pillows while Blomma takes care of that one.” Tofu averted his gaze. 

“It’s…fine,” he grumbled. 

“Nonsense, wait here, I’ll be right back,” she said, cupping his face gently with one hand and smiling before making her way out the door. “Stay or follow, up to you, Ghost!”

Ghost looked between Tofu and Naria a moment before flashing Tofu a nervous smile and following Naria. She furrowed her brows but said nothing. Until they were out of the room.

“Are you alright?” Ghost asked softly. Naria tilted her head at Ghost and tried to smile, but it was a poor mask at best.

“I…wasn’t here when they came home, and I haven’t been in with him much since… I didn’t know how bad it was,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. She turned back to face in front of her, placing a hand to her chest as she walked. She tried to keep the false smile on her face. “Gods, he looks bad…and this is after some time, I can only imagine…how bad it was.”

She stopped and turned, clasping her hands behind her back as she let out a rather humourless laugh. “But! He’ll be fine now. Blomma says his wound is…healing. Slowly, but it’s healing. And now he’s got that butterfly. Daen Lad says he’s got a few heavy episodes left, then smaller ones for a while longer, and then his curse is in the clear until…” A heavy sigh escaped her as her smile dropped slightly. “Until he gets into it with another mage. He’d better not…”

“Naria…” Ghost closed the distance between the two of them and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay… to not be okay.” 

Though she tried to keep the smile on her face, Naria’s eyes welled with tears. She knelt on the floor and buried her face with one hand as she cried softly, her other arm wrapped around her knees, as if being curled up like that was the only thing keeping her together. Ghost knelt beside her and pulled Naria into a tight embrace, resting her chin on Naria’s head. 

“I know… I know he’ll be alright. I know he’s strong, and stubborn, but I still… I still…!” Naria hiccuped. “It still hurts… But I have to be strong, too. Everyone has so much to worry about…” 

“You can’t help anyone if you break. Holding it all in causes cracks, you can’t ignore your feelings for the sake of others…” Ghost murmured as she softly stroked her hair.

“I…I know. I wouldn’t accept my behavior from anyone else, but I was raised this way, it’s ingrained in me, and it’s hard to break out of that line of thinking,” Naria said, looking up at Ghost with a soft smile even as tears still streamed down her face. “‘Everything for the good of the family’, you know? Anything to keep their spotless image pristine…even if it meant throwing their own daughter away.”

“‘Why must you have been born to us?’ is what I used to hear…” Ghost laughed bitterly. “I wasn’t allowed to be… part of the family for the most part…”

Naria scoffed and turned her face away. “Useless nobles, am I right?” she grumbled. She reached up and dried her eyes, gently pushing away from Ghost to stand up. 

“But! That is why I’m here, now. Why Fiora and Tofu brought me here. Not only to protect me from Tuturoko, but to give me a second chance at a family. I’ll never be able to repay Ro for what she’s done for me, but hey, I can at least try. And the first step of that for now is to get Tofu a spare pillow.”

Naria smiled and held out her hand to Ghost to help her up, a cheeky ‘shall we?’ to accompany her. Ghost let her fingertips touch Naria’s hand but didn’t fully take it just yet.

“Just… also take care of you, yeah?” she said as she fully clasped Naria’s hand. Naria offered a more genuine smile.

“Of course. I can do both! Take care of myself and also Tofu, I mean. Pillow time!”

[isfjmel-phleg]

1, 4, 7, & 15-20 for Tenthragon; 2, 3, 9, & 10 for The Candymakers; and 9, 11, & 15-20 for The Secret Garden, please?

Tenthragon

1, what got you into this story?

At some point, I decided to read every Constance Savery novel I could get my hands on. The atmosphere and mystery drew me in, and I could hardly put it down.

4. assign this story a hyper-specific genre name, e.g. "inspirational religious semi-horror sci-fi western" (yes, that's Trigun)

Psychological-horror gothic mystery revenge-tragedy family-drama redemption story with fairy-tale motifs.

7. how does the story compare to your initial impressions of it? has it surprised you yet? how?

I didn't know what to expect of it going in, and I was surprised at how invested in it I became. It hasn't really surprised me on rereads, but I have never stopped being impressed.

15. what time are you most likely to be found reading/watching this story? (time of year, time of day, season of life, whatever makes sense to you)

I tend to get a hankering for it around Christmas. It's not an overtly Christmassy book, although there is a chapter set at that time, but for whatever reason my brain has designated it in that category.

16. do you think this story has broad appeal, or is it meant for a very specific audience? if it's more "niche", what kind of person would most enjoy this story?

It will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea. The depictions of abuse (mostly psychological/emotional) can be intense. (And it's not that I'm not sensitive to such things--I am!--but I sometimes find that reading about certain awful things in fiction helps me process.) The ending is vague and not everyone will find it satisfying. It's hard to classify, since the protagonist is a young child but the themes are more suitable for an older audience.

If you like dark, atmospheric stories dealing with complicated and difficult family relationships, but with an ultimately hopeful and redemptive worldview, you might like Tenthragon. That's a big might. I make no guarantees. Please don't come after me with sharp implements if you happen to read it and hate it :P

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

It is a bizarre, bizarre story. The vague ending isn't typical of what I usually gravitate toward, but it works for me.

18. compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

The eerie and atmospheric old house settings, family mysteries, and Sad Children get to me every time.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

I'd pick up right where the novel leaves off. The Tenthragon boys have made a lot of personal progress, but how are they going to handle moving forward now that the originator of much of their issues has returned and holds power over most of them?

20. what's the WORST thing about this story, in your opinion? (feel free to be positive, e.g. "it's not longer", if you want!)

The unanswered questions. The fact that there isn't a sequel. The fact that it's out of print and very difficult to find at a decent price so I can't easily inflict it on people.

The Candymakers

3. quickly list 3 things you like about the story!

The main cast, the use of multiple POVs to constantly shift our understanding of the narrative, the themes.

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

It's a light-hearted story about four children competing in a candymaking contest--nope, it's a coming-of-age drama--nope, it's a thriller--nope, it's a revenge tale--nope, it's still a light-hearted story about four children competing in a candymaking contest but now you're emotional about it.

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

Ohhh, this is difficult. Maybe "Another Believer."

The Secret Garden

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

Terrible child touches grass and gets an attitude adjustment, then passes the lesson along to a possibily even worse child.

11. if you were put in the main character's position, how well would that go for you on a scale of 1-5?

I would be a lot more compliant and ready to mind my own business, but I sure wouldn't get much plot moving. Maybe a 4.

15. what time are you most likely to be found reading/watching this story? (time of year, time of day, season of life, whatever makes sense to you)

Spring is TSG season around here!

16. do you think this story has broad appeal, or is it meant for a very specific audience? if it's more "niche", what kind of person would most enjoy this story?

It's a beloved classic, so yeah, it apparently has pretty broad appeal.

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

This story has defined a lot of what I enjoy ever since I was seven, so I can't really think of anything.

18. compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

So much. Terrible children with growth arcs. Atmospheric settings. A general sense of mystery. Etc.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

...you know, this is one of those stories where I'm actually pretty okay with leaving the characters where their story ends. I know they'll be fine, and I don't particularly care what they do when they grow up or who they're romantically involved with.

But a story focusing on the Sowerbys specifically might be fun.

20. what's the WORST thing about this story, in your opinion? (feel free to be positive, e.g. "it's not longer", if you want!)

I could live without Burnett's heavy-handed philosophizing toward the end of the book.

[thatseventiesbitch]

If you don’t mind me asking, but how do you separate the art and the artist? That 70’s Show was my comfort show growing up and I still enjoy watching it but just hearing all the recent news, I don’t know if I should continue watching it or I should just stop watching it. Again I apologize for disturbing you.

Hi anon. No, I don't mind.

The characters and the actors have always existed in a separate space in my brain. The characters/this fictional world/Point Place are one thing, and the people who portray them are another. I'm fascinated by both - but not to the same degree. I've followed most of the actors' careers, I like to keep up with what they're doing now via social media, I find the behind-the-scenes drama fun to speculate about. But that's where it ends for me. I've never been primarily a fan of the actors, I'm a fan of the show. Like, my blog is not an Ashton Kutcher fanpage (and lots of those existed back in the show's heyday!!). I ship Eric and Donna, not Topher and Laura. All of my investment is with the characters, the fiction, the art - not with the real life people who created it. So I think in a way, because I never really put any of the actors on a pedestal or drew much value from them specifically, the fall from grace has been easier. If that makes sense. People are just people. My grandpa always used to say that. And people are imperfect, they are bound to disappoint you. Characters, on the other hand, are fictional. You can keep them from disappointing you. It's all make-believe.

I also just give myself grace and patience, tbh.

It's hard to do - to forget about the real-world things I know about the cast while I watch. Every once in awhile, one of the characters will do or say something and I'll think to myself, 'oh that was [actor], not [character].' It'll be just for split-second - something in the way they say a word, their accent maybe, a mannerism, or maybe they're breaking/laughing - but that pulls me out so fast. It breaks the fictional dream. Then I remember everything and it can be hard to pull myself back. Thankfully these moments are few and far between, and when it happens I just gently walk myself back, remind myself of everything I said above. Eric and Donna are kind of my home base, I know them like the back of my hand, so I think about them and I re-focus on everything I love about them.

And some days my brain is still just like nope!, and so I turn the episode off and walk away. Take a break. But this show means enough to me to keep trying, to keep coming back.

That is where I am at with all of this right now, anyway.

*Offers hug* This is a difficult time for all of us fans. I hope that when it comes to continuing to watch the show, you make the best decision for you. Only you know what that is.