#I wonder if there's goo fanfic for this book out there

[quadrantadvisor]

Was desperate enough to use the search function to find posts about The Host by Stephenie Meyer and I just wanted to say, I love your takes and I agree with everything.

The love square never made sense. Jared and Melanie were impossible to root for because the sole basis of their love was that Melanie felt safe with him and Melanie was the last woman on Earth to Jared, and then neither of those things turn out to be true so all they have is intense sexual chemistry. And especially in contrast to Ian and Wanda, how and why am I supposed to care about them? And there is no reason for Wanda to love Jared. I get her falling in love with him through Melanie’s memory of him, but the reality ought to have shattered that illusion for both of them IMO. Especially for Melanie, because he’d rather scream at and hit her body rather than even entertain the hope she might be in there. Sure, he protects it from other humans, but then he abuses it, so that’s not in fact protection; it’s possession.

The gender bioessentialism never made sense. Sure, Wanda’s in a female body and can make the choice to reproduce, which is super cool. But given that her sense of gender hinges on that ability to reproduce and given that that ability is super rare, why would other Souls gender themselves? I think being agender or someone who just didn’t give a damn about pedantic human gender roles would have been super interesting for Wanda’s character and I think it would have added more dimension to her and Ian’s relationship. He barely had to struggle with the fact that the body she was in belonged to an attractive cisgender girl and he was a cishet man, in spite of Meyer’s weak attempts to call that into question. The gender question might have thrown him for more of a loop.

Contrast that to Jared’s very comphet interpretation of his relationship with Melanie, and ooh baby, we’ve got a stew!

Also would have liked more exploration on ethics in general. Why do the Souls care about the well-being of the organisms on the Fire Eater planet but not on Earth? Instead of stopping from eating them, do they steal their bodies too? And the humans killing other humans in an attempt to save them: Is it okay to murder them if they’re the ones doing the murdering, like before?

Sorry for the long ask. I just have a lot of thoughts. Please feel free to block and ignore if this is too weird. Genuinely no intention to bother or offend and I’m sorry if I have.

Oh man I'm always ready to rant about The Host with people!

Yeah I feel like Meyer thought she was saying something really deep about human nature and the way that our instincts drive us? And there is something there, like, your body having a reaction to another person and that affecting your behavior is interesting! In my opinion she just went WAY too far with it, and it makes the characters seem unrealistic and childish. The ways that both Melanie and Wanderer act around Jared are bizarre (this may partially be my ace spectrum talking but like, c'mon.) Jared just kinda sucks, also. The whole idea that there's this inherent magnetism between MEN and WOMEN and that that physical attraction is the most important thing in the world is so heteronormative and amatonormative and uncomfortable

And the book was SO CLOSE to having an interesting take on gender! Examing the genders and/or lack thereof of a body-snatching alien species could be so fun! There's even the mention of the alien species with three genders, and talking about their family structures. You would think that something like that would indicate a more expansive view on gender, but really it's just an extrapolation of more bioessentialism. Because that species has those biological sexes, their families MUST be steucturedin this way, because that's what's natural for them. There's no room for variability or different sorts of feelings. She completely equates gender with biology, even when that biology is being coopted by a hitchhiker.

You're so right about Ian and Wanderer, I would love more examinations of how different she is from humans, including in a gender sense, and them having to deal with that as a part of their relationship. Setting up Jared as someone very entrenched in social norms and Ian as a foil to him in that way sounds really interesting!

Soul society and ethics are SO fascinating. I do sincerely think that Meyer is an compelling fantasy and sci fi world builder, if nothing else.

It's late and I feel like I'm a little incoherent but I love getting to chat about this book, it's so infuriating but so fun, now I want to read it again.

[anonymousbardd]

Colour It In Ft. Samuel Seo

⸝⸝ ౨ৎ :: "You're so childish... Whatever, just don't draw anything stupid."

CONTENT CONTAINS:. ೀ xfem reader, slightly critization. Please do not repost without crediting, MDNI!

⸝⸝ ౨ৎ :: "Agh, fine, you can colour in my tattoos... Just don't make it look like shit."

It was a boring day in Samuel's office, [F/n] was sitting on the small couch he has just for her, losing her mind due to the fact that there was nothing to do.

Samuel was busy on the phone, talking to Goo, discussing some important business matters.

The young woman scrolls on her phone, trying to find any source of entertainment.., when she stumbles across a video of someone colouring in a book.

The sudden urge to colour something was big and heavy, she looked around then at her lover, noticing that Samuel was basically a walking colouring book.

[F/n] had an idea and a grin crept on to her face, slowly, she stood up and walked towards the dark-haired man.

"Sammy~..," she spoke with a soft voice.

Samuel hummed and glanced at [F/n], he then gave her a smile and covered the speaker of his phone, "Give me a second, princess," he said.

A few minutes later, he then hung up the phone and turned to face his lover.

"Is there anything you need?" He asked, his body hovering over hers, "Well... I'm bored, and I want to colour something..."

Samuel raised a brow, slowly catching on where this was heading.

With big pleading eyes, [F/n] looked up at Samuel's eyes and tried to look as cute as she could possibly can, "Can I colour in one of your tattoos? Pretty please~...?" She asked, her hands intertwined together.

Samuel frowned and crossed his arms, "What..? That is so childish..." He mumbled, he then sighed and pulled up his shirt's sleeve and sat down, "Fine... But don't make it look like shit..." He mumbled.

[F/n] smiled widely and quickly got her purse which had her make-up pallet, she then grabbed a chair that was bought by Samuel for her and placed it near Samuel.

"I'll colour in this one~..!" She cooed as she set her sights on one of Samuel's tattoos.

She then used her make-up to colour in the inked lines on Samuel's skin, a soft smile printed on her face as she focused.

Samuel sighed and let her do her thing, "This is so stupid..." Samuel mumbled, "What do you want the colour of this to be?" [F/n] asked, "... Lilac."

After a few minutes, the young woman pulled away with a smile, "Doesn't it look pretty?" She asked, Samuel looked at his girlfriend's work and softly smiled, "It does..."

[F/n] giggled and kissed Samuel's cheek, "Can I colour in another one? Pretty please?" She asked as she looked at him, "Fine, but make it mint grin this time."

The young woman nodded and whipped out her other eye-shaddow pallet, Samuel raised a brow and looked at the familiar make-up set, "Isn't that one of the expensive pallets I bought you?"

[F/n] stayed quiet for a while before speaking, "... No."

"[F/n]...."

"Doesn't this look cute?"

Samuel chuckled and shook his head, he leaned back on his chair and relaxed his body as he watched his girlfriend have her fun, "You're unbelievable," he said slightly grinning.

Samuel then left to get some snacks at a convenience store for [F/n], when he suddenly ran into Goo Kim and Taejin Cheon.

The dark-haired man's sleeve was still rolled up, which showed the wonderful work of his loveable girlfriend.

Goo snickered and pointed at his coloures tattoo, "Did a child do that?" He asked with a grin.

Taejin let out a quiet chuckle as he noticed the tattoos.

Samuel frowned and glared at Goo, "Shut up, it looks good."

𐙚 T a g s #Lookism #fanfic #lookism fanfic #lookismoneshot #xreader #oneshot #lookism fanfic #samuel seo #samuel seo x reader ⊱ ۫ ׅ ✧

༝༚༝༚𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚍

[thefreakandthehair]

I’m still an absolute puddle of goo over this HUGE surprise that so many incredible, amazing, wonderful angels disguising as people pulled off!

look at that massive stack of beautiful cards with some of the sweetest messages from the whole weekend! the goo goo dolls! the physical book of fanfics that I can work through as bedtime stories (and that has an ao3 collection here— trust that I will be reblogging everything here too 🫶)! the snacks! the candle! the card game! the tumbler! the blue Iris bracelet that I wore as my “something blue”! many favorite snacks! the tea! the little jar for our honeymoon!

and the physical bind of over the hills and far away, holy shit. my baby. my darling. my favorite child. my dream in life has always been to see words that I wrote together in a physical bind— and now I have a copy of my most favorite work on my bookshelf!

and this artwork that captured SO many details from meeting you was coming home! @firefly-party nailed it! 😭💕

plus the gift of thinking @withacapitalp was just coming to the wedding friday, only to walk into @bayouteche’s hotel room thursday to Liam jumping out of a closet to surprise me! as you might imagine, there was a lot of hugging, and happy flapping and tears on my end.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again a million more times: I’m the luckiest duck in the whole of the internet. I’m so grateful for every single person I’ve met here and who kept this secret for literal months. I’m impressed and beguiled and still stunned at the time and effort this took to organize.

I love everyone in this bar.

[milekael]

Jean Havoc for the character ask!!

CHARACTER ASK LETS GOO

How I feel about this character

I think he is alright! He does what he has to do. I am just... not extremely invested in him? Ngl out of all of Team Mustang members I find him the least engaging ASDFG WHICH IS NOT BAD I still love all members, is just I find everyone else has something more to give me than silly yet good spirited coworker that ultimately wants for the best.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I think Havolina is nice dfghj but my true OTP with him is BredaxHavoc (idunno if they have a proper ship name LOL). Have that bear destroy this twunk. I think the idea of Super Straight Man Havoc finding out he is gay to be really funny and compelling and I like it way more with Breda than any of the alternatives because I like Breda a lot ASDFGH

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Riza and Jean are besties to the end. I also think Havocai is fine is just lower of my Riza ships brain palace so more often than not they are just besties in my brain.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I mean I already kind of said it lol I find him to be the least interesting out of all of Team Mustang and part of me wonders why so much of the attention goes to him (Maybe pretty privilege, maybe taking advantage that he is kind of basic enough that you can input new personality traits into him without being disruptive). NGL he is at his most interesting after his injury and the 20th anniversary book with his new short story is the closest I felt to him lmao

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I mean. Continuation from the last point. I think there should have been more exploration of his time being paralyzed, both in canon and in fanfics. I get that in canon they didn't so you could have that twists of Havoc calling them and helping and all but man. In a way I also recent the short story for that LOL because it had the very good idea and opportunity and while I like what it did, I wish it did... more?? Maybe is lost in translation, but the writing is extremely plain, just explaining the things he does instead of having a narrative to them, so him figuring himself out is not explored and then the story gets where it truly wants to which is him meeting with Maria Ross and at that point the story is more fun because it is about her SOBS and I feel bad because I feel like... damn, this exists now, so idunno if we'll ever get anything else from this time of his and I have to live with what we got being kind of whatever ASDFGHJ

[atouuu]

Amethyst (a Silvercandle fanfic)

(Note from the author: putting something different here than on ao3,,but this is my first fic first off and this is only the first chapter here. ALSO BTW THIS IS VERY MUCH SILVERCANDLE FLUFF AS YOU CAN TELL FROM THE TITLE SO..if you dont like the ship this one isnt for you,, For more context i suggest you see it on ao3 but this spawned from a twitter thread between me and a mutual and basically its silver and candle and some other ii characters and my personal ships playin minecraft in candles attempts to cheer up silver during a rainy week,,constructive critisism is encourgaed since im very new to this so ye,,enjoy chapter on and here is the ao3 link to the fic as i will be updating it with the other chapters as time goes on so rn im just really testing the waters,,,OKAY ON TO THE FIC!!)

Chapter 1: A Rainy Week Ahead

Silver lay awake one night at hotel OJ; it had been raining for practically the whole day, and Silver usually was fine spending these particularly gloomy days for him in his hotel room reading (that is when Lightbulb wasn’t trying to get him to “cheer up”). Though, this time felt different...Silver didn’t exactly feel himself..this whole self betterment journey he’s been..feeling off.. According to the forecast it was gonna be like this all week, and Silver surely didnt have enough books (or emotional stability) to just stay in his room for a whole week. So he decided, instead of sleeping, he’d talk to Candle; even though she was definitely asleep by now…

Deep breaths …Silver Spoon thought to himself. He reached over to his bedside table to get his phone and opened the messenger app, but he hesitated. He hated seeming too clingy towards Candle…even if he knew, she did care about him..and love him..a lot…He didn’t just want to talk to her..he wanted to be with her, physically. Silver sat there, for at least 10 minutes, just staring, gazing, daydreaming, as he looked down at his phone in silence; the rain outside gradually beating down even harder on the window of the room. He winced at the sound of thunder. God he hated this. He really couldnt stand this much longer. He threw off the ugly orange covers of his Hotel OJ bed and hopped out of bed, dropping his phone in the process. “Whoops..” Silver Spoon said softly to himself ...praying and hoping to God that he didn’t wake Lightbulb…the LAST thing he would want in this moment was to be questioned. Silver could have seen her moving under the covers (though he was also wondering how she wasn’t suffocating by now) but she didn’t seem to have woken up.. “Phew…” That was close. He snatched his phone off the ground and walked to his closet and got the baby blue robe that Candle got for him and threw it on over his pajamas, opening the room door very gently and closing it as such before tiptoeing down the hall to Candle’s room. 

Unfortunately for Silver just as he was about to knock on the door; very hesitantly; BOOM, there was the thunder again, scaring the poor guy off his feet nearly, so if he wasn’t gonna go through with knocking before, he’d definitely done it now as he practically slammed his face and phone into the door, leaving him standing there in front of Candle and Goo’s room in a daze. Click click. “Silver Spoon…my dear, are you alright..?” Silver, standing there with his knees still shaking and his heart basically trying to beat out his chest, took a moment to register her voice… “Silver…” Candle gently rested her hands on his shoulders as she tried to calm him down, eventually patting his back and leading him into her room and onto her bed. Silver at this point had eased back into his senses as he sat. Candle, after gently closing the door as to not wake her roommate, sat beside him, a concerned look on her face it seemed, though it was difficult for Silver to make it out because, the lights in the room were off, the only light being the dimly lit night light Goo had plugged in on his side of the room, where he still lay soundly asleep. They sat on Candle’s bed in silence for a moment. “So..is something wrong?” Silver, of course, not wanting to admit to just..wanting to be in her embrace, instead of admitting it, he hesitantly wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug; resting his head on her shoulder in the process. “No..it’s nothing..” Silver said, though it was muffled considering his face was buried in Candles embrace, which she returned in response to his own. “Hm, right of course, you came all the way down the hall here, in the middle of the night, for..nothing, dear?” Silver groaned as he sat up; “Okay FINE it’s not nothing…I just wanted to..see..you..” Candle chuckled lightly, which was enough to give Silver even more of a warm feeling inside (than he already had from actually being with her now). “Oh Silver-” Another crackle of thunder. Silver shuddered and huddled even closer to Candle without even noticing; he paused and backed away for a moment, blushing out of sheer embarrassment. “..S-Sor-”  Before he could finish his needless apology though, she quickly but gently hugged him back with a soft look on her face as she looked up at him, still quivering. “I see what it is now…” Candle got up from the bed and took Silver’s hand; subsequently setting his pale white cheeks to a rosy pink shade yet again. He followed her out the door and down to the first floor and into the lobby. 

“Sit down for a moment.” Candle whispered, as she seated him onto the couch, going into the kitchen, and getting Silver a glass of water before sitting down next to him. “Need anything else..?” She switched on the TV which was, to Silver's dismay, playing the weather channel, to which Candle quickly switched to what seemed to be some kind of nature documentary. “I’m..quick alright, my dear..” A beat of silence passed, as Silver took a quick sip of water. “...Thank you..by the way..I know it is rather…late…” Silver, getting comfortable and crossing his legs criss-cross-apple-sauce style on the couch while gently resting his head on Candle’s, considering their height difference, chuckled lightly before yawning. “Oh wow, so you’ve come all this way just to fall asleep again?” Candle snickered as she leaned in towards him, awaiting a response. “Well, it is rather difficult to sleep when the rain outside is practically trying to break in with how hard it’s pounding on my window!” Candle chuckled at this even more, resting her head on his shoulder. “Oh Silver…this week is surely going to be a wild ride for you, hm?” Silver crossed his arms and scoffed at this, but ultimately sighed and chuckled. “I suppose I could..use some new ways to occupy myself…”; remarked Silver. Candle paused to think for a moment. “A new way to occupy yourself huh…” Candle scanned the room for a moment; and again…and yet again. One more time; ding, there it was. She had it. “I have just the plan. That is if you’re willing to strengthen some bonds..?” Silver gave her a very clear look of confusion as the two layed eyes on the console, which belonged to Pickle, on the entertainment stand below the TV. What on earth did she even mean by strengthening bonds..?? “..And that is supposed to mean what exactly, my dear..?”; Silver wondered. “Oh, you’ll see, trust me, it’ll be fun.” Despite the obvious confusion conveyed by Silver, she got up and began to head upstairs. “You stay here, I’ll be quick.” “C-Candle..” She was already up the step before he could raise his voice. “Well..I do suppose she did say she’d be.. quick …” A blanket of silence fell across the room. BOOM; another crackle of thunder. Silver jumped, pulling his legs closer into his chest and he waited eagerly. Speaking of blankets..he really could have used one right now…

(Note from the author AGAIN: thaks for reading all this, if you have thoughts dont be hesitant to lmk really i do wanna know what people think IK THIS IS VERY LONG WINDED AND OFF FOR WHAT I'VE POSTED ON HERE BUT BEAR WITH ME THIS WAS ACTUALLY KINDA FUN..if you want me to post any other chapters here i will anyways..have a good day/night <3 -Atou)

[the-wip-project]

The WIP Project - critical voice

Hello writerly friends!

I don't know how many of you are still reading this and if any of you joined me in 40k in 50 days. I'm currently on my day ten and... it's not going fast, but it's going. 

The workdays are kicking my butt, but I have 2470 words on the novel, and I had a Friday writing spree in fanfic of about 2000 words. My highest daily wordcount for the novel was 839 words, which — should that tell me something? That I can spit out 2k words for a fanfic scene but not even getting 1k for the novel done in a day? 

I was expecting a slow start, but I feel that by now, I should have gotten to a higher wordcount, at least on my non-work days. Is this an attitude problem? Am I still stuck on the "important novel work, not just fanfic, must be perfect or else" thing?

In the current storybundle for writers (https://storybundle.com/writing, good for another week as of today), is a book by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith about productivity for writers. Two parts of their "Bundle on Productivity" book are blog posts where Dean live-blogged his writing sessions. He points you to his blog (https://deanwesleysmith.com/), so it's not exactly a secret, but I wondered if these diary-like entries were worth a book. Still, it was interesting to skim these posts, where he describes how he manages to write about 1000 words per hour of publishable fiction. 

Dean Wesley Smith is an unapologetic pantser, a discovery writer. He calls it Writing Into The Dark. He starts writing with no plan, no idea what will happen in the story. He goes back mid-writing if he thinks of a great bit of foreshadowing, and then returns to where he left off and keeps writing forward. The three sections in that productivity bundle describe how he wrote a novel in ten, in seven, and in five days. 

I'd be happy with a novel in 50 days, writing one in ten days would be awesome! How does he do it? 

One advice from him is: Don't focus on words. Follow the characters, let them live the story, don't worry about how the words sound. As he says, readers forgive simple language, but they don't forgive boring characters and boring stories. His other advice is to work on silencing the critical voice in our heads:

Quote: 

Critical voice in all of us is designed to keep us safe, to stop us from doing things damaging, and to make us pay attention to upcoming problems. [...] In the arts, past a minor part, critical voice is deadly. Its normal job is to stop you, and yet in any art, including writing, the only way you can learn and grow and become a real artist is to practice and make mistakes and fail at times. Artists, writers, learn from their failures. But for some reason in writing, the myths have taught us that every word we type is in stone, is sacred, must be perfect or at least rewritten a thousand times until perfect.

I think this pretty much hits at least my personal nail on its metaphorical head. My critical voice is trying to protect me from the failure of writing and publishing an original novel. Because it won't be a bestseller, it may not even be good (by whatever arbitrary standard we want to apply)! So, better not even start at it, or at least make it as difficult as possible, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Brains are fucking fucked up, let me tell you. I've been living with this thinking goo for so long now, and it still fucks me up like this! Time to smash that critical voice.

Today I'm aiming for 1000 words. I'll let you know how it goes.

How about you?

--

@quilleth, @theoriginalladya, @kmlaney, @coffeewritesfiction, @mareebrittenford, @lilliebellfanfics, @keyboardandquill, @fontainebleau22, @kinetic-elaboration, @wildswrites, @rhikasa, @inkvulture, @heroofshield, @bad-at-names-and-faces, @sabels-small-sphere, @annaofthenorthernlights, @sarahawke

[sanyu-thewitch05]

Sándwich

Alpha! Kalil X Fem! Yuu X Alpha! Jamil

A/N: Hope you enjoy this werewolf omegaverse type of fanfic

“Kalim put in the wolfsbane,” Jamil says as Yuu stands back and watches.

“Got it!” Kalim cheerfully exclaims, grabbing a clump of grey fur.

“I said Wolfsbane! Not werewolf fur!” Jamil yells, noticing the cauldron about to explode.

The cauldron explodes a bright grey substance, which covers the floor, the table, and Kalim and Jamil.

“Is everyone ok?” Yuu asks, getting off the ground. “Oh, my God.”

“What?” Jamil asks, slightly panicked.

“You both look so cute! It’s like you dressed in your Halloween costumes again!” Yuu squeals, running over and petting Kalim and Jamil.

“We’re werewolves! Awesome!” Kalim yells, looking at himself in the mirror.

“What are you naughty pups doing in here?” Crewel asks, walking into the potions classroom. “How did you turn yourselves into werewolves?”

“I don’t know, but it’s awesome! I feel like I have the strength of 100 men!” Kalim squeals, flexing his bulging muscles.

“It’s not awesome. We can’t send you back to your families as werewolves!” Crewel retorts, opening a potions book. “Ah, here it is. They’ll go back to normal at the stroke of midnight. Until then, I would suggest-“

“Ok, Professor Crewel, bye!” Yuu exclaims, running off with Kalim and Jamil.

“If she had let me finish, she would’ve known Kalim and Jalil would go through extreme heat since it’s the spring.” Crewel thinks, snapping his fingers for a cleaning spell.

“Oh well, Yuu won’t be the first girl to get pregnant by a werewolf. Now time to find out whether my whip came into the mail.” Crewel says, leaving the classroom as the spell cleans up the goo on the floor.

“Ok! You two, don’t fight! Stay peaceful until midnight, and we can have another day at NRC!” Yuu says, sitting Kalim and Jamil on her dainty couch. “Anything I can do to make you comfortable?”

“Can you turn up the air conditioning? It’s hot,” Kalim responds, taking off his sweater.

“I agree with him. It’s like a hundred degrees in here,” Jamil says, tying his hair into a bun.

“Shouldn’t you guys be used to heat? Scarabia is in a literal desert,” Yuu remarks, opening a window.

“No!” Jamil and Kalim exclaim, getting up and stopping Yuu.

“Ok! Ok! I’ll get you a glass of water or something,” Yuu says, about to walk away to the kitchen.

Kalim and Jamil grab both of Yuu’s arms and pull her to the couch.

“Your skin is cooler than any liquid,” Kalim comments, hugging Yuu’s backside.

“It’s like a remedy to this heat we have,” Jamil adds, his lips dangerously close to Yuu’s neck.

“You smell so sweet and earthy. You smell like an Earth goddess. I can smell the sweet flowers and grass on your clothes.”

Jamil sniffs Yuu’s neck and goes down.

“He’s right. I wonder what the rest of your body smells like?” Kalim whispers, playing with Yuu’s bra straps. “Being sandwiched between us must be making you hot as well. Jamil, let’s help her.”

Jamil and Kalim take off Yuu’s shirt and take in the beauty of her upper body.

“I wonder if that womb of yours is like a goddess’s as well,” Jamil comments, tracing a heart on Yuu’s stomach. “Kalim, help me breed our goddess.”

“Gladly,” Kalim replies, unbuttoning Yuu’s pants.

“Wait, did they say breed?” Yuu panics, realizing she’s about to get fucked and pregnant.

“Relax, Yuu. I can feel your body tense up. I’ll try to make it painless,” Jamil gently assures, taking off his pants.

“OhmygodohmygodohmygodOHMYGOD!” Yuu mentally freaks, her eyes going wide.

“Wait! I don’t want to get pregnant at 16!” Yuu screams, stopping Kalim and Jamil in their tracks. “I’m so not ready for sex. I’m not even that enthusiastic about the idea.”

Jamil and Kalim look at her, completely stunned.

“Well then, I guess that means-“

“We’ll have to floof attack you!”

Jamil and Kalim hug Yuu tighter than before and kiss her cheeks.

“I can’t breathe!” Yuu whimpers, her face stuck in between their muscles and biceps.

“Sorry!” Kalim and Jamil both say, getting off Yuu and handing her clothes back to her.

“Would you look at that? It’s already 7:30,” Yuu says, looking at the wonderland-like clock on her wall. “Hm?”

Yuu turns around to see Jamil and Kalim asleep on the couch.

“Aw, that’s the closest they’ve been since Jamil overblotted,” Yuu coos, getting a light blanket to her friends after she’s dressed.

“Thanks for being my friends,” Yuu whispers while putting the blanket on them.

Yuu feels them grab her hand, and she smiles. She gets in the middle of Kalim and Jamil and the three students cuddle together until the morning sun rises.

~~~~~~

“Wake them up,” A dragon Fae growls, seeing his best friend with a normal-looking Kalil and Jalil.

[peridotermine]

ALRIGHT SO LET'S BE CLEAR THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE FNAF MOVIE UNDER THE CUT

OKAY, SO YOU KNOW WHO MIKE AND GARETTE REMIND ME OF???

CHARLIE AND SAMMY

I"M NOT CRAZY I SWEAR

It just hit me in the face the moment Mike was like "I feel closest to him here" referring to the pizzeria.

I'm not saying that Mike is a robot kid ofc not. pfft, no way.

but also...like the possibility is there. nothing is out of the box anymore with the fnaf fandom I mean you've got crazy shit going on in the books like the faz goo and...the hallucination gas bs

ALSO ALSO APPARENTLY THOSE ANIMATRONIC FUCKERS CAN LEAVE THE PIZZERIA???

"SiLlY aUnT jAnE, sHe FeLl AsLeEp"

Those robots are in their platonic!Yandere era

"B-but...We just wanted a new playmate🥺"

WAIT THAT BITCH AIN'T FREDDY IT'S THE RIPOFF. or I guess Freddy is the ripoff in this case since Golden Freddy was their first

So the blonde kid IS golden Freddy.... but that means chica can apparently control more than one animatronic cause the cupcake and shit

"He's my father" ALRIGHT DAMN DADDY ISSUES MUCH?

NOT THE TORTURE CHAMBER DAWG THEY REALLY BE SELLING THE 'WILLIAM IS THE MOST TERRIBLE PERSON ON EARTH' IMAGE

that animatronic in the storage looks strangely like c.b you know the one Abby almost got stuffed in

OH SHIT I FORGOT FOXY EXISTS

IS THAT A REFERENCE TO THE FIRST BOOK??? THE 'HIDING BEHIND ARCADE MACHINES WHILE CHASED BY FOXIE' SCENE???

INTO THE BALLBIT WE GO WHAT YEAR WILL BE TRANSFERED TO.

YEAH VANNY TO THE RESCUE

mike mike mike just get a bucket of water and splash him. Actually please don't do that. he'll just keep coming back again🙄

oh nice I've always wondered why the animatronics never hurt William even though I'm sure they saw him at least a few times after the murders so that's one thing

so much for not coming back again

alright, so he first dies but then who breaks the animatronics later? Oh wait this is an AU. Almost like they're writing fanfics of og but they have budget to turn said fanfics into movies

Yeah, I know poor taxi driver Ballon Boy is the WORST.

what's with the kid's drawing at the end the one with the stripper freddy in it

C O M E F I N D M E alright that isn't subtle at all something is wrong

Or i just got used to the too complicated clues

either way it's nice

[animasola86]

Snippet of Chapter 5 of Diary of a Snake Lover (13k words):

(Genevieve and Sebastian join in on the Headless Hunt's activities in order to find Richard Jackdaw's head)

“Can we play, then?” Sebastian suggested.

“Hmm, you are mortals, with a wand no less... but why not? The more, the merrier. Go ahead then, try to find him!”

And then we spent the next thirty minutes or so blasting pumpkins into bits, their guts spraying everywhere, but not once did we see a severed head inside. I had the suspicion that they were playing with us, snatching the head away just when we were getting close to it. I sighed in growing frustration, wiping at my face as another pumpkin exploded in front of me. We had split up for that and when I circled the house, I saw Sebastian approaching, pointing his wand at any pumpkin he could see. While I felt like an utter mess, my robes covered in pumpkin goo and seeds, he looked totally fine.

We met on the back side of the house and he looked at me and laughed. “Are you actually digging your way through the pumpkins?”

“They explode when I hit them!” I stated the obvious.

“Then perhaps you shouldn't stand so close to them,” he said with a smirk.

I groaned. “And where's the fun in that?” I said, picked up some gooey bits of pumpkin from my robes and straight up threw them at Sebastian, who ducked away laughing.

“So no luck yet, I take it?” he replied after avoiding my attack, taking a step closer to me. I shook my head – and froze, when he suddenly raised his hand and pulled at the fringe covering the right side of my face. But he only picked up some pumpkin goo, then lowered his hand again. I took an unsteady breath.

“Let's keep looking then, he has to be here somewhere,” he said and looked around.

But I was getting impatient, then suddenly remembered something. “Revelio!” I almost cried out and waved my wand about, following the light that erupted from its tip with my eyes, until I heard a tiny bell ringing in the distance. “There!” I called and pointed around the corner of the house to where a group of three pumpkins sat on top of a large shelf.

“I always forget to look up,” I mused and hit all three pumpkins with a basic cast. They exploded, but I didn't care, because there, in the last one I destroyed, sat a severed head, sighing deeply as it noticed us.

“Finally!”

“Please tell me you're Richard Jackdaw!” I sighed and craned my neck to look at him. He looked rather young, our age probably.

“Why, I am. Are you looking for me?”

“We are. Sir Nicholas said you might know the location of some pages we're looking for,” I told him, as Sebastian next to me started to pluck pumpkin remnants off my robes. I looked at him a little distracted, but he merely smiled and continued.

“Merlin's beard!” Jackdaw's head exclaimed. “I know precisely the ones you mean. I pinched them from Peeves...” he added, as if in deep thought. “How could I forget...”

“How is it possible to steal from a poltergeist?” I wondered.

“I didn't steal the pages from his ghostly form, I merely found them in his wake of destruction. He likes to wreck all sorts of things, bottles, suits of armour, books. I found them after he ran riot through the library. Doubt he even noticed they were gone.”

I looked at Sebastian in surprise.

“Well, there was a map on those pages... and it quite frankly led me to my demise. I was not ready for what awaited me in that cave,” Jackdaw continued, reminiscing quietly. “The pages are likely still mouldering away with my... remains. Quite a final adventure, I must confess.”

“So we have to find this cave to find the pages –” Sebastian concluded, while I stared at the ghost's head.

“Yes! And I could show you where it is –”

“Hang on!” I interrupted the two very eager boys, dead and alive. “How exactly did you lose your head in that cave? Perhaps we should know that before running head first into our own demise!” Pun intended.

Jackdaw's translucent eyes looked at me. “Well, I was having a look about when I suddenly sensed a refreshing breeze – after which I felt, well, light-headed. That's all I remember.” He sighed. “Hence, when you visit, be prepared. I can't tell you what for, specifically, but you seem a perceptive sort. Beware a light breeze.”

“Understood,” Sebastian replied, nodding. “So where exactly did you say this cave was?”

“Here's an idea,” Jackdaw mused. “Why don't you two meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and I'll show you where to go?”

“We do need those pages...” I said quietly, not at all looking forward to either entering the Forbidden Forest nor stumbling through some cave in fear of losing my head. I looked up at Sebastian, trying to read what he was thinking.

“We'll meet you there,” he said towards the ghost's head. “It'll be fine,” he said towards me with a reassuring smile.

“Splendid,” Jackdaw exclaimed. “Well, why don't you go on ahead, I'll just need to be reunited with my body first. See you at the Forest's edge.” He then called for another ghost standing by, who picked his head up like a plant to be re-potted.

I watched them disappear around the corner of the house. “Are you sure about this?” I then asked, looking up at Sebastian's tall form. “You didn't want me to go alone to Hogsmeade, remember? Now entering the Forbidden Forest in search of a deadly cave sounds a lot worse.”

“Well, you won't be alone. We'll manage, I'm sure. Believe in yourself!” he said, poking my shoulder to emphasise his words. When he was done, his finger slid a little lower, but was retrieved before it could touch the badge on my chest. “Also, you are still a Gryffindor, aren't you? Where's your sense of adventure?”

I pursed my lips at that.

“Remember the library? That archway we discovered that you turned into a portal? And the door after that?” He looked at me, then his eyes wandered down to where my hand was hanging loosely by my side. “Remember how you just took my hand and pulled me along?”

I felt something warm creep up my neck. “You... remember that?” I breathed, a little surprised. It hadn't felt like a big deal at the moment, but looking back... I had just grabbed his hand without even thinking about the implications.

He smiled mildly, still looking at my hand. Instinctively I raised it, turned it palm up and held it out to him. His eyes met mine for a moment, then he almost tentatively raised his own hand to finally close his long fingers around mine. His touch was warm and firm and quite the cute gesture, but then we both realized that it was, after all, just an awkward handshake, as we were still facing each other.

He laughed, unclasped his fingers, let go of my hand for a second, stepped next to me and then, as we were side by side, he extended his left hand and grabbed my right. I chuckled lightly, yet feeling my cheeks burn with both embarrassment and another kind of warmth that only grew as Sebastian pulled me after him, his fingers tightly wrapped around mine.

(Read more here!)

[aylinaliens]

Into the Ring for the meme?

Ah Into the Ring is one of my favorite dramas of all time 🥺

My OTP

Obviously it has to be Seo Gong Myung and Goo Se Ra! They were such a chaotic, hilarious, adorable, and swoon worthy pairing just because of how healthy they were. I loved that their relationship was rock solid and stayed together the whole entire time. Also, Gong Myung is one of my favorite ML’s. He seems like a tsundere but in reality he’s just awkward, weird, introverted, and a huge dork. I loved that he always supported Se Ra in her work/personal life and never felt emasculated over the fact that his gf was a total force to be messed with. I loved their dynamic and the chemistry was off the charts. Their intimacy was so casual but also full of passion. I mean their kiss first kiss was out of this world.

My NOTP

Uh I don’t recall there being another couple so I guess I’ll go with Se Ra and her ex?

My fave thing about it

I really loved the fact that Se Ra’s and Gong Myung’s relationship was so healthy. I loved the cinematography (the camera effects were gorgeous??? the light flares?? the vibrant colors?? the unique camera angles) and lovable characters. Also, Into the Ring actually made me ENJOY a drama where politics is the focus. I avoid historicals because I hate court politics and i always skip the scheming scenes in modern ones but Se Ra and Gong Myung made me care/take interests in what they were talking about. I’m still going to avoid heavy politics, unless the leads are really likable

One thing I would change

Hmm this might sound stupid because this drama is ABOUT politics but…the one thing i would change is for there to be less of an emphasis on politics bdjwjd okay hear me out: at least there should have been less emphasis on Gong Myung’s father. That screen time could have been used for the side characters (Hee Soo/Han Bi/Woo Young) to shine more. Or more scenes of Se Ra obliterating the corrupt politicians she works with

My favorite character

Oh this is hard but I’m gonna have to go with Goo Se Ra! I loved her personality, style, sense of humor, and strength! My least favorite plot line in kdrama is the whole “corrupt politics” thing but Se Ra was such a wonderful character that I was glued to my seat just to see if she would accomplished her goals. Se Ra also had no clue how politics worked so it was nice to see her be just as confused by all of it. Also, Nana is gorgeous so that probably has a lot to do why I love Se Ra so much!

My least favorite character

Gong Myung’s dad and Se Ra’s ex-boyfriend?? I don’t remember either of their names but they were trash anyways so 🤷‍♀️

A character I thought I would love that I did not

I figured I would dislike the politicians right from the start and I loved Se Ra + Gong Myung and the rest of their friends so I’m going to leave this blank.

A character I did not think I would love but did

Hee Soo! I thought for sure she was going to be the typical “annoying evil second female lead”, but five times worst because of the politics involved BUT I ended up loving her! I loved the dynamic she had with Se Ra.

If I could read only one fanfic about it, it would be

Goo Se Ra + Gong Myung living in domestic bliss, but also occasionally getting into all kinds of trouble. I feel like Goo Se Ra will always make it her mission to drag corrupt/entitled rich folks. Gong Myung will obviously tag along because he’s whipped for Se Ra fjwkdjd Hee Soo, Han Bi, Woo Young, little Kim Ja Ryong should all make a special appearance! I can just imagine them chilling at the comic/book store going over plans and goofing off. Basically: if I could only read one fanfic about Into the Ring I just want to see my favorite characters do what they do best. But make it extra fluffy!

Send me a drama and I’ll answer these questions!

[noah-moth-cursed-chaos]

Trilby felt this heist was almost *too* easy. But hey if someone wanted to drop all his dreams into the palm of his hand he was certainly not one to say no. He quietly mumbled to himself his checklist as he lowered himself to the gorgeous ruby, making sure he’d done everything he needed. Alarms disabled, phones and cameras deactivated, all sensors and traps accounted, the warning system neutralized. He really had thought of everything. Except one thing.

“Hoy! What’s your game?!” A tall man with messy red hair turned to face him, reaching into a trench coat. Trilby froze, staring at him in disbelief.

“There’s always one more thing to do.” He sighed to himself irritably.

The man demanded to know who Trilby was, he rambled off his usual rant, blah blah blah shadows blah blah blah nobody.

“Geez, I didn’t need your life story you pasty faced weirdo.”

Trilby repeated the man’s description to himself, confused, before realizing, “I FORGOT MY F^CKING MASK!”

Shockingly, the man did not shoot him, didn’t take a picture, or any of that in response to the realization that Trilby was most certainly a robber. Trilby was *going* to just grab the ruby and go but. Gosh this man had no smarts to him, it’d be a bit unfair to the poor moron wouldn’t it? He sighed as he just stood by the ruby, waiting. Might as well give the man a fair chance.

When he returned he expressed his surprise that Trilby had actually taken the time to wait, to which the cat burglar rolled his eyes, “Oh no problem. It’s just that I’m really not comfortable outwitting idiots. Makes me feel guilty.”

“Hey, I’m not an idiot!” The guard seemed rather annoyed with the other’s referral to him as such. Trilby smirked at that response, well then it’d be no skin off his nose to just grab the gem and run would it?

Chris cursed to himself, why didn’t he just take the easy job?! He booked it after the man, shouting some impressive insults and profanities. Despite his best efforts however, the cat burglar was faster and far more graceful than Chris. At one point the man turned to face Chris, tossing something at him. Before he knew it the entire room was filled with thick smoke and the robber was nowhere to be seen. “... sh^t.” He was so getting fired for this.

Well maybe.

“Where’s the way out?” He turned to see the man peaking his head around a corner, clearly trying to hide his own embarrassment at the question. Why would Chris tell him that?! No, he simply continued to chase the man. At one point it was really just for fun, he’d realized he wouldn’t be catching the burglar, but hey he was bored and drunk on the job, and this was something to do.

Trilby was more than frustrated with this ‘guard’. Despite not even doing his job, he still seemed more than stubborn when it came to pursuing him. Finally he stopped, maybe if he explained exactly *who* he was the idiot would either back down or take this more seriously. Instead-

“Tag you’re it!”

Trilby stared after in disbelief, “.. what a strange child.” Nonetheless: got the man out of his way. He strolled causally to the front door, ready to walk right through when someone grabbed his wrists with one hand and put him in a chokehold with the other, just barely loose enough to not *actually* be choking him.

“Did you really think I’d just let you walk out?”

Ah curses. Trilby really did need to stop underestimating people... “Look. You don’t seem particularly fond of this job.” He was searching his head for how to get the other to let him go, just sort of talking out his ^ss now.

“True, but I would be pretty fond of the reward to get you put behind bars mate.” Trilby paused, did he smell.. alcohol on the other? A lot of it too. How did this man have such a firm grip while straight up hammered?

“Well, what if instead we uh.. compromised? I mean I’m sure there’s *something* you’d like from me? Something worth letting me go?” The thief really did *not* expect the man to respond the way he did.

The guard released his hold on Trilby, “Wanna see a movie?”

Chris didn’t know why of all things he asked for a date with the man. Let alone a movie date. He also didn’t know why he took him out to dinner after, but he had fun and was thoroughly content with his night. The two were now walking down an empty street, Trilby was looking up at the stars, his hands in his pockets as he walked. He looked like the type of man who didn’t have a care in the world, who believed he could face everything. Chris was more than aware that it was foolish but he was already becoming quite enamored, the man’s way of speaking and holding himself, his confident air, the fact that he’d ran circles around the demonslayer for a full two hours and then agreed to go on a date with him when he likely could have just ran off.

“Well, as lovely and.. odd as this night has been, I do believe I have to go.” Chris was suddenly aware they’d stopped, and that Trilby had noticed the other staring at him all goo goo eyes like for a good three minutes.

“Already?” Chris felt heat rise to his cheek as his mouth moved before his brain, get yourself together, you just met this guy tonight! Besides you don’t even like men... right? “I mean uh-maybe we can meet up again sometime, yeah?”

The thief smirked at the response and Chris wondered what it’d be like to kiss his lips, and how he’d fallen so fast for someone he should be putting in jail. “Perhaps, perhaps not.” Trilby closed the space between them with a kiss that left Chris’ head spinning to the point where it took him a moment to realize that the other had used that umbrella thing to swing off to the roofs, likely disappearing forever. “Wait-I.. I didn’t even get your number.”

Trilby hid being an ac unit on a roof, peaking quietly at the man standing dazed on the street below. What an idiot. He didn’t think he’d ever played someone so thoroughly. He was sure he’d be in Chris’ head for months, maybe years, and for Trilby? Well the night would be nothing but amusing. He’d never seen someone fall so fast, the guard had totally forgot what he should have been doing, too busy paying Trilby compliments and making attempts at flirting. He chuckled to himself, pulling out the ruby and admiring his prize, before disappearing into the night, likely never to see Chris Quinn again.

Figured I’d write their first meeting since I haven’t been able to update the fanfic yet, give y’all some content at least. Trilby just straight up played him. Just straight stole his heart and booked it man. Rip Chris.

[lookbluesoup]

Hey Wyn! I Just read all of your Blue Soup series! I love it all!!! Every word of it is fantastic! I've been wanting to start writing Fanfiction for Fallout for a long time, but I've always been intimidated by the prospect of writing already-established characters and "ruining them" (especially characters like Piper, Preston and Nick, who I plan to make main characters in my story). Do you have any advice on dealing with this?

Hi Anon! Thanks so much for your kind words! ;w; I’m certainly no expert and know this fear personally, but I’ll ramble here about my process and how I try to think about things. Hopefully it can encourage you, too! :D I’ll add the disclaimer that this is what works for me, and what works for me might not work for others, that’s ok! 

First off - writing is for fun. Wanting to do justice to the characters and capture their essence is a great goal, and also a learning process. You don’t have to do it perfectly, nor should you try. Perfection implies there’s nothing more to learn or grow over, which is one, unachievable, and two, the death of innovation. Just do the best you can with what you know, and let your passion for the characters guide the process. And be gentle with yourself. 

Our own experiences and preferences will effect how we write these characters, what traits of theirs stand out to us, how we define their shape, at least in small ways, and that’s not inherently bad. Just like many different artists can draw a character in 100 different styles and that character is still recognizable and familiar (and enjoyable!), writers can emphasize 100 different facets of that character, too. If you’re putting your heart into it, you won’t ruin them. Saw a beautiful LotR post the other day about that, talking about how the movies are different from the books, but the love for the story and characters shows because the people who made those movies were passionate about it, and they’re worthy adaptations of the stories’ spirit. It’s the same for fanfiction.

It’s personally more fun for me to think about the writing process like I’m exploring a character rather than making a statement about a character, which are two very distinct mindsets for me. Exploring is fun, engaging, its ok to change your mind and edit or alter your story as you get new information. It’s like a puzzle, thinking through a character’s motivation, finding ways to incorporate that into a story. Making a statement is more 'fixed’, and implies pushing a narrative as the correct one, which adds a lot of pressure. Personally? I don’t like pressure hahaha 

Still - it’s hard not to feel obligated to do something to a certain standard for one reason or another. My anxiety likes to tell me lots of little lies, and it can be very convincing. When it strikes, working through my nerves is often harder than actually writing LOL

When I first started writing Fallout fanfic, I didn’t post it anywhere. That took a LOT of the pressure off, knowing that none of this needed to, or was even intended to be, shared with others who might judge. These stories were just between me and the characters. It was safe. I could work at my own pace and enjoy the process in my little tide pool. Since deciding to share them, I’ve been really grateful for the support readers have given! It feels good, I’m glad I found the courage to post them.

As for working out that puzzle of what seems most likely for a character, how to capture the heart of them, I love voice lines! Codex entries! Compilations! The best way to get to know a character is to spend time with them. I take Piper everywhere with me, I want to know what she thinks about everything, her character really struck a chord with me and, well, cue hyperfixation hahaha I use the Windows 10 Game Bar to record audio clips and have a massive archive of her voice lines. Flipping through these is a useful tool for me to get back into her “pattern” of speaking. All the Companions have distinct voices and tendencies, which is another neat aspect to writing them. I feel more confident knowing I had access to the source material. Also I just. Like listening to her voice sometimes. Shhh

Other great resources for this are the wiki (which has text files of most, if not all, each character’s dialogue lines and conversation trees) and youtube companion reaction comps - this SOUNDS like a lot of work. But for me at least I love it, it doesn’t feel like work because I’ll be excited looking for specific lines a la “how does she talk when she’s angry”, “what does she have to say about mirelurks”, you don’t have to keep everything about each character in your head memorized - these audio and text files are great archives to find what’s relevant to a scene quickly.

When I got into Fallout, I also got interested in 1950s movies, music, and even radio shows like Johnny Dollar and Green Hornet. This gave me context around the characters, too. For example, Piper’s kickass reporter vibes throw back to a lot of old sleuthing reporter tropes, and interpreting her actions through some of those filters felt more authentic to me than applying her behavior to a modern day setting or my own inclinations. I guess along with that I’d also say, take notes! Have an observation? Write it down in a notes file, or a google doc, somewhere you can sync between your devices and add to whenever you think about it. What stuff sticks out to you as important or defining for these characters, what trends do you notice? If you have bullet points written down, these also make great quick references. Here’s a few screenshots from the terror that is my notes docs:

You can see they’re just short notes or scribbled down thoughts that I can quickly reference if I’m wondering how she might act in a certain scene at a certain time! For me getting into a character’s headspace is often more of a feeling than any kind of scientific research, having easy access to these pointers helps put me in the right state of mind to jump into the creative pool and swim around and get soaked in - character goo - okay bad metaphor. Anyway,

None of these are rules that you have to follow or things that you have to do to get the characters “right”, they’re just potential tools that can help you find information to build off of, and hopefully feel more confident. Maybe something else is more useful to you with organizing or keeping your head clear for writing, it’s cool to experiment and find out what works for you!

[desperationandgin]

5x04 OR: How I had so many thoughts about Jamie and Claire that I ceased to exist for an entire weekend!!!!

first of all, before I forget: I started reading Cait’s first book club pick and when I’m like...REALLY reading I tend to shy away from social media because I’ll fall into holes and then I DON’T read. So there’s that, not that anyone was worried or asked, but! 

I also wanted to compose my thoughts on ‘The Company We Keep’ because it was a lot as far as J/C content goes and it ALMOST feels like overload because I feel like it’s the most we’ve gotten in so long??? So before I start gushing or WHATEVER, what I didn’t like remains the same - militia/regulators/etc. To be fair to the show, it’s the most boring part to me in the book as well, save for when there’s action involving Jamie and Claire directly. And to be even fairer, as I was watching seasons 1 and 2 I was always like ‘lol boring’ but now I go back and don’t mind it at all. I’m wondering if that’s how I’ll feel this time next year when it’s re-watch time.

The only thing that made me ???? was the weird ending but WHATEVER okay let’s just get into what we all care about the most!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I JUST DIED AGAIN????

So, I guess let’s start with Jamie not being able to stop watching Claire with wee Bonnie. Here’s what was weird: that he mentioned Bree and not Faith. I promise I won’t be one of those ‘in the books...’ people but IN THE BOOKS:

“I saw ye with the wean, Sassenach, riding. Ye’ve a great tenderness about ye always—but when I saw ye so, wi’ the bairn tumbling about beneath your cloak, it—I remembered, how it was, how ye looked, when ye carried Faith.”

I won’t lie, I really wanted that line or an approximation thereof, so there’s a tiny niggling of...I wouldn’t even call it being bummed because I LOVED WHAT THEY DID, but just a little like welp, I guess that’s what fanfic is for!

ANYWAY.

Jamie Fraser being soft for his wife holding babies really turns me into a pile of goo that cannot function for days, so jot that down. 

This is also how I like my Frasers - together and stronger for it. Not loving that they’re separating and the preview for next week has me like ‘hmm’ BUT just a couple more episodes and we’re in that back half that Cait and Sam mentioned SO many times 👀👀👀

OBLIGATORY FOREHEAD AND RING KISSES MENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(is it just me or did Jamie have more scruff this episode??? y/y don’t argue with me I want it to be scruffier for my own fic purposes lkdfdsg lmao)

🚨🚨🚨 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ALERT  🚨🚨🚨

Claire Elizabeth Fraser, I am so proud of you. I feel like even a season ago, the mention of real medical advice being total bullshit would have Claire up in arms, being stubborn, pressing her point and arguing probably until Jamie has to come in and be like ‘lol sorry for my wife she’s English.’ BUT INSTEAD she quietly read the room and just noped out and I’m so proud of her!!!! She went straight to Jamie WHAT A RELIEF LOL.

Also...they made too big a deal of Fergus using THAT piece of paper, so this thing with the article was a red herring. You should not relax. You should not think that’s the end of it. Do not forget this even though they want to lull you into a false sense of security. It was too easy.

(I forgot to mention Claire and Jamie not appreciating Fergus’ jokes lmao. I know it’s been stressful but their faces were PRICELESS.)

Now I am not so gracefully going to segue to drunk Claire. Drunk Claire dancing! Drunk Claire being entertained by her dancing husband! Drunk Clarie stumbling in the woods! Drunk Claire ready to find a secluded spot to ride Jamie (probably)! And then Jamie, seemingly stone-cold sober is like ‘so what if we keep this baby?’

AND CLAIRE’S FACE IS WHAT LITERALLY SENT ME BEYOND AND KILLED ME. CAIT’S FACE??? HER EYES??? THEY WERE SO BIG AND THERE WAS SO MUCH LOVE AND I COULD FEEL HOW MUCH SHE WISHED SHE COULD JUST ABSORB JAMIE INTO HER ENTIRE BEING AND NEVER BE WITHOUT HIM AND RAISE 9405346 BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM HONESTLY CRYINNNNNNNNN AGAIN 😭😭😭😭

Okay

Okay, I’m calm now. I can do this. Only a few more thoughts.

Mom!Claire in full effect with Alicia was beautiful. She can’t help it, she’ll mother any young soul that needs it and that’s beautiful 😢 I love her so much lmao I’m sorry I can’t stop gushing about Claire, it is what it is.

Man of the hour Jamie Fraser, willing to go back to the Ridge and raise an infant even though he has plenty of grandbairns now and he hardly gets time alone with his wife as it is - let’s just. my heart hurts??? I feel like I have a stomach ache from how pure this is, how completely earnest he is. My sweet boy would do anything for his wife and I’m just. I’m a mess. I’m a wreck about it. This love is so BEYOND. As much as I thought a sexy scene was coming, this was that soul-connecting, pure love moment I needed even more. Forehead bumps, soft kisses, sharing their hearts with one another - it’s been a long time since I’ve felt so warm and heart-eyed after an episode featuring them.

And then there was the rest of the episode, and it was fine, and I’m sure later when I’m not up in my feels I’ll appreciate it all more. OH, but the Bree stuff deserves more than a gloss over - the Bree AND Marsali stuff. Hold on, let me add a paragraph about them:

I loved Sophie in this episode, the scene where she thought Bonnet had Jem was tense and gut-wrenching, and I said out loud ‘I really wish Jamie were there!!!’ (A thing I did gloss over last week was how badly I wished Bree and Jamie had talked. Why didn’t they???) And then there was Marsali, and Lauren Lyle was pitch-perfect. Marsali’s facial expressions, her confession, her actual point - she was so compelling. I would LOVE more of Bree and Marsali together, but I am THRILLED we’ll be having more Marsali and Claire, too. And Bonnet was definitely out in those woods, right? Ugh. I NEED JAMIE TO BE HOME TOO NOT JUST CLAIRE, PLEASE.

And there we go. That’s it. I’m composed. NOW I GOTTA GO WATCH IT AGAIN!

[tibbinswrites]

Prompt #170: Part 3

So @day-fire​ asked (fist slammed a table) for a part three and made grabby hands... how could I leave those grabby hands empty? I’ve now done prompts for: #1, #2, #4 and #16, #9, #10, #20, #33, #77, #78, #170 (part 1), (part 2), (part 3), #327 and #502 and I’ve finally completed my backlog so I’m not accepting any more prompts at this time.

Also, just in case you weren’t aware, I’m part of an incredible destiel fanfic, art and podfic anthology. Our indegogo page is live here and there are tiers ranging from simply gorgeous PDF copies and all the podfics to beautiful print books with a bunch of other merch like bookmarks and art prints. We are now FULLY FUNDED so this project is a go! Everyone who buys a printed copy of the book now shall definitely be receiving one (and hey, maybe even a hardback one if we make it to 143% funded).

So here it is. The third (and final) part to the original prompt: “Why are you doing this to yourself?”

I hope you like it ^_^ Read the first part here

Read the second part here

Before Chuck’s body even had time to cool (metaphorically of course, there hadn’t been an actual corpse left behind once Jack was through with him), Billie showed up.

“Well done,” she said in that perpetually-sarcastic-yet-somehow-still-serious tone of hers. “You actually did it. I have to admit I’m surprised, it was touch and go there for a while.”

“Okay,” Dean immediately shifted from one fight to the next as he turned to confront Death. “We followed your plan, did your thing and we won. So now, you owe us.”

Watching Billie’s face transform into shocked indignation was worth the demand all by itself.

“My thing?” She said, drawing herself up to her full height, a crackle of dark energy seemed to buzz around her for a moment. “My thing was saving the world, the world that you all live on. I believe that what you mean to say is ‘Thank you’. I owe you nothing and our alliance is done.”

“That’s not how I see it,” Dean insisted stubbornly. “You going after Chuck was more personal than doing us a solid. He was messing with your books and your big picture plan so your beef with him wasn’t exactly altruistic.”

“Dean, what are you doing?” Sam murmured in his ear, stepping forward to grab his shoulder but Dean shook him off, his eyes only on Billie.

“Well you’ve got balls, Winchester, I’ll give you that,” she allowed, looking more amused now than anything, which Dean counted as a win because, you know, even by his standards, he knew that pissing off Death was a monumentally stupid idea. Even Sam’s presence retreated from his side, back towards Jack. “Go on then, tell me. What is it you want? Aside from… oh, I don’t know, your lives, the lives of seven billion people, your entire universe, and of course the fact that your future is your own again. Because none of that counts if my perceived motivation isn’t up to your very hypocritical standards.”

Okay, so maybe she was a little pissed. Nonetheless, Dean ploughed through, his hands balled at his sides, ignoring the warning looks from his family.

“The point is—”

“Just ask me for the favour, Dean,” Billie interrupted smoothly. “It does you no credit to be making demands with faulty logic to try and save yourself a debt. Either I’ll help you or I won’t, but I’ll be more likely to be on your side if you stop insulting me.”

Dean hesitated at that and swallowed hard. She was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. Sure, he made skeevy deals all the time that almost always backfired but at least he usually expected them to. Quid pro quo was something that he understood well. In this life you had to be willing to give a lot to get a little back. Straight up asking for help from a cosmic entity though? That was new, humiliating territory. He had nothing that she wanted from him anymore. He could ask, hell, he could beg, but he knew as well as she did that he had no leverage to stop her from just walking away.

“I want Cas freed of his deal.”

“Dean!” That was Cas, stepping forward, his face filled with compassion and gratitude as he moved into Dean’s line of sight and Dean’s face flooded with heat that Cas could look at him that way, that Cas could still look at him that way. “You don’t have to do this for me.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Dean said, dragging his eyes back to Billie, who was watching them carefully. “I got nothin’ to bargain with, you know that. You don’t want our lives or souls or whatever. Chuck’s already dead and you don’t care if we’re happy or not. I’m just asking, please. Break the deal.”

Billie considered him for a long time, her dark eyes taking him in, taking in Cas and then she was looking past them to where Sam and Jack probably stood before falling back on him. He briefly wondered what she saw… she didn’t like him all that much he was sure and if he had learned anything about her it was that she didn’t do anything that contradicted with whatever her big picture was. What Dean was asking was a pretty heavy shift of the way the stage had been set. But he couldn’t let her just leave without taking what might be his only shot to save the man he loved.

Finally, Billie sighed and took a step back, her grip shifting on her scythe.

“I can’t.”

Dean tried not to wilt, resolutely did not look at Cas. He didn’t want Cas to see the apology in his eyes, the failure.

The entire room was still, not even the dust motes seemed to move. Which was ironic really considering the fact that the world Dean had just helped save was starting to fracture around him.

Dean felt a warm hand on his arm then and a soft voice in his ear.

“Dean, it’s alright.”

“No!” He turned on Cas with all the fury he wanted to direct at Billie, at the Empty. “It’s not alright! How can you just stand there and tell me that you’re fine with being miserable for the rest of your life? How can you justify that? How can you?” he jabbed an accusing finger at Billie, who stared back, impassive in the face of his rage. “After what he’s done for this world, and his part in your plan—which was freaking huge by the way, he did way more than any of us—how can you just stand there and tell me that he doesn’t deserve to be happy?!”

“Deserve has nothing to do with it,” Billie told him calmly. “I told you, I can’t break the deal, because I wasn’t the one to make it. I can, however, make a call.”

And with that, her eyes rolled up into her skull, leaving the blank whites staring out at them all. Disconcerted, Dean glanced around at the others. Cas was still next to him, his presence solid, his eyes almost hopeful. Sam had herded Jack nearer the door in case they needed to bolt, though Dean knew that was more for appearance and instinct’s sake, neither of them were going anywhere, no matter how hairy things got. Jack was staring at Billie, looking pleased if not relaxed. Sam’s eyes met his and Dean wasn’t surprised by the conflict he saw there. He felt it too. He knew as well as Sam did that if he put all his hopes in this and it didn’t pan out, it would destroy him. Sam would back his play, of course he would, he wanted Cas to be happy and safe as much as Dean did, but Dean could see the deep concern there that he knew wasn’t for Cas. He looked away, back to Billie, whose irises were slowly sliding back into place, and the growing puddle of darkness that was beginning to materialise on the concrete floor.

Dean watched, feeling increasingly sick as the black, liquid-looking substance bubbled and rose and solidified into a vaguely humanoid form. There was no face, which was disconcerting as all hell, and the thing’s limbs were just a little too long and… wobbly to be truly human. It was making his brain fuzz over just looking at it. He felt Cas’ grip tighten on his arm.

“What do you want now?” The thing whined, it’s non-face turned in Billie’s direction. It’s voice was perhaps the most surprising thing about it, it was high pitched and nasal (which was impressive considering the thing’s lack of nose) with a slant to the words that Dean couldn’t place. He supposed ‘afterlife dimension’ came with its own accent.

“The angel wants out of his deal,” Billie said. “The humans wish to make what I’m sure will either be a heartfelt plea or some kind of threat.”

“You called me for that? Isn’t this over? Hmmm... I have God and His sister all nicely tucked away and sleeping. Why am I still awake?”

“Look...” Dean said to the goo-creature, and the head swivelled around on a too-loose neck. He stared at where he thought the eyes should be, trying not to be creeped out by the fact he had no idea if his gaze was being returned or not. He also wasn’t sure what tack to try here. He had no more leverage over this thing than he did the Grim Reaper, would it respect a strong stance or was grovelling the way to go? He would do it, if that’s what it took to let Cas live the rest of his life chasing joy. Hell, he would get down on his knees if it meant that he could finally return the words Cas had voiced not three weeks ago. His mind was spinning, but coming up a blank.

So Sam stepped up, taking slow, measured steps to stand at Dean’s other shoulder. “You’ve helped us out before, done Jack a solid when you let him come back and we appreciate that. We also know that you’ve got some issues with Cas and we’d really like to resolve those so that… so you don’t take him.”

“Yeah,” Jack piped up, moving to Cas’ other side. “We’d really rather he stay with us. Without giving up his happiness.”

“Cas is the main reason you still have a place to go back to,” Dean added. “Can’t you just give him a pass? More than anyone he’s earned that.”

“The little shit woke me up!” The creature screeched at them out of its non-mouth. “I haven’t been woken up in the history of ever until that feathered moron came along. All he had to do was sleep, yes, and he couldn’t even do that! So I’m taking him when I damn well please. I gave up my legitimate claim to you, nephilim, just to squeeze out every drop of revenge. You think I’ll go back on that now? Oh, no, no, no, not when the due date is so close, am I right?”

Dean blinked, suddenly getting the feeling that the Empty had stopped talking to them at some point and had started addressing Cas, who he felt perfectly still beside him.

“Am I right, angel?” The thing cooed, “You almost have your happy, don’t you? You’re holding it back by a mere membrane. And now it stands right next to you and tries to get me to change my mind. That has to be nice… seeing how he cares. How they all care.”

Cas said nothing, but in a quick glance Dean saw his lips press together, his eyes lower. The submission hurt Dean more than any outburst of rage at this creature who had stolen all the things that people lived for, everything that Cas had fallen for and given so much of himself to protect. It wasn’t fair that he was now just as cut off from it as when he was a mindless automaton. He should be angry.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me,” he said, still looking down at the floor. “But if this deal breaks, Jack’s soul is forfeit, and I can’t—”

“No it’s not.”

Every head turned to look at Billie, who was the picture of nonchalance, except for the gleam in her eye. “Jack’s soul will go to heaven.”

The Empty spluttered. “I think you’ll find nephilim are my jurisdiction.”

“They are,” Billie agreed, “but Jack’s not a nephilim anymore. Is he?”

Dean gaped in Jack’s direction. The kid frowned, then looked like he was concentrating really hard on something, and then surprise lit his features. “I’m human?”

“Your power was what was needed to defeat God,” Billie explained. “The exact amount of your power. No more, no less. It was never really yours anyway, it was inherited from your father. But you disowned him and chose a father of your own.” She nodded towards Castiel. “That severed the power from you, made your human soul separate from the archangel grace. In reality, Chuck was fighting two of you, Jack, and He was only able to destroy one. Of course, He thought the one worth destroying was the one with the power, leaving you as the other. Pure human. Which,” she smiled at the Empty, “is my jurisdiction.”

If the Empty had a face, Dean was pretty sure it would be glaring fire at Billie. “You’re on their side?” It screeched. Dean winced at the piercing volume. “You want me to break the deal. What? Are you going to keep me awake until I obey, yes? You can’t pull that lever twice, Reaper. I helped you with the old man and the dark one all on the promise that once this was over you’d let me sleep and I know you to be a being of your word.”

“You’re right,” Billie said evenly. “I will keep my promise, regardless of whether or not you help the angel. But I would prefer it if you did. As a favour.” Her eyes flicked briefly to Dean’s at that and a newfound well of respect for Billie threatened to spill out of his dumb mouth. He swallowed it back. He was pretty sure she could see his gratitude. She had already helped them by calling the Empty here, and it would have been more than fair for her to leave them to do the convincing, which he was pretty sure wouldn’t have worked on its own.

The Empty seemed to consider that; clearly weighing the benefit of having Death owe it one against whatever pleasure it would gain from torturing Cas. The decision took far longer than Dean was comfortable with and something snapped in him at the tense silence. His hand found Cas’ and he held it tight, ignoring the surprised look that melted into fondness on his left. He felt a hand land on his opposite shoulder and looked up into Sam’s face. There was a soft smile there, and pride, but there was a twitch in his eyebrow that begged him not to entwine himself so deep that he couldn’t disentangle himself if this all went to shit. Dean couldn’t bring himself to tell him that it was far, far too late for that.

“Hmmm...” The Empty said. “Well… There it is. Looks like Castiel just cashed in his happy.”

Dean’s head snapped around. Cas was looking at him, beaming really. His eyes glittering in the low light, radiant in a way that was different from his grace and far more beautiful. The hand in his gave a gentle squeeze, though there was fear in those eyes now, his moment of pure joy eclipsed by the fact that this could all be gone with his next blink. Dean brought his other hand around to clasp their already joined ones, as if he could just hold tight enough, then nothing could make him let go.

Seeing Cas afraid was like an icy fingertip sliding down his spine. He turned back to the Empty, readying himself to throw a punch or to prostrate himself on the ground and beg, or start another goddamn apocalypse just to draw the fear from those blue, bottomless eyes. It couldn’t end like this, not when they were on the precipice of whatever this promised to be, not when they could finally, finally start living for themselves.

“Please,” Dean said, his voice thick and unwieldy in his mouth. “Please let him stay with me.”

The creature hummed again, an irritating sound that buried into his skull. “Alright.”

It flicked one of its (too bendy) arms in Cas’ direction and the angel cried out in pain, dropping to the floor like a sack of bricks and dragging Dean down too where their hands were still clasped.

“Cas!” Dean yelled as Cas began a low moan that rose in volume and pitch and agony until it was a scream, and then his back arched so dramatically Dean heard it crack, and Cas’ eyes widened to the point of popping. In the next painful convulsion, Cas ripped his hand away from Dean’s.

“Cas!” Dean cried again, scrambling to get it back, to offer what little comfort he could. If these were going to be Cas’ last moments, Dean couldn’t bear the thought that he would have to endure them alone.

Cas’ lips were moving, but all that was escaping was a wordless scream. Dean shook his head, not understanding as Cas’ agitation only grew. He looked around at each member of his family crouched next to him, and terror dominated his expression.

“Eyes!” The word was strangled. “Help—”

Suddenly, the sound of Cas’ screams cut out at the same moment the world turned black. Dean’s vocal chords strained around Cas’ name, around Sam’s name, but he couldn’t hear either. He felt Cas in front of him, writhing and solid and silent, felt the hard concrete under his knees, felt the fabric of a jacket as he reached out blindly with his other hand. But all he saw was blackness. Fear roared inside him. He couldn’t see his family, he didn’t know what was happening to Cas. Had he gone blind? Deaf? Was Cas looking to him for a final comfort?

Worst of all was when Cas’ hand went limp.

Dean was pretty sure he was losing his mind. He was sure he was screaming, sure he was yelling himself hoarse, cursing the Empty, Billie, God. He dropped his hand from what he was pretty sure was Sam’s shoulder and moving it to his own face. He felt wetness there, sweat or tears he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that Cas wasn’t moving and he had no idea what to do except clutch that hand in between both his own and hope.

Just as suddenly as it had vanished, sound returned. He heard his own name in Sam’s voice and a moment later, his brother’s scared face materialised in front of him, and Jack was there too, his own face pale and scrunched in confusion and discomfort as he shook himself. There was also a horrible, burbling sound that it took him far too long to realise was coming from him. He took a deep breath to stop it and looked over at where the Empty and Billie had been stood.

They were gone.

“What the hell was that?” Dean asked, his voice raspy and worn out.

“No idea,” Sam said, looking a little ill. “But it really sucked.”

“Yeah.” As the adrenaline leaked away from his brain, leaving his extremities tingling, he flexed his hand and found he was still holding onto something.

Cas!

With a jolt, Dean looked at the still figure lying on the ground. His eyes were closed and there were black shapes on the floor extending from his shoulders.

“No,” He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut again, flashbacks of a cabin, of another joyous moment turned to ash, of a grief so heavy he’d buckled under it the first time, how could anyone ask him to even lift it now?

He heard Sam swallow next to him, clearly floundering for whatever words he thought Dean needed to hear.

He heard Jack’s breath hitch, then. “Wait. Look!”

Dean blinked heavily. Jack was staring at the black marks, then he reached forward and picked up a feather. Four inches long and inky black, the thing gleamed in the poor light. Despite the urgent pleas of his heart, Dean looked more closely at what he had assumed to be just scorch marks. There were more feathers. Loads of them, filling in gaps in the patchy outlines of Cas’ wings. They were how Cas’ wings had looked the last time Dean had seen their shadows; there weren’t enough feathers to make the wings complete, Cas had shed plenty over the years after all, but there were still dozens of them. All the feathers Cas had had left, if Dean were to guess. He didn’t know what to make of it and although he could hear Sam’s brain whirring as it tried to put the pieces together, Dean couldn’t quite bring himself to care what it meant. He leaned over Cas and smoothed the hair back from his forehead, numbness crawling its way along Dean’s limbs and tightening around his nerves. He arranged the body how he would if the pyre was already built, pretty sure someone was talking around him but unable to take any of it in. He adjusted the coat, laid Cas’ hands carefully by his sides, fixed the tie.

While he did that last one, his hand passed over Cas’ chest and he felt a flutter beneath his fingertips. He paused for a second and felt it again. Hope surged through him so fast it was painful. He pressed his palm to Cas’ chest and waited. Please, please, please, please, please.

Thump.

“He’s alive!”

Dean began to gently tap his fingers against Cas’ cheek, calling for him over and over again, his other hand feeling the steady, human beat of Cas’ heart.

“Come on, sweetheart, wake up.”

Cas groaned, the most wonderful sound that had ever graced Dean’s ears. All the air escaped him as Cas began to twitch, his eyelids fluttered and he blinked them open.

“I love you too,” Dean blurted out, physically unable to keep the words in any more. “I love you so freaking much Cas, and I’m real glad you’re not dead.”

“Me too,” Cas said blearily, pushing himself to a sitting position, only to be bowled over again by Dean launching himself into his arms. Corny or not he couldn’t help it. He needed to hold him, surround himself in Cas’ warmth and Cas’ smell and Cas’ love. He needed to feel the life around them. “You make me very happy, Dean.”

Dean said nothing, but he shoved his face in closer to Cas’ neck.

After a few moments he deemed himself recovered enough to pull back and help Cas to his unsteady feet. Jack moved in for the next hug and Cas’ eyes went soft with wonder as he embraced his son, finally allowed to feel the joy that such a gesture brought. Sam was next, pulling him into a sasquatch-worthy bone-crushing hug and whispering something that Dean couldn’t catch, though their grins were bright and a little teary as they separated.

Cas then looked down at the feathers scattered on the ground and bent to gather a few. “Angel feathers can be useful spell ingredients,” he said by way of an explanation as he stuffed them into his coat pocket. “And it’s not as though I have a use for them anymore.”

“You know, we could try and find a way… if you wanted...” Dean started to offer, and even though Dean wasn’t sure if the Empty had completely destroyed Cas’ grace or what and had no idea how to even start that quest, he knew with certainty that he would find a way if that was what Cas chose.

Cas was already shaking his head, a small smile on his lips.

“No. I think… I think I’m tired of being an angel. I don’t want to watch humanity anymore, I want to be a part of it. I want to enjoy this, every moment that I get to love and be loved in return is a treasure I never could have imagined before I met you.”

“So… home?” Dean asked, more than ready to start building the rest of his life with his brother, his son and this newly-human man who had never looked like more of an angel to him.

Cas nodded and reached for him, slotting their fingers together.

“Home.”

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Family Fights - Chapter Sixteen

Summary:  Even the strongest bond, the most loving family, can be broken by nightmares, and the librarian is soon to learn this. As she learns sinister things about a person who she had thought was lost forever, she realizes she will need the help of another witch to get her family back.

Notes: Guess who’s once again posting fanfic during exams week

(chpt1) (chpt2) (chpt3) (chpt4) (chpt5) (chpt6) (chpt7) (chpt8) (chpt9) (chpt10) (chpt11) (chpt12) (chpt13) (chpt14) (chpt15) (chpt16)

Five months later

The air of the woods hummed with their magic.

The birds had all flown away as soon as they began their practice, except for a handful of owls and ravens, who looked at them as though they knew perfectly what they were doing. Other than their hushed incantations and the crackle of their spells, silence filled the forest. Even the bugs sat still to watch the witches.

Dueling was a great way to improve her control and strengthen her, Hilda had found. So every other Saturday, instead of an usual lesson, the librarian would take her all the way to the forest for them to practice. After all, it was way more recluse than any park in Trolberg, and they couldn’t very well duel inside the library or Maven’s house. Besides, Woodman liked to come and watch them sometimes.

“Be more conscious of how the blow is going to hit me!” Maven advised after the spell that her apprentice had shot at her was quickly absorbed by her wards. “But you’re doing very good in the pronunciation! Your spells are coming out great.”

Hilda smiled and nodded. Getting ready for the spell that the librarian would cast, she squinted at the book which she held on her left hand. Though her mentor was experienced enough that she didn’t need to say the words out loud for spells like these, let alone consult a spell book, Hilda was still working with verbal incantations. With her other hand, she held her wand, which she used to strengthen her shield shield in case she couldn’t cast the counter spell in time.

Purple sparks flew off of the librarian’s wand like fireworks, and in response Hilda repeated one of her favorite incantations, gronn barriere beskytter meg, which made a gigantic flower appear in front of her like a floating barrier. The sparks completely destroyed it, but they didn’t reach Hilda’s shield.

“That worked.” Maven said as she walked closer. “But the spell I shot you was easily redirectable. Your magic would have been better used if you had channeled the spell and shot it back at me. This way, you just spent your energy in a barrier that can’t serve you anymore.”

When she was close enough, she looked for a specific page in Hilda’s book, reaching the beginning of another section of spells.

“Any of these would have been good. Do you want us to study them next?”

“Yes, that sounds good!”

“Great.” Returning to her position a few meters in front of her student, the librarian came back to defence stance. “Oh, and since it was a fire spell, it would have gone even better if you returned it with a water one. You are doing amazing with earth spells, and it’s perfect that you’re developing your strengths, but I don’t want you to get too dependent on one element, okay?”

Hilda could not help but look down at her bare feet. For their duels, she always chose to be leave her boots at the side. It helped her feel grounded at all times, as well as draw energy from the earth, but she knew that she had to learn how to be ready to cast on any circumstances. Maven allowed her to be barefoot, but she made sure Hilda understood that she should not continue like that when she got more skilled.

They had been dueling for some time, sending spells back and forth between each other since the sun had been high in the sky, so Hilda knew this would probably be one of the last times she’d cast before they called Johanna’s to give them a ride back home. As such, she wanted to finish off with something more elaborate. There was this one spell that she’d been itching to try, especially since she suspected that Maven would love it, so she decided to cast it.

“Falske udode angrep.” She pronounced the words carefully, paying attention to how they felt in her mouth; the feeling you got from things was very important in witchcraft. As she did so, she motioned her wand to make a coffin shape in the air, and in each of the six points where two lines met a glow of spectral light gathered.

“Falske udode angrep.” Hilda repeated, and felt herself surrendering to the spell. She was swaying almost imperceptibly from side to side as her magic worked to turn the balls of light into skulls, and her eyes were closed in both peace and concentration.

As she kept chanting the incantation, the skulls advanced towards the librarian, who gasped and twirled her wand. A golden fox rose from it, gleaming from the magic it was made of. Ferociously, it attacked the skulls as they came, but it wasn’t quick enough to stop all of them. Maven then resorted to throwing strong blasts of fire at the attackers, however she found that they were way too strong to be taken down that way, being continuously fed by Hilda’s magic.

Two of them were already working on destroying her personal shield when she realized, feeling both stunned and proud, that she’d have to use an advanced spell to beat off the energy creatures that Hilda had cast. Lifting her wand high above her head, its tip pointing at the sky, she stomped her foot and proclaimed the incantation loudly.

“Livets bolger beskytter denne manebundne sjelen!”

As soon as she said the last word, purple waves began flowing from her wand, reminiscent of the movement in a pond after a rock was thrown in it. The skulls that had remained emitted a piercing screech as they died out, turning into thick, black goo that was absorbed by the ground, and the waves made even the branches of the trees around them shake.

Maven took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to collect herself. She’d never even used that spell outside of training battles with her mother, and it used up a lot of her energy. Not only that, but her wards were also damaged from Hilda’s attack. She’d have to put them up again later.

She was still panting, completely stupefied by the strength of the spell Hilda had managed to cast, when she realized that the girl must be feeling its effects too, especially since Maven had thrown another powerful charm at her. Running to her student, the librarian tuned in into her energy and realized that her wards were marred as well.

“Hilda, how are you feeling?” She asked urgently, kneeling down in front of the girl and putting her hands on her shoulders.

“Whoa! I feel… kind of surprised, to be honest. I didn’t know that would work so well!”

“You are okay, then?”

“Yes, of course. Kind of tired, actually, like I’ve just run a lot, but I’m fine.” When she came to think of it, her heart was beating madly, and she felt like she could fall asleep any time, but it was nothing that justified the look of shocked wonder that the librarian had on her eyes. After a moment, during which Maven seemed to be deep in thought, she stood up without taking her hands from Hilda’s shoulders.

“That was a very advanced spell.” She said, her breathing already beginning to return to its normal rhythm. “How did you learn it?”

Hilda shrugged, and though that wasn’t what she was trying to do, it dislodged Maven’s hands from her. The witch crossed her arms and hugged herself, avoiding eye contact, a small gesture that in the months they’d spent together Hilda had come to recognize as nervousness.

“I saw it in the book yesterday and thought I’d try it. Why? Did it come out wrong?”

“No, you’ve cast it almost perfectly.”

“But you don’t look happy at all.”

After being called out on that, Maven met her student’s eyes and made herself smile.

“Sorry for being rude, Hildie. You did amazing and I’m very proud of you for that. I have something on my mind, that’s all.”

She sighed and squatted down on the ground, not at all surprised when Hilda did the same by her side, looking concerned for her. The girl’s power had been building as they trained, and Maven was aware of each step she accomplished in her path. Still, it had been easy to pretend that there was no end objective to this, that there wasn’t a goal they were trying to reach, and just as easy to tell herself that if the moment finally came, than it would be only in a very long time, in a way that kept Maven’s hopes alive without her having to face the looming possibility of failure or any harm coming to Hilda. But after this, it would be stupid to deny it that her apprentice was already capable of helping her.

“What sort of ‘something’?” She asked, and Maven felt a pang of guilt at the worry in her voice. Hilda was the child and the student in their relationship, she shouldn’t have to worry about her.

This was the moment she’d been waiting for. The reason she’d began training the girl in the first place. The chance to finally save her sister. And yet, she hesitated for some reason. Maybe it was the fear of failure, or the resentment over knowing that even though she loved her sister, Myra didn’t deserve a second chance when going away was her choice and so was refusing her help for the first times. That was, however, not her decision to make.

“You are ready.” She revealed after deliberation. “You are apt to help me perform the Soul Spell.”

Hilda’s eyes widened, and she jumped up to her feet. There was no fear on her face, only amazement as she considered what that meant.

She’d done it. After all those months, she was ready.

“That’s amazing!” She chirped, but frowned when the librarian still didn’t get up. “It is good, isn’t it? Is there any problem?”

“No, not really. I suppose I’m just a bit overwhelmed. But with that being said… Hilda, will you help me perform the ritual?”

Squaring her shoulders, Hilda felt herself standing taller. Maven was by far the most powerful person she knew, and one of her best friends. She’d done so much for her, and now Hilda had the chance to be the one to come to her aid and show the librarian that her hard work training her had paid off.

“Without the shadow of a doubt!”

_#_#_#_

It took Maven little time to realize that she was the most nervous between them all.

After they called Johanna to pick them up, the two witches spent some time grounding, to return the chaotic energy that they had gathered during the duel back to the earth and warding, since both of their shields had been damaged. When the woman arrived, Hilda was excited to tell her about how she was ready for the Soul Spell, and though there was a flash of concern in her eyes so quick that Maven nearly missed it, she looked way more proud of her child than worried. And if Johanna wasn’t worried, Maven told herself, she shouldn’t be either. The worst case scenario was getting worked up for nothing if her sister did not cooperate.

They would need a whole day to properly prepare themselves to cast the spell, and the next day was as good as any. Hilda said she didn’t have any pressing schoolwork to be done that weekend, so it was settled that she would spend the night over at Maven’s so that they could begin as early as needed. Their first stop after Johanna picked them up in the forest was at Hilda’s house, so she could pack the things she’d need for the night and tell Alfur where she’d be. Next, all three of them went to Maven’s place, where the witches sprawled themselves on the couches, still resting from the energy they’d spent on the duel. It didn’t escape Maven’s notice that Johanna had seemed amused by that.

For quite some time, they didn’t do much, just chatted and rested as the sun lowered down into the horizon. Maven ordered food and they all ate together, arranging the last details with Johanna. After the spell was cast, she’d still need to call Myra forth so she could take the help, and Maven insisted that Hilda wasn’t present for that second part. However much the girl protested, eventually her mother and mentor made her understand that it could be dangerous, and so it was arranged for Johanna to be on Maven’s street just after sunset, so she could be with Hilda when she went home after the spell.

“Good luck, and be safe.” Johanna said as she brought her daughter into a tight embrace when the time came for her to leave. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“I will, mum. Good night.”

After releasing Hilda, Johanna hugged Maven as well, making her blush at the show of affection and tentatively return it.

“You too, Mave. I believe in you.”

And then she was gone, leaving mentor and apprentice alone with their duty.

_#_#_#_

“So… what’s the schedule for tomorrow?” Hilda asked when she entered the room. Maven was going through the uncomfortable process of getting her sister’s bed ready for the first time in years, and she’d asked her apprentice to put their wands in the backyard, near the rosemaries. It was beneficial for wands to soak in moonlight every once in a while, and it was especially important considering their plan for the next day. Besides, she’d wanted to be alone when she put away the picture of her family that was in a frame at Myra’s bedside table.

Even though now it was clear that her sister had ripped it herself, at the time she and her mother had though that one of the Marra had torn it to pieces, and they had glued it back together. It didn’t hurt so much to look at it anymore, but it would feel too vulnerable to let Hilda see it.

“Well, first off will be grounding. I’m afraid we’ll do a lot of meditating tomorrow. It is crucial for us to be in our most connected state of mind possible, it will help us be clear minded at the time of the ritual.”

“Makes sense.” After noticing Freya rubbing her tail on her legs, Hilda picked the catowl up and scratched her ears. She had quite warmed up to Hilda over the time, and the girl was happy to have her nearby. There was nothing like a fluffy animal to ease her nerves, which did exist due to the importance of their situation.

“After breakfast we’ll see to the spell components. We need to cleanse and charge every crystal and carve sigils onto candles. Obviously we’ll also study the ritual during the afternoon. It should be cast at moonrise.”

Nodding, Hilda sat down on her bed, and the librarian sat down on hers, picking up her comforter and bringing it to cover her legs.

“Just a warning-” She said as she lied down. “Freya is looking awfully comfy in your arms, she’ll probably want to sleep in your bed.”

Lying down herself, Hilda noticed that Freya did indeed make herself comfortable by her pillow and she chuckled.

“It’s okay.”

“In that case, we should go to sleep. We begin at dawn.”

Maven pressed the light switch and cast the room in darkness. Though the curtains were open, Maven didn’t live near many other houses, so the only light that came through was that of the moon and the stars. Hilda shifted on her bed as little as she could, so as not to disturb Freya, but it didn’t stop Maven from being aware that minutes later she still hadn’t fallen asleep. She tuned into her energy, and felt her unease.

“Is something bothering you?” Maven asked quietly so as not to startle her, and the little light that came through the window was enough for her to see Hilda turning to face her. So many nights she’d talked to Myra like this, both of them exhausted on their beds but still with their heads too filled by thoughts to go to sleep without sharing them. Seemed ironic to have this experience with the one who would help save her.

“It’s just normal anxiety, I suppose.” When she began this journey, she’d been nothing but excited for this day to come. But she was much wiser and more experienced now, and she knew the importance of the ritual they’d do. She knew that if they weren’t careful, it might go wrong no matter how well intentioned she was. “You are a bit too, aren’t you? I noticed you’ve been tense. Is it because you’re also worried I won’t be able to make it?”

Maven stiffened when she said that. She’d rarely known Hilda to be anything but confident. If she was offended by the possibility of her mentor worrying about her, however, it didn’t show on her voice. It sounded like she was only pointing out a fact, and that even though she hoped it would work and knew her teacher believed in her, she’d accepted that failure was a possible outcome for every situation in life. Maven supposed it did show how much she’d grown, but it had caught her by surprise.

“I wouldn't have said you were ready if I didn’t think you were, Hildie.”

“I know.” She could practically hear the girl smile. “But that’s not what I asked. You can be ready for something and still not be able to make it in the end.”

Maven shook her head, although she didn’t know if Hilda could see her in the gloom.

“You are right. But… that’s not the reason why I’ve been on edge today.”

“Then what is it?”

“Let’s just say” She sighed. “That you’ve never been the one I was worried about.”

Turning onto her right arm to face the wall, Maven hugged her pillow and let herself ignore the rest of the world. A calm feeling washed over her like waves, and soon both witches were sinking into a deep slumber.

[froginvader]

tagged by: @tanccki thanks, love!

tagging: not sure who has done it so yoink it!

ONE ( ALIAS / NAME ): Goo

TWO ( BIRTHDAY ):  February 4th

THREE ( ZODIAC SIGN ): Aquarius 

FOUR ( HEIGHT ): 5′6″ lmao I’m a bit lanky

FIVE ( HOBBIES ): Writing, drawing, reading, playing games occasionally, baking cakes, screaming about my fav frog to my friends until they block m-

SEVEN ( FAVORITE BOOKS ): Last actual book I read was “The True Meaning of Smekday” and I really enjoyed that. It gave me inspiration on how to play my Link muse. Otherwise I read fanfics LMAO

EIGHT ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO ): X by the Jonas Brothers

NINE ( LAST FILM WATCHED ): The Haunted Mansion

TEN ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE ): It use to be watching more episodes but I’ve finished them all soooo I kinda have that out the window (watching them again with friends helps too!). Making icons or screaming about Kero to my friends does a wonderful job....y’all just don’t see it much bc I rp on discord JKGNJGKJBR

ELEVEN ( MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL ): A frog who is an invader. Nuff said