#I'm so so happy with how many people participated in the art challenge

[drones-of-innocence]

Here is the added Youtube playlist!! It's the same songs, but you can listen to them if you don't have Spotify. Hope you'll give it a listen!

It's been mentioned in my author's notes, but I finally wanted to share this. This is the playlist that goes with my story I'll Never Let You Go corresponding to the chapters so far. I'll put one together on Youtube for more accessibility provided all the songs with the specific versions I've been working with are on there. Just in case anyone wanted to hear what INLYG sounds like to me.

[luna-loveboop]

@kikker-oma

Happy Fan Joy July, Oma!!!

Oma, thank you so so much for making Fan Joy July and sharing it with us! Our fandom, our artists, writers, readers, etc have loved seeing or taking part in this crazy challenge.

This is our gift to thank you- from artists all around who were affected by, or got gifts from, or took part in Fan Joy July. We all love you so much- so we made letters/art for this (Zelda themed!). Many said that they had already wanted to make/write you something, and this gave an opportunity.

One of the things I've loved about this month is how community/interaction centered you made it. The challenge was for yourself to make art each day (you absolute maniac /affectionate)- but then others joined. This July we saw or made art or fics with recommendations. Every day you made art for a writer with a scene from one of their fics, and inspired others to do the same, and writers even wrote every day for an artist based off an art piece they made! This led to a month of gift giving- everyone interacting and getting love for creating.

You truly led to a month of Joy for a lot of loz/lu fans- making the name "Fan Joy July" quite accurate

Thank you, Oma

Thank you for the gifts you gave all of us and the way you inspire others

Additional ramblings and art credits below the cut :P

I'm so grateful to all my artists who stepped up so we could do this when I asked- almost 36 hours and 19 artists. The art is like patchwork, with all these different styles, both traditional and digital put together. But that's exactly what happened- we all got drawn together, just like the other month-long challenges. It's so cool how art always connects people.

The artists who participated are @zolanort @la-sera @nancyheart11 @galenfeadraws @shade-pup-cub @arecaceae175 @isasan347 @ghosthoard @smilesrobotlover @unexpectedstormy @skyloftian-nutcase @knight-of-aether @uniquevoidflowers @jinxedruby @windwakingwhale @skyward-floored @xaeorian @blarefordaglare and me Thank you to all of you- You are all so cool and I'm glad! If I accidentally missed tagging or listing someone please let me know I'm so scared of if that happened djskdjdkd

There are letters based off of the colours/theme of each of the Lu boys- it's mainly Zelda and linkeduniverse themed... but we couldn't not have frogs for Oma! I did a frog, his name is Froggy and I'm very proud.

Here's a picture with a list of who did what-

Normally I would apologise for my handwriting, but you guys would just tell me it looks good anyways and honestly it does look good. :D Sorry for the ink splotches tho, and I hope you can read it.

We did this for you, Oma, because... well you are awesome /gen. You gave us the opportunity for a great month and we wanted to say thank you for all the joy you brought us so... thank you :)

Art :D

As for everyone who said they wanted to talk to Oma or other Fan Joy July artists who they loved sharing this month with... feel free to tag and share in the reblogs. Share the joy I guess- there's enough to go around :D

Happy Fan Joy July, Oma :))

[ashers1997]

Obsession

For those of us who constantly wonder what it would be like to date Spencer Reid and be his lover, enjoy ~

Also, yes, this will be a stereotypical Spencer Reid story where he is in a teaching position because it matches my dark academia vibe. 

Ivy's POV

As I walk through the hallways, brushing up against fellow classmates and total strangers, I keep my head down and my earbuds in. I had "Enter Sandman" blasting through my earbuds, lulling me into a weird sense of calm and reprieve as the noise of the school faded into the background. I finally found my way to my classroom. Honestly, if anyone asked me to describe how to get there, I would not be able to tell them because it felt like I had just walked down endless hallways, walked up so many flights of stairs, and did about fifteen somersaults to get to my classroom. 

MIT was not a small school. In fact, it occupied a 168-acre tract in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and getting from one classroom to another was a workout in and of itself. However, despite the campus's size, I am so happy to be here. Applying and then waiting to be accepted was by far one of the most nerve-wracking events of my life, but I persisted. My entire family was surprised when I told them I wanted to pursue a master's in engineering, given that I always seemed to show more of a liking towards literature and philosophy. But that love never disappeared, so I still participate in outside school activities focusing on my passion for literature, poetry, philosophy, and the arts. Overall, I was pleased with how far I had come. I was now in my senior year and tackling some of the most challenging classes I ever had. Countless nights were spent awake in the labs solving equations that I didn't even know if they had answers, and my caffeine addiction had skyrocketed to the point where I was simply waiting to go to the hospital. As for the nicotine? We won't get into that for now. Let's just say I don't smoke enough to reek of cigarettes, but if you saw me on a weekend, no, you didn't. 

I finally walk into my classroom and sit down in the front row. No, I'm not one of those people who sit in the front row for attention. I just genuinely like being closer to the board for the sake of my eyesight, which at this rate was rapidly deteriorating with all the blue light I was constantly looking at. Furthermore, blasting music in my ears daily has clearly done a number on my hearing abilities. Regardless, I sit in the front of the classroom. As I took out my laptop, which at this rate was about to explode or light on fire due to how old it was and due to how many notes were on it, I saw someone who could not have been older than 27 walk in. I almost dropped my laptop on my foot because I was distracted. 

The individual who just walked in was probably about 6'1" with lean muscle, fluffy brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a sweet smile. As I look at them, waiting for them to sit in one of the seats, silently praying he would sit next to me, I watch him set his stuff down…at the podium…where the Professor would teach. I feel my body physically stop itself from dropping my jaw to the floor. This person who just walked in and could not be that much older than me is the Professor or, at the very least, the teacher assistant [TA]. I could feel my brain accept defeat as I quickly realized I had no shot with this guy. Not only was he in a position of authority, but realistically, I didn't even think he would dare to glance my way. 

I see more of my classmates file in, all of which look as confused as I am before sitting down and taking out their laptops. As voices turn into hushed whispers, I see the Professor counting the desks and nodding, seemingly satisfied that everyone is here. 

"Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Spencer Reid, and I will be the main teacher of this class. I am not your Professor. I am only a TA. However, due to some health issues, your Professor will be absent. I will be here teaching about 90% of the time and covering office hours." 

As embarrassing as this sounds, I feel my brain give a sigh of relief. He was only the TA, meaning we still had a chance. Am I embarrassed? Yes. Am I surprised with myself? No. 

"If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let me know, and I will do my best to help in any way that I can. For today's class, we're mainly going to go over the syllabus." I saw Dr. Reid pull out a stack of paper so thick that you would need a clever to cut through it. He walked around the room, passing it out, and I heard him ask for everyone's names. As he started to walk towards me, I felt my body begin to freeze up, and I felt myself have to force my eyes to make contact with his. 

"Here is your syllabus."

"Thank you, Dr. Reid."

"And your name?" My brain is blank. I find myself being too distracted by how attractive Dr. Reid is up close, how delicious his cologne smells, and how smooth his voice is. 

"My name is Ivy." I hear myself say in the quietest voice on planet fucking earth. 

"I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?" I want the floor to swallow me whole. 

"My name is Ivy," I say again, this time a little bit louder. 

"Ivy, what a unique and pretty name. It matches your eyes well." I felt myself smile at his nice comment. I also found it semi-ironic, given the backstory of my name. 

When my mom tried to think of baby names, my maternal grandmother suggested Ivy. When my mom asked why Ivy, since most of the family had rather generic names, my grandmother said, "I don't know…I just feel like one day her name is going to match another aspect of hers…" It turns out my grandmother was right because I ended up having green eyes. When my mom noticed the color change, she excitedly told my grandmother that she was right. Another part of me matched my name. 

I snap back to reality as my brain suddenly registers that Dr. Reid is talking. I look down and realize that he is just walking us through the syllabus, including the week-by-week instructions, assignments, and class lectures. I quickly realized why he decided to dedicate an entire day to going over the syllabus because it took the whole class time to go over the packet. As I pack up, I feel my eyes glancing at Dr. Reid every few seconds, part of me wanting him to notice and part of me thinking, "I hope he doesn't see me glancing at him because then I would have to explain why and no equation in the world would make my explanation make sense." 

Unfortunately, Dr. Reid looks up and sees one of my glances. 

"Did you need something, Ivy?"

"No, sorry, I was just looking around." I cringe at my own sad excuse and start packing up faster. 

"I see…well, I look forward to seeing you in class, Ivy." The way he says my name sounds like he's tasting it on his tongue every time, almost like he's feeling how the name sounds coming out of his mouth. It's a little odd but somewhat endearing in a way. 

"I look forward to seeing- to being in class." It is all I can muster out, and I practically sprint out of the classrooms. I almost flat-out admitted I was looking forward to seeing him in class. I can't make my little crush THAT obvious right at the beginning of the semester. I return to my dorm at the speed of light which if you asked me to calculate, I would be able to because I swear in every class I've taken at MIT, they all ask me to calculate the speed of light at least once using a different method. Now, once again, if you ask me how I got back to my dorm, I could not tell you. I walked down halls of infinity, walked down about a million flights of stairs, and did fifteen somersaults and I was there. 

I unlock my door to my dorm and head inside, immediately throwing my books down on the kitchen table and walking over to my coffee machine to pour myself a cup. I love my dorm. I managed to get a lovely private single which came with a bathroom, shower, bedroom, kitchen, and little sitting area. I spend most of my time in my dorm as it's my safe space, but I admit that the separation between school and home didn't exist. I was always doing homework in my dorm, specifically in my kitchen. I usually had a pot of coffee ready and snacks aplenty. Now, there are nights when I go to the labs to work, but given that I dislike walking back in the dark, I typically avoid that and simply stay inside. 

Luckily, today was pretty relaxing, with most of my homework either being minimal or non-existent. I managed to finish in an hour and a half and then start working on my dinner. I make a frozen meal with ready-made grilled chicken and take it out to my very tiny porch along with the remains of my coffee, water, and a cigarette. I told you I don't reek of cigarettes usually, but given it was the first day back and it was a Friday, I decided to give myself some grace. 

As I start eating, I light up my cigarette and take puffs occasionally. As I'm outside smoking, though, I see someone very familiar walk by…my fucking Professor Dr. Reid. I try and look down to distract myself and hopefully avoid looking too familiar. I felt like I might be able to do the latter, given that I had changed into a sweatsuit, but alas, he saw me. 

"Ivy?"

"Dr. Reid?"

"Hey, fancy running into you. You got one of the nice dorms, huh?" I couldn't help but laugh. 

"I did. I guess having the occasional health flare-up helps." I hear him laugh and then catch my taking a puff. 

"You know, no offense, but I don't know if cigarettes help with health flare-ups." I flick the ash off with a smile. 

"You're right, but I'm trying to get a master's in engineering. Are you surprised I'm smoking? I could be doing worse." 

"That's true I've seen students do coke in the bathrooms before lecture."

"In the bathroom?" I ask with a look of disgust. 

"Like you said, these students were getting masters and PhDs in engineering, technology, computer science, philosophy, and more. They had to stay awake somehow."

"Fair enough. I'm more of a smoker and stoner but to each their own." I immediately clapped a hand over my mouth, realizing what I had just admitted to. I just admitted to my, essentially, Professor, that I was a smoker and a stoner. An awkward silence hung in the air before Dr. Reid let out a laugh. 

"At least you're honest." 

"I am so sorry. I'm super tired, and I have no control over my thoughts right now. I usually only do this stuff on the weekends when I don't have any responsibilities, and now I'm rambling…"

"Don't worry, Ivy, I won't report you. For all intents and purposes, this conversation never happened." Dr. Reid states with a smile. I smile back and take another puff of my cigarette. Then, I decided, for some unknown reason, to ask Dr. Reid if he would like a hit. 

"You want a puff?" "Okay, Ivy, what makes you so bold all of a sudden," I think to myself. I watch as Dr. Reid hesitates momentarily and then seemingly gives in to temptation. 

"I would actually…" He walks up the path to my dorm and takes the cigarette from between my fingers, his fingers brushing against mine, before he puts it to his lips and takes what seems to be the longest inhale I have ever seen. I watch as he slowly pulls the cigarette away from his lips and slowly exhales. I watched the smoke waft up into the sky, which was now a gorgeous collection of pink and yellow hues from the sunset. Dr. Reid continues to watch the smoke with me until it disappears, and then he turns to me and hands back my cigarette. 

"Thank you. I needed that. But this is our little secret to keep, alright?" I nod before taking a long inhale, tasting him on the cigarette and exhaling almost right into his face. Everything right now is tense. There's electricity in the air, cackling and popping like an old lightbulb trying to turn on, and something in Dr. Reid's eyes lit up with an almost mischievous glint. 

"I'll see you in class on Monday, Ivy." Before he slowly starts walking back down the steps, heading down the driveway, and walking away. 

I stare at the cigarettes between my fingers, watching them slowly burn out. I manage to take one more long inhale before I feel my fingers start to burn from the cigarette. I throw the cigarette to the ground and stomp it out, watching the ash burn the ground. I gently touch my fingers to my lips, grateful that I somehow managed to have my lips touch Dr. Reid's lips, even if it was by proxy. 

I watch the sun continue to set, and finally, once it's dark, I head inside and start getting ready for bed. I head into the shower and let out a sigh of relief when I feel the steam hit my body. You know a shower is about to be good when there is steam and the water is so hot it makes your skin red. I strip off all my clothes, and just as I'm about to get in the shower, I smell something. I lifted up my hoodie and inhaled, realizing that the faintest smell of Dr. Reid's cologne had stuck to my clothes due to how close we were. The delicious-smelling cologne that was a mix of figs, vanilla, and musk mixed with cigarette smoke created a seductive and addictive concoction that I wanted to smell for days. I set it back down on the floor, slowly step into the shower, and then lean against the wall, allowing the warmth to envelop me, wishing it was the embrace of Dr. Reid. 

"Why is this crush so intense…" I mutter to myself, wondering why I am so infatuated with Dr. Reid when, in the past, I never seemed to have a crush this intense. I shake the thought off and quickly wash my whole body, shampoo and condition my hair, wash my face, and shave, which always takes so long, before finally getting out of the shower. I throw on a pair of clean underwear with nothing else because my dorm tends to get quite warm, head into my bedroom, slap on some face moisturizer to at least pretend I do skincare, and then break out a book I had been wanting to read. It was a romance novel, which is a style of writing I don't typically read, but the cover was tempting. It was a very stereotypical story where a girl and a guy meet at a small local bookstore and they start flirting blah blah blah. While I typically would make fun of these books, this time around, I find myself imagining the two characters were me and Dr. Reid, making it more palatable. I get to about chapter five before deciding to put it down and try and fall asleep. I turn my lights off, bunch up my pillow, and lay down. As I drifted off to sleep, I could see images of Dr. Reid in my mind, and the more I thought of him, the more I wanted him. 

I remembered the way his dark brown eyes studied me when he first met me and how they lit up when he spoke. I remembered his long, elegant fingers brushing against mine as he took the cigarette from my hand. I remembered his lips tasting my name every time he would say it out loud. 

My dreams soon filled with images that would make the saints in heaven blush. I want his body on top of me, under me, close to me. I want his lips to kiss my lips and every other inch of skin and worship my body like a prayer. I want him so badly. My body, all night, felt like it was burning hot. I wake up in a cold sweat, with wetness between my thighs and the need to take a cold shower immediately. I practically run to the shower and jump in, cooling my body off as fast as I possibly can. I get out, shivering cold but refreshed. I make breakfast and then throw on my clothes so I can go out to my porch and smoke while I read my book and drink my coffee. 

I continue to shake off the memories and dreams of last night as I sit out on the porch and try to read. I eventually look onto the road, thinking aloud, "I wonder how Dr. Reid feels. I wonder if he felt the same way I felt last night and if he felt the same tension I had. Did he have any dreams during the night that made him wake up wanting more? Did he feel nothing?" I shake my head again, reminding myself that he is my stand-in professor and dating or getting together with him would destroy his reputation and take away his job. Not to mention that I could end up getting expelled from MIT for being with a professor. It was a shitty situation all around. Somehow, I would have to keep my desires under control, but the more I thought about him, the more my control wavered. 

Dr. Reid's POV

As I walk away from Ivy's house, I feel my lips tingling. My lips had touched the same cigarette where her lips had been moments prior. Would it feel the same if our lips…I shake my head. I can't think like this. She's one of my students, and there's no way the college would approve of a relationship between the two of us. I needed to get the thought out of my head. I quickly walked to the small apartment I had been renting out for a few months and headed inside. I was lucky enough that I didn't need roommates to keep the place because, after the interaction I just had, I wouldn't want roommates to hear me say what I was thinking about or hear the noises I knew I would be making later. 

When I get inside, I set my stuff down at the kitchen table and quickly head into my room. I walk over to the small fridge I kept in my room, take out my whiskey, and grab the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the table next to it. I sit in the leather chair that had been left in my room by the previous apartment owners, then take out a cigarette from the pack. I light up and take a long inhale, holding the smoke inside for a moment or two before exhaling. I adore the taste of smoke on my tongue, but I can't lie and say I wasn't thinking about tasting Ivy's lips while we exchanged smoke. I sighed in frustration at myself for still thinking about her, but I couldn't help it. She was somehow addicting, and I only just met her. 

I set the lighter and the pack down before picking up the whiskey bottle, popping the cork out, and taking a swig. I pray the alcohol and smoking will help me forget about her, but as I continue to drink and smoke, I feel my body relaxing and lulling itself into a state where all it can think about is her. My body starts to warm up from the alcohol, and I feel it continue to get hotter and hotter from the thoughts running through my mind.  I want her body on top of me, under me, close to me. I want her lips to kiss my lips and every other inch of skin and worship my body like a prayer. I want her so badly. 

Finally, after almost drinking half of the bottle and smoking five cigarettes, I put the whiskey and the cigarettes away and stumbled over to my bathroom. I somehow managed to get in my shower, wash my body thoroughly, shampoo and condition my hair, and do the shortest skincare routine on planet Earth. I got out and walked to my bedroom, not even bothering to put on clothes, given what I was about to do. 

I flop onto my bed and stare at the ceiling as thoughts of Ivy dance through my head. I had only just met her today, and my crush was this intense. I think about how she talked to me, how the taste of her lips lingered on the cigarette, how her fingers brushed against mine, and how her eyes were captivating and bright. My eyes close shut as my body shudders. I start wondering what her body looks like underneath her baggy clothes. Is she lean, thin, muscled, or curvy…all of those body types would be beautiful on her. Then I find my thoughts becoming even darker. Does her skin bruise easily? Could I give her hickies and have them last a week? How sensitive is that pretty neck of hers? How good does she taste…Her taste. It must be heavenly, and I want to drown in it so badly. 

I want to feel her clit twitch on my tongue, and her legs shake as I eat her out, making her orgasm again and again and again. I want her delicious juices all over my lips, tongue, and face. I want so badly to feel her body writhing against me as I hold her wrist down and plunge my cock into her over and over again. I imagine how delicious it will be to watch her ass shake as I slide in and out of her delicious pussy from behind while she's on her hands and knees, praying for me to give her reprieve. I want to see her face contort in pleasure as I either hold her thighs apart or hold them together straight up into the air. I need to feel her pussy tighten around me, begging me to fill her with every passing second that I'm fucking her. 

As I continue to think about doing all of these things to her, I feel my hand, which had once been on my chest, slowly drift down to my now incredibly hard and twitching cock. The second I grab it, I hiss out in pleasure and pain. It had been a while since I had had any alone time to self-pleasure, and I was already pent up. That, in culmination with thinking about Ivy on her hands and knees for me, resulted in a lethal combination. I rubbed my thumb over the tip of my cock, hissing some more and letting out a small moan as I spread the precum that had leaked out all over the tip. The action itself makes my hips jerk up and causes me to moan even more. I wanted to be jerking my hips up to go deeper into Ivy, but all I met was the unforgiving cold air of my room. 

I start slowly moving my hand up and down my cock, starting from the base and going all the way to the tip. With every slight tug and motion, I let out moans that quickly get louder and louder. This is why I'm grateful I don't have roommates because I would never want to subject them to how loud I am when I'm jerking off. In between moans, I let out small sporadic breaths, trying to catch my breath and slow down the orgasm that I feel rapidly approaching. I didn't want it to come just yet. I couldn't. I wanted…no…needed to think about fucking Ivy more. I needed to imagine how delicious her cries and screams would sound after I've overstimulated her and made her cum so many times she lost count. I needed to imagine how she would look with her arms tied or cuffed to the headboard while her feet were tied to the bed or in a spreader bar. I needed to see how blown out her eyes would be as I teased her with my fingers before sliding my cock deep inside of her to satisfy her cravings that I knew she had. 

I need all of this, but my body needs to release more. I feel the orgasm start, and as much as I want to stop it, I can't. I let out a long groan mixed with a growl as I feel my cock release cum all over my body. I feel it hit my chest, my arm, and my face, painting my body in the sins of my imagination. I continue to move my hand up and down my cock until it genuinely becomes painful with how sensitive I am to move anymore. I let out a satisfied groan as the last few bits of cum leaked out, my hips jutting every time. 

As I slowly come down from my orgasm-induced high, I realize that the alcohol buzz is beginning to wear off, and I start to become painfully aware that I just came all over myself as a result of imagining fucking one of my "technically" students. My brain, still clouded with lust, fights to make my experience from mere seconds ago rational, but alas, horror quickly consumes me. I reach over with my non cum covered hand to my nightstand and pull open a drawer to take out the hand towel I leave in there in case of nights like this. I quickly wipe all the cum off of me, then get up, throw the towel into the hamper, and go wash down my body with a washcloth before throwing that into the hamper as well. I sit in my bed and stare at the wall as reality crashes down, and I realize that this is more than a crush. This is now becoming an obsession...an obsession with someone I barely know. Here I am, imagining fucking her in every position imaginable, and she doesn't even know. Hell, I don't know if she even wants that. Perhaps I am deluding myself into thinking she finds me attractive or sexy. 

I lay down and throw the covers over my body. I will be seeing Ivy next week in class. How was I supposed to look at her and listen to her questions and answer them whilst simultaneously remembering that I jerked off and came to the mere thought of her? It would be brutal trying to ignore that part of me, but then again…who knows…perhaps she feels the same as me. 

I shake that thought from my mind, knowing that the school would never approve of a relationship between us, potentially leading to me getting fired and her being expelled. As I try to tell my brain that this will never happen, I find my body drifting off into sleep. My night was filled with dreams that would make God blush, and they made me blush as well. I woke up covered in sweat, my body hot and needy so much to the point where I had to jump in the shower. However, as I stand here now, thinking about last night, my sleep, and everything that happened yesterday while I drink a cup of coffee and smoke a cigarette, I wonder to myself if Ivy feels the same, and if there is any possibility that she wants me to do to her what I imagined last night…

Ivy's POV

I let out a sigh as I put the book down. I had finally finished reading the romance book I had started the previous evening. It was now 5:00 p.m., and since it was a Saturday, I had smoked more cigarettes than I would like to admit and drank three cups of coffee. I had barely had any food all day, and that, combined with the previously mentioned bad habits, left me feeling anxious and tightly wound. I decided that it was time to relax a little. 

I head inside and walk back to my room. I go over to my nightstand and pull out a bowl, a grinder, and a little jar that I had with some weed nuggets left. I have to admit that I'm not much of a stoner, which means that my grinding and packing skills aren't the best, but hey, they do the trick. I take a nugget out and throw it in the grinder, and just as I'm about to start grinding, I remember that I have some herbs left over from the previous time I smoked. I set the grinder down and shuffle through my drawer until I find it. I don't remember what exactly is in the herb mix, only that it was some combination of rose, marshmallow, and something else. I had bought it off of a website that sold different herb mixes for smoking, and since I didn't love getting super high, I often mixed the two together. I throw some herbs in the grinder and start grinding until I feel like it's good enough. 

Once everything is mixed well, I throw it in the bowl, doing the worst packing job ever, so much so that I'm honestly in shock that Snoop Dog didn't appear out of nowhere to chastise me for how utterly terrible it is. However, despite how horrible I did, it's good enough. I grab my lighter and light up, taking a long inhale that I knew would make me cough. And sure enough, I'm hacking up half a lung and desperately reaching for my water bottle, hoping to get any reprieve possible. 

I start gulping down water as if I had just found a ravine in a desert, and finally, my lungs calm down, and the coughing stops. I set the water bottle down and immediately felt the high coming on. "I guess I put more weed than I thought I did." I shrug it off and pick up the bowl before taking another hit. Maybe I'll regret it later, but right now, it feels amazing. I sit in my bed, close my eyes, and almost instantly start thinking about Dr. Reid again. Dr. Reid. Dr Reid. Dr. Reid…It is all my drug-induced brain can think about. I once again find myself thinking about the features that allured me to him. Still, instead of shaking off the thoughts like I did the other night, I now find myself unable to focus on anything else. The thought of him, his body, and what I could only imagine lying beneath his clothes consumes me. 

"God, why am I so distracted by the herbs…fuck I forgot." I slapped my forehead, suddenly remembering that the herbs were some "Love Herb" mixture. When I previously used it, I never found myself suffering from any effects because I didn't have a crush. At most, it made for some wonderful personal time, but it mainly just helped make the weed stretch out over a more extended period of time for usage. However, now, as I lay here, I realize that using love herbs mixed with weed is not the best idea, given my new crush, which seemingly is not about to go away any time soon. 

I let out a little groan and decided to reach over into the same drawer and pull out some of my toys. I'm not saying that my fingers can't do the trick when it comes to having some personal time, but I just had a feeling that it would feel better if I were to use toys tonight. I quickly took off all of my clothes, throwing them to the floor, thinking to myself that that would be a later problem. 

As I slowly spread my legs open, I started tracing down my body, allowing myself to enjoy the enhanced feeling I was having. I trailed my hand down my chest, stopping briefly to softly pinch and rub my nipple, causing me to let out a little moan. "They're always so sensitive when I'm high," I mumble to myself. As I continue tracing the rest of my body, I brush my fingers across my hips, shivering as I imagine them being Dr. Reid's long fingers. That thought alone draws out another soft whimper and only pushes me to want more. I trail my hands down and finally allow my right hand to delicately trace the outside of my pussy. 

The gentle touches on my outer lips make me let out a soft whimper, my body not appreciating that I'm actively teasing it and not giving it what it wants. However, I want to at least take my time a little. I gently run a finger up slip, pushing a little so I can feel some of the wetness leaking out. When I reach my clit, I decide to use the wetness I collected on my finger and start gently rubbing my clit. Within seconds, the tiny bundle of nerves was on fire, and I started letting out more and more moans. It's moments like these that I am so beyond grateful I do not have a roommate because I am not quiet when I decide to jerk off. 

I continue to slowly circle my clit with my fingers, enjoying the heightened experience thanks to the drugs and herbs. I soon find my mind imagining that instead of my fingers circling my clit, it was Dr. Reid's fingers or, even better…his tongue. With how eloquently he spoke, I'm almost positive that tongue could do wonders on my clit. I start to think of how amazing it would be to look down and meet his eyes as he eats me out, my pussy juices soaking his lips, tongue, and face. I think of how good it would feel to have his tongue pressed flat against my pussy, licking long stripes up and down, flicking his tongue against my clit, and tongue fucking every few minutes just to overstimulate me more and more. 

I let out a moan as I start thinking about this and found myself rubbing my clit faster and faster, chasing the high that I could feel rapidly approaching. As I continue rubbing my clit, I reach my left hand up and lick my thumb before I reach down and start rubbing my nipple in circles, kneading my breast every few seconds as well to create more stimulation. Everything I do, I imagine Dr. Reid doing to me in my head, and it only spurs me on even further. As I keep going, I try to remember Dr. Reid's first name. However, my drug and lust-induced brain is struggling to finish a single coherent thought. Somehow, from the depths of my memory, I pull it out. 

"Spencer…" I moan out as I quickly approach my orgasm. I feel the knot in my stomach that had been building started to unravel. "Fuck!" I scream out as I begin to cum. I feel my legs pull together as my hips jut up, trapping my hand between my thighs as I continue rubbing my clit. I let out a string of moans, whines, and whimpers, mumbling the name "Spencer" every once in a while as I think of how good it would feel to do that but on his face. 

Eventually, I feel my body start to slow down, the orgasm subsiding. I let out another soft whimper as I quickly realized that my body was far from satisfied. I reach blindly around my bed and find the toys I took out earlier. One was a dildo, about five to six inches, and the other was a clit sucking toy that was by far the best investment yet.

I slowly push the dildo inside of me, moaning at the intrusion. It had been a long time since I last used this toy, and I was not used to the length or girth. However, eventually, I got it down the base, humming softly once I slid it fully inside of me. Then I slowly reach over and grab the sucker toy, putting it on the first level and positioning it on my clit. I moan loudly the second it makes contact, as my clit is still incredibly sensitive. I feel my hips start to buck wildly again. My body has barely recovered from the orgasm that was mere seconds ago. 

I start wondering if it would feel this good to have Dr. Reid's cock inside of me. Was it this long? Was it a little shorter with more girth? Would it fill me the way I so desperately wanted it to? I moan at the thought of his cock, and I continue to moan at the thought of him using me however he wants. Maybe he would want to fuck me from behind so he could go as deep as possible. Perhaps he would want to fuck me from underneath so I could ride him every once and a while so he could watch me put on a show while he rested his hips. Or, maybe he would want to fuck me while on top so he can watch every little reaction I make to how good his cock feels inside of me. 

I also wonder if he's more of a rough or gentle lover. I would love to feel him wrap a hand around my throat while he peppered me with kisses and whispered prayers of worship against my skin. I adored the thought of him punishing me with either denial, overstimulation, or even something rougher like spanking or slapping. And imagining him tying me up so he could use me however he pleased only makes me moan more. The dirtier my thoughts got, the faster the orgasm started to approach again. I feel my hips start to buck more sporadically, and more and more moans and swears to tumble past my lips as I chase the high I'm so desperately craving. I finally manage to cum for a second time, screaming out "Spencer!" as I start to squirt. I didn't make much of a mess, but I still knew that tomorrow would be the day that I switched over my sheets and did a large load of laundry. 

As I finally calmed down from the second intense orgasm, I felt my breathing slow, and I noticed that the high I had was starting to slowly dissipate. "Fuck…" I groan. How was I supposed to go to class on Monday after I just came twice thinking about my TA fucking me? This was about to me a very interesting semester…

Jumping ahead two weeks…

Ivy's POV

It has now been two weeks since that one fateful night when I came twice thinking about Dr. Reid fucking me into oblivion, and I don't know if I'm delusional or what, but I swear, there is some chemistry happening between the two of us, and I don't really know how to react or feel about it. 

The week right after that fateful night was honestly nothing but awkward. It felt like neither of us wanted to even look at each other, and when I say "us," I mean it because Dr. Reid seemingly wanted to avoid all eye contact and interactions with me. When he passed out assignments or papers, he would put them on the desk with the speed of light and immediately walk away. Furthermore, if I ever raised my hand to answer a question, he wouldn't call on me unless I was the ONLY one with their hand up. 

However, this past week has not been bad at all. If anything, it's been the entire opposite of the previous week. When Dr. Reid brings me assignments or papers, he lingers at my desk, asking me how I am and if I have any questions about the homework. If I raise my hand, he calls on me whether or not there are other students with their hands raised. Finally, it felt like we were making tension-filled eye contact in almost every class. His eyes would linger on me, seemingly studying everything I did, how I was dressed, and what I would say to my classmates. I also noticed that his eyes seemed to get dark every time I would talk to a fellow classmate who just so happened to be male. I don't know if he just didn't like the student I was talking to or if it had a more possessive aspect. 

Regardless of how strange the past two weeks have been, it is now Friday, and all I am thinking about is how good a cigarette is going to taste after this class and how badly I want to smoke a joint tonight. However, despite how badly I want to go straight home, I can't. Throughout the week, while working on the assignments, I found myself running into a couple of problems. Is it possible that I am simply overthinking everything and actually completing the tasks correctly? Very high probability. However, I would rather double-check and have a second pair of eyes review what I finished. However, the second pair of eyes that needed to look over my work was Dr. Reid, and the thought of asking to go to his office hours did, in fact, make me want to die a little bit. 

I hear the bell ring, signaling the end of class, and I start packing up at the speed of a snail. I watch as all the other students start filing out, and Dr. Reid says goodbye to each one individually after having memorized all of our names easily thanks to his eidetic memory. Finally, it's only him and me in the room, and he turns to me. 

"Can I help you with anything, Ivy?" 

"Yes, actually. I was going to ask if you would be willing to set up an appointment with me for office hours so I can come and have you check over some of my work from this week." 

He frowns slightly before raising an eyebrow at me. "I mean no disrespect, Ivy, but based on your work in class and previous assignments that you have passed, I don't see why you would need my help or office hours. If anything, you could tutor some of your classmates with how well you have been doing." 

I blush at his compliments and look down a little bit, trying to distract myself from packing my bag. "I know I'm doing well, but some of the questions from this week's homework kinda tripped me up some nights. I want to have you look over them and see if I'm doing anything wrong or if they're all correct." 

"Okay then, Ivy, I'm happy to set up an appointment with you. Is there any day that works for you?" 

I think for a moment, mentally going through my schedule and trying to remember my other appointments. "Typically, Fridays always work for me. I don't do much on campus, but this is my only Friday class, and I don't really do anything after class minus this class's homework and reading." 

I watch as he walks over to his desk and flips through his calendar, seemingly trying to find a day that works. Now, I don't encourage snooping, but I finish packing up my backpack and throw it on my shoulders before walking over to the desk and watching him look through his calendar, glancing down briefly every few seconds. I say this because when I walk over and start glancing down every few seconds at his calendar, I see that besides our class and another class he fills in for, there wasn't much else on his calendar, so why was he acting like he has no time to meet with me? 

While thinking about the weird calendar situation, he suddenly speaks up. "Would you be willing to meet today, Ivy? " he asks me, looking up at me through his glasses and eyelashes. Something about his eyes looks…dark. I feel as if he is challenging me, daring me to accept his invitation. And, because I'm me, I take the challenge. 

"Yes, I can meet today."

"Excellent. I hold my meetings at my apartment because the school did not offer me any office space, but if you are not comfortable with that, we can try to find an empty room, go to the library, or even go to one of the cafeterias." 

"I would prefer to meet somewhere a little more private than the library or the cafeterias, and while I think we could find a classroom, it would be difficult since 99% of them are in use and active at all times."

He nods, listening to my suggestions, and then takes a moment to think over what I said. "I think you're right on all accounts, and based on what you said, I am assuming that you're okay with studying in my place." 

I nod in response, adjusting my backpack and trying to keep eye contact with him without making it awkward. I watch as he closes his personal planner and throws it in his satchel before putting it on. He grabs a couple of other things from the desk, throws them in his pocket, and then turns to me.

"Ready Ivy?" He asks with a small smile. 

"Mhm." I hum. 

We walk out and go down all the highways and stairs, finding our way outside and to the path that goes past my place and leads to his. As we approach my dorm, I stop. 

"Do you mind if I go in to grab something?" 

"If it's cigarettes, I have those." He says with a wry smile that causes me to blush. 

"Well, I won't grab those, but I do have something else I want to grab." 

He gives me a quizzical look but nods. I walk up the small path and up the stairs before grabbing my keys and unlocking the door. I rush inside and back to my bedroom and grab the lighter from the desk. Then, I walk over to my nightstand and grab the case from my drawer that held the pre-rolled joints that I made the other night. It was the same time of joint I smoked two weeks ago, a mix of Mary Jane and the love herbs. I throw them in my bag along with the lighter before zipping up the pocket, grabbing my keys, and then heading out again. 

Once I get outside, I shut and lock the door behind me and then walk back down towards Dr. Reid. I pray that the smell of the joints doesn't leak through my bag, but that is simply a risk I have to take. I planned on smoking a joint on my walk home so that way, by the time I got to my dorm, I would be nice and relaxed. Dr. Reid shows no signs of smelling anything, and we continue to walk on. As we walk, we talk about everything and nothing. The weather, other classes, and miscellaneous activities that we do on the weekend. 

We finally get to his apartment, and it is at that minute that I realize just how close we live to each other. He lives maybe two blocks away from me, which equates to roughly a ten-minute walk. We look at each other as he fumbles for his keys once we realize we do not live that far apart. Once he gets his keys, he unlocks the door, and when I look in, I realize how similar the setup is. He has the same kitchen and the same sitting area, and it appears to be the same bathroom. I couldn't tell if his bedroom was to the left or right, but everything else was essentially the same. 

He motions for me to walk in, and I do. "Do you want me to take my shoes off?" 

"If you want to, you're more than welcome to." Based on his response, I decided to take my shoes off and pad softly inside. I looked around, admiring how organized the area was and smiling at the few decorations. They were simple but fit his style perfectly. 

"Would you like a cigarette while we work on your homework?" 

I turn around and look at him before nodding with a smile. "I would, thank you so much." 

He smiles and walks back and to the left into what I'm assuming is his bedroom, meaning that our apartment's setup is identical. 

He emerges from his room, holding a pack of cigarettes, and walks up to me before opening the carton. I pluck one out and hold it between my first and middle fingers.

"I just realized I forgot my lighter one second."

"Oh, don't bother. I have one!" I put the cigarette between my lips and set my bag down before opening the small pocket and grabbing my lighter. I flick on the lighter, and as I'm about to bring it to my cigarette, Dr. Reid says, "Wait, let me grab my cigarette too, and then we can light them at the same time." He reached into the carton and plucked out a cigarette before putting it in his mouth, throwing the carton onto the kitchen table, and walking over to me. He leans down a little and murmurs, "Light 'em up Ivy." I bring the lighter forward, my hands shaking a little due to how close we are. As our cigarettes light up, we both take our first few puffs, blowing cigarette smoke into each other's faces before pulling back. I turn the lighter off and throw it back in my bag. 

He motions to the kitchen table, and I sit down, taking a few puffs. I reach into my bag and take out my work. Dr. Reid sits down next to me, making my breath catch in my throat. I suddenly remember how to breathe and sit up, putting my homework folder on the table and moving it towards Dr. Reid. He places the cigarette between his lips while he grabs the folder and opens it. He looks through it until he finds the most recent homework assignment. He takes it out and starts flipping through it, frowning as he reads over my work. To me, this means that my work must be incorrect. However, he never stays for very long on a single page. If anything, he's flying through it. 

"Ivy…" He hums out, looking over the last page, his elegant pointer finger tracing down the page as he reads over it. 

"I'm sorry if it's bad work, I can fix it-" 

"Nothing is bad about it. I'm wondering why you're having me look over work that would have gotten a 100% as a grade." He turns and looks towards me, reaching his first and middle fingers up to pluck the cigarette out of his mouth, tilting his head up before releasing the smoke. I watch as he blows the smoke out, enamored at how beautiful he looks when he does that. His elegant neck was exposed, and I could see his adams apple. I wondered how his neck would look with hickies all over it and how it would feel to run my fingers over his skin and his adams apple and feel it bob as he gulped. 

"Ivy?" 

"Huh?" I shake my head as I come out of my daze and find Dr. Reid staring at me. I saw the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk, and I felt my cheeks flush. There is no way he didn't notice that I was staring at him, and I quickly lowered my gaze to the floor. 

"So once again, tell me why you gave me a piece of homework that you said wasn't perfect yet? What exactly am I supposed to correct?" He added with a smile. 

"I guess I thought there was more to fix up." I take a long inhale of my cigarette and turn to the side to exhale, thinking about how awkward this meeting has been. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I notice something…Dr. Reid is staring at me.

Dr. Reid's POV

I watch as Ivy turns away from me, takes a puff of her cigarette, and exhales. Her neck was now exposed, and I could only imagine how pretty it would look with hickies covering it and my hand wrapped around her throat. I take a long inhale of my cigarette and exhale, continuing to stare and admire how beautiful she is. Just as I was about to say something, she suddenly turned to me, and I nearly dropped my cigarette. 

"Are you staring at me, Dr. Reid?" 

I look at her, and I feel my eyes widen as I quickly realize that she saw me staring at her. I now have no way to defend myself. I could look away, play innocent, do anything but admit that I had been staring at her just mere minutes ago. I decide to play coy.

"I was. Just waiting for you to admit that you did a perfectly good job on your homework."

She smiles and turns to me. "I guess I did a perfectly good job on my homework." She says with a laugh before putting out her cigarette in the ashtray on my table. "Now, for doing such a good job, can you direct me to your bathroom?" 

I laugh and point at it, and she thanks me for walking inside and closing the door. I let out a big sigh that I had been holding in longer than I wanted to admit. I sit back in the chair, telling my body to relax with how tense it was. I start allowing my eyes to dance around the room to distract my mind from thinking about her. As my eyes danced around the room, I happened to look out the window and see something. I get up and walk over, and once I see what it is, I mumble, "Oh no…" It had started pouring outside. It had already been overcast all day, but I had no idea it was going to rain. I walk over to my little sitting room and turn on the TV I had that honestly shouldn't work but somehow pulls through. 

"Storms are expected to start very briefly with downpours following. It is recommended that everyone stay inside until it passes." The weatherman continued to drawl on about the weather, the wind, and the speed of the rain when I heard the bathroom door open. 

"Dr. Reid?" 

"Back here!" I call out. I turn to the door and see Ivy turn towards me and walk over. 

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah, it's about to storm any minute, and the weatherman just recommended you stay inside." 

"Oh my goodness, are you kidding me?"

"I wish I were. Come take a look." She walks over to me and looks at the TV, and I see her eyes go wide. 

"You have got to be fucking kidding me. I was going to smoke on my way home." She says before slapping a hand over her mouth the way she did that one day two weeks ago when she had admitted to smoking cigarettes and weed for the first time to me. Her sentence and reaction made me let out a loud laugh. 

"You are more than welcome to smoke in here. The only rule is I get a hit." She turns to me, and immediately I wonder if I've gone too far. Then again, at this point, we have gone too far and then went a little further. 

"I'm sorry, it was meant to be a joke…" I start saying, trying to save my ass, when all of a sudden, Ivy suddenly starts busting out laughing. 

"Dr. Reid, I'm not mad or upset. I think it's hilarious that my TA is asking to smoke with me. Would you genuinely like to? It seems like we're going to be stuck inside for a while, so I'm not opposed. Just be warned that it's a strong mix." 

I smile at her enthusiasm, incredibly pleased that she doesn't just see me as a TA. 

"I would like that if that's okay with you." 

"You won't get fired for this, right?" She asks, a look of concern clouding her face briefly.

"I am just a TA, so the rules that apply to Professor and student relationships and their limitations do not apply to me. Not to mention that I'm 25, and you're 21 at least, which means we're both consenting adults." 

She nodded and said, "Okay!" before she walked over to her backpack and reached into it. She takes out a small tin and grabs her lighter before bringing it back over to me. I motion for her to sit on the couch, and she does. I sit next to her and watch her as she pulls out a joint, puts it between her lips, and flicks on her lighter. She looks at me one more time and says, "You are absolutely positive you want to do this?" I nod enthusiastically and say, "Yes, Ivy." 

She smiles and finally brings the lighter to the joint, burning off the twisted end and eventually reaching the actual weed and other herbs that I'm assuming she mixed in based on the smell. It smelled sweet, like roses and other herbs, and it actually cut down the smell of the weed to the point where even I could enjoy the smell. I watch as she takes a deep inhale, holds the smoke in her mouth, then exhales. She starts coughing up a lung for at least half a minute and then hands the joint to me. 

"Be warned, you may cough just like I did."

I nod. I had studied the effects of weed on the body, and along with the combined euphoria, dopamine, and relaxing agents, it also could cause extreme coughing, eye redness, and heavy lids. I brought it to my lips and mimicked Ivy's action, inhaling and then holding it in before exhaling and coughing up half a lung for roughly thirty seconds. 

I handed it back to her, and she took another hit. Then she quickly gave it back to me so I could take another hit, and we did that back and forth until we finished the joint, both coughing up our lungs with every pull. When Ivy put the remaining ashes of the cone in the ashtray I had on my living room table, she sat back and let out a small laugh. "I am absolutely getting high. How about you, Dr. Reid." 

I look at her and watch as she tries to hold her reaction together until she eventually gives up and just lets out another laugh. I assume my eyes must be super red, so I get up and stumble over to my bathroom to take a look. My eyes are bloodshot, my lids are drooping, and it is abundantly clear that I am high. This gets me laughing, too, and I yell back, "I'd say I'm doing pretty good." 

I walk back out and join her once again on the couch. I then decide in my infinite wisdom to blurt out, "So what do you do when you're high." 

I watch as Ivy thinks for a moment before she manages to blurt out, "Well, you could play a game, watch a show, or a movie, which I know a lot of people do. Other people masturbate when they're high as well." Ivy trails off at the end, not slapping a hand over her mouth like she tends to, but she definitely has a look of shock on her face that I could tell came from the fact that she just said that last part out loud. My brain, deciding that this was my only chance to make some kind of move, influences me to say, "How does it feel to masturbate when you're high? Does the drug make it a heightened experience? I mean, based on my studies, it would, but I've never dabbled so…" 

I trail off, a part of me dying inside at the realization that I just decided to ask Ivy how masturbation when high feels, thereby implying that she does it. I was about to open my mouth and apologize for my crude sentence, but just as I was about to, I heard Ivy say, "I find the heightened experience to be heavenly." 

I look over at her, the last working part of my brain realizing that she just admitted to me, her TA and essentially her Professor, that she jerks off and likes the experience when high because it makes everything feel better. With this new information, I get bolder, and I feel my brain running at a million miles a second, not allowing myself enough time between thinking of a new question and asking the question. Because of this, I blurt out my next question: "And what do you think about when doing that, Ivy?" 

I'm surprised at how randomly bold I am right now, but what can I say? I get curious. 

She turns her face away from me, her face redder than I have ever seen it, and she starts to stumble over her words.

"Well I…I usually think of…it changes between…" I listen as she stumbles over her words, eyes avoiding mine as if looking at me would give her the bubonic plague. Despite my inebriated state, part of my brain is still able to understand basic psychology. Because of this, it was at this moment that I realized her nervousness and behaviors came from the fact that she didn't want to admit she thinks of me when she does it…Ivy thinks of me, her TA, while she jerks off when high. When I realized my discovery, I decided to ask her if I was correct.

"You think about me, don't you, Ivy?" She looks at me, eyes wide, filled with a mix of shock and shame, before lowering her gaze and nodding silently. 

"Awwww, what's the matter, Ivy?" I ask in a, I'll admit, somewhat taunting voice.

She turns towards me, and I smile at her reaction. Her eyes seem to get wider, her face even redder, and her mouth continues to open and close while trying to come up with an answer. 

"I thought you would be upset…" she finally mumbles. I lean in, cupping her face in my hand and pushing her chin up to force her to meet my gaze. When she blindly obeys, I feel a shiver run down my spine and throughout my whole body. This beautiful girl was so malleable, and I could ruin her so quickly and make her love it. 

"Not at all, Ivy, after all…you aren't the only one who's been having some dirty dreams…" Before she can respond to my admittance of guilt, I swoop in and capture her lips in a kiss. They were everything I imagined and more. Her lips were sweet and pillowy, and that, mixed with the taste of cigarette smoke, herbs, and weed, made for a deadly and seductive concoction. I flick my tongue out and flick and swipe against hers in a testing and tempting way, making her do the same back to me. I kiss her again before pulling away, and the look in her eyes…fuck, that needy look…I wanted to make her look at me that way but cum drunk as well. I need to see her melt for me.

I gently trail my hand down from her jaw to her neck, which causes her to shiver, and I hear the softest whimper escape past her lips. 

"You like this, don't you, Ivy…" I mumble, my drug-induced brain unable to keep up the wall that would hide my feelings for her. All I could do now was accept the fact that the imaginary line we were not supposed to cross had been crossed, and I may as well indulge myself. 

"Mhmmm…" She hums out as her lips remain on mine, capturing me in an endless kiss that feels heavenly and sinful. We continue kissing, and as we do, I start slowly bringing my left hand forward, blindly feeling around until my left-hand finds her right thigh. I grip it lightly, causing her to let out another breathy whimper against my lips. I smirk against her lips before moving my hand up and finally finding her hip. I grip it, and as I do, I bring my right hand down from her delicate neck and grab her left hip. The stimulation caused by both of my hands gripping her hips makes her shiver. I decide at this moment to essentially drag her by her hips onto me and position her so she's sitting on me, her legs on either side of my torso, essentially trapping me in. I feel her move her hands up my chest until she reaches my neck and wraps her arms around it. 

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she pulls away. Her eyes are still closed, and she takes a deep breath before opening them and looking at me. 

"Well then…" She sighs, and I laugh.

"You like that." I hum out, to which she responds with another, "Mhmmm…"

"Good." I saw, my voice low and gravelly from being relaxed by the weed. "Because I'm not done playing with you yet." I see her eyes go wide again before I move my hand to the back of her head and push gently to encourage her to lean forward and kiss me, which she does very quickly. She lets out a long moan into my mouth, which makes me respond with a moan as well. 

"Good girl," I mumble against her lips, and I feel her hips buck.

"Awww, getting needy now, aren't we?" She responds by bucking her hips again, which makes my cock start to harden. 

"Do you want this, Ivy?" I gasp out between kisses. “Because…once we start…I won't be able to stop…" 

“Please Dr. Reid…please just use me…” She hums out, and I nearly growl at how needy her voice is. My mind was numb and swirling with the memories of what I imagined doing to her when I had jerked off, and now I simply needed to show her how good I could make her feel. I grip her hips roughly and pull her forward again so her chest is flush with mine. 

"Spread your legs a little more," I mumble, and she obeys immediately. 

"Awww, you like to obey, don't you a pretty thing? Very good." I position our bodies so my leg is in between hers, with my thigh now firmly pressing against her clothed pussy, which makes her let out another long moan. Perhaps it was due to the friction that the move just caused, or maybe it was her innate need, which now was exemplified beyond belief due to the weed. Whatever the reason for her reaction, it is addictive to hear, and I need to drag more of those pretty sounds out past her lips. 

"Listen very carefully, pretty girl. I want you to grind that pretty clothed pussy against my thigh. I don't care how needy you get, how wet you get, or even if you get close to cumming. You will continue to grind on my thigh until I tell you to stop. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I give her right thigh a little smack at her response, my eyes narrowing at her as she yelps.

"From now on, when I tell you something or ask you to do something, I expect you to answer me with 'Yes, sir.' Every time you don't answer with 'Yes sir,' I will punish you. Understood?" 

"Yes, sir." She whimpers out.

"Good girl now starts grinding," I command. 

"Yes, sir." She mumbles out as she starts grinding against my thigh. I smile, pleased at how well she listens. I lean in very slowly and draw my lips to her neck. I simply have to ruin this pretty neck of hers and mark it as mine. I start leaving sloppy kisses all over her neck and sucking on the skin gently, causing her to start letting out more and more moans. I finally find one area behind her ear that is especially sensitive, and when I start slowly sucking on the area with the goal of creating a hickey, she lets out an even louder moan than before and whined out, "Please, Dr. Reid…please…" before grinding against my thigh in an even rougher manner than before. 

"Aw, what is it, pretty girl?" I whisper against her skin. "Am I making you extra sensitive?" 

"Uhuh." She whimpers out, which earns a smack on her ass, causing her to whimper.

"You know the rule. What do you say?"

"Yes, sir." 

"That's a good girl. So answer my question again. Am I making you extra sensitive by kissing and sucking on your neck and giving you hickies?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Good girl, you learn so quickly," I say in a low voice before leaning in and attacking her neck again with my lips, desperately trying to mark it as much as possible and making them as dark as possible so she would see them for the rest of the week, and so her classmates would see. I want people to see that someone could ruin her innocence and be left wondering who could've done it. Who would Ivy let ruin her in such a dirty and naughty way? The answer is: her TA. 

As she continues to grind her pussy against my thigh, I suddenly feel some wetness start to leak through my pants.

"Fuck…is that wetness from you, angel?"

"Uhu- Yes, sir." She says, correcting herself to avoid getting punished.

"How precious. And look at you correcting yourself before getting in trouble that it…" I hum. I start grinding my thigh against her, causing more friction and causing the wetness that was seeping through my thin dress pants to increase. I take one of the hands that had been gripping her hip and move it so I can feel how wet she is. I grip her hips tightly and say, "Stop moving for a minute." She listened immediately, although she did let out a small whine of frustration. I ignore this and simply move my hand and press it against her clothed pussy to feel just how wet she is, and the action alone made me let out a long groan. 

She was fucking soaked. I remove my hand, and while she stares at me, I lick my fingers, tasting the little juices on my fingers. I let out a growl now. Her juices are so sweet and delicious, and I needed more. 

"Get up," I order, patting her thigh. She listens and stands up, a little shaky on her feet but otherwise relatively stable. 

"Good girl, now lie down on the couch on your back," I tell her as I slowly get up. I look down at my pants and see the wet spot, causing me to smirk. She whimpers when she sees me take notice of her precious little mess, and in response, I lean over and give her thigh a small smack. 

"I said, "Lay down." She scrambles to the couch and lies down on her back, and I smile. 

"Good girl, now lift your hips up, it's time for me to have a fucking meal." I kneel on the couch, forcing myself between her legs. When she lifts her hips, I quickly reach under and grip the hem of her pants and underwear and pull them down in one swift motion before throwing them onto the floor.

She looks beautiful like this, almost entirely exposed to me but still somewhat covered. 

"Fuck you look gorgeous like this," I mumbled while looking at her, my eyes heavy-lidded. "Move up a little bit," I whisper, and she does. I quickly position myself on my stomach, my forearms underneath her upper thighs, with my hands gripping her hips to keep her in place. My legs dangled off the arms of the couch, but I didn't give a damn. My only focus was tasting her and making her scream. As I begin to lower my head, I hear a soft "Wait." And immediately, I stop. 

I look up at her and ask, "Do you want to stop? Do you not want to continue, because we can." 

"It's not that. I just worry about the taste. And I haven't shaved." 

I raise an eyebrow to look at her. "What makes you think you "have" to shave for me to want to eat you out? Furthermore, I tasted you mere minutes ago, and you taste heavenly to me." 

"Well, I've never done this before." She says with a laugh. 

"No one has ever pleasured you like this before?" I ask, feeling my eyes widen as she shakes her head no. 

"I've had previous sexual interactions, but most of them were just focused on the guy's pleasure. Which I didn't mind!" She hastily added. 

I let out a soft sigh before murmuring, "Well, now it's your turn to experience pleasure. May I continue?" She nods, and I gratefully lower my head so my lips can meet hers in a forbidden kiss. When I first do this, she lets out the quietest of moans, making me smirk against her. "There you go, darling…" I mumble out softly before I press another kiss against her pretty pussy, this time eliciting a louder moan from her. I needed to hear more. 

I slowly slipped my tongue and licked a long stripe from the bottom of her pussy to the top and flicked it a couple of times on her clit, which now was essentially eliciting a scream. Hearing her reaction pushed me forward, and I continued to flick my tongue against her clit and continued licking long stripes up and down her pussy. The more she screamed, the more I craved. And the more I needed to make her a mess. I quickly move my lips back up to her clit and gently wrap them around it and start slowly sucking on it. 

"Dr. Reid…" I hear her gasp out as her hips buck against my face. I grip her hip roughly, making her yelp. 

I pull my lips away from her clit and growl out, "That's not what I told you to call me." before returning to my attack on her cunt. 

"S- S- Sir…" She gasps out, letting out whines and whimpers. "More. Please."

"That's it, good girl," I mumble before I started sucking on her clit even harder while gripping her hips to keep her from moving too much. Every so often, I would take a break from sucking and instead start flicking my tongue against it, causing it to twitch and get more and more sensitive with the passing minutes. As I continue to torture her pussy I slowly take my right hand, pull it out from underneath her leg and bring it to her pussy lips. I very slowly slide them in, which causes her to let out another scream at the intrusion. 

"Fuck! Sir…that feels. Fuck. It feels so good." She cries out, pushing me forward. I start moving my fingers in and out of her, curling them occasionally to try and reach the spot that I know will make her melt. I then moved my left hand from out beneath her, snuck it up her shirt, and started groping her breasts and rubbing my finger over her clothed nipple, making her whine at the extra stimulation. She continues crying out to me, telling me that I'm making her feel so good. 

"Yes…please finger fuck me more, sir. Please. I need it. I need it. I need it." She cries out like a forbidden prayer. I continue sucking and licking her clit while I finger fuck her and worshipping her beautiful breasts, prepping her for when I would eventually slide my cock into her and fuck her. As I do this, I feel her walls spasm around my fingers. I remove my mouth from her, my face drenched in her juices, my lips swollen from worshipping her, and my pupils blown out so badly that you could barely see my irises anymore. 

"Does someone need to cum?" I ask in a taunting voice, speeding up the pace of my fingers. 

"Yes sir…please…need to…cu- cum...so badly." She gasps out, her hands clawing at my arms and shoulders. 

"Beg," I order, my voice low, before going back to my previous actions. 

"Please, sir, you make me feel so good. Please let me know. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold myself back. I need you. Please, sir…please, please, please." 

I could've said no, denied her more so I could feel her only cum around my cock. However, despite my original thoughts, I simply couldn't contain myself. I needed to taste her. I needed to feel her cum in my mouth while I drank it up as if it was my last meal, my last drink. 

"Cum." I growl into her pussy, my words vibrating throughout her entire cunt, quickly sending her over the edge. I hear her let out a cry and feel her hips jut irregularly before she starts cumming. She reaches down to my head with her hands and grips my hair, holding me in place and making me growl. She rolls her hips against my face, covering more of me in her delicious juices. I felt her cum drip down my chin as I desperately tried to drink up every drop, and I growled in frustration. I wanted it all. I didn't want to miss a single drop. Eventually, I feel her start to slow her hip movements and start whining as my licking, sucking, and rubbing begin to overstimulate her. 

“Please…sir…I need a break." Much to my demise, I eventually pull my lips away, remove my hand from underneath her shirt, and lean over her. She looks up at me, her eyes lidded, pupils as blown out as mine, and a small amount of blood coming from her lip due to her biting it so hard, trying to contain her screams for the sake of my neighbors. She reaches a hand up and brushes her thumb against my lips and chin, collecting some of the leftover juices before bringing it to her lips and sucking it off. The action in and of itself makes me groan before I lean down and kiss her, tasting the metal from the blood mixed with her cum, quickly becoming addicted to the taste. I bite down on her bottom lip, causing her to gasp, which allows me to slip my tongue past her lips and brush against hers. Her tongue tries to push against mine and slip into my mouth, but I quickly dominate the battle, forcing her to submit. Eventually, we pull apart, both gasping for air. 

I look down at her, not able to get out much more than saying, "More." She nods back at me frantically, and I smirk.

"Undress me." She reaches forward and starts unbuttoning my vest, her fingers shaking, her body clearly still recovering from her powerful orgasm from mere minutes ago. I could've helped, but I must admit I love watching her struggle. She unbuttons my vest and pushes it off of me, to which I remove it and throw it to the side. She goes to unbutton my pants, and I quickly grab her hands by the wrist and bring me to my shirt. 

"You need to earn that," I growl out. She whines but complies and starts removing my necktie. When she does, I hold out my hand, and she gives it to me so I can throw it to the side with my vest. She then gets to my shirt and quickly unbuttons it, and I slip it off and toss it once again to the side. She starts drifting her hands down, looking at me inquisitively, waiting for me to give her permission. She stops moving her hands once she reaches my lower abdomen. 

"Please, sir?" She asks in a soft voice while giving me the most innocent eyes I've ever seen. That in and of itself made me groan. She looks so innocent even though she's participating in the sins of hell. I nod at her request, and she quickly reaches down, unbuckles my belt, and tosses it to the side before unbuttoning my pants. I shimmy them off and throw them away from us, then reach my hands to the bottom of her t-shirt and look at her with a raised eyebrow. 

"May I?" 

"Yes, sir." She says in a soft voice before shakily sitting up.

"Good girl…" I mumble, slipping the shirt off at what seems like the speed of light. I throw it to the side and then reach behind her with one hand and undo her bra strap. She looks at me in shock. 

"You had an easier time doing that than I do, and I've worn these for years." 

Her comment makes me laugh as I toss it to the side. 

"Well, you now know I have quick fingers, don't you angel? And you know I'm agile." Her face turns red as she blushes and lies down on her back. I finally have the opportunity to see her entirely exposed to me, and I run my hands down her entire body, making her squirm. 

"Perfect," I say softly before getting off the couch and taking off my boxers. I see her eyes go wide at the sight of my cock, and I smirk. 

"Didn't expect me to be this long, did you? Or perhaps you did imagine this while you were masturbating in the quiet and privacy of your room." 

She went to answer but quickly fell silent. 

"Awww, are we shy now? How cute. Get on your knees for me." She looks at me with a questioning look before obeying and getting off the couch and onto her knees. I stand in front of her, my cock almost touching her lips due to the closeness. She stares at me, watching as my cock twitches and licking her lips at the site of my precum. 

"Go on, you can kiss it." She leans forward and kisses it, and when she pulls back, there is a line of precum connecting her lips to my cock.

"Now, stick your tongue out and start licking me." She obeys and sticks her tongue out, licking up and down my shaft and moaning as she does so. 

"You like how I taste?" 

"Yes, sir." She says, her words somewhat garbled from having her tongue out. 

"Good. Now get a better one, wrap your lips around it, and start sucking." She does one final lick from the bottom up to the top and then wraps her lips around my cock and starts sucking on the tip. 

I threw my head back and let out a groan. I reach my hand around and grip the back of her head, not forcing anything further down but just holding on to keep her and myself steady. 

"Just like that pretty girl…Just like that." She moans around my cock and starts sliding her mouth up and down even further, taking more of me in with ease. 

"You look so pretty like this. Submitting to me with your pretty mouth wrapped around me." 

She gives a half smile and then continues, forcing almost all of me down before gagging and quickly pulling back for air. 

"That's it. Take a moment to breathe." I say to them while massaging her neck and scalp. She hums in appreciation before opening her mouth, and she starts sucking again. This time around, she gets all the way down to my base, forcing all of me in, causing her to gag and her eyes to roll back into her head. She pulls back after a moment and then, within seconds, starts sucking again. She did this a few more times, taking little time to recover and instead just focusing on pleasing me. 

"God, you're good at this." I groan out, and eventually, I grip her hair and pull her off. She pouts at me, and I laugh. 

"I didn't want to cum in your mouth. I want to do it inside that pretty pussy of yours." Her eyes go wide, and I smirk. 

"Get back on the couch, sitting up normally and facing me." She slowly rises off of her knees and sits back on the couch. I watch as she spreads her legs a little, and I growl at the sight again. She knows me so well, and she knows exactly what I want. 

I step forward and push her legs apart, gazing at her pussy and admiring how pretty it looks, still drenched in her juices. 

She reaches underneath her legs and holds them so they remain spread apart and asks, "Are you gonna fuck me, Sir?" in a fake innocent voice. The scene lying before me is the definition of sin and desire. While I know I shouldn't continue to indulge in such actions, I simply couldn't hold myself back. I needed to show Ivy who they belonged to, and I needed her to never be able to fuck another person again and have her only addicted to me. I need her to be mine. 

"I am. But I'm not just gonna fuck you." I say quietly while rolling my hips, allowing myself to slide and rub my cock up and down her pussy lips. "I'm going to ruin you," I growl out, staring deep into her eyes before I plunge into her. She lets out a loud moan, and I smirk. 

"That's it. Moan. Scream. Make the neighbors hear how good I fuck you. I want you addicted to me. I want you to never be able to have sex with another person again because you know they could never make you feel as good as I do." After I say this, Ivy starts moaning louder and louder with every snap of my hip. Her moans are addictive, a song that I wanted to play again and again, so it's the only thing I can hear and think about. I want to drown in her, and I want her to drown in me. 

"Please…more!" She cries out. I growl, grab her hips, and drag her forward. Her head is on the bottom cushion, and her ass and legs are now hanging off, only supported by me holding her up. With this new position, I start fucking her even more roughly, and as my hips snap against her, she pushes her hips forward a little bit to get me even deeper. Our actions combined start dragging more and more moans from me, making me need to fill her and making me need to feel her cum on me. 

I remove my right hand from her legs, letting it drop. I bring my thumb to my mouth, and I lick it, getting some spit on it before bringing it down, and I start rubbing her clit. 

"Sir…please… you're gonna make m- m- me cum."

"That's the point," I growl out as I continue rubbing her clit and fucking her roughly. 

I feel her walls start to clench around me so tightly it nearly made me scream from how good it feels. I feel my cock start to twitch, and my hips start to jut irregularly. I continue rubbing her clit, and listen as her moans get louder and louder. She starts pleading with me, begging me to let her cum on my cock. 

"We're going to count down from ten and on one… we're gonna cum at the same time. Understood?"

"Ye- Yes, sir." 

"Good girl. Count with me Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…”

"F- five…fou- four…three…t- two…one!"

"One!" We both cry at the same time. I hear Ivy let out a scream, "Fuck, you feel so good! I'm cumming!" that was definitely heard by the neighbors. I follow suit by letting out a long groan and cry out, "Yesssss!" 

As I continue fucking her, I feel myself start to release my cum into her pussy, painting her walls. As I did this, the mixed pressure between me rubbing her clit and me continuing to fuck her causes her to start squirting all over my cock, pelvis, and lower stomach. 

"Fuck that's it, baby. Make a mess all over me and my cock. Show me how good I make you feel." I feel her slowly stop squirting, and I slow my hips down to allow her some level of reprieve. I hear her let out a few soft moans and whines as her body comes down from the high induced by the weed and the high I just caused her. 

I rock my hips three more times very gently and then slowly pull out, supporting her legs with my arms so she doesn't fall to the floor. 

"Sit on the couch for me, darling." She shakily moves up the couch and lets out a long sigh as she feels her body finally relax after having been so tense for what had now been hours of activity. 

"I'll be right back." I saw, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead and walking over to my bathroom. 

Ivy's POV

I watch as Dr. Reid walks into the bathroom, I hear the water running, and then he walks out with a washcloth. He walks over to me and gently starts cleaning off my thighs and the outside of my pussy which makes me whimper since I was still over-sensitive. 

"I'm sorry I know it's sensitive." 

"It's okay." 

"Can you stand up?" I nod and slowly stand up, my legs incredibly shaky. 

"Good, now I need you to go to the bathroom, okay? I don't want you getting a UTI." I nod and walk very slowly and shakily to the bathroom. I walk in, finish my business, and then walk out. 

"Thank you for the aftercare." I saw Dr. Reid softly when I walked into the living room. "I appreciate being cared for after that rough of a scene." 

"This is basic care, Ivy." He says gently before walking over to me. He kisses my forehead again and then gives me a gentle hug. 

"You promise you won't regret this?" He asks in a soft voice. I think, somewhat fearful that I would immediately regret having sex with him or at the least smoking with him. 

"I promise I don't regret anything. Do you?"

"Not at all. That was heavenly." 

I suddenly started laughing, and Dr. Reid looked at me with a confused smile. 

"What is it?" 

"I was thinking of the trope of a professor and student getting together and then thinking about how sometimes it's done to get a good grade. So am I going to get a good grade on my homework and test for this, Dr. Reid?" I say, giving him a coy look and batting my eyelashes in a silly way. 

Dr. Reid lets out a loud laugh. 

"Ivy, I already graded your test, and you literally got a 100%. I told you a few hours ago that you got a 100% on your homework." 

"I know, I know, I'm kidding!" I add, laughing before getting up on my tiptoes and gently kissing Dr. Reid. He leans back down and kisses me with a ton of passion before standing back up straight and turning towards the window. 

"Looks like the rain stopped." 

"Mhm…"

"You're more than welcome to stay for the night." 

I turn to him with a smile and say, "I would like that…" 

He smiles and says in a soft, gentle voice, "Let's go to the bedroom." 

I follow him as he walks towards the bedroom, and when we walk in, I feel my eyes go wide at the sight of the large king bed. I have a queen, but I had no idea a king would even fit in one of the rooms. He walks over and immediately flops on the bed. He pokes his head up and motions for me to lie next to him, and I smile. I quickly walk over and hop on the bed, cuddling up to Dr. Reid.

"Thank you."

"Of course, darling. Now get some rest." I feel my eyes slowly drift close, and I hear the softest. "God I love you…" before fully drifting off to sleep.

[somanywords]

2024 Fic Writer End of Year Roundup

Thanks so much for the tag, @moodymelanist!! It's gonna be a little less interesting today since I only published 2 fanfics this year, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to do a little reflection on this new year's eve. :)

🎲 Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going!

How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

43k! Fun face, that is my 2nd largest yearly wordcount (having only been publishing on AO3 for three-ish years).

2. How many fics did you complete this year?

I completed a solid 2 fics! I had planned to complete a few more, but time got away from me this later half of the year...

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

Oh, now here's a question I can be longwinded about ;) Good heavens, quite a few. By my count, I worked on 29 WIPs, 16 of which were born in the year of our lord 2024. Whew! Next year should be a year of completion and posting for me, if I have my way!

Noble WIP mentions: The Becca Barnes centric "they survive the war" AU that lives in my head RENT free right now; The fake dating modern AU where both Steve and Bucky are dear idiots; The post canon look at Jack and Les's relationship that I still don't know how to finish; and the 5 Six of Crows ideas I have fighting to get put on paper.

4. What was your favorite thing you wrote?

This is so sad -- I have to pick between two like a terrible parent. I shall simply tell you what my favorite things about both were.

For tin cans with string, I had that beautiful clear view of the horizon the whole time. I knew where I was heading with vague island shapes to stop by on the way. For I saw you in a movie I heard it in a song, even though I had to rewrite so much while figuring out the story's arc, it was so FUN the whole time. 😌

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

I'd have to go with I saw you in a movie I heard it in a song -- this was my first time writing for Newsies in a modern AU, which was new and experimental and entertaining. I really wanted to keep the characters feeling true and familiar despite their new setting/location.

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

I've gotten a LOT of comments on tin cans with string with people telling me they cried for parts/the whole thing, which...I wasn't expecting? Like, yes, that fic is heavy and melancholy in parts, but that I created a work that gave readers emotions and feelings is so wild to me. I'm beyond happy about that, from an evil writer's point of view!

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

The Stevebucky fandom is so large and thriving that the Newsies fandom is very small and very young in comparison, so I guess I saw you in a movie I heard it in a song would fit this bill. (Check it out, if you're so inclined!)

8. Who is an artist that inspired you?

This year? Hmm, @quezify and their gorgeous egg art is always inspiring me, and this year I even got to participate in the eggtober challenge! So fun! (And that's probably why I didn't get a fic posted in October when I was planning to...)

9. Who is an author that inspired you?

Oh my gosh, I am inspired by most everything I read. If it's right up my alley, I go crazy and want to be just like it and write a hundred things, and if it's not for me, I spend way too long thinking about how I'd write it more to my own personal tastes. I couldn't tag everyone, but all my friends and mutuals who share their gifts with us are simply incredible and I'm so grateful for them all!

10. Who is a new author you discovered?

Hmm, I'm not sure! I find most of what I read on rec lists, and then occasionally check out an author if they checked off a ton of ingredient boxes for me. My brain is short circuiting trying to recall

11. Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

Not yet!

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of?

Both the fics I published this year were challenges to myself--tin cans with string was a specific set of new ingredients to challenge myself and a start to finish timeline and I feel like I really accomplished everything I set out to with that one. I saw you in a movie I heard it in a song was part of a mini-bang, and that was my first bang event of any kind, and I'm super proud of myself for getting out there and participating.

13. What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

This is a personal one I learned about myself this year: sometimes the clear vision and motivation is there. When it isn't...no deadline is going to force it to the surface. I can finish a project to meet a deadline, but I will not be happy with the end result. There's no rushing the soul of a story.

If anyone has any tips on "growing a muscle" to combat this or creating a way around the problem, I would love to hear it!

14. Any advice you'd like to share with new or aspiring writers?

What @moodymelanist said: if there's an idea you want to see, start writing it! I promise you, others would love to see it too. Also, don't be afraid to really focus on something smaller: one facet of a character, one scenario where the character reacts. Every time I start writing a new fandom, I tend to throw EVERY idea I have into a massive fic that never gets finished. I have to start smaller, start exploring. :)

15. What are your creative goals for 2025?

In regards to the original fiction I'm working on constantly, I'd love to have a few chapters of my novel to share with friends and family. I'm in draft 2 right now, wrestling with inconsistency and plot, but I'm getting closer. Fanfic wise, I'd love to share a lot with you this coming year! 2024 was a rest year for my fic sharing, and let 2025 be a partying year, amen. :D

Whew, if you made it all the way down here, thank you! And I'll pass the tags on to @blurglesmurfklaine @piedoesnotequalpi @tessabennet @zenaidamacrouras1 @dharmasharks

@hipsterdiva @sparkagrace and anyone else who sees this and wants to join <3

[sebdoesthings]

#Sk8ober is #Sk8OVER...

...and y'all were FANTASTIC!

I've been busy hosting a guest the past week, so this wrap-up post is late, but I wanted to make one regardless because I am beyond excited over how this event turned out.

When I first had the idea for a sk8 themed inktober prompt list, and even when I made the graphic, I didn't really expect anyone to participate, since at that point october was only a couple days away, and I know how the neurodivergent brain can get overwhelmed with spontaneity. I was fine with it just being me and maybe a few sporadic posts from friends, because I love this show so much and any fanart I can contribute to the community is a win in my book, and this challenge was a good catalyst to try some new things.

All the bigger was my surprise when others started posting in the tag, some of them I'd never even talked to. People of all different skill levels, across different mediums, with different ideas and interpretations of the prompts I picked (with some help, of course). I am so happy we made so many new art pieces together, and I even made some new friends and mutuals along the way.

So what I'm trying to say is thank you to everyone who looked at the art we made, liked, reblogged, left tags and comments that kept me going, and thank you especially to those who participated, even if it was just for a single prompt! You all made my October so much better.

If anyone reading this still has prompts they wanna draw, or started pieces they never finished but would like to, don't worry about being late. Post that art, use the tag, even now! More art is always welcome, no matter what time of the year! And if this is your first time hearing about sk8ober, feel free to browse the tag, there's lots of great art in there (I'm not biased at all)! Go look at all of it, go on a reblog spree, follow the artists who participated!

And as a souvenir, here's the list one more time:

[sakarrie-creates]

It’s that time of year! Here’s my 2023 art summary! After two years of having to include non-colored pieces, I finally did enough ‘full’ pieces to fill my art summary template! I did have to get a bit creative with the months since I was able to draw a LOT more during the summer, but I’ll take it! Sorry it's a bit blurry. I'm not sure if that's just for the preview or not, but it was a smaller file than normal and since these reflections are 99% for my own interest, I decided it wasn't worth trying to change.

As usual, I got rambly so reflection questions are answered under the cut. The template I used is available here in case anyone else wants to make their own! My fic summary will be coming in a week or so, so stay tuned for the stats and round-up there. :)

What events did you participate in (with art)? Player Appreciation Week, Fandom Trumps Hate, Dear Fellow Traveler (Animatic), Weird People (Editing), SPN Comfortably Queer Zine (dropped), and lots of zine applications for page artist, merch artist, comic artist, and spot artist roles!

What was your biggest challenge this year? While time, like last year, was still a challenge, I think my biggest challenge was a mix of low motivation and an intense perfectionistic mindset. At the start of the year, I got super into TOH and was super hyped about all the zines with apps opening. I really REALLY wanted to get into them and figured I should apply for art too just cause it would increase my overall chances of getting in. After the finale, I did a screenshot redraw that ended up being absolutely fantastic for where my skill level is. I went deeper into rendering than ever before, and somehow it worked for me. 

That probably was the start of my unreasonably high expectations, and I got it into my head that maybe if I could make a whole portfolio of artwork at that quality level, I actually stood a chance at getting into a zine as an artist. From then on, I was hardcore crash-coursing perspective, rendering techniques, and generally trying to improve without allowing room for mistakes. While I do think it helped me grow a lot, it burnt me out so I struggled to work on stuff past summary (when all the zine apps were) and even dropped from the SPN Comfortably Queer Zine cause my imposter syndrome was so strong. (Though that was also partially because it was a ‘sign-up and you’re in’ zine, so they never saw my art during the application process and had no way of knowing if I was good enough.

What was something you were surprised by? I’m pretty sure I discovered the perspective tool is CSP this year! CSP has so many tools I’m not aware of (despite watching tons of tutorials and guides), so it wasn’t super surprising but it was nice. I have to say, they’re a serious hassle to work with and require a higher understanding of vanishing points and such than I currently have, but I could see it being very useful for future scene art pieces.

Did you try anything new this year?

Yes! This year I kicked down the door to the merch world and have been collecting and designing throughout the year. Though the designs have mostly just been for zine app portfolio’s, everything has worked out really well for me and I hope to produce charms for my collection as I improve my skills. Where do you think you most improved? Definitely my confidence in rendering! And probably my rendering itself too. I did a ton more pieces with it this year and it’s definitely a favorite part of the art process for me. I think I’ll have a lot more fun with it this year too, since I’m trying to keep it lower pressure, so I can experiment more to find out what brushes and styles I like most. What are you most proud of? I think I’m most proud of how ambitious I was with my zine apps. Though I didn’t get into any for art and it burned me out a fair bit, I did a lot of hard work and made pieces I can be mostly happy with. As for specific pieces, I’m very proud of my animatic clip for the Dear Fellow Traveler MAP (which is what the Belos art from the summary is from). My portion was about 5 seconds with 24 fully colored and shaded frames. A few of those were moving frames too, so the end result is the closest thing to actual animation I’ve done. I also really like the rendering on the Huntlow Epilogue art and generally how the Steve&Matt hug turned out.

How’d this year compare to your 2023 goals? I honestly couldn’t remember what my goals were, but all things considered, I didn’t do too bad! Thankfully past-Sakarrie was wise and made it a bullet list so I can just check things off. Met: -Player Appreciation Week -Add to zine portfolio -Apply to at least one zine as an artist (fine if don’t get accepted) -Keep experimenting with backgrounds and shading -Pull out some old WIPs -Build more consistency of style

The checked off ones I definitely met, so good for me! This was a very zine-focused year, so I way exceeded those goals. The last two I did do, but they’re a bit subjective. Specifically, I think the ‘WIPs’ I was referring to were old sketches, but most of the old WIPs I revisited were already colored and I was either adding rendered or cleaning them up for zine usage. As for style, I’m REALLY bad at telling haha. That said, my characters seem reasonably similar when I draw them, so I’m going to tentatively count it. Kinda: -One fully colored piece per month

I’m gonna give myself a half check on this one. I didn’t have a fully colored piece every month, but I did have over 12 fully rendered pieces in the end, several of which had backgrounds. So while I didn’t meet the letter of the goal, I feel like I met the spirit of it.

Did Not Meet: -Finish Huntlow comic -30 minutes animatic digitalize rough draft -Maybe make some fanart of my favorite fics

These don’t shock me. They’re all personal projects and this was a very external-goal-driven year for me. The Huntlow comic is a big love of mine but it’s definitely ambitious for where my skill is. I’ve got the whole thing messy-sketched and most of it has been clean sketched, but the jump from that to lineart is gonna be hard, and I have no idea what I’d be doing with color since the panels don’t have a background. That said, I do feel like it’s some solid work and I adore the angst vibe of it, so maybe I’ll get it done one day. I could also see myself posting it as a messy lineart comic so that others could enjoy the concept being executed in case it never gets finished.

As for the 30 Minutes animatic, I still 100% intend to complete it eventually. I love the way it fits to the music and I’m so proud of the thumbnails. Even if it never becomes a full animatic, I want to digitize the frames and line it up with music so I can share the concept I see in my mind with others. My brain was somewhat overtaken suddenly by TOH this year, so now that that’s settled and I’m hoping to follow my muse more this year, maybe this will be something I can get excited about again.

The fanart for favorite fics is no surprise since it’s kinda the tack on. With low motivation and projects with deadlines that needed my focus, personal art like this was buried way below other priorities. It’s a nice though for sure though.

Alrighty then, now it’s time for 2024 goals!! Oh goodness, I really don’t know what to expect of myself. I definitely am going to try to allow for more personal projects with lower pressure, but I do still have some goals. Hopefully most can be accomplished without applying big pressure though.

2024 Goals:

-Number One Priority: Create for my and don’t put myself in a place to get crazy burnt out and still have requirements. If I meet this goal, then it’s okay if I don’t meet any of the others. (It would be sad.... But I would still count it as meeting overall goals.) -Participate in Summergen and PAW Week (Art or Fic) -Design Handplates charm as anniversary gift (November) -Design CS Charm -Have a fully usable Zine Portfolio (Currently need more merch samples and rendered pieces with backgrounds) -Apply to new TOH Zines or other loved fandom zines. If I end up getting into any, I can pull back, but since that doesn’t seem likely, I want to get into the habit of always being ready to apply with what I have. -Make an ongoing project list to pin to my tumblr. This applies mostly for fics, but that way people coming to my page can see what fandoms I’m actively creating for and what they can look forward to (as well as have an opening to ask questions if they’re interested). -Post more (at least 10 times throughout the year) and add my best pieces to instagram (8+ pieces by end of year). -Do ONE of the following:     1. 30 minutes digitized so it can be shared with music      2. Open Up Your Eyes fully thumbnail      3. Fanworks for other people’s fics      4. Participate in an extra bang or exchange with art      5. Design and manufacture a pin -Play with different brushes and rendering styles -Draw something from scratch every month, no matter how small -Not exactly art, but I want to have a finalized long-term merch display plan for all my items Overall, how’d the year go? I think I did well! I didn’t meet all my goals and I pushed myself too far, but I learned and improved a LOT this year. All things considered, I made pieces that last year me would be blown away by, so I think that’s an automatic win. I’m pretty uncertain on how this next year will go (even more so than last year, which is surprising since I was changing schools last year), but I’m hoping to enjoy what I do and create art semi-regularly. Here’s to 2024!

[hillerskalibrary]

Event poll results!

(summary version)

So last week I opened a poll to check what kind of YR fandom events you guys wanted to see and the respondents were... how shall I put it... "very excited" is most applicable I think? ;)

Because I'm a nerd who likes to analyze the results but also doesn't want to chase her entire following away, I'm going to make two result posts:

This post, where I will summarize the results as succint as I can, and address some of the remarks and suggestions that I received. I'll also make a conclusion on what I would suggest to do - feedback on that is certainly welcome!

A second post (which I'll link when I finish it, most likely tomorrow or even after cause I'm slow as fuck) with some more graphs, percentages, observations, cause I don't know shit about statistics but that won't stop me from having fun with it!

Fair warning - it's pretty long. I just find it easier to explain a little about the decisions I'm (not) taking, both to invite discussion and because I don't want this to be a black box blog that does whatever and you never know why. That being said...

Ready? Let's go!

RESULTS

I received 72 responses, 36 writers and 36 readers.

The top 3 most wanted events by READERS is: Big Bang (89%), Theme Week (86%), and Weekly Challenges (83%). The event they were least excited about is Author Interviews (56%).

The top 3 events writers most want to PARTICIPATE in is, in order: Author Interviews (69%), Theme Week (64%), and Fic Exchange (61%). The events they DO NOT want to participate in are Author Interviews (25%), very closely followed by Big Bang and Advent (both 22%).

READERS were (very) slightly more excited about a Wilmon theme week rather than a general YR week. WRITERS clearly preferred a general YR week. For both groups, a YR women week comes in third, and rarepair week is fourth.

All types of weekly writing challenges suggested scored similarly.

(I know some of these seem contradictory, which I why I'll make the second post explaining how I calculated these rankings and why -for example- Author Interviews are both the most AND the least popular event for writers ;) )

SUGGESTIONS

A lot of people wrote in suggestions, which I was SUPER happy about (I closed the form now but if you have any more, please just hit my inbox or DM me at @hilliska). A few people also offered to help, which I'm definitely gonna hold you to when decisions are starting to get made! ;)

Many people were excited about possible collabs between writers and artists.

"What about a "finish your draft/wip" or "write a new chapter on a wip". I have so many languishing WIPs…" I think this is an EXCELLENT idea tbh - though we could incorporate it in the big bang by allowing wips as well. Also, as an FYI, there is also a (non-fandom-specific) Finish Your Shit-Big Bang that takes place every year (though this year's round is close to posting already) ;).

"I’d also love to see more Podfic in this fandom, but I don’t know how that could be an event." I have zero experience with podfic but this does sound (ha!) like it could be fun. Maybe someone has experience with this from a different fandom? (honestly I'd love to experiment with this so hmu)

"Authors sign up to take one shot requests or readers get to write a prompt. Or if readers could submit or vote on prompts or something? Or readers submit a song and author writes a one shot based on a song. Something like that where readers can be involved too :)" We could also easily incoporate this in a big bang - do a prompt bang or a reverse bang (fic based on art) for example? Or maybe involve readers in the weekly challenges, by suggesting tropes/words/... ?

"Write a comment on a fic-week!" Yessss!!!! I am like... 95% sure there is a tumblr-wide event for this already but I can't for the life of me find it. So I could signal boost that or yeah, we could just pin a day ourselves :).

"Group chat/watch" I'm afraid I'm not the right person to organize this kind of thing, but if you've been thinking of doing this and you were afraid no one would be interested - this is your sign!! ;)

"live writing event" Same as above - though I do think there's some discords where this happens already?

"Some sort of collab, where authors get to write a fic together." This could definitely be fun! There is currently one that originated on Twitter called Unlabeled - I don't know all the writers but I recognize at least @yourdemiurge, @skydragon05, @1-life-to-give, and @in-amor-veritas. Which obviously doesn't help if you're a writer wanting to collab, but at least there's people with experience in this fandom ;).

"Maybe a poetry week?" I don't even write poetry but I'm obsessed with this suggestion. Could also be a writing challenge? Not sure about a whole week either, but there's World Poetry Day in March so maybe that can be a mini-event?

"Something not fic centered? Like fanart, edits, cosplay etc." This is one of those things that I'm throwing out there for other people to run with, maybe, because. Well, I'm a writer and I know fic, but I really don't know much about the rest... Which is not to say I don't want to (help) run anything like this because it definitely could be fun, but it's a little out of my wheelhouse. But maybe @youngroyalsfanartarchive can help or knows people who would?

And now what??

Consider the below not as a definitive list but as a stream-of-consciousness conversation starters, so don't hesitate to send me your thoughts.

I will definitely do a Big Bang. Prompt-based or art-based or wip-based or something else remains to be decided, but this will happen. It will not happen NOW, however, because we don't know when season 3 will air. Big Bangs are big events, they ask a lot from writers, and if the s3 premiers at any time between signups and publications, it's going to make everything more difficult. But there was sufficient interest by writers to participate, so once we got a s3 date I want to put a timeline on this.

I'm talking with people about a possible YR women's week. The general/Wilmon week scored higher in the polls, but since we already had that in spring I'd like to switch it up a little.

I would like to do *something* for the anniversary of s2. Don't want to go regular theme week for this because of the above possibility, but maybe the not-fic-centered event could be good for this - we could do favorite episode/favorite non-wilmon character/... which are things that non-content-creators can also participate in by writing a short paragraph, reblogging gifsets/art of that episode/character, ... "Finish your wip" would also be a good one for this though :)

The people behind the 2023 Secret Santa will not organize one this year, but I don't really want to jump in that, necessarily, because there's enough other possibilities and they might be back. But a Valentine fic exchange could maybe work?

The advent calendar idea drew mixed reactions (maybe because it's less well known?) and while I do think it could be fun, there's enough other things that people are excited about, so I'm putting it in the freezer for now.

The weekly challenges also drew mixed reactions - both readers and writers were excited to see them happen, but only a third of writers said they would definitely/probably participate. Then again, half of them said they would POSSIBLY participate. Maybe because it's an ongoing thing, so they don't want to promise they'd participate EACH WEEK but only sometimes? So I'm not sure about this (also because it would significantly up the time required to maintain the blog). So I'd love more feedback on this to see which shape or form you guys would like this to take.

Fic recs scored solidly in the middle of the possibilities for both reader and writers. I wanted to include it because I was curious, but I'm a little hesitant to really do something with it, mostly because it often ends up being a popularity contest and. Well. We already know how to sort by kudos/comments on AO3. So I'm curious to hear other people's experiences on how to maybe circumvent that.

The Author Interviews were the most contested event - even (or rather *especially* among writers (and I secretly think it's hilarious the most wanted event by writers is the one that doesn't require them to write at all :D). I do think it could be fun (though I admit this is a format mostly geared towards writers) to help other writers to find other people to collaborate with, find betas, learn about different writing processes, ... And a self-rec feature would allow for fic recs without the popularity factor. So I'll most likely run this as a (bi-)weekly feature alongside the other events.

[rhea314]

20 questions for fic writers podficcers

Thank you for tagging me @gracieryder and @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove, I feel so included <3

How many works do you have on ao3? 1,559 - which I believe is 1,208 podfic, 179 vids, and 163 fics

What's your total Ao3 word count? 615,783

What fandoms do you create for? I have works in 450 fandoms so I’m not listing them all so here are top couple of fandoms by work-type: - Vid: Nirvana in Fire, The King: Eternal Monarch, and 9-1-1 - Podfic: Yuri on Ice, Teen Wolf, and The Raven Cycle - Fic: Smallville, Stargate Atlantis, and Gundam Wing

Top 5 Works by Kudos: Fics dominate sorting by kudos so here's top two of each category: - Fic: The Rock and The River this Spirited Away fic wins out by a large margin, bubbling up is another Spirited Away fic and in second place. - Vid: Bury a Friend is my most kudos’d vid (Untamed) and Applause is second most kudos (Untamed RPF) though that is my most-watched vid on YT. - Podfic: through a window softly by impossibletruths, an Untamed fic for which I did a lot of music mixing is my top kudos’d podfic, so much so that it actually gets in my AO3 top 5 kudos list which is wild. The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli is in second place.

Do you respond to comments? I try!

What is the work you've made with the angstiest ending? - Fic: All my fics are neutral or positive endings (I think?) - Vid: this TKEM AU where Yeong dies - Podfic: I enjoy narrating big emotions so I have a lot of people-cry-in-this-fic grief/angst and self worth issues stories but often they end on at least an uplifting note. Possibly something in Attack on Titan or X-Men had a and-they-stay-sad ending but I can’t remember something specific to for-sure point at.

What's the work you've made with the happiest ending? So many happy endings (both the emotional kind and the porn kind). I’m not sure I could point to a ‘happiest’ since a lot of them are very happy.

Do you get hate on your works? I’ve had some weird comments but not particularly hate, hopefully that will continue to be true.

Do you create smut? Yup, at least with podfic and fic.

Craziest crossover? I wrote a heralds of valdemar / lord of the rings fic when I was just starting out in fandom.

Have you ever had a work stolen? I hope not.

Have you ever had a work inspired by your works? Very excitingly, people have made vids inspired by my vids which is the absolute coolest thing (Nothing by @nubreed73, and Mei Changsu is Climbing the Mountain by @sandalwoodbox)

I have had fic translated, which is neat.

People have made podfics of my fic which is just delightful and makes me so, so happy as a fellow podficcer.

I've also had people make me fanart/coverart which is super cool!

Have you co-recorded/co-written/co-vidded before? I’ve done a podfic collab where we co-wrote the story together and then recorded the story together. I’ve been part of multivoice collabs of things I did not participate in writing for with both in-person/live recording and recorded separately then edited together. I’ve also done oral not!fic collabs.

I've done collab vidding with @sandalwoodbox

All time favorite ship? I can't decide. I tend to have one OTP per fandom I'm into, but see fandom list it's too long to pick just one ship.

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I’ve got a variety of old files for fics I never got a permission response on that will just live in my computer forever. Some are complete, some needing editing, some are partially completed and all abandoned due to lack of response. I learned my lesson and now do not record unless I have already received permission or the author has BP.

What are your podficcing/writing/vidding strengths? - Podfic: Consistency? Enthusiasm. Emotion (I hope).

- Vid: Picking decent songs?

What are your podficcing/writing/vidding weaknesses? - Podfic: Accents, words not in english, cover art.

- Writing: Doing it without a challenge/exchange

- Vid: I don't know how to do a lot of technical stuff so I'm sort of coasting on my current skill level without challenging myself much.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? For podfic I try! Sometimes I don’t know what I don’t know (see past mispronunciation of French where I thought I knew what I was doing T_T). But having been in into anime, c-dramas, k-dramas, and a variety of fandoms with various languages involved I know I will give it my best shot, possibly fail, and it will take me 2-3x as long to record, but sometimes I can be proud of what I’ve come up with on the far end and that’s nice. Forvo, google translate, and finding friends/acquaintances I know who speak the language have all be helpful.

First fandom you podficced/wrote in/vidded? - Podfic: Spiderman/Smallville crossover: 2008.

- Vid: Eastwick (TV)

- Fic: Heralds of Valdemar

Favorite work you've made? - Podfic: The Ion Arc by Sunhawk - I started recording this Gundam Wing story in 2008 and finished in 2019 and it clocks in at over 80 hours. This was my labor of love for just over a decade and will always hold a very important place in my heart. Have I re-listened to it, no. Do I think it’s the best podfic I’ve ever made, probably not, doesn’t matter, still my favorite. - Vid: I’m not sure how to pick so I’ll just go with my co-vid with @sandalwoodbox Hug Cats! - Fic: I’ll follow the consensus and say The Rock and The River for this.

Tagging - feel free to take up this invitation to answer some questions or not as you see fit!: @sandalwoodbox, @revolutionaryjo, @rollerskatinglizard

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Rules: I figured we needed a little more OC appreciation, so if you have OCs, list your favorite piece of work you have done for them, then tag ten people. It can be anything from a fic to a piece of art to a moodboard! And feel free to expand on why you like that specific work so much if you'd like. If you have multiple OCs, list your favorite piece for each one!

Tagging @moral-terpitude, @runnning-outof-time, @zablife, @shelbydelrey, @eclecticwildflowers, @cillmequick, @call-sign-shark, @confidentandgood, @emilynightshade89, @areyenotfondofmelobster, and anyone else who would like to participate, feel free to say I tagged you!

Vanessa Sullivan (The Dark Knight Trilogy)

How to Make a Monster: Essentially her origin story and how she met and became involved with Jonathan. I had so much fun examining her psychology and motivations, and the development of her relationship with Jonathan is I think one of the better steady burn romances I've written.

Lucy Winters (Peaky Blinders)

Lady of the Various Sorrows: This was the hardest to pick just one because I have so many fics that I'm proud of for this OC. But this is a fic I'd had in my head for a long time before it was written and I'm really proud of how I built up to it over time in my other works with her and the balance of angst and fluff. I think it's the best depiction I've done of Lucy, Tommy, and Grace's relationship.

Alice Emerson (Inception)

A Sleepless Dream: I'm a sucker for childhood best friends to lovers and this fic allowed me to entirely indulge on that trope to my heart's content. Both Alice and Robert are very sweet, sensitive people which was a bit new for me to write since many of my characters are more emotionally guarded. I'm still really proud of how I managed to expand more on Robert's character from what we get of him in the film.

Daisy Preston (Dunkirk)

In the Heart of War: This was my first ever attempt to write one of my OCs into the canon story they were involved in, and I'm still very happy with the result!

Rose Mason (In Time)

The Clockwork Laws: I say this with love, but this fic was a pain in the ass to write. I went back multiple times once I got about halfway through and scrapped everything and started over because I wasn't happy with it. The canon material made it a challenge to write from a worldbuilding standpoint, but that ended up being kinda fun in the end. Also was my first time dabbling in writing enemies to lovers.

Lily Callaghan (Platoon)

Arrival: It was a scene I'd had in my head for a long time, and I really enjoyed being able to capture that moment when Lily first meets Elias and also her anxiety and fear over being sent to war.

[foibles-fables]

LAST LINE(S) TAG GAME

RULES: Create a new post and share the last line you wrote for your WIP and then tag as many people as there are words you want!

eternally grateful to @chronic-ghost for the tag, aaahhhh!

Here's something new I started just today! An implied Aloy/Talanah piece, from Milu's POV--which is always a delightful challenge to write, regarding syntax and diction. The whole thing might be inspired by @anaugust's latest Haw and Thrush art, so 👀👀👀👀

Just days after Milu and Talanah finally make it back to Meridian, there’s cause for celebration at the Hunters Lodge: Ligan’s fortieth year of Hawkhood, come to pass.  That’s a downright impressive milestone. Especially to Milu. He’s been a Hawk more than twice as long as she’s been alive, which is—when she really thinks about it—kind of unfathomable. Not even a full year has gone by since she became a Thrush, and the world already seems so different than it was then. It feels as though it’s become something nearly all new, emerging like storm-chased wind from the infinite cycle of life.  Hard to imagine how it must have changed since Ligan was a much younger hunter. Everything he’s seen and known, everything he’s held and lost and learned and forgotten as time keeps stretching on and on and on.

no-pressure tags: (thinking of my buds who are actively writing uhhhhh) @finrays @mehoymalloy @tjerra14 @poetikat @saltygirafe @maybirdie and anyone else who sees this and wants to participate! I'm happy to be your excuse :)

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 1: Scintillate ✨

----------

Scintillate (v.)

to give off sparks; to shine as if emanating sparkle; to twinkle or glow

of a star or other celestial body: to vary rapidly in brightness; to twinkle

---------- Happy October 1st everyone! In case you missed it & it’s not painfully obvious, I’m doing things a bit differently this year, starting off with a personal rare-word favorite of mine. 😉

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk more about my thoughts/process for this piece. ✨

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

----------

And so we begin another October, another month-long daily challenge—This time and even further break from tradition than is typical of me. 😆 So before we go any further, you might want to check the description for the prompt list I'm following this year—and you can follow it too, if you want! There's some background information about how/why that's the list I'm using so I don't have to repeat myself here (or 30 more times this month, for that matter). All done/don't care? Alrighty then, let's continue: As I hinted at before, I normally break from Inktober traditions by doing a mini-magnet poem on an Ink background—So I still get ink in there somewhere, but ultimately my final results look super different from what you'd expect an Inktober to look like. I've done it this way for years, partly to honor the memory of Katherine Mackenett ( better known as @FridgePoetProject on DeviantArt), and partly—most largely, at this point—because I do genuinely enjoy the format and it's proven to be something I can do every day successfully. That's a key point to how I've been able to participate in Inktober at all over the years that loyal Sparklers have probably heard me talk about before: I know I 1000% do not have the hours in the day and the mental stamina to do "normal" art every single day for a month. There's just no way. I'd probably give myself a mental breakdown if I tried. The thing is this has already been a super-duper chaotic year for me, as my super-spotty art uploads should reflect. Add to that there are some obstacles that would make my mini-magnet format more difficult to use this year—External things like my ink supplies being expensive to replenish, not having a dedicated space to lay out the magnets, etc...And as I discussed when I posted the prompt list, I have been kind of feeling like some kind of shake-up was in order anyway.

Now, for what it's worth, what I've settled on here is nothing like what I spent most of September wracking my brain over. The general idea here didn't really fully occur to me until a few hours after I posted the prompt list, if you can believe that. 😅

Don't get me wrong, I did still want to use and heavily considered my usual mini-magnet format, but to make a long story short and hopefully not give any of you Sparklers the same headache I spent most of September with: Ultimately, I decided what I need for October this year is something simplebut it also does get me back in a creating & posting habit [since that's been a bit of a struggle for me lately; That's largely why I felt the need to still do some kind of daily challenge at all this year instead of just skipping out.]

And—again, to make a long story short—I've decided the best format to accomplish that is to simply, digitally, make a mandala and abstract background that relate in some way to the prompt word for each day, accompanied by the word/definition itself. I just thought the word-inclusion part was a cute idea, plus I'm also kinda posting the word as a "reminder" for anyone else following along with the prompt list. [...Y'know, ignoring the fact that today and probably many more days I'll be posting too late for it to really be a "reminder" for most people, but I digress...]

The last time I was making mandalas regularly was actually for NaPoWriMo 2020 and while I do genuinely enjoy making them, I was pretty burnt out on them for a while after that. 😆 But I've already talked about why I may never attempt NaPoWriMo again at length before, so I'll spare you those details here. (Suffice to say it was mostly the poems that were the problem, not the mandalas!)

Note that this is my first year tackling an October challenge digitally, as well. I did seriously consider sticking with traditional, but I may be doing more traveling this October than I'm used to, so I need something that can travel with me as easily as possible, just to be safe. Remember—I'm a "smarter, not harder" kind of gal with these daily challenges. But, as a bit of bonus, that does mean I may be able to re-purpose some—maybe even all!—of these pieces as mandala coloring pages when it's all said and done. We'll see! And I'm explaining all of this not because I'm worried about criticism from others—It's my challenge and I'll do what I want!—But to give the insight that I'm used to giving when I make things, and also partially as reassurance to myself that while this is so different from how I'm use to October looking, I'm trying to do what I feel is best for my own well-being. Best to complete the challenge successfully, best to not unnecessarily stress myself out, best to still get me back into more regularly creating and posting things, etc. "Work smarter, not harder," includes taking care of yourself so you can both be smart and work hard when you need to, after all. So yeah. We're starting off with one of my personal favorite obscure words—I just love the way "scintillate" sounds, and would you really expect anything less when you're talking to someone who's middle name is literally "Sparkle"? 😆

I do think this will be one of the "less involved" mandalas since I could only think of so many shapes/lines that reasonably fit with the idea of sparks, twinkling, stars, etc. So the background has to help sell the theme more, but that is part of how this format will still actually be a challenge. 😉 Although, it is probably better that leaves me with not as much to say about the mandala today so I could give you Sparklers all that additional context as to how we got here. And for the record: I do not intend for every piece to look this similar to the design I chose for the prompt list! 🤭 That was just a not-super-well-thought out coincidence on my part. And, to be fair, it actually looked even closer to the prompt list at first until I realized what I had done and shifted the background colors around a bit. 😅 Still, I'm very pleased with how it turned out and when I finished the image, I have to say I felt a pretty strong sense of, "See? It's going to be okay," in response to the constant, "OH NO WHAT AM I GONNA DO??" I was feeling for most of September. I cannot emphasize enough how much I needed that feeling; So I'm much more confident now that this is the way to go. If today was any indication, my biggest challenge this year is probably going to be getting these descriptions done in a reasonable amount of time...and not delayed 50 times by other things in my life. 🙃 But I'm hoping the rest of them won't take quite as long as this one did, now that we've gotten a lot of context out of the way...But there's only one way to find out...!

I think though that's everything I wanted to say for now, so I'll leave you Sparklers to it—Here's to (hopefully) starting October off strong, everyone! 🙌

----------

See the Prompt List

Artwork  © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

----------

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[ragana62]

FAQ/About Me

Who TF Are You?

I'm Ragana, nice to meet you! She/They. Multifandom, multishipping, multimedium creative. I make art and write fics and make playlists.

Other random facts about me include that I have an absolutely massive cat, I'm originally from Latvia and as such am ESL and happy to translate fics into other languages (I speak/read/write several) upon request as I have time, and I play several instruments when I'm not doing this variety of creativity.

Rules of Engagement?

Not everything I do is 18+ but there is some 18+ stuff in my art and writing. I am also a fairly sweary person. Blame the punk bands I played in for years. Please use discretion, I am very intentional about my tags and content warnings so people can self-moderate.

We follow a Don't Like, Don't Read/Engage policy here. Nobody says you have to like everything, but if it isn't for you, please just move along.

There's a tag system now, I'm working on going back to clean up old posts and tag them accordingly. Main tags are below.

Fan Art? That’s RaganaDrawsThings.

Fics? That’s RaganaWritesThings.

Headcanon posts/other random rants? That’s RaganaThinksThings.

Ask Games/New Fic Votes/other audience participation stuff? That’s RaganaAsksThings.

Fic/Show/Music/Etc. Recs? That’s RaganaLikesThings.

Adult Content (Including Violence/Smut/things that would get a movie rated R)? That's BigKidsOnly.

I also tag fandom/pairings consistently using the standard tags if you're here for something in particular.

Fandoms?

I write for a bunch and am always adding more, whether upon request or based on what I'm feeling inspired by.

Current Works are in: Harry Potter, House of the Dragon, Agatha All Along, Fate: The Winx Saga, Rosaline, and Doctor Odyssey.

Favorite Pairings and Characters

There's a handy dandy (and rather pretty) Canva with everything sorted by fandom. It's linked above.

Current OTPs in no particular order include Hermione x Kingsley, Twinsmione, Rhaenys x Corlys, Farah x Saul, Rosaline x Dario, and Agatha x Rio.

When do you post new things?

There used to be a schedule, for all of a few weeks. It didn't work for me. So now I post when makes me happy. If there's something you're waiting on, feel free to reach out, my inbox is always open for questions/requests/chatting/throwing headcanons at me to rant about/etc.

AO3 LINK

Big Multichaper Fic Breakdown Below the Break (Adding them bit by bit, will be finished soon)

All She Never Wanted

Fandom: Harry Potter

Main Pairing: Hermione x Kingsley

Rating: E

CW: Abuse (Not Main Pairing), Mild Violence, Language, Smut

"As Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt knew he was capable of a great many things. Those things did not however, seem to include successfully getting over his lingering affections for a particular young witch who was unfortunately already attached to a thoroughly undeserving Ronald Weasley. When the Wizengamot shoves through a Marriage Law, will he finally get his chance to show Hermione how he feels? She may never have seen this coming, but Hermione Granger has never been one to shy away from a challenge, especially one as thrilling as this."

The Coven System

Fandom: Harry Potter

Main Pairing: Hermione x Kingsley x Lucius x Severus x Narcissa x Fleur x Bill

Rating: E

CW: Bullying, Moderate (But In Character) Ron/Harry/Molly Bashing, Smut.

"Trying to fix the damage and contention following the war, the ministry institutes a mandated return of the coven system. But will Hermione's initial excitement at the chance for what sounds like a rather promising mentorship opportunity falter when she learns that in addition to all the interesting ritual magic, she's also picking up a handful of magical spouses?"

Don't Get Mad, Get Even

Fandom: Harry Potter

Main Pairing: Hermione x Fred, Hermione x George, Hermione x Draco, Hermione x Bill, Hermione x Sirius, Hermione x Kingsley, Hermione x Dolohov, Hermione x Severus

Rating: E

CW: Dead Dove, Violence, Dumbledore Bashing/Evil Dumbledore, Everyone's Morally Grey Here, Eventual Smut

"Between Harry’s nightmares, Voldemort’s ever growing power and proximity to what he’s seeking, the intensity of the Ministry’s denial, and the increasingly hard hits the Order is taking, when Dumbledore approached Hermione to participate in a ritual the winter of her 5th year to help turn the tides she willingly agrees. Sure, it’s not exactly what she was expecting to do with her winter break, much less her life, but if using ancient rites to channel primal magics through her to strengthen a number of Order members and Death Eaters willing to defect for the right price is what it takes to take down an increasingly corrupt ministry and rising Dark Lord then she’s not exactly going to say no. However, as the ritual gets closer, she begins seeing more and more troubling indications that it’s not quite what she signed up for. After things decidedly don’t go to plan, Hermione will have to figure out who she can trust and what to do with her newfound power in the face of several new threats."

You Knew What You Were Getting Into

Fandom: Harry Potter

Main Pairing: Hermione x Kingsley

Rating: E

CW: Smut

"In the years after the war, Hermione has been struggling with her love life. Sure, everyone wants to get with the Golden Girl, between her Order of Merlin, her celebrity status, her masteries, and her high-profile job as a force to be reckoned with in the magical political scene, she’s not exactly lacking for offers. It never lasts though, and not for the reasons that Molly Weasley or Witch Weekly liked to postulate every time one of her relationships falls apart, because at the end of the day the same reasons everyone wants a piece of her are the reasons why they never stay. The same men who chased her for weeks, filling her desk with flowers and her inbox with proposals of romantic dates, simply because being seen with her could do wonders for their own careers or get them the honor of being on the arm of one of the most sought after witches in Britain, vanished the second they realized what that meant. The press, the constant galas and charity functions, they were all relentless and unfortunately none of her many suitors seemed to have the tenacity to keep up. She wasn’t the only one struggling with that particular problem though, as she was about to find out."

Work Wife

Fandom: Harry Potter

Main Pairing: Hermione x Kingsley

Rating: E

CW: Smut, Drunk Hookups, Accidental Marriage, Everybody Making Bad Decisions out of Stress/Exhaustion

"Well, in terms of drunken mistakes it could have been a lot worse. At least Hermione knew who she'd managed to marry, even if she wasn't entirely sure how exactly she'd done it. Of course, they'd have the rest of their lives to figure it out, along with everything else apparently!"

[sssammich]

ao3 wrapped fic writer 2023

i know ao3 wrapped for readers is not a thing and frankly as impressive as it would be to see just how many millions of words i have read this past year, i don't know if i need to know just how much i hung around in the devil's sacrament shown back to me, ya know?

so i instead just wanna celebrate and focus on all the writing i was able to do this year up to nov 30 (today). this is just for posted stuff on ao3, obviously my wips folder (aka my lazy susan of drafts) is a different story LOL.

also, super important for me to point out: this is meant for celebration and pride! after having been on hiatus from writing for like 7 years, i'm so happy to be able to get back into writing again. with that said, if the numbers for your ao3 isn't as high as you'd liked, please just know that i'm still very proud that you wrote AND published your work to share with others. it can and does take a lot out of you to write and share freely like this. so if nothing else, you should know that! (and if you haven't written much at all this year for whatever reason, i'm still proud of you! like i said, it's tough sometimes but we should still celebrate ourselves)

if you're a writer and see this and want to play along, feel free to just copy and paste. there's no tagging because i wouldn't wanna put people on the spot/make someone uncomfortable. ok onwards etc etc

2023 ao3 stats portion

basically this part is just taken straight out of your stats page for 2023

kudos: 3,182

comment threads: 352

bookmarks: 688

subscriptions: 359

word count: 212,514

hits: 33,321

total fics posted: 16

general writing portion

fandoms and ships i wrote for this year:

Revue Starlight: tendou maya/saijou claudine, amemiya shion/masai kiriko, isurugi futaba/yanagi koharu

Supergirl: kara danvers/lena luthor, kara danvers/lena luthor/sam arias

RWBY: yang xiao long/blake belladonna

2. top fics with the most word count (complete and in-progress):

not for nothing (54,371 words) kara danvers/lena luthor

homecoming (28,662 words) yang xiao long/blake belladonna

sam's supercorptober 2023 entries (21,538) kara danvers/lena luthor

[...hope springs eternal] (17,352 words) isurugi futaba/yanagi koharu

fate or something like it (16,874 words) tendou maya/saijou claudine

3. events (big bangs, challenges, etc) i participated in (if you didn't participate in any, what are events you've enjoyed seeing this year?):

supercorp big bang: not for nothing (with lovely art from midnightechoes)

bumbleby big bang: homecoming (with lovely art from bumblebydyke)

supercorptober 2023 (i have one more prompt left! it'll be done this year i promise to myself lol)

4. top fics in order of how emotionally compromised i was in writing them:

evergreen

re:live

not for nothing

homecoming

[...hope strings eternal]

5. top fics i would love more readers to get their eyeballs on because i think they're neat (this is just me getting people to read more of my stuff LMAO):

[through smoke and velvet...] AND [...hope springs eternal] isurugi futaba/yanagi koharu

heart's devastation yang xiao long/blake belladonna

sam's supercorptober 2023 entries (particularly chapters 4, 5, and 6 lol but i think they're all neat) kara danvers/lena luthor

re:live tendou maya/saijou claudine

the view, it is so lovely amemiya shion/masai kiriko

OKAY this is pretty long so sorry to your dashboards but that was kinda fun and im proud of everything i've worked on and i hope you are also proud of yourself for all the stuff you've worked on! ok thx love u bye

[in-my-loki-feels]

10, 34, 63, 64, 67, and 74

10. Cltr+f "blinks/blinked" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up.

As Don was checking the straps one last time, Loki walked over. Don turned, then blinked in surprise when Loki reached out to wipe up the smear with his thumb. He transferred it to Don’s cheek, rubbing until it disappeared.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer? Damn. I guess if my general despair about the state of the publishing industry hasn't swallowed me, I'd like to have at least one published book. Traditionally published would check off a dream of mine but I'd be happy with self-publishing. Either way, I'd like to have found "my people", however many that may be. (And I'd also still be writing fanfic, if I'm honest. I really love connecting to a community through fic.)

63. Something you hate to see in smut. I'm trying to think of something that wouldn't yuck someone's yum because everyone's tastes are different. I guess continuity errors? I hate being thrown out of a really good scene because someone has a third hand, or the characters seemingly teleport between two sentences.

64. Something you love to see in smut. Kink negotiation! I find communication in all forms sexy AF so I love to see the whole range of it in smut, whether it's an explicit discussion beforehand, or checking in during. Not every scene needs it, but I do love to see it.

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas? I think I like both. I wrote a lot for LJ kink memes back in the day and I find it really satisfying to "meet the brief", so to speak. I also really enjoy writing from art prompts, like in a reverse big bang, but in those scenarios I had a choice. I could write for what spoke to me. If someone gave me a prompt that didn't click, I'd have trouble writing it. That's why I've hesitated to participate in Fandom Trumps Hate. I'm worried that if someone bid on me and requested something that didn't inspire me, I'd be in a tough spot.

I also enjoy writing for my own ideas, of course, of which I have many.

74. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it? (Is President Loki involved? lol) I don't know how to describe it, but I think my writing has a tone that would give me away. It's very "genre fiction". I also think I might use certain phrases or descriptions in more than one fic, but I don't want to list them and have anyone notice if they didn't before. (please don't tell if you have noticed, haha)

Plus, I tend to write a lot of tropes/themes that would probably give me away: found family, reunions, communication (especially after angst).

Thank you for the ask! <3 (From this game.)

[lanatusnebula]

Art high art high art high

WOOO

I think keeping busy is the ticket; any second I'm idle I go bonkers, so to help both myself and those around me, I'll try keeping myself participating in art communities. But MANY at once, rather than a singular one, that way I don't become too invested in the *community*, since that seems to be my downfall. (I'm a terrible person with worse morals and even more terrible perceptions of people...)

The original goal is to make people smile with my art. I don't have to like an individual or "get to know them" if I can just BANG POW POW shit something out and they're grinning for 10 minutes. I don't need to know their background or political opinions, just pretty OC go brr.

Artfight kinda helped me with understanding that aspect about myself! Sure, the addiction to art also includes improving and seeing myself get better, but there's an added benefit to making another person pleased with the outcome. Commissions do both and they feed me and my dogs! :) Can't get better than that lol

Investing full time in my art was NOT on my list this year, but due to idiocy and bullshit, seems to be how my cards played out. I'm really glad the art world is accessible to those with disabilities (physical, mental, and whatever else), as it allows me to suffer in silence and not bring attention to whatever the shit is going on with my body, all the while being able to put on a friendly façade whenever possible. (somewhat more challenging when during streams, as my... ability to mask my disappointment and judgement of people is LACKING in my verbal tone LOL - when I don't like someone it just comes right out)

Not necessarily happy with the way things ended as I wanted to put down the pen for good, but...

Lemons to lemonade I guess.

Also I don't know how to draw toilets.

[nirikeehan]

self-recommendation tag game

rules: share five of your own fanworks (fic, art, etc.). then, tag five more people to share the things they've made.

@rowanisawriter tagged me and I love talking about my fics so here we go

1. something you absolutely adore:

I feel like I so often link the same fics to most of these so I'm going to try to go beyond my obvious answers.

Here's one I consider a hidden gem: Sinners and Saints. Just a little one-shot about what Blackwall was up to between assuming the real Blackwall's identity and finding the Inquisition. I love being in his POV and all the calculus he puts into assuming his new identity. I will die on the headcanon hill that he was going around doing Robin Hood-esque shit as a wandering Grey Warden before the Inquisition found him.

2. something that was challenging to create:

One For Sorrow. It was difficult to write for a number of reasons. There was an odd mix of characters I don't often throw on stage together (Thalia, Blackwall, Dorian and Cole). There was an element of fever dream/hallucination imagery as a prophetic device, which is way out of my comfort zone. I also wrote it during a difficult time personally. Even so, I've wound up considering it one of my strongest Thalia/Blackwall pieces, especially if you're into doomed relationships. 👀

3. something that makes you laugh or smile:

Letters from Underground. A very short, very humorous epistolary fic I wrote when imagining what transpires after the Inquisitor sentences Samson to work with Cullen. Also the only fic I've written that ends on the possibility of Cullen and Samson ever renewing their friendship by the end of Inquisition.

4. something that surprised you (how it turned out, how others liked it, etc.):

Forbearance. A short little something I wrote for DADWC about Cullen and Dorian's friendship. It got a lot of hits, kudos and comments right away. I kind of assume fandom in general cares less about platonic relationships than romantic ones, so to see so many people happy with a fic for a friendship that doesn't get all that much screen time was a delight.

5. something you want other people to see:

Two Songs; Truth, Sadness, Sacrifice. One of my Cullen and Samson as Templars in Kirkwall fics. It's deliciously nuanced, with Cullen as a newcomer to Kirkwall and Samson as his only friend. Cullen slowly begins to realize Samson might have bigger addiction problems than he lets on. It's one of the fics I wrote in a frenzy because I can really get going when it's those two. There's also a wonderful illustration done by @theluckywizard!

Tagging:

@theluckywizard | @oxygenforthewicked | @zenstrike | @little--abyss | @highwayphantoms ; and anyone who sees and want to participate!