#Not as many as last year but still a good handful - hopefully that means I've gotten better at parsing things out during the year!

[peterman-spideyparker]

Drunk on You (Matt Murdock x fem!Reader)

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Court, aka @chvoswxtch, is a talented genius amazing superstar talent whose fic "ours." has consumed my mind all week and has inspired me. I hope I've done you proud, and I hope you like it! :)

Summary: Yours and Matt's relationship is still relatively new, but it's different in every conceivable way, and it's amazing. His plans for a nice romantic night in, however, get thrown for a loop before you arrive, and all he can think of is you.

Warnings: Fluff, Foggy and Karen being Foggy and Karen, shameless smut (talk of birth control and side effects, f!receiving oral, fingering, m!receiving oral, protected p in v sex, failed attempt at bondage, dirty talk, praise), swearing, these guys are basically soulmates, okay, they're in love and have thought about a future together and there's a whole detailed world for them in my head

Other Characters: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page

Word Count: 3,586

Matt’s hands slide over his watch face for the time. “Do you guys think you can handle things here for the rest of the day?” he asks his friends.

“I think we can handle it,” Foggy hums, taking in the quiet office space around them. “You have a date with that girl, don’t you? Or is it a different one?”

“Nope, it should be the same girl,” Karen says. “It’s still within the time frame.”

Matt furrows his brows as he turns toward his friends. “Time frame?”

“Do we really need to go over this again, Mr. Serial Dater?” Foggy sighs. “How many girls did you see last year alone?”

“I don’t—.”

“Ten,” Karen supplements. “I mean, technically, it was nine because you dated the same girl twice, but they all fizzled out just as soon as they started. None of them lasted over two months.”

“And that’s not counting hookups we don’t know about. If my math is right, we’re almost at the two month mark in—.” Foggy turns to look at the calendar hanging on the wall to confirm. “—about a half of a week.”

“Thank you for the countdown, Father Time, but I don’t see that happening with her. She’s different.”

“Do we at least get her name? Since she’s so different than the others, that is,” Karen tries hopefully, and Matt can tell she’s eagerly biting her lip.

“(Y/N),” he concedes. “Her name is (Y/N). (Y/N/N).”

“Ooh, full name and a nickname. Are you treating (Y/N) to a fancy night out?” Foggy asks.

“Nope,” Matt grins, sliding on his jacket.

“Oh?” Karen hums. “Finally going to bring her to Josie’s?”

“So you guys can just happen to stroll in? No,” Matt continues to smile. “Not that it’s any of your business, but that’s where we met.”

“So, no fancy restaurant, no Josie’s . . .”

“I’m cooking for her at my place tonight. Happy now?”

Foggy and Karen ooh at him like a bunch of fifth graders.

“Well, here’s hoping she’s a heavy sleeper in case you hear a bank robbery across town and need to suit up.”

“Well, she knows.”

He can tell the way that they look at him, absolutely stunned. “Knows?” Karen repeats.

Matt puts his fingers up by his head to mimic his devil horns.

“EXCUSE ME?” Foggy shouts.

“It’s a long story, guys, and I have a dinner to prepare.”

“Let us know when the wedding is!” Foggy shouts as Matt leaves the office. “Knows . . . She knows! . . .”

Matt finishes plating the food before lighting the candles on the table, blowing out the match as he freezes in his tracks. His senses are good—he can always tell when you’re near, even though you haven’t been seeing one another long. But this time, even though you’re about a block away, it feels like you’re so much closer. Your scent is much stronger than usual. It’s not perfume, shampoo, or detergent clinging to your dress—it’s you. Matt can practically taste you on his tongue when he lets out a deep breath through his mouth, and it drives him wild. His thoughts are fuzzy, and all he can think of is how he wants his hands on you, dragging over every dip and curve of your body right until he’s between—.

Matt practically jumps out of his skin when you rap at his door. With one more deep breath and a quick adjustment to his pants, he makes his way to the door, swinging it open and greeting you with a warm smile. As soon as the door is even open a crack, you drown his senses. He feels almost drunk, and he just wants you.

“Hi,” he smiles, leaning in for a kiss. You meet him halfway, pressing your front flush against his, resting a gentle hand on his waist. He pulls you in even further, desperately trying to deepen the kiss. You smile and giggle into the embrace before you lean back and look up at him.

“Hello to you, too,” you smile. “It smells really good in here, and you look like quite the chef with your sleeves all rolled up and a towel over your shoulder.”

“You like the look, hm?” he teases, closing the door close and kissing your neck some more as he walks you into the loft.

“I do. I like it so much, I almost dropped the bottle of wine I brought, especially if you keep kissing that spot.”

He pulls back and kisses the top of your head. “Well, I’m glad you’ve both survived this far.” Matt, on the other hand, is barely holding on. Every second that you’ve been here—the whole 90 of them—he’s had to restrain himself from jumping on you the way he so desperately wants.

“How about we sit first?” Matt hums, giving your arm a squeeze.

“You’ve plated everything. I’d hate for the food to get cold. This looks lovely.” You lean over, kissing his cheek. As your lips leave his skin, he turns into you, kissing you deeply before dragging his embraces down your neck and up to the sweet spot behind your ear, humming in delight as he takes you in and kisses your skin. You let out a soft moan, your knees buckling slightly as you lean into him and hold onto his body.

“‘m pretty sure that this is supposed to happen after dinner,” you swallow, your fingers desperately holding onto his arms.

“Dinner can wait. You smell too good,” he murmurs into your skin, taking the wine from your hand and putting it on the island.

“I—!”

You suck in a breath in surprise when his hands travel low and squeeze at your hips.

“You smell good,” he repeats, his voice dipping low. “Better than dinner—better than it tastes.”

Your hands have a mind of their own, moving up his arms, letting your fingers rake through his hair.

“Matt . . .” you breathe. He can sense how your heart races as you hold him close. 

“I can stop if you want to,” he hums, dragging his kisses down along your collarbone. “But I really don’t want to angel.”

You let out a sigh that goes straight to his cock. “I-I don’t have anything,” you tremble, and Matt notices a slight edge of something else in your voice. You sound a little nervous, but it’s not like the two of you haven’t had sex before. There’s been a few times where you’ve done just this—throw your date plans out the window to just spend the night exploring one another’s bodies over and over until you’re both so worn you turn into a tangled mess of limbs in bedsheets. And then it clicks for him. Your smell being extra strong, your elevated temperature, your racing heart, and now the slight nervous tremble in your voice. You’ve been together for two months, and he’s been with you around the time of your period, and even during your period, but as he wracks his brain to work on timelines, he’s positive there’s only one solution.

You’re ovulating.

And you know it.

Matt pulls back slowly, his hands still on your hips as you face him. He desperately works to find your eyes, even though he knows he’ll never be able to, not in the way he wants. 

“And you’re . . . you’re not on . . .?” He doesn’t want to finish the sentence—it makes him feel slimy asking that, but he wants to hear you say it rather than conclude based on assumption, even if that assumption is rooted in everything your body is telling him.

“I-I’m not,” you confirm. “The side effects and stories I’ve heard from friends . . .” You shrug. “It didn’t seem worth it. As contraception or a way to help with periods.” He senses another shift in you, but this one is different. You’re embarrassed, ashamed even. 

“Hey,” Matt says softly, kissing you tenderly. “It’s your body. You need to do what’s best for it.”

You nuzzle into his touch, and he lets out a little hum. “I just hate to have killed the mood. Especially since I smell so irresistible, apparently. And those kisses were pretty damn nice.”

Matt can hear how you smile while you speak when an idea comes to his mind.

“What’s that face?” you smirk, holding onto him adoringly.

“We can still keep the mood going. I mean, I have condoms, but, if you don’t want to use them, I have another idea. All you have to do is sit down and look pretty for me.”

You eagerly bite your lip, making Matt chuckle. He leans forward, pressing a kiss to your lips before leading you to his bedroom.

“Sit down for me, angel,” he hums. “And spread your legs nice and wide for me.”

With a smile, you do as he asks as he softly kisses up your thighs, moving back and forth between each leg until he’s the apex, pressing a large open-mouthed kiss to your covered core. You take in a sharp breath as he slowly kisses and licks at you. For just how badly Matt wants you, he’s surprised and impressed with the restraint he’s showing. You whimper and moan as he begins to set his pace, one of your hands moving to his head and tugging on his hair, urging him to get closer. Between your arousal and his mouth, your panties are absolutely soaked within minutes. 

“Hey,” you whine as he removes his mouth from you. “I was enjoying that.”

“I know,” he grins, sliding his hands up your legs until his thumbs hook around your panties and slide them down your legs before tossing them up behind you on the bed. “Those are mine, now.”

You chuckle, your laughs turning into a moan when he reattaches his lips to your dripping core. Your sounds are louder, more unrestrained now that his lips are on your dripping ones. The way you squirm against Matt’s face only eggs him on, the rotations of your hips are only helping drive your scent further into his nose, injecting pure you into his body. Wet sounds fill the room, even with his face as buried deep as it is, and he can sense the way you lean back more and more until you’re flat on your back on the mattress, still managing to pull at his hair while he eats you out. You’re done for as soon as he slips two fingers in you. You tremble with an intense orgasm as you cry out so hard, Matt can tell it hurts your lungs a little. You squeeze his head with your thighs, and Matt uses his free hand to grip onto your hip and hold you closer, bringing him on the verge of suffocation by pussy—which wouldn’t be the worst way to go, if he’s being honest.

Matt continues to lick and slurp up your juices, pushing you into overstimulation territory, your mews still music to his ears but with a tinge of discomfort, but not before you cum again and coat his face with your delicious release. Moving his lips off of your clit, he gently licks up your mess, pressing kisses all over your pelvis before lifting his head up above the skirt of your dress.

“Better than anything I could’ve cooked,” he grins as he proudly wears your slick on his face. “So good, I want to go back for seconds.”

“You gotta give me a second, tiger,” you breathily laugh, caressing the side of his face, and he desperately turns his head to kiss your palm. “Maybe while I recoop, you can get some condoms? Or at least put the dinner in the fridge so we don’t get poisoned when we get around to actually eating it.”

Matt smiles and pounces on you, caging your body beneath his before holding your face in his hands as he kisses you. You giggle and chase his lips happily, and Matt slips his tongue into your mouth to let you taste yourself even better. You squeal in delight as he presses you into the mattress, and he feels like a giddy teenager in love.

Shit. He loves you. 

He was pretty sure he did—from the moment he met you, he didn’t want to even think about dating anyone else. And call it the pheromones he’s undoubtedly drunk on right now, but he doesn’t see himself being with anyone but you for the rest of his life. 

“What’s on your mind, pretty boy?” you whisper, running your fingers through his hair, and he can tell you’re looking at him as if he’s all the stars in the sky.

Yeah, he loves you.

“You,” he hums. “I got lucky, getting you in my life.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” This time, it’s your turn to pull him down for a sweet kiss, and Matt feels as if his heart might explode.

“I’ll be right back,” he murmurs against your lips. “Stay just like this.”

“Kay,” you hum.

Matt presses one more kiss to your lips before he scurries out of his room, blowing out the candles, putting the plates in the fridge, and grabbing a box of condoms from his bathroom. When he comes back into his room, he finds you in the same spot he let you, pure relaxation covering you from your head to your toes. 

“You’ve got the stuff,” you smirk, and Matt can’t help but do the same. 

“I do,” he hums as he walks back to you, sitting on the mattress, leaning you up to snuggle into his side. “Are you sure you want to do this tonight? Because trust me, as much as I want to do this with you right now, I can wait until a better time. I don’t mind sticking my head back down between your legs and spending the rest of the night there. I’ll be just as happy there.”

Your eyes flutter shut, leaning into his body and kissing him. “I’m sure. And trust me, if that’s what you eat pussy like when I’m ovulating, I can’t wait to feel how you fuck me. No way I’m waiting to experience that.”

The last part seems to slip out past your lips before you can realize it, and you both know what it implies. A small smile pulls at the corners of Matt’s lips, and he leans forward to kiss you again before you have a chance to feel embarrassed, resting his forehead on yours. That’s not a conversation for tonight, but he’s touched that you’ve even considered it. “Alright, if you’re sure,” he whispers. “But you need to open the package.”

“I will, but first . . .” You straddle his lap and push him down on the mattress. “I think I need to take care of that painful looking bulge in your pants.”

Matt licks his lips in anticipation, listening to how you work yourself over him. You lean over, kissing and sucking a little mark into his neck before you unknot his tie and unbutton his shirt. 

“Do you trust me, Matt?” you ask.

“Completely,” he smiles. 

Taking his tie, you gently move his hands up above his head and begin to knot his fabric around his wrists. 

“Is it too tight?” you ask, brushing hair out of his face as if you’re clearing his line of sight. 

“‘s perfect,” he assures. “So are you.”

He can sense how you blush before you lean down and kiss him, softly dragging embraces down his exposed skin until you get to his pants, undoing his belt and sliding it off, and taking care of his pants, sliding it off his hips, leaving him exposed. He’s painfully hard—he’s surprised he didn’t cum in his pants while he was up to his eyeballs in (Y/N). He sucks in a breath between his teeth when your hand wraps around him, giving him some gentle pumps before you lean down and start to use your mouth. You press feather-light kisses on the underside of his shaft, licking his frenulum and gently caressing his balls. You get the tip of him in your mouth, so warm and wet, he swallows hard. 

“Wait,” he begs. “‘m not gonna last if you keep going like that.”

You smirk as you bring your mouth down toward his base before you let your hot breath spread over him.

“We both know that this isn’t the first time you’ll be cumming tonight, Matty,” you hum. 

You lick along the vein in his shaft until you’re back at the tip, opening your mouth and going down on him. Matt cries out at the top of his lungs, his hips bucking up as he lets out his release. He breaks out of the satin restraint, his hands moving to the sides of your face, not to force you down, but just to have his hands on you. When you finish sucking him dry, you pull off, licking your lips before you swallow.

“I’m offended. You broke out of my knot,” you chuckle. 

“Sorry,” he says with a blissed, dopey smirk. 

“No, don’t apologize. It was hot. Like, really hot. Like, we’re going to have to do something like that in the future hot.”

“Are we now?”

“Mmm. Now, where’d you put that box of condoms?”

Leaning over, you grab the box and pull out the foil package, tearing it open while he gets up and takes off the rest of his clothes before you carefully slide on the latex.

“Sweetheart, I think you’re a little overdressed,” he hums as his hands slide up under your dress. 

“What’re you gonna do about it?” you grin. 

His hands grip the zipper, pulling it down the track before sliding it off of your body, his hands then deftly moving to remove your bra. 

“There we go,” he smiles before leaning in and taking one of your breasts into his mouth, letting himself get lost in the soft, supple flesh. You both roll around in the bed until you’re under him, Matt sliding into you.

“Aah!” you cry out, your fingers grabbing a bruising grip onto his shoulders. It gets stronger the further that he pushes into you. Even with two orgasms and plenty of your arousal dripping from between your legs, you’re still so tight.

“That’s it,” he hums. “That’s it, you’re taking me so well, sweetheart.”

“Fuck!” you cry out, throwing your head back as you scratch angry red lines down his back.

“A little more, angel, you can do it. You can do it . . . Good girl, just like that.”

You both let out a grunt when he bottoms out in you, taking a moment to adjust.

“Just say the word for me, and I’ll start moving.”

“I-I need you,” you say almost immediately. “Matt, please, start moving. D-Don’t hold back.”

He takes your face in his hands, kissing you deeply before he starts thrusting. He does as you ask, not starting slow like he has in your past sexual encounters. Your moans and cries are music to his ears, spurring him on to go even faster, making you cry out louder. 

“Matt!” you cry with a guttural moan. “Yes! You’re so deep!”

“Made f’me,” Matt growls as he throws your legs up over his shoulders and folding you in half. “Mine.”

“Yours! I’m yours!”

Matt slithers a hand up your body, mapping out your soft skin with his touch until his hand is around your neck, holding your jaw, fingers spread before giving it a light squeeze. He listens to how your body reacts immediately, your warm, wet, tight cunt squeezing his cock as a response as you moan and bite your lip.

Matt’s going to have fun with that fact.

“Are you ready to cum, sweetheart?” he coos as he slams into you so hard, he’s pretty sure that your cunt might be permanently stretched and remolded to match the shape of his cock. “Can you cum around my cock for me?”

“Yes,” you whimper, one of your hands dropping to his forearm, giving it a squeeze. “Don’t stop, please don’t stop! Make me cum—make me cum hard! Just don’t stop!”

Matt lowers himself to kiss you deeply, your bodies a tangled, squished mess as he keeps pounding into you. You hold onto his face desperately, deepening the connection and the kiss until you open your mouth to let out an unbridled cry of pleasure. It hurts his ears, but what a sound to go deaf to. His hand slides from your neck, moving to higher up on your waist as he kisses you through your high, his sweaty forehead eventually falling to the crook of your neck as he experiences his own release.

The two of you are a panting, sweaty mess, tangled together and coming back to your senses while he softens inside of you. A few minutes pass, and he finally musters the energy to pull out of you, tying off the condom and throwing it in the trash by his bed.

“If you’re gonna fuck me like that every time I ovulate,” you pant, kissing his cheek before resting your forehead on his temple. “I’m in for a real treat.”

Matt chuckles, enjoying the taste of your skin and how it mixes with your sweat. In that moment, everything is calm, quiet . . . everything makes sense. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” he hums, his hands roaming your body. “We’re not done yet.”

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[huramuna]

wine red, tears gold - chapter 7, end.

king aegon II x baratheon ofc

previous chapter | next

this is the end! i know i said 2 more chapters after the last, but i really couldn't stretch this into two without losing -- it is hopefully a good ending and does justice for both lyanna and aegon. only one song choice for this chapter as i feel like it encapsulates their relationship to a tee and i've been waiting to use it. even if it isn't you type of music, i'd really recommend reading the lyrics to see what i mean! thank you for following along on this journey with me, this was my first time writing aegon and again, i hope i've done him justice. i enjoyed exploring his complex character immensely and i hope you all enjoyed reading him. enjoy. ❤️ please feel free to leave any aegon requests in my inbox, this won't be the last time i write him, i promise!

word count: 2.7k

please follow & turn on notifs for @huramuna-fics for my fic postings.

content: smut (specifics below cut), canon typical misogyny, canon typical violence, angst, fluff, arranged marriage, touch-staved aegon, aegon isn't a r*pist in this au but he is still a bad person and has his vices, ofc and aegon need to go to therapy together, justice for jaehaera, awkward sex, kind of a slow burn, infidelity, child loss

one day the only butterflies left will be in your chest as you march towards your death - bring me the horizon & amy lee

warnings: p in v

There were few things Lyanna really preferred about King’s Landing over Storm’s End– it smelled of shit and was riddled with vipers, whereas Storm’s End was full of boarish, thick skulled men with blades in place of their brains, less akin to use diplomacy to settle matters but rather their axes. 

King’s Landing diplomacy was the same in a way, except without axes and with barbed tongues, dripping venom behind each carefully placed word. It was a task in itself to keep sane with the amount of people who tried to get something from her– kissing her hands, sending her beautiful dresses, exotic fruits and honeyed words. 

‘Sign this, your grace.’

‘May I possibly have this, your grace.’

‘In exchange, your grace, please, provide us this.’

It was tiring. Soul suckingly so. Some days she felt akin to a lemon with its juices sucked out, nothing left but the skin and seeds and pulp, rotting in the sun. But, she supposed, there was one thing she did like about King’s Landing. 

The sun.

It was resplendent here, unyielding in its warmth and caress over the gentle waves of the bay, orange and yellow tinge lighting up the horizon. She awoke in the morn, scantily clad, walking to her open balcony– but not quite walking out onto the landing– and basking in the sun like a fat cat, moving with the sun as it made its journey over the sky. 

Sometimes Aegon was there, too, following along at her heels like a lost puppy. It was the norm nowadays, over eleven moons since her miscarriage, since Aegon’s confession, since his will to turn over a new leaf. Where Lyanna went, Aegon followed. She held him like a child each night, and they would curl into one another– but they had yet to couple since the miscarriage, both of them maintaining a dry spell for the better part of a year.

 It was a test, in a way, for Aegon. He had denounced spirits and whores and all manner of sinful things, hardly gracing his own chambers anymore, preferring Lyanna’s. But, Aegon was a creature of habit, and always needed something to have, to obsess over as his own. Lyanna was part of that thing, but she kept him at an arm’s length emotionally, partaking in only the need for closeness with him in their bed, skin to skin– but never anything beyond it. Soft caresses, arms held together, one tucked into the other. They didn’t exchange many words during these times, only gentle sighs and hums of contentment, or nudges of discomfort if one’s elbow was poking into the other’s ribs. 

The other thing Aegon had succumbed to was food– he replaced his daily intake of alcohol with food, and filled out quite nicely in turn. Before, he’d been a scrawny thing, the bulk of his daily caloric intake being just alcohol, and the calories burned off in succession with his rigorous trips to the brothel. But now, he ate three meals, each of them with Lyanna, except for breakfast. Breakfast was still reserved only for Alicent, Lyanna and Jaehaera– Aegon would eat in solitude quickly and wait outside of Alicent’s solar, waiting for Lyanna. Where he had shown ribs before, he had gained some mass, filling in his clothes. 

Lyanna quite liked him this way, soft and plush– he was nice to lay upon. 

She knew that he still had needs, as a man, and the time he’d gone without a woman, only using his own fist for pleasure, was certainly long. She was proud of him, in a way, that he overcame his baser instincts to try and better himself. 

But, she felt guilty as well. He would try to make advances, of course, a gentle touch to her bare thigh, a kiss to her neck, an accidental brush to her nipple– all ways that were increasingly enticing for her. She just wasn’t ready, and she made him know that and respect it. 

This usually ended in him sulking to the privy with his tail between his legs, more likely than not to take himself in his fist. 

And so it was, for those months. But a whole year passed since Aeron’s passing– the winds were changing.

–

“The council meeting is adjourned, unless anyone has anything to say otherwise.” Lyanna spoke, adjusting her rings absentmindedly.

Otto Hightower spoke up, clearing his throat. His hair had gone gray in the year’s time, and he was getting on in age– the war in previous years had taken its toll on every surviving member of the family in their own ways, and Otto had been the most adept at hiding it, until it became too much to hide. The previous week, he had been walking the corridors at an ungodly hour, looking for Helaena. His mind was turning against him. “The matter… of succession, your grace. The king should name his heir sooner than later, little Jaehaerys is nearing ten years of age, and is unbetrothed. Mayhaps… we should propose a betrothal to Rhaenyra’s daughter, Visenya.”

The council looked at Otto, their eyes wide. No one breathed, nor said a word; they didn’t know how to deal with such a thing, as Otto was usually the one who dealt with it– his mind, once as sharp as a whip, was now a dulled leather belt. 

Lyanna glanced at Aegon nervously, who sat up in his chair at the mention of Jaehaerys. “Grandsire,” he began, “That is… a splendid idea. I shall send a raven on the morrow to Rhaenyra upon Dragonstone.” 

Otto, in his addled wits, had become fond of Aegon. The old man smiled, nodding. “Good, my boy. Very good. I have no more contestment– I do believe it’s high noon, Aemond and Ser Cole will be in the training yard, so I must depart.”

Lyanna frowned, watching as Otto left. In a way, she felt him losing his mind was a fitting punishment for his culpability in the war. And yet, it pained her to see him so… lost. Like a kite with no strings, floating upon the breeze until it inevitably hits the ground. 

As Otto left, one of the other lords spoke up. “The Hand… does bring a good point, your grace. The matter of succession is still undecided. The… tragedy of the first babe leaves the realm waiting.” 

Lyanna opened her mouth to speak, but Aegon cut her off, leaning forward in his chair. His hair had grown much longer now, past his shoulders in white curls, moving with him as he steepled his hands on the table. “The first babe has a name, Lord Wylde. Aeron, is his name, and you shall address my son as such when speaking of him,” he snapped. “The queen is still recovering from the traumatic ordeal of his birth, and we shall give her the time that she needs. Anyone who speaks a word more of succession shall lose their tongue. My patience for this council’s schemes has ran out. Consider this the only warning.” Aegon pushed off from his chair, snatching his Sunfyre colored ball and stashing it in his pocket. “Council dismissed.” 

Lyanna watched as the lords rushed out of the room hurriedly, each one bowing their head in subservience to the King and Queen. Soon enough, it was just the two of them left. She didn’t speak a word, watching as Aegon paced, his hand twitching. He glanced at Lyanna a few times before walking to her and pulling out her chair. “My lady,” he muttered, his voice somewhat faraway. 

She straightened out her dress, standing up. “Thank you,” she responded, looking up at him. His face was much clearer now, not addled by dark circles under his eyes, nor the constant blush of intoxication. But his eyes themselves were still tired, still haunted. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, reaching out her hand to grasp his. “For dispatching Lord Wylde.” 

Aegon huffed, squeezing his wife’s hand. “I wish they would give it up– as if this whole situation wasn’t the cause of the war in the first place. Blind fucking idiots,” he grumbled, a calloused thumb wafting over her palm. In lieu of going to the brothels, he often would take out Sunfyre for flights, sometimes up to three or four times a day, his hands calloused and blistered from climbing up and down the saddle. 

Lyanna inspected his hand, delicate finger tracing over the blisters– some fresh. “You must wear gloves, Aegon,” she chastised softly, “Your hands have become so rough.” 

“I don’t like gloves, you know that,” he snorted. “They ruin the experience, can’t reach out and touch my boy’s scales, really feel them, with gloves on, now can I?”

Rolling her eyes, she dropped Aegon’s hand from her own. “I suppose not,” she contended, leaning back against the council table. She looked him up and down, her heart still feeling a bit tender from how gallantly he came to Aeron’s defense. The sun shined from the open balcony windows, illuminating his longer curls, and the rubies upon the Conqueror’s crown. His figure was solid, casting a shadow that could only be described as kingly. Lyanna blinked profusely, feeling a long locked away sensation bubble in her stomach, a heat coming to her face. 

“What?” he asked, staring right at her. He had become so attuned to her, as they practically were fused to the hip at every waking moment.

“N-nothing,” she murmured, looking away. If he looked into her eyes, he would see exactly what she was feeling. Desire.

He stepped forward, a hand under her chin as he tipped her head up to face him. Their gazes locked and it only took a moment for him to flash her that dazzling, aggravating, lovely smile. “Do you like my hands soft?”

“... yes.”

His calloused palm rested completely under her jaw now, thumb and forefinger encapsulating her as he tried to eke out the secret she was hiding. “Why is that?”

“Aegon– don’t tease me.” she mumbled, eyes darting everywhere but upon his face. 

“I’m not teasing, merely asking,” he got closer, the smug aura bleeding off of him like a sickly perfume. “Why so bashful, my queen?”

She felt her heart in her throat at their close proximity. They were close at night, even closer than this, but the energy charged around them was… different. It was something that they hadn’t experienced in a long time. Her mind went to how rough their last time had been together, how he fucked her like he hated her, like he hated himself– she didn’t want that now. She wanted… something different. She had to take control now and reel him in, if this was truly going to happen. “You’re teasing,” Lyanna hummed, the mood shifting as she leaned forward, grasping him by the collar of his doublet and pulling him to her. Her knee rested upon his clothed crotch in a testing manner. “Or, am I?”

His entire demeanor changed then, his hand falling from her jaw to rest on her arm. His hunched shoulders slumped as he pressed into her knee, his arousal becoming quite clear. “Y-you are,” he whispered, “my queen.” Aegon’s lip pouted slightly. 

Pulling him downward then, their lips met for the first time in almost a year. It wasn’t aggressive or dominant like before– it was slow and meticulous, as if they were getting used to one another again. He tasted like orange, which he had been snacking on before the meeting. She tasted like lavender tea… it was all so familiar, yet distant. Lyanna’s idea of control slowly faded as they both surrendered to one another, tongues tasting and dancing as if they had all of the time in the world. They were both at each other’s mercy, both gentle as they undressed each other– as much as they could in the council room, anyhow. Lyanna unbuckled his trousers, sliding them down and grabbing a handful of his bottom, which was fleshy and pert now. His hands pulled down her bodice and squeezed at her breasts softly, rolling a nipple between his middle and forefinger. 

It didn’t take much time for Aegon to ruck up her skirts and sink himself into her, slowly. Their mouths parted, still ghosting over one another as they drank in moans and whimpers as he bottomed out. It was still a tight squeeze and a wonderfully intense stretch. They didn’t need to speak, they didn’t want to– both were enjoying one another’s noises; Aegon’s heavy panting, coupled with Lyanna’s breathy moans into his ear. 

They found solace and comfort, truly, for the first time in their marriage. It wasn’t fucking out of duty, nor jealousy, nor hatred. It was… love. It was because they wanted to, because they both wanted one another. 

Because they both loved each other. 

They’d never said it before, but the inkling of it had begun a few months before. Lyanna’s heart clenched as she stared into Aegon’s eyes, wide and violet, so full of devotion as he thrusted into her. It was on the precipice of both of their tongues– something that would change everything. 

“I love you,” Lyanna whispered.

“I love you,” Aegon responded.

It wasn’t a perfect relationship by any means, and was difficult at best. They could never fix each other’s scars, never mend the broken, never resurrect the dead– but, in that moment, as they truly made love for the first time, it became more bearable. 

Isn’t that all that anyone could ask for?

–

Another two years in Westeros passed. The sun was still shining brightly over the horizon, pouring through the glass windows atop the throne room. Hundreds were gathered in the masses from all over the continent. 

Otto had stepped down as Hand and taken a backseat to politics– he wasn’t in the present at all any longer, muttering of the past and beyond, and stayed near his daughter in a wheeled chair, blanket over his legs. 

Alicent had trimmed her hair short and stopped wearing green, rather, matching Lyanna’s choices of gold and white.

Jaehaera stood next to her father, dressed in blue and white, like her mother always wore. 

Aegon didn’t sit on the throne, but stood in front of it, hand on the small of Lyanna’s back. 

Lyanna pressed close to Aegon and Jaehaera, holding a babbling one year old upon her hip with one arm. A son– named Rhaenor, who had a head of white curls, and deep brown eyes. Her other hand was caressed on her stomach, which was swollen once again with child.

“I’d like to thank you all for gathering here today,” Aegon started, his voice booming through the throne room, silencing any chatter. “There has been some speculation on when the queen and I would formally name our heir. I won’t keep the realm waiting any longer. I, Aegon of House Targaryen, second of my name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm– formally name my heir,” he paused for a moment, ever basking in the moment. “Jaehaera Targaryen will succeed me as the ruler of the realm.”

There were whispers in the crowd but they were once again silenced. “We shall not repeat the errors of the past. My word and decree now is just and binding, not to be rescinded. My son, Rhaenor, will not succeed me, nor any other sons or children of mine. Jaehaera Targaryen is my heir.”

–

Jaehaera Targaryen succeeded Aegon Targaryen, second of his name, after he abdicated the crown at age sixty-two, focusing on helping dragons make a return after the near decimation of them from the Dance. He, with the help of his son Rhaenor, hatched five dragon eggs upon the Dragonmount, saving them from near extinction.

Aegon passed in his sleep at age eighty-five, surrounded by his five children and dozen grandchildren, as well as his fiercely loyal wife, Lyanna. 

Lyanna passed one moon after Aegon. 

Her dreams became real– she was young again, toes dipped in the pond with Aeron next to her, and Aegon next to him.

A few more figures approached from the darkness near the edges of the pond, white haired and violet eyed. 

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton, p3, during the post-race press conference, spain - june 23, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, coming to you now. Many congratulations. Great to see you back on the podium for the first time this year. How much of a boost is this result for you and for the team?" Lewis: "Yeah, it's a big boost to finally get a good result. It's been a minute since I've been up here in the race, so a huge, huge thank you to the team, who have done an amazing job just with all the processes through the race weekend, but particularly everyone back at the factory for working so hard; the extra long hours to bring components to the car. And we're slowly, slowly getting closer. I mean, last year we were very fast here, so you have to take it with a pinch of salt, but obviously the last couple of races we've also been relatively competitive. So I think we have closed the gap a little bit, but we still have a good couple of tenths to try and find, so we just got to have all hands on deck and keep pushing." Interviewer: "Are you still fine-tuning this new package, or do you need more upgrades to close the gap to these two guys?" Lewis: "No. I think that's the maximum it's got, at the moment, and so… But, I mean, we're always fine-tuning it with subtle changes that we make, so we are always fine-tuning it when we continue to tune it through the year. But we need to bolt some stuff on, some extra bits to be able to compete with these guys." Interviewer: "Now, you had to overtake Carlos Sainz twice today. He was unhappy about the first of those moves, saying that you should have given the place back. Can we just get your take on what happened at turn one, there?" Lewis: "I mean, look, it's not a good feeling when you do get overtaken, and I think we had a nice, tight battle into turn one. I left him some room, so I think he was still on the track. But ultimately he left the door open on the inside, didn't fully close it, and so I went for the inside and tried to make the corner. I think he came around. I think we touched wheels equally and nothing major. It was like a small scrub. Gave him some room on the exit, and yeah…" [laughs] Interviewer: "Alright. Let's throw it forward now. Do you feel Mercedes are building some momentum now?" Lewis: "We definitely are. We definitely are. We're definitely getting more consistent, and if I can just get my qualifying to be like this weekend then it makes the Sunday so much easier. Also if you get a good start, but my Saturdays have been so bad for the last, like, fifteen races, so it's good to have a clean weekend, and hopefully this puts us in a good position to challenge in the next few races." Interviewer: "Thank you, Lewis. Thanks to all three of you. Let's open this to the floor. Name and publication, please."

[time jump] NOT SHOWN: Journalist: "Kevin Scheuren, Motorsport-Total.com. A question is to Lewis and Lando: Of course, I don't want to discredit you becoming driver of the day today, but Max is bringing in victory after victory, and there were slight boos at the podium, as well. So would you say that there is a lack of appreciation for the accomplishments that Max has in the general public from time to time?" Lewis: "Well, I mean, honestly, I'm not really a lot on social media or reading the news, so in terms of being, like… [phone pings, journalists laugh, Lewis laughs] Yeah. I don't really… I'm not tapped into that to know, exactly, but on the race weekends, he always has a huge crowd, always, so he's always got amazing support and, at the end of the day, he does a fantastic job. Every weekend he delivers, and he's got a great team and obviously a great car, but you can't fault him."

[time jump] Journalist: "Phil Duncan, PA. Lewis, you've obviously said that Mercedes are building a bit of momentum. Do you think that that victory is on the horizon, and how important is it to you to sign off your Mercedes career with a win before the year's out?" Lewis: "I mean, it's not the… It'd be /nice/, but I think, considering where we've come from, I think… Yeah, I think just having consistency and seeing if we can put the team further up in the points, I think it's got to be the target, but I think right now let's just try and have more consistent weekends like this and then we'll see. But we aren't yet currently in a position to be able to fight them for wins. You would say that maybe Montreal… I mean, George probably should have won that one, but if I'd qualified where I feel I should have, there was potential also there, too. So we'll see in the next few races. I think we've got these high-speed circuits. You know, the McLaren's always been quick and the Red Bull has been quick in A1 Ring. Silverstone… They'll also be very fast there, but I'm hoping that we are able to eek a little bit closer to them and give them a bit more trouble in the next four or five races. And then we’ve just got to keep bringing upgrades. We've got to keep improving the car. There's a clear improvement and there's just clear areas where we need to bolt on performance so that we can be in the fight with them."

Interviewer: "Thank you. Yep! Another one." Journalist: "Don Kennedy, HB Today, New Zealand Herald. Question for Lewis: Great drive today. Obviously you'll be pleased Mercedes is moving closer to the front, but how does that sit with you in terms of your decision to move to Ferrari next year, and does that give you some second thoughts, given that Ferrari now seems to be falling behind the car you're currently driving?" Lewis: "No, not at all. I mean, firstly, I love Mercedes. I've been with Mercedes since I was thirteen and I'll always be a fan and supporter of Mercedes, and my job this year, right now, is to work as hard as I can with the crew that I have, with the people back at the factory, to try and move and develop the car in the right direction. And so ultimately, whatever course and trajectory the team is on… For next year, for example, there are things that I've hopefully been a part of and be proud of being a part of. My job will start next year at the other team, who I think are doing a great job. I think they've had a couple of difficult races, but let's not forget they had a race win in Monaco. I can't tell you what is wrong with their car and why they are in the position they're in today, but they did bring an upgrade here and I think they are definitely progressing, so yeah… But it doesn't make me second-guess my decision at all."

Interviewer: "Thank you. Yes, more, more questions." Journalist: "Pilar from Paddock Magazine. Question for Lewis: You have mentioned that you are struggling a little bit on qualifying. Where do you think is the key to start improving the results? Is because of the set-up, or more about the pace of the car?" Lewis: "I mean, our pace is where we were, basically-third and fourth to this weekend-but I think our car has generally been very… It's quite peaky, and that means that it's often out of balance. It's very rarely that it's in balance and it's nice and smooth through a corner, and so set-up has been… I've obviously experimented a lot with the set-up over the last couple of years, but the car doesn't really like any of the set-ups but one, and it's slowly starting to just become nicer to drive. And then, ultimately, tires. Tires have been a huge issue for me, so I think we got it half-decent this weekend. If I can make some improvements over the course of the next races, I think there's more performance there."

[marshallpupfan]

Marshall Merchandise Update!

Got some interesting new additions for my collection to show off today! Eventually, I need to show everything off again... as soon as I get things organized again. I still have items I bought from early last year that I still haven't found a spot for yet. I've been slacking! lol

First off, this lapel pin... being graciously held up by Wolf O'Donnell. There's probably a "can't let you do that" joke in here somewhere, but I can't think of any right off hand. 😅

This was actually sent to me by a friend, who recently paid a visit to Nickelodeon Universe (an indoor theme park). While she was there, she seen this and got it for me, hoping it was something I didn't have. Fortunately, it wasn't! A fine item for my collection, indeed! She'll likely see this post later, so if you're reading this, thank you again!

Actually, I believe she also went a year or two ago and managed to find the Meet & Greet Marshall wandering around. She even got a picture & video with him, too. I was quite envious! 😄

Next, this "magic towel" thing. It's also being held up by another wolf - this time, it's Wolf Link, from "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess". Can you tell I'm a bit of a Nintendo gamer? lol

Anyhoo, I was just doing some shopping with my mother in a dollar store when I happened to stumble upon this. It was only $1.25, so... why not get it? The artwork isn't the best, but hey, I still like it.

Next, one of those "Good 2 Grow" snack containers! Actually, funny story about this one. I was at a gas station, not expecting to see anything pertaining to PAW Patrol, when I seen one of these that someone left at the front near the cashier. However...

It was actually one of Zuma, which surprised me, since they usually pass him up to focus on the main four. I meant to post about it on Twitter/X, but like usual, I forgot. In any case, I decided to track one down, and I soon found one of Marshall at Walmart. It was the last one, too! Unless I'm mistaken, they also had one of Liberty, so I guess they went beyond just the six original pups this time. Nice!

As you might recall, we've actually seen products like this before, about a year or two ago. Back then, it was just the pups in their regular outfits. This time, they went with a superhero theme, no doubt due to The Mighty Movie. I'm not sure why they went with Super Paws and not the Mighty Movie outfits, but maybe these were easier to mold. Who knows, but hey, I quite like it when older outfits get brought back, instead of them getting forgotten in the sands of time.

I just wish we could see THIS outfit again someday. It had a brief reappearance in that "Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay" video game, but that's it so far. Sadly, at this point, I doubt we'll ever see it again.

Er... guess I got a little distracted here, sorry!

Last, and absolutely not least, is this brand new item! Something I knew about for many months and couldn't wait to get a hold of one for myself! It's "Storytime with Marshall" by Leap Frog!

(In hindsight, taking these pictures in front of my monitor may not have been the best idea. Hopefully they're not too hard to see. 😅)

This thing is legitimately super awesome! They really got his likeness down so well here! I mean, seriously, just look at it! It's so cute! It's easily one of the best pieces of merch I've got in my collection now!

According to the box, it can do quite a lot. It includes 40+ stories, which I assume are based on various episodes (I haven't listened to them yet, but I also assume they focus on different pups, going by the buttons on the front... yeah, it's a shame there's no Rocky or Zuma again, I know). It has a sleep timer, to help lull the little ones to sleep at night before shutting off and all that. Additionally, it teaches "core learning skills" or something, whatever that means. That's cool and all, but of course, for me, I just wanted it because I absolutely love how it looks. It'll look great on one of my shelves! lol

I'll admit, I'm glad this came out before the new animation style got applied. While I like Marshall's updated season 11 look so far (I might make a separate post about that later), his original design is still my #1 favorite. A part of me hopes to keep collecting more merchandise of THIS Marshall, but I know that, by next year, they'll probably retire this design and start using the new one, permanently. Guess I'll enjoy it while it lasts. 😅

And that's all for now! I currently have another item coming in the mail; Marshall's new Rescue Wheels big wheel vehicle + figurine. It's been delayed, but it's supposed to show up at some point next week. Hopefully, the remaining Rescue Wheels merchandise will show up in stores soon enough, and I'll be able to show them all off soon. I might also have to buy a Boomer figurine, too. lol

[lambhouse]

art block & burnout (and how i deal with it)

so i've been kind of Going Thru It lately, but then again who hasn't? life's kind of been an ongoing shitslide these past few years. and i can't say it's only now starting to catch up to me, because that would be a bald faced lie, but i think i've finally reached the point where i realize that for real, no cap, or whatever the kids say these days, change starts with me.

what does that mean, you ask? and what does it have to do with burnout and drawing?

well, i've been at my lowest for two years and counting now. i've had bouts of creativity and whole entire weeks of being productive and drawing like a machine and just generally being high on life, but those were just spikes of activity on an otherwise flat line. and i've been flatlining for months now. i know i'm due for a high at some point (it's how these things go), but this time i decided to get ahead of it and start building up some good habits so that when the next low hits, it won't be as hard.

this, at its core, isn't anything new or revolutionary and i can't say the tips/advice i have are universally applicable, but they will hopefully give you an idea of where to start, or at least give you a different perspective on how to go about applying any of the general art advice you see out there.

so without further ado, here is how i did this:

i started a new sketchbook last month. that, in and of itself, isn't a big deal; the big deal is that i kept up with it for a month straight. tomorrow is the actual 1-month anniversary (lol) of my daily drawing habit.

that's not particularly impressive either, not even for me. i've had periods where i drew regularly -- not 7 days a week regularly, but 3-4 days in a row every week and i kept that going for weeks. but i wasn't going through burnout at the time, and that's what makes this such an important milestone for me.

how i started:

it was rough, lol. looking back at this now i can see it's not a terrible first drawing but i remember how fucking stressed i was the entire time. my hands were shaking, i kept erasing and redrawing, i added color thinking it would make it look better, i even tried drawing from reference (the DRDs and the very faint flower in the corner) but i didn't have enough patience to really look at my references. overall it was a miserable experience.

but something good did come out of it, because i realized two things:

i was too mentally drained to draw from imagination, and

drawing in pencil hindered me more than it helped

now, drawing from imagination was what i always wanted to do and i could do it well enough and consistently enough when i was feeling good. but the whole reason i decided to build a habit like this was so i wouldn't have to depend on the whims of my brain chemistry anymore.

so drawing from reference it was. good thing i already had a pinterest board full of portrait references. i added about a hundred more to it that first night, just to have more variety, and that was enough to get me excited for the next drawing session.

now, the pencil thing. that's a bit tricky to explain and i can't promise it'll work for you as well as it did for me, but i think it's worth a shot.

the way it works for me is, the pencil is too easy a tool to use. even if you make a mistake, you've got an eraser and a million do-overs (or as many as your paper holds up to). so if i draw and erase and redraw the same line over and over again, at some point that starts to mean that there's something wrong with me, that i'm a shit artist, and what's the fucking point of doing it if i've basically got all the training wheels i need and i still can't draw this fucking eye right, or the mouth still looks weird, or the face is wonky. if the paper's good and the pencil lead is good quality and the eraser does its job well and still the drawing looks like shit, well, who's to blame for that? me.

i knew from the start that this was where i was headed if i decided to draw in pencil. even the very first sketches i did were in colored pencil, which is a step up in difficulty from regular graphite (they can be erased, but not completely). but obviously that didn't work as i had hoped, so more drastic measures were required.

so i decided to just rawdog it. i ditched the pencils entirely and took my tombow pens out of retirement. i only had five and two of them were different shades of pink, so not a lot of room to play with colors-as-values, but i made do. the three figures that look like they were drawn in pencil were actually drawn with the grey pen.

now this may seem counterintuitive. if erasing and redrawing stresses me out so much, how does drawing directly in pen make it better? isn't that just more stress?

yes and no, but mostly no. the way i rationalized it is, i can't make a perfect pen drawing even at my absolute best. there's just no way. but i can eventually arrive at a perfect pencil drawing, through a lot of trial and error and frustration, so why not take all of that out of the equation? frustration never helped me get better, it was just a creative sinkhole. so why not get rid of it? turn the possibility of failure into a certainty and work with or around that new certainty.

cut out the middleman, so to speak.

and it fucking worked.

-- for full disclosure, i've drawn in pen before. i started on a whim a few years ago and found it pretty liberating, so i kept doing it.

these are some of the first sketches i did in pen. they're pretty good, but as you can see from the date at the bottom, these were from before the Great Calamity of 2020 happened and everything went to shit. --

back to the thing.

so drawing in pen worked wonders to loosen me up and keep me going with the challenge -- or the building of a new habit. it certainly helped that i was also drawing portraits from reference and didn't have to think about poses, or features, or expressions -- they were all already there for me to draw.

not having to think about any of that also meant i had more energy to put into other things, like shading and coloring and how to simplify and stylize complex forms.

(i also got some poscas and four new watercolor makers. they weren't necessary for the process, but they were a nice treat.)

so i kept drawing. two days turned into three, into five, until i had a full week of daily drawings under my belt.

i hit a snag on day 8. (no pictures because (1) its fucking embarrassing, and (2) it's an oc design for a thing i'm still cooking and it's in the earliest of stages where the characters don't even have names.) i have a pretty good idea why day 8 was such a miss: i got overconfident. day 7 was a draw from your imagination day and it went well enough i thought i could do it again the next day. lol nope.

so i went back to my reference board for the next couple of days, but i had gotten a taste of true freedom (drawing from imagination -- and in pencil!) and i wasn't feeling the portraits anymore.

the next couple of days after that were rough (again -- no pictures bc uncooked oc's) but all the drawing from reference i did the week before had done me good. i had the willpower to keep going despite being unhappy with my drawings. they weren't bad drawings per se, but i was using my newly-found oc-drawing muscles and there were bound to be some growing pains. i was also drawing in pencil but by that point i had gotten used to making mistakes so i wasn't stressed about having to erase over and over.

(i don't think i actually erased all that much, tbh. i was instead using a blending stump to mask the wobbly lines.)

day 15. i didn't set out to draw one page a day but that's what ended up happening so i just went with it. i also only had an hour or two to draw and that's how much i was able to get done in that amount of time. slow and steady wins the race, i guess?

day 19 was i think the first time i drew in pen from imagination in a long time. i was also watching some vtuber drama nonsense on youtube and it got me thinking about making my own vtuber model. idek what a vtuber is or does but the process of making a model from scratch sounds interesting. (its also very time-consuming, i hear.)

anyway.

actual cooked oc's this time + a page of raziel drawn from memory to celebrate the news of the soul reaver prequel graphic novel that's in the making. (apparently dave rapoza is gonna do the cover art for it??)

and this is now turning into an art diary, but you get the gist. i kept going.

and going.

and going.

even when it wasn't fun. even when i didnt' feel like it. and maybe i havent built the habit all the way through yet, but the more i kept going the more i noticed how the "i don't feel like it" feeling became less and less intense.

it hasn't gone away completely. its 10pm now as i'm writing this and i know i have to open up my sketchbook and draw and tbh i don't really feel like it, but it's less that i'm drained and more like "but what if i fuck up a perfectly good page?"

and i know how to deal with that. i pick up a pen and fuck it up on purpose, and then i look at what i have and start problem-solving.

because that's what gets me through it.

not having a clear, concrete problem to tackle is what kept me stuck in limbo for so long, it's what's at the core of my burnout. you'd think creating more problems on purpose would make the burnout worse, but it got me out of the black hole of indecision and anxiety. because if it's something that i made, it's something i can unmake. it's something i can fix.

so i'm fucking fixing it, one step at a time.

[bellaxgiornata]

hey there! if you’re looking for some more fun ask questions, maybe 11, 32, and 42? (if you can’t tell, i really adore your writing and trust your judgement so am super interested in which of your own fics you recommend the most as well as any other writers or fics you like) thank you!

I am still open to answering this and I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to respond! I like to try to be thorough in my responses. And thank you so much 😭❤️ That means so much to hear about my writing, it's something I'm very passionate about. Hearing that it's appreciated means a lot! ❤️

As for fics of my own to recommend, I think most of y'all already know about Falling for the Devil when it comes to Matty. And for those who enjoy that series, you'd probably also enjoy The Devil at Your Window. For those who enjoy sexual tension and smut for Matt, I'll toot my horn about Break the Tension. It's not my usual Matt x Reader fic but I think it's been fun to write a Matt who's kind of a desperate asshole (for reasons which will eventually make sense).

For Mikey I'd recommend Safe Haven because it's a series full of plot and surprises. Plus who doesn't want to share a bedroom window with Mikey??

As for Frank I'd recommend either of my series': Neighbors or You're Safe With Me. Both are fun and have/will have suspense!

As for the questions you asked, I'll answer them below the cut because this is going to be a long post 😅

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

I notoriously haven't read much in the past year because I have limited free time and cannot seem to stop writing long enough to focus on reading (something I am sure will change once I have a newborn in a few months and am awake at all hours of the night...). But I love these stories and even though I am not caught up on necessarily all of them, I know many things that are planned for them/have happened and I have read many screenshots as these fics have been written!

And Then I Met You by @souliebird

Cooking Up Love by @loveroftoomanyfandoms

Cadence by @she-likesorchids AKA @theradioactivespidergwen

(Hopefully all the links are correct because I am trying to write this on my phone 😅)

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers

There are SO many wonderful writers here on tumblr so picking just 3 is honestly impossible. I literally can't so I'll just list a handful of writers I've actually been able to read some works from and have enjoyed here on tumblr (and that I can think of off the top of my head) who write for Matt, Michael, and/or Frank (and possibly even vamp Henry):

@she-likesorchids

@souliebird

@loveroftoomanyfandoms

@mattmurdocksscars

@sunflowersandsapphires

@shiorimakibawrites

@mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment

@yarrystyleeza

@itwasthereaminuteago

@pastafossa

@peterman-spideyparker

(There's absolutely more and I apologize for my brain blanking, plus the list of writers on my TBR list is huge 😅)

@farfromstrange

@courtforshort15

42. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

An Ode to a Coat by @pastafossa

YES EVERYONE GO READ IT. As long as you're over 18 of course because it's smutty goodness.

[dreamersingingroses]

Help Getting BL Manhwa Paljae Licensed

As per an initiative started on Reddit, I would like to ask you for help in regards to the potential licensing of the BL manhwa Paljae, Child of Winter.

I'm not kidding when I say this manhwa is a treat for the eyes.

With its Korean-inspired mythology and eery fantasy elements, Paljae is a beatiful story about a blind, powerful dosa (akin to a cultivator) who saves the life of a mysterious creature close to death that seems to be weakened by high temperatures and empowered by Winter season.

This is a mesmerizing manhwa both in artstyle and content. The exploration of human emotions, the blossoming of deep-rooted love and lifelong lessons are just the tip of this phenomenal story about two messed up beings finding companionship in each other.

I could sing praises about this story for hours and still it wouldn't be enough to express just how good it is. If this tiny summary has picked your interest, or if you're already acquainted with the story, please spare me five (5) more minutes!

See, as many of you know, the publishing house Seven Seas Entertainment opens a reader's survey every month to get suggestions from people about what their new licenses should be. From personal experience, I know getting a publisher's attention is hard (very much so), which means that this survey is a great opportunity to hopefully make them consider licensing this title.

As readers, we have the power to suggest what we're interested in buying, and we have to take this chance.

So without further ado, I propose we take this monthly surveys to get them to at least consider Paljae as a potential license.

A user on Reddit posted how you can help us by participating in the monthly surveys with instructions to do so: https://www.reddit.com/r/Paljae_ChildofWinter/s/KamfbYGn18

If you don't want to exit Tumblr right now, keep reading for my own summary of the post.

Whether you're familiar with Seven Seas or just want to give us a hand, if you're interested in reading Paljae, are already in love with it or just want to support the author, please consider taking Seven Seas Entertainment's monthly survey.

How can I help?

1. Once you click on the link, you'll be redirected to the FREE survey.

2. You will need to give them an email. This is only so they can make sure one person doesn't fill in multiple surveys. Your email won't be shared with their associates, and you won't be sent any emails either. I've been participating with other less wholesome suggestions for months, and it's alright.

3. You will have to answer a brief multiple-choice questionnaire about the formats you prefer to read manhwas, comics and the like.

4. Frequently, there will be a compulsory question about their new releases, so you may be prompted to choose the ones that pick your interest. Their covers and names will be included in a multiple-choice format, so have fun looking at them :)

5. There will be a question about which WEBTOON/WEBCOMIC you'd like to see licensed. This is where you can type Paljae, Child of Winter.

6. Finally, if you want to participate in their monthly raffle and win a paperback they published during the year prior, just enter your email in the last section. This is voluntary and won't affect the consideration of your answers.

We Tumblerinas know that fandom makes impossible things come true, and wouldn't it be awesome if we could make this happen?

You can find the link for their monthly reader's survey in different places:

- At the end of their webpage, https://sevenseasentertainment.com/

It will look something like this:

- On Instagram, in their stories: https://www.instagram.com/sevenseasentertainment?igsh=MWpsZ2xuZ2xvdG8zaA==

It will look something like this:

- On Twitter/X/whatever (I know we don't talk 'bout X around here, but still), https://twitter.com/gomanga

The tweet will usually be posted the first week of every month.

- On the reddit post linked in this publication, https://www.reddit.com/r/Paljae_ChildofWinter/s/KamfbYGn18

[This user will update the link every month, so that you can access the newest version whenever you see this post.]

That being said, I am very thankful for your time and I hope you can spare a few minutes to make this a reality. Thank you very much!

[steddieficrec]

Some teen fics I've read (and reread) recently that I loved.

sounds like sweet talk to my ears by judasofsuburbia

(1/1 I 1,633)

"You just gotta practice on someone with zero stakes,” Eddie exclaims.

“Like who?”

Eddie gestures to Robin who cackles loudly.

“Not a chance,” Robin says.

“I’m not fake flirting with Robin. Gag.”

Eddie’s mouth twists. His next sentence is on the tip of his tongue, fighting to come out of his mouth, but his brain is screaming don’t, don’t don’t‒

“Practice on me,” Eddie blurts. His voice is meek so he clears his throat and puts on his most encouraging smile.

or: after watching steve strike out again at the scoops ahoy counter, eddie suggests that steve try flirting with him as practice. no harm, no foul, it's just pretend, right?

another version of me (i was in it) by badfanfictionaire

(1/1 I 2,651)

Eddie can’t not see it. Beneath the crappy hairpiece and comical purple lenses, there’s only one person this Djo guy could be: Steve Harrington. He’d recognize the happy trail peeking out from his striped crop-top anywhere. It’s the same one that’s haunted his dreams since he last saw the guy at a pool party in ‘86.

just watch me now by ilip13

(1/1 I 6,000)

"Dude, you’re not a sellout." Steve leans in his direction, arms crossed over his knees, gaze intent. Eddie looks away. "You’re amazing."

Eddie groans.

"Seriously," Steve continues relentlessly, driving the point home. "Those lyrics — no one writes like that, man. It was easier to save the world than to ask you for your number? I thought it was brilliant."

Oh, if only he knew.

*

Eddie's unrequited love song accidentally becomes a hit.

too good to deny it by unkreativstermensch

(1/1 I 11,793)

“Well, apparently…you uh had some fun too, huh, Steve?” Eddie’s voice sounded weird, almost like there was an accusatory undertone. Steve’s frown deepened. This was about him finding someone to make out with?

“Yeah? What about it? I know I said I’d make sure you were safe and everything, but does that mean I can’t enjoy myself? You were both pretty preoccupied, weren’t you?”

“I-” Robin actually looked speechless. “Of course you can, just…it was…” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, frustrated. “That was a guy, Steve!”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I’m aware.”

Robin blinked. “A guy,” she repeated, an exasperated expression on her face, her hands making some sort of gesture, underlining the word.

“I know,” Steve said, in the same manner, starting to get frustrated now, too. “Was pretty hard to miss with his dick against my thigh.” He narrowed his eyes. “No pun intended.”

  or: 5 times Steve enjoys kissing boys and 1 time he realizes what that means

Turn Your Back on Mother Nature by gr0gu

(4/4 I 16,946)

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

Steve was supposed to work with Robin at the Family Video, flirt with the many many girls who came to browse the expansive selection of VHSes, go on some dates, and hopefully find The One.

It was supposed to be a notably upside-down free year.

And, hey, for what it's worth? He wasn't supposed to be pinned down on a mattress by Eddie Munson either.

And he certainly wasn't supposed to be enjoying it.

But that's getting a bit ahead of things…

if you fall, i will catch you by mseg_21

(3/3 I 29,930)

“So, about prom-” Buckley starts.

Eddie instantly cuts her off. “Still not going,” he says, fiddling with the candy display on the counter.

“I know, I know,” she says with a dismissive wave. “Steve told me to stop pestering you about it and to leave you alone.”

Eddie bites down on a smile. It’s easy to picture Steve with his hands on his hips and his best Stern Mom Look as he tells Robin to leave Eddie alone. He’s witnessed it multiple times. With the kids, and a few times with Eddie himself.

“You don’t have to come to prom with us,” Robin says. Eddie doesn’t even get the chance to do a celebratory dance before she continues. “But how do you feel about us having our very own prom?”

“Us?” Eddie asks, raising his eyebrow at her.

or Eddie refuses to go to prom so Robin suggests a fake prom at Steve’s house. There’s dancing, misunderstandings, feelings realizations, a Prom King and Queen election, and Steve acting like Eddie’s prom date the entire night

down too long in the midnight sea by spacenarwhal

(2/2 I 42,121)

If Steve’s being completely honest with himself, it was probably only ever a matter of time before he lost his mind.

He’s certainly taken enough hits to the head to justify it happening.

Still, Steve didn’t imagine going crazy would go quite like this, standing on the heat-parched yellow grass outside Max’s trailer, looking at a ghost.

[Or: The, alleged, haunting of Steve Harrington.]

sub-culture by palmviolet

(13/13 I 60,702)

“Is he whining about Eddie being mean to him again?” Robin is leaning in the doorway, eating a leftover slice that’s probably cold by now. “You talk about him more than you talk about girls, Steve, it’s getting concerning. Anyone would think you had a crush.”

or, steve is pretty convinced eddie now hates him. turns out eddie has the opposite problem.

the other hand knocking by greatunironic

(10/10 I 102,211)

Since he was eighteen, Steven Harrington knew he would not marry: there were many factors, but chief among them were that he had, he knew, given up his chance for true happiness when he had allowed his mother to persuade him from accepting Edward Munson’s proposal.

Or: a Regency AU.

i can't tune you out by hairstevington

(28/28 I 113,115)

Eddie Munson is an up-and-coming rock and roll artist living in LA. Steve Harrington (under the stage name HARVEST) has been taking the radio by storm lately. When the fans start shipping them together as a couple, Steve and Eddie consider it an opportunity to boost their upcoming albums. There's just one problem - they can't stand each other.

[autumnleopard]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @amidnight--dreary!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

Currently 46. No doubt there will be more to come, once I manage to actually finish any of my WIPs.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

234.084. I'm a little disappointed in myself right now.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The bulk of my AO3 fics are for the MCU but I have moved on from that and I'm mostly writing for Peaky Blinders right now (and possibly in the future as well). I have two unfinished MCU fics that I will eventually finish, I swear. There's also a few fics written for other fandoms but it's usually single fics.

4. Top five fics by kudos

In order: The King Is Dead, Long Live The King, Winter Butterfly, A Simple Act, Early Bird, and Sleepy Head.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes. Though I'm sure I have missed some...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh, hm. I think it would be Dead Boy's Poem, which in my not so humble opinion is a great story, it's just that it ends very badly.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm sure there's a few that qualify... At the top of my head I'd pick there goes my mind racing, just because it's a story that's very dear to me and one I actually love to reread. But honestly, there's probably a few fics that qualify, A Simple Act would be one of them for example. Winter Butterfly might fall in that category once it's actually finished...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I remember getting some way back when but I can't remember what it was about, not that it even matters. I do recall having a brief argument with the person, I just deleted the comment thread. Nothing since then I think... I hope it remains that way.

9. Do you write smut?

Ah, well, not really. I have tried my hand at it but it wasn't anything explicit, basically everything but, so right leading up to the steamy stuff. I felt a bit awkward writing that, so I probably stick to hinting at stuff etc. But who knows, perhaps in the future...

10. Craziest crossover?

Well, I don't think I've written crossovers. As far as crazy stories go though, it's definitely the two stories involving the Avengers and resurrected dinosaurs. (Don't ask.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so, which is good. Hopefully it won't ever happen.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Sadly not. I have translated my own shit though. Well, one. I wrote it in my native language and later translated it to English to post it. That's also one of the first fics I ever posted on AO3, way back in 2019.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Winter Butterfly is a project of the wonderful @worstloki and me, which we really have to finish at some point... I recall that we talked about it at the end of last year, and I forgot to check on the fic since then... Sorry.

14. All time favorite ship?

Ah damn. I have to say that it's probably Tofie (Tommy and Alfie from Peaky Blinders). It's the ship I write mostly for now and also the ship that kind of has stolen my heart, so to speak. I just love bisexual disaster gangsters. It used to be Frostiron. It's the one I've written most for and it still is dear to me but unfortunately it has been dethroned.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Oh. At the top of my head it's a fic called "When Dragons Cry", which I haven't posted and it just sits in my docs and judges me. It's Frostiron and Loki is a dragon and his egg has been stolen. There's convoluted lore to it as well.

But also a fic/series called "here I am alone between the heavens and the embers" which is about Tommy from Peaky and ghosts. Do ask me about that. Maybe if I talk about it, I will actually fucking work on it. It's so ambitious in my opinion, and I don't know if I am confident enough in my abilities to actually write it. I mean, I have started it and I do like what I've written, but damn...

There's probably more... Now I feel awful for all the abandoned projects... Anyway!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I cannot answer this because I don't know. Even if I think longer about it, I probably won't be able to come up with a satisfactory answer. It's probably something others are more capable of answering for me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Honestly, same answer as 16. Though I guess I could say smut because it's just something I haven't practiced as much.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I think it's good. Though my language knowledge is very limited. I have used some in the past but it's usually very simple phrases that even a translator cannot fuck up.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

I've had that question recently and my answer is still not any more definite. It's probably Naruto, NCIS or Warriors. Though the more I think about it, the more I believe it was Warriors. But can't remember honestly.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

There's a bunch but if I have to pick, I'm gonna pick Lest We Forget again because it's a fic I'm very, very proud of and which deserves more attention in my not so humble opinion.

Tagging some writers, hope you don't mind, also no pressure obviously... @poormeowmeowcollector @justhallucinating @rabentochter @whentommymetalfie @justrainandcoffee @andtherewerefireworks

[hairbrush9]

tumblr is the last social media that feels remotely social... remember when it was only our primary school friends? then outer circle, then university, then the whole world practically. I think after i lost contact with so many people irl I realized there was nothing pulling me back to those social medias. facebook , my first sm, was abandoned after early high school as I latched onto weird twitter to post jokes with my buddies and classmates. tumblr was a medium i originally joined to post gifs of pokemon and dbz, ended up making some good e friends over time - sad that most of them are moved on but hopefully for the better. Instagram was a part of my social media journey probably from 2012 - 2021 & IG was abandoned because of a combination of fomo & disinterest in my academic peers, and a lack of engagement with my posts. I honestly still wish I was as avid about taking photos/videos with my phone but now that I drive everywhere my hands are always busy. In 2014 I got really into media/politics twitter and it consumed my time & morale - ended up deleting for a few years and then remaking around pandemic times, only to abandon it again late 2021 after i realized the soul suck was still ever so obvious. snapchat wasn't a part of my life for a very long time on account of I don't really love taking selfies or communicating via images of random shit so I left that around the same time I ditched facebook for twitter. Peach was small and insular and was a fun place to go for a break from tumblr back in like...2018 or something? Anyway people talked shit about me for literally just being myself and hurting nobody so I don't care to return there (and my current phone doesn't support the app so whatever!). I've purposefully stayed away from tiktok and twitter alternatives because I don't really think adding to my social media is going to bring me any more meaning/joy at this point. just want to build on relationships that already exist because I don't feel insatiable on this front right now

[kotlc-deleted-scenes]

Keeper Summer Week #12

Deleted Scene from Flashback 

I cut this scene because the Healing Center sequence was such a huge chunk of the book that I needed to limit it to the most essential moments. I had to cut anything where Sophie wasn't learning something significant or making progress on her recovery. And since this was neither of those, it had to go.

—Shannon

“Okay—enough chitchat,” Ro said, marching over to Elwin's office. "I was promised ooze!" 

"Yeah, let the Great Fitzphie Ooze Fest begin!" Keefe commanded, pumping his fist. 

"It's going to be a few more minutes," Elwin warned them. "I'm still finishing up one of the poultices." 

"Is there gross stuff in it?" Ro asked hopefully. 

"Some of the worst I've ever seen," Elwin agreed. 

Keefe smirked at Fitz and Sophie. "Excellent." 

"But hurry it up!" Ro added as she paced around the room. 

The third time she passed Sophie's cot, she paused to ask, "Are you aware of your hair situation?" 

"Situation?" Sophie repeated. 

"Disaster zone' might be more appropriate," Ro warned as she pulled a compact from the back of her breastplate and held the mirror up to show Sophie. 

Sophie blinked. "Oh wow." 

She wasn't sure how hair could stick out in so many different directions and also be plastered to her head. And the more she tried to pull it into a ponytail, the more it rebelled. 

"Okay, now it's getting pathetic," Ro said, smacking Sophie's hand away and taking over. "You can all thank me later." 

"Uh, what is happening right now?" Keefe asked. 

"I'm helping your girl look less like a newborn yeti." She used her claws like a comb, trailing them gently across Sophie's skull. "Worried I'm going to shred the skin off your scalp?" she asked when Sophie flinched. "I could, you know." 

"I'm sure you could," Sophie agreed. 

Just like she was sure that Ro could crush her head like a grape. "It's weird, isn't it?" Ro asked, separating Sophie's hair into sections. 

"This truce between our species? I mean, if someone had told me last year that I'd get this close to an elf and not want to rip out their throat—especially one of the little brats who attacked our capital city- I'd have broken every bone in their body. But here I am: styling elf-y hair in Sparkle Town. And the weirdest thing is—I don't totally hate it. I mean, I could do without all the glitter—and the perfumy smell. But the drama and obliviousness make it pretty entertaining." 

"Obliviousness?" Sophie asked. 

"The fact that you need me to spell it out for you kinda proves my point. But don't worry: Someday you'll figure it out—and then things will get very interesting. In the meantime—behold!"

She held up the mirror again, revealing the two messy buns she'd twisted Sophie's hair into—which was a little Princess Leia meets Minnie Mouse, if Sophie was honest. 

Ro sighed. "Clearly you need to start seeing yourself the way others do. Check out the staring boys if you don't believe me." 

She pointed to Fitz and Keefe, who were indeed staring. 

"What?" Sophie asked, heat creeping up her neck. 

Fitz blinked. "You look… different in a good way." 

"Dude, is that the best you can do?" Keefe asked. 

"I don't see you doing any better," Fitz argued. 

"Oh, I could. But I'm trying not to make you look bad. And can we be done with the makeovers? I came here for ooze! Come on, Elwin—you're killing me!" 

"One more minute," Elwin called back. "Still finishing up the new poultice."

[invisibleraven]

"I would never regret a thing in my life, since it led me to you."

Peterpatterlina

PROMPT #800 BABY! Couldn't have gotten here without all of you, but especially my canoe crew who are my constant support and dearest friends. Love you all!

If there was once place on Earth more hated than a hospital, Julie had yet to find it. She hated the weird smell that never seemed to leave her nose until long after. She hated the cafeteria food that always seemed so bland and tasteless-even the pudding, and how did someone mess up pudding? She hated the constant noise from the machines and alerts and various people coming and going.

But most of all she hated seeing her mother in here.

Rose who was so jubilant and full of life was now a pale reflection of her former self as she willingly pumped poison into her veins to hopefully fight the cancer threatening her life. She still tried to stay happy and upbeat for her family, but the chemo was taking it's toll, and her smiles didn't reach her eyes any more.

"You don't have to come with me every time mija," Rose assured her. "And you definitely don't have to stay in here. Why not go exploring, see if there's any kids your age you can hang out with?"

Julie was reluctant to leave her mom, but her father practically pushed her out so she supposed the choice was made for her. She knew she didn't have to come, Carlos didn't, and she bet he was having a great time with tia right now. But her mom had always called her a good luck charm, so maybe, just maybe that would help?

She would rather believe that than the fact that her mother was slowly dying.

So she wandered the halls, until a kindly nurse pointed her to the children's longue, a place where both the sick kids and visitors could just relax. It was pretty empty, save a lone boy with a giant clunky cast on his leg who was playing a game, the tip of his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth.

"Whatcha playin'?" she asked as she took a seat next to him on the lumpy couch.

"Mario, you ever play?" he asked, voice rough and with a tiny hint of a twangy accent. Julie noticed how the fluorescent lights washed him out, but she could see a spray of freckles across his cheeks and nose, which fascinated her-she'd never seen someone with so many freckles before.

"I've played a bit with my brother, though he's way better at it than I am," she replied. "I could never get him to the top of the flagpole like you can."

"You want me to teach you?" he asked, turning to her, the full force of his green eyes hitting her, and Julie had to clench her hands by her sides so as to not play with her curls.

"Sure," she said, and the boy-Reggie-handed her the controller, explaining what to do, giving her tips and secrets on how to get a high score in the game. "How do you know so much about this?"

"I've been here a while," Reggie explained, pointing to his foot. "This is going to be my third or fourth surgery on it, and that means a lot of downtime. So I've gotten pretty good. Plus my grandparents got me a Nintendo for my Bar Mitzvah last year."

"Are there any other games here?" Julie asked, excited to see what else they could play together. She liked Reggie-there was a sadness around him, yes, but he never stopped smiling, and making her laugh with little jokes and comments as she stumbled through each level of the mushroom kingdom.

"Tons!" Reggie enthused, and went through the collection that was there. Julie didn't really want to play Duck Hunt-guns were a big nope for her, but Zelda sounded right up her alley-she loved stories about adventure and princesses.

They whiled away a good chunk of the afternoon playing games together, just chatting and laughing. Nothing too deep, but she told Reggie why she was here and he gave her a sympathetic smile, squeezing her hand. He told her he had been in a bad car accident, thus his mangled foot, but his grandparents smuggled him in good food so he didn't have to put up with the awful pudding.

"Mija?"

Julie turned and there was her papi, smiling kindly at her. "It's time to go. Your mami is tired and I think she'd much prefer to nap at home."

She nodded, but then paused. "If you're still here next week can we play more Zelda?" she asked Reggie.

"I'll be here, recovery time is long," he assured her.

"Then I'll be sure to bring you some real pudding," she promised, and Reggie laughed aloud at that.

Julie and her father left the room, but a nurse caught them down the hallway. "Were-were you just in the game room with Reggie?" she asked.

"Yes," Julie answered. "Was I not supposed to be?"

"No no, nothing like that," the nurse assured her. "But...I heard him laugh?"

"Yeah, we were joking about the pudding here," Julie said, confused.

"Sweetheart, Reggie hasn't spoken more than two words since his accident almost six months ago," the nurse said. "So if you managed to make him crawl out of his shell, well you must be some sort of angel. Do you think you would mind coming back to play with him again?"

"I'll be back next week," Julie assured her. She felt a wave of pity for Reggie-did he have no friends to come visit him? What about his family, couldn't they get him to talk? So Julie made it her mission to come as often as she could, and make Reggie laugh as often as possible.

So she did-every week she went with Rose to the hospital, and hung out with Reggie. Some weeks he was more subdued than others, whispering he was in pain, but always lit up when Julie handed him a pilfered snack from her house, often a pudding, like their little private joke.

Even after Rose entered remission, she still asked to go visit Reggie, and her parents were more than happy to let her. "You're a good friend to this boy mija," Rose told her. "I hope he gets out of there soon though."

"Me too," Julie replied.

It was only a few weeks later that fate intervened-Reggie told Julie he was finally going to be released. But unfortunately, he was going home with his grandparents, back to Georgia. "They've been away from the farm too long as it is, and there's no one else..." he trailed off.

Julie knew this of course, how he and his mom had left his abusive dad and come to LA to make a new life. How the car accident that broke Reggie's foot took his mom's life. That his grandparents had come to look after him while he recovered.

But she still cried at the thought of losing him. "We could always write?' he suggested tearily. Julie agreed, and got his address before leaving. It wouldn't be the same as spending their afternoons playing games and talking together, but it would at least be something.

~

Reggie hated the cold. Why oh why did the most prestigious game design school have to be in the North East? More so why couldn't he have been happy enough going to a school back home in Georgia, or even in LA? But of course, he knew why. He wanted to make games that would help kids just like Mario and Zelda had helped him. And to do that, he had to come to this school even though the cold made his foot ache, the ice and snow were not great for moving around in when you relied on a cane, and he missed MeeMaw and Pops so bad he could scream.

He just had to reassure himself that it would be worth it in the end, even as he hobbled through the crowds trying to get home.

"Reggie!"

He could have sworn he heard a voice calling his name-it wasn't like Reggie was all that common. But when he looked around, he couldn't see anyone he knew. But then, there it was again, a little closer.

"Reggie! Reggie Peters! Your princess is in another castle!"

Finally she came into view-Julie Molina, all grown up, but still recognizable even seven years later. They had kept in touch with letters for a bit, but then lost it after Rose's cancer came back. Reggie always felt bad about that, wishing he had tried harder for the girl who had gotten him through one of the worst parts of his adolescence.

"You got a fire flower or something for me at least?" he said with a grin and then opened his arms for a hug, holding her tight as she rushed in to accept it. Her curls were cut shorter, but still just as curly. Her smile was just as vibrant, and God Reggie had missed her. "What the heck are you doing here Molina?"

"I could ask the same of you!" she exclaimed, smacking his shoulder. "I'm here for college, studying graphic design!"

"Same, only for games!" Reggie replied. "Gosh it's good to see you again, you have time for a coffee?"

Julie bit her lip and shook her head. "Sorry, I've actually got to get to class, but give me your number, we can meet up?"

Reggie nodded and handed over his card, taking hers in turn and waving as she got on her train before hobbling off home. He sighed as he finally got to sit down, and pulled out the card that Julie gave him.

"Whatcha got there bud?" Luke asked as he slumped down on the couch next to him. "Ooh, got a number?"

"It's not like that you doof," Reggie said, shoving him away playfully. "This is from Julie, we were friends as teens, and I ran into her in the station. Apparently she's here studying graphic design."

"Oh cool," Luke said, snuggling back into Reggie's side, and by this time, Reggie had gotten used to his cuddly nature-having lived together for a few years made you used to a lot of things. "She a good artist?"

Reggie recalled the various doodles that covered his casts during his hospital stay-Julie insisting on signing it as it was blank when she met him. Even though Reggie told her he would be getting an new one after his surgery.

"Well I'll sign that one too," she had said with a grin-and she did. Reggie had honestly been a little sad to see them cut off and all Julie's artwork destroyed.

"Yeah she really is," Reggie mused.

"Well then call her!" Luke insisted. "Even if not for dates, just to reconnect. Or hell, you need a designer for your game right?"

"Well it's your game too," Reggie reasoned.

"Eh," Luke shrugged. "I wrote the story and music, but you helped with both of those, and you're doing all the programming."

"Maybe," Reggie said, looking at the card again. "Maybe."

~

It turned out that Julie was very interested in making a game with Reggie, and that summer it was a familiar sight to find her in Luke and Reggie's apartment making the art and helping Reggie play test sequences with each character.

Luke was absent, as his parents insisted he return home to his folks house but he happily let them use the apartment, and claimed he couldn't wait to see what they had gotten done when he returned-and to meeting Julie, since fate hadn't allowed that to happen thus far.

Reggie loved that summer-he and Julie renewed their friendship, they worked together constantly, and while he didn't experience any pain-that would never be a reality for him-he found it lessened due to him keeping busy. Plus Luke had made their apartment as handi capable as possible, so he barely had to use his cane.

Sure, Luke had claimed he would get lost in the clutter if they let it build up, but Reggie knew the truth. Luke was determined to look after him, and while some would resent that, Reggie loved being cared for, and appreciated how much Luke did to make his life easier. And it wasn't like Reggie didn't do anything for him-he made sure Luke went to all his classes and performances on time, as he was involved in the school's music program, and even helped the orchestra for the drama department while he got his English and Musical Composition degrees.

Reggie had even gone to every showing of the school's production of Macbeth, just because Luke was down in the pit every night, and it was his composition that they used to signify the storm-a raucous, crashing thing that made you really feel like the weather was about to change.

That was the only drawback of the summer-that Luke wasn't there. So when he returned, Reggie was almost fit to burst, pulling him in for a hug almost immediately.

"Missed you too buddy," Luke whispered into his shoulder. They broke apart then, exchanging slightly watery smiles before Luke coughed and cast his eyes over to where Julie was standing. "Hi, you must be Julie!"

"And you must be Luke," she replied, giving a little oof as he caught her in a hug. "Oh, you're a hugger."

Luke stepped back then, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry. It's a thing."

"It's okay," Julie assured him, "But maybe a little warning next time?" She then offered him a smile. "Now I wanna pick your brain about a few plot points of your story..."

~

By the end of the summer, they had made good progress on their game, but it was nowhere near done. "We can still work on it," Julie said, "Just not at the same rate."

Reggie sighed in defeat. He knew they weren't going to finish the game, but he had hoped they would be a bit further along. "Maybe... maybe I should take the semester off? Keep at it?"

"Reg you can't do that, your education is important!" Julie insisted.

"It's also extremely expensive, and my grandparents can only help so much," Reggie explained. "A semester off would be a big help to them, and I can always do a class or two through distance if I want."

"I would love to take the semester off too, but since my folks are paying the rent here, I need to stay in school to keep a roof over our heads," Luke lamented. "But my part of things is essentially over anyways."

"We still need to figure out a lot of the score mister," Julie answered him. "Hire musicians and the like."

"Why would we need to do that?" Luke asked. "I play guitar, Reggie plays almost everything, our friend Alex does drums, we just need a vocalist."

Julie was silent at that for a moment. "I-I could do it."

Luke grinned, and handed her the song they had written for the end credits-a lilting ballad that spoke of their main character's journey and her longing to find a place she belonged. A bit cliché, but it was leagues better than Girl In The Tower which had gotten legit radio play, so Luke figured they were good.

Only when Julie started singing, both guys were blown away. Her voice was angelic, the perfect one to elevate the song into greatness. They sat there stunned for a bit after she finished until Luke cleared his throat. "I think you've got the job Molina."

She beamed with happiness, jumping up and down and then ran off to call her dad. Luke turned to Reggie. "How come you never told me she could sing like that?"

"I didn't know!" Reggie insisted.

Later on that night after Julie had gone home, Luke looked at Reggie. "Would you be mad if I asked Julie out?"

An unpleasant feeling settled in Reggie's gut at that, which was ridiculous. Luke and Julie were his two best friends, incredibly well suited for each other, why shouldn't they be happy together? "Maybe wait until the game is done?"

"That's fair," Luke conceded. "And you're sure you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Reggie asked. Luke looked at him queerly for a moment then shook it off, wishing Reggie a good night, a sentiment Reggie echoed. But he found that he couldn't sleep that night, and the feeling in his gut never did go away.

~

It took nearly a year, but they finally finished their game. One of Reggie's professors was going to help them shop it around to different publishers, but the game was done!

"This calls for a celebration!" Luke exclaimed, pulling out a bottle of champagne, pouring them all a glass. Their various friends were scattered around, all of them involved in the process in some way, and they had all ssured the trio the game was amazing.

Reggie toasted but put the glass down-he didn't drink, not after the hell his dad had put him and his mom through. He didn't think about the man often, couldn't really care less where he was. But that memory of whiskey laden breath and heavy hands would never leave him.

Plus his stomach was roiling as he watched Luke pull Julie aside, watched her light up as he spoke, and then-she pulled him in for a kiss. Not a friendly peck, but a deep, romantic kiss that made Reggie have to look away.

God, what was wrong with him? He knew it was coming, had seen the sparks fly between them. It must be the stress of the past year and the anxiety over selling the game getting to him.

"I need some air," he said to no one, as the party raged on around him. He grabbed his cane and went out to walk a little-it usually hurt to do so for too long, but it also always helped clear his head. He was sure he would be back before anyone noticed.

Only he still couldn't get the image of Luke and Julie kissing out of his head, and eventually sat down on a bench. Why did it bother him so much? He never reacted this way when he saw other couples kiss. Heck he'd seen Luke go through a bevvy of girls and guys when they first started living together... though that had started to bother him after a while. He had chalked it up to Luke being careless with his body and heart, and after he voiced his concerns, Luke seemed to have been perpetually single.

Did... did he just not want to be left alone? Was that it?

He was sure Luke and Julie would still make time for him even if they started dating. But it wouldn't be the same. No more late nights chatting until the sun came up about everything and anything. No more of Luke quoting Macbeth ad nauseum due to months of shows, with Julie and Reggie playing the other parts. No more sunrise runs for cheap fast food to keep going even though they should sleep, and then passing out in a pile on the couch.

No more waking up to Julie and Luke snuggled into his side, or making sure he had someone by his side for his appointments. No more of Julie's sunny smile meant only for him, or Luke's teasing as Reggie made eggs for them since Luke was hopeless in the kitchen. No more movie nights or trying out new games together, no more tears when the doubt set in that they were wasting their time trying to make this game.

Reggie rubbed at his chest, as if that would make the pain go away. Kept picturing Luke and Julie, and wishing he was there. Not instead of them, but with them.

"Oh fuck," he swore. "I'm in love with them."

He had to tell them-they didn't keep secrets-and even if it ruined everything, he couldn't bare them not knowing, and living a life where he was silent about his unrequited feelings.

He got up, heading back towards the apartment, going as fast as he could. Only he didn't see the curb, and slipped, feeling the pain radiating through his ankle as he fell. Or the blackness that set in as his head hit the concrete.

~

Reggie hates hospitals.

He knows he's in one before he even opens his eyes-the smell, the beeping, the feeling of various tubes in him. He blinks open his eyes and sees the same generic tiled ceiling and groans.

"Oh thank God you're awake."

Reggie turns his head, and there is Luke and Julie, looking equally worried and relieved. "Hey guys," he rasps. "How long was I out?"

"Few hours, but you still had us worried sick," Julie admonishes. "We didn't even know you'd left the party until Luke got a call from the hospital as your emergency contact!"

"Sorry, needed some air," Reggie replies, and sighs when Luke puts the straw of a juice box to his lips, allowing him to drink, "Didn't mean to slip and knock myself out."

"And bust your ankle," Luke said apologetically.

"Of course I did," Reggie moans.

The doctor has worse news for him-a bunch of pins had come loose-his foot is even more mangled. "It might be time to let it go son," he cautions.

He takes a lot of time to consider it-they always told him it was a possibility-and Reggie had held on for longer than he probably should have to the old thing. So he agrees to the procedure, even though it will mean even more time in this dreaded place.

The night before the surgery, Luke and Julie are by his side. Julie jokes that she won't have a cast to design on now, but Reggie jests she can always glam up the prosthetic he's getting. She lets out a sob at this.

"Too dark?" Reggie asks.

"No, it's just... when Luke first got that call, we were both fearing the worst," she explains. "We thought we had lost you. And we realized... we couldn't bear to lose you."

"We love you Reg," Luke piped up. "Not as a friend, but as the person... our person. The one person we want to be with."

"Me? The both of you?" Reggie squeaked.

"You," Julie said, squeezing his hand. "You make our heart containers full."

Reggie laughed uproariously at that, wiping a tear from his eye. "I love you guys too. And I will tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow."

"That's my line," Luke chuckled.

"Mine now," Reggie said, and grinned as his partners leaned in to kiss him.

~

The night of the Game Awards, Reggie wasn't nervous. Their game had done phenomenally well, and even if they didn't win, he had something better than a dumb old trophy-he had Luke and Julie on his arms. They were far better, plus it meant he could leave his cane at home-they would keep him upright.

But it was still a shock when their names were called, and Reggie beamed as they helped him up the stairs-he was still getting used to his new prosthetic, all covered in Julie's doodles and Luke's song lyrics.

He watched them both speak, thanking everyone they needed to before ceding the mic to Reggie.

"I haven't had the easiest life," he stated. "It's been one quest after another, and I've barely made it out of some of them with all my hearts intact. But I would never regret a thing in my life, since it led me to you. The both of you, and I wouldn't be standing here without your support, your talent, and your love. Thank you."

Julie and Luke leaned in, kissing his cheeks, and Reggie smiled brighter than the blinding lights as they led him off the stage, never once letting him stumble or fall. And they never would.

[koraichalcum]

some funky previews for shenanigans - ooo mystery raid (its obvious). Already started approaching peeps to participate in some key stuff but it'll open for all to come throw hands and participate in the coming arcs...once I figure out the mechanics. Almost there, trying to make it less mathy and more fun. This is part of that turtle thing I talked about months back-been plotting in the bg, bidding time hah!

It's gonna take a long while, this is still a slow burn event. An important note for my various muses and stuff ahead beneath!

Again, slow burn event - it wont be constant cause of life, dont want stress and for story beats. Most will be fun raid events for muses to catch some neato paradox pokemon leading to funny turtle shenanigans and crater dives. It's not entirely plotted out. Like...here's my scratchy notes lol:

Anyone can join in on open parts - super hope you do! I kinda wanted this as a sort of final ruckus to Scarlet/Violet as gamefreak on record is going to announce a new venture for the year. Hopefully this ends before whenever that comes out!

While this long event is for anyone to participate (Im planning sign ups or something of that matter later down the line for crux parts-Ive already approached some of you, hello there ; > ), it also means the end of my many muse's arcs and stories they've been slowly building to in the bg. This is going to be my fun and final goodbye to my time in the rpc completely.

It's been weighed for a long long time now and I feel it's just about right. Life's been very very busy in a good way! Going to therapy, narrowing down what I want to do with myself, developing habits and schedules to ensure I stick to it including getting properly medicated, challenging my social anxiety and reaching out to others, and even deciding to quit my current dayjob in the near future. RP has been holding me up for years now with just fantastic character and plot ideas I couldn't come up including meeting so many mutuals and friends who've stuck with me for just as long as I've been here. But at some point it's turning more and more into an investment and distraction. I spend too much time here then realize Ive been behind on actual work including the amount of energy and creativity.

In no way am I leaving because of drama, trouble, etc. Figured it'd be nice to bid goodbye with an event then to just peace out quietly one day. Im not even entirely leaving rp per say. I would love to join some of the rp servers here now that Im getting better at participating in group chats. That way Id still stay connected to friends! Probably going to join with new muses entirely but besides the point--

Thanks so much for being interested in my plots, crack posts, ic things, art, etc. Again in no way is this anytime soon hah! I figured with the long while until this is happening Ill have time to start and wrap up other important plots going on with mutuals. But Im looking forward to making this the best last year ever in the rpc before the new title drops <3

Also lizard shenanigans-hes been having a time throwing ya'll around like chew toys.

[trials-of-a-spirit-worker]

Hi, I happened to stumble upon your page and I have an inquiry.

So ever since I was a child I was VERY attracted to witchcraft even though I had no access to it. Like it was something unconscious, I live in Saudi Arabia and everyone is VERY RELIGIOUS to the point where even Harry Potter was banned before I could even watch it as a child (just emphasizing the fact that I had no way to know witchcraft) but somehow I knew what it was. In my specific case, it had to do with demons. I always found myself thinking about them in completely unrelated situations like thoughts would suddenly pop up in my head. I would also unconsciously try to summon one like some third party was willing me to do so and I just felt very obligated to at least, I was very young when this happened (I'm talking 4-6 years old). Later on, whenever I would wake up I would see a blurry gray silhouette of what seemed to be a man rising with me from bed, being outside when I opened the bathroom door waiting, felt like I was being watched in the shower, visited in my dreams, etc. When I grew older (13-15) it started to get REALLY weird. Like the thing would visit me in my dreams whatever the dream was and somehow I would wake up with my hand in my private??? Like I would wake up touching myself every. Time. It. Visited. Sometime last year I got a nightmare of said demon\figure chained in the corner of my room snarling at me and trying to get to me. Later on, I had a dream of being watched by owls, seagulls, and some other brown bird, I was aware in the dream that it was 3 a.m., my bed was moved from an angle and I could see human remains and trash under. Could you please help me piece together what all of this means? I still want to practice witchcraft but every time I try to I get super dizzy and I feel like I'm being watched. (I'm a solar witch and a 16-year-old female)

Hello anon!

When I was younger, I also felt the pull to witchcraft/spirit work. I think it just means we're a little more sensitive to the call. Anyone can be a witch, yes.

But there are signs that come to us that sometimes just shouldn't be ignored.

I hope you're being safe first of all. I don't know how restrictive your situation is and I do know some places in Saudi Arabia and other surrounding places can be less tolerant of witchcraft and non-accepted religions and practices. Much like parts of the states are the same way. As a closet witch myself, I sincerely hope you'll find a place one day when you're older to practice freely without fear.

Second, my first thought is some form of incubi because of the sexual touching but I don't want to jump the gun and misinform you. But harmful spirits do sometimes use sexual misconduct to weaken a person's resolve. Or...some spirits are just really weird like that. In either case, I'm so sorry this is happening to you.

If you can, find some jade for better dreaming. Moonstones, Obsidian and Amethyst are good protection too.

If you have a diffuser or any way to release essential oils, sage would be a good one to have on you. Peppermint, Sweet Orange, Tea Tree and Frankincense are great for better dreams and should hopefully repel that strange entity hounding you.

If you have incense, those would work wonderfully as well especially in any of those scents I mentioned above.

Because whatever is going on really does seem like torment on the entities side. You don't deserve that.

Pray to whoever you worship for guidance and protection from this twisted entity that's bothering you. If you don't have an deity who you follow, I recommend just looking to the universe to give you the wisdom and protection to deal with this being.

A small truck that anyone with any level of energy work should learn/work to master is warding yourself off. Again, anyone you worship or work with, ask them for their protection, envision a cloak, a light, a bubble—I've heard many forms of this shielding whatever works for you and comes naturally and cover yourself in it. Something that'll work to bring you peace. Even if the entity shatters it the first couple times, be persistent. Put it up again.

It'll show the entity you're not going to tolerate suffering from it any longer.

Stand strong, lift up your head, and keep hope. I truly hope this helps you even if it's just a little bit, and don't hesitate to come back of you need more help.

I'm sorry this took so long, I wasn't ignoring you. Life gets away from you sometimes...you know? But I'll do my best to help with what I can.

[gaviicreates]

2024 Intentions

Hiya fellow crafters! I hope your first week of 2024 has been fruitful and inspiring, or if needed, relaxing and perfect for a reset. For me, it's been a bit of both, and I'm abysmally late on whatever we do for the switch over of years.

I thought about doing a "what I made in 2023" but I realized I didn't make very good notes or take very good pictures for such a task. There's also a lot I am proud of, and each project was special for different reasons. But as the last few days have passed, I also moved on from looking backward. So instead, I want to switch over the year by looking to 2024.

I'm not into planning too much of my crafting month by month, but I do have a few WIPs going and scheduled, plus some longer term projects I am very excited for.

Carry over WIPs Carrying over from 2023, I have two main projects and some doilies.

I actually caught up on my sky blanket a few days ago. Granted, I have to weave in ends still - so many ends - but I'm proud of myself for keeping up with it, thus far. As a reminder, this is like a temperature blanket, but I'm basing my colors off of the coloring of the sky: sunny or partly cloudy or overcast or snowing, for a few examples. This project will finish up in October (since I am running it a year between an important date) and I have November and December for final touches like ends and borders.

Also from 2023, I have a start to a knit sock, which I'd like to finish by St. Paddy's Day since it's all about the green.

Of doilies, officially, I have three to complete, and they've been started. I've had to buy some additional stock for one of them, which will take time to come in. I'll fit doilies in as I can, and as I get requests.

New and Current:

I have a drop-in gift I started in tunisian crochet. If you saw my sunday stitchin', that burnt amber is the start to this project. Since it's a gift, I won't share too much about this, but the goal for this one is for it to be a "January" project.

This next one I am VERY excited for, and it'll be a long term project.

This past year, FFXIV has been a huge comfort and challenge, and I've come to love the stories and characters. I am calling this one my "of the Seventh Dawn" blanket, and I've selected a hand-dyed colorway for each of the NPC Scions, plus a color for my own Warrior of Light and my husband's. In total, I'll have 14 different colors, which are all different. I expect this one will be as chaotic as a mystery advent, but each of the colors will mean something to us. It's a subtle nod, but I've spent a lot of time investigating colors and making the selections. I am still working out the pattern and size I'd like to make this, but I've gotten the yarn on order and I can't wait to share them.

#ffxiv blanket for this one

Blogging

Finally, in the space of this blog, I'd like to be a bit more active with writing and sharing my progress. I have a yarn subscription for this year that's through Fangirl Fibers (90s Cinematic Tonals), so I'll have some exciting, surprise acquisitions which will hopefully allow me to work through some of this stash.

[di-diwata]

i have actually uploaded a few anonymous fics and you're right! somehow it's much more easy and freeing and you feel less nervous, even if just a little

i find it so funny that meep's your favorite minecraft pet because the blog i made for the outcasts smp content is called @meep-thesheep >:D

yeah i found out about the leaving thing from one of myles' videos on his second channel. he said something about season 2 being more focused around a close-knit group of friends rather than many people because it got overwhelming i think. so some members like razmoose and baconwaffles0 and (extremely unfortunately) astelina and tazoh aren't gonna be back :( there's a list on the official outcasts smp twitter account of the members who are staying if you want to know more

btw i checked astelina's community posts on her channel and she said she's now in a permanent smp so i'm excited to see how it goes :)

i've actually really been meaning to watch all of the echocraft videos! i've only really watched a handful. i'm currently watching lifesteal because i never finished it, but i'll definitely try binging echocraft next!! also i'm pretty sure the donkey one was echocraft! it was so fun and i loved detective myles

it's completely understandable that there's other stuff you're into at the moment, and you dont have to feel pressured to watch chief's outcasts videos. still, if you do get around to it i really hope you enjoy them!

HI! God, I'm so sorry about being late to respond to this message lol. I meant to respond to it as soon as you sent it, but then things happen, and now it's been about 2 weeks!

The anonymous feature on AO3 is a godsend. Your right about it helping with nerves, even if a little. I tend to upload fics i'm not the happiest with on anon and is great knowing that nobody can trace 'em back to me.

Meep! What a wonderful sheep.

Both Tazoh and Astelina D:? The world really must hate me lol. Jokes of course, I understand them wanting to make Outcasts more close-knit. Looking forward to seeing whatever happens in season 2, i'm sure it'll be just as great as the last. (I don't have the means of getting Twitter unfortunately, so i guess I'll just have to wait and see whose still playing)

I wonder what smp she's joining :0? either way, it's sure to be good. Looking forward to when she starts uploading.

Echocraft is awesome! If i'm being honest, I never totally watched it all the way through, mostly just clicked on whatever video popped up on my FYP. Detective Myles was such a funny bit.

Lifesteal! < I'm a big Lifesteal fan. Which season are you watching? I stopped watching sometime around season 4 but I do enjoy going back and rewatching season 2 + 3. What can I say? The Poggies and the MOB are some of my favourite teams, even if they come from season 2 lol!

Don't worry about, no pressure at all! I love Chief's content either way, so watching Outcasts from him will be a fun experience!

I've been meaning to write content for Oucasts for a while now, but ideas are lacking lol. At the moment I've just been brainstorming headcanons for the characters. Still, i've got the beginnings of a fic starting to form, so hopefully Outcasts should have one more fic by the end of the year :D (does Outcasts even have any fics? I can't remember if it does..)

You got any headcanons? No pressure to share if you do though, just interested in hearing what other people think :D