#Rain in the Desert

[tarmac-rat]

WIP W/E but we're doing Sunday today

I've got a tag backlog of like 5 of these lmao so @ghostoffuturespast thank you for tagging me and waiting like 3 months before I had time lol 💜

Extra long one because hell I haven't shared anything in like 3 months and I wanted to assure everyone that I am in fact not dead.

From Rain in the Desert chapter 18. Mikoshi Chapter. Top 10 Conversations Held Right Before Disaster:

Whether she expected that to be met with laughter or annoyance, it hardly matters, because all Johnny gives her is one sagely nod. “Like I said, got all the time in the world now. Should think about what I told you last night, if you want a place to start, at least.” “Find my mom?” “Leave the city. Not just because you should and you’re too stubborn to see it yet— lotta heat’s gonna fall on you once this is all over. They’ll swarm your apartment, knock on some of your friends’ doors and give ‘em a shakedown, all the works. Sometimes, the best way to keep the people who care about you safe is to smash your holo with a hammer and fuck off into the desert for a couple years.” “Even without you in my head, I’m still finding ways to run through all your greatest hits.” “Say it like that’s a bad thing.” “No comment. And you, though? You come up with a plan yet?”

“Workin’ on it. Think it over for a bit, weigh some pros and cons, see if I like what I come up with. I'll burn that bridge when I get there.” “Just be careful.” “Always am, kid, but thanks for the pep talk.” “Will I ever see you again?” The words slip from her without thought. It’s like the one she asked on that overlook behind Westbrook, or in that booth inside the Afterlife, or shin-deep in the waves of the Pacific. A question born of pure, pathetic desperation— of a need for him to verify something in herself that she can’t even begin to explain. Because when the wall between them came crumbling down, there was no going back, all of her awful thoughts became his and all of his terrible dreams became hers. But now it’s been built back up and she’s left pounding on the bricks, screaming out for an answer that will never ever come. It doesn’t have to be loud, or resolute, or even honest. If she can just hear his voice join her own through all the miles between them, then could be she can find it in herself to live with that. Just something, a single word. Anything to prove that she isn’t on her own in this. But rather than give her that, the corners of Johnny’s mouth slowly draw up into a toothy smile. “Is that fondness I hear in your voice, princess?” he teases. It’s right around there V learns that code can, in no uncertain terms, flush, “Shut up.” “Sayin’ you’re actually gonna miss havin’ my shitty little thoughts ringin’ ‘round up in your head?”  “Shut up. Johnny.” The look he throws her at that almost makes V wish that Alt would come back and Soulkill her all over again, “Always thought you wore sentimentality like a pair of shackles and a straitjacket, but this is somethin’ else. You mean I might actually see you shed a few tears when Alt starts cartin’ me off?” “Jesus, forget I said anything. Ask a genuine question and I end up getting grilled for it like I’m on some shitty daytime talk show,” V grits out, hand against her brow in an effort to shield her burning face, “Wanna toss jokes about me being ‘sentimental’, y’know, but here you are not even taking a lick of this seriously when I’m trying to be on the level. You want to know what you’ll actually see when you go, Johnny? How about me flipping you one last bird for the road, since apparently your gonk ass can’t bear to not make light about this shit for five fucking minutes.” “...I’ll miss your shitty little thoughts too, if it means anythin’.” V glances up. Johnny hadn’t been looking at her anymore but as if sensing it return, his gaze does rise to tangle up in hers again. His body betrays nothing, almost; she doesn’t miss the way his fingers have curled in tight around his latest cigarette, metal knuckles rasping some discordant song against the tabletop. And maybe that’s the thing she’d forgotten about being human. That words are incoherent things, and so rarely do they mean what we want them to. Well, when you’re stuck there pounding on a wall, what better way to say that you’re not alone in this than to pound back? “This won’t be the end, though, right?” the chain around V’s neck tightens; she’s got the pendant and dog tags locked in a visegrip again, “I mean, if I manage to find my way back to the Blackwall again, maybe Alt can…I don’t know, carry a message over? Let me through from time to time?” Johnny’s smile is small, and restrained, and probably speaks to something they both know can never really be, but for a moment, maybe pretending that it could can somehow be enough; “We’ll work somethin’ out, princess.” 

If or when I have a new WIP to share, I'll probably do a WIP share tag then! But thank you again to everyone who's tagged me over the past couple of months!

[setaflow]

Broke: This fic chapter could reach 30k words Woke: This fic chapter could reach 69 pages in a word doc

[menagerie-of-monsters]

Find the Words!

This tag came from @dogmomwrites! Thanks for tagging me in - I've been looking to get back into these.

Passing on with soft tags for @i-can-even-burn-salad, @k--havok, @authoralexharvey, and @writing-with-melon. Your words will be blue, night, first, and away. If you can't find one, leave a fun fact about your WIP, OCs, or writing process!

My words were beyond, disturb, fetch, and dark. Be forewarned - some of it is NSFW :)

Beyond

Claimed by the Flame of Faery - coming out Oct 18

"Both?" he asked, breathy and full of hunger. "Uh-huh," I gasped out in return, clinging to him. Gods, I was the one undone by him. I couldn't think beyond the thrust and drag of his cock inside me, except to crave more. I needed it—needed him—couldn't believe I'd gone weeks without this. "Fuck, Varis, now, please—" Something hit the floor as Varistan fumbled with the bedside table. He snarled a curse, then simply yanked the drawer fully out of the table and snatched the bottle of oil out of the ensuing chaos. He stroked oil down along the spade of his tail, shuddering from it. With a low growl, he shifted and bit the other side of my neck, his hips snapping against mine. "Gods, Bells, I love feeling your cunt grab me when I sink these dragon's fangs into your pretty neck—"

Disturb

The Goddess of Passion (Part 1: Sacrificed to the Goddess)

I'm actually publishing this on Kindle Vella under the pen name Alessandra Caine!

I was finishing up my meal, practicing my sultry lounging on the couch as I fed myself grapes like I was my own lover, when there was a knock on the door of my suite. I sat up, somewhat surprised at being disturbed. "Come in," I called, setting my grapes back down in their bowl. The door opened, and Merula stepped through. She bowed to me, then stood again. "Your glory, I have with me a hetaira from Nehisk District. He is renowned as a dancer, and is said to be an excellent lover." I raised my eyebrow at her when she hesitated, curious as to why she was giving me this introduction without him next to her. "And?" I asked, trying to keep my voice gentle. She licked her lips. "He is a daemon, your glory, and was attacked three months ago by a man who despised his kind, and who killed two others before he was caught and executed. He bears the scars from it, and can no longer work as a hetaira, but you said..." She hesitated again, then took a breath and continued. "You said you wanted people of all kinds, your glory. I recalled the trial, and sought him out for you."

Fetch

Rain in the Desert - backburner WIP

I stepped forward and held out the lantern. "Trade you," I said with a smile. "I'll fetch the things and meet you up there. You can hang the lantern up so I know where to go. Would you like anything besides hoof supplies?" He let me shoulder my pack before taking the lantern. One of his fingers brushed against mine as he wrapped them around the handle. Heat shocked down my arm, thudding into my chest as my heart quickened and my cheeks warmed. It felt as if I'd never been touched before—as if the soft contact of his index finger running along the side of my pinkie had made that sense bloom into life. I swallowed, trying not to stare at him, or to look like some sort of desperate maiden swooning over the attention of her beau. This wasn't like that. Ash wasn't like that—would never look at someone like me with interest. That he trusted me enough to let me help him with his feet was nothing short of miraculous. To be attracted to him - to even think about indulging that attraction - was ridiculous.

Dark

King of Ice and Shadow - WIP - planned for Jan 2024

The door of ice shatters. Even expecting it, I jump, the broken-glass sound so shocking I start sweating despite the cold. It falls like a chandelier cut from the ceiling, crystal skittering across the frozen ground. One shard kisses my boot. I crush it underfoot. Through that dark doorway steps my fate. The Winter King is so cold and stark that even the firelight can't warm him. I take him in with a glance made sharp by adrenaline. His long hair falls down his back like a waterfall of ice. A crown of crystal and silver rests on his head. A unicorn's tail curls behind him, brushing the ground. The winter chill seems to roll off his skin, as if he carries a glacier in his soul.

[ravenvix]

the gleam of the silver lining of loneliness

[itsawritblr]

How weird it is to see rain on the Sphinx! Until now i never thought that it rains in the Egyptian desert.

[colinarcartperson]

Yeehawgust day 4 “desert rains”

[wishing4nuclearwinter]

Yeehawgust 4 — Desert Rains

[strangler-fish]

Random ass crossover time

Names are the Barterer and Parrot! (ft. Jellie slugpup)

Extra sketches:

Scar has managed to trade rocks for explosives and other good items simply by convincing scavs that they’re super valuable

[iambittythings]

Today's beast is simply not having it, an on edge Desert Rain Frog. Don't mess with her today! (Very pleased with the intense gaze on this one. She trusts no one, and you can tell.)

If you'd like a beast, please check out Bittythings and Beasts.

[isjasz]

[Day 78]

It rained tdy so some quick rain art from an idea i had before :D

[wofstepsup]

just.. a silly idea..

[tarmac-rat]

The reason I've taken a year to write RitD 18 is because I decided to extend every single Mikoshi conversation by like 6,000 words at the cost of my own mental sanity lmao

[aahsokaatano]

something that I feel the movie (and the novelization I had as a kid) and honestly most fanworks I've seen kind of gloss over is the fact that in A New Hope, the VERY first planet that Luke goes to after leaving Tatooine is a fucking rainforest

Like can you imagine. You've spent your entire life in a place where water is so precious that an entire industry has been built around pulling tiny bits of moisture from the very atmosphere, every single drop is precious and worth twice it's weight in gold.

And then when you leave, you go first to a space station with extremely strict climate control, and then to a FUCKING RAINFOREST

It would be like someone who has lived their entire life in Death Valley suddenly being picked up and set back down in the middle of the Amazon

Luke should have been complaining that the air is like soup bc this boy has never experienced humidity over probably 8% in his entire life and now he's being faced with 98% humidity. Han what is this. Why is everything WET. Stop laughing at me I feel like I'm drowning WHAT IS THIS.

[anemonet]

when your deppressed but also theres an exploding kittycat

[wildflower182]

and goddamn if rain in the desert doesn’t smell like that, like knowing you’re going to live

ma’am*, this is poetry

I want to go to sleep, but it's raining in the desert and I go to sleep every day - it's not every day that I get to breathe in creosote so strong and sweet that it feels like it'll carry you away.

[fatchance]

The monsoon has arrived.