#Relationship Development

[secretly-a-catamount]

“So, are they love at first sight or the most devastating slow burn?”

YES

[avvis]

so im sure someone has said this already and far more eloquently than i’m about to, but—

hot tip for character description: the copious detail doesn’t matter as much as when and where.

obviously there’s a time and place for immediate description, like if a character has a very obvious, identifying trait, like a facial scar, or a striking tattoo. but even that immediate description sends the reader a message; the feature is jarring, and is the first thing that people notice about them (have all the symbolism fun you want with that one). but most of the time, overly detailed character descriptions right away do nothing but jar the readers out of the flow of the story. everyone’s read a paragraph about someone’s ‘stormy sky coloured orbs’ before. was it fun? probably not.

not writing in great detail about small facets of a characters appearance right off the bat allows you to save them for when they’re going to make more of an impact. see, if its only in a romantically charged scene, where your characters suddenly find their faces very close together, that your POV character notices that their love interest’s eyes remind them of the sea they grew up beside, that tells the reader many things. first off, it’s cute and poetic, and you find out that love interest has nice eyes. but secondly, you realize two things. one; your character is staring into their love interests eyes, deeply enough to have poetic, ruminating thoughts about their eyes. two; it signals that your character cares about the other one enough to notice these things. this is especially good for enemies to lovers. when we don’t like someone, we aren’t interested in the pretty little facets that make them human. we’re pretty occupied with ‘god i hate this bitch’. so when a character notices these things, it humanizes the other character, and signals a dynamic change, from seeing them as nothing but an antagonist, to someone significant enough to notice things about. no one thinks about how beautiful the eyes are of someone they completely hate. while it is tempting to describe your antagonist-future-love-interest in great detail, (because antagonists are pretty. admit it), try and save some.

save that descriptions their eyes, freckles, or tiny scars for when they can be used to subtly signal that tone shift in a relationship. we’ll know they’re pretty when your character does.

[sexysapphicshopowner]

🤎 Context/AU (Alternate Universe): Modern AU- Some random tidbits about you and mechanic!Sevika's relationship after her Christmas confession

🤎 soft!mechanic!Sevika x bubbly!mechanic!reader

🤎 CW/TW: suggestive language, not proofread, useless lesbians, smut, wlw ship, no use of y/n, pet names, blossoming relationship, you and Sev are actual idiots, unserious smut, lowkey crack

🤎 A/N: Ask me about this couple and I'll answer anything!! I didn't really know where I was going with these headcanons, just wanted to get into the feel for them before I write a New Year's fic for them

🤎 Notes: Idk what this is, don't... we not gone talk about it

🤎 Word count: 3.4k

🤎 Surprisingly, dating Sevika is much different than simply pining for her 

🤎 First of all, the woman is a sap 

🤎 She’s so unbelievably cute, it’s almost criminal 

🤎 Sev is the older of you two, but she’s the bigger baby 

🤎 Your regular flowers begin coming with metal ones that she welded for you to match whatever type she’d just bought for you 

🤎 Date nights are now much more elaborate- she picks you up with flowers and a little gift for each date, even if it’s just like a movie or bowling or something like that 

🤎 Hates spooning 

🤎 She prefers to wrap herself around you with her head smushed in your tits 

🤎 She actually asked you about it at first as well 

🤎 You two were on the couch, she was rested between your thighs as she played some game on the tv and you had a hand idly playing in her hair as you scrolled on your phone 

🤎 She looked up at you a few times before she finally spoke, “Hey sweets?” 

🤎 You hummed, “Hm?” 

🤎 “Which spoon do you prefer to be?” 

🤎 You thought about it for a few second, fingers still carding through her thick strands gently before you responded, “With you? Little.” 

🤎 “Hm.” 

🤎 “What’s that for?” 

🤎 “I don’t like spooning.” 

🤎 “Oh?” 

🤎 She nodded as she turned back to her game (I headcanon that Sev plays the sims in this modern au), “Yeah. I would rather be face to face when we cuddle. Or... face to chest.” 

🤎 You rolled your eyes, thumping her ear playfully, “Mmcht, you just wanna touch my tits.” 

🤎 “No, ‘m serious, babe. For one, there’s more warmth that way. Two, we can get closer. And three, I can hear your heartbeat that way. It’s calming.” 

🤎 She’s too fucking cute 

🤎 On days where one of you works and the other doesn’t, she always requires at least an hour of kissing and cuddling to unwind 

🤎 Your matching jewelry goes beyond your charm bracelets now- you two each have a necklace with the other’s name on it that neither of you take off 

🤎 Movie nights are spicier, usually ending in a heated make-out session 

🤎You’re both still idiots who can’t take each other seriously though 

🤎 Every time Sevika says something romantic, depending on the timing and delivery, you’re either melting or cracking up in a fit of giggles 

🤎 Sev on the other hand can’t take you serious when you start trying to talk dirty to her 

🤎 She finds dirty talk to actually be kind of awkward 

🤎 Take every time you tried to be a little flirty before the two of you had sex for the first time 

🤎 Once she was watching television and you just looked up from your phone to say, “You’ve gotta stop looking like that.” 

🤎 “Like what?” 

🤎 “Fuckable.” 

🤎 She always looks away with a little blush and a cough to clear her throat, “Oh.” 

🤎 The closest you guys got to fucking for the first time was during a movie night 

🤎 You guys were watching ‘Princess and the Frog’ 

🤎 Well, you were watching 

🤎 Sev’s back was turned to the tv as she tucked her face into your neck, pressing methodical kisses to all the spots she knew would make your breath hitch a little and send a shiver down your spine 

🤎 You had a hand entangled in her hair, your other one propping you up so you could try and focus on the movie and not her lips 

🤎 At least until her hands slid under your shirt and she looked up at you 

🤎 You looked down to find her smirking at you, “What? Is there something on my face?” 

🤎 “No.” 

🤎 “Okay? What’s up, you stopped.” 

🤎 She held eye contact as she slid your shirt up just the slightest, lips meeting the base of your throat, “Can I go under your shirt?” 

🤎 Your pussy? Aching right now 

🤎 You nodded, stammering softly, “Y-yeah... sure...” 

🤎 She looked like a kid who’d just gotten a piece of candy as she pulled your shirt up over your breasts 

🤎 You weren’t wearing a bra, having taken it off earlier in the day because it was ‘too hot’ 

🤎 You forced your eyes away from her as you looked back up at the movie 

🤎 She took her time, kisses trailing down your breast, lips narrowly avoiding your nipples even as they ached in anticipation of being invited into her mouth 

🤎 You shifted slightly, releasing a soft breath the moment her tongue circled your areola 

🤎 She slid closer to you, slotting one of her legs between yours as your hand came back up to entangle with her hair as her mouth latched onto you, tongue drawing quick circles around your nipple 

🤎 You were wearing some biker shorts and one of her t-shirts while she wore a wife pleaser and some sweats 

🤎 The combination of her mouth on your breasts and the slight pressure of her thigh up against you was almost euphoric, especially considering how much you’d been needing a release lately 

🤎 She let out a chuckle as you started to rut your hips against her thigh, her hand sliding from your waist to grip and palm your ass as she helped you along, pulling you against her leg with every upward thrust of your hips 

🤎 The sound of you dissolving above, turning into a mess of little whimpers and whines with every second you drew closer to coming was all she needed as she showed attention to both of your breasts as evenly as she possibly could 

🤎 She didn’t release your nipple once you came, slowing your hips down against her 

🤎 It wasn’t until you tapped her repeatedly, panting softly as you stopped the movement of your hips with a breathy mumble of ‘wait’ that she stopped 

🤎 She kissed back up your chest, pulling your shirt back down, “Enjoyed yourself?” she teased. 

🤎 If it weren’t for you getting too sensitive so fast, you were pretty sure you guys would have actually fucked that day 

🤎 Regardless, there was no rush 

🤎 This leads to you guys’ actual first time together being almost completely hilarious to the both of you 

🤎 It’s full of giggles, whispers, and ogling 

🤎 When Sev sees you fully naked for the first time, you thought she’d actually short-circuited with the way she froze 

🤎 You burst into giggles, closing her mouth, “You always turn into a fly catcher around me, hotshot. Like what you see?” 

🤎 And boy did she ever 

🤎 She runs her hands over your curves, committing each part of you to memory 

🤎 It’s not serious for long though 

🤎 Well, it is because this is you guys’ first time having sex together, but also... it’s you and Sevika, you two can’t take anything too serious 

🤎 The giggles have returned once it’s Sevika’s turn to get naked 

🤎 This woman, I kid you not, decides that this is the time she wants to ‘try to be sexy like you’ by stripping 

🤎 She’s a mess of Magic Mike moves done half wrong because she spent most of that movie covering you in hickeys and whispering gay shit in your ears 

🤎 But the funniest part is how she struggles with each article of clothing 

🤎 She starts with her shirt but she ends up fumbling on the second button, stopping the sway of her hips to whatever music was playing in her head as she lets out a huff, looking down to focus on getting the button undone 

🤎 Amidst your snickering, you reach out to help her, but she smacks your hands away, “Just gimme a sec... almost... got it.” 

🤎 Next are her pants and oh boy- 

🤎 You’d swear her belt buckle was a rubik’s cube the way she struggled to unhook it 

🤎 Once she’s made it down to her bra and boxers your giggles die down- only a little bit because she’s still humping the air and making fuck boy faces at you (she calls it her ‘stripper smoulder’)- but your focus is 100 percent on taking in her body 

🤎 Sure, you’ve seen her shirtless before 

🤎 In the really hot summer months when the A/C is finnicky and all leaving the garage doors open at work does is make it hotter in the shop, you can find her either with the top of her work jumper hanging loose around her waist and shirtless, or at the very least in a wife pleaser that she’s constantly raising to wipe the sweat from her forehead 

🤎 Back to the present though 

🤎 You find yourself getting pretty hot- and wet- once her bra has been discarded (she kept fucking up with unhooking it, it would come undone just to get hooked onto the next hook over), anticipating the removal of her boxers so you can take in her full form 

🤎 She’s fucking dripping 

🤎 So are you, but who’s asking? 

🤎 The two of you are just taking in each other’s bodies, not really saying much as your eyes trailed over her from top to bottom and hers from your bottom to top 

🤎 She was practically towering over you where you sat on the edge of the bed, silently appraising your body with a soft reverence in her eyes 

🤎 She reaches out to lift your chin as she finally speaks, voice softer than you’ve heard it since she first clumsily confessed her love to you 

🤎 “You’re so unbelievably beautiful, sweets...” 

🤎 You gulp down a breath, answering shakily as your eyes traced up the scars littering the left side of her body to meet her eyes, “So are you...” 

🤎 That first night is probably the softest sex you’ve had in your entire life 

🤎 We’ve already discussed that girlfriend Sev is a huge fucking sap, but in the bedroom on that first night? Oh it’s even worse 

🤎 You think you might explode as she pauses for the umpteenth time to study you, her eyes drinking you in as if she’ll never see you again after this is over 

🤎 You lean up to press a kiss to the tip of her nose, whispering, “We don’t have to keep going if-” 

🤎 “No, I want to... ‘m just... I dunno what word I’m looking for I feel like I’m short circuiting...” 

🤎 You let out a little chuckle, pulling her into a warm kiss as you mumbled against her lips, “’S okay, baby... I know what you mean.” 

🤎 A few times you both end up giggling when you make eye contact, it’s cute and it’s you and Sev unapologetically 

🤎 When she finally makes her way between your legs, holding your thighs over her shoulders, she looks back up at you and you immediately burst into giggles 

🤎 She rolls her eyes, giving a quick little nip to your inner thigh as she looked back up, “Stop laughing or then I’mma laugh.” 

🤎 You held a hand over your mouth with another little giggle, shaking your head, “’M sorry, Sev, but I’m just...” You let out a little happy sigh as you looked back down at her, “I’m happy, okay? I’m not laughing at you, I promise.” 

🤎 She shook her head, placing a few kisses around your core as she mumbled, “You’re so cute.” 

🤎 You don’t even have time to offer a retort before her mouth is connecting with you 

🤎 You’re seeing stars, feeling fireworks, butterflies, all of the things as she drinks in your taste, savoring the feel of you against her tongue 

🤎 She lapping between your lips with slow and teasing strokes, her nose hooking against your clit perfectly with every upward stroke 

🤎 When you come, it’s euphoric, heavenly 

🤎 Sevika comes from the sound of you alone, your fist wrapping up in her hair as her name fell from your lips almost like a prayer 

🤎 She kisses back up your body, stopping to show some attention to your breasts before finally making it back up to your lips, “How was that, sweets?” 

🤎 “Y-you... yeah...” you breathe. 

🤎 Embarrassingly enough, you fall asleep before returning the favor, Sevika pressing soft kisses to your skin as she rubbed your hips and ass 

🤎 Sex from then on with her is a regular occurrence 

🤎 The next point of sort of awkwardness is living arrangements between the two of you 

🤎 Sev has mentioned that she doesn’t mind moving you into the penthouse with her 

🤎 You’re almost never at your own apartment these days, it makes sense 

🤎 Then comes the anxiety 

🤎 You’re pulling away from Sevika unintentionally as you start to freak out about moving in with her 

🤎 At this point you guys have been in a relationship for almost a year now and best friends for 3 and a half years 

🤎 Because of this, Sevika notices the change immediately 

🤎 Your kisses are shorter 

🤎 You’re spending the night less than usual 

🤎 You’re quieter whenever you are over her place 

🤎 It’s not until you walk in on her cooking without smacking her ass or giving her one of your playful little gropes as usual that she says something 

🤎 “Sweets.” 

🤎 You didn’t even look up from your phone as you scrolled through Instagram idly, “Yeah?” 

🤎 The sound of your government name is what snapped your attention up to her 

🤎 She hasn’t called you by your actual name almost since you guys have met, more often than not it’s always ‘Sweets’ or ‘Baby love’ 

🤎 Sev’s face when you do finally look up doesn’t make you feel any better either 

🤎 In fact, you get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, anxiety skyrocketing as you wait for her to say something else 

🤎 “What’s going on?” 

🤎 “What do you mean?” 

🤎 She folded her arms, a hurt look all over her face as she points out how you’ve become stand-offish with her, “You’ve been being weird. And not my usual ‘haha, I like to freak out my girlfriend’ weirdo. You haven’t slept over in almost a month... are we okay?” 

🤎 Your heart breaks as you realize how in your head you’ve been lately 

🤎 You nodded, moving closer to reassure her as you took hold of her hands, “We’re more than okay, I’m just...” you let out a little sigh, looking away only for her to bring your eyes right back to hers. 

🤎 “Please...” 

🤎 “I don’t wanna fuck things up if we move in together.” 

🤎 “What do you mean?” 

🤎 “Like... what if you don’t like the way I load the dishwasher? Or what if being around me both at home and at work almost 24/7 gets annoying? Or-” 

🤎 “Sweets. You realize that we’ve been practically living together since before we even got together, right?” 

🤎 “Yeah, but-” 

🤎 You’re cut off by her lips against yours, shutting you up effectively before she pulled away, looking down at you as she speaks quietly, “Look, if I was tired of you or thought you were annoying, I would’ve never gotten so close with you in the first place. I love you, okay? And I promise you that the fact of my love for you is not gonna change ‘cause we live together full-time suddenly.” 

🤎 “Promise?” 

🤎 She pressed another kiss to your lips, holding your hips closely, “I swear to you. I love you, sweets. More than anything.” 

🤎 You guys move in together officially within the next month 

🤎 Your first Christmas as a couple is actually a small event 

🤎 Sure, you guys attend the company Christmas party as a couple, but before that you realize just how much you’ve rubbed off on her when she wakes you up at midnight to open your gifts- just like you told her your family used to do when you were younger 

🤎 You two are useless fucking lesbians I tell you 

🤎 You got each other the same gift actually 

🤎 Like the exact same gift 

🤎 The main gift was a pendant with both of your birthstones and your meetiversary (the anniversary of the day you two met) date engraved on it 

🤎 You both were a mess of giggles when you unwrapped the matching necklaces 

🤎 “You got this from-” 

🤎 “Kay Jewelers?” Sev finished for you, causing you to start laughing again. 

🤎 “I love you, Sev.” 

🤎 “Oh really? While I love you as well, maybe you should wait until I show you the other gift I got you,” she hints with an almost suggestive look. 

🤎 You’re ready to marry her on the spot when she takes you to the shop, showing you your next gift 

🤎 It’s a custom restored 1957 Cadillac Sedan Deville 

🤎 You jumped onto her, hooking your arms around her neck as you squealed, “Baby, you didn’t! Oh my fuck- I love you...” You whispered the last words into her neck as you melted into her. 

🤎 She simply chuckles, wrapping her arms around you as she presses kisses along the side of our face as best she can with the way you’ve tucked yourself under her chin, “Been working on it since last Christmas. You like it?” 

🤎 You answered her with a fat kiss on her lips, kissing all over her face sloppily as she held you up from you jumping up into her arms 

🤎 Safe to say that you guys spent almost the entire day leading up to the party fucking between every activity 

🤎 Just put the gingerbread cookies in the oven? You guys are fucking on the kitchen counter 

🤎 Just finished watching a movie? You’re fucking on the couch 

🤎 Oh, what? There’s a sprig of mistletoe in every room? Sounds like a fuck tour to me 

🤎 You guys don’t even stay at the party long because Sev wants to go and make love to make up for all the quickies you guys had that day 

🤎 So yeah, you guys spend your first Christmas as a couple fucking in between all the traditions you guys made as best friends 

🤎 Now let’s get on to some simpler things 

🤎 You’re the blanket hog, but Sevika doesn’t mind because she runs warm anyway 

🤎 If you guys aren’t going to work together or it’s an off day and one of you has errands or something you guys always part ways with 6 kisses- one to the forehead, one to each cheek, and three to the lips- an ‘I love you, baby’ and a bite 

🤎 You left to your mom’s place one time without giving her the playful bite she’d come to expect whenever you left and she was so pouty about it that you simply added it to the kiss routine 

🤎 Sev sleeps on the left side of the bed 

🤎 I have a theory that the people who sleep on the left side of the bed are the people who like to be up underneath their partner (Yes I sleep on the left) 

🤎 Sev has a double sink in her bathroom but whenever you guys are brushing your teeth or washing your faces it’s always at the same sink, Sev standing behind you with a hand on your waist 

🤎 Funny enough, but after you guys got together, Sev stopped doing most of the driving 

🤎 She enjoys being your passenger princess 

🤎 You’ve got her name embroidered in the headrest of the passenger seat of your car 

🤎 You keep a blanket, snacks, and cones stashed in your car for her at all times 

🤎 Speaking of which, yes, mechanic Sev smokes both weed and cigs 

🤎 Her cigarettes are Djarum black clove cigs 

🤎 She smokes Blazy Susan King Sized cones 

🤎 You don’t smoke as much as her, and honestly after the two of you got together, she doesn’t smoke as much as she used to either 

🤎 But boy when you two get high together? You two can’t stop laughing 

🤎One of your first times getting high with her you almost pissed yourself laughing at the way she said the word ‘spoon’ 

🤎 All in all, dating Sev is exactly what you expect dating your best friend to be like 

🤎 She’s.... the best thing to ever happen to you 

🤎 And you are the love of her life

🤎©️ All work belongs to sexysapphicshopowner. Do not use or repost my content in any way without my consent or permission. Thank you! 🤎

🤎 Taglist 🤎:

@certainlynotasimp @trafalgardvivi @love-sugarr @archangeldyke-all

[rcreveal]

The Trouble with a Keen Manager-Ch 12

A little relationship development in the 1990s pre-Antichrist when Crowley lost his demonic powers to a hellish Accountability drive. This chapter is almost a one-shot from Aziraphale's POV-sweet, pining, a might conflicted while Crowley takes refuge in the Bookshop after a long and eventful 24 hours. Not that he's going to tell Aziraphale that's what he's doing.

For the second time in the last week, Aziraphale did not immediately recognize Crowley when a nattily dressed young man sauntered into his shop.  With the irritant of his demonic wiles nearly absent, and the camouflage of a young Scottish lad overlaying his corporation, Crowley just felt different, but also achingly, hauntingly reminiscent of other times.  Aziraphale’s heart flip flopped a bit.  Silly old angel, he remonstrated himself.  Those days when they were both angels together were long over and done.

Putting his feelings aside, Aziraphale sang out in greeting, “Hallo young sir! How might I be of assistance?” then dropping the affectation, said, “I do like this new outfit on you!  You pull off old-money-goes-to-University, quite dashingly,” the angel said, coming around to close up the shop.

“Hey yourself, angel,” Crowley sounded amused at Aziraphale’s over-the-top antics,  “I could do with a sandwich.  I’m famished,” Crowley replied, looking unusually stiff, as he lowered himself gingerly onto the Chesterfield.

Aziraphale couldn’t get over the unexpected enjoyment of sharing food with Crowley and it put everything else out of his mind for a moment.   “Oh!” he beamed and clasped his hands in anticipation,  “I laid in an afternoon tea!  You’ve never wanted to try one with me before and I thought…” he was starting to natter, it did happen when he got excited.

“Yeah, angel, that would be great,” Crowley smiled fondly at him, resting an elbow on the arm of the couch, hand dangling nonchalantly, but Aziraphale thought he looked rather done in.  Nevertheless, Crowley offered,  “What can I do to help?” probably trying to keep their accounts balanced, well, he’d let the demon do the dishes or some little thing that could be wrangled into compliance as a ‘fair exchange’.

Holding his hand out to forestall Crowley gathering himself to get up, Aziraphale said, “No, no, no, just sit!  You’ve been serving people all week.”

Crowley said, “Okay.  I’ll just sit here then,” before leaning carefully back into the couch with a little sigh.  Aziraphale hurriedly bustled off to the kitchen.

Aziraphale wondered why Crowley wasn’t responding to his nattering on with the demon’s usual snarky remarks, until the angel came back into the front triumphantly carrying a three tiered tray of sandwiches, quiches, scones, clotted cream, jams, and of course, a pot of tea.  Crowley was fast asleep on the couch, tie loosened, head resting in the crook of the couch, his hands crossed loosely over his stomach, with his feet still on the floor like the nap had snuck up on him.

“Crowley?” the angel set down tea and trays, a bit deflated that Crowley missed his big reveal but the demon didn’t wake.

“Crowley!” Aziraphale said a bit more loudly.

“‘M awake!” Crowley sat up abruptly and blinked at the angel and the food.  “Wow!” he breathed, wreathing Aziraphale’s face with a smile before an audible grumble from around his midsection made the angel chuckle.  Aziraphale smiled at himself for a sleep rightly disturbed.  Loading a plate, he passed it over, enjoying Crowley’s inhaling of the food almost as much as he enjoyed the repast himself.  The way the demon’s eyes lit up as Crowley greedily accepted each plate of goodies nearly made up for him sleeping through the initial “Ta-da” moment.

Why had Crowley fallen asleep during mid-day?  Aziraphale thought Crowley had gotten his corporation better sorted out than this.  

Something else was amiss despite Crowley’s complete reticence on the subject of last night.  A subject that had been on the lips of nearly every Whickber Street shopperson Aziraphale had spoken with today.  All that couldn’t be true?   Surely Crowley wouldn’t have actually gotten hurt?  He was a wiley demon!  He could talk his way out of almost anything!    

While sipping his tea, Aziraphale looked Crowley over critically.  Oh, dear…

“I heard around the neighborhood, that the Dirty Donkey’s new barkeep caught some ruffians trying to slip the mickey into the drinks of a couple of young ladies.  He threw them out on their ear and the Dirty Donkey’s owner banned them!  Upbraiding his clientele to mark these ne’er-do-wells that he might call the constabulatory should they show their faces again!” he said, pinky raised just before taking another sip.

“Didn’t know you listened to neighborhood gossip so much, angel,” Crowley went rather still while side-eyeing the angel.

 A hit.

“And, the same young gallant notified the local brothel, so that they might protect themselves from the frustrated rakes!” continued Aziraphale.

“You’ve been reading that Empire era stuff again, it always does this to your language, angel,” Crowley groused, not making eye contact.

Another hit.

“I also heard that the same group of ruffians were turned off the neighborhood patch by a group of daringly dressed young ladies who came to the aid of an unfortunate young fellow whom the self-same ruffians were attacking.”  Aziraphale gossiped.

Crowley stopped breathing for a beat.  

Gosh, another hit.

“By all accounts, the young fellow was giving as good as he got,” Aziraphale indicated Crowley’s battered knuckles.  “But I do hope he’ll make a speedy and full recovery,” the angel laid his hand over his own collar, mirroring where the chain had bruised Crowley’s throat, eyebrows wrinkled in concern.

“You’d think the neighborhood watch would notice that the “unfortunate young fellow” was in a kilt, just like the new barkeep,” Crowley said sourly, flicking his hand in a, ‘forget it’ motion.

Dropping out of his light tone, Aziraphale replied, “Yes, they jolly well did!  No one has seen you, him, leave Madame’s, so there’s all sorts of rumors about him either being rewarded by epic lovemaking or secretly having gone to hospital.” Aziraphale tipped his head. “Have you been able to heal yourself at all? That’s excellent make up, but you’re fairly beat about and your ribs are cracked!”

“Damn! An’ here I thought they might just be bruised!” groaned Crowley, arm to his side, leaning forward over his knees.  “It hurts more when you diagnose it, you know!”

This was wretched, thought Aziraphale, always having to dance around the requirements of their opposing positions!  Crowley was hurt, why wasn't he asking for help?  But they didn't ask and they didn't tell.  Anything more was just inviting trouble.

Biting his lip, then looking determined, Aziraphale made a little gesture.

Crowley took his hand off his no longer sore side and touched his throat in surprise, looking up at the angel, “You healed…”

“The gallant young benefactor of a couple of innocents!” Aziraphale sat up primly, straightening his waistcoat, suddenly a buzzing bundle of nerves,  “Just helped things along a bit!  That’s certainly allowed!!  Anyone would do it!!!” he bustled anxiously, putting more food on Crowley’s plate. “Have another sandwich!  Got to keep your strength up!!” 

Looking at the nervous angel, askance, Crowley, nevertheless, kept his mouth shut, except to eat every morsel he was offered.

When they had finished the pot of tea and demolished the entire tray of tea treats, Crowley announced, “I can pay you now for my clothes, angel.  If you’ll take a check, that is,” he pulled out a brand new chequebook from his blazer pocket.. 

Aziraphale held out his hand for the chequebook, eyebrow raised, but refraining from commenting yet.  

Inspecting it closely, he exclaimed, “These are real!  My, but you did pick up a benefactor quickly.  Good for you!”  Aziraphale remarked, handing back the chequebook, then caught Crowley's pained expression.  “Anthony, good for Anthony.  Very bad of you, grift and forgery and whatnot, I've no doubt,” catching the demon’s devilish grin and muttered, “You don’t know the half of it.  Humans!”

“But how does Anthony have any money in the account?  Other than his work money, that is?”

“My benefactor gave me a ‘micro-loan’ while I’m getting back on my feet,” Crowley explained.

“Micro-loan?  Fascinating!  I’d like to hear more about those,” said the angel while directing Crowley on making out the cheque.  

“I’ll introduce you sometime.  Agatha Christie reader’s club member,” Crowley cherished the idea of the angel and the Madame talking about micro-loans to help raise up local people.  Damn, was that doing good?  Was it making trouble for an angel?  It was making his head hurt, so he probably needed yet another rest.  Bloody bodies were a lot of maintenance without unlimited miracles.

Aziraphale had succeeded in cleaning some of Crowley’s clothes, but several had become ‘regrettably tattered’.  Crowley assured him that he didn’t much care, just glad to be able to sleep in his own pajamas tonight.  Getting into the spirit of the ruse, Aziraphale considered that the tattered black suit was perfect!  With the addition of just a dark cap to cover his red hair, Crowley could walk down the street with a little wrapped parcel to a place where men often stopped.

Anthony walked into the front of Madame's, dressed in an outfit she hadn’t yet seen, sharp dark jacket and pants, fine craftsmanship, bespoke even, but sadly tattered.  Madame was working the front, but marked him immediately, “Thank you for coming by tonight!  Do come through.”

Taking his free hand and putting it into the crook of her arm, she was near enough to whisper, “A bold entrance.  Well done, Anthony!”

Anthony gave her a cheeky smile, “Mr. Fell sends his regards, and another book,” sounding surprised.

“You know the bookseller’s reputation, then?  Mr. Fell doesn’t go in much for ‘selling’ books, does he?  In this case it’s something of a hostage exchange.  I have some books that he’d very much like me to show him, so he’s trying to butter me up by lending me some of his extensive collection.  Let’s see what he sent.”  she held out her hand for the bookseller’s offering, “Ooo, Poirot!  With the author’s annotations!  Quite the master of temptation, that man!”

“Uh, not temptation.  Really, not his strong suit,” Anthony said.

“Maybe not to you,” Madame chucked the lad under the chin, “But to a bibliophile like myself, quite the sweet, sweet temptation.”

Turning at the entrance to her rooms, which she unlocked for him, Madame laid a hand lightly on his cheek.  “Go see to those injuries, there’s another meal laid out for you, and get some sleep.  I’m sure you’ll insist on working at the Dirty Donkey tomorrow.  Plus the neighborhood gossips are about to explode with curiosity.”Anthony gave her another stately bow, more graceful than last night's, perhaps his ribs had only been bruised, before closing the door behind himself.  When she stopped by the infirmary door later that evening, Anthony was well and truly asleep.

[night-market-if]

Lamplight and their gatekeepers is my Roman Empire. God, the way their relationship is so complicated but feels so right? Comforting? Idk, I love all the characters so much, but Milo and Mal just hit different, thank you for sharing them with us <3

You are welcome

I think the appeal (and on some hand, the revulsion) of this relationship is kind of the fact that it is a bit taboo. Let's face it, this kind of relationship is very much looked down on in our society and there are not a lot of mainstream books or media outlets, that have a poly relationship that is not looked at as some sort of sex kink.

For me, I love exploring poly's. I like throwing three people together and seeing if they work. And that stems from the fact that it is not a story idea that I feel is richly explored so I feel there's more room for me to discover things, as opposed to an idea of a relationship that I grew up reading or witnessing on television, if that makes sense.

[wangxianficrecs]

Meng Yao vs. the Board of the Homeowner's Association by Ariaste

Meng Yao vs. the Board of the Homeowner's Association

by Ariaste

M, 119k, WIP, series, Xiyao & Wangxian

Summary: Two gremlins, their husbands, and the horrible HOA board. As long as nobody gets arrested for arson or murder, we're gonna call it a win.

Mojo's comments: Very funny modern au (all POV meng yao) wherein he and lan xichen are happily married and living in suburbia near a similarly happily married wangxian. Meng Yao only thrives when he can scheme, of course, and his shameless violence is aimed at protecting his hubby (whose tomatoes were violated by Horrible Susan of the HOA). Wwx is just happy to gremlin with his brother-in-law via late-night McDonald's warroom planning. Somehow, this turns them into accidental friends. Meanwhile, Lan family secrets start coming out ('secret' is a foreign concept to wei 'overshare' ying, heh) and it explains SO. MUCH. 9 works so far, series in progress. (9th work is 2/3.)

Excerpt: “Sometimes I just tell A-Yao things. They just fall out of my mouth.” Wei Wuxian spoons an alarming amount of marshmallows into his cocoa. “You understand, don’t you, dage? It’s just so easy to tell him things.” “I understand,” Huan-ge says. “I too tell him things often.” Meng Yao, sipping at the edge of the foam on his cocoa, pauses. There’s a… tone in Huan-ge’s voice. A setting-a-trap tone. “Yeah! Yeah, you get it.” “For example,” Huan-ge says smoothly, picking up the tray and straightening again, “after every time A-Yao and I make love, we shake hands and say, ‘Thank you for the orgasm, respected associate, it was satisfactory,’ and then I give his sexual performance a rating on a scale of one to ten.” Wei Wuxian freezes at the phrase ‘make love’. By the end of the sentence, his eye is twitching. Meng Yao keeps his face perfectly straight as Huan-ge walks out of the room with the tray tucked under his arm. “What’s the face for?” Meng Yao says, sipping cocoa. “Do you and Wangji not do that?” “Is this real life?” Wei Wuxian says, the paralysis melting away into distress. “Did this just happen? A-Yao, that wasn’t real, was it? He was just--fucking with me? Right??” “I beg your pardon? Have you ever known Xichen to be the sort to fuck with anyone?” Meng Yao takes another judgmental sip of cocoa. “I’ll thank you to not speak like that about my respected associate.”

humor, modern setting, modern no magic, meng yao & wei wuxian, jin guangyao & wei wuxian, pov jin guangyao, accidental therapy, accidental friendship, relationship development, hijinks & shenanigans, chicanery, fluff, domestic, family feels, adoption, bamf madam lan, bamf jin guangyao, gremlin wei wuxian, shameless wei wuxian, getting high, suburbia, feel good fic, @ariaste

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[rachelillustrates]

GUYS GUYS GUYS.

On that second kiss, and reality perspective:

So someone suggested the idea that we might see the second kiss in an Ed flashback at some point (I'm so sorry, Igot excited and forgot to even heart the post), and that has me thinking about reality perspective, etc. Like how two different people can experience the same event very differently because of their mental states.

And in that case, I think it makes 8,000% sense that the second kiss happened, but we didn't see it at first because we were on *Stede's* perspective in that scene, and he might have been in so much overwhelm over what had happened (on top of his inner conflict stuff about his family) that he barely even registered it. Like not in a non-consensual way, obviously, I mean like when how when you're focused on something so intensely that you register that someone said something to you, but you don't register the words, just responding "Hmm" or whatnot.

I think it was like that, he accepted the second kiss but his brain was like "WHITE NOISE. PANIC. WHEEEEE." so WE didn't get to see it.

tl,dr: THE SECOND KISS IS CANON.

[girl4music]

The fact it could have been Giles and Willow all of Season 7 as the only person (at that point) that truly understood Willow and all that she had been through and overcome with the abuse of magic and the corruption of it.

It didn’t have to be Faith. It could have been Giles.

It probably made more sense for it to be Giles.

But the way they wrote Giles in that season was so damn awful, that that idea wouldn’t even be in mind.

Even though it makes TOTAL SENSE in hindsight.

They brought Giles back in episode 10 and he never even makes a comment to how Willow is doing even though they started off the season her being with him. The one helping her, mentoring her. Seeing her through her rehabilitation phase. AGAIN - a missed opportunity for significant character interaction and relationship development. Sacrificing that for the plot. And making him out to be purposeless and aimless just because they didn’t know what to do with him. There was an arc for him. There was an arc for Willow.

There was an arc for every main core and seasonal recurring character in the last season. All the logical pieces to the whole were there. It’s so frustrating.

[sherkirti]

The Law of Correspondence emphasizes the importance of recognizing that patterns repeat throughout the universe, that our external reality is a mirror of what is happening inside of us. It encourages us to take responsibility for our lives and to view challenges and difficulties as opportunities for growth and self-discovery. This concept is beautifully summed up in Kaiser's mantra, "it's happening for you, not to you."

Kaiser reminds us that if our external reality is chaotic and fearful, it is because we carry chaos and fear within us. Similarly, if our life appears calm and grounded, it is because we feel peace within. However, this is not meant to be a source of shame or self-blame. This is not to say that it's your fault that for some reason the world isn't working—because of me, because of you. Rather, it is an invitation to look within and explore the underlying causes of our experiences.

[chez-cinnamon]

What if Pomni seeks out comfort from Kinger bc of the last episode??

Pages 2 and 3 should be done soon-

But I love the idea of Kinger's comforting words and advice struck a cord with Pomni, so despite his memory issues she still seeks his comfort out- though going to him at night yields some problems as shown...

Anyways girl dad Kinger !!!!!!

[ametamorphosisaddiction]

Embracing Life's Garden: A Journey of Love, Loss, and Resilience on the Ranch

This year of 2024 is already nearly halfway over, and my goodness, it has been an incredible journey so far! Despite the heartache of losing Darryl, my late fiancé, back in 2016, the wounds still linger. Recently, his family, particularly his brother, unleashed a torrent of hurtful messages, blaming me for Darryl’s passing and demanding that I sever ties with them. It’s been a painful reminder of…

[esperfraud]

This came to me in a vision.

Feel free to add your own favorite "eldritch being x traumatized mortal" ships!

[ancientroyalblood]

Building Believable Relationships: Writing Convincing Romances

Romantic relationships are a cornerstone of many narratives, and crafting them convincingly is an art that requires nuance, depth, and emotional resonance. This exploration delves into the intricacies of creating authentic and compelling romances that resonate with readers. Understanding Authentic Relationships: Start by discussing the hallmarks of real-life relationships—trust, compatibility,…

[rachelillustrates]

Time for another "Tock the Gnome" world building post, dear readers!!

This week, in the style of the notes I leave on the page WIP posts, we are looking at some relationship building beats for Tock and Onna. Particularly, two moments, which mean similar things.....

Full notes here 💟

~

Bonus art and stories ~ Prints, comics and more!

[arabella-s-arts]

Scenes/Things in Supernatural that genuinely don't make sense to me if Dean was straight:

The confession booth scene.

Sam just rolling with the fact that Dean's siren is a guy while still thinking sirens infect people through sex.

Dean being flustered by several men: Gunner Lawless, Aaron, Doctor Sexy, etc.

All the parallels between Destiel and other couples. (A big one being "last night on Earth" bc how do you do that accidentally.)

Having all the gay jokes be on Dean instead of Sam.

Paralleling Sam meeting his childhood celebrity crush with Dean meeting Gunner Lawless.

The boner Dean got when Cas cleaned up.

Dean gulping after Cas does an impression from a Western movie.

Charlie, a lesbian, calling Castiel "dreamy."

The way Mary looks at Dean and Cas when they hug.

Dean wondering why everyone assumes he's gay, while Sam not caring.

The logic that Charlie can't flirt with guys because she's only attracted to women, but then having Dean flirt with the guy for her.

Dean seeming disappointed when learning that Aaron's flirting was fake.

The amount of time Dean and Cas spend staring at each other.

Dean canonically having an orgy with Crowley.

A woman saying that she knows when someone's pining for someone else to Dean, just for us to learn that Dean was never in love with Amara.

The set design and script choices that lead to a cross in the background while Dean said "I do." to Cas after he came back to life.

That time when Dean wanted to say something and Cas was like, "It's okay, I heard your prayer." But Dean still looked like he wanted to say something important.

Amara: [about Dean] "I can see inside your heart. Feel the love you feel. Except, it’s cloaked in shame.”

If you want to have a more expansive list, @destiel-is-real-idgaf added to this one quite nicely.

[night-orchids]