#TedTalk Tags done

[wingsmadeforflying]

I love the idea with soulmarks and them appearing on your 16th birthday (or something similar). But also that someone can have multiple. Multiple platonic and romantic.

[5-pp-man]

the flames being blue like his eyes (aka the only thing he has in common with Migi and Dali) while he destroys the fake house of the fake family he's lived in his whole life, was such a good choice.

[iroissleepdeprived]

@perroulisses

[pretzel-box]

woe, Reverse AU angst be upon ye (not necessarily a request, just a thought i had, but if anything strikes feel free to go ham :3 i also like to think about this with the og universe because i love feeling emotional pain 🧘🏾)

but instead of the reader having a classified file for themselves (& having it for sale), there are videotapes (or maybe different colored pendrives? CDs work too, i guess!!) scattered across the abandoned offices, and at first Sebastian isn't sure what to do with them, but then he meets p.ai.nter and they recognize those immediately, questioning why Sebastian is carrying that stuff with him in a concerned tone, and Sebastian just stares at the computer like, "??? okay, what's up with it?"

p.ai.nter is hesitant to show him what those hide at first, but eventually agrees to let him watch, then warns him that he is not going to like any second of it

Sebastian gets comfortable in front of the screen but is only greeted with an extremely heartbreaking scene– it's (now an experiment) reader visibly shaking as they stare in horror at their new body, unable to speak in any way while sobbing and whimpering, hugging themselves (or maybe their tail? guess it depends on the way readers want to look) and wondering what they had done to deserve this outcome, to be stripped of their humanity

now i personally like to think that the reader struggling to speak is something that comes with their body being altered, like everything is big so they're not used to any of it so really all they can do is cry and struggle to say a coherent sentence because it sounds like a garbled mess, but that is also me wanting to add salt to the wound because this is supposed to be sad ooooo ⚡⚡

anyway, at the end of it all (cause there was more than one video, a whole documentary on reader and the experiments done on them), Sebastian is left feeling too many emotions and he doesn't even know when he started crying but he is (since the reader he knows now is different from the one he just saw in the videos but deep down it hurts so much because that is the same person in different years of their life) and p.ai.nter isn't sure how to comfort him so they keep apologizing till Sebastian finally chooses to leave

next time he stops by reader's shop he can't even bring himself to stare at them properly because he's afraid he'll start bawling his eyes out, meanwhile, reader is just staring at him like ":3? no snarky comments or banter today wow what happened to him" unaware that he has seen The Horrors

that's all thanks for coming to my tedtalk

Authors Note: This is inspired by this request but not 1:1 written like it. This is pure angst and some gore. READ AT OWN RISK.

Tags: GORE, Angst, Reversed AU, mentions of syringes, drugs and operations.

Words: 2,7k

The sound of a click filled the room, followed by the small red light blinking on the video camera, indicating it was recording. Sebastian glanced at you with irritation as you held the camera—a little relic you'd scavenged from a deeper part of the facility—not too long ago. He shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of the leather jacket you had once sold him.

"And we are live!~ Say hello to the viewers, Seb!" you teased, shoving the camera playfully in his face. He immediately pushed it away with his hand, his scowl deepening.

"I get it, I get it," he grumbled, pointing at the camera with a mock glare. "You found a new toy. Now what? You planning to make a movie or something?"

You shot him a sharp look, the room growing colder as if you were subtly irritated by his comment. Sebastian could sense he'd hit a nerve, a rare feat considering your usual carefree attitude. But then, unexpectedly, you burst out laughing, clutching your stomach and flashing him the signature grin that always greeted him when he came to your shop.

"I’ve already starred in plenty,” you replied cryptically, your words hanging in the air with an eerie undertone. Sebastian opened his mouth to ask what you meant, but you cut him off with another sly comment. “Maybe you’re the next big star, Solace.”

After leaving your shop, Sebastian wandered through the halls of the Hadal Blackside facility, the encounter with you replaying in his mind. He’d grown to enjoy your company—your banter, your teasing, the way you challenged him. But today, something about your behavior felt off. Beneath the jokes and sarcasm, there was something else—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. And that unsettled him like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

How could he be in a relationship with someone so different, so complex? You were like a puzzle with missing pieces, a riddle that refused to be solved. The more he thought about it, the more it nagged at him. His legs carried him on autopilot through the winding corridors, his mind consumed by thoughts of you.

It wasn’t until he found himself in the office segment of the building that he realized he’d been walking without really paying attention. His hand hovered over the keycard reader, and it struck him that he hadn’t even looked for the blue plastic card he needed to get through the next door. The desk was a mess of papers, ink, and tapes.

His eyes fell on an old, unlabeled tape, the kind they'd used for surveillance back in the day. Scrawled on it in red ink was a series of numbers: *Z-13.* The sight of it piqued his curiosity, a nagging feeling that it was significant. Without thinking, he slipped it into his pocket. He’d find a way to watch it later.

Sebastian rummaged through countless drawers, lockers, and cabinets, searching for the keycard, but instead, he kept finding more of those mysterious tapes. Each one seemed older than the last, covered in dust and marked with strange codes.

His practical side told him he should probably look through all of them, not just the one he had picked up. So, he gathered them into a makeshift box he'd found lying around and continued his search for the keycard, all the while wondering what secrets these tapes might hold—and what they had to do with you. He know the Name Z-13 was related to you.

If there was anything he knew for sure, it was that you were full of surprises. And maybe, just maybe, these tapes would help him understand you a little better.

By pure coincidence, Sebastian ran into P.AI.nter a while later as he continued through the seemingly endless corridors of the facility, taking casual steps despite the weight of the wonky box filled with random tapes he was carrying. The AI's sketched face flickered to life, its eyes narrowing with a curious gaze. "Quite the haul today, Sebastian," it remarked, its voice tinged with artificial cheerfulness. "Planning to deliver all of that to our trusty shopkeeper?"

Sebastian grunted in response, setting the box down on the floor with a thud. He raised his hands above his head, stretching to relieve the ache that had settled in his shoulders from lugging the heavy box around. "Can you play them?" he asked, his voice a mix of curiosity and exhaustion. It was a simple question, and he knew the answer even as he asked it—of course P.AI.nter could play a few tapes.

But as soon as the question left his lips, the room fell into an uneasy silence. P.AI.nter’s usual cheerful demeanor seemed to shift, its sketched form glitching for a moment as if processing something more than just data. The AI stared at Sebastian and the tapes, an uncharacteristic hesitation creeping into its expression.

"It's just a tape, Sebastian," P.AI.nter finally replied, its voice flat, devoid of its usual light-heartedness. There was something in the way it spoke—something guarded, almost cautious—that only fueled Sebastian's curiosity further. The AI’s reluctance was like gasoline on a fire.

“A tape I want to watch,” Sebastian shot back, his patience wearing thin. He was tired of the evasiveness, the constant roadblocks whenever he sought answers. He moved with purpose, selecting one of the tapes and sliding it into the nearest recorder, right next to P.AI.nter’s screen.

“I have to warn you, Sebastian,” P.AI.nter said, its tone shifting to something closer to pleading. The air between them grew heavy, the tension thickening as the tape began to whirl in the machine. Sebastian paused, the gravity of the AI's words weighing on him.

"You won’t like any second of it," P.AI.nter added, its voice barely more than a whisper. There was a finality in its tone, a sense of foreboding that hung in the air like a storm about to break. The familiar face of his AI friend got replaced by some white noise and then a black screen.

Sebastian’s heart pounded in his chest as he watched the screen flicker to life, unsure of what he was about to see but certain of one thing: whatever was on these tapes, it was something the facility—and P.AI.nter—wanted to keep hidden.

“Hellooo! I'm one of the new researchers here at the Hadal Blackside. I'm recording Tape Nr. XXXX in Containment Cell XXXX. Wish me luck!”

Sebastian watched as a cheerful person appeared on the screen, holding a camera up to their face. Excitement radiated from their eyes, and despite the poor quality of the footage, their energy was infectious. Some of the information on the screen glitched out, redacting key details as if the tape had deliberately scrambled those moments, keeping certain things obscured.

The person on the screen shifted their stance, and the camera followed their movement. “This is a video for my friend who was super excited to hear about my job. I totally stole the camera for this, so shhh, we can't get caught,” they whispered conspiratorially, a playful grin spreading across their face. There was something unsettling about their carefree demeanor, yet Sebastian couldn't help but feel a small flicker of amusement. The tape felt like a low-quality YouTube vlog, reminiscent of simpler times, with this familiar-looking worker goofing off for the amusement of a friend.

“They told me this is super secret stuff,” the voice continued, the lens panning around the containment cell. “But I just have to show you this.”

The video abruptly cut to another segment, the view shifting to reveal a massive anglerfish-like entity lurking behind an enormous glass wall. The waters it swam in were inky black, like thick oil, giving the creature an unsettling and eerie aura as it moved in the dark liquid.

“Isn't it cool?” the person behind the camera asked with an almost childlike wonder, pressing their flat hand against the glass. “They’re hiding this here! They do some voodoo fish shit in this facility. Even the human centipede would turn pale in envy.”

Sebastian froze as he watched the footage. The creature behind the glass was terrifying—a monstrous anglerfish, its grotesque form barely discernible in the murky waters. It was an unsettling sight, made even more disturbing by the fact that this reckless researcher was standing mere inches from one of the most dangerous entities imaginable, their tone light and casual as if they were commenting on the weather.

A chill ran down Sebastian’s spine as he continued to watch the video, his breath caught in his throat. The footage shifted again, but the image of the monstrous fish remained burned into his mind. His gut twisted with unease. What was this person thinking, standing so close to something so deadly? And why did they seem so familiar?

As the old tape continued to play, the weight of the discovery settled on Sebastian’s shoulders like a heavy boulder. Whatever secrets were buried in these tapes, he was certain they weren’t meant to be uncovered—especially not by him. Yet here he was, staring at a reality that seemed more and more like a nightmare. The things he saw so far in the blackside were not as terrifying as this giant monster that rested behind that glass wall.

The tape ended abruptly, and for a moment, there was only silence. Sebastian’s hands trembled as he reached down to turn the cassette over, the worn edges rough against his fingertips. He knew there were at least four more tapes waiting in the box at his feet, each one a potential gateway to another nightmare. His breath caught in his throat, a cold sweat forming on his brow. Still, his curiosity and a gnawing need for answers compelled him to continue.

With a shaky breath, he pressed the tape back into the player, flipping it to the other side. The screen flickered to life again, this time showing a cold, sterile operating room. Several figures in hazmat suits moved with practiced precision, their faces obscured by masks and goggles. The room was pristine, a stark contrast to the horror Sebastian knew was about to unfold.

“This is Experiment Nr. XXXX,” a calm, clinical voice narrated. “And our newest trial patient, Z-13, who volunteered for their transformation.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened as he recognized the person strapped to the operating chair—the same person from the earlier footage. They were bound tightly, their limbs secured as though they were a dangerous criminal. There was no mistaking the fear and confusion in their eyes, even through the drug-induced haze.

“Z-13 was administered XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX 20 minutes prior to the start of this procedure,” the voice continued with an unsettling detachment. “Their pupils are dilated, and the patient has entered a state of delirium, necessary for the next phase of the experiment.”

The camera zoomed in on the bound figure, their eyes bloodshot and unnaturally wide, darting around the room in a frantic, unfocused search for something familiar. Sebastian felt his stomach churn with a sickening realization—this was no volunteer. This was a person trapped, forced into an unimaginable horror. The idea of volunteering was just another lie, a thin veneer over a darker truth.

Sebastian’s fingers dug into his knees as he watched, his body tense with dread. He knew what was coming next, but the tape did not shy away from the gruesome details. The hours that followed were a blur of pain and suffering, each tape more harrowing than the last. Scenes of torn flesh and oily blood filled the screen, detached limbs falling to the sterile floor with sickening thuds. Each cut, each scream was more unbearable than the last. And those eyes—those haunted, slowly awakening eyes—followed Sebastian throughout each frame, pleading silently for mercy.

With each passing minute, it became painfully clear that the drugs were losing its effectiveness and the person that was tied to the chair gained the ability to feel every single thing that happened there. The delirium ended and the terror began.

The scream tore through the speakers with such intensity that Sebastian flinched. It wasn’t just a scream—it was a raw, visceral sound, a guttural cry filled with a mix of agony, fear, and desperation. It was a sound so primal that it clawed its way into his very bones, settling there with an uncomfortable weight. It was the worst thing he had heard in ages. Every nerve in his body screamed in empathy for the poor soul on the screen, the person whose existence had been reduced to nothing but a vessel for pain.

“Silence them,” a cold, emotionless voice commanded from off-screen.

Almost immediately, a set of cruel, metal clamps were forcefully shoved into the patient's mouth, prying it open with a brutality that made Sebastian wince. These were the kind of instruments used for people with severe jaw fractures, designed to immobilize and inflict pain to prevent further injury. But here, they were used as a tool of torture, a means to quiet the suffering that had become too loud for the facility’s sterile walls. The rough, unyielding metal dug into their flesh, tearing into the soft tissue of their mouth, blood trickling down their chin. The sight was gruesome, and Sebastian could feel his stomach twist with disgust.

The person’s screams were abruptly cut off, replaced by a wet, choking gurgle. They were left to suffer in silence, their jaw now clamped shut, the metal rods cruelly keeping it from moving even a fraction. Tears streamed down their face, their eyes wide with terror and pain, every muscle in their body taut with agony.

And just when Sebastian thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, the camera shifted. The surgeon, clad in a sterile suit that seemed to mock the very concept of humanity, moved over the patient's eyes. Those eyes—once filled with life, now wide with shock, pain, and a frantic, animalistic fear—darted around in sheer terror. They were crying frantically, tears mingling with the blood on their face.

“We will now begin our final part,” the disembodied voice continued with a chilling detachment. “Removal of the natural human eyes to replace them with XXXX using XXXX and XXXX. The expected results will lead to an ability to see underwater.”

Sebastian’s breath caught in his throat as he watched a gloved hand reach for a long, thin needle, the metal glinting ominously under the harsh, fluorescent lights. The needle was positioned directly over the patient's eye, the sharp tip hovering just above the delicate orb. Their wide, terrified gaze seemed to plead with the unseen surgeons, with the camera, with anyone who might be watching—to stop, to help, to do something.

But there was no help. There was no mercy.

The screen flickered for a moment, and then, mercifully, the tape cut to black. The room was plunged into darkness, the only sound the low hum of the equipment around him. Sebastian sat frozen, his heart pounding in his chest, his mind racing with the horrific images he had just witnessed. His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white, the tension radiating through his entire body.

He was left alone in the darkness, his thoughts a chaotic whirlwind. The horror of what he had seen, of what had been done to someone who had likely never asked for any of this, crashed over him.

Then P.AI.nters face greeted him on the screen.

“They first drugged them, then they put in a row of ocean animal dna into their body.”

He was pointing out the steps that the surgeons did in the tape.

“They cut off their fingers, waiting for them to grow back. They took of the part from the knees to the feet…and then they noticed that it wasn't enough.”

Sebastian raised his hands, to put them over his ears.

“They lost both their healthy legs. Next was their ears, they cut it off. And then…they silenced them by closing their jaw.”

He could still hear P.AI.nter.

“And then they lost their eyes. The transformation from the human self to…the thing they are now…took 7 weeks. They attached and deattached plenty of stuff on them.”

For a moment he felt the urge to shut P.AI.nter off for good.

“Our shopkeeper went through much, don't you think?”

A loud sound filled the room and then there was darkness.

[ynbabe]

Lockwood & Co. Incorrect quotes, pt.6

Before Lucy 

Y/n: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free: pouring river water in your socks! Anthony: Why would I do that? Y/n: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free!

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

*The Squad is eating dinner* George: Can you pass the salt? Anthony: *throws Y/n across the table*

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

George, after Anthony did something stupid: You should have realised, Anthony, if Y/n didn't kill you, I would have.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: When will Ted himself...finally show up to the talk? Anthony: The final boss. George: You guys know TEDtalks stands for technology, entertainment, and design talks, right? Y/n: I will not let Ted hide behind these lies any longer!

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony, in love: How do you do that? Y/n, after having done something dumb: I'm fearless. George, having introduced the idiots and now regretting it: When we were kids, I saw you run from bees. You flailed around and tripped over a chair. It was both hysterical and sad. Y/n: I'm mostly fearless.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: My aesthetic is "would be sentenced to the chair by DEPRAC."

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: Who hurt you? Anthony, always on the edge of a mental breakdown: *snorting* What, do you want a list? Y/n, pulling out ALOT of iron/silver weapons: ...Yes, actually.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: Why would you think any of this was a good idea?! Y/n: Probably because I’m a dangerous sociopath with a long line of violence. Anthony: Oh... George, from across the room: *from across the room* I don’t understand how you keep forgetting that.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: It’s not gonna work, I’m not a snitch. George: Fine, let's try something else. Tag a friend you recently committed a crime with. Y/n: Lmao, @Anthony.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: I hate you. Y/n: Well, according to this picture I drew of us holding hands, that is untrue.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony, after a fight with Y/n: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was changing her name to Y/n.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n, grave-robbing: I’m going to hell. Anthony, there for a case: Probably. Y/n: I'll pick you up? Anthony: *nodding* Carpool.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony, pissed : Y/n! I thought you were dead! Y/n, back after running away for a year: No, just in deep cover. Anthony, about to lose his mind: ...But it was an open casket. Y/n, little scared now: It was very deep.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: Hold on, I can explain! Anthony: Really? Can you now? Y/n: I can if you give me a minute to think of a convincing lie.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Since Lucy

George, trying to joke: Hey, Joe said he's coming over this afternoon. Y/n, expecting a ‘delivery’: Cool. George: Do you know who Joe is? Y/n: JOE MAMA! Anthony, not even looking up from his phone: Damn, that backfired.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n, just back home: Do you cook? Lucy: I made a cake once. Anthony: Yeah, it was good. Lucy: Really? Anthony: Don’t make me lie twice, Luce.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n, back from sneaking around for state secrets: Anthony! For the love of god, please turn down that music. I have a hangover. Anthony, pissed at her: *blasting the mii theme at full volume* That sounds like a you problem, not a mii problem.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: For most of human history, vehicles had automatic collision avoidance and could even take you home if you were asleep or drunk. But then we got rid of the horse. George: You complete moron. You stupid fucking idiot. "Cars would be better if they could bite and shit" – that was you just now, dumbass. George: "Wouldn't it be cool if cars could piss? Wouldn't it be cool if cars could fuck?" Fuck off. Y/n: It would be cool if cars could fuck. Lucy: We... We still have horses.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony, to Y/n, since they’re sharing a room,: I'm leaving for the weekend, so I hid 100 dollars in your side of the room for food. Clean your side and you will find it.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Lucy: It’s funny how well you and George get along. Didn’t they hate you at first? Y/n: George hates everybody at first. It’s their way of reaching out to people.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: I just found out from Lucy today that when I ‘died’ and George threw my weapons in the grave, Anthony said, “You should aim one at the coffin to be sure.”

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: I give up. I am so tired. George: Get the emergency supply! Lucy: *carries Anthony and throws him in front of Y/n* Anthony: *smiles* Y/n: AND I AM BACK BABY, LET’S GOOO

[tewwor]

mmmmmmhmhmhm some food for thought.. imagining if nanami actually saw geto in shibuya :)

i had these in the tags but i'll slap em' here instead. ahem —

in this tedtalk i'll now explain how Tired and Done and Angry and Bereaved he is about his peers having dropped one by one.

i know its shown how close he was with haibara but the others count. they still very much count and he cares. He Cares! So Much! i'm going to gnaw at my hands about the layered connection he could've had with geto back then. what he has with gojo and shoko and utahime and—

look, life can get in the way of things but nanami ran away — plain as that. yet grief follows and weaves itself into everything. it plants roots not just in the heart, but behind eyelids and familiar scents. maintaining connections can fall off. it got buried under all the salaried work, in corporate life, in what can be deemed as 'normality'.

not only did nanami know of the risks he'd expose himself to again when he reached out to gojo, but he understood it better than the time away. he chose to care and look after the students because he’d be damned if they have to be subjected to the same life he had at that age.

[mxrtified777]

y’know what. what scents do the ibvs boys wear.

RUBS HANDS TOGETHER

So when i originally picked out colognes for the ibvs boys, i just kind of went off whatever i knew at the time instead of actual fragrance profiles and categories, which led to them all only being somewhat well aligned and just. not well organized all in all, but the SECOND time i did it, i actually made a chart of the fragrance categories and sorted the ibvs boys by seasons (fragrances are seasonal for anyone who didnt know) so i could align the notes easier; so, in my opinion:

Isaac is an autumn and leans towards woody orientals and, to a lesser degree, floral oriental; Edward is a summer and leans towards aquatic and citrusy notes; Drew could be an autumn or a spring and leans towards woody and soft oriental notes; Nevin is an autumn or a winter and leans towards orientals and soft orientals, Chris is a spring or a winter and leans towards dry woods and aromatics (and probably gourmands tbh), and Barry is a spring who leans towards greens and citruses. good lord that was a lot but were not done yet because i have a few actual colognes picked out for some of them :)

Santal 33 for Isaac; simple and woody, a little spicy and a little floral; not super complex, but this fragrance is super iconic amongst fragrance lovers.

Black Phantom for Chris; I can't NOT give a gourmand cologne for Chris. That would be borderline criminal. The notes of alcohol and tobacco align quite nicely with his daddy issues if i do say so myself. (Also, Ky mentioned ages ago that Chris would be the coffee lover of the boys, and i just remembered that years later)

Kingdom of Dreams for Nevin; When i fucking tell you it took me 7 million years to find a good smoky cologne for Nevin. Jesus H Christ. Anyways. Warm, earthy, and smoky notes just give me an image of either a bonfire or a ritual in the deepest part of the woods gone horribly wrong. either way, it's fitting for him, and i love it.

Light Blue for Barry; One of. the hottest colognes I've ever had the pleasure of smelling. 100% a Hot Guy cologne, I, too, would trust my darkest secrets and personal information to a guy if he was wearing this. 10/10 I would wear it, but unfortunately, it's not a fragrance for me.

Acqua di Gio for Edward; A very, VERY popular cologne, truly iconic, he is the moment, i swear to god 90% of guys have owned this cologne at some point, but it is popular for a reason. I think it would he hilarious if Felix also wore this simply because it fits almost every category of guy.

and lastly, Dead Sexy for Drew; The fragrance notes on that image simply say "woody," so you would assume the vanilla and sweet notes would be dominant ones, but this 100% smells like moss on decaying trees in the most Drew way imaginable. I can not believe this wasn't tagged with aromatic because that is absolutely the best way to describe it. It smells like how the sun dries the moss on old trees after days of heavy rain, and it's one of my favorites.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, this has been Chris Combining His Hyperfixations Together Like Playdough.

[gothamxwattpad]

Writer’s block doesn’t have me stuck.

I have me stuck.

I have multiple directions I want to go but can only pick one because each one changes what happens next.

One direction has me writing from the POV of a character that doesn’t really hold a lot of weight in the story, I mean, she does play her part. She’s the daughter of a former gang leader who still holds great power and influence over the other gangs in Uptown and Midtown Gotham. He did a thing (no spoiler) that got innocent people killed to save him and his own family. He’s had to live with that guilt and now his daughter has to live with it too.

Another direction has me jumping to the main character’s best friend’s plot line, (that was very wordy, my apologies). Him being the street art & comic book loving little punk he is, that would send him down a rabbit hole, (pun intended- no spoilers), which would skip ahead to present conflicts. I’d actually like to save that for a little later on.

Or I can continue on with my chapter three being in the same POV of my main character from chapter two. I’d like to go ahead and post chapter two but not until I’ve figured out what I’m doing with chapter three. (Again I apologize for the word soup, it’s been a long day).

After writing all of this, i didn’t even consider I have other characters I can play around with, after all, my biggest issue with rewriting was how many characters I have and that I kept trying to write it from one POV, the main character’s, and it wasn’t working.

I’m not pantsing, (you know, writing from the seat of my pants), I am following the same storyline I already have, just trying to do it better. I have another version of my fic, GothamX, on Wattpad and Archive of Our Own(AO3) and it’s okay. It’s not great and it needs a lot of organizing and editing and some love and affection. THAT was me pantsing.

But I’m trying and I keep reminding myself that little progress is still progress and this project is not work, it is art & fun & for myself. I wanted something different from all the other Harley Quinn and Joker fanfictions on Wattpad.

If you can’t find what you want to read in fanfiction, make what you want to read. Because chances are, you’re not the only one that wants that story.

(sorry, I’m derailing again)…

I really wanted to be close to done with part one by the end of January. Part One is the first night. It sets up the basis for everything else to come. The First Night. The First punch thrown. The First storm…

If I can get through part one, I can branch out more on the other plot lines with my other characters.

Welcome to my Tedtalk and thank you for letting me ramble on. Feel free to ask questions and such.

Tagging @dyrewrites since you said it was okay to brain dump on you😅

All of this was actually pretty helpful. I should brain dump more often.

[oreoambitions]

the trouble is that Tumblr tags contain the *absolute* best comments, which makes it very very tempting to post WIP before they're done, which MEANS that the IDEAL arrangement is to alternate WIP days with oneshot days so that you're making progress but still getting enough instant gratification in your diet since everyone knows that's a macronutrient essential for writers ty for coming to my tedtalk

[fen-the-space-dragon]

Pinned Post! Finally!

First things first: This blog supports Palestine. If you want, and haven't done so yet today, here's a handy link to help donate to help the people in Palestine without even spending money and it takes like 2 seconds. All you have to do is click the button and it raises funds to help ^^

(Also I just now found out the background of the thank you screen is interactive and will explode confetti if you click the white space)

And this is a link to a bunch of vetted campaigns to donate to in order to help save the lives of Palestinians:

Info about me under the cut cuz I don't want this to be too long and in the way!

Hi! My name is Fen and I use they/he pronouns. Neutral or masculine terms are preferred ^^

I reblog a lot of civil rights, equality, etc. stuff (big shocker), and also enjoy art, warrior cats stuff, and do a lot of reblogging random shit I think is cool or funny. (Also I really really really like animals they're so cool and I have so many useless facts about them please talk to me about animals)

Uhmmmm ye if you ever wanna send me asks or dms or @ me, go ahead. Warning tho: I’m more likely to respond faster to asks or mentions than dms because dms are scary

Things you can do when sending asks, dming, or @ing me:

Ask me about something (ask respectfully tho. If you barge in here being all rude I might not respond)

Talk about a shared interest (I could talk for DAYS about warrior cats or animals in general)

@ me in fun tag chain things

Uhhh idk just say hi

Things you shouldn’t do:

Just don’t be rude, a jerk, disrespectful, other words that mean the same thing

Aaand thank you for coming to my TedTalk! Okie bye

Pride banners by @/goobersplat

[delta-pavonis]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

Tagged by @valeriianz and @sleepsonfutons, so LET'S DO THIS. Because I want to procrastinate from working.

Under the cut because I don't wanna clog up your feeds with random bullshit about me as a fic author. LOL.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

*checks AO3* SIXTY ONE?!? WHEN THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

325,828 total. 216,568 of that is Sandman that has been written since September 5 2022.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Fandoms I have posted fic for: The Sandman, Star Trek, Men's Tennis RPF Fandoms I have written fic for that will only ever live in the secret rooms of my mind palace hard drive: X-Men, The Vampire Chronicles, Harry Potter, Vampire Hunter D, Hellsing (the anime & manga) Fandoms I have written fic for that I might post someday: The Dresden Files

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. New Moon 2. high enough (you got me good) 3. Whispers to the Night <- the one that started me on this wild Dreamling ride 4. To Worship on a Marble Altar 5. Eros in Pragma Interesting note is that almost all of those are early in the Sandman/Dreamling fandom where there was more activity and less fics in existence.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I would LOVE to respond more to comments. I read all of them and treasure each one. However, spoons are limited and most of the time recently my brain is just not cooperating. I used to respond to every one and exhaust myself. Now I'd rather spend that energy reading and writing more. But when I am feeling like I am a shite writer and others do it better and why am I even continuing to do this I go back and re-read comments and it really does help.

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

I don't think I write angsty endings, tbh. The angstiest of those that are finished would probably be i will take me away. There is, however, one that will definitely be the angstiest once it is done. 😉

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I chronically write happy endings. I think my happiEST ending is Hypnopompia turtur, followed closely by high enough (you got me good)'s Chapter 4

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! At least not yet... <.< >.> <.<

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

*CACKLES* Do I write smut? Do I write smut? Do I write smut? You would have an easier time counting the fics that do NOT contain any smut. You could count them on one hand. I mostly write BDSM and/or graphic smut. Lots of porn, sometimes plot.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Yes, rarely. I think my recent delve into Sandman+Ted Lasso with Keeper is pretty fucking weird (as much as I adore it).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also nope.

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

Not that is published. I am currently collaborating with someone on future White Horse Mafia fics.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh Christ, that is like asking what is my favorite bird. *pulls out laptop and projector and slides* In this TEDTalk, I will... Dreamling is definitely the one that has had the strongest grip on me in a very long time. Lestat/Louis is a classic I will never be completely over. Harry Dresden/John Marcone just thrills me for reasons I cannot fully pinpoint. Chris Pike/Ash Tyler from Star Trek also is very dear to me, as is Clint Barton/Loki from back at the start of the MCU.

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

My Chris Pike/Ash Tyler/OC triad from Star Trek. I want to finish it in my heart, but I have lost the thread of it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Apparently porn. At least that is what I gather from feedback from others.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Does comparing myself too much to other authors count? Like, too often looking at another person's fic and being like I want to BE THAT instead of embracing who I am and how I write. Does that make sense? It is one thing to be inspired by someone's work and try to learn from them, but sometimes I find myself wanting to try to change my WHOLE STYLE to try and be "more successful" or "more liked", whatever the fuck that means.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I avoid it unless I feel I really need it for Plot Reasons™. I will use Google Translate if the language is common, but also other websites for common slang phrases or dialects that Google Translate doesn't have. I am more than happy to have people correct me, though!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Vampire Chronicles

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

OK, this is almost as hard as choosing my favorite bird... I really really love what I was able to achieve with the style of i had a dream (i got everything i wanted). I am so proud of Hob's first-person journal and a part of me will always wish it caught more people's attention. I still impress myself with the amount of world building I was able to cram into the less than 10k of find in me your rhythm and the less than 3k of Stay the Knight. What I was able to do with Hob's snarky voice in A Change in Tactics also cracks me up. But I think the one I am most proud of overall is You create me against your lips. It started out with a blurb inspired by an Instagram post and in the end will be the longest fic I have ever written and the longest fic I have ever finished by far. What is interesting is that most of these are decidedly NOT my most popular based on AO3 stats. Fascinating.

If you are a fic author and want a fun reason to waste some time, consider yourself tagged! *

[iroissleepdeprived]

Me with 99+ unfinished projects and drawings, five and maybe more unfinished character designs, an oc waiting for a backstory, etc: hey, what if I do absolutely nothing today.

[isleofdarkness]

Who gets the worse treatment in the Descendants fandom? Lonnie or Audrey? And state your reasons.

Audrey.

Now, I haven't been in the main fandom tag for a while because some of the takes I've seen there felt like a backhand, but I never really saw any bad takes on Lonnie, aside from whitewashing. Of course whitewashing and erasing her ethnicity is bad, but compared to Audrey? How can I phrase this? It's like comparing a grenade to the Tsar Bomba. Both are horrible and devastating, but the Tsar Bomba is the biggest nuke ever, to my knowledge. I swear I'm trying to get this to come out right. Lonnie's treatment is crappy, sure, but I haven't seen too many people up in arms about how she's been treated by the fandom.

Audrey, however.

This fandom is horrible to Audrey. When it comes to how the fandom treats them, I hazard to say she had it worse. Welcome to my TEDtalk.

First we need to talk about Queen Leah, because she's very important. Queen Leah has literally every reason to be angry. She lost her baby, was never allowed to see her daughter grow, had to watch her husband plead for her daughter's life, had to watch that plea turn into her daughter being forced to sleep forever. She had to send her cursed baby away with fae, the same species that cursed her baby, and thus probably lose the very limited time she was likely to have with her daughter. That woman has trauma- hell, I would go as far as to say she could have C-PTSD. Then she meets her beautiful teen daughter for two seconds, knowing her daughter was so, so close to falling victim to her curse, and the only solution her husband, just as desperate as she is, can see is to lock their beautiful daughter away until she's out of danger. It's horrible, but it had to be done.

It didn't work. She had just enough time to learn that her daughter was going to sleep forever before magic pulls her eyelids down and she falls asleep. When she wakes her daughter is awake, her curse has passed, but they slept for one hundred years. The world has changed around them in ways they never could have imagined and, while she has her daughter now, it's a cold comfort. She still lost sixteen years with her baby, a baby she doesn't know because she never got to see her baby grow, lost her entire world, has gods know what kind of trauma, and she's reeling at best. Queen Leah has so much trauma. Audrey knows this.

I don't think Ben told her Maleficent's daughter was part of his decree. All she knew was that she went to parent day and started talking to this girl with violet hair. Her lovely granddaughter comes to them and they embrace (at least she got to see this one grow up,) her granddaughter looks at the girl with violet hair, and Audrey's face becomes guarded.

"Granny, I don't think you want to be talking to this girl."

"What?"

And then the girl gives Queen Leah a strange smile. And Queen Leah knows that smile.

Suddenly, it's not a teenaged girl standing in front of her. It's Maleficent. And all Queen Leah can probably think is "Oh gods, Audrey, she's going to take another baby from me."

I just totally went off on a tangent about Queen Leah and I'm sorry, but the fandom is super unsympathetic towards her and I have a lot of feelings about that. That poor woman.

Anyway, I bring Queen Leah up because of a fun little thing called Generational Trauma. Parents or grandparents, in absence of receiving care for their trauma, inflict their pain on younger generations. In Queen Leah's case, that younger generation is Audrey.

So now we talk about Audrey and why she's right.

Audrey, from what I can tell, has been betrothed to Ben her entire life. She's known this boy since their were in diapers and she's known that she's going to marry him one day and they're going to live happily ever after. She's been preparing to be the queen of Auradon for her entire life. And then she's humiliated and cheated on in front of two schools. Cheated on for the girl whose mother haunts her family's nightmares.

Audrey knows about Mal. She probably knew Mal was coming before Beast knew. She knew that the woman who caused so much pain for her mother, father, and grandmother, has a daughter. A daughter who must have been raised as wicked as her mother. A daughter who's going to be close to Audrey. Close to Ben. This girl could curse Audrey just like her mother cursed Aurora, and Audrey is probably fucking terrified.

And then her boyfriend cheats on her with the girl she's afraid of. She's humiliated in front of two schools. Her entire life becomes meaningless and, for the first time in her life, she has no future. Everything she thought she has vanished and she was reeling.

And then she finds out that the girl she was so scared of spelled her boyfriend. That girl forced Ben to break up with her, forced Ben to humiliate her, sexually assaulted him. And Ben stays with the girl, the girl who just reinforced what Audrey's been taught her entire life, and neither of them ever apologized to Audrey. She lost everything, and never got so much as a half-assed apology.

Queen Leah is probably freaking out, too. She finds out her granddaughter was dumped, then she finds out her granddaughter was dumped for the daughter of Maleficent, then she finds out that Ben was actually spelled. The helplessness she felt over Aurora's spell hits her like a truck, and she takes that pain out on Audrey.

Audrey lost everything. She's been beaten down, stomped into the dust, and never got so much as acknowledgment for what she went through. She watches the man who was supposed to marry her propose to the girl who assaulted him. She knows that it should have been her wearing that ring. Mal isn't fit to be the queen, Audrey is. Audrey knows this. And yet she loses. She goes to the museum to get closure, wear the crown (maybe take the crown, but can you blame her?) and then the scepter speaks to her. Audrey falls under a spell like her mother, and she's forced to watch as she's turned into something she isn't to destroy the kingdom she was supposed to rule.

TL;DR, Audrey went through the fucking wringer. And the fandom turns every single thing against her.

Audrey is a bit mean to the Isle kids? Oh, she's a bitch. She definitely wasn't acting on generational trauma and wasn't probably scared out of her mind. /s

Audrey takes the spotlight from our beloved Mal to say that she's dating Chad now? Oh, she's a spoiled, horrible princess. She definitely isn't trying to get some power back after her entire life is yanked out from under her feet and she loses everything, cheated on and humiliated in front of two schools. /s

Audrey is mean to Mal after the proposal? Oh, she can't stand that she lost. It's definitely not because she's been dealing with a lot of shit and because she just watched a horrible girl get rewarded for spelling and sexually assaulting the man Audrey has been set to marry for their entire lives. It's definitely not because it was supposed to be Audrey getting proposed to, not Mal. /s

Audrey broke into the museum and stole the scepter? Oh, she's evil. She definitely wasn't just desperate for closure. It definitely wasn't Maleficent who called out to her and put her under a spell. It was definitely Audrey's choice to become evil. /s

Audrey is dying after Mal nearly kills her? Let her fucking die. She definitely isn't a traumatized little girl. She's clearly a villain who deserves to die. /s

Hades makes a badass point? Audrey deserves to die and deserves the Isle. The two points, that Auradon was wrong and that Audrey deserves help, definitely can't coexist. Hades definitely meant that Audrey deserves to die or go to the Isle. /s

Yeah, I think that Audrey is treated worse by the fandom. Audrey was right. She doesn't even just deserve better, she deserves the entire world. Give Audrey the world.

And therapy. Get that entire family lots and lots of therapy.

[aesop-txt]

Fuck it we ball thinking about Chev and how him ending but with Emma makes me tear my eyes out lmao. I hc him as aromantic and like I know it's not canon but he's expressed how he doesn't want romance and sees it as unnecessary and like for aro people in particular (and ace but this is a more romantic context) others say, "Oh you just haven't found the right person yet," and that's basically what happens in Chev's route. It's not outright said but it's basically the premise. Essentially Emma meets Chevalier and is scared of him at first yadayadayada Clavis makes her deliver thing I forgot the name of and then if I remember properly they were talking and it gets to the topic of romance (because of course it does) and he says something along the lines of, "I don't see the need for romantic relations because it clouds a king's judgment and I don't see it as necessary," and yeah that could just be seen as him wanting to be a perfect king and stuff but that shouldn't just cross a prince's mind you know? (Sadly i dont have the screenshots) So as his route progresses and Emma develops romantic feelings for Chev blah blah blah he opens up to her and shows his true colors. Now don't get me wrong I loved those part and the one at the soldier graves is one that comes to mind immediately. Once again I don't have the screenshots for some reason I suppose I'll just playthrough his route a third time I get the chance and edit if I even remember but anyways it was talking about how he doesn't remember names of people he doesn't see as important but he remembers the soldier's names BECAUSE of the fact that they were important to Rhodolite (if that's how you spell it lmao) and thus important to him. Back to the topic at hand they get closer and honestly I'm here for that. He's not as on guard and you can tell that he IS human and stuff and I feel like a close platonic relationship is perfect for that but alas it's an otome and at the end of the route they get together and even if it doesn't seem like it, it follows the trope of quote unquote, "finding the right person," and I hate that so fucking much!!! There could have been such great rep in my opinion if cybird had done that! Now that I've lost steam for continuing this I feel that I've sufficiently gotten my point across and would just like to say some things. First of all I'm not saying that Chevalier HAS to be aromantic in your own personal canon nor am i ingoring the canon if you're a stickler it's just that I'm so very passionate about this and would like to have it out somewhere. Second of all I'm not saying I hate your for shipping yourself/your oc with him I think oc x canon if great if like none of the fanfics are doing that for you and it's great for creativity imo! Thirdly even if you don't hc him as aromantic you still can't look me in the eyes and tell me he's straight./j

Just thought that these screenshots I actually DO have would be nice to share. In the end this is just me ranting about my favorite guy and if this pisses you off despite the fact that I'm not forcing you to have this hc you can (disrespectfully) fuck off. I just really want to see more aromantic and aroace rep in general because it genuinely makes me so happy and if you have a problem with that you can leave. Uh anyways thanks for coming to my tedtalk. Also tagging my friend cause she wanted to see it! We love talking about this lol @perfectlyuniqueperfection

[viir-tanadhal]

ANOTHER thing adding onto my tags for last reblog is that the way psb incorporate queerness in their work hinges on codes and multiple meanings and the underground, subtextual form of expression. the feeling of being an outsider, a voyeur on society and everything going on. that's why a song like will-o-the-wisp, while explicitly queer, also has that edge to it because of the narrator being a voyeur on the train, of living a life outside of the norm while pondering if his former lover has fallen into a normative life "with a wife and a job and all that". but even in the 80s, even in west end girls, that voyeurism, the outsider looking in at society, the hidden meanings (the dive bar being a gay bar, etc) is all there right from the get-go. it's always been there and present and tangible, people picked up on it, because they caught the meanings and the codes and all that. just because it's done in this way and not totally explicit and overt and matter-of-fact doesn't make it any less there

anyway that's my tedtalk skdjdksnd

[bbrandy2002]

I posted 117 times in 2022

10 posts created (9%)

107 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ao719

@burnsoslow

@charlotteg234

@kingliam2019

@dcbbw

I tagged 23 of my posts in 2022

#queued - 9 posts

#the royal romance - 5 posts

#king liam - 5 posts

#liam x mc - 5 posts

#trr - 5 posts

#liam x riley - 5 posts

#bbrandy2002 - 3 posts

#fools rush in - 3 posts

#long post - 2 posts

#choices - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 35 characters

#who says we dont work in the summer

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Happy Sunday @charlotteg234

🥵 Enjoy!

13 notes - Posted April 10, 2022

#4

An Apology

Several months ago I accused someone of sending me a hate anon. I've thought about that ordeal from time to time, but even more so recently.

Being in a place in my life where Im not so stressed out anymore or disillusioned by every little thing, Im able to make rational thoughts and think things through a little clearer. Looking back at old messages with someone else, I have a pretty solid feeling I know who actually did send them and thankfully they're not around here any longer.

With that said, when Im wrong, I say Im wrong. And in that instance ... I was wrong. Even if I never said her name publicly, I would like to apologize to @queenrileyrose for my accusations and the hurt you experienced following that. I've already done so privately and the nature of that conversation will remain so.

I can't undo what happened, I can only try to make it right.

Here's to 2022 being about positivity and kindness. Again, my humblest apologies to QRR.

13 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

#3

Happy Birthday to ...me lol

I have to take a moment here to show off these two amazing commissions my bestie @burnsoslow and my great friend @ao719 had done for my birthday.

The first piece by Burns is from her ORDIV Ch 33 when Liam proposed to Riley in the gazebo at Valtoria where the had their first day 🥺🥺🥺

The second one is from Anitah, who used a scene from the fic Burns wrote for my birthday last year Heaven, Hell or Houston when Liam and Riley had met at the bar and when on this whirlwind date, kissing at every stop light 😍

Two of my favorite scenes captured so perfectly and it makes my heart swell so big.

Thank you both so much for these precious works that I will cherish and most likely stare at everyday for weeks to come. I love you both with all my heart and thank you for making another year of getting older a lot more bearable and for your friendship that I value so hard!

59 notes - Posted May 19, 2022

#2

Fools Rush In

Chapter 21

Book: TRR

Pairing: Liam x Riley

Series Premise: With two weeks before he is set to marry Madeleine, the guys throw Liam an impromptu bachelor party that results in him (and Drake) leaving Vegas with more than he bargained for.

Word count: 3900 -ish

Warning: Language

Soooo ... hey lol It's been a hot minute since I've written or posted anything (or just been around in general). Anyway, I came back to several messages asking about this chapter. I actually had 90% of it written back in October and just thought it was pure shit and gave up on it ... actually, I gave up on writing altogether. Having some time this week, I opened up the doc, rewrote some things, deleted out some stuff and finally managed to finish it. It's still not even close to what I wanted it to be, as it's the end of this arc, but I've decided to just have fun writing again. If there's anything Ive learned during my time away it's that none of us will ever write the perfect story, or use the perfect words, or have the most compelling characters and it's okay; I think I finally have accepted that. Just have fun doing it!

This concludes my TedTalk

---------------------------

“Doctor ... Wolfschitz?” a bewildered Alyssa questioned.

“That’s no damn doctor!” Drake bore his eyes into the former prince, who was already howling with laughter, dodging a pillow that whirled in his direction from Drake. “What the actual fuck is your problem, Leo?”

Leo clutched his side, trying to catch his breath. “The look on your face, man … I can't. I really had you going there for a minute didn’t I, Walker? Afraid you were about to lose that new pee-pee, huh?” He continued to laugh riotously at Drake’s expense before his gaze hastily shifted its attention toward Alyssa. “Why’d you blow my cover, thong girl?”

“Thong girl? Alyssa muttered, absentmindedly crossing her legs while attempting to hide the fact her face was quickly glowing bright pink. How’d he know I was wearing one?

“Why are you here, Leo?” Drake repeated as Leo casually strolled up to his bed and scooped up a chocolate pudding cup from Drake’s food tray. “And how in the sam hell did you even know I was in the hospital?

“Came with Liam,” he replied nonchalantly as he plopped his ass down on the end of the bed and peeled off the top of his pudding cup, licking the plastic wrap clean. “He’s down the hall with Riley right now. Seems my little brother is a prized stud after all … got that Rys sperm in him, ya know? Knocked her up real good yo. Hafta say … I’m impressed.”

“Knocked her up?” Alyssa gasped before stepping closer to him. “Hold up; Riley’s pregnant?”

Leo nodded and shoveled a giant heap of pudding into his mouth. “Yeah. I’m going to be an uncle again --” he eyed Drake’s plate contemplatively, “ -- You gonna eat the rest of that meatloaf, man?” Drake scowled and pushed his tray toward the hungry Prince.

Alyssa quickly put all the clues together. “So that’s why Riley was so sick earlier? She didn’t have a concussion, --” she smiled endearingly, “ -- she just had morning sickness. ... Well, is she okay? Is the baby okay? The fall didn’t hurt them, did it?”

Leo, concentrating on finishing the rest of that meatloaf, languidly shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Well, did they at least give her something safe for her back pain yet?” Alyssa probed further.

Leo shoved another large bite of meatloaf and again answered. “I dunno.”

“Oh my God! Do you know anything?” A frustrated Alyssa finally asked.

With a mouthful of food, Leo tilted his head back in deep thought and replied the best he could, “I know this meatloaf is fucking BOMB, dude. Not too shabby for hospital grub.” He swallowed heartily. “The pudding on the other hand … absolute shit.” He tapped the edge of the plastic container with his plastic spoon as he spoke to it, “Snack-Pak, you disappoint me.”

Desperate for an answer, Alyssa reached out and grasped Leo’s shirt, jerking him closer. “Fuck the snack-pak, Wolfshitz; what about Riley?”

“Riley? Oh, she never disappoints me …” Leo sideways glanced with a frown. “Liam on the other hand ...”

Stunned by this strange man’s erratic and seemingly unhinged behavior, Alyssa shot a wide-eyed glare at Drake, who just shook his head slowly. “Don’t try to make sense of him, Alyssa. Just don’t. You’ll never be able to figure him out.”

Needing to be reassured, Alyssa pulled a cell phone from her back pocket and started furiously shooting off a text to Riley. While her back was turned to the men, Drake couldn’t help but notice the way her ass hugged perfectly in those skinny jeans and soon realized his new body part had showed up in tandem with his sudden arousal. With Leo’s interest remaining focused on the damn meatloaf for the time being, Drake eased a hand under the white sheet covering him and felt around the area below his waist; his breath hitched with relief at the rock-solid bulge that had erupted. Feeling a little giddy that everything was working as it should, the euphoria soon subsided when he caught a glimpse of Leo’s saucy gaze on Alyssa.

Overcome with a strong sense of jealousy over the girl he’d just caught sneaking a peek at his naked self less than five minutes ago, Drake quietly urged through gritted teeth, “Stop looking at her like that, Leo! She’s not some conquest you can just sack for your sick playboy pleasures.”

“Says the guy who caught panty crickets from a $2 hooker and needed a dick transplant.” Leo retorted with a smirk. “Besides, father always said, ‘I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.” He wagged his tongue in lust. “And I see that.” He motioned to Alyssa’s backside.

See the full post

73 notes - Posted April 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

First Comes Love

Chapter One

Book: The Royal Romance -Complete AU

Pairing:Liam x Riley/Liam x Madeleine (I promise Maddie’s nice here)

A/N: This will most likely be a mini-series; no more than 5 or 6 chapters.This is loosely based on a movie you might recognize but I’ve tried to make it my own. 

Series Premise: It's destiny when two people from different worlds meet. Riley is an up-and-coming wedding planner who finds herself tasked with planning the biggest wedding of her career, only to find out the man she fell for after a brief encounter in NYC is the groom ... and a king.

Trigger Warnings: There is a mention of suicidal ideation, but it’s not part of the plot. Some minor language.

Thank you @burnsoslow for pre-reading. All grammar errors are my own.

It’s been so long since I’ve started a new fic, I don’t even know if I have a taglist that isn’t filled with people who have left or hate me now; I guess I’m starting all over again. If you want tagged, let me know.

New York City

Liam zoned out 2.1 seconds after stepping inside a trendy office on the upper floors of a high-rise building in downtown Manhattan. The pale pink shades of the walls, decorative cushions, window scarfing, and gloss on the lips of his future bride, screamed out bottles of Pepto to the new King -- if only he had some to help with the unease in the pit of stomach.

That morning, a meeting with a highly renowned woman was on the agenda, discussing and presenting potential options for his upcoming nuptials, just weeks away. Even under normal circumstances, a wedding wasn’t exactly something that excited Liam. Not that he was never thrilled for the couple and wished them all the happiness in the world, it just held little importance in his day-to-day life. Weddings served as yet another reminder of what he wanted -- and what he couldn't have. 

It was amusing to Liam how he could hold so much power, yet wielded none of it for himself.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

The owner of this particular firm, Jill Gordon, had built quite the reputation as the elite among modern event design, planning, and production companies, with a specialty in weddings. The clientele included a long list of celebrities, politicians, affluent Manhattan debutantes, and occasionally acquired foreign business. The latter is how Madeleine first heard of The Jill Gordon Company while attending the French Ambassador's ceremony several months ago as a representative for Cordonia. With the last stop of their engagement tour in New York City, the future queen was eager to add a visit to her appointment book before they returned home and began the laborious task of planning the biggest wedding in Cordonian history.

Although the palace had more than their fair share of staff with experience hosting monumental events, such as balls, state dinners, and various celebrations, there hadn’t been a royal wedding there in over 20 years. Madeleine thought someone with experience handling grand-scale weddings with a sophisticated flair, who could share their vision and expertise with the staff and take charge of the arrangements, would guarantee everything went off without a hitch. 

The King simply went along to get along.

Madeleine and Liam sat across from Jill at her glass-top desk, where a single, lone laptop sat catty-corner on top. While the owner enthused and embellished her business to an attentive Madeleine, Liam focused on the assemblage of black-and-white portraits meticulously placed in neat rows along the wall behind the woman’s desk. It was no doubt a deliberate focal point to showcase the clients her agency had done work for in the past. Maybe others who had previously sat in the same chair he sat in at that moment were charmed with the love and joy captured in each of those images; the twinge in Liam’s heart wasn’t buying into it. 

After a lengthy social season and with a lot of pressure from his father and the council, he’d chosen Madeleine to become his queen. At first, he couldn’t stand her -- Hell, maybe he never could. She was pretentious, overbearing, cunning, and frequently insensitive. But somewhere between his coronation and the beginning of the tour, she changed almost as if overnight. At that first stop in Fydelia, he noticed a more relaxed, more thoughtful, and just easier to be around Madeleine. It’s possible she’d finally gotten the coveted prize she had obsessed over long before being dumped after Leo abdicated and could put aside some of that anxiety that brought out the worst in her. But to Liam, it seemed to be a little something more: either the Countess had come to her senses about her standoffish behavior, or maybe it was this new business venture Hana and Rashad talked her into, causing a distraction for the Countess. 

Whatever it was, was a welcome change. Liam had grown to respect her, find some common ground, and put away some of that overwhelming dread about spending the rest of his life with her. And while it was no secret between the two that there wasn’t more than friendly affection, duty made no exceptions when it came to their obligation. 

For both of them, that's precisely what this was. Now it was time to make the best of it and move forward.

Jill sat forward in her swivel chair with a warm smile. Her hands splayed on the glass top as she spoke in a refined tone. “I have the perfect person in mind to handle such an important wedding, as yours… that is if you choose to go with us.” Jill quickly added, not wanting to scare them off with too much pressure, too soon. She knew adding a royal wedding to her list would attract mass attention in the press and social circles for her business, which meant huge profits.

“Really?” Madeleine crowed, glancing over at Liam, who promptly brandished an over-enthused smile before she turned her attention back to Jill. “Tell us more about her.”

“Elaine has over twenty-three years of experience and is the best in this business, and has served most of our biggest named clients. She recently planned the President’s granddaughter’s wedding.” Jill boasted.

“I heard of that one …” Madeleine swooned before adding, “glamorous, yet sophisticated and classy, which is exactly what we’re looking for. Would she have time to meet with us now?”

Jill frowned. “I apologize, but she’s actually booked for the day, preparing for another wedding this evening. A busy lady that one is. Let me see what her calendar looks like.” She moved the mouse beside her laptop around and clicked a few times, pausing momentarily to scan the screen. “She’s free in the morning if you’re able to return then.”

Liam, who had been studying the glass wall that separated Jill’s office from the reception area and wondering why in the hell anyone would want to be watched while they worked, finally contributed to the discussion for the first time since walking in. “We’re actually leaving first thing in the morning.”

“Not until 9:30,” Madeleine hastily clarified. She continued cheerfully, “Tonight marks the official end of our engagement tour, and we’re wrapping up with a celebration in Midtown. We fly out tomorrow.”

“That's wonderful!" Jill replied. "Perhaps the two of you can stop in before your flight in the morning and meet Elaine personally and see if we can work out an agreement. I don’t think you’ll regret it,” she trilled, able to conceal the shameless desperation behind her words like a true professional. 

Well schooled in body language and tone, Liam smirked to himself, able to hear it anyway.

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119 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

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