#Woo I made a hex

[staticperson049]

Oh and where it says "Not there when Hex present" that's because uh- he's attached to her bc he can do that- basically this guy

Hex, aka THIS (The Hex I Stole), belongs to @rat01010

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: OLD DESIGN, NEW DESIGN WILL COME OUT AT SOME POINT

Originally posted on 2:33 PM · Sep 15, 2024

Reposted from Twitter 48/51

Apatura- who's another self insert who's also a persona- not final yet bc I didn't fine tune it

Originally posted on 2:29 PM · Sep 15, 2024

Reposted from Twitter 46/51

[cherryslyce]

Holding Hands With Shadows | Tom Riddle

Synopsis: Being the Minister of Magic was not easy for Tom, but you are always there to keep chaos from erupting. OR, you are Tom's assistant and the babysitter of the group and Tom finally confesses.

Pairing: Tom Riddle x Reader

Notes: Not canon compliant (sane!Tom, no Voldemort), Abraxas keeps insulting orphans, Y/N is tired (Knights of Walpurgis? More like Kids of Walpurgis)

You could almost feel the grey hairs sprouting from your head, and not even in a fun, attractive way either. It was a wonder you hadn't even thought about drafting up your letter of resignation until right now.

"Abraxas, you may not buy out that land to raise your peacocks. The Department of Care for Magical Children plan to use it for future projects."

Tom shoots you an amused look from across the room, lips quirked up into a smirk at your exasperated tone. The infuriating man was leaning back in his armchair, far too at ease, as you tried to restrain yourself from slamming your head through the table.

"Frankly, that just seems like a waste of good resources. I mean why do they need it so bad? Could they not just simply find another plot? After all, these children grew up in austere conditions, so they won't even miss it."

"Abraxas."

"Yes?"

"Get out."

"Excuse--"

"Now. Please."

The man looks over to his best friend for help, but Tom simply shrugs as if conceding that you were the one in charge.

"Fine. However, this conversation is far from over. I will see you both tonight, yes?"

"Of course. Safe travels, and please send Lady Malfoy my regards."

The man sends you a pleased nod before twirling on his heels, his cloak billowing dramatically. The door clicks shut behind him just as you drop your face into your hands.

"Stressed, darling?"

You huff and rub your forehead before answering with more bite than intended, "Perfectly fine".

The insufferable man, as unbothered as always, lets out a noise of amusement before slowly striding towards your desk. You slowly raise your head as his shadow falls over you, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, fire off your best hex at me and put me out of my misery."

"Abraxas‘ dramatics has rubbed off on you, my love."

The pet name sends a shiver down your spine and you try your hardest to school your expression. You had grown up with Tom at the orphanage, which basically made you his closest confidant, friend, and ally. At times it felt like you were a breathing, judgmental diary to him.

You were privy to all that was bad and ugly in his life, so it was only right that you were by his side when he rose to power and suddenly had access to all the material goods in the world.

And to him--whatever he had, you had by extension.

Of course, you fought tooth and nail to get to where you were now, rebuking any effort Tom made to give you preferential treatment.

Everything would be fine if it weren't for your affections toward him. Growing up, he never expressed interest in pursuing a romantic relationship, he had only ever wanted to subvert the stereotypes and malice aimed at the both of you during your years at Hogwarts.

The closest thing to romance that you could associate Tom with was when he wooed Druella Rosier in sixth year with his signature smile and a kiss to her hand in order to siphon information about her father from her.

The poor girl was an inconsolable lump of misery after Tom got what he needed and tossed her aside like a used handkerchief.

Tom's always been romantically inept like that.

Your spiral of reminiscing didn't cease, not even when you and Tom showed up to Malfoy Manor for their annual ball later that night.

When would it be socially acceptable to turn tail and run?

"Assistant L/N! What a pleasure it is! Is the minister trekking about nearby?"

You spin from looking out the window and come face to face with an older man who you recognized from around the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

His vest hugged him tightly and only served to accentuate his red, puffy face.

Was he about to hit on you or try and kiss your ass so he could get acquainted with Tom?

Merlin. Did you have enough in your savings to retire yet?

"Good evening. I believe Tom is busy discussing foreign deals with Lord Greengrass."

"Ah yes, Cyrus Greengrass is quite ingenious. You and Minister Riddle were friends with him during school, yes?"

Your lip twitched at how casual he was addressing Cyrus. Cyrus would be disconcerted by the man's informality, but Abraxas would surely become vexed on his friend's behalf if he heard.

"Yes. We are childhood friends I suppose."

"Wonderful! Well I was coming to you because I'm sure you're aware that the rules for Quidditch are being tossed into the air. The Ministro di Magia in Italy is trying to--"

You started tuning him out and looked around the room for one of your friends, starting to sweat in the formal wear you had on.

Luckily, Tom caught your eye. Unfortunately, he had somehow rounded up all of your friends and they were all looking quite entertained at your expense.

"Sorry sir. If you'll excuse me, it seems that the Minister is in need of me."

Without waiting for a response, you chugged what was left in your champagne flute before practically stomping over to the circle of men.

As you neared, Tom stepped out to welcome you, encircling a hand around your waist like it was the most casual thing in the world.

"Good evening boys. Thank you for throwing me out to the wolves."

"Y/N! So I assume this would be a bad time to try and renegotiate the land you're throwing away to those orphans."

Bloody hell, he was forgetting that he was saying that in front of two orphans.

Without answering Abraxas, you turned to Tom and let out a sigh, "I'm handing in my letter of resignation tomorrow, I promise it".

The hand around your waist tightened ever so slightly and you ignored the amused looks your friends sent each other, having picked up on your little school girl crush on Tom eons ago.

Damn them.

"Now, now, don't make hasty decisions. I could simply smite Abraxas‘ peacocks and the problem would be solved."

Abraxas let out an undignified noise while Parkinson and Bulstrode snorted into their drinks. Cyrus patted Abraxas‘ shoulder in feign pity, but he knew that Tom would likely make good on his threat if you asked him to.

"I hate you all. How is it that even after all these years, I still feel like an underpaid, underappreciated nanny."

Abraxas looked offended at your words and quickly reassured you, "We love you though. Underpaid, yes. Underappreciated? Never."

Your banter with the group went on for a while longer and as the night started coming to a close, Tom steered you away from peering eyes and towards a vacant balcony.

"Are you alright, darling?"

You only nodded tiredly to the man, leaning your elbows on the railing. You rubbed your eyes as you could sense the man behind you shifting in uncertainty (which was so uncharacteristic of him that you had half the mind to pull out your wand and threaten him to tell you where the real Tom was).

A few beats of peaceful silence pass before you're jumping up at the feeling of hands coming to hug your waist, a hard chest pressing against your back.

"Tom--?"

His chin gently rested atop of your shoulder, loosening his grip slightly to give you the opportunity to push him away.

"Are you unusually more clueless nowadays or are you purposely torturing me?"

"You're going to have to elaborate. Did you accidentally kill someone or do something I would disapprove of? This affection is quite sudden."

"But you don't hate it. Quite the contrary."

"That confidence of yours is going to get you into trouble one day."

"If it's you, I don't mind the trouble."

You don't bother responding, but your silence was satisfactory enough for him.

Clearing your throat, you awkwardly move your hands to rest atop of his, patting them gently.

It felt like the world spun on its head and was reborn anew before Tom spoke again, "Marry me."

His words threw you for a loop and you sputtered a choked, "What?"

"Marry me. I mean we're practically married anyway. You flounder around and make sure the boys are okay, and I rein them in so they don't blow up the country and make me lose face."

"Yes. We are a true dynamic duo."

Your dry response has his chest rumbling in contained laughter, tilting his head and gently knocking it against your cheek.

"We're the parents of the group, haven't you noticed? Abraxas asked me a few days ago if we would end their suffering and ours by just wedding each other."

"I was not aware we were even dating."

"Dating--being partners-- would not even come close to what we are. Don't you feel the same? We are in sync in everything we do. Even hundreds of miles apart, I breathe as you breathe, my heart beats in rhythm with yours, my mind does not simply revolve around you--it is completely infused with your every essence. It is a wonder we aren't already married with three cats."

"Three cats," Tom despised cats, "But...yes, I feel the same. You know I do. I thought that...well, I thought you weren't interested in romance."

"I am interested in pursuing anything and everything with you. Only you. If you'll have me, of course."

Your laughter comes out wet and heavy, filled with relief and disbelief. You turn your gaze upward and watch as the stars blink down on you, permeated across the sky the same way love begins to flow through your veins.

"It was always you, Tom. Thank you for telling me."

Tom pulls back briefly before gently turning you around to face him.

He leans down and nuzzles his nose against yours, eyes conveying a tender emotion that you've never seen until now. But now you knew, every time in the past when his eyes flickered across your face and softened, it was out of love.

"Tell me you'll marry me."

You don't give him a verbal response, but as you press your lips to his, he knows that domesticity together is all the both of you have ever needed.

"Tom...does this mean we have to make Abraxas the best man now?"

"Don't be silly, he'll give us no choice in the matter."

(And give them no choice, he did)

masterlist

[captainx-camino]

I'm taking Viktor to the Ball at a convention we're attending in January and, naturally, I needed a Ball outfit for that, so...

It's almost done! I'm gonna be putting the hammer symbol that Jayce has on his white coat on the back of this one and a few random cogs on the exposed breast of the coat before it's all said and done but WOO! Nearly there.

Which means, it's time for an outfit breakdown! (And a mental one. I only have a few more days until I have to pack and I still have to finish a different Jayce outfit.)

But, anyway!

I wanted to go with a princely look and I honestly think I just about nailed it.

-The coat and vest were purchased as to save myself time, since I decided to do this very last minute. I did take up the sleeves and fix the fit though so... *Shrugs* The corset vest is part of my outfit for my wedding next year to my own, actual lovely partner (who is also my Viktor). So, I already had that. Yippee.

-The shirt was just one I had in my closet that I had to take in since I've lost weight. So, already had and more fitting there.

-I did add the epaulettes to the coat, which I made by hand out of craft foam, fancy trim, and ribbon. (I layered a red ribbon over the gold trim for an extra pop of color).

-The tie was made by above mentioned partner, who made us matching ones for both our outfits. I made the little gear tie pin though out of an adjustable ring base and a couple random jewelry gears from a multi pack we have (that will also be used to decorate the breast).

-The capelette is based off The Blanket™️ and has red lining, just like said blanket does. I sewed in curtain ropes and decorative closures for some added pizzazz both where it's sewn into the capelette and where it clips around the body. The capelette also has a shoulder seam, as well as a lapel. Which was a pain in the ass. I do not recommend having to do either lmao

-The pants were also purchased, and have a double closer on the front in a very steampunk way (I wasn't about to attempt to make that in a crunch I'm already struggling lol) I will also probably be folding them so they're cuffed at the bottom, but we'll see how that works out in my final fitting.

-The shoes were thrifted and were all black when I got them. I used leather paint to paint them with the red panels, added gold trim, painted the outside of the soles gold, and there is a little hex crystal shape on the bottom of the soles that I painted blue. I also switched out black laces for maroon because they fit better with the look.

-The gloves are the same gloves I got for Jayce's black outfit and are getting a little clip added later, but otherwise nothing fancy or crazy has been done with those.

-And finally, the wristband is from Willow Creative and literally my favorite thing I have ever bought ever. I highly recommend them if you're looking for a good Jayce bracelet! Absolutely gorgeous.

For those curious, this is what's being cut out and added to the back of the coat (sorry it's a bad drawing I just needed to see what it would all look like together)

I have a couple different gold fabrics for the main body of the hammer and some nice brown filigreed damask for the brown. (White boarder will probably just be foam so it's easier to attach to the back.)

That will be added as soon as I have it completed, hopefully later today.

But yey! Jayce Talis Ball outfit!

I am so looking forward to dancing with my Viktor.

[holderoftales]

Gunshot Death Pose Reference

There's all sorts of pose reference guides out there. Action poses, sexy poses, fighting, dancing, shooting...but not being shot, which is important. So I made my own.

I used many different sources for these, mostly spaghetti westerns, John Woo movies, Punisher and Jonah Hex comics, the more gun-heavy Super Sentai shows like Kyoryuger and Dekaranger, compilations of boxing knockouts, and a page from an old issue of Creepy that had ten of them on one page.

[direwolfrules]

EAH Glee AU

I do not have time right now to work on my actual writing- midterms are done so now we're just jumping right into final papers- but have an AU outline post.

Professor Pied Piper, taking inspiration from some of his best high school memories, gets Headmaster Grimm to reinstate the school glee club.

Meanwhile, Madame Baba Yaga fears the new activity will steal away talent from her prize cheer-hexing team, the Ever After High Cheerios (I can’t think of a good fairytale-ification for this, I will accept suggestions). To rectify this situation, she sends in three of her girls undercover with the goal of sabotaging the glee club.

Basically, Pied Piper is Will Schuester, Baba Yaga is Sue Sylvester, and chaos ensues.

Glee Club Members:

Apple White: She joined because 1) she's good at singing 2) she genuinely enjoys singing 3) her mom was in the Glee Club and led them to winning Nationals. I'd say she's the Rachel Berry or the Quinn Fabray, but I'm not gonna do that thing where I entirely change a character's personality to make them fit into the role of another character...for the students anyway. Look, Apple's got enough drama in her life, she doesn't need me making her crazy enough to send someone to a crack house out of jealousy.

Raven: Uh, in the books Headmaster Grimm won't let her take Muse-ic because it's not an evil class. Luckily, because of a bizarre loophole in the school guidelines for competitive teams, Headmaster Grimm can't ban her from Glee Club. Everyone say thank you Giles.

Daring: He joined because he was told it would give him extra credit for the serenading skills portion of Advanced Wooing. Also, Apple asked him to join because they didn't have enough boys in the club and Daring's been trained to never ignore a request from a damsel.

Dexter: He’s there cause Raven’s there? And also cause he is a genuinely great singer and unlike Daring needs the Advanced Wooing extra credit? Also, I just kinda want him there.

Darling: Her mom made her join. Queen Charming really said “I’m gonna take a page from Snow White’s book and live vicariously through you, offspring of mine”.

Briar: She really likes the idea of a team competition where she won’t put her teammates in danger if she falls asleep. Also, she checked the competition rulebook, as long as they don’t all leave the stage when she has a narcoleptic episode they won’t be disqualified.

Humphrey: Every Glee AU needs a white-boy-who raps and Ever After High has one already built-in in the form of Humphrey Dumpty.

Maddie: She’s there cause Raven’s there. It’s utterly hattastic!

Kitty: She’s there because she remembered her mom talking about how some of her fondest memories of high school revolves around messing with the glee club, and Kitty wants dearly to be like her mother.

Lizzie: We’re completing the Wonderland ensemble. Lizzie joins because she needs an extra curricular and the Invisible Tree Situation has gotten so out of hand they had to disband the croquet team. Great voice, ngl.

Justine: Not the strongest singer in the room, but she’s capable of choreographing numbers like nobody’s business.

Meeshell: Listen, canon’s pretending her singing in that webisode was something amazing. So like, we’re pretending now too.

Duchess: I picture her as a Sugar Motta-type character. Cannot sing, massive diva, but they gotta put up with her cause her family’s donating to the club budget.

Melody: Listen, it’s her dad’s club. She can’t just not join. She’s banking those supportive daughter points for a rainy day.

Lawrence Bonecrusher III: Listen, I just it'd be funny if Professor Piper says the ever-insane "You're all minorities, you're in the glee club" line and there's the one orc student in the school just sitting there with his eyebrow raised. He's also the Matt of this AU. For some reason never speaks when in a scene.

Faybelle: Captain of the Cheerios, totally not here as part of a scheme by Madame Yaga to DESTROY THE GLEE CLUB!!!!

Nah, but seriously, this whole AU was born of me going "What EAH character would say the iconic 'I'm a closeted lesbian and a judgemental bitch' line?" and her face popped into my mind.

[iobsessoverfictionalmen]

Spooktober (3) - A terrible promise

Warnings: soulmate au and spoilers for Wandavision.

“He is a vile, reprehensible excuse for a human being!”  You stormed into Darcy’s lab with a scowl and sat down with a loud thud, jostling the equipment on the desk.

“Whoa!  Easy with the aggression!”  Darcy yelped grabbing for her coffee cup as it tilted next to her laptop, threatening to spill its contents over her keyboard.  “I’m guessing the meeting didn’t go well?”

“It didn’t,” Agent Jimmy Woo confirmed.

“What?  Did the big bad Hayward bench us?” 

“It would have been so much better if he had!” You complained heatedly before dropping your head into your hands.

There was silence and then Darcy broke it by complaining that no one ever told her anything important.  Captain Monica Rambeau entered the lab just in time to catch the end of Darcy’s complaint and shooting you a remorseful look, which you didn’t see because your head was till in your hands, she spoke.

“(Name) began to see colour the second we walked into the command centre.”

“Oh,” Darcy gasped in understanding.  She pulled herself out of her chair and walked over to you.  She patted you on the shoulder awkwardly, “Are you sure it’s him?”

You raised your head, “We were the only four people in the room.”

Darcy blew out a breath, “Well, this sucks for you.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” 

Jimmy held up his hand, “But this isn’t the first time that you’ve been in the same room as Hayward.”

“Besides,” Monica interjected, “I’ve heard rumours that Hayward’s married.  A soul bond wouldn’t activate if one of the people involved is already taken.”

“That’s a good point.”

“Your body could have been reacting to the presence of your soulmate even if they weren’t in the room with us.”

Hope began to spread through you, “Maybe it’s not Hayward after all.”

“Hold up!”  Jimmy made a T shape with his hands, “Can we go back to the part where Hayward is married?  Who would marry him?  I wonder what they’re like.  They must have the patience of a saint to put up with him.  Or maybe he’s subm-”

“Jimmy, I beg you not to finish that sentence,” you pleaded.

“Right yeah,” Jimmy shuddered.  “I don’t want that mental image either.”

Monica looked similarly grossed out while Darcy seemed intrigued by the fact that Hayward was married.

An alarm rang out unexpectedly causing you to flinch reflexively, “WEAPONS OFFLINE!  WEAPONS OFFLINE!”  A robotic voice shrieked.

You covered your ears as the alarm and the voice continued, “WHAT COULD CAUSE THAT?!”  You shouted over the noise.

“NORMALLY I’D SAY AN EMP BUT IF THAT’S THE CASE THEN WE WOULDN’T BE HEARING THE-”

The robotic voice stopped booming as abruptly as it started and Jimmy cut himself off.  He stared at the speaker in the ceiling with an expression of dread on his face.  Darcy raised her raised her eyes to stare at the same spot with her hands covering her ears.

“That’s not a good thing right?!”  She exclaimed, removing one of her hands from her ears to point at the quiet speaker.

There was a crackling sound followed by a popping sound and all of the technology in the lab suddenly shut down.

“Yeah, that’s not good.”  Monica agreed, walking over to Darcy’s machines and trying to manually turn them back on.

“YOU POSSESS SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO THE GODS!”  A thunderous voice rang out, brimming with the promise of ancient power and retribution.

Now it was your turn to stare up at the ceiling, wondering if the voice was coming through the speaker.  Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Monica, Jimmy and Darcy falling to their knees with the heels of their palms pressed into their temples.

Your breathing grew ragged as it dawned on you why you were the only one still standing and not clutching your head.

“BRING HER TO MY TEMPLE ON THE EDGE OF TOWN OR THE HEX ENCIRCLING WESTVIEW WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES!” The voice declared ominously.

When she was certain that the voice wouldn’t say anything else, Darcy lowered her hands from her head and still kneeling, she grinned up at you, “He called it The Hex.”

The smile that appeared on your face at Darcy’s comment was wiped off your face when Monica spoke as she climbed to her feet, “The only temple on the edge of town belongs to the Greek God of War.”

Your breath whooshed out of you at her statement.

Jimmy exhaled, “Well, at least your soulmate isn’t Hayward.”  He said with a tone of forced cheer.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

This particular sub is a fucking goldmine for terrible MCU takes.

Oh man, so much crap in one place 🤦‍♀️

There is a strange subset of people that are convinced Wanda did nothing wrong

Are they convinced she did nothing wrong or are they trying to contextualize and explain her actions and you're taking that as them justifying what she did?

The military guy saying (rightfully) that she is imprisoning and puppeteering hundreds if not thousands of people

Do these fans seriously think Hayward gave a damn about those people? His beef was with Wanda. He tried to provoke her at Sword's HQ and when that didn't work he kept trying to go after her with the armed drones + his words during Woo's introduction to the Sword agents + when he entered the Hex and started firing at kids. Not to mention this guy was turning Vision's body into a weapon. Hayward was many things but 'good' was never one of them.

90% of people that didn't vote for Wanda never saw WandaVision, MoM or AoU

Wanda was corrupted by Waldron the Darkhold in MoM. She enslaved Westview, yes, and she also let them escape in the end. And she tried to get the Avengers hurt in AoU and joined Ultron, but she also ran away the moment she found out what Ultron wanted to do and she teamed up with the Avengers instead to save innocent lives.

If you don't want us to focus on the good she's done in order to claim Wanda is good, then don't focus only on her mistakes to call her evil. She's a complex, morally grey character. Face that and stop searching for a black/white reading of her, ffs.

She enslaves a town to live out a perverted fantasy with her dead robot boyfriend and her non-existent children

Oh, the dehumanization of Vision and her kids. A classic. Also, didn't these stans love BARF? What Wanda did was pretty much that except she has such power that she could make it real. (In case it's not clear, I'm not defending her actions in Westview. But if we can understand Stark's trauma then I assume we can understand hers.)

Tony fights for his belief the same as Cap does

Fighting for your beliefs doesn't automatically make you a good person. You know who else fought for what he believed in? Thanos.

Stark spent years mistaking safety for control, and since no one in Marvel was ever allowed to call him out or correct him, he kept on doing that over and over again first by helping with the helicarriers of Project Insight, and later with Ultron and Edith. Wanda was only a few seconds in his head and she saw it so clearly.

He tries to save as many people as possible

That sounds like a line said in CW... oh, but it's Steve's, not Stark's. Funny that. But I'll say this again, controlling is not saving. Oh, and saving isn't just showing up during a battle and kicking ass. Saving is so much more than that and Stark's actions hurt a lot of people - the difference is that, unlike WandaVision, those victims were never part of the story so you don't care about them.

Cap and the others were criminals, he couldn't just release them from the Raft, they broke the law he's trying to enforce

I don't understand, where is Stark's authority to even attempt to release them anyway? He had retired from the team, he was a civilian throughout the entirety of CW. He couldn't have released them, only broken them out like Steve and Nat did. And... I got a question: was he trying to enforce the Accords when he broke them to fly to Siberia?

And if he didn't want to break them out of the Raft, he could have at least told Steve that they were there. But he said nothing and let them rot there.

When did he ever do anything close to what Wanda did in WV and MoM, she is straight up evil

And he made a fortune out of selling weapons for war, and he refused to tell the team about Ultron and that robot ended up destroying an entire country, and he signed and I'm pretty sure he also promoted the Accords even though he knew they would violate the civil rights of all the enhanced in the world, and he built Edith with full access to satellites and missiles upon request.

Sigh. This is what happens when a character has full narrative protection for so long. People start thinking he never did anything wrong.

[storms-path]

FFXIV Write 2024: Day 4 - Reticent

Arashi had borne witness to more than most, but she couldn’t ever recall Y’shtola scowling. Particularly not Y’shtola scowling while motioning silently for F'lhaminn to bring her a brimming mug of very, very strong wine. For half a moment Arashi thought to question the reason for her distress, but the pall coming off the white-haired miqote was positively murderous. Arashi knew better than to risk opening her mouth, particularly when she was nursing a lovely glass of red herself.

For a time the pair simply sat at the bar and nursed their drinks, but eventually Y’shtola broke the silence she had cast. “Tell me, Arashi,” she began, her tone innocent enough to hide any number of bodies. “Is there some malady affecting me that I am unaware of? Have I become the victim of some unflattering hex?” Arashi shook her head, not quite knowing what to say. Then, after a moment, replied.

“As far as I’m aware, no. What’s-”

“Then why, pray tell,” Y’shtola cut through her sentence like a blade, “am I so completely unable to charm a single woman?”

Arashi paused for a moment, checking to see how much wine she had drunk. The goblet was disconcertingly full. Surely she’d misheard, then. Y’shtola Rhul, great and might sorceress and most feared of the Scions, was in such a state… because of romance?

“Perhaps you should start from the beginning,” Arashi tried. That simply earned her a flat stare in return.

“If I wanted to tell my tale for all the world to see, I’d have consulted Thancred.” Y’shtola sighed, slamming her drink on the bar. She pointedly ignored F'lhaminn’s irritated look, ears flat against her head. Her tail was swaying uncomfortably quickly against Arashi’s. Then, with another great sigh, she relented.

“Fine, fine, if you must know. I have been trying to understand whether Stalwart has… Well, feelings for me, I suppose. Beyond that of mere colleagues and friends. But either she is the most stubbornly inattentive woman in the world, or my ability to woo people has advanced not a moment since I finally fled Matoya’s tender care.” Arashi tried to reconcile the idea of the Y’shtola she knew “wooing” people. She failed miserably.

“And normally I would be able to let that be the end of that, except that she keeps saying such things that make me think I’ve finally made a breakthrough!” Y’shtola was swinging her glass around dramatically now, though thankfully it had been drained of most of its contents already. “But then she turns around and tells me that she’s glad we’re such good friends! Friends!” Arashi cast a nervous glance around the room, desperate for help. None appeared. Even F'lhaminn had vanished at some point during Y’shtola’s ranting.

“I’m… sorry?” Arashi managed. Far be it from her to get involved with other people’s romantic endeavours. Some things were simply too much to ask. Saving the star, certainly. Saving someone’s love life?

Y’shtola was silent for a moment, then returned to her glass with a look of abject misery. “Is that all you can manage? And here I hoped you might be able to provide me with some words of wisdom, given your…” Y’shtola trailed off, gesturing with her free hand to the ring on Arashi’s finger.

“Shtola, you and I both know that I had to liberate two nations before I had the courage to confess to Lyse, and that she was the one who proposed to me. I don’t know what you’re expecting from me, but I’m not the silver-tongued seductress you seem to think I am.”

Y’shtola stared at her fellow Scion for a moment longer, then rested her head on the unpleasantly damp bar. “What am I doing wrong?”

“If you ask me, the answer is rather obvious.” A worryingly cheerful voice belonging to one master Waters rang out. Without a moment’s hesitation he tossed off his coat and settled onto the stool beside the woeful miqote. He honoured Arashi with a wave from the other side of Y’shtola, who looked for all the world like she was ready to strangle the intruder.

“And what, pray tell, is so obvious about this situation to you, Thancred?” Her voice was sharp enough to cut the thickening tension. Arashi made to take her leave.

“Sit.”

Arashi sat.

Thancred, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in, continued. “She’s afraid.”

“Afraid?” The twin voices of Arashi and Y’shtola muddled the tension with confusion.

“Afraid.” Thancred repeated. “Though our dear girl doesn’t show it, she bears much greater wounds than she cares to admit. Do you know she still goes out to visit Haurchefant’s grave?”

“Now hang on, there’s nothing wrong with that. I go out there myself every so often!” Losing Haurchefant had been a blow on them all. Arashi had lost her best friend to the Heavensward.

“But do you go out there every half a moon?” Thancred’s steel gaze fixed itself on Arashi’s own. “I will admit, I’ve been… keeping an eye on her, when I can. Urianger as well, when I can pull him from his tomes. She carries her grief around like a stone, like her memories of the man will vanish the moment she puts them away. I’ve tried talking to her, but… Well, let’s just say she can be rather cruel when she wants to.” Thancred’s hands curled around one another, as if he were nursing a glass of his own.

Y’shtola seemed torn between believing him and politely but firmly asking him to vacate the premises. Her better sense won out. “I had hoped her visit to the Aetherial Sea would have helped her move on. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it only reinforced her pain, though.” She cast a sideways glance in Thancred’s direction. Arashi had never been able to pin down just how well Y’shtola could see through the aether, but it wasn’t hard to notice the slump in Thancred’s posture.

“Yes, well, some scars take longer to heal than others. My point is to give her space.” Thancred managed a wry smile. “Rather poor advice from one so accomplished at ‘wooing’, but it’s the best I can offer.” He made a show of looking around the bar. “Well, since it seems I won’t be served any time soon, I’ll take my leave. Until next time, ladies.”

Then he was gone, picking up his coat on one hand and patting Arashi on the shoulder with the other. Just how much help he’d been, Arashi couldn’t say. But at least Y’shtola hadn’t burned down the bar, so that was something.

Arashi made to take a swig of her wine. Her hand went through air. Confused, she looked around. Her goblet, as well as Y’shtola’s, had vanished entirely. Arashi whirled around to see Thancred standing at the doorway, two goblets precariously balanced in a single hand. With a sly wink, he was gone.

Damned rogue...

[aparticularbandit]

State of Bandit Fic

I haven't done one of these since September of 2022, so let's have some fun and do one again!

As with the others, this will start with addressing current multi-chapter fics, multi-chapter fics that are mentioned in the previous SoBF post, and then ideas that were mentioned in the same.

...and then get into ideas I may have for future stuff, which is fun to look back on over a year later and just I forgot all about that idea wow that was cool maybe I should do that. XD

These get long, so it's below the cut!

Not putting goals for what the year should look like because I just did that massive goals post and I don't want to be more specific than that! Woo!

I did finish Finding Family, though - wow this thing is old - so! Yay for that!

Stuff I've Started and Haven't Finished:

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now I still think about this, but at this point, it's probably abandoned. It made it to a good stopping point, which makes it harder to return to.

What Dreams May Come I also still think about this on occasion, but it's safe to say this one is also likely abandoned. Sorry about that.

Fragments of Color Yeah, this is also abandoned. I think I did with Kisses what I intended to do with this fic before getting caught up in playing around with the world of the Hex. Oh well.

The Time of Your Life aka Roisa Soulmate Timer AU Y'all know I've had book four done for, like, three years at this point, and I'd like to get around to editing and posting that, but there's a certain level of spoons involved in going back and rereading things and then doing a second write on this to make sure it's internally consistent with the three fics that came before, and also if I remember correctly, it's in of itself longer than the entirety of the series up to this point, so like. I would like to do this. It's still sitting on here. I don't know if I'll actually finish the series or write the fifth fic, but. I'd like to at least post the fic I have done at some point.

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now I still think about this, but at this point, it's probably abandoned. It made it to a good stopping point, which makes it harder to return to.

What Dreams May Come I also still think about this on occasion, but it's safe to say this one is also likely abandoned. Sorry about that.

Fragments of Color Yeah, this is also abandoned. I think I did with Kisses what I intended to do with this fic before getting caught up in playing around with the world of the Hex. Oh well. Actually, having now reread what I had for this, it was going in a completely different direction than Kisses that was a lot more meta, and I'd kind of like to go back to playing around with the constraints of the Hex and Wanda's control of it or whatever was going on in this fic.

The Time of Your Life aka Roisa Soulmate Timer AU Y'all know I've had book four done for, like, three years at this point, and I'd like to get around to editing and posting that, but there's a certain level of spoons involved in going back and rereading things and then doing a second write on this to make sure it's internally consistent with the three fics that came before, and also if I remember correctly, it's in of itself longer than the entirety of the series up to this point, so like. I would like to do this. It's still sitting on here. I don't know if I'll actually finish the series or write the fifth fic, but. I'd like to at least post the fic I have done at some point.

Ms. Mackie aka Mrs. Fletcher s2 Just because I still have a good idea of how this would go - or at least the highlights of it - does not mean I will be going back to it. Consider this one abandoned.

Be Mine, Valentine Has really just shifted into the collection of one-shots that is The Valentines Collection instead of being a chapter by chapter fic. This isn't abandoned, it just took on a different form than was intended when I started the fic. And honestly? I like it better this way. Speaking of:

The Valentines Collection Which doesn't go here in terms of oldest to newest (roughly) but that was a good segue to bring this up here. I have more planned for this. I will probably write more in this. I love the Valentines and I love this AU and it's one of my favorites for writing general life stuff and I love it. So expect more Valentines in the future.

A Sea Psalm for a Penitent Soul Yeah, this is abandoned, I do not plan on going back to let's write all of the explicit details of the three centuries of Agatha's very traumatic life sorry not sorry.

The Nature of Soulmates Abandoned. I'm no longer comfortable with some of the content that was in this. I may do something with these ideas in the future, but if I do, it will most likely not be in the form of fanfic. Sorry, not sorry.

Something Gained I like pairing Eve and Clare up together. I think Clare's disaster of a person plays well off of Eve's mothering everyone instinct. This was certainly not intended to be a ship. I just liked seeing them play off of each other! But I don't know if I'll go back to this one in specific or not. We'll see? I guess?

Stolen This also has been abandoned. I'm no longer comfortable with some of the things this may or may not have included.

Agatha and Stephen Go on a Trip aka the Finding Family sequel Still planning on continuing this, have much firmer ideas for what's going on than I did when I started, don't know when I'll go back to it, but I still plan to go back to it!

Take A Sad Song and Make It Better I like the idea of going back to this but don't know if I will. Not officially abandoned, but am unsure.

Wundagore's Punishment Don't know if I'll finish this one or not. Probably not. Mostly because I think the last part would be another multi-chapter fic and like. I don't know if I want to go back to it or not.

Agave Stuff I actually really want to go back to this. I actually have another Agathian backstory part planned out and everything. And a sequel! So I wouldn't say this is abandoned, because it's not! Just playing around with thoughts and things.

Earth-1257 This was originally imagined as a one-shot and may stay that way. Or I may turn it into another collection of interconnected fics like The Valentines Collection. Which, honestly, I like better for this! So maybe that!

On Toons and Magic I like the premise of this. I know most of the overarching stuff with this, although not the entire ending. I know some of the complications. I've started the next chapter. This, too, might be better served as interconnected one-shots except that there is an overarching specific story. This one is just tough to write. So we'll see. It isn't abandoned! Just might be slow.

Winter Firsts Definitely planning on going back to this. I have been enjoying having the girls play with winter stuff.

Life is but a Dream LOOK, Y'ALL. I'm SO excited to get back to this now that I'm not trying to get something up daily. I have MISSED this fic and I know how it ends and where it is going and also there's a sequel have I mentioned that it's the first part of a three part series, which to be honest will probably not look like you expect. But I'm SO excited to get back to this one!!

Holiday Party Planning to get back to this one but it is hard to try and maintain this many characters all at once which makes it harder for me to get back to it.

For Fake Yeah, I still plan on finishing this, it's almost done, probably two more chapters left? Maybe? Something like that.

Okay, Everyone! Also planning on finishing this, there's only one more chapter left, etc.

On Tea and Ghosties Also plan on finishing this, there's only one more chapter left, I've already started it, etc.

Ideas Mode: and Unanswered Prompts:

JTV rewrite ALA Jane doesn't get inseminated but Petra does Still a cool idea. Probably not going to write it.

Wanda/Bedelia Fic aka Bandit Rewrites WandaVision again but EVERYONE GETS THERAPY The idea of this is still very good, and I still very much want to write this, and probably throw in my.... Wait, I think I actually started this at some point. I don't know if I'll go back to it, but I still very much like the idea.

Harximoff Music Man AU I started this and got...into the second? chapter? I think? I don't know if I'll go back to it, though, and I don't want to post what I have if I'm not going to go back to it, you know? So we'll see about that.

The Visions kiss people and get stuck Planning on answering this one! Just haven't yet! Will probably separate this into two parties. Probably.

Alpine and Liho meeting each other IS THE LAST OF YOUR FOUR THANK YOU FOR THESE BTW. I have not read stuff with the kitties in it BUT Marvel Meow comes out this month and I may write this after reading that.

Agatha and Eglantine Price I want to see Bedknobs and Broomsticks again before writing this but I very much want to write this.

America x Kamala Wizard of Oz I have been trying to think this one through because I would have to pull in other characters to fill out the Oz cast and I'm still playing around with how I would reimagine this one. I'm not sure it would end up as the kind of ship that you want. But I've been thinking about it on and off! (Addendum that I will likely not be the songfics you requested because I do not the songfic. I could maybe take a line from them and go from there? Idk. Sorry!)

Bucky x Natasha Hanukkah fic Surprisingly enough, I've started this! I just feel woefully...underqualified to write it. I'm planning to finish it, but I have a friend who I want to read it first before I post it to make sure that I'm not...offensive or wrong or any of the other things that can happen when someone who is not of a religion writes a fic around one of the holidays of that religion or characters who are of that religion or a fic that focuses very much on themes that would engage with religious beliefs. This one might take a while, but I like the idea, I like the story I've started for it, I just...want to be careful with it. So it might take a bit. Sorry!

I have more ideas for things that I may or may not play around with (the second fic in the trilogy that starts with Life is but a Dream is one I'm super excited for, actually), but...I think I'm going to keep those to myself. There's not a lot of concrete stuff, just stuff I want to get back to and continue. Idea I maybe want to return to. Stuff like that.

So! That's the massive update!

(Oh, I do still have Danganronpa fic ideas that I'm playing around with, but I feel like I should finish more of the series before getting into those. But! I want to write more DR stuff! Eventually!)

[officialhunterthefox]

Intro of me woo... (old)

Hey, I am Hunter (also nicknamed Orion, Hex or Hades.) I am a multifandom creator.

"A fruitbowl being gobbled up by a rabid animal" what you call it.

Creator of ‘That one stupid Russian guy in that roblox gameshow’ (game isn’t finished being made lmao.)

Creator of Zipp-E

I am a MINOR (I am fine with all artists following me as long as they aren't problematic.)

13 or 14+ content mostly because gore (I don't do heavy gore that much so its fine-??)

He/Him (They/Them is optional)

I am also a fandom creator (I make a lot of yandere stuff, clown stuff, roblox stuff, ect.)

Fandoms I am in (currently):

Fnaf, Minecraft, Roblox (3008, Regretevator, Evade, and a few others), TADC, Welcome home, Fionna and Cake/Adv Time, Poppy Playtime,(and others I cannot name rn.)

Lgbtq+ safezone 🧚✨️🏳️‍🌈

Making a webtoon series called “Raven Eyes // Grim Eyes” and another that has a unknown name

This might be updated later but woohoo.

Roblox User: HunterthefoxYT “Hex”

IG: Officialhunterthefox // 0fficialhunterthefox (since i got hacked)

Picsart: Officialhunterthefox

Camp K. Owner

I have social anxiety so if I don’t respond Its because of that ‘-‘ “…

I can speak many languages (mostly english and spanish)

Astro AU(WH) (Currently paused)

I am EXTREMELY forgetful, probably because my adhd ??💀

Sometimes I forget to spell certain words

[bakafox]

The best laid plans of thirsty gamers

I made a nice asshole (well as asshole as I can manage) nonbinary Drow great weapons fighter to take Astarion around since he can't pick locks or disarm traps and wanted to woo him as my second char, (Half-Orc monk was first char and she's going for the bear I think) but Astarion doesn't like him so far as we start the high road/moonspell stuff despite my best efforts.

My THIRD character, a half-drow hex-polearm warlock named Ingfrid who doesn't NEED Astarion in her party at all because she can pick locks and disarm traps with the best of them however has him wanting to hook up at the post-goblin-slaughter party. I DID take him along on the cleaning out of the goblin fort because I needed a good ranged DPS, and I guess he liked her style.

...Not that it's all that different than Jarakfain's style. They're using the same weapon at this point because Sorrow is just the best heavy weapon I've found so far? (I didn't mean for Ingfrid to necessarily use heavy weapons but I haven't really found any 1Hers I like so far in the game, I'll respec her if I find something good. Jarakfain is based on an old char of mine who does not want to use any non 2H weapon, those are for losers.)

[fruityyamenrunner]

i think it's a natural development, and you can tell a more interesting narrative than "we didn't do it, clinically evil people did"

These people "vaguely progressively-shaped" were *more* rational. in the late 20th century, those kinds of people were not that interested in witchcraft, which was a thing for jesus freaks, ethnics, gothics and so on.

the Skeptical movement of the late 20th century was always more anti-woo than anti-religion -- you look back at like the Randi stuff, and their interests are in developing a stockbook of anti-witchcraft arguments, and baiting witches into duels. They were very marginal because people generally did not believe in witchcraft as anything but superstition so why would you get obsessed by it to want to fight them? And clearly plenty of the Skeptics had woo radiation of one kind or another coming off them, which made then also unappealing.

But around the turn of the millennium, under the influence of Atheists, and the beginning of the collapse of mainline Protestantism in America (and the consolidation of its collapse in Britain), and the Global War on Terror, anti-religion became central, and unlike the marginal appeal of anti-witchcraft, anti-religion speaks to everyone.

It seems to me that this was an opening up of new space, a competition to catch people who were entering this new identity, post-Christian, phoboumenoi-ten-Physin. The original skeptical core, famously, lost out in the "New Atheist" scene for being, essentially, old men, fighting a war against witches for their own strange reasons, as did the "New Atheists" themselves, who in the 2010s got sidelined for not being "social justicy" enough.

What happened is that the witches won. The famous "replication crisis" has mostly hit those parts of psychology which, in the 2000s-2010s attempted to formulate a school of occultism grounded on "scientific" psychological principles, so that one could, with science, do things like identify whether someone is being hexed ("socially primed"), cause change in consciousness in accordance with will (through "nudges" like putting an Eye of Horus in unclean places to make people wash themselves) nd locate various evil spirits (socially unacceptable "implicit unconscious attitudes") that are wrong relations in a deep spiritual core of wisdom in your mind that understands you yourself and the world better than you consciously know ("UTT").

These ideas went through professional managerial minds like hot knives through butter, because they were so powerful and explanatory, as all witchcraft ideas are. And once the idea that "you are capable of being bewitched" got embedded, it is only a few minutes before someone comes along and says "And offense is the best defence!"

The early mode was very defensive -- we must watch out for the footprints of witches, so we can beware them. Now you are encouraged to put witch signs everywhere so you can make magic work for you. This was always present, frankly, in the Social Justice movement, which has been superstitious as hell from the start.

like completely aside from the fact that an it's unwelcoming to questioning, nontransitioning & closeted people, how did we (as vaguely progressive-shaped people who can be assumed to have been feminists in the 00s/10s and to be trans-positive now) go from obsession with the idea of unconcious bias and that orchestra thing and everything to "hey let's emblazon everything from email sigs to chat handles with signifiers of gender, in a work context. We'll put it right next to the name so everyone knows it's like the second most important fact about people. I bet this will have no unforeseen consequences."

[tekni-kali]

02:08a - Uh... So I made a movie...

30 seconds! Woo!

Neat rainbowy eff hex made much ^_^

[botwheadcanons]

Could I ask for a scenario? Link has a laughing hex laid on him. He is set off by anything and everything, and sometimes at not the most appropriate of times. It gets more intense when Zelda tickles him. The worst of it was when he would go into a laughing fit during his sleep.

If Laughter is,

not your desire.

Find it in your heart of fire.

To have a wave of unphased Horror.

As everything makes laughter Stronger.

Link had accidentally stumbled upon an old with, who annoyed with the stoic Hylian left him with an interesting curse and a bout of confusion. He’d know not what was to come until the next day when the Hex would fully erupt. 

“Link! Get up! Always I have to wake you, it seems!” To this, The Hero laughed but to this, it might be accepted Zelda merely smiled and patted him on the head before floating off leaving an outfit for him, a very specific one.. as today was the day Link would need to be there for the knighting of a very promising soldier. Hyrule was in peace, but..... soldiers were always needed, as they never knew when things might go awry once more. “Sir Barthias.... a knight for you to be..” The proceedings were long and Link, suddenly burst out laughing at the word Bart in Barthias, Zelda glowered at him as she kept through with the activity, touching the soldier with the blade she held. Link was practically chortling, every so often some new small thing would cause a new fit. When everything was over Zelda approached him.

“Link! What is wrong with you, none of that was funny and you made that poor man feel like an insect!” Of course, he once again laughed at this and barely managed to control himself if only to smirk and chuckle a bit. His eyes were not the bright of joy in humor they were embarrassed and confused....

And soon night came..

“HAHAHAHAH!” Even in his sleep he laughed, but wake himself he did not. 

“Oh... for Hylias Sake.” Zelda had heard him laughing and snuck to watch him, eyes closed and laughter erupting she narrowed her eyes as if she might know now why it happened. 

~Mod Zelda

[ramonag-if]

Since there seems to be an actual interest in the game, I finally made a game post for The Hedge Witch.

Description:

Take on the role of the local hedge witch. Cure ailments, make dubious love potions and even hex your enemy. The choice is yours! With your trusted familiar and the nifty cottage your mentor left you, you'll have to deal with a runaway prince, a lovestruck dryad and even confront the bothersome changeling that won't leave you alone. It's up to you whether or not you'll help them.

Characters:

Myrdril - gender selectable (your enemy/possible RO): Myrdril is the other hedge witch in the forest. Arrogant and rude, Myrdril sees themselves as the far superior hedge witch and will stop at nothing to discredit your skills. There are rumours that Myrdril is a changeling, swapped at birth with a fae child.

Prince Barlow - he/him (the runaway Unseelie Prince/your customer): Prince Barlow is a runaway Unseelie Prince. Meant to take reign of the Unseelie Court, Prince Barlow left it all to pursue a relationship with a mortal named Vale. Some may call it romantic, but most consider Prince Barlow to be too weak to rule over the wicked Unseelie.

Vale - he/him (the mortal companion/your customer): Vale is a mortal man who found himself wandering through the forest. Discovering the fae, Vale soon become besotted with Prince Barlow and decided to remain behind, forgetting all about the mortal world.

Peony - she/her (the lovesick dryad/your customer): Peony is a dryad with a penchant for bawdy love stories and soul mates. Peony can be fickle and believes that you can woo anyone with the right spell. Currently, Peony is obsessed with a kelpie.

Arstus/Adtril - gender selectable (your mentor and guardian): Your mentor took you in as a baby, after finding you at the doorstep of their cottage. Your mentor has taught you everything about magic and has since passed the cottage over to you, leaving you in charge while they go off travelling.

Your cat - he/him, name selectable (a wicked king turned into a cat/your familiar):  Your cat is a familiar that was gifted to you by your mentor. You soon discovered that your cat is really a wicked king who was cursed and subsequently turned into a cat. Snarky and rude, your cat has no qualms in insulting you or your customers.

Play the demo.

[sleepycatmama]

I was SO excited to have finished the purple ring, the last full hexagon ring, of 24 flowers each made of 19 1" hexagons, with white hexagons between them, and all fully attached. Like woo, getting close to done with the top!

And now I've counted it out. For the corners, I need 18 pink flowers, 12 orange flowers, 4 green flowers, 28 4-hex leaf units, and about a thousand white hexagons.

Feeling a bit dispirited.

Agh, I'm really pushing the limits of what painter's tape can encompass.