#alex might be another story; but even then that's hard to place

[ghostsessioned]

How surprised would you be if Riley ended up coming back from lost signals with a handful of children/j

LMAO, not That surprised, if i'm honest ! riley adopting the shitters ?? absolutely

[deepestnightcolor]

okok so sam fluff- Sam is the readers best friend and seb and Abby try to set Sam and the reader up and they end up confessing their feelings for each other and such 🙏🤨💕 idk maybe it's cliche but I like it I think its cuteee

ᴀ/ɴ: Thank you so much for your request, love! I hope you enjoy the story, even though it might be a little cliché! Thank you so much for your time and attention! <3

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: Sam (SDV) x GN!Reader

ᴡᴄ: 1677 words

ᴍᴅɴɪ ✧ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: It's fluff. With a make-out session. But fluff!

☾ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ☽

"We gotta do something about this," Sebastian sighed, rolling his eyes as he rested his chin on the cue. "Definitely. He's useless like this," Abigail murmured to her taller friend.

The two of them were talking about Sam, whose turn it had been for almost ten minutes. However, the blond hadn't even noticed yet, his blue-green eyes trained on someone with a look on his face that could only be described as lovesick.

Seb didn't even have to turn around to know who he was looking at; the farmer, of course. Ever since you had moved in, Sam had been interested in you, desperate to find out more about you and get closer to you.

"Sam."

Sebastian's voice was stern, all rough around the edges with an annoyed undertone. But still, there was no reaction. The black-haired man just couldn't believe it had to come to this. He pulled out his keys from his pocket, leaning over the table and jingling them right in front of Sam's face. The blond blinked, a confused look flashing over his face as he focused on the keys, then he finally let his eyes flicker to Sebastian.

"Yeah, it's your turn, Samson." A blush spread on Sam's face, who then quickly nodded at his friend. "Sure! Sorry, was a little distracted by..." His eyes trailed back to the farmer, making Seb roll his eyes; he was quick to shake the keys again. "Jingle jingle...Pay attention, Samson."

The shot Sam placed could have as well never happened, making the dark-haired man hide his face in desperation.

"We really need to do something."

The whole town had figured out by now that you and Sam were pining for one another. Everyone, simply every single one knew, just not you and Sam. Sam had often whined to Sebastian how sure he was that you didn't really like him, that you definitely crushed on someone like Alex or Elliott, men with determination. You, on the other hand, had confided in Sebastian that you KNEW that Sam and Penny were into one another and that it would CRUSH you if he rejected you, so you just didn't try.

Meanwhile, Sebastian tried to get behind how the fuck both Sam and you always figured out when he was outside smoking to tell him about things like this. Things that were so obviously wrong, at that.

Though Sebastian wasn't cruel, which is why he decided to come up with a plan. (Maybe also because he craved a smoke break that wasn't interrupted by two lovesick puppies, but he preferred to think the plan came from the goodness of his heart). The plan was primitive, really, but it had been all Abigail and he had been able to come up with.

Luring you and Sam to his basement had been the easiest task of all - texting them he was in the mood for a round of Solorian Chronices hadn't been hard, after all.

What was hard was getting the two of you to stay in the basement together.

One of you always had to follow him when he got up, either Sam or you was always right by his heel when he got up.

"I'll get some snacks," he said. "I'll come with!" Sam had chimed, getting up so fast he almost toppled over. "I'll get my music box from upstairs," Sebastian had tried. "I'll help you look," you had offered, already on your feet and walking towards the door. "Ah shit, I forgot to bring in the laundry," he had desperately tried. "Oh, I'll help you," both of you had said, just to blush and grin awkwardly at each other. It was infuriating. Cute, he had to admit, but fuck did it piss him off.

Sebastian's fingers were drumming on the table as he watched you exchange sneaky little glances, small smiles, and shy giggles whenever your fingers did as much as brush along the other's. With every minute that passed, Sebastian's need to slam his head against the table and to beg you to just finally kiss and date grew unbearable.

He just had to get out of here.

Suddenly, he had an idea. It was just as stupid as this shit plan in itself was, but fuck, you were literally giving him no choice. When the two of you exchanged yet another set of telling glances, the black-haired man simply jumped to his feet, running to the door and smacking it shut behind him before locking it tight.

"I'll have a smoke break!" He called, already jogging up the steps before anyone could convince him to do something other than inhale a cigarette in peace.

Sam and you stared at the now closed door that had been wide open just mere seconds before in disbelief - and had you actually just heardthe s a key lock it shut? "What the fuck-" Sam whispered, chuckling awkwardly when your eyes met. "Hah, probably just... you know. Just a stupid prank. Sebastian is stupid sometimes, y'know."

The moment the words had left his mouth he wanted to smack himself. Shit, why did he always sound so stupid?

The chuckle that came from your direction made his eyes slowly flicker toward you. "Is that so?" You asked, giving Sam a smile that made his heart leap right into his throat. Why was your smile so pretty? It was unfair, really! Made him want to snuggle up to you, hold you close, kiss you. All of it.

"Isso," Sam murmured as he started an attempt to hide his growing smile under the palm of his -admittedly sweaty- hand. You bit around on your lower lip and Yoba did you look adorable like that, all shy and flustered - just like him. "And why would he want to prank us like this?"

The blond's heart was beating in his throat. How could he not find you endearing? How could he not crave your attention, your presence? How could he not be drawn to you like a moth to light? A question of even greater importance: how could he let you know all of it?

"I...don't know." Could Sebastian really want to set you two up like this? No. Only he knew of his little crush, so maybe it really was just a cruel joke on him? But on the other hand, it had been quite the surprise that Seb had made your characters in the game fall in love and date. Could that have been?-

"I..uh, dunno. Maybe just for fun?"

The two of you sat in silence for a while, staring at the board in front of you. The electricity between the two of you could be felt, but both of you were simply too shy, bordering on dumb, to act on it. Sam's leg was bouncing up and down, snapping the rubber band he had put around his wrist this morning. Why had he put it on again?

He couldn't remember.

When he looked up from his hand, he was met with this gentle smile of yours. The one that made him want to tell you how beautiful you were, how great, how he loved spending time with you-

"Did you call your grandma today?" You asked, nodding at the band around his wrist with your chin. "I think I am falling in love with you," Sam blurted out in response, having both of you stare at one another like deer in headlights.

His brain was already reeling to find a way to get out of this situation. The tension in the room was unbearable now, and he cursed Seb for both the fact that he had no window in his basement and the fact that he had fucking locked you in this basement, thus coaxing this confession out of him! It was all his fault, really! And now you would forever hate him, avoid him, maybe even change sides whenever you saw hi-

His train of thought was immediately interrupted when he felt a pair of arms around his neck, a head pushed in the crook of it. "I thought you were into Penny!" You whispered to him, arms tightening around him.

"And I thought you were into Elliott," he murmured, closing his eyes. Having you so close, being wrapped up in your arms, it all felt so...intoxicatingly right. Like all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Only after several moments of just...being with one another did Sam slowly pull away. "So...you feel similarly?"

"I feel the same!" You laughed, all the shyness out of your voice all of  a sudden. The tension that had lingered in the air slowly smoothed into something...comfortable, something comfortable drenched in want.

Sam just couldn't help himself; his lips were against yours the moment the words had left your minds. And yours were so soft, so sweet. He could taste the strawberries you had eaten, the Joja cola. And fuck, he was becoming more and more addicted the longer your lips moved in sync. His hands had slid under your butt with such ease that it made you giggle against his lips. It was easy to pull you on his lap, and you did anything but mind. Your hands ran through the blond mess of hair as his hands traveled under your shirt just so he could finally feel the softness of your skin. And how good you felt under his fingertips! So... perfect.

The moan against his lips made his head whirr, his cock beginning to strain against the fabric of his ripped jeans. Such a delicious thing you were, and now he had you, on his lap, under his fingers-

"First you don't realize that you wanna fuck each other, and now you are about to fuck in my room? Absolutely not!" A voice bellowed from the door, yet it wasn't all upset. Amusement lingered beneath the sharp tone as Sebastian watched you scatter away from one another. "Fucking finally, though."

"So...you knew?" Sam asked, all shy and blushing again.

"Who fucking didn't, Samson?"

[vulpixisananimal]

[A:4 C:66.1]

[Alex] |Jasmine|

[Note: Until chapter 67, the upcoming chapters will be shorter, small little stories.]

[What a mess. You drift from bookshelf to bookshelf, righting the tomes overturned by Percis meddling. Stars, the more you look, the worse it seems. If he had ahold of you a bit longer, miss, you wouldn’t have a single secret left!]

(Don’t remind me. You’re tying your lanterns that light the library back into place. This time, ensuring each corner was lit. It had been a few days, and still your mind was a mess because of that cutting historian.)

[Hmm? Oh don’t tell me you’re still worrying, Madame. You run your hand over a dusty bookshelf. Like I said, now that I’m here we’ll get your head back in order in no time.]

(Hmm. . . You check one of the lanterns. . . No, it’s fine. Forgive me if I don’t have full faith in the person who has no memory of me, and no experience in mind craft.)

[I already saved you once, madame.]

(That’s hardly a reasonable sample size.)

[Then consider it a pilot study. You roll your eyes, good research requires small scale testing as a way to iron out the execution. Today, it’s poking around your mind disarming Percis little gifts. Tomorrow? Who knows.]

(Right. You sigh, staring into the middle distance. Alex had offered to help reorganize your mindspace, and you agreed. Despite your jokes, Alex had already proven they could be trusted with your head. And yet, there was still a nagging feeling. . . Hmm, Alex?)

[Yes, miss?]

(You are positive you have secured that door?)

[I promise that the door is secure as the sunrise is predictable. You might still get whispers, but nothing like what you went through before.]

(Comforting. It was uneasy knowing that thing was locked up in your mind. You needed a distraction. How is the garden, Alex?)

[Recovering. Jasmine’s been hard at work, they really like caring for it, at least.]

(Alone? Aren’t they a child?)

[Technically they’re called a “little”, but yes. They know of and can understand complex ideas, but choose not to. They’re more susceptible to wild emotions and overstimulation, as a child is. But, he loves caring for plants, it is a form of therapy for them. Most of the garden was choked by mint, and now that it’s all dead the sun has returned.]

(Good. What about that third? Altiare?)

[Got out of the ground earlier today. So far they’ve just been laying half buried in dirt. Jasmine planted a flower next to them.]

(Cute. It was just what you’d expect from someone in the same head as Alex. What flower?)

[A Garden Peony; Paeonia officinalis, in family: Paeoniaceae, order: Saxifragales. It’s very cute. You pause, dragging a nail down the spine of a book in suspicion. You see the disturbed dust at its base. Dust, moved dust, disturbed but put back. Blinding- I found another trap, madame.]

(Ah. I see. You steady yourself on the shelves. While you knew you were in good hands, the sensation of disarming such traps was. . . A lot. You breathe in, and out. Ready.)

[Alright. One, two. . .  On the third beat you grab the book and throw it to the air. Your vines snatching it from the air as it burst into jets of ink. Ugh, wonderful. It’s disarmed.]

(You shudder a little as the strange feeling passes. Are you hurt?)

[No, no it was just a prank. You grab the book from the vines, that made the third non-lethal, or even non-harmful trap Perci left. Did he just want to mess with you? You inspect the book for damage, it has an intricate design on the cover and feels warm to the touch. What’s this book anyway?]

(Nothing important, probably. You move through the library. If it’s on an old dusty shelf then it’s something I must not have cared about enough to remember.)

[. . . Then a peek won't hurt. You open the book and flip through the pages.]

[. . . . Oh!]

(What is it now? You made your way back to where Alex was, she was looking in- O-oh!)

[. . . . Well! I must say, ‘professor~,’ this is quite the read-]

[Your eyes fly open as Odile suddenly snatches her hand from yours. You feel nauseous for a few moments, being so suddenly forced out. Alright. Breathe, breathe, carpet below you, in your house, daytime, back to reality.]

“. . A-ah, Alex, my apologies.” [You feel Odiles' cool hand on your forehead.] “It was, an involuntary reaction.”

[You let out a huff.] “. . . Hah, no, it’s fine. If I caught someone in my head reading that I’d react the same.”

[Odile flinches, and pulls away. You look up at her; she’s covering her face with a hand.]

[. . . Well! You smile softly at her.] “Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”

“. . . Thank you, Alex-”

“Unlike yours, apparently.”

[A smug grin spreads across your face, but is quickly wiped away when Odile grabs you by the shirt and pulls you face to face with her.]

“. . . M-miss?”

“You’re cocky.” [She’s glowering down at you.] “Too cocky. Smug. Cheeky.”

“Yes? A-and what of it?” [You keep the grin on your face, but it’s wavering.]  

“I should wipe that smug look off your face.” [Her grip tightens, a smile creeping onto her own mouth.] “And I should give you a proper lesson about research.”

[. . . . . Oh!]

[Your head was frozen thinking about that sentence, but luckily your mouth works independently of your brain; and your filter.] “Will I need to buy my own textbook?”

“No need; it’s a practical lesson.” [This time, she laughs like a mad scientist.] “It’ll be our own little pilot study.”

“WE’RE HOOOOME!!”

[Odile lets go as soon as the front door flies open. Nille, Bonnie, Isabeau and Mirabelle walk in with bags of groceries. You just in time move back to your own place like nothing happened.]

“Hey you two! Everything go well?” [Isa asks as he carries some heavy bags to the kitchen.]“Very.” [You call after him.] “Very, very well.”

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

I’ve seen someone else mention this, but I also wanted to talk about this

The erasure of queerness in the movie is something I definitely did not expect.

Sure, it’s a love story between two men, but grab Alex and Henry and make them a man and a woman, the movie doesn’t change much. Maybe monarchy instead of being homophobic and racist now it’s only racist, and they hate Alex not because he’s a man but because he’s brown. They kept it a secret because of monarchy’s racism, but love triumphs at the end. That’s why the movie didn’t hit as hard as the book. The movie is just some forbidden love movie, rwrb is a book where the main characters are in a forbidden relationship, but it’s not the whole point of the book.

Alex discovering his sexuality, Nora being bisexual, whatever Pez had going on, whatever June and Nora had going on, Alex learning about queer history, the historical lgbt love letters at the ends of their e-mails, all the references to queer history and literature, THE SHELTERS, monarchy’s homophobia (yes, it appears on the movie but it’s really glossed over. It doesn’t show just how homophobic they actually are in the book), Alex stating how he knows more about himself the more intimate (both in the sexual and non sexual sense) he is with Henry, Luna being gay and unapologetic about it and being exactly Alex’s queer role model, even before Alex knew he was queer himself, THE FUCKING SHELTERS

I’m so so mad about the shelters being missing.

Henry and Pez made shelters for lgbt youth, so they can never feel as alone as Henry once felt, so they can always have a safe space so they know there’s nothing wrong with them no matter what the adults in their life might say, no matter what the preacher or their classmates or the right wing politicians in their tv might say, where they can find hope, and friends, and a home if they never had one before, or at least, one where they could truly be themselves. The shelters are, I would say, crucial to Henry’s character development. He went from hiding, believing being gay was “the most unforgivable part of him”, not even trying to come out because he just succumbed to live an unhappy life in the closet, to someone who’s out, living with his boyfriend and running lgbt shelters with his best friend so young queer people can move past all the things he felt and believed time ago, so they know they are perfectly normal and loved and safe in there, as long as Henry and Pez are there they’re safe, they don’t have to hide anymore.

Henry became the queer elder he needed in his life when he was younger. The lgbt adult who could tell him than it would get better, no matter how bad it was at the moment, no matter if he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, because it was there, he just had to hold on a bit more. Than there was absolutely nothing wrong with him.

Another thing than I seen changed than a normal person might not notice, but I did, because im obsessed, is the karaoke scene.

In the book, it takes place in something resembling a gay bar (maybe not exactly, but it’s full of queer people), and look at this

Three rounds of shots appear —one from a drunk bachelorette party, one from a herd of surly butch chicks at the bar, and one from a table of drag queens. They raise a toast, and Alex feels more welcomed than he ever has before, even at his family’s victory rallies.

Look again

and Alex feels more welcomed than he ever has before, even at his family’s victory rallies.

This book is about about finding community, finding yourself, finding love and letting yourself accept that love.

Do you think Alex in the movie has felt “more welcomed than he ever has before, even at his family’s victory rallies” at any point? Has he been with another queer person in the whole movie, except Henry, at all?? Because Nora’ sexuality was not mentioned at all no references nothing and with the whole Pez thing everyone could see Nora as just straight

Henry and Alex in the movie are kind of without community, alienated from it, they are, in my personal opinion, the kind of gay people republicans would consider “good gay people” who “don’t shove it on everyone’s faces and just wanna be left alone” (in the rwrb universe where they exist and are real not actual republican people watching the movie). They don’t really take a role on the community, in the book, Alex and Henry being queer is an important part of themselves, again, Alex feeling like he knows himself better, Henry whole internalized homophobia, their shared interest for lgbt history and literature, Henry and Pez making the shelters, etc etc meanwhile in the movie Alex and Henry just happen to be gay and bisexual, but it’s no deeper than that.

And don’t get me started on creating Miguel, a queer character, and making him the one to leak the e-mails or smth instead of a republican candidate

[ghl-osty]

fanfiction

i’d like to talk about fanfiction real quick because there are some issues really frequently that can make or break a story. and they’re avoidable!! and it makes me so sad when i’m trying to read a good fanfic and there’s so many errors that i have to stop.

NAMES

so this is one i see surprisingly often… please make sure you know how to spell a character’s name when writing a fanfiction. it’s usually something small like damian vs. damien or lucas vs. lukas but to me it’s so distracting and disappointing when there’s a beautifully written story with a character’s name spelled wrong.

SPELLING

this is a big one, too. when writing, some people don’t always have a spell check or an editor built in to their platform. if that’s you, please triple check your work! and here are a few frequent ones i see-

-shook vs. shock

i shook his hand

i was in shock that she did such a horrible thing

-peaked vs. piqued

-he looked like he peaked in high school

-they piqued my interest

blonde vs blond

-she had blonde hair

-he had blond hair

blonde is a gendered word. i’m not actually sure how it’s used with nonbinary people, let me know!

their, there, and they’re

-it was theirs

-she’s over there

-they were scared, and now they’re not

remember that they’re is a contraction of they are!

quite vs. quiet

she tried to be quiet, not making any noise.

they were quite bored with this whole event.

(thank you to @nathaaaan for the suggestion)

SERIES VS. SERIE

i watched a really good series yesterday

serie isn’t actually a word…

BILINGUAL CHARACTERS

please, please, please do some research if you write a character who speaks another language. even if it’s reading other fanfictions to figure out how your character’s language fits in with the language you’re writing with.

-having a character to say that it’s ’hard to switch back’ is… unrealistic at best. i wouldn’t recommend using it.

-please gender the words correctly! in most of the romance languages, words are gendered. make sure to add that in!

REPETITION

unless you’re going for a gimmick, i’d be careful with repetition. having a character say something more than once, especially in the same sentence, can be annoying and makes the dialogue sound forced.

especially the word antics…. i literally had to put a fic down because ‘antics’ was in every other sentence.

ex: “Lily sighed, annoyed. She was so annoyed!”

(yes this is a real actual example with the character name changed. don’t let this be you.)

FORMATTING

i think this can be overlooked a lot but format is important!!!

-paragraph breaks!! seeing a huge chunk of words with absolutely no breaks is overwhelming. add some space!

-“the punctuation goes inside the quotations.” he said

-i know i’m being a bit of a hypocrite, but capitalization! names, beginning of sentences, and places!! if you don’t capitalize, at least be consistent with it!

“This is how fanfiction, or really any writing, should be formatted.” Eli said with a smile

“And every new sentence should be a paragraph break,” interjected Alex, “Unless you’re going for a certain style. In which case, you do you.”

Eli sighed. “That’s true, Alex. What OP didn’t know was that tumblr has a formatting issue, so that when she posts this, the paragraph breaks won’t show! She hopes she fixed it. But it might not work!”

“We can always imagine the bullet points as paragraph breaks.”

-friendly neighborhood reminder that paragraph breaks happen when introducing a new idea as well!

-bolds and italics are important.

“I told him not to go,” acceptable, a bit dry.

“I told him not to go,” exquisite, flavorful.

and as always. please make sure they’re talking like people. not disney sitcom characters.

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE TENSE

you would not believe how much i see this messed up. and it’s easy to get wrong. remember, you can always look something up if you aren’t sure. but stay consistent with your tenses!

past tense

She walked up to the drab, grey building, trembling. As she pulled the door open, a bell rang, signaling her arrival.

this one’s probably the most used. notice that it’s almost like we’re retelling the story, after it’s already happened (hence past tense)

present tense

She walks up to the drab, grey building, trembling. She pulls the door open, and a bell rings to signal her arrival.

we have to change quite a few words for the same sentence to make sense in present tense.

future tense

She’ll walk up to the drab, grey building, trembling. She’ll pull the door open, and a bell will ring to signal her arrival.

i honestly don’t think i’ve ever seen future tense used in a novel unless it’s used in dialogue. but it’s almost as if you’re speaking hypothetically about an event.

but please make sure you’re consistent with these! don’t use one and then switch to another!!

now of COURSE writing is a form of creation, and you can ultimately do whatever you want! if you want to write something, write it. this is just a little guide for some of the mistakes i see most often!

but all in all just double check your writing, always!!! there are so many good works out there that could be great.,… if you don’t have someone to beta read you can always send it to me or put it in word <3

[di-writes-stuff]

The Story Of Us

Alex Keller x Reader

One Shot

TW: Mentions of d€ath, alcohol consumption, arguing. Light stuff compared to most of my shit.

“Now I’m standing alone, in a crowded room, and we’re not speaking.”

You and Alex were…well, you and Alex. Close, too close by military standards, but neither of you ever cared too much about that. Just enough not to cross that line. Not to start something that could never continue.

Then again, it’s not like you hadn’t ever thought about it.

Either way, you two didn’t really fight, ever. You didn’t have a reason to until he took whatever you are a step too far. Abused his ranking as your Lieutenant.

The mission was important, dangerous too, and you were on it. At least, you were supposed to be. That is until he pulled you out, replaced you with some rookie who did a worse job then you ever would.

His excuse still burns in the back of your head, the few words he was able to get out before you slammed your door in his face with a stern “Go to hell.”

“I just wanted to keep you safe.”

You sigh, liquor stinging your throat as you remember that one sentence. It was easier to be mad at him before he said that. It’s not like you’re not still upset, but you can’t help the way his softly whispered apologies through the door loop in your mind like a scratched vinyl.

He just…he knew. He knew how important it was. And he knows how good you are, everybody knows how good you are. That’s why you got assigned to that job in the first place. And it’s not as if Alex disagreed. In fact, he knows better than anybody how much you could’ve handled it.

It wasn’t that he doubted you. It was fear. Pure, burning hot fear that you wouldn’t come back from this one. That you wouldn’t come back to him. In his mind, he couldn’t not do something. He couldn’t see your name on that list, the list that might as well have been a death sentence, and just leave it there.

He might as well have just killed you himself. And, in a way, he was right. Somebody died on that job. And not some rookie, this guy knew what he was doing. And still, a folded up flag was sent to a widows home in exchange for her husband, for her daughters father.

There was never a chance in hell Alex would let that flag replace you.

He wouldn’t.

No.

He couldn’t.

Although, it didn’t seem to matter much to you, seeing as you hadn’t spoken to him since the incident. It wasn’t his place to make that choice for you. You agreed to that mission knowing exactly what it entailed. Death is a part of the job, always has been, always will be. He can’t change that, so all that’ll happen is he’ll limit you, and you’ll resent the hell out of him for it.

To make matters worse, Alex decided to pull this shit right before the big, miserable, military ball. The night you planned on spending with him, judging all the rookie douchebags before sneaking out as soon as you can, hopefully with a snagged bottle of tequila in tow.

Instead your standing alone, leaned against the cold marble of the bar top, forcing the grimace off your face as the vodka burns all the way down your throat. Your dress is a little too tight, along with the heels on your feet that have grown far too used to nothing but combat boots.

In short, you feel like shit.

Even more so when the person you’ve been avoiding (and missing) for the past few weeks sidles up to you at the bar, sliding over a ten as you order yet another overpriced drink.

You were hoping to forget about the whole thing, but the blonde next to you clearly has other plans. “On me.” He says simply, flashing a grin at the bartender that has her blushing and turning away sheepishly in about a second.

The worst part is, he doesn’t even mean to do it. It’s just…him. He’s charismatic, handsome, sweet, charming, everything that made you see him as more than just a comrade.

Right now, he’s also an asshole, but you’re having a hard time remembering that when he’s looking at you the way he is. The smile he usually has on his face is gone the second he sees the scowl on yours, blue eyes softening with guilt as his shoulders sag.

Fuck, he’s handsome. His suit jacket was abandoned a while ago, and the bow he always complains about at these events is untied to allow him to undo the top few buttons of his shirt. His sleeves are rolled up to his biceps, tattoos on display in a way that makes stuffy trophy wives passing by scoff.

Your momentary distraction gives Alex a second to look you up and down, and he’d happily spend the rest of his life soaking in the view in front of him if he could. You look beautiful, you always do in his eyes, but especially tonight. The makeup you’re wearing isn’t too overpowering, not hiding any of the face he’s grown to adore so much.

Despite the way your anger weakens at the sight of his face, you manage to think up a spiteful response. “First I can’t do my job, now I can’t buy my own drinks either.” You turn to look him in the eyes the glare that never seems to leave your face these days piercing into him.

The sigh that leaves his lips is prominent. It’s not like he thought you’d just get over it, but God, he hates being on your bad side. Not just because it takes so damn long to get off it, but cause it’s you. “Y/N…” He starts before getting cut off again.

“Oh don’t you worry Alex, I’m just glad I have a big, strong man around to take care of me. I mean, whatever would I do without you?” Your voice is flat, yet dripping with sarcasm as you down the shot he paid for. All the while he tries to ignore the way his breath hitches in his throat at hearing his name from your mouth for the first time since this all happened.

He reaches up, running an exasperated hand over his face. He knew you would be mad of course, but he didn’t exactly plan on how to deal with it. He just…acted. It was a panic response, the only thing he could think to do that would keep you safe. Keep you alive.

“It’s not about that and you know it. I don’t think you need protection, and I definitely don’t think you need me.” He answers, keeping his voice low to avoid causing a scene.

If it weren’t for the topic, the situation would feel awfully familiar. You and Alex at a bar, his voice quiet next to you, saying just the right things to get you to blush, his flirtation making your knees go weak as you try not to choke on your drink.

You hate how much you miss it, just after a few weeks.

You hate even more that this is happening instead.

You turn to face him, something a little more than anger in your eyes. The kind of hurt that only comes around when it’s dealt by someone you love. The kind that makes your body shake with the weight of it. “If I don’t need protection, why the hell did you do it?” You ask, cursing the way your voice wavers at the look in his eyes.

Love, or something close, anyway. It’s dappled with guilt, juxtaposed by the knowledge that he’d do it again if he had to.

Something in him snaps at your words as he whips around to face you with his whole body. “Because it wasn’t just about you, Y/N. I’m sorry for hurting you, I really am, okay? I know you’re capable, more than most the guys we’ve got out in the field. I know. But I couldn’t do nothing, I couldn’t let you go knowing at least one person probably wasn’t coming back.”

“Knowing that one person might be you. I lo…I care, about you, I won’t apologize for that. I won’t apologize for keeping you alive.” His voice shakes as he prays you didn’t hear it. That little slip. The beginnings of a phrase that’s all but banned between soldiers.

I love you.

You didn’t miss it. Of course you didn’t. How could you when you’ve been waiting years to hear it? Hear those three words slip from his mouth, the ones that you’ll never be brave enough to say first.

Now’s not the time to mention that, you both know it, but he started a fire inside you, one that’ll need more fuel sooner or later.

“You can’t always keep me safe, Alex.” Softness creeps into the edges of your voice as you answer, anger draining from your body like glass through a tire.

He doesn’t think anything’s ever hurt more than that one sentence. He was always going to have to face it, some day, at some point.

But now?

That, he wasn’t ready for. “I know.” His voice is barely a whisper when he responds. There’s a pregnant pause before he adds on:

“Doesn’t mean I won’t try.”

You quickly lose the fight to keep a small smile off your face at his words. You should’ve expected it from him. Stubborn, dedicated, loyal Alex. All the things that drive you crazy about him. They’re the same ones that make you love him, too.

Your fingers brush as you breathe out before responding.

“I’m serious, Alex. Never again. You don’t decide what I can and can’t handle.” Any attempt at sounding serious is quickly washed away as his hand slips around yours, grasping it softly.

Although, he’s still taking it to heart. He’s still listening, that much you can tell. Despite the way you, much like the bartender, blush as the beginnings of a smirk from on his face.

And despite the way he slowly inches closer to you.

Despite the way you lean into the circle of gravity that seemed to exist around him, you like the moon orbiting around the earth.

Despite the way his hands slowly sliding onto your hips send shivers running up your spine.

Despite the way your lips are mere inches apart, the liquor you’d both been consuming to forget now working to dampen your judgment.

Despite all that, he still makes sure to answer before his lips press against yours, a smile spreading across your lips to mirror the one on his own.

“Yes ma’am.”

A/N: okay this is a wee bit cheesy, cant lie, think i wrapped it up to fast at the end, but i still like it. figured it was only proper for me to write something for the love of my life before cod 3 drops. enjoy, girlypops.

(also i promise i’m working on part 2 of cowboy like me for any arthur enjoyers out there.)

- di <3

[dizzyduck44]

Who’s going to need to close their tab and leave?

Formula One has a fairly high driver turnover. This is because just like a high end bar, the glass always keeps being filled up!

There are generally five ways you can make it into F1.

1. You are proclaimed as the next “once in a generation talent” as a child and by sheer hard work you live up to that and get to Formula One - The irony is, there are currently 3 of these talents in F1, Lewis, Max and Lando. Add Antonelli potentially next season, which does make you think how rare are they really?

2. You win everything and have pundits and teams drooling over your entrance into Formula One - see Nico, Charles, George, Oscar, Fernando way back when. This is the modern day equivalent of “you should test this driver, he’s super quick”, which is how we got Seb and Kimi.

3. Right place, right time, right amount of talent - Carlos and Alex are prime examples of this. Whilst not coming in with a huge buzz, they deserved their place and prove that year after year.

4. Through a junior team - some drivers have been developed for the grid, Daniel and Pierre the most obvious that don’t fall into another category. We are likely to see Ferrari’s second success story with Ollie Bearman. Even Yuki was Honda’s supported driver.

5. They bring cash/sponsorship - this category is fairly obvious, Lance, Sergio, Zhou. I’m leaving Logan out as with what happened with his Dad’s company I don’t know if he does or doesn’t.

Now from the drivers listed you can see that there is no real bad way to get to Formula One. Remember Senna and Lauda were “pay drivers” and the development programmes have given us great drivers, regardless of whether they got there with a fist full of titles (Oscar, George, Charles, Lewis, Lando, Nico) or none (Max and Zhou). Hell we have a couple of drivers who have the weird honour of having in part a manager who owns shares in two teams (yes you thought I forgot about Valtteri and Esteban didn’t you).

The trouble is every year, brings more of each of the five categories to the door of Formula One. F2 champions, billionaire’s sons, drivers the press have declared a future champion before they have even sat in the car. With so many driver’s contracts up this year it’s impossible to not see a team/teams wanting their glass filled with a new drink altogether.

Who knows some might keep a seat through the right place, right time situation, or through flashing the cash, but inevitably for some, time has been called and now their tab will be closed and they will be asked to leave.

[amailboxlemur]

Three years ago today I watched Young Royals for the first time.

Story time/long post incoming. I wasn’t in a great headspace at the time, but let me try to set the scene.

Spring of 2021 was still pretty deep in the pandemic. My province had been on lockdown (number 3) since the beginning of April and I hated working from home. Partly because teaching online piano lessons sucks. But also I live alone, and lockdown is too much alone time no matter how introverted you are. I think that spring I went about 6 weeks without speaking to someone in person who wasn’t like a grocery store cashier.

I decided to go stay with my parents for a few weeks so I could get some human interaction. At the time, I was mooching off my former roommate’s Netflix that was still signed in to our living room TV, so I didn’t have Netflix access.

I also love Red White and Royal Blue, and all of a sudden in early July the fandom got flooded. There were gifs of two unfamiliar teenage boys all over my dash. Fanart of two boys who looked like Alex and Henry captioned “Wilhelm and Simon”. There were a bunch of crossover fics popping up on AO3. I was curious, but mostly I just wanted to get a feel for the characters so I could read said crossover fics.

July 12th was my first day back teaching in person. (Side note: the health precautions we had in place for those lessons were WILD). I came back from my parents place in the morning, taught in the late afternoon/evening and returned home around 8 pm. I made supper and figured I’d try watching an episode of this “Young Royals” thing. I started it and remember groaning when I realized it was in Swedish so I’d have to focus and read subtitles instead of watching mindlessly (I’m too pretentious to watch the dubbed version, but it had been a long day)

“Oh that’s a beautiful boy with a beautiful voice singing… I can keep going…”

“Ohhh they’re about to kiss… wait what? How does episode 1 just end there??? I have to watch another episode!”

“Yay they finally kissed!! But how will Wilhelm react?? It’s not even 11 yet, I think I can watch one more”

“Erik is dead. I knew this was coming because I saw the “beta read but Erik’s still dead” tag on AO3 but totally forgot! How will this affect my boys?? One more episode, just to see if wilhelm pushes Simon away again”

“Ok good, they’re together. August sucks though, I can see where this is going and why there seem to be so many comparisons to rwrb. But it’s past midnight so I’ll have to keep watching tomorrow… wait there’s only two more episodes?? Might as well finish”

Before I knew it, it was 2 am and I was crying on my living room couch. I NEVER get into new shows, I have tons of things I watched 1-3 episodes of and then quit, so I couldn’t believe I binged the entire thing. It was late so I went to sleep.

In the morning I woke up and the rabbit hole began. I read all the fics on AO3, I started following young royals stuff on tumblr. I googled the actor who played Simon and found out he’s an actual Swedish pop star? I think he was among the first artists I followed using my then brand new Spotify account. I followed both Omar and Edvin on instagram, along with Lisa (other actors followed later). I watched all the young royals promo videos on YouTube, including the Hillerska choir performance. That entire summer was spent diving down Omar’s back catalog of Foo vlogs. Some of them are in Swedish, but I remember watching them intensely, as if I would magically understand if I tried hard enough. I started learning Swedish on duolingo.

When season 2 was released, I fully quit all social media for WEEKS to avoid spoilers. I spent 3 days carefully messing up my sleep schedule so I could wake up and watch it at 3 am. When season 3 was released I was such an excited puppy dog that I didn’t sleep at all. I watched it at 3 am and spent the whole rest of the day amped up and on tumblr.

I remember all kinds of fun and significant days in the fandom: Rockbjörnen 2021, musikhjälpan 2021. The lead up and release of Mi Casa Su Casa. The release of OMR. Omar gave me a birthday present in 2022 when he performed “breathe” on Nyhetsmorgon on my birthday. Gay gala 2022 but especially 2023. Both boys have done incredible sommarpratar. So many other galas and performances and photoshoots I’d be here all day listing them all out.

Becoming an Omar fangirl was also surprising. I don’t listen to or follow pop music (my definition of which is incredibly broad so yes, Omar’s music qualifies). Like, I’ve never had a favourite artist before? One who’s work I actively follow and whose releases I know about in advance and look forward to?

Omar announced his concert at Cirkus in November of 2023 and it fell at the end of a semester break from work. I could go without needing to refund or makeup any missed lessons. It felt like a sign. That week was genuinely one of the best in my life, words can’t even describe it. A transatlantic flight, a week in Europe. I got to see Kaggeholm. I met Omar at Lyko. I stood in general admission 3 rows back from the stage and heard Omar sing live and sang along with other fans. It was surreal. Shout out to @yrblogbaby @the-words-we-sung @crownedwille and @omarsimp, wow you’re all amazing. There was a queer joy to hanging out with y’all that weekend that I don’t get too often irl.

Since then, I’ve tried to internalize a little bit more the idea of community in fandom. I’m still not super out there, but I try to interact more. I lurked in this fandom (and so many others) for years. I made this account in something like 2011 and until recently I probably had less than 50 posts.

So yeah… saying this show changed my life feels dramatic but also accurate. Hopefully here’s to more years to come, and more good memories when I head to New York this fall!

[shadale-s-safe-space]

ok now i need to know about the trypophobia nightmare aleX au thing (assuming it is one-)

Take this image as concept art.

It's kinda hard to explain without telling the full story, I am honestly scared to turn this one into a comic because it branches the most from the universe, not only it has a new character, that doesn't appear that much anyway. It also has a new location and ideas that I'm scared no one's gonna like. Z was always meant to come back one way or another, but I never planned on telling his side of the story even though I have it all planned out. I kinda made a rule for myself when I started out that my oc's mustn't meddle with the MD universe. Actually, the begging of the comic takes place before Uzi finishes building her railgun. After the first chapter you see her hanging out with N and never again cuz she's doing other things. This, however, while it's not disturbing anything that has to do with the show, it introduces things that are probably not in the show itself and I like to follow the source much as possible but ah idk it breaks some rules but it also has to be intersting and refreshing...

Rn I'm currently working on something else that I think you guys might like and I'm halfway done with the lineart.

[skylarbee]

Is it just me but watching the interaction with Miles and Al. Alex seems to not only not initiate a hug he also pushes Miles away while Miles is so eager to talk to him etc. Body language is not good. Also maybe it’s Miles that wants to keep the friendship going. Like we know of Alex wants someone around he’ll have them around and be affectionate. What if Miles is just like all his other exs? Once he loses interest it’s very obvious, the lack of sightings together, lack of physical affection. I really do believe there’s a distance in them. In so many ways. Musically, aesthetically, artistically, insteresta. What if they are just two old friends, who do love each other, but, at least for Alex, they are just not that into each other? I love Milex but im also realistic. What if their friendship isn’t some big breakup but like a distancing? My hopes for TLSP3 is nonexistent. Anyone else care to chime in? Sorry for the incoherence🖤

i understand your concerns lovely, and things are definitely different than before. but even in older concerts when miles joined them, there were plenty times when it was miles who went up to alex, and it's alex who let go first. it would seem like miles wants it to work more, but the fact that he has social media and posts about alex, while alex doesn't also affects our thinking, even if we don't realise it. alex has absolutely no way of telling us anything about miles, and he disappears for long periods of times, no wonder we think he's more disinterested, but this could be far from the truth.

there is one thing that you did get wrong, anon, and that is that miles is "just another ex". the connection they have is something beyond our understanding, and i'm sure most of us have never experienced something even close to what they have. the way they complete and understand each other is something that is hard to believe it even exists. as to alex's body language, he seemed a bit emotional, disconnected and nervous (and still put on a 10/10 show!) for the entirety of the last gig, and it's no wonder why. he was staring off into space and didn't even realise that he was waiting for miles to bring him back to reality. but even after their little handshake before 505, when alex looks equally as lost, he seems to liven up and prepare himself after miles goes over to him. i don't believe he loves miles any less, i think he's still his safe space. their kisses at london night 3 were something else.

while they might not see each other as often as they used to, miles has mentioned a good couple of times that they hang around his place, and anyways, he doesn't have to tell us anything. they might see and talk to each other a lot more than we think. speaking of interests, i want to believe that they're still pretty tight. i remember when miles posted a song on his story and then a few days later it appeared on am's pre-show playlist. this is just one thing, but they've always liked the same things, or if i want to be more precise, alex has always adapted whatever miles was into, let it be music, films, clothes, and whatever else. but let us also remember that time and distance changes people, of course their interests are gonna change too, but this doesn't have to be a negative thing. at least they have new things to share with each other and more to talk about! hahah

i'd love to hear other people's thoughts, but don't be too worried, anon. this last leg of am's tour showed us that they're still very fond of each other. why else would miles describe it as 'paradise' and 'the week of his life'? and why would alex so unashamedly serenade miles for an entire night?

[readingoals]

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag (2024)

I know I'm a bit late with this but I figured I might as well still do it 🤷‍♀️I wasn't tagged but hey if you also haven't done it and want to consider this a tag, feel free lmao

This is hard to narrow down because I've read some absolute crackers and nothing is like super standing out from the rest. Maybe The Next Big Thing by James Colley just for how fun and Aussie it was, or maybe Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie because it was a clever mystery with some really great Poirot/Hastings banter.

Another toughie because though I've not read many sequels, the ones I have picked up have all be great. Recently I caught up on the last two The Adventure Zone graphic novels and god I just love that series so much. I loved the podcast and I think they're done a great job of adapting them.

Also right up there are Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson and The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling, both of which I adored.

I've surprisingly not re-read all that many books this year (yet anyway, there's a couple I wouldn't mind getting to). So I think it has to be The Shadow of the Wind. That's been one of my fave books for years now and it had been a while since I last picked it up so it was so great to revisit it again.

As it has been for the last few years, the genre I've been reading most is mystery. Most of those are Agatha Christie's since I try and read one a month.

Oh theres a few of these. A Botanical Daughter was probably my most anticipated release of the year but it took aaaggggesss for me to get my hands on a copy because the place i pre-ordered it from went into voluntary administration so my copy was never shipped. I mean I probably wasn't going to read it until October anyway but while waiting for it to arrive I also read some reviews that said it kind of missed the mark so I'm a little less excited now. The other book I still havent got around to picking up is Kill Your Husband by Jack Heath even though I was really excited for it too. And then there's also Clairmont by Lesley McDowell which I hadn't known was coming out but I saw in store and immediately bought and then also didn't read it.

Definitely Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio. I think Ben Aaranovitch also has something new coming around September but I'll admit I'm a little behind on all of the rivers of london novellas and stuff. The Benjamin Stevenson has a Christmas book coming and I think the next book in the Ex Hex series is also due out and I'll probably pick it up pretty quick.

Hopeless Aromantic. Huge disappointment. I was really interested in a queer nonfic book that focused on aromanticism rather than asexuality and it just missed the mark by so much. It was poorly researched and cobbled together and frankly not worth anyone's time.

The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie. I've read a few of her short story collections before so I went in expecting the usual sort of thing and it definitely felt like it was going along similar lines to start. But it got weird. In a good way. It feels as if the stories flirt with fantasy elements, and the last one even crosses over maybe? almost? Mr Harley Quin came off as kind of creepy too. It was definitely not quite like her usual stuff and I really really enjoyed it.

I've read from I think 9 or 10 authors that were new to me and yet I'm not really sure how to answer this, no one super stands out. Maybe Erin Sterling? I've read two of her romances this year (tho does she really count since it's the pen name for rachel hawkins and i've read one of her mysteries?), the book I read from James Colley was also really good and I'd probably pick up whatever he wrote next, so maybe him? From a nonfic author, Carnage by Mark Dapin (an Aussie true crime book) was very interesting and I liked he way he handled such difficult topics, so maybe him?

Probably Alex Easton from the T Kingfisher novellas?

I don't think anything I've read this year has really made me cry. I thought Loveless might but it didn't this time around. I guess I did get a bit blurry eyed during The Adventure Zone: Eleventh Hour graphic novel and same with Carnage, but not full tears.

Oh, so many lmao. The TAZ graphic novels, Ghosts: The Button House Archives, The Thread That Binds, Everyone On This Train is a Suspect, Cain's Jawbone (happy that I got it solved though I never got confirmation I was right lmao).

Okay this one is easy. My Folio Society edition of The Shadow of the Wind. Also, since I answered this last year I've also got the Folio Society edition of Frankenstein and I know I got it last year but I couldn't not mention it.

I also found some of Georgette Heyer's mysteries in a great edition at the lifeline book fest

I have 6 more Agatha Christie books to read (I'm partway through one of them now). Then there's also the copy of Northanger Abbey that Lauren annotated for Christmas last year, that'll be coming up soon, and whatever book we decide to annotate and swap for this years present. I'd like to spend October reading at least a couple of Frankenstein/Mary Shelley inspired books so I'll probs try and get to A Botanical Daughter then, maybe Clairmont and maybe Chicano Frankenstein or any of the others I have. I'd also really like to get to Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies but I'm saving it for like the end of the year when it's summer.

[not-poignant]

I was wondering if Sam and Abigail might such a little bit in Stain! Specifically, I was thinking about why Harvey might be so worried about Alex working for Sebastian. I think all four (Harvey, Sebastian, Abigail, and Sam) go to saloon on Fridays and was thinking that Harvey might have already heard them making fun of Alex's job with the shipping bins or living with his grandparents after Sebastian first got back to town. I could be totally off, but it just occurred to me (and was shown in the snippets/previews) that there are a lot of convos about Alex happening that we aren't overhearing. But someone like Harvey might be.

I love the story so much!!! Thanks for another incredible chapter yesterday!!

Oh yeah, the reason Haley's calling Alex in the first place is because she heard about Alex's change of job from Jodi, and you know that Jodi heard it from Sam, and that Sam absolutely didn't say flattering things about the situation at all.

We're definitely going to be learning that there are a lot of asshole gossips in the town, and Alex is sheltered from almost all of it because he never visits the saloon. What he knows is filtered through Haley's and Harvey's concern, and Alex's assumption that people are gossiping about him because he's known that all his life - people talked about him and his family behind his back while growing up, and he wants no part in it.

I don't know that Harvey has necessarily overheard that much, I think he can pick up enough through just watching Alex with his grandparents in the end of their lives, and realising how much he genuinely cares and how hard he works/worked for them to make their lives better, and then he can sort of compare that to the image that the town has given to him re: Alex and be like 'oh. oh no.' That, combined with Sebastian returning, compounded all of it I think? I like to imagine that Harvey doesn't actually do much at the saloon except talk to Gus and tell himself that one glass of wine isn't unhealthy, it isn't unhealthy, no Harvey it's okay you can have one glass of wine you can even have two you're not like Pam it's okay.

Lol

Sebastian's never loved gossip, but he's definitely involved and around a lot of it, and I don't think he realises how much it's influenced him in the past and still influences him now. I think he'd resent it if he knew, because he's also been poorly affected by gossip in the town.

He's still got this view that many teenagers develop which is like, 'oh gossip is bad but what me and my friends do is fine, it's not like what everyone else is doing in my age group' and now he's an adult and he still holds that perspective. And, ngl, Sam and Abigail can be pretty judgemental and disparaging of other townsfolk when they get together and hang out with Sebastian, because Sebastian's 'fuck the town' attitude enables them into some of their worst behaviours and attitudes about individuals in the town.

I really like the way small town attitudes happen and how they play off the people in the town. It's so easy to get fixed in certain ways of seeing other people, and I'm looking forward to how that will play out.

And, not gonna lie, I'm really really interested to see if/when Sebastian will come to Alex's defence.

(And thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!!)

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 6 – Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

I’m vaguely aware that Bardugo’s a fairly prolific and well-regarded author, but before reading this the only thing of hers I’d ever opened was the book it’s a sequel to. Now, I actually really adored Ninth House, but I’ve had a few people tell me it’s pretty atypical of her work, and the hanging sequel hook at the end was the worst part of it – it was a perfectly lovely self-contained story, really. So, went into this one with a decent amount of trepidation, even if there’s no chance I wasn’t going to read it.

The book absolutely does read and feel like an unneeded sequel - @wearethekat has told me that the series was all planned out ahead of time, which frankly I would not have guessed. The plot was a big disjointed and some of the final act felt like a desperate attempt to tie up loose ends more than an actual reveal. I still just absolutely and totally do not care about Darlington. But overall it was still a fun read? I don’t regret the preorder, anyway.

But yes, plot-wise the story was messy – I actually loved the whole subplot with Alex being low-rent occult muscle roughing up people who owe a drug dealer money, and I would happily have read a whole book centred around that whole mess. But having her entirely coincidentally run into a vampire whose backstory and situation just happen to be key to the reveal of the main plot itself felt – well, just made the author’s puppet strings feel a bit too obvious, I suppose?

Though the main plot itself was always kind of a hard sell for me – which is to say, I thought Darlington was way more interesting as a corpse than as a character. The golden boy hero with the glamorous but burdensome inheritance whose read all the books and knows the proper way to do everything is just a much better part of the narrative after the protagonist panics and gets him killed and is now scrambling to keep things form falling to pieces in his place, y’know? So a book whose central premise is ‘lets go to hell and get him back!’ was, well, less than inspiring. So I might be judging it too harshly – it cohered?

Much like Ninth House, my main issue with the plot is actually just the ending. As mentioned, I recently learned the book was always planned to be part of a series – it still really didn’t feel like it? The obvious setup for the plot of the next book felt like it came a bit out of nowhere at the very end of the denouncement, and frankly it seems like the setup for a fun superhero-lite monster of the week action-adventure cartoon than a dark urban fantasy novel. (Also, I would have forgiven the book a lot if it spent so much time and effort carefully laying out so much hilarious blatant bdsm subtext between Alex and Darlington – not even sub, really, there’s a fiery astral collar involved – and then not actually had a textual romance between them. But if there’s still another book in the series it’s just forward planning and thus far less funny).

Though I suppose one major reason for my lack of interest in a sequel is just that the trend of the series seems to be that the magic is getting, well, higher powered isn’t the right term, but perhaps simpler might be? Which is a shame, because the aesthetics and general vibe of the magic – distasteful and messy in its components, full of elaborate ritual and pomp and circumstance, embedded in time and space and empowered by centuries of ruthless looting and hoarding – is really one of the main appeals of the setting. To the extent that Alex and Darlington can just do magical girl transformation sequences and start glowing, it loses a lot of its charm for me.

Generally tone and mood are a strength of the book, especially when it gets away from the hellfire. Alex is a truly amazing protagonist to be stuck inside the head of, and her general ambivalence towards life at Yale – her visceral disgust at the people and the bone-deep institutional rot combined with her hunger for the privileged, comfortable life of culture and learning and beauty being able to use that rot allows – is a really great throughline to how New Haven is characterized throughout the book. Bardugo’s got a real love for all the historical trivia about Yale and a blistering contempt for the sort of people who really run it and it’s whole existence as an institution – I checked to make sure, but yeah you can absolutely tell she’s an alumnus.

I know I already said as much while complaining but – the way these books do magic is just an absolute joy, it honestly is. Really nails the middle ground between like, fun over the top ceremonial magic, and making/have to drink potions of the most random/rare/disgusting things to keep ghosts from eating you. It’s also just overall a very satisfyingly cynical take on magic, and a kind of bleak look at the whole magical boarding school genre – if there’s a secret school that monopolizes magical lore and teaches it to very special students, of course those students are going to end up secretaries of state and managing partners at big law firms and perennial pop stars. Divine mysteries and the life of the mind are all well and good, but power is power is power (it’s rather Pact-like, in that way, magic isn’t this wondrous escape from/panacea to societal oppression, just another axis it can be reflected through)

Anyways, the actual main draw of this series is the protagonist, and Galaxy Stern never ceases to be an absolute joy to read. In the alternate universe where Darlington is the protagonist and the series has an inexplicably popular tv adaptation everyone would hate her so fucking much. The book was good basically in direct proportion to how often let her be an unhinged spiky bitch with no chill and lie, cheat, steal and occasionally super justifiably murder her way to success. I love horrifically traumatized social climber/imposters, con artists, and people with incredibly overdeveloped Shakespearean senses of payback so much.

The rest of the supporting cast is also fine I guess. Very funny that in a world where the western occult tradition seems to be substantively correct and the entire plot is breaking a damned soul out of hell, Turner appears to be to the first approximation the only actual Christian in New Haven. He’s also got a really fun dynamic with Alex, in a ‘you could make a really weird buddy cop police procedural’ out of this kind of way. Trip is decent comic relief and Dawes, Mercy, etc all fill their narrative purposes.

So yeah in conclusion read Ninth House (...check the content warnings first, maybe), and also the sequel’s needless but pretty decent too.

[writernopal]

🍳Breakfast at Lexlar's🍳

I was looking through my old works and found this snippet from the very first piece I wrote specifically focused on Lexlar. For context, this story is told from the POV of a scholar who has an unfortunate run-in with Lexlar wherein he accidentally yeets her notes into the sea LOL. He takes her out to breakfast to make up for his transgressions but she's pretty sus of him. Enjoy!

WC: 793 CW: none

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Town. There be a place ‘at makes right good quiche an’ toad-in-a-’ole. Ye seem as ye need somethin’ ‘earty.”

I frowned. “You eat quiche?” 

“Aye.” He responded with a ghost of a smile on his lips. 

“Really?” 

He laughed. “Aye. I be a pirate no a savage, Myrna.” 

“They’re one in the same to most people…”

“We are no all bad.” 

We walked just a few more minutes when we finally arrived at a humble-looking eatery. So he was telling the truth… He opened the door for me with a smile that looked genuine enough. I went inside, determining that he smiled too easily. Was that part of the act? Probably. I had to keep my guard up. He carefully brushed past me. Was it normal for lizards to run that hot? He was more an ambling furnace than a man… I had to admit it was welcome on a cold spring morning like this one, but I had to keep my head on straight. I couldn’t even begin to guess what this guy was capable of.

“Two top!”

I nearly lept out of my skin. Why did he have to yell?!

A man poked his head out from the kitchen tucked toward the back of the room. “Ah! Welcome back, sir! Anywhere you like!” 

“Thank ye!" He looked at me. "This way.” 

Gods, he was smiling again… I followed him quietly as he led us to a table that was out on the porch of the restaurant. I pulled out the chair on the left and sat down. He took the one on the right, but the way he dropped into the chair made it seem like he wanted to punish it for supporting his weight. Or maybe he was just unaware of how big he was. Perhaps that was more plausible as he didn’t look at all worried that his seat might give under his massive frame. He pulled a pipe out of some pocket, stuffed it with tobacco, then struck a match to light it. His face became momentarily serious as he sucked on the end of it a few times, then exhaled a sigh and a plume of smoke with it.

“Do ye smoke?” He asked, offering me his pipe.

“No.”

“Ah, do ye mind?” 

“No, go ahead.” 

He nodded and puffed on it impatiently as he craned his neck, presumably to look for someone to take our order. The man from the kitchen appeared moments later with a small pad and a tiny pencil in hand. 

“What can I get you?” 

“The usual, Carlton. An’ ye?”

“Umm, do you have yogurt?” I asked.

“Yessum. Fruit and nuts with it alright?” 

“Only if there are no peanuts. I’m allergic.”

“I’ll bring you just fruit then. Anything else?” 

“No, that’s quite alright.”

“Brin’ a kettle o’ tea an’ a plate o’ eggs an’ sausage.”

“Very good, sir.” The man called Carlton said before leaving.

“Those better not be for me.”

“‘Ow do ye think I keep a body as so?” The lizard asked with a wink, gesturing vaguely at himself. 

I frowned. “What’s your name?”

“What be yers?” He asked with yet another smile, “Ye nay seem ta be bothered by bein’ called Myrna. Be it ‘at I guessed right?” 

“No. But I won’t tell you mine until you tell me yours.” 

He laughed loudly, then leaned back in his chair. “Ye drive a hard deal, Myrna. What name do I look ta ‘ave?”

“Alex.” I responded. I hated that name, but he had chosen an ugly one for me.

“Alex, ey?” He puffed more smoke with a crooked grin on his face. “Aye ‘en. I be Alex. It be a pleasure.” 

Before I could respond, the man returned with our food and my eyes nearly dropped out of my skull. He had my yogurt in a small goblet decorated with fruit, and the plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, and tea that Alex had asked for, but what the man behind him carried was far more shocking. This must be ‘The Usual’. A whole quiche, two toad-in-a-holes, a mountain of eggs, several thick slices of bacon, toast, and a few slices of ham. 

“Anything else I can get you both?” 

“What do ye think, Myrna? Be ‘at ‘nough for the pair o’ ‘ungry folks we be?” He asked with a wink.

“It’s almost too much…”

He said something to the servers in some lizard language and the three of them shared a laugh. Carlton gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder and must have teased Alex if the look on his face was anything to go by. Anyway, he laughed and waved them both away after handing them the gold for the food.

[starastarship]

Well I am done with my characters. Yay! So lemme introduce you to my characters

Let's get to my Aninatronic Eclipse! She was actually created before Canon Eclipse came out and I don't like changing names like at all, so there is now a canon explanation in my AU! Sina did not read the whole manual before working on the DA/ told Eclipse to go to the daycare for the time being. When she read it, it was already too late so she just says that Eclipses name is actually solar eclipse and the latter is what she goes by most of the time.

Well on that note let's get to Sina, the tired maintance girl! She is in her early twentys (1 to 2 years younger than Alex) but looks more like she has worked her entire career there. Currently she is the only maintance person in the building but Alex is already hiring for her at least another person (even if Sina is against it). She doesn't talk much about herself less about her past. All she says is she had it rough at times. She goes by She/ He/ They but isn't trans.

Also here is her Spotify playlist she listens too during work!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/35xg9TpqVEbf5aPtmktvVU?si=FKXUiuCpSzmiElJJbnOgEQ

And here is the last one Alexia, short Alex. She is the one in charge for the pizzaplex and most of it's business like finances and stuff! She is Sina's best friend even if both keep it professional in the work place, especially information of other people. Alex pulled a few strings and made a kind of deal with Fazbear entertainment (a few of the perks of being rich) but she doesn't do it much for the money, more for a personal reason!

Info to my AU down below

Let's see what I have so far:

-this plays a few years after security breach and maybe ruin but I still have to figure certain things out on that front.

-this wasn't suppose to be an Y/N story but I liked it too much so it's now one. (I might have to make a sheet for them too)

-Y/N is the maintance trainee of Sina. However they feel like their mentor is a bit hostile towards them. The reassurance that Sina doesn't hate them, is hard to believe often times.

-Y/N works with Sina on all Animatronics, but Eclipse. While Y/N wants to help there too, Sina refuses saying it's her responsibility alone.

-When Y/N first met Eclipse, Eclipse seemed nervous for a moment before going back to her happy self, juggling her balls happy to give the new staff member a little show

-I dunno how but Freddy is back somehow at the Pizzaplex. I still have to figure it out. Maybe Vanessa is back too.

-(this is more a personal note but there might come a character from a friend into the AU but I have to ask first)

-Y/N, while being a trainee, might find out more than they first thought! (Contemplating on making a entire story now)

-the AU still needs alot of work..... And a name ^^"

More to come with Y/N and maybe some doodles!

[raysletters]

get to know your fanfic writer!

i have to be honest, the lovelies @14carrotghoul and @suseagull04 tagged me for this like a week ago and i have incredibly bad memory, but here i am anyway (thanks for the tag and sorry for being late lol 💀)

when did you post your first ever fanfic?

oh my god,,,,,, i think it was 2015(??

first character(s) you wrote for:

before i say this, i need to explain i was a child with a very early access to internet. also, i am, as a great mind said once, a pathological people pleaser, and my sister was a directioner,,,,,,,,, so yes ofc i wrote a fanfic about harry styles for my sister, even though i never published it, and it was just a dumb y/n story,,,,,,,, (this was like 2012). though, since harry styles is a real person and not a character like my 9yo self thought, then i assume the next one would be,,,,, damon salvatore (it was posted on wattpad and absolutely horrible, i had an hyperfixation and created an oc and everything)

main character(s) you’re currently writing for:

alex claremont-díaz, henry fox-mountchristen-windsor, beatrice fox-mountchristen-windsor, june claremont-díaz, nora holleran, and percy "pez" okonjo have all had their points of view written or worked on at some point on my docs. between that and them seeing the light of day is another thing.

character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan on writing about soon:

i- i guess, since they haven't been posted yet, bea, nora and pez will get their time to shine (soon, hopefully) on my next fics. ive also been trying to write a bit of catherine for the diabetic!henry au,,,,, but its been really hard bc its all just too close to home.

fandom(s) you’re currently writing for:

red, white & royal blue

platonic pairing(s) you currently write for:

at this moment im obsessed with writing alex interacting with both bea and pez, bc we didnt get enough of that on the book and fics always show june being besties with henry and i kinda wanted to pull an uno reverse on that trope. also, im really interested in writing some henry and nora, bc they're besties on the book that gossip about drag race and stuff,,,,, but i want to maybe dive into it a bit deeper.

romantic pairing(s) you currently write for:

firstprince and junopez, and ive already have two wips where i give bea a girlfriend,,,,,, so theres that

your top 3 tags on AO3 (if you post your works on AO3):

i literally went to my dashboard to look it up, the first one is my different alterations of the tag "not beta read", but we're not going to count that one. next we have (surprisingly to no one) "angst", "mental health issues" 💀💀, and lastly "songfic" jskssjsksjsksjsksjskswjsksjsksjsks

your current platform where you post your works:

you can find me on ao3 as raysletters

snippet of the wip you’re currently working on:

i am working on SO many wips rn bc ive been sick and that has meant being in bed and not doing shit most of the day bc it hurts to breathe sjsksjsksjsksjskssjsksjkssjsksjsjsjajkssj

here, i give yall a snippet of the musician!alex au yall saw on the wip title game (that can be alternatively called "fulfilling most of smut saturday prompts in one single fic bc i wanted to try writing smut and it quickly got out of my hands")

so, idk if this would be nsfw bc it is not the smut itself, but more like smut-adjacent narration, but still putting the break so y'all can decide if you want to read it or not

This exact moment, though? It might not only embarrass him in a very public setting, but might also make him combust and collapse from sheer lust.

The entire place is crowded to the point of asphyxiation, the fans are spinning at their limit speed on the ceiling, and Henry feels like this is probably how hell feels.

That is, if hell ever had the pleasure of getting Alexander Claremont-Díaz on his knees, making the most obscene and erotic guitar solo known to mankind, thrusting his hips to the rhythm of She by Harry Styles on his guitar while the lights focus on him; his open white shirt shows the chain he now knows contains the key to his family's home at Texas, his glistening chest and the sweat that rolls over his collarbones, his pectorals, his abdomen and then disappear on his navel behind the guitar. It makes Henry reminisce of that first video he ever saw of Alex, and can’t help but compare the performance to seeing it live after more than a year, while knowing how excited he had been at the rehearsal, jumping and moving around while refusing to practice because of his own jitters.

Of course it paid off, Alex, the bloody show-off, has the entire place entranced under his spell, not even the clients sitting on the bar stools, who had shown little interest in the performance through the night, could take their eyes off of Alex.

Henry absolutely gets it, but can't help the feeling of jealousy that courses through him. He desperately wants to drop to his knees to show Alex how marvelous he is, hoping he thrusts in his mouth like he does on his guitar.