#also going by the library and picking up some books on ballet

[itgirlgyu]

TXT WITH A S/0 WHO IS A MEDICAL STUDENT!

ꞌꞋ ࣪𓂃 ִֶָ 🍅 txt! ot5 x gn! reader. .... word count: 1051.

GENRE: FLUFF, CRACK. this has been REQUESTED!

⿻ YEONJUN..

Always hypes you up for your academics.

Suggests that he would stay up with you to help you study for your tests.

Is already snoring away by the time you get to the second passage.

You let him off the hook because he looks very cute with his cheeks pressed on one of your books and his supple, candied lips jutting out.

But you draw the line immediately when you notice him drooling a little bit and wake him up even though his soft snores were working like your own lofi music.

On self appointed snack duty when you're too overwhelmed by the intense studying or the long hours at the hospital.

Keeps you fed through your busy schedule.

His greeting to you is, "have you eaten?"

Never fails to tell you how amazed he is by your hard working nature and how much it makes him fall in love with you more, and more each passing day.

Does weird things to make you feel better when you're feeling down.

You've once made him wear a bubble pink tutu with a crown and do ballet.

You cherish that video more than your life.

⿻SOOBIN..

Never picks up his call the first time round.

And supposedly you're the busy one.

Nonetheless you keep him around as your boyfriend because he has at least three emergency boxes with written speeches for you at his place in case you have a meltdown and tell him that you're giving up

"Soobin I think I'm gonna g-"

Cue Soobin scrambling to find out the third speech he had hidden in the living room and opening it up to narrate it.

"-o to the bathroom."

Has the audacity to act as though nothing had happened.

Treats you like you're already a doctor by the way he brags about you to anyone that would listen.

He might be a little affected when he can't see your face month after month because of your big examinations but instead tries to make lists of all the things you two can do together when you get time to hang out.

First date is staring at each other's face for three hours.

You bet he's gonna meet you at your last exam at the venue with a bouquet and a rented car to whisk you on a rendezvous.

But not too adventurous.

It's more like going to a new café that opened up with interesting menus.

⿻BEOMGYU..

Some days you loved him—when he would turn up outside the window of your library seat and throw it back while miming the words "i love you" and "you can do it." until he gets chased out by the guard.

And some days you sort of hated him—when he'd have thousands of questions

like my heart skipped a beat, am i dying or am I lovesick because of you?

Constantly.

without an ounce of shame.

Doesn't really care about the time constrainments because if he misses you he'd turn up wherever you are and leave within five minutes after he had his fill of seeing your face.

Is preparing himself to be a trophy husband.

May joke around a lot but he is willing to do anything to support even if you want to quit the studies and pursue something else instead.

Also tries to study with you for your exams and quiz you.

By the third question he has confused himself with those terminologies and needs a break and confesses his newfangled respect for you.

But that doesn't stop from pointing at male genitalia and go, "he peepee" with a dumb smile.

⿻TAEHYUN..

Your number one support system.

But like in a dignified way.

Which means he'd wait for you after your classes and give your peers an intense sense of jealousy.

Words aren't even needed with him.

You could call him and say nothing and he'd be on his way to meet you.

Lots of walking in silence in the park at night holding hands and resting your head on his shoulder.

The only one who follows through his promise to stay with you while studying.

Although sometimes you wish he'd like get bored and leave you alone

Only because he got an spartan style of studying and he ends up looking like an extension of your parents chiding you to study.

Sketching dates with Taehyun!

But instead of drawing cute things—you guys spend time drawing human anatomies.

At first you were irked out but grown to love this quirky little date idea he had come up with.

Isn't the best with verbalizing how much he is proud of you, instead comes to meet you with cut up fruits and little notes with 'you can do it' and littered with little hearts.

Once you start interning at the hospital, he'd try to make more time for you so you rest up because he can tell how daunting your life has become for you after seeing the patients suffering.

⿻HUENING KAI..

Number one support system 2.0.

But the cheerleader kind.

Sends videos of him doing cheerleading choreographies with pompoms to cheer you up but if any of them leaks

he'd disappear off the surface of earth without any words.

Gifted you a plushie with his picture embroidered on it doing his peace signs so you'd feel like he is always with you.

You cried a little but you will be the next one to disappear from earth without a trace if he found out.

Starts off his day by shooting you a text in the morning to help you prepare you for the day with positive vibes.

Like Soobin he has at least three templates of speeches in his head professing how he would support you no matter whichever direction you choose because he knows how hard is the profession you've decided.

But has a more guilty conscience tha Soobin so he at least memorized them off his head.

Always offers his special back rubs when the lover boy senses tingle and notify him of your exhaustion.

He's like, "hmm something tells me you're tired…"

As if cosplaying a panda is something you've done since forever.

Makes too many corny jokes like, "doctor something is wrong with my heart?"

But it's okay because he looks super adorable doing that dumb outdated shit.

©ITGIRLGYU 2023 feedback and reblog is always appreciated!!

PERM' TAGLIST... @full-sunnies @impureperhaps @wonioml @1921choi @ox1-lovesick @forever-in-the-sky2 @minhosdaydreamer

@partywithgyu hopefully you will like it!!!

[yourlocalghoulette]

Hearts and Ribbons Part One

Main Masterlist|Series Masterlist

Warnings: Eventual smut so MDNI, Relationship building, Joel being a flirt, mentions of abuse, swearing, brief horny thoughts, lmk if I forgot anything:)

A/N: here’s the first part for yall! This is literally the first long fic I’ve ever written so it’s kinda scaring me to share it to yall🥲 pleaseee send me any tips or helpful critizism!! Also, I’m going to focus more on the actual relationship of Joel x reader more than the actual getting to the relationship lmao, so this is gonna move pretty fast. Hope you enjoy!

W/C: 3.3k

"Dad, did you know that ballerinas can go through up to three pairs of pointe shoes a week?"

Sarah excitedly reads facts from a book that she borrowed from the library about ballet to Joel, who just picked her up from school. Joel hangs his arm out of the window, the cool breeze flowing into the car relieving against the hot Texas air.

"That so?" He hums, turning on the radio. Long, Long Time by Linda Ronstadt crackles through his old truck radio. "Sounds expensive." Sarah giggles infectiously, turning the pages of the book. "Ooh, listen to this, Dad," she exclaims, leaning back in her seat and resting her feet on the front passenger seat. "Apparently women weren't allowed to dance ballet until 1681! That's crazy." "Feet off the seat," Joel scolds gently. "Wow. That is crazy. Wonder why they didn't let 'em." Sarah rolls her eyes jokingly and removes her feet from the seat in front of her. "Dad...would I be able to take dance lessons?" She asks carefully, a small smirk growing on her face. "Damn ballet movies," he mutters under his breath. "Well....I'd have to probably work some extra shifts, but..." Joel hesitates. Anything to make his baby girl happy, right?

That's how Joel found himself perched on his office chair in front of his computer, scrolling through various dance studios. Being in the busy place of Austin Texas, he wasn't surprised that there were a lot of dance studios around him. He finally found a ballet studio that looked welcoming, immediately letting out a sigh of relief as he tapped the link. The home page of the website catches his eye, with phrases like 'We welcome all levels and ages of dancers" and "Friendly family atmosphere" snagging his interest. He takes out his phone, dialing the number from the website.

You're just finishing your choreography for the intermediates, a lyrical dance to the song 'Fear of Water' by Noah Kahan. Your Apple watch buzzes against your wrist as you solidly land a double pirouette, notifying you that a call is coming in. You quickly grab your phone, clicking the green 'Accept' button.

"Hearts and Ribbons Dance Studio, how can I help you?" You say sweetly into the phone, slightly out of breath from dancing. "Uh..Hi? I wanted to enroll my daughter in a ballet class," the voice says from the other end. You immediately know this man is hot just from hearing his voice. It's deep and slightly gravelly, his Texan accent apparent through the phone. You, however, have just moved to Texas a year ago, so you didn't quite have an accent yet.

"Totally! How old is she and what's her dancing level?" You inquire, nestling your phone in between your cheek and shoulder you can pull out your notebook and pen.

Joel loves how sweet and kind your voice sounds, and he knows he's definitely going to have Sarah go to this studio. Because he thinks it's a good fit, no other reason of course. "She's twelve years old, and she ain't never touched a dance floor in her life," he responds, kicking back easily in his chair. "I hope that's alright?" "That's totally fine. I believe no one is ever too old to start dancing," you say into the phone, and Joel can tell how passionate you are about your work. "OK, so I actually have a class open every Thursday afternoon for beginners, ages 12 through 14. Does that interest you?" You continue, flipping through your calendar. "That sounds perfect, actually," he responds. "Great!" You exclaim into the phone, a little too excited to be able to meet this handsome-sounding man in person. "Oh, before I forget, what is your and your daughter's name?" "I'm Joel, and my daughter's name is Sarah." "Sarah and Joel, huh? Both great names," you say sweetly, taking account of their names in your notebook as you tell him your name. "Uh..thanks, darlin'," he says, wondering why he's so flustered at what is normally a common compliment. "Your name is beautiful too." You feel heat creeping slowly up to your cheeks. "Thanks," you murmur, then quickly gain your composure. “I-I’ll see you guys tomorrow at four, then?” Joel runs his hand through his graying hair. “Sounds great. Can’t wait to meet you.”

You grin widely as you hang up. Staring into the wall-length mirror, you sigh. “What the fuck are you thinking, girl? He has a kid. He’s probably married. You haven’t even met him yet,” you scold yourself.

Tomorrow finally comes, and you are trying to round up the littles class so they can go home. To your surprise, a man and his daughter walk in. You can already tell that it’s Joel and Sarah. Joel’s face definitely lives up to your fantasies, dark chocolatey brown eyes and a patchy beard sprinkled with streaks of gray. He’s tall, and you can tell by the way that his arms are squeezed by the flannel he’s wearing that he is a strong man. The girl, whom you assume is Sarah, is really pretty, with dark, short, tight curly hair. She's wearing a black leotard and pink tights, with a white wrap skirt.

They watch as you struggle with the crazy kindergartners, your face filled with annoyance as a little girl named Ada breaks down into tears. “Hey, baby, it’s alright, don’t cry,” you say softly, and Joel admires how patient you are as you ask her what’s wrong, what happened, blah, blah, blah, the same script you use with every kid.

“Need a hand?” You jump slightly as Joel touches your shoulder lightly, standing right behind you. “I-uh- no, I think I got it, but thanks,” you smile up at him, slightly flustered as Joel nods and withdraws his hand. You finally get the kids with their parents and out the door, letting out a deep sigh before you turn to face Joel and Sarah. “I take it you’re Joel and Sarah?” You shake hands with Joel, savoring his strong grip around your hand. “I appreciate you coming early,” you continue. “It’s so fucking annoying when people come late and I’m not able to show them around.” You immediately cover your mouth with your hand. “Sorry,” you say sheepishly. “I’m still working on this whole ‘professional’ thing.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I have the same problem,” Joel assures you.

You blush, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “And you must be Miss Sarah?” You ask, turning to face Sarah with a wide smile. She nods eagerly. “That’s me,” she grins. “I’m so excited to dance.”

“Well, great, we love some enthusiasm here,” you say, flashing a smile at Joel. He immediately feels his face heat up. He can’t deny the fact that you are beautiful, he would even go so far to say you’re stunning. He admires the way that your eyes light up when you talk to Sarah, clearly passionate about your job. “Ok, let’s get in a short tour before the rest of the girls get here,” you glance at your watch. “We got about ten minutes.”

Sarah nods eagerly. “Ok, I’m so excited!” She exclaims again.

You show them around the studio, pointing out the main dance floor (obviously), the barre, the bathrooms….there really isn’t much to a dance studio. “And there ya go!” You grin, glancing at your watch again as some girls start to walk into the studio. “Perfect timing.” Sarah bounces up and down excitedly and runs to the other girls, leaving you alone with Joel.

“Hey, I really appreciate this, darlin',” he says softly, smiling at you. “Y'know, for taking her in a class on such a short notice.” God, his eyes alone could make you melt. You instinctively glance at his left hand. No ring.

“It’s my pleasure,” you smile back at him. “I love making kids happy. It’s my passion.”

Joel nods in understanding. “Me too, in a sense,” he nods towards Sarah. “So, are you new to Austin? I swear I would remember a face that pretty if I ever saw it.” Your cheeks immediately flush bright pink. “Yeah, I just moved here about a year ago from Michigan. Looking for a fresh start, y’know?” You lean against the wall, admiring how easy he is to talk to. He nods. “Why’d you come to Texas?” He asks, hoping he’s not prodding too much. “Well, I partially became here because it’s warm, and my boyfriend lives here. Well, my ex, now.”

His eyes brighten slightly as he hears that you’re single. “Well, welcome to Texas. I guess I’ll see you in an hour?” He reaches out his hand to shake yours. You shake his hand, your fingers lingering together for a second before you pull away. “Yep. I guess I should probably start teaching the class,” you laugh, a sweet sound to Joel’s ears.

As soon as Sarah climbs into Joel’s car after the class is over, giddy and happy from the excitement of her first dance class, she punches Joel jokingly on the shoulder. “So, when are you gonna ask her out?” She smirks. Heat immediately rushes to his cheeks, but he keeps his eyes on the road, hoping Sarah won't see it. “Who? I-uh-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sarah rolls her eyes. “You’re an awful liar, dad. I saw you talking to my dance teacher, all pink and giggly around her.” Joel lets out a defeated sigh. “OK, maybe I think your dance teacher is pretty, but that doesn’t mean anything, okay? Do not tell Uncle Tommy,” he says firmly. Sarah giggles. “I knew it! A few hours later, you're still at the studio, working through a tough turn combo that you came up with. Three a la secondes, three pencil turns, two fouettes, three pirouettes....you're thrown out of your turn when your phone rings, the monotonous tone breaking your concentration. You pick up your phone, eyes widening when you recognize Joel's number. You quickly press accept. "Hey, J- I mean, hello, Hearts and Ribbons dance studio, how can I help you?" You gain your composure quickly, trying to hide that you knew exactly who was calling you. "Hey, sweetheart, this is Joel. The-uh- the new dancer's dad?" You almost laugh at the fact that Joel thought that you would forget him. "I remember you, Joel," you giggle sweetly into the phone. "I'm honored," he responds with mock exaggeration. "Listen, I just wanted to thank you again for today. Sarah is abso-fucking-lutely overjoyed." You laugh. "That's amazing. I'm so glad she's liking it. So I'm guessing she's going to keep taking classes here?" You ask hopefully, secretly crossing your fingers. You'd take any excuse to be with this Joel Miller that you could get. "Oh, absolutely." You can tell Joel hesitates through the phone. "Listen, I-uh-I was just wondering if you'd like to go out for coffee sometime? Just to...you know....talk about Sarah's progress and shit," he mutters nervously into the phone, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yes!" You almost yell into the phone, then take a deep breath to contain yourself. "I-I mean, yeah, of course, Joel. That sounds lovely." Joel laughs into the phone, making the butterflies in your stomach take flight once again. "Sounds good. I was thinking...Saturday morning, say, 10 o'clock? At that new coffee shop downtown." You glance at the calendar on your wall. "Um, I actually have a class then. Could you do twelve and we could get lunch?" "Sounds great, darlin'." The two of you continue to talk for what feels like hours, and when you finally hang up, your heart is giddy with excitement. You turn to look at yourself in the mirror. "Jesus fucking Christ," you mutter to yourself. "Am I really going on a date with the hottest fucking man in Austin? Maybe....maybe he truly does want to do it to talk about Sarah. Don't let 'em get in your head, girl," you scold yourself sternly. After Joel hangs up, he leans back in his chair and runs his hand through his grey-streaked hair. "Was I being too forward?" He thought to himself. "Maybe she thinks I'm some sort of creep. No, she reacted pretty well to me asking her."

Both of you went to bed that night with looming doubts over your head, along with anticipation for Saturday to come.

“Fucking hell,” you mutter to yourself. The numbers 11:43 glare back at you and you still haven’t picked out an outfit.

Finally, finally you settle on slightly baggy jeans paired with a button up, cropped shirt that had a cute tie in the front. A little more skin than you usually show, but you know Joel will appreciate it. Not having time to put on real makeup, you quickly apply some lip gloss and mascara. After triple checking yourself in the mirror, you deem yourself worthy of Joel’s attention. You glance at the clock again. 11:56. You’re definitely going to be late. You throw yourself and your belongings into your car, driving the short ten minutes to the coffee shop. You see Joel already waiting outside, wearing a button down black and green flannel with black pants. You can tell he’s nervous, and you feel bad for being so late.

“Hey,” you call to him, rushing out of your car. “I’m so sorry I was late- I got caught up-“

“Hey, darlin, it’s okay,” he says soothingly, standing up to awkwardly pull your chair away from the table for you. “You look beautiful.”

You giggle, making his heart flutter as you both sit down and pick up a menu. You can’t help but notice how your knees brush together under the table, sending electric shocks through your body with just that simple touch.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, hot stuff,” you grin.

“Me? Hot stuff? I think you got the wrong guy,” Joel laughs, but secretly inside, he was raving at your compliment.

“So, what was it you were wanting to talk about Sarah?” You initiate the conversation after ordering your coffees, an iced caramel macchiato for you and a hot black coffee for Joel.

“Just wanted to see how she’s doing in your class. ‘F she has potential, you know, all those basic ass parent questions that you probably get every day.” He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of him, enhancing his muscular biceps and pecs.

Eyes up, keep your eyes up, you tell yourself.

You laugh easily. “Yeah, I do get that question a lot. But you seem…different. Like you actually care about how your daughter’s doing, unlike some parents who force their kids to dance well so they can win some gold medals. I admire that, Joel.”

Joel feels his cheeks flush as you say that. “I do truly care about Sarah. She’s m’heart and soul, y’know?”

I nod in understanding. “Yeah. I love a lot of my students like they’re my own daughter.” You bite your lip as you try not to smile at the thought of Sarah being your own daughter one day. “Anyways, Sarah is doing great. Even with just having one class, she has a great sense of rhythm and a good concept of the movements it takes to execute dance skills properly. She’s fairly flexible, and with a lot of training she could be one of my top dancers.”

Joel raised an eyebrow, a proud look in his eyes. “That so?” He shakes his head. “That kid is something else, I swear. She’s fucking talented at everything.”

“Well, she had to have gotten her talent from somewhere, huh?” You smirk at Joel. “Are you a dancer? Not that I’m saying you could not be. I think everyone’s a dancer at heart.”

Joel flushes bright red, shaking his head quickly. “No, no. I don’t dance, darlin’.”

“Oh, come on, I’m sure you’re great at it,” you giggle, gently swatting Joel’s shoulder playfully. His skin feels like it was electrified with your touch.

How can a man like someone so much the second time he met them?

“So, tell me about yourself. This is a date, ain’t it?” He asks with a smirk.

You bite your lip, trying to keep yourself from grinning widely. “Yeah, I guess it is. Well, uh, I’m 26, I like to dance-“

“No shit,” Joel interrupts, making you laugh.

“Yeah, I know, crazy, right? Well…let’s see. I moved here from Michigan…you already knew that. I have a dog named Javi, and my favorite color is sage green. I- Jesus, why does it sound like I’m writing my tinder profile?”

Joel smirks. “No need. You got everything you need right here.

You roll your eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“No, I’m serious. You truly are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on, you know that?” He says softly, and you can’t help but notice how his hand scoots closer to yours slightly.

“You’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself,” you joke, but you can’t hide the heat climbing up your cheeks.

“So, what about you? Tell me what you’d put on your Tinder profile.”

You stick your tongue out at him playfully.

He quickly shakes away the thought of that tongue wrapped around his cock, tears dripping from your pretty eyes. “I-uh, well, I’m pretty fucking sexy, so there’s that.”

You roll your eyes. “Ok, ok, I know that, but actually tell me about yourself, you bastard,” you giggle.

“Ok darlin’, I’m a contractor, I have my own business alongside my younger brother Tommy, who got the less handsome gene of the family,” he smirks. “I’m 35, and my favorite color is…red, I guess? I don’t have much time to think about that shit.”

You lean back in your chair, smiling easily at him.

“Fair enough.”

You two continue to talk effortlessly for almost three hours, before finally, you have to leave to go teach an evening class.

“This was so great, Joel,” you grin, standing up to hug him. “I hope we can do this again in the future?”

”Of course, darlin’. I love talkin’ with you, pretty little thing,” he hugs you back, fighting the urge to kiss you on the cheek. “Call me when you get back to the studio, alright?”

“Will do,” you give him a thumbs up before gathering your stuff up from the table.

“See ya, Joel.”

“See ya, darlin.”

tags (lemme know if you want to be added!)-

@skysmiller

[eva-knits12]

Library Day

Trigger warning: just fluff, mentions celiac disease

Summary: You and Pete take Zoe and Mary to the library. The girls play library when you guys get home.

It's the first Saturday of the month, which means I have my knitting circle. I already have made a coffee cake for them, and the girls are excited, which means that's it's library day. Pete comes with us, and helps the girls pick out some books, and he picks out some for himself. Then, we go into the used bookstore. Then, it's lunch time.

Pete and I get up. We're both showered, and we took a shower together. It almost felt like we were newlyweds again. We did have an amazing love making session in the shower, and to be honest, I really missed this kind of intimacy. Zoe, who is five, and Mary, who is two, are still sleeping. Pete and I going to surprise them with pancakes when they wake up.

Pete and I go into the kitchen. I pull out the pancake mix, eggs, and other things. Pete pulls out the mixing bowl, bacon, frying pan and griddle. Pete plugs in our griddle, and heats up the pan. I make the pancake mix.

The girls finally wake up. Pete helps Zoe with brushing her teeth, and going pee, and Pete then helps Zoe downstairs. Pete then gets Mary, who is now in a fresh Pull Up, and her teeth are brushed. Mary is potty training right now, and it's going very well. She pees in the potty every time.

"Goo moning, Mama," says Mary.

"Good morning, Mommy", says Zoe.

Zoe is dressed in her favorite t-shirt and shorts with a sweater that I knit for her. Zoe is wearing her favorite pink shoes that have glitter on them.

Mary is wearing her denim skirt, with a t-shirt, and her favorite sneakers. She's also dressed in a smaller version of the sweater that Zoe is wearing. She also has on her glitter shoes, except hers are silver.

Zoe is five and Mary is two, and they're already shoe gals. When we go clothes shopping, the first section the girls go to is the shoe department.

Pete and I put breakfast on the table, and I cut up Mary's pancakes and sausage into bite size pieces. Pete has already put the pancakes and sausage on my plate, and has put butter and syrup on my pancakes. I place butter and and syrup on Zoe's portions, and Pete cuts up Zoe's portion. Zoe's portion is gluten-free, and we use separate cookware for that. The cookware has to be washed before and after to help avoid cross contamination. Also, Zoe has special plates, and special silverware. I made sure to wash everything before I cooked Zoe's pancakes and sausage on it.

We all eat our breakfast as a family. The girls are excited. Mary is eating off of Zoe's plate, which is shaped like Bluey. Zoe had that plate when she was Mary's age. Somehow, when Mary was teething, Pete and I would often turn on Bluey. I would often turn on Bluey when Zoe was two so that I could get started on dinner. Pete would come home, change into his pajamas or sweats, and just help me with dinner. Zoe would often dance to Bluey, and she would take my hand and get me to dance with her. Now, Zoe's in tap and ballet classes.

"You know what today is, Mommy?" asks Zoe.

"Mmm, it's not your dance day," I say.

"No, dance day is on Wednesday," says Zoe.

"Book day!" says Mary.

"That's right, Mary. It's library day," says Pete.

"Your library bags are hanging on their hooks by the door," I say.

"YAY! Book day!" screams Mary in excitement.

I have my knitting bag ready to go. The girls eat their breakfast, and want to watch Bluey for a while before we go.

Pete sits with the girls, while I head to the grocery store to buy a coffee cake, plates, napkins and forks. I find a plastic knife.

"Pete, I'll be back. I'm just running out to get a coffee cake, and some supplies," I say, giving Pete a quick peck.

"Okay," says Pete, who gives me a quick peck.

I go, get in my car, and go to the local Kroger's. I head to the bakery section and pick up a coffee cake in strawberry cheese. I then get some small paper plates and some napkins. I also get some plastic forks.

I pay for the purchase and head back. The girls are excited, and can't wait. The girls are busy coloring, and Pete is also coloring with the girls. They're coloring in their coloring books. Pete is coloring in his adult coloring book. He got into it when we were planning the wedding, and with the stress of wedding planning, Pete wanted a hobby that would help him unwind. So, he got some colored pencils and an adult coloring book. He's been doing it ever since. He even brought it with him when I was in labor with Zoe and in labor with Mary. Coloring helped Pete stay calm while I was in labor, and he was worried about me.

Knitting and crocheting helped me unwind. I got into it when I broke up with my fiancee at the time. My fiancee at that time cheated on me with an 18 year old, and he got her pregnant. Now, he's stuck with a kid he didn't want, and the baby is now fifteen. I've moved on in so many ways. I'm glad Pete came back when he did. We never would have crossed paths again, and he never would have asked me out. Fast forward to ten years later, Pete and I are happily married with two amazing and beautiful girls. Pete and I were together for two years when he proposed on our anniversary as a couple.

The negative pregnancy test wound up being Mary. I don't know how it was negative, but something just felt off. I took another one, and it was negative. I finally went to the doctor, and he confirmed that I was pregnant with Mary. The intense nausea and the constant puking that I had with Zoe was the same thing.

Now, we're getting ready to head to the library. I have my knitting circle, and the girls will spend time in the kids section. Pete will get some books for himself when the girls are done picking out their books.

The girls always get excited because the first Saturday of the month is library day. We usually go out for lunch after I'm done.

I return, and I place my knitting bag in Pete's car, in the hatchback. Pete gathers the girls, and tells them to pee now if they need to. Zoe take Mary because Mary is potty training right now, and Zoe likes to Mary advice on potty training.

Zoe often reads Mary Everybody Poops while Mary uses the toilet. Zoe had helped Mary with the toilet, and even gave Mary some toilet paper.

"Okay, Mary. Now we wash our hands," says Mary.

Zoe and Mary sing the Wash Your Hands song from Doc McStuffins. Pete and I are watching, smiling at such the wholesome site.

Zoe pees right after Mary.

"Girls, get your library bags. We're headed to the library," says Pete.

Pete and I get the girls in their car seats, and we buckle them in. I get in the passenger's side and Pete get's in the drivers side. Pete and I put on our seatbelts, and we head off to the library.

We get to the library, and Pete parks. I get Mary out of her car seat, and Pete gets Zoe out. I go in the hatchback and get my knitting bag. The girls have their library bags, and Pete has grabbed his reusable library bag.

We head into the library, I give Pete a quick peck, and I go into the programming center to my knitting circle. I lay out the coffee cake, the plates, the forks and the napkins. Tracy arrives with her spinning wheel. Doris arrives with her crocheting, Nia arrives with her crocheting, Adele arrives with her knitting, Samantha arrives with her crocheting, and Jen arrives with her spinning wheel. Everyone takes a quick look at the girls and can't believe how big the girls are getting. Jen and Tracy still remember when I was pregnant with Zoe.

The girls head off into the children's section, and they pick out their books. Pete stays with the girls, and there's story time. The book is Pinkalicious. After story time, there's a snack that ties in with the book, and an activity and craft that ties in with the book. The girls are eating their sugar cookies that they decorated, and Pete is keeping an eye on them. Then, the girls are doing the activity that ties in with the theme. The craft was also the cookies that were decorated.

The girls check out their books, and Pete goes into the adult section. and he gets the books that he wants. He takes the girls to the bathroom because Mary and Zoe need to pee right now. He takes them into the family restroom, and helps Mary with the toilet, and Zoe is doing great with the toilet. The girls finish and wash their hands.

The girls and Pete check out their books. Pete and the girls find a small corner, and Zoe picks up her book, and reads to herself. Pete reads Mary one of her books. Mary falls asleep, and naps right in Pete's arms.

Zoe reads another book, but falls asleep halfway through and Pete places it in Zoe's bag. Pete closes her book, and lets Zoe nap. Pete is reading one of his books.

I'm busy talking and knitting. I'm working on a cute sweater for Mary, and I have a cute summer hat for both Zoe and Mary. I'm working on Mary's cute hat, and everyone comments on how cute Mary's hat is.

I'm talking, and time just flies. We've already finished the coffee cake, and I'm teaching Nia how to knit. I worked as a knit and crochet instructor at Michaels to bring in some extra income for a while, which is how I met Jen. It was a way to help have money for the house Pete and I were saving up for. It even helped out with diapers when I was pregnant with Zoe.

Everyone is done at one p.m., so we all gather our things, and say our goodbyes. I go into the library, and look for Pete and the girls.

I find Pete, deep in his book. The girls are sound asleep, so I wake them up.

"Hi, sweetheart. The girls had fun today. They loved Pinkalicious," says Pete.

Zoe yawns, and tells me about the activity and the snack.

"Were the cookies gluten-free?" I ask.

Zoe has celiac disease, something that landed Zoe in the hospital a few months ago. Pete and I took her to the emergency room for a bad stomach ache, and she was throwing up after she ate. She could only keep down water, and we did everything we knew on treating it. She was admitted for a few days. The doctors also discovered that she had anemia, and it was actually related to that. Now, we stick to a strict, gluten-free diet for Zoe.

"Yes. The children's liberryian also has the same thing, so everything, including the sprinklies, were gluten-free," says Zoe.

Mary is still napping in Pete's arms, so we feel it best not to wake her.

We go back to the car, I load my knitting bag in the hatchback, and put the library bags in there too. Pete and I load the girls in and we strap them in their car seats, and then Pete and I get in and do our seatbelts. We then head off to lunch at Zoe's favorite gluten free restaurant.

We get there and unload the girls. Pete gets a seat, and I help the girls to the bathroom because Mary really needed to go. We have success! She managed to get to the potty, and pee in it without having an accident, and that's happened a few times in the beginning. Zoe also goes, and we all wash our hands.

Zoe orders her favorite pizza, which is pepperoni and mushrooms. Mary and Zoe both split the pizza. Pete and I both order turkey sandwiches with a side salad. Everyone eats their lunch and has their water.

I help the girls with the bathroom, while Pete pays. We head back home.

"Mommy, can we play library?" asks Zoe as soon as the girls put away their library bags.

"Sure. Let's set up," I say.

Pete and I set up the living room so that it looks like a library. We set up some books that the girls plan on donating, and we set up a quiet reading area, and a desk that we made out of cardboard. The checkout desk that Zoe sets up has a play computer on it. It's not hooked to the wifi, but it just allows for play. It's an old laptop that I had in college, and this was before everything was set to wifi. It's slow, but the girls like to draw on it, and use it for other forms of play.

The girls play library, with Zoe being the librarian. Pete, Mary, and I are patrons. Pete helps Mary with the potty, and they have success. Mary is doing so well with her potty training right now.

We all play for a while, and then Mary yawns. Mary falls asleep in my arms, and Zoe and Pete continue to play. I put Mary in her toddler bed, and place the covers over her. I got her into her pj's and I close the door gently. Mary looks so peaceful, and I had the foresight to put her in a PullUp. Zoe starts to clean up, and I go to help. Zoe and Pete are halfway done cleaning up. I go to help, but Zoe and Pete tell me to sit and relax. I pull out my book, and read while they clean up.

Eventually, I start dinner. Pete and I make chicken tacos, a favorite with everyone, including Mary. Mary will mostly eat with her fingers, so we put hers in a small bowl that she she can easily eat. We also put some gluten-free tortilla chips and some salsa out for the girls. They eagerly snack on them while Pete and I prepare the tacos.

We all eat dinner, and then we all watch a movie. We watch Lightyear, and the girls just love it! Then, we start Moana, but the girls start to yawn. I help Mary with the potty and I help her brush her teeth, while Pete helps Zoe. The girls are in their pajamas, and Pete and I tuck them in.

Pete and I then go to our bedroom. I take off my makeup, and Pete and I brush our teeth. Pete washes his face, too. Pete and I read for a bit, then we kiss each other good night.

The next morning, we all wake up, and just spend the day watching movies, and being lazy slobs, and just relax for the day.

[jeanbie]

TAGS ★ over the last few weeks, i've been tagged in some tags by @madstronaut and have decided to just compile every single one below! i've been lowkey inactive due to work + general life, but i am still around!

last updated: 29th june 2024

this or that? game

coffee or tea | early bird or night owl | chocolate or vanilla | spring or fall | silver or gold | pop or alternative | freckles or dimples | snakes or sharks | mountains or fields | thunder or lightning | egyptian mythology or greek mythology | ivory or scarlet | flute or lyre | opal or diamond | butterflies or honeybees | macarons or eclairs | typewritten or handwritten | secret garden or secret library | rooftop or balcony | spicy or mild | opera or ballet | london or paris | vincent van gogh or claude monet | denim or leather | potions or spells | ocean or desert | mermaids or sirens | masquerade ball or cocktail party

cosmo persona quiz

i have strong opinions: i definitely give up very easily, and i don't think i'm 100% efficient at all...

four fictional crushes <3

i picked two men and two women for equality: john wick, of course, naturally; levi ackerman, because although i feel like lately i love connie + jean a lot more, levi has always been a crush; dana scully, but mostly because i want to be her and i just know she smells nice; sansa stark, obviously!

answer and tag 9 people

favourite colour: any kind of brown shade is all my all time favourite, but i also really enjoy blue at the moment :)

last song listened to: don't let go by bryan adams & sarah mclachan + CURRENTLY listening to sinking inside yourself by hammock (who i love)

currently reading: i'm currently reading an arc of a book that i can't actually talk about yet, but after that i shall be reading "malice" by john gwynne

currently watching: house of the dragon every monday morning with my cup of tea & slowly trudging through x-files with my parents

currently craving: nothing in particular, actually

coffee or tea: tea. i don't drink coffee that much but i am a huge fan of mocha lattes

i'm always open to being tagged in games, i am just hopelessly slow at responding/participating in them!

[cicaklah]

my girl @ronniebox tagged me and so here we go!

Rules: List ten books that have stayed with you in some way, don’t  take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to  be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - my mother gave me this book to read when I was maybe 11, it was her copy that she had bought when Pratchett came and gave a reading at our local library in like, 1992. I'd say no book has been more formative to me, but in writing this I don't think thats true.

The City and the City by China Mieville - I got into Mieville through my girl @crimeandcricket, and was horribly traumatised by the body horror in perdido street station, and was way too influenced by his often pretentious writing style, but the city and the city is a masterpiece I'll never recover fully from and changed me for the better.

The Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian - I'm fairly sure no one but me loves this book, but it is also a book that multiple people stopped me when I was reading in public just from the cover image. My favourite kind of book is a book that can only be written by one person, and Adrian is a theologian and paediatrician, and this book uses every single one of his hyperfixations and also made me cry more than anything else.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - Actually, this book probably did more to calcify my sense of humour than Pratchett did. The smartest, funniest, coolest children's book ever, and this has reminded me to get the tattoo of Tock on my wrist.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield - I read this every christmas morning as a treat to myself. I also adore White Boots, the ice skating book, but Ballet Shoes is such a perfect gem of a story that is the favourite of my grandmother, my mother and myself.

Shabanu/Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples - The first book that made me cry, inspired my fondness for camels and was probably my first feminist awakening? I've only read one of the sequels, but it was so brutal I still haven't emotionally recovered entirely.

The Amateur Cracksman by E. W Hornung - my mastermind specialist subject, a book that consumed me across time and space, Raffles my beloved, Bunny my beloved, I remember the moment I read the first story and my life changed literally forever. The Black Mask and A Thief In The Night are also obviously amazing and really all three should be considered one book, but something in my life changed for the better when I read the line 'AJ Raffles would be my friend!' in The Ides of March and I realised oh no, they're mine now.

Exhalation by Ted Chiang - very hard for me to choose a Ted Chiang story so thankfully I will pick his second collection, which has The Life Cycle of Software Objects and also the one about the parrots. It does not have Hell is the Absence of God or stories of your life, but tbh, software objects was the first of his stories I ever read, so it deserves to be here, even if it guts me like a fish every time.

Rivals by Jilly Cooper - if I could have anyone's writing career, it would be Jilly Cooper's. Everytime I read this insane soap opera of a book it holds me hostage until I finish it, and its like 700 pages long. The most wonderfully 80s OTT sex farce about horrible people trying to buy an ITV franchise. I genuinely can't believe that disney plus are making it into a series.

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson - One of his least famous books and yet I think his best? I had read the Mars books several times before I picked this up, but this alternate history where 90% of Europe are killed by the black death, following how world history changes through the eyes of characters who reincarnate but always find each other, somehow??? it grabbed me by the throat and never let go.

tell me YOUR formative texts pls @crimeandcricket @deputychairman @myth-blossom @skylightpirate @stickthisbig @apricotbones @postalninja @cajunandfire @within-infant-rind

[annawrites444]

Hey! Could I request a full bouquet for a Harry Potter matchup! I'm a ravenclaw and either marauders or the golden trio timeline works with me! I'd like a romantic theme, please; along with a male character below the age of 18 (I'm 16). I'm considered to be a sarcastic person, I'm also very good at giving advice and I'm considered to be the mom friend of the group. I like reading and studying, and adore academic validation. I also tend to get very competitive if someone's better than me at something I'm passionate about. I like doing ballet and swimming. I'm also an avid romance reader, I've read almost every romance book to ever exist haha. Thank you and have a great day <3

Sirius Black X G/N Ravenclaw Reader !Matchup

A/N: Please don't repost on any other platform other than Tumblr :)

I had a hard time choosing but I see Sirius Black (6th year)  from the marauders timeline sooo much so I’m going to go with him if that's okay :D

Sirius Black X Ravenclaw Fem Reader

(Blurb) 

You had no time to lose, the library was about to close but you desperately needed that book on Potions. You were determined to get an O for the next test the following day, but had forgotten to pick up some of the required reading beforehand. You finally reached the dark oak library doors but as you twisted the door knob you realized… it was locked. Bloody hell. You were locked out, however you would not let Severus beat you again in potions. So you muttered a soft alohomora under your breath and heard the satisfying click of the lock before entering the dark hall. You had to make it quickly to the second floor of the library before any loitering ghosts like Peeves would spot you and likely rat you out to the librarian as he had done the previous week. You tiptoed as fast as possible behind shelves and up the metal stairs before hearing a large BANG noise. You were sure you were busted as you turned in the direction of the sound. You were shocked to meet Sirius Black face to face holding a strange metal vase from a nearby shelf. “Fancy meeting you here L/N” he said as smoothly as possible before quietly setting the vase down on its pedestal. “Same to you” you said dismissively as you promptly turned in the other direction about to find that potions book. “I wonder why you’re here l/n” Sirius, to your dismay, followed on your right just a pace behind you with an amused look on his handsome face and hands folded behind his back. “None of your business Black, you can go back to whatever it is you were doing.” you waved him off trying to ignore the swarming butterflies in your stomach. He sauntered off and as you finally held the book you needed in your hand you heard the librarian’s loud and shrill voice as she scolded Sirius. “Mr. Black you should be ashamed of yourself, walking around here at nearly midnight on a school night no less?!” She gripped him by his arm, her sharp nails digging into his skin. You managed to duck behind a shelf in time to avoid her gaze but made eye contact with Sirius and offered a sympathetic smile as you watched from afar. “Well, Mr. Black were you here with Mr. Potter, Mr Lupin, or anybody else?!” She pointed at him with her finger and he looked away from you as he answered her “No, Ma’am I was here alone tonight.” You just shook your head and smiled as you watched the librarian haul Sirius away but not before he shot you a quick wink over his shoulder causing your face to heat up in a rather embarrassing way. Well, at least you got that book you wanted, and more…

(Song) Fluorescent Adolescent- Arctic Monkeys

Now I know canonnly Sirius wouldn’t be an Arctic Monkeys fan, but this song just reminds me of him. Hope you like it toooo :)

(Headcanons)

Okayyy I know everyone has said that Sirus is more likely to go for a S/O who is in Gryffindor but I kinda  disagree, I feel like as long as his S/O wasn’t in Slytherin then he wouldn’t care. And he loves the fact you are in Ravenclaw. I think he likes sneaking in and out of places- Including the Ravenclaw Common room. 

Before and leading up to when you two begin dating I feel like Sirius is always around you, as soon as you do something small that captures his attention he is never letting you go. Ex: You answer a question in a class where you are more reserved so all of a sudden he hears your pretty voice and he’s enthralled and is interested in you. 

STUDY DATES- at least once a week, I have a belief that  Sirius is smarter that he would let on so maybe he would play dumb on certain subjects just to get you to explain them to him. 

He 100% knows you love romance books and sometimes you might find little notes in your favorites by pages you’ve bookmarked or highlighted saying “I definitely did this last month” or “You bet we are going to try that later” sometimes even little remarks or jokes about whatever the protagonist is doing. 

Ever since he found out about you taking Ballet lessons/ practices he would start to show up to your recitals and performances always in awe of how graceful and delicate you danced. And of course he brings you a bouquet of your favorite blossoms. He also 100% drags the marauders along, though they might grumble at it at first they are soon in awe of how skilled you are too. After the performances when he greets you off stage i just know he would have a witty comment to say as he hugs you and hands you your flowers. 

Thank you sooo much for being so patient with me, school has been more crazy than I would have originally thought for this semester! <3

I hope you enjoyed!

-Anna

[kingdom-mcnd]

Nine.i reaction: First date

This is my first nine.i reaction. So i don't really see any people writing for them so i wanted to do it my self. I looked up some more information about them and based the dates on their real live hobbys and intrests. Also please support seowon, winnie and jiho on boys planet. I didn't do any gifs as noramal because i couldn't find one of each member.(English is not my first language)

Jewon ->

Cooking date. Would meet with you at his house. He would have the ingridients ready for you. Would cut everything himself because he would be to scared that you hurt yourself. After finishing the meal you two would eat it with a movie or series on. If you're making dessert he would put some wipped cream on you're nose.

Eden ->

Ice cream date. He would take you out to go get some ice cream. Would get you any flavor you want. He is going to try your ice cream. And if you want or not you have to try his favorite. If you go and take a bit of his he will maybye maybye not smash his ice cream in your face. Don't worry he will gladly clean your face.

Winnie ->

Library date. He would take you to the local library to read together. Is going to buy a bunch of snacks beforehand. You will talk about your favorite books. He might be so enthusiastic that you both will get kicked out of the library. Feeds you the snacks he brought while you were reading. He would get your favorite drink from the vending machine once you're done eating.

Minjun ->

Ballet date. We all know how much he loves ballet. He would rent a little studio. He would teach you some of the basic steps of ballet. Would be the proutest ever when you did it right. If you also did ballet for a longer time he wants to make a duet with you. After he would tell everyone about how amazing you were at ballet.

Vahn ->

Studio date. He would take you to his studio. He comes to pick you up around the evening so you could also eat together. Gets you're favorite meal. He plays his unreleased songs for you. You two would also sing along to some other songs. He would quickly get some ice cream for you if you want a dessert. And it would be overall a hangout.

Vari ->

Movie date at home. Gets the boys away for a night. Sets up the whole couch in cute pillows and blankets. Buys a lot of snacks. Makes some popcorn for you. Their would be a finger touching moment with the popcorn. Gives you a teddy bear before the movie begins. Yawns and puts his arm around your schoulder. If you put your head on him he would litterly meld.

Seowon ->

Spa/ makeup date. He loves to do makeup. Does a little bit of spa things with you first. Like does face maskes with cucumber on your eyes. Then goes to do your makeup. He is going to make you the priettiest you will ever see. Teaches you a little about makeup. Aftherwards has a little photoshoot with you. Shows the other members your pictures and talkes alot about them so the members would go crazy because of him.

Taehun ->

Karaoke date. Takes you to a karaoke bar. Would pour all of his enery into the songs. Definitly wants to do a few duets with you. He is going to secretly record you singing so he could show everyone later. Is going to order a lot of delicous food for you but so you can keep the energy up. Would absolutly love it if you have the same energy as him. He would absolutly walk you home at the end of the night.

Joohyoung ->

Picnic date. Meets you at the local park. He would try to make food but fails. So he just ends up making some simple sandwitches and order some food. Makes the cutests setup ever. Needs to take pictures of the food and maybye also you. If you're done eating you would just sit and joke around for a bit. Trys to secretly hold your hand.

Jiho ->

Zoo date. Poor baby would be super nervous. Gets you two some matching head bands of your favorite animal. Really enjoys watching the animals and you. Gets you every souvenir you want. Buy a lot of delicous food for you and him. Expect him to take alot of pictures of you together, the animals or just you.

[pluralismajestatis]

Bi-yearly update on how things are going;

fulfilled the absolutely feral need to visit London for the first time in ten years the other week. And while mentally speaking, this was a straight five days of winning nonstop, physically speaking, I guess we're paying for it with our lives.

It's hilarious. Like it's legitimately hilarious. One of the leading reasons why this had to happen now, immediately is that our coping mechanisms have all burned to nothing, and all that remains, somehow, is TMA/TMP and its unholy sidetracking trainwreck, our recently-burgeoned obsession (special interest) with Regency London theatre history. And right now, before I explain how this one trip has both fixed everything and also killed us, I need to bridge the gap between these two interests and how they've become the entire foundation of our life.

I don't need to recap for anybody the world situation. Everybody knows everything is fucked, and that alone is great cause enough to dive as deep into a rabbit hole as you humanely can. (Speaking of rabbit holes, the Royal Ballet's Alice's Adventures in the Wonderland is spectacular and hilarious at the same time. Worth dying over, I guess.)

But on top of that, our first dog, who we adopted as a wee lil slipper-looking thing 13 years ago, died this past winter/spring. His heart gave out basically the day after we'd picked up Joseph Grimaldi's memoirs for, uh, some form of research/intrigue, handed down to us from the TMA lore. This is where the horrible, terrible, all-consuming spiral began. Turns out, Joe was a great guy. Like legitimately just a good person. And you know who really needed a good, solid guy to lean on at that time? We did.

So our dog, whom we've shared our best but mostly the worst with for the entirety of our adulthood, including the entirety of what we consciously can recognise as our lived experience, died. And what we were left with was Joseph Grimaldi. For straight up the rest of this year, we've done nothing but read about Grimaldi, London theatre, gotten way too into ballet and opera, and become such an unrelenting history buff that our mother - the woman who has been dragging us all over Europe to look at ancient ruins and cultivate an appreciation for all things past and cultural since we were 12 years old - has began to audibly groan and tell us to change the subject when we get into talking history.

(She also, somehow, confused our interest with Regency theatre, from the perspective of a literal bastard-son-of-an-immigrant, born-in-a-slum-to-a-teen-mum Clown lingering on the precipice of financial ruin like a solid 60% of his entire life, with becoming a royalist. Nah mate the aristocracy can go suck a lemon for all I care I'm not interested in rich people. Can't even get into the usual Regency gateway drug of Jane Austen for the amount of rich people in the stories. Anyway, she was absolutely devastated when she tried to fire back about our rant over the Kennedy lobotomy case by firing at the British royalty, and like... SHALL WE GET INTO THAT CAN OF WORMS NEXT? SHALL WE?)

SO ANYWAY our coping mechanisms went from absolutely fuck all to theatre! Theatre everywhere! Also London, because why not make an already expensive coping mechanism even more expensive by adding travel into it! We've probably spent more than our yearly loose income so far on theatre, theatre, ballet, travel, and the truckload of related stuff like.... a home library's worth of books?

And if this doesn't sound unhinged enough yet, that's fine, because it isn't. It's fairly normal to have hobbies and god knows we need hobbies and interests as a society right now. Where it gets actually funny is when I/we/someone here managed to tire our mum out enough to get her to agree to the London trip. Being disabled, it's hard for us to take initiative, it's hard for us to feel like we're capable of making things like that happen - travel is a lot of planning for a brain that dries out like a raisin when exposed to the concept of cleaning the house, or reading a regular ass timetable.

So. This fun thing that's going to happen. We get so stressed and nervous about it a week in advance that we first stop eating, and then sleeping. Trying to get through the mandatory prep of setting the house up for the catsitter, packing - which we did the night of travel - while also being wildly out of our minds, and doing things like starting a whole new crafting hobby by buying a printer and sitting down to make 20 000 custom pendants while figuring from scratch how to get all of the bits and pieces to actually work together without the ink blurring or getting bubbles in the glue and whatnot, with an average of two to three hours of sleep a night, in several bits and pieces.

Enter travel day - we haven't eaten more than a couple slices of white bread with butter for three days, haven't slept, and the airport hotel feels like heaven. Sleep a solid five hours that night, then eat a breakfast of things such as egg and egg and egg + some smoked turkey, which is all nutritious, and probably saved our life, for the next two weeks before this inevitable destruction that has followed, but not yet.

Travel takes, what, 6 hours, plus airport wait time? 3 hours flying, can't sleep, for the first time in our life we actually manage to get motion sick from the plane, because it's just flying way too smoothly. Way longer than anticipated in a coach, because our route, bought as a 1 hour trip, is served by National Express and is actually 2,5 hours.

Tis all fine! We are fed, we have slept an unprecedented amount! Arriving in London, we decide to walk from Victoria Station to King's Cross, via the route of mandatory Buckingham Palace to Covent Garden (where the fuck is the entrance to the Royal Opera House?) to Russell Square to there. It's fantastic and the body's natural opioids have kicked in; 17 000 steps later, carrying an 8-kilo backpack, we're at the hotel.

Going to bed pretty much immediately, we get another non-solid three hours of sleep. Our mum has sleep apnea and doesn't travel with her CPAP, so it's a lot of half-consciously listening to her choking and having the wildest mixing-up of reality with dream state going on. Then she gets a panic attack, because we're locked in a basement room, and she's claustrophobic. Two hours of drinking decaf on the beds and trying to talk that one out, she ultimately calms down enough to resume sleep after setting up a room swap for the day after.

I cannot remember the day after. I do remember being so fucking nauseous we could only barely down half a salad and some bread. I don't know what on earth we did on this day. I know we walked 14 000 steps, because that's in my Samsung Health calendar. Aside from that, I ???? do not know. I do not know. Realistically, this has to be the day we dragged our mum to visit Grimaldi's grave and then got lost on the way to the British Museum. We tripped on a cable laid out across the street at some point, and our mum took a nose dive on the pavement thanks to that, and probably broke her arm, which has made her cranky for the past two weeks. But at this point, like holy shit were the chickens coming home to roost on the whole "haven't eaten have never slept" business.

I cannot remember this day, aside from being sleepdebt-drunk out of my mind in the British Museum, and having nerves I've never experienced outside of conventions about visiting a guy's grave. The Grimaldi Park is, though, a really peaceful place, so at least there was that.

Next day, and here is I think where our fate is sealed, is the ballet at the Opera House. Feeling great on the day, we've slept an unknown amount of time and woke up at 1am, then managed another two hours around 10am after going to shop for food and before walking back to Covent Garden for the show. A fatal error is made; I drink a chocolate milk that has not been refrigerated. I do not know what an enormous, horrible mistake this has been before we're in Covent Garden and the food poisoning hits.

Dear. Fucking. God.

We probably had plans for the three hours we ended up spending touring local bathrooms, but I wouldn't know. All we experienced in that time was the same sleepdebt-drunken stupour mixed with existential panic and, well, food poisoning. Add in that we're severely emetophobic, and there was an actual, very real debate here whether it was worth it to just go cry ourselves to sleep at the hotel instead of trying to face the music and survive the ballet that we'd come there for to begin with. Like, in any other scenario, hotel it would have been. But this fucking ballet cost us over 100 euros on its own, not to mention the flights, the hotel, the travel in general, and the sheer fucking suffering we'd been through to get there. Besides, a food poisoning you get from your own hubris is not contagious, so this was an isolated us-issue, at least until we'd hurl on somebody.

Half an hour of sitting in the corridor outside the auditorium doing breathing exercises later, we're like... solidly able to exist again. Until we actually enter the auditorium, and our seats are ceiling-high, and there's a sheer drop down to the pit that has no railings whatsoever.

I mentioned the emetophobia, but we also do not deal with heights. So it's another, oh shit I am going to fucking throw up holy god oh my sweet jesus my good time pal my rotten soldier. Closing our eyes, trying to stabilise, did not throw up, managed to get to the seat.

And because at least half of this situation is amplified into ridiculous degrees by the panic, we know it'll be so much better once the lights are out and the ballet's actually on. We've been there SO many times before - we stress with our stomach to the point where, honestly, if it wasn't for the next two days, we would have chalked the whole experience not to a food poisoning, but just our IBS gut. And lo and behold, the lights are out and the ballet's on, and our nervous system finds this so pleasant that for the next hour, we're just....... watching with one eye open at a time because we are actually physically inevitably unstoppably falling asleep in the wake of the adrenaline shakes stopping.

It's fucking ridiculous. It's so fucking ridiculous.

One break later, we actually manage to stay awake properly, and enjoy the show. Another break later, the last bit of the show is stellar, nothing to complain about. We're feeling perky and excited again by the time it's over, and have a decent time returning to the hotel after the show, though we take the Tube, because.......... no thanks to another walk back at 11:30pm.

At the hotel, we continue to experience food poisoning. And oh boy how. Oh boy how! The night is spent shaking violently and then drenched with sweat back to back with what I assume are flash-fevers. I can't tell. We are not coherent. Waking up in the morning to dehydration so bad our pulse is like 140, and figure, hey, instead of going to Drury Lane for a tour and then on one last tour of the city with all the places you wanted to see, guess what we're doing today? Waiting in a hospital to get assessed for sepsis or someshit.

Nope. Our mum gives us some magic pills and two hours later, we're able to move again. Spend the day doing exactly and precisely everything we planned and wanted to do, we're out the whole day, I can't remember how much we walked but it's another decent 14-15k steps or so. Dinner consists of a sandwich and a tiny bag of crisps to return at least a hint of minerals and nutrients into the body. If anybody's keeping track, it's been like two weeks not eating a single actual meal at this point. And as a fun throwback to the ballet? It had a lot of kids in the audience, and every single one of the kids was recovering from a cold with a cough. This will be relevant later.

Next morning, getting in on our train to the airport to fly out. This goes great. At Gatwick airport, we determine that even drinking one mouthful of a protein shake makes us so nauseous we become such a bitch of a person that it's just better if we don't, and focus on getting home. Our mum continues feeding us magic pills, and over the flight, we actually manage to drink the rest of the drink.

In Helsinki, we grab two more bottles of protein shake, since this seems to be a safe food, but have very firmly decided against going to our planned Halloween party, and instead head home to rest.

What a decision. A decision for a lifetime, in retrospect. It's Friday.

On Saturday, we eat like kings. I can't remember what that meant exactly but it involved calories and nutrients. On Sunday, we continue to flourish, except that we're developing this dry cough with an itch like, real deep in the chest/lungs.

Oh boy! Oh boy, oh boy.

On Monday, we have a sore throat and a fever of 37,6 degrees Celsius.

On Tuesday, we have a sore throat and a hacking, wheezy cough and a fever of 38,6 degrees Celsius.

It is now Tuesday again. I have given up all hope of ever recovering from this fucking bronchitis. It is what you get when you do ALL OF THAT, WITHOUT EATING OR SLEEPING, IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, LIKE A FUCKING NOODLE-BRAINED MORON. If gods are with me tonight I will brave the outside again and go get a COVID test just to see how worried I need to be, but I assume this is "just" the worst bronchitis ever, because it matches the symptoms of bronchitis to the T. Google tells me, helpfully, it can take up to three weeks to recover from a bronchitis - more if you picked it up "abroads", but I think London doesn't count as "abroads" for the purposes it's selling, or maybe it does, but I'm not going to a hospital for this even if it's malaria so fuck off with that.

It has been eight days. Eight days with a wheezing cough and feeling like my brain is made of infection juice. The US elections are a fucking mirage, a horrible nightmare entered into my feverish subconsciousness. It has been 12 days since we got back from England and I feel like it's been maybe a day or two, because the rest of the fucking time, we've been sick as dying dogs and oh dear god what the fuck what the hell.

LESSON FOR THE KIDS IN THE BACK: DON'T GO TO A FUCKING BALLET IF YOU HAVE AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE. IDIOTS WHO HAVEN'T SLEPT OR EATEN FOR A WEEK ARE IN THE AUDIENCE WITH YOU. AT LEAST WEAR A MASK OR SOMESHIT HOLY CHRIST.

Was it worth it? Yes. 100000000000/10 would do it again, literally applied for a job for the first time in our life to be able to do it again before the world ends, hopefully without the food poisoning this time though.

But like. In general. At this point. I'm not sure we'll survive long enough to find out whether we get the job or not, much less to do the job, get paid, and fly out again.

This is the most miserable illness we've ever had and we've had COVID before. It's the fucking wheezing. You don't ever think about your lung pipes before they're swollen to the size of shitty clogged straws. It is awful. Everything is awful. I fucking hate tea and there's no more hot chocolate and we're out of milk so no coffee either. I despise the taste of honey. Full offense to everybody who isn't sick and can choose when and what they're drinking, everything is shit and I hate it.

PS. Oh yeah and a shout-out to our boy Grim-All-Day, who had this firm belief that nothing good ever happens without it being followed by something that is either just as bad or worse. It's true. If we'd never gone to London, Harris would have probably won the election, and also we wouldn't be dying of fucking consumption or whatever right now either.

[aparticularbandit]

SO GUESS WHAT

My copy of Midnight Sons isn't in AND ALSO the Agatha variant cover is ratioed - which means stores only get one for every 25 of the other (original?) covers they order SO won't be getting that one (here, at least; it'll take a little more scrounging around).

But the Wanda/Agatha funko Target set is up for pre-orders again so I CAN FINALLY IT.

So not a horrible day in terms of gathering things!

[servantofclio]

12 and 17 for the book meme!

12: did you enjoy any compulsory high school readings?

I did! but also my experience of high school literature was... idiosyncratic.

We did American literature in my junior year. That fall we read a bunch of 19th-century stuff, mostly poetry and short stories, and I did enjoy the Edgar Allan Poe in particular. Then my English teacher came to me and offered me the option of doing an independent study in the spring semester. For context, I went to a very small high school -- there was only one section of the class and no honors track or anything like that -- so this was his way of offering me a more academically challenging experience. So he basically gave me a list of 20th-century American novels and my job was to hang out in the school library and read them, keep a journal, and periodically write papers. I did get to pick and choose from the list, so it wasn't entirely compulsory. But the list included a lot of the typical American lit canon. I liked The Great Gatsby a lot, I didn't care much for Catcher in the Rye, I had mixed feelings about Hemingway, and I'm kind of forgetting what else was on the list. But overall it was a pretty enjoyable way to experience literature in high school.

17: top 5 children’s books?

Hmmmmm, this one is a little tricky because i know there are a lot of great modern children's books that I'm not familiar with, and some of my childhood favorites have assorted issues. But I"m going to stick with some of my childhood favorites anyway.

(Also I started picking up sf/f from the adult section when I was like... 10 or so, so a certain amount of what I read in childhood were not strictly speaking "children's books.")

Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess (for all my tragic-orphan-fantasy needs)

Lloyd Alexander, The Prydain Chronicles (and also Westmark and its sequels, which are pretty brilliant)

Sydney Taylor, All-of-a-Kind Family and sequels (I was actually just thinking about these, they are really lovely books about a Jewish family in early-1900s New York, and closely based on the author's growing-up years)

Noel Streatfield, Ballet Shoes (about a trio of orphaned sisters at a theatrical school, there were also a string of others in this series)

Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising (still a favorite! and also the rest of the series, but this one was my personal favorite)

[qqueenofhades]

Slides on up to your inbox like the darkling in a good mood (preens with expert cape whirl). Hello your eminence. Ivan and Fedyor each meet Kirigan for the first time. Ahem. If you’re still taking prompts about those two loverender heartbirds.

I hope you don't mind if I altered your prompt slightly, since I figured that they met Kirigan for the first FIRST time as boys brought to the Little Palace. Instead, they meet Kirigan for the first time as a couple in order to ask a terrifying favor, especially since this plays nicely into my recent Thoughts about them + him.

Also on AO3 as a chapter of the better half of me.

The pair of Heartrenders come to a final halt before the tall carved doors, look them up and down, and draw identical nervous breaths. The oprichniki on guard know Ivan well, of course, though they are less used to seeing him with Fedyor – and more to the point, for the two of them to be holding hands. But they rap on the doors, call, “My lord, your visitors have arrived,” and swing them wide, permitting entrance. And in such fashion, formal keftas stiff with laundry starch, palms sweating but backs straight, they go on in.

Inside, General Kirigan is bent over an ornate table laden with charts and books, but he straightens up when he sees them. “Ah, Ivan.” His tone is both friendly – so much as Kirigan goes in for, at least – and questioning. His dark eyes flick to their clasped hands. He obviously must have an inkling of what they are here to ask him, but he arches an eyebrow nonetheless. “And – Fedyor, was it? Fedyor Kaminsky?”

“Da, moi soverennyi,” Fedyor answers formally, in Old Ravkan, though the odds that Kirigan doesn’t know the exact name and specialty of each and every Grisha in the ranks are slim-to-nonexistent. He lets go of Ivan’s hand, as if eager to be considered on his own merits and not only as the other man’s shadow. “Thank you for receiving us.”

“Of course.” Kirigan tips his head to the oprichniki, who close the doors, indicating that the General is now occupied and will not be disturbed. “Sit. Glass of kvas?”

“No, sir.” Despite the invitation, neither Ivan nor Fedyor take a seat, hands stiffly clasped behind their backs, the way they stand on parade when the tsar reviews the troops in spring. Ivan clears his throat. “Fedyor and I have come to ask your permission to…”

He’s not scared of most things. Almost none, in fact. But this is different.

He coughs.

“Permission to…” Fedyor picks up helpfully, trying to cover the moment of silence, the way the two of them have each other’s backs whether in battle or in horribly awkward conversations with their commanding officer. “To be…”

He glances back at Ivan, and Ivan takes the last of it. “To be married,” he says, as flatly and firmly as he can. Then, feeling it perhaps necessarily to specify in case this is not something Kirigan has been asked before, he adds, “To each other.”

Both of Kirigan’s eyebrows jump this time, though he doesn’t respond aloud. In theory, the Grisha are allowed to be married, but they are required to seek permission from the general first, and if he deems the liaison hasty, ill-judged, detrimental to morale, or otherwise prejudicial to the interests of the Second Army, Ravka’s most elite and feared military force, that permission can be denied. The last thing you want is lovers making too much of a stink, trying to pull special privileges or abandoning their responsibilities to the unit in favor of their partner. Then there is, of course, the added fact that Ivan and Fedyor are both men. They spent hours in the library before venturing this request, and so far, they have found nothing explicitly prohibiting two people of the same gender from being married in the formal Ravkan liturgy, but then, they didn’t exactly rush off to find a presbyter or an archimandrite and ask for detailed theological opinions. The traditionalists won’t like it, but they were never going to like it. Among the Grisha, one’s personal preferences are largely irrelevant, as long as you do your job well. And indeed, Ivan’s general nature is forbidding enough to make it unlikely that their compatriots would dare to ask, or that they even suspect. But still.

“Married,” Kirigan repeats, after a painfully long pause. “Ah.”

“With your permission,” Ivan repeats, to stress that they are doing this by the book, the exact same way he would if Fedyor was a woman. “Moi soverennyi.”

Kirigan considers them, tapping his fingers together. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Fedyor rushes, a little too eager to answer, as he steps forward, eyes blazing. Ivan feels a renewed surge of adoration for him, the way you can almost hear the heroic music swelling in the background. “I – I love him, my lord. I would die for him, and he for me.”

“That is very sweet,” Kirigan says, in the tone of a man watching a mildly interesting ballet. “I am glad to hear it. Fedyor, do you mind giving myself and Ivan a moment alone?”

Fedyor snaps his mouth shut and looks worried, but doesn’t, of course, refuse. He swallows hard, steps back, and jerks his head in a nod, touching Ivan’s hand in a brief, silent gesture of reassurance. Then he withdraws through the inner doors of the chamber, and they shut behind him, leaving Ivan and the Black General alone. They regard each other in the pale sunlight slanting through the diamonded windows, and though it runs his nerves ragged, Ivan waits for Kirigan to speak first. He braces for any question he might be asked, no matter how intrusive. If this is what it takes for this, for them, he will do it. He will. He is no traitor. He is loyal to his tsar and to his general, and he loves his country. He just loves Fedyor too.

At last, Kirigan turns away, opens a jeweled box, and removes a small dark item, curved and sharp-looking. He holds it up. “Do you know what this is, Ivan?”

“No, moi soverennyi.”

“It is an amplifier,” Kirigan says. “One that I made myself, in the oldest of the Bonesmith’s ancient arts. It comes from a claw of Morozova’s bears, killed in the deep wilderness of Tsibeya. It would be a significant addition to your own considerable power. I am prepared to make a gift of it to you, in celebration of your wedding.”

Ivan’s jaw drops, though he does his best to reel it up again and not stand there gaping like an imbecile. “To – to me, moi soverennyi?”

“Yes,” Kirigan repeats, looking amused, as if there was someone else in the chamber he could possibly be addressing. “Are you interested?”

“Yes. Of course I am.” Ivan pauses. “My lord, is there some sort of – ?”

“No catch, of course,” Kirigan says airily, as if anticipating that was Ivan’s next question. “Merely a reward for one of my most talented and loyal servants, who, it seems, has finally found happiness. I was wondering if it was even possible.”

Ivan shifts uncomfortably. “Is that so unimaginable?”

“To hear some of your colleagues talk, yes.” Kirigan still sounds amused. “No, do not apologize. I would not have you be otherwise. It is a useful talent and one that you should cultivate, which is why I offer this as a token of my esteem. If you agree, I will call David Kostyk, the Fabrikator, and have it sealed into your hand. A mark both of your wedding and your renewed loyalty to me.”

“Yes, yes. Absolutely.” Ivan almost feels relieved, when this could have been much worse. “My lord – ”

“Of course,” Kirigan goes on, as if he has not spoken, “you know perfectly well that the lives of Grisha are dangerous, especially in these times of war. If I grant my permission to this marriage, especially in contravention of established tradition, I need to know that you are also still mine, Ivan, and that you will use this gift of power in my aims and for the safety of all of Ravka. After all, you will need that power to protect Fedyor as well. So yes. I do grant my permission, so long as it comes matched with an equal promise to me. Be my good and faithful servant, and Fedyor will be yours, and always safe.”

“Yes, my lord.” When the general inclines his dark head the barest bit, Ivan goes briefly to one knee and kisses Kirigan’s offered hand. “Thank you, my lord.”

“Well then.” The general turns on a heel, cape whirling. “Shall we call David?”

“Now, my lord?”

“Were you planning on changing your mind?”

Ivan thinks of Fedyor waiting in the drawing room, probably climbing the walls with nervousness, and how he wants nothing more than to return to him and tell him that it is done, that he is not just the general’s trusted servant but his most favored confidante. “No, moi soverennyi,” he says. “Not in the least.”

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

“Does it hurt?” Fedyor slips his fingers through Ivan’s, lifting his right hand to examine the bear claw now permanently embedded in the back of it. It looks red and raw, as if still steaming from the heat of the ritual, but the curve of bone is cool under Fedyor’s fingers. It remains alien to him, but it is part of Ivan’s body now, an unbreakable symbol of the general’s trust in him, in them, and so Fedyor will learn to love it just the same. He bends his head, musing a kiss along Ivan’s bare shoulder. “It looks like it hurts.”

“Not bad,” Ivan says. “It’s a strange feeling, though. Like our usual power, but magnified, changed, more sensitive than I have ever experienced it. I could find your heartbeat across all of the Little Palace, I think.”

He raises his hand, playing his fingers experimentally, as Fedyor kisses his neck. They lie together in bed, their legs entangled, the curtains closed and the fire low, just this small, sweet oasis of solace in their dangerous and turbulent lives. Fedyor doesn’t know exactly what he was expecting to see when the door swung open and Ivan came out, clutching his right hand but wearing a triumphant expression, but this –

He is happy about it, obviously. He is thrilled. But he caught Kirigan’s eye over Ivan’s shoulder, and he read the unmistakable look there. I have given him to you, but only after I made sure to keep him for myself. It’s a dark thought, a little unsettling, and Fedyor does his best to put it out of his head. He is also a loyal soldier, he understands the logic of making sure that a powerful second-in-command does not get distracted from his primary allegiances at this delicate moment, and Kirigan did give them permission to marry. They will stand in a church together, under the gaze of all the Saints, and join their lives together the same as any other who have engaged in that sacred rite. That matters most.

Fedyor shifts, sliding halfway on top of Ivan, as Ivan wraps both arms around his waist and settles him there more firmly. They kiss and kiss until it turns to something else, a shared union in the dark, comfortable and familiar and delightful as ever. After, as Ivan dozes and Fedyor holds his bear-clawed hand, something like triumph rises up in him. He can’t help it.

You will never own him, he tells the shadows, in case their master is out there listening. Not truly. In the end, he will always belong to me.

[angelicamerlinbarnes]

I just really think Remus Lupin is a ballerina okay AU

Remus Lupin has been doing ballet since he was four. He was exuberant and flashy at first, but after his first teacher, Greyback, molested and abused him, he is quiet and reserved. He prefers to dance by himself and does not speak to anyone inside or outside of the class. He wears pink material and is the best dancer in the school, but everyone is more terrified of him than they are jealous. He has sad eyes and soft hair, but prominent scars (both self-inflicted and from Greyback and accidents) cover his freckled skin. He’s a mystery, but no one wants to solve him.

He lives with his roommate and only friend, Severus Snape, who is a writer. He spins out films and novels and poems by the hundreds, especially inspired by the rain. Remus and Severus will often spend rainy days together in their apartment, with Severus typing furiously and scribbling while Remus dances to Hozier and Lana Del Rey off to the side. Sometimes when Remus will have nightmares, Severus will hold him and sing Russian lullabies until he falls asleep. Severus smokes lazily and wears subdued flower and gothic dresses that show off his jutting hips and collar bones. Having escaped an abusive father and a dead mother, he and Remus bond over their shit parents, with Remus’ father being neglectful and his mother kind but catatonic. Their neighbors think they’re witches, but they’re alright with that.

They both have to work to pay the bills, so while Severus works with preschoolers, Remus works as an assistant for a terrifying professor named Grindelwald at the university. He’s a reformed felon who’s always glowering, and there are rumors he’s Dumbledore’s husband, who is Remus’ mysterious ballet teacher with the twinkling eyes. But no one has the guts to ask him - it’s unknown what he was locked up for, and nobody wants to risk that it was irrational homicide. He mostly ignores Remus though, and doesn’t mind if Remus reads or dances while he works, so Remus doesn’t think he’s too bad.

One day Remus is grading some papers for Grindelwald when Lily Evans walks in, a vision in a white floral lace flowing vest and an across-the-shoulders dark blue dress, a brown belt around her waist and matching ankle boots coming up over creme knee-high knit socks, a black hat on her head. There’s a camera around her neck and her smile is beautiful, surrounded by her freckles, and she and Remus hit it off immediately. She asks if he can spare some time to be her model for the day, and he agrees. They’re hanging out in the park and laughing when Severus walks over, having finished work. The moment he and Lily lay eyes on each other, something happens, something magical, and Remus can see it in both of their smiles as they exchange shy hellos.

Lily starts to hang around them, her and Severus teetering on the edge of something. Remus nudges Severus until he’s brave enough to ask her out, and their first date is in the park where they met, sitting on a bench in the rain and watching the birds. Remus is pretty sure they’re gonna get married one day.

To keep himself busy while his two friends fall in love, Remus escapes to the dance school, dancing alone to Lana Del Rey in an empty room when the door creaks open and he hears, “Wow.” He turns around and smiles, taking in the sight of James Potter, an old school friend who left for Julliard and he hasn’t seen in years. James laughs, pulling him into a hug, and Remus lets him, tangling his hands in James’ curls and grinning when James presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth. James tells him he’s been enjoying a gap year before going to search for a job as a back-up dancer for Taylor Swift, to which Remus giggles and tells him he’ll be great. James beams, and pulls Remus along, saying he has to meet James’ best friend-partner-person. Remus agrees, and changes back into his flowing white dress decorated in bees and black flats, tucking spruce leaves in his hair before taking James’ hand and following him out.

At James’ apartment, he calls out, “Babe! I’m home!” Remus watches as Sirius Black comes skidding down the hall, dazzling in a sparkling black croptop with gold touches and a raggedy sheer maroon skirt that falls just above his spiky combat boots. With white and gold dahlias in his hair, he’s the most beautiful thing Remus has ever seen, and he stares as James pecks Sirius on the mouth, coming away with dark red lipstick stains. When Sirius looks up at Remus, his eyes twinkling, and Remus reaches out a hesitant hand, which Sirius takes. “Hi,” he breathes, and Sirius laughs, loud and bright. He leans in and kisses Remus’ cheek. “Hello, beautiful,” he says sweetly, wrapping an arm around Remus’ waist. “James has told me all about you, love.” Remus blushes, unable to stop smiling even as Sirius pulls away at James’ indignant “Oi!” and doesn’t touch him again. Sirius is the love of his life - he doesn’t know how, but it’s something he just somehow knows, the feeling taking root in his chest and sprouting flowers.

Sirius, as it turns out, is James’ roommate and queerplatonic partner. He ran away from his abusive home and is taking commissions as an artist. Mostly he draws wolves, dogs, rats, deers, doves, snakes, and cats. He affectionately calls Remus Moony, insisting his scars look like something were bit him and his eyes are the fierce amber of a wolf’s. Sirius in turn is called Padfoot, for his doglike energy and loving nature, while James is dubbed Prongs for being a dumbass who continually forgets he’s too big to fit in small spaces and gets lost in the woods almost every weekend. Remus never wants to stop hanging out with them, and learns to spend hours shopping at the vintage shop where Sirius works, the two of them falling for each other fast while James reclaims them as his partners in love as in life. And Remus is so, so happy.

While he’s busy falling in love with Sirius, Lily has moved in with him and Severus. Remus doesn’t mind, and tells Severus he’s thinking of making a home with Sirius and James. Severus hugs him and tells him he’s proud of him, suggesting they hang out that day just the two of them, like old times. Remus agrees, and lets Severus take him to the cafe where Lily works. In the corner of the shop is Regulus Black, a boy drenched in hoodies and coats that Remus and Severus buy free food and drinks for. Regulus thanks them profusely, and they all make small talk until Remus makes a comment that Regulus looks like Remus’ boyfriend Sirius, to which Regulus starts crying, explaining that Sirius is his older brother and he’s been trying to find him for years but gave up looking when their shit parents died and Sirius was nowhere to be found at the funeral. Remus offers to take him home, and Severus kisses Remus on the forehead before heading off to find Lily.

On the way there, they stop at the bakery and accept some free cupcakes from Peter Pettigrew, who owns the bakery with his elusive partner. Regulus, as it turns out, is homeless, and has been trying to make it on his busking money alone. But while he’s fairly lovely at singing, it’s not enough to buy anything concrete. As they eat, Regulus also tells Remus about Amir Levis, a librarian who lets him stay at the library. Remus exclaims that he already knows Amir, who helps Remus remember his pills and doctor’s appointments and always has a spare wheelchair and some tea for him just in case. Regulus admits to having a crush on Amir, but he’s too scared to do anything about it. Remus assures him he and Sirius will help him with it, and just like that they’re on their way.

At home, Remus smiles softly at the sight of Sirius and James entwined on the couch and says, “Look who I found.” At the sight of Regulus, Sirius shoves James to the floor in his haste to stand up, taking Regulus’ face in his hands and searching his eyes for answers. “You got out?” He says, breathless. “Really? You’re alright?” Regulus smiles sheepishly. “Of course I did, Siri,” he whispers. “You think I was gonna let you have all the fun?” Sirius tears up and tugs him close, rocking back and forth as the two of them mumble apologies and love confessions into each other’s necks and shoulders and hair. Remus gravitates towards James, kissing him with a smile before pulling him out of the apartment, saying they should leave the brothers alone.

Remus takes the opportunity to introduce James to Severus and Lily, who are immediately taken with him. They offer to watch him for the afternoon while Remus goes to therapy with Maxwell Needles, a counselor with magenta hair who talks to Remus about life, his accident, his trauma, Greyback, his suicidal tendencies, anxiety, PTSD, and depression. Remus also takes the chance to pick up Sirius and James’ ADHD medication, Peter’s OCD prescription, Lily’s bipolar medication, Severus’ schizophrenia suppressors, and a few books on autism (for Severus), Tourette’s (for Lily), and eating disorders (for James and, Remus suspects somehow, Regulus). Max is delighted to see him with so many friends, and says they’ll bring Peter over sometime for dinner. Though he’s not sure where that would happen since he’s torn between two homes right now, Remus agrees with a smile and bids the skater kid in the checkered jeans goodbye.

Back at school, Remus spends his afternoons in conversation with Mcgonogall, the waltz teacher who takes care of him. She’d adopted him when his parents died and he tries to stick around, asking advice about Sirius and James and whether moving in with them is a good idea. Mcgonogall says she thinks it is, and that she knows Sirius is a kind young man. As it is, he calls her Minnie, and knows her as a friend and a grandmother of sorts, since she helped him when he first ran away to James’ house. Remus is content with continuing the conversation but is interrupted by a phone call telling him Sirius, James, and Regulus have been jailed for a fist fight on the street.

Remus goes to pick them up, where he meets Bellatrix Lestrange, an abusive cousin of Sirius and Regulus who took particular joy out of torturing Sirius, who she almost killed once. She’s also been known to abuse children, especially those of the poor. Also in jail are Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, a couple married only in spirit who keep having miscarriages and take their abusive anger out on each other and strangers. Their landlord, Voldemort, had demanded unconventional payments and they’d been essentially enslaved to him for years, only escaping his cultist grasp by means of murder, which is why they’re here now.

Remus sees James holding Regulus close and whispering to him as he kisses the cuts and bruises on his face in the corner of the cell, but says nothing about it, kissing Sirius hello. The four of them go home together, and as soon as Regulus is asleep Remus tells James and Sirius that he wants to make a home with them someday, just not right now. They laugh and smile and tell him they’re ready when he is and that they love him, and Remus thinks, Things are good.

[ellesstorm]

A Yule Ball Proposition, Pt. 2

a/n: thank you to everyone who read part 1! i was not expecting anyone to see this lol. at the request of some lovely readers, i wrote a part 2 below, and will probably finish it with a part 3 later this week. feel free to comment any feedback. kisses to all of you.

Hermione made her excuses, leaving the Gryffindor common room and scurrying toward the empty classroom Draco had mentioned earlier. As she peaked inside, she saw Draco, fiddling with the magical gramophone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The dim lighting illuminated his white-blonde hair, and his tailored clothes highlighted quidditch-toned muscles--Really, Hermione? she scolded herself, shaking her head to clear away the unwelcome thoughts. She prayed that this wouldn’t go badly. 

“Granger,” Draco greeted curtly as she pushed open the door. 

“Malfoy.” 

“Well first of all, I suppose we should give the waltz a shot, and I’ll evaluate how awful you are at dancing.” 

Draco waved his wand at the gramophone and forcibly grabbed her waist and right hand. The music swelled, and Hermione internally chanted the one-two-three rhythm she learned from her beginner ballet classes years ago while trying to recall the steps McGonagall taught them. 

One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two--Draco let out an undignified yelp as Hermione’s forehead crashed into his chin at the same time she stepped on his toes. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Hermione frantically apologized. They untangled their limbs from each other, Draco slightly wincing. 

“That wasn’t even twenty seconds” Draco complained, rubbing his jaw. “Merlin, If I hadn’t known you were dancing, I would’ve called Madam Pomfrey to check out your muscle spasms.” 

“That’s why you’re teaching me,” Hermione snapped, all hope of cordiality dissipating. 

“I suppose we’ll start with the basics…” Draco sighed, already sounding fed-up. 

The lesson only went downhill from there, as they spent the rest of the evening going over individual steps (“Right not left, Granger. You’re telling me the Brightest Witch of Her Age can’t even tell directions?”), verbalizing the one-two-three count with the music (“No wonder you’ve never scored above an ‘acceptable,’ you can’t even count.”) and accidentally (purposefully) stomping on each other’s feet. 

By the time they finished, Hermione and Draco were both sweaty, sporting bruises from each other’s slightly violent antics, and pissed at each other. 

“I have no idea how Krum puts up with this,” Draco panted. “You must’ve slipped him a strong love potion for him to see past your bushy hair and buck teeth. I, for one, would rather take a troll to the ball.”

Hermione, tired from the dancing and wound up from their arguing, snapped back. “I would hope the troll would trample you,” she said, sneering. “And if you’re shallow enough to pick on appearances, I pity whoever you’re taking to the ball. You’d probably cut her head off with your pointy chin.”

She swept out of the room without a backward glance. 

…

Hermione was scrawling on a long sheet of parchment when Draco found her in the library. He cleared his throat.

“Granger.” Malfoy sat down rather stiffly.

“Malfoy.” Hermione handed the parchment to Malfoy. “Here’s your study schedule I made.”

Malfoy scrutinized the timetable, brow furrowed. “How do you already know the assignments for all our classes until the end of the year? And what’s this colored stuff?”

“I always ask professors for their lesson plans and assignments at the beginning of the year to get ahead on my studying.” Malfoy snorted at this, but Hermione pushed on. “I color-coded everything with a highlighter, a colorful Muggle writing device used to draw attention to specific parts of the text. For example, Charms is yellow, so everything Charms-related on the schedule is in yellow.” 

Malfoy looked intrigued at the colors, rubbing at the highlighter with his finger. Hermione rolled her eyes. “It’s just like ink, it doesn’t come off when you rub it. Anyway, if you’re developing a fetish for Muggle writing tools, I always bring some with me to Hogwarts.” She smirked as Draco glared.

In accordance with the schedule, Draco and Hermione opened their History of Magic textbooks. Hermione began reviewing the lesson from their last class, and Draco dutifully filled in the missing spots in his notes. Tension from their last argument faded away by the time Hermione reached the Goblin Rebellion of 1612. 

Tutoring Draco wasn’t that bad, Hermione decided. It was certainly more enjoyable than trying to teach Harry and Ron. Whereas Harry and Ron were frequently distracted by a nearby game of Exploding Snap or Fred and George’s latest exploits, Draco paid attention to what she was saying, only interrupting if he had questions. 

At the end of the hour, Draco tossed aside his quill and Hermione stretched her arms, stiff from sitting for so long. “I suppose your bushy hair has some use,” he drawled. “If not for appearances, at least it can hold all the textbooks you store up there.” 

“If you didn’t use so much hair gel, I’m sure you could also retain something useful,” Hermione quipped back. 

Draco chuckled slightly, standing up to gather his books. “Don’t forget to leave your other left foot behind for dance lessons next weekend, Granger.” 

While the statement was technically an insult, Hermione couldn’t help but laugh at his wittiness. Draco grinned, nodding goodbye. 

Maybe this arrangement wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

[kaepopsicle]

Will you do the same fanfic moot thing? 🥰😊☺️

yes yes yes I will <33 — this is going to be really long lmao

[ @sarahbkwl ]

crack fluff — her and ten go to an art museum and compare each other to the weird looking statues and paintings

[ @rr0zu ]

romantic fluff — absolutely beautiful words and just paints a pretty picture, her and jaehyun walking down New York City while holding hands // wearing semi matching outfits ,, the sun going down behind them

[ @starrdustville ]

holiday fluff — her and doyoung putting up Christmas decorations and he lifts her up to put the star on the tree and he says something like “you’re the prettiest star of them all.”

[ @himitsu-luna ]

literally just fluff — taeil and her baking cupcakes but ends up messing them and up and just putting frosting on each other tehehehe

[ @floweringtheflowers ]

crack teen — her in the library with mark and they’re trying to study but keeps kicking each other under the table and end up throwing books and paper balls at earth other

[ @babyyangx2 ]

more romantic fluff — her and yangyang at an arcade and he’s trying very hard to get a stuffie for her (and him) from the claw machine

[ @beomqyu-s ]

fluff — she is going to an amusement park with txt and you guys are all cute and matching and having fun ,, trying to scare each other on the rides

[ @hangsxng ]

crack fluff — they are going to a mall with jaemin and they do that cute tiktok trend where they close their eyes and pick random pieces of clothing and try them on and have a whole runway show for each other

[ @ncitythoughts ]

pretty much all of these are crack fluff — her, john, and taeyong are doing those wine and paint classes but they all just end up messing each others paintings up and get drunk and laugh about it later

[ @imjustuhhvibing ]

shotaro is trying to teach her japanese and he laughs at her pronounciation and he thinks it’s super cute when she gets annoyed at his teasing

[ @yejisea ]

chenle and her going to see a scary movie and chenle ends up getting scared and spilling the popcorn on both of them

[ @liudejuns ]

friday night bf vibes — her and xiaojun chilling at in their apartment,, jun is playing his guitar singing to her while she’s laying on the couch watching him,, has her arm resting on the back of the sofa while she’s smiling at him

[ @yongsprout ] (ope you changed your name uwu)

taeyong was playing among us with her and he turns out to be the imposter and kills her — and immediately goes to apologize to her - “ahhh I’m so sorry !! I had toooo”

[ @junguwuta ]

her and jungwoo were watching a cooking show and trying to recreate the dish — ends up causing the smoke alarms to siren and the rest of the members run in thinking there was a fire and turns out it was just them, standing with powder on their faces

[ @strwberryneo ]

jisung and her are playing video games and she’s beating him so he messes up her controller so he can win and she ends up tackling him and they playfight and chenle walks in stares at them and walks out not wanting to know what happened

[ @heartyyjeno ]

jeno finally convinced her to go on a run with him and she does but ends up getting tired half way through so he carries her the rest of the way and they get ice cream

[ @mairah-shaikh ]

winwin, kun, and her go out to eat for dinner, and start discussing random conversations they think people at the restaurant are having

[ @btsastro ]

her and jungkook are filming a YouTube video where jungkook tries to do her makeup and ends up failing and starts laughing at how funny she looks

[ @fairvtale ]

lucas starts messing around and plays with her makeup and comes out at her looking like a clown and mocks her by saying “I’m the prettiest princess of all look at mee”

[ @johns-marshmallow ]

she’s in car with johnny and ‘do you want a build a snowman’ comes on so the two blast it and start scream singing it

[ @tinystupidwitch ]

goes out with hendery and he ends up hearing bad alive playing on the radio and starts crack dancing to it in public and she’s trying to act like she doesn’t know him but he starts dancing on her

[ @cloudychannieee ]

her and renjun were sitting on the floor painting and chilling until she decides to fuck up and put paint on his face and he decides to put paint on her face and they end up painting each other and getting paint everywhere and jaemin and doyoung come in and scolds you guys

[ @bbyyangiex2 ]

her and sungchan were at a gas station late at night to get some snacks and sungchan was making fun of her bc she couldn’t reach the top shelf and he grabs stuff for her while she kicks his shins and goes to get a slurpy

[ @moonbvul ]

haechan and her were playing just dance for fun but then they started getting intense and it turned into a competition and they just get super worked up and start getting all sweaty and tired but he wins and rubs it in her face while she smacks him

[ @danishmiilk ]

winwin was trying to read a book but she kept on bugging him and poking her head above the book trying to get his attention ;; he was trying to avoid her but she kept doing it until he finally put the book away and picked up up and asked her what she wanted — and she just wanted a hug

[ @yutaaaaaa ]

yuta and her were in osaka and she was so excited looking around seeing everything and freaking out while yuta was uwuing and blushing at how cute she is and gets her some stuffies and food and so when they end up getting back to the hotel her hands are full with goodies

[ @sush-iii ]

her and lucas were going shopping at a local grocery store — you decided to sit inside the shopping cart as he pushed you around, lowkey running you into things, you guys scream and laugh trying not to break anything

[ @thatkpopmeme ]

a fall / halloween au — chenle and jisung and her were exploring an graveyard at night, chenle was all excited while jisung was hiding behind her. not letting her go, and chenle ends up scaring the shit out of the two of them and laughs about it bc haha he thinks it’s so funny

[ @calypsohan ]

another holiday/birthday au — winwin and him were out getting snacks and soda for the party that ten was throwing, they end up goofing around and get everything except for the soda and snacks

[ @peachyhan ]

college au — jaemin and her were practicing for their dance final coming up and they had to master a salsa routine, you guys end up falling and laughing and not being able to take it seriously — but have a lot fun doing it

[ @ncteaxhoe ]

I want to say smut with John and Jae but I’m going to be fluffy and say it would be like a sleepover with Mark, and them, and you guys end up having a dance party at 2 am and doyoung comes in screaming at you to shut up

[ @ex0tic-vgh ]

was playing monopoly with markhyuck and mark ends up going to jail and haechan lands on his property having to pay him but he refuses bc and I quote “I’m not paying a criminal” (yes this is basically an au of that tiktok sound so all creds goes to that person he made it tehe — but imagine how accurate and funny that would be)

[ @seostudios ]

was sleeping peacefully on a Saturday when best friend!renjun comes in and literally jumps on top of her yelling for her to get up bc it’s his birthday and he wants to go party and get w a s t e d

[ @du0tine ]

goes skiing while yangyang and xiaojun and they were at the top and xiaojun got scared so yang being the bitch that he is pushes him down,, he ends up falling and being okay but throws a big chunk of snow in yangs face, and they end up snow fighting with solange is just trying to ski

[ @henderyprince ]

her and hendery were setting up a birthday party for kun but gets distracted but the decorations and ends up sucking up the helium balloons and makes a diss track with their voices sounding all funny — they also film a video of them dancing with the streamers acting like ballet dancers or ice skaters

[ @flytomyparadise ]

two words taeyong , rollerskating — you guys go rollerskating and he tries to act all poised and cool but ends up falling on his flat ass — and you skate over there laughing at him asking if he needs help up and he ends up pulling you down with him and you guys sit there in the middle of the rink laughing at each other

[ @mignonmark ]

mark meeting her family for the first time and he’s really nervous but she lets him know that they will love him no matter what — but he is still unsure so he asks john and jae for advice and they give him big brother help and it’s just pure and adorable bc he gets her mother flowers and is super respectful to her dad

OKAY I THINK I GOT ALL MY MOOTS — don’t be afraid to let me know if i forgot someone I don’t want anyone to feel left out — <333

[grimseywrites]

Obey Me Preferences #13 - Dates

Lucifer He prefers the classics, dinner at a nice restaurant, perhaps with an evening at the opera or the ballet. He finds them easy enough to arrange since he can just throw money at a place for a reservation or last-minute tickets, and they meet his standards nicely. However he does listen to you, and will often surprise you with a date to a butterfly enclosure or a dark sky observation site in the human world if you’ve ever mentioned/implied that you’d be into that. He prefers dates to be formal occasions, if not in dress then in structure. He likes there to be both a solid beginning and an end, so he can plan his duties around that one block of time, and so he can swap between workaholic Lucifer and romantic Lucifer.

Mammon He considers everything a date, provided the two of you are alone. He walks you from your room to the dining hall for breakfast? Date. Class is over and you two are the only ones left in the room for a minute? Date. You hold his hand on the walk home? BEST DATE. But aside from this, he’d love to take you out and show you off, he just doesn’t have the money. He’s able to save up when he wants, but it means spending less time with you while he’s doing shifts at Hell’s Kitchen, and you’re so happy to just hang out it stops being worth it. If he happens to have money, he’ll try to treat you to something like Lucifer would do, but it’s better to just tell him to pick what he would enjoy. That’s when you get the sweet dates, like him finding a drive-in movie showing like he sees in human world rom-coms, or him pulling you down to the seaside to build sandcastles and wade in the ocean.

Leviathan The dates will only be outside if it’s a concert, a convention, or if you’re planning on doing some activity with one of his brothers (especially Asmo). Otherwise, you have binge-watching dates, video game dates, and the occasional aquarium date (you swim in Henry’s tank together). If you happen to mention that there’s a new ice cream flavour at Madame Scream’s and you and Beel are going to try it, he will unilaterally decide that you can’t because he’s taking you there on a date. This happens with every plan you make with the brothers, you may as well use it to your advantage. He does pick up on it eventually, once you’ve raised his confidence to the point where he has accepted that you actually want to do things with him. That could take a while.

Satan Anywhere with books or cats. He starts to get real creative with it, from taking you to Rome in the human world to see all the cats that run freely around the place where Caesar was stabbed to breaking into a museum library to look at the rare texts that he translates for you. But he also loves to show you new things. It makes him happy to see things as new again, even if he still finds them interesting.

Asmodeus He likes to take you out clubbing, this much is true. But he also LOVES daytime dates. Dude knows a date spot for every hour of the day. Brunch with bottomless cocktails? Coffee shop with the best Devilgrammable desserts? Shopping dates with makeover? Spa treatments? He loves dates with you in any form, as long as he can take cute pictures and be alone with you, Asmo is a very happy demon.

Beelzebub Where else? Food dates. And also workout dates if you’re into that (and if you’re lazy you just get to watch, which is just peak entertainment anyway). But he’s really sweet about it, and tbh he’s happy to go anywhere with you, because he really loves spending time with you.

Belphegor You’d think he’d be strictly nap-dates, and he does enjoy that but doesn’t really think of them as ‘dates’ unless you’re outside of the HoL. He doesn’t take you out that often, maybe every 2-3 weeks or so, but he does come up with sweet and thoughtful things to do with you. Naturally he likes planetarium dates, but he also takes you for picnics and coffee dates and even dinner dates. Once he brought you to the torture of a damned soul and unless you’re into that, you’ll have to sit him down and have a talk about what is an acceptable date activity and what is something to discuss in therapy.

[contraststudies]

Thank you for tagging me, @tawnyontumblr​! I’m very bad at doing these writer meme things, so here goes nothing.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

45 and counting!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

376,429. Holy moly that is a fuck ton of words (I only properly started posting on AO3 last May iirc).

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Four: Critical Role, Good Omens, Hades, and Kill La Kill.

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

This list is bookended by two PWPs, which I find hilarious given that I seem to have misplaced my smut brain cell sometime in the last couple of months.

On The Matter of Traffic Violations (Good Omens, E)

“Officer Fell,” Crowley says, and leans forward, enough to give Fell a good view of his décolletage. He tilts his head in the way he knows people find deliciously coquettish, glad that he’d had the foresight to apply some mascara before heading out. “I’m so very sorry about this,” he says, looking up at the officer through his lashes. “It’s late, you know, no cars around… Didn’t notice how fast I was going, that’s all.”

[Or: Crowley flirts his way out of a traffic violation.]

Unbinding (Critical Role, T)

This is a great honor, Essek reminds himself, trying not to recoil as fingers run through his hair, working through the tangles. A braid is made of three strands, symbolizing the inextricable bond between the soul, the den, and the Luxon. A recognition of an achievement by the drow who bears it. With each braid, the soul is bound ever closer to its den and to the Luxon.

It is a lesson Essek learned long ago, but one he is never permitted to forget.

[Or: the story of why the Shadowhand wears his hair cropped short.]

No Church In The Wild (Good Omens, E)

The stem of the wineglass in Aziraphale’s hand snaps cleanly in two, but no one seems to hear it—every eye in the room is trained on the redheaded dancer sashaying to the gleaming silver pole, centre stage for all to see.

Oh, Aziraphale thinks faintly. Good lord.

[Or: the one where Aziraphale gets assigned to the red light district.]

abide gold with me (Critical Role, T)

“Okay, Cay-leb,” Jester says, stretching out the syllables affectionately. “You sit right here so we can watch you and Essek try an orange for the first time.”

The Primal Scene (Good Omens, E - a collab with @lookitsstevie​!)

Harriet notices that there’s a crack of light at the end of the hallway coming from the door to the library, and her mood brightens considerably. Perhaps the tutors are still here, putting together their lessons for the next day before they leave for the night. She leans down to pick up a piece of cloth that’s fallen on the rug. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes what it is – a necktie with a familiar tartan pattern.

She nearly drops the tie in shock at the unmistakable sound coming from the closed door of the library. A sharp, quickly stifled moan.

[Or: Harriet Dowling accidentally bears witness to divine ecstasy.]

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try. I really do. My friends (and maybe some of my readers) know that this is difficult for me, mainly because any sort of recognition reduces me to a gibbering pile of tears. I’m working on it though, even if it does take me a million years to respond to anything on AO3. 

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

God, which one do I choose. I have been referred to as an angst gremlin for a very good reason. I’m gonna go with The Remains of the Day, a Good Omens fairy tale AU I wrote loosely based on Bluebeard.  

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I HAVE. I wrote philtatos, a crossover of Good Omens and The Iliad/The Song of Achilles. It’s the only crossover I’ve ever written, unless we’re counting Variations of an Arrangement, which could loosely count as a crossover of the book/radio/TV versions of Good Omens.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I have not. And hopefully never will.

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do, and it’s usually of the angst with a happy ending variety.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Hm. How do we define stealing? Just kidding. The short answer is no.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Got one in the works for Critical Role!

13) What’s your all time favourite ship?

Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes was actually the first ship I ever really got into, and they’ll always have a special place in my heart even if I never wrote anything for that fandom. Crowley/Aziraphale from Good Omens of course, and more recently Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss from Critical Role.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Variations of an Arrangement. I loved writing it, and I still want to finish it one day, but it took a lot of brainpower to write and keep track of the plot and I feel like it’s beyond me, at least right now.

15) What are your writing strengths?

I… hmm. Judging by the way people are always yelling at me in their comments, I guess it’s that I can write stories that make people feel things very deeply.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

I repeat words so often, it’s embarrassing. I use too many “-ly” adverbs. Also, I find myself using the same turns of phrase across several fics lmao.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Language is a tricky thing. I don’t want to bore you with discourse. I try not to write dialogue in a different language (especially if it’s not one I speak myself) unless it’s absolutely called for, or if they’re just basic phrases and I’m 100% certain I won’t be getting it wrong. I have read fics where this was done very well though, and I’ve found that it really adds to the atmosphere in those cases.

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

It was for this old anime called Princess Tutu. I danced ballet when I was younger and loved it so much – I believe I was only twelve at the time?? But I think the fic may still be floating around on FF.net somewhere.

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I wrote philtatos in a four-day fever dream. It’s not the most technically perfect fic I’ve ever written or anything like that, but I think it’s the one that reveals the most about who I am as a person. That is an incredibly cheesy thing to say, I know. I always joke that posting that fic felt like offering my still-beating heart on a silver platter to the void, but there you are.

For Critical Role, surprisingly enough it’s this ficlet I wrote called sinners, a small bite of Shadowdrei where I was parsing my ideas on Astrid and Eadwulf’s dynamic and where they stood when it came to Bren/Caleb and Essek. I didn’t realize how fully formed my thoughts were until I wrote that. Fascinating what your own writing will show you about the things that are in your mind.

Tagging with no pressure whatsoever: @naromoreau @jenanigans1207 @saretton @theseedsofdoom @musegnome!