#and now im writing a fucking sci-fi series.

[katwritesshit]

1-10P3: 01010100101010100101010101111001001101010101..... beep beep boop beep boop.....1011.........

Lethe: Any idea what shes saying?

Tanke: Not a fucking clue.

i am back after a (check notes) 3-4 month hiatus!!!! i am very much alive and am now back into writing (i had a brief return to my Percy Jackson phase but am now neglecting my fandom blog in favour of this one!!! yippee!!!!)

anyways these three skrunklys are from my currently very underdeveloped space opera!!!!! more in depth post about that later but for now bye byeee!!!!!!

[jewishdragon]

reccommend any good book series?>

uh, sure

lets start with the three book series i have had on loop (audiobooks through libby) for the last 4 years:

Temeraire. 9 books. alternate history age of sale, an homage to Aubrey Maturin (the author literally stopped posting fanfic for that series 1 year before she published the first temeraire novel). What is the alternate? Well. dragons exist. and they are people. The premise is a human naval captain finds himself captain in the air force because a dragon imprints on him. Explore how the first napoleonic war goes when dragons are involved both in battle and in politics. I love this series because it scratches a very specific itch for humans and giant monsters bonding and interacting at every level of society. A lot of real historical figures show up (napoleon...). but it never feels forced. Im so bad at selling this series. its really great.

Memoirs of Lady Trent. 5 novels. more dragons ! this time a world similar to ours, but dragons exist! however this time they are animals, not people, and the main character is a fantasy victorian jewish woman who is obsessed with studying dragons and breaks her worlds gender barriers (which are the same as victorian englands were) to achieve her goals. also there's a slow burn romance with a nerdy fantasy muslim man (think indiana jones!!!) and they go on ADVENTURES about ARCHEOLOGY AND NATURALISM (books 3 through 5. i dont want you to think i lied when this man dont show up in books 1 and 2. BUT THERE'S STILL BOTH NATURALISM AND ARCHEOLOGY ADVENTURES IN BOOKS 1 AND 2). I did not see the twist of the series coming either. wild stuff. love it. there's a epilogue 6th book where the characters spend 80% of the time translating ancient tablets and somehow this is incredibly engaging, props to the author. this is a first person POV, the author is writing it as a MEMOIR so you have to imagine this old lady writing this down in her study.

The Murderbot Diaries (5 books, 4 are novellas). Sci-fi, out in space! Mostly taking place in literally capitalist hell region of space called "the corporation rim" which is... ruled by corporations. A lab grown robocop cyborg hacks its programming to become autonomous and wants nothing more than to watch soap operas and be left alone, but of course makes friends along the way as it continues to do its job of protecting humans. the snarky humor is FANTASTIC. its also first person POV and feels like Murderbot cornered you in a seedy space bar on an asteroid and just started ranting about shit "you will not believe the fucking year ive had" and then just rants for hours. Speaking of, 4 hours is the audiobook length for each novella, short enough that you can give the series a try without worrying about length

agatha christie. i mean. the queen of murder mysteries is called that for a reason. her stories are indeed bangers

Howl's Moving Castle. its a 3 book series though the books arent super connected. really fun fantasy adventure comedies.

Ok end of the not kids section. here's the kid section

now bear with me on this. Artemis Fowl. 8 books. I didnt read these until i was an adult, in graduate school. They fucking SLAP. some stuff is a little dated but other than that, its action packed, its so much fun. Go on an adventure where a shitty know-it-all genius criminal master mind becomes a better person and also there's fairy magic and fairy tech (which might as well be a second kind of magic). the main villain? amazing, unhinged, megalomaniac to the max. i love her. the minor villains? also amazing. i cannot overstate how great the villains are in this.

Dealing with Dragons/Enchanted Forest Chronicles. uhhhh this is my special interest. fantasy comedy adventure.

thats all for now i think.

[fruitsofhell]

[still talking about this but i feel like this would be lost if it was just a reblog addendum]

For real my greatest regret with my time in this fandom is not finding enough people who talk about Kirby STORIES nor doing that enough myself. Like its always kinda just between "ah my adorable and/or tragic blorbos" and "MOST FUCKED UP KIRBY LORE!" as I've complained about 100 billion times now, but I really wanna talk about the evolution of the series' storytelling under Kumazaki's direction more and how you can really feel them finding their footing on What Kirby "Lore" Means.

Ever since Robobot the games have tackled more direct themes and science fantasy tropes and it's also when it's really started coming into it's own. Return to Dreamland and Triple Deluxe and wonderful but you can see where the team holding back on detail and leaning into more cliche platformer-y things didn't let them reach full potential. Robobot and KatFL on the other hand excel at the more sci-fi themeing because they really let that more out there stuff absorb into the fabric of the gameplay and visuals, and while I've touched on KSA not being as lush as those other two, it makes up for it with sheer volume of content in the end. Evil cults are more fantasy than sci-fi so it didn't have ideas as extreme as those other two to latch onto, but it could still be more purposeful with the levels in the middle yknow. But still, the writing of the Jamba and the design of Void Termina have a lot packed into them that make it work once you unpack it.

RTDL and Tripluxe you can maybe say theres like a theme of greed in a nebulous sense, but it is genuinely fluffy platformer fair with an interesting villain thrown in at the end, Robobot, KSA, and KatFL are like actual great sci-fantasy stories wrapped up in fairytale-like bow. RTDL and Tripluxe become good when you fill in blanks*, but the last 3 just Are Good, Straight Up*.

*I know some of you people out there think pause screens are supplementary but it is literally The Game's Text, so I mean good with the pause screens.

Like Kirby "Lore" HAS gone from What If There Was A Platformer Villain But Really Fucked Up to actual really cool commentaries on imperialism/industrialization, bonds and religion, and life. I think its really fucking cool and what actually has kept me a Kirby fan. I can find a platformer that gets really complicated the more you look into it's flavor text, or one with cute character designs, or sad moments, but you don't find one so often that like cares. That really cares about the characters and the world and stuff, but about saying something confidently. Kirby storytelling may not come off as confident to people because it's not overt, but the confidence is in the details that surround and support those ideas that in any other series would just be pedantic "lore".

Like Robobot doesn't have "lore" about Susie and Haltmann, it has a backstory complimenting a power struggle in the plot's climax that ties into the idea of imperialism being a cannibalistic pursuit. Star Allies doesnt have "lore" about doomsday cults and gods, it has a story about how real bonds and connections can form even in dark places and its important to cherish those and not let circumstances corrupt them (or something, it has been a whilehgjh). And KatFL doesnt have "lore" about ooooo all the humans are dead this IS THE DAHKEST KIRBY GAME!! Its fucking aboyut how animals and joy and whimsy will reinherit the earth!

im justfuskdgs WHOS DOING THE KIRBY LITERARY ANALYSIS?? Where are they? They have to be out there im so fr ghsf

[pissfizz]

beams you. hello zip my swaggy friend zip i also have to say you def have piqued my interest and am curious to what animorphs is abt !! ive always known abt the books but im very curious :]c

ramble as much as you want i am listening

HAHAHAHAHHA YES YESSSSSSSS

OK SO. Animorphs is simply put, a war story. A sci-fi war story about child soldiers. Pretty much, there’s a bunch of alien races and one of them is called the yeerks. The yeerks are gross little slugs that crawl in your ear and take control of your body. They have successfully taken over many species, such as the taxxons (who are willing hosts) and the hork-bajir (unwilling hosts). They have now moved on to humans, and taking over earth. The andalites, another alien species, are trying to stop them. One andalite crash lands on earth in an abandoned construction site one night before five 13 year old kids, Jake, Rachel, marco, Tobias, and Cassie. He gives them the ability to morph into any animal they can touch, a technology created by andalites, and begs for them to help stop the yeerks. The andalites will not be reaching earth soon enough to stop them. Then the yeerks come down and eat him alive. So these five kids experiment with their powers before realizing like. This is worse than they ever could’ve imagined. It’s important to note that morphing gives you a two hour time limit. If you’re in something else’s shape for longer than that, you’re stuck, forever. Almost immediately, the character Tobias (my favorite btw but that’s irrelevant) gets permanently trapped in the body of a red tailed hawk and loses his morphing powers. He’s like… a cautionary tale for the other kids but his own plot line revolves a lot around like. What is humanity and who am I and who do I want to be? There’s a lot of deep themes such as the exploration of trauma, child soldiers who are forced to fight in a war, morality and the willingness to do bad things, and how there is no true good and bad guys in war, among many other things. But it’s also buck fucking wild like there’s a race of pacifistic android dogs, and they time travel and kill Hitler at one point, Rachel has an allergic reaction to crocodile DNA and has to like vomit it up, the yeerks get high off maple ginger oatmeal, god is a twitch streaming goose, and so much more.

Overall amazing fucking book series, I won’t spoil anything for those of you who want to read it, but it’s so so good. Keep in mind that despite the content it IS intended for elementary schoolers so the writing is fairly easy and simple and the humor can sometimes be a bit immature but honestly it adds to sending home that these are literal CHILDREN and. Yeah. It’s really good. All the books are legally free online by permission of the author herself and if anyone wants the link I will gladly give it ushsjsgsjsh.

Those of you who do read it tell me EVERYTHING

[entiretorridaffair]

okay and now for the fun bit!!! (song + book recs)

song rec: thick skull by paramore

literally one of my favorite songs of alllll time its so everything <333 i love paramore so i had to give you one of their songs, but what i reallyyy like about this song is the layering AND hayley william's vocals are stunning <3 the lyrics are also rly gripping and poetic too imo <3

(also, for a less in depth recommendation, i bet on losing dogs by mitski. not even one of my favorite mitski songs but ive been looping it all afternoon so <33)

book rec: gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir!

YOUVE PROBABLY SEEN ME GOING INSANE ABOUT THE LOCKED TOMB (series, gtn is the first book) ON THE DASH BUT. I CANT NOTTTT REC IT <3 i love the locked tomb so so so much it is a series that is about love and grief and identity and also lesbians in space with necromancy and swords and also really bad jokes that WILL make you laugh and also imperialism. its really good overall NO ONEEE is safe. for a more serious synopysis, we follow gideon in a post apocalyptic sci-fi world 10,000 years in the future, who is trying to gain her freedom from the ninth house, the planet that brought her up and that she is indentured to. unfortunately, harrow, the heir of the ninth house, foils her latest escape attempt, only to counter it with a new offer: to accompany her offworld (!!!!!) as she attempts to become one of god's new saints. its sooooooo insane the characters are EVERYTHINGGGG to me adn also very fleshed out and nuanced and none of them are "good people" but i love them all so much. the writing is GORGEOUS im literally in love with tamsyn muir's metaphors andddd the plot is FUN it takes a while to get into the swing of things but it is so good. warning however tamsyn muir is so dedicated to not knowing shit nor fuck (ESPECIALLY as you get into harrow the ninth and to a lesser extent nona the ninth) but it is still very enjoyable and you will get it eventually. warning if you dont like gore then i would unfortunately recommend steering away as a lot of the book is Bones. and Gore. its veryyyyy good though aaaand i rambled more than i expected to DFGHKSLFJA . but in conclusion <333

GOOD LUCK WITH PHYSICS!!!

listening to thick skull right now!!!! growing up i was never a paramore girl just because my friends never listened to them but this song is making me think i really missed out!! do you have any other paramore recs??

and omg! i’ve heard of gideon the ninth in passing but i’ve never had anyone set up the book in such a compelling way! just placed it on hold at my library, i was buzzing just reading your description im so excited to get it!!!!

AND THANK YOU!!!! and i’m going to take a shower, wipe the tears away, and start my homework again!!

[txxfiles]

an introduction and some books

hi hotties! 

the idea for this blog came from the twisted fantasy of my three closest friends and i as a way of producing something collaborative and creative without submitting ourselves to the mortifying ordeal of being known. we all get a fun little code name (i'm ruminating on magnolia, which i like but also think is a bit wanky in a way that i can't reconcile myself with spiritually just yet) and a week of the month to post whatever we want. the idea was essentially to create a platform where we get to talk uninterrupted shit about anything we want to because it’s our fucking blog, goddamit, and you’re not going to come onto our blog and tell us how to post. 

and so, to kick things off, i am going to be talking about my favourite books of 2023 because i am cultured and sophisticated and definitely didn’t spend the first half of the year drowning in fae romantasy smut in an attempt to feel something. if you don’t like any of these books don’t tell me because i simply don’t care!! xoxo 

non-fiction favourite - the anthropocene reviewed, john green 

i spent 2023 working very hard to reprogramme my misanthropic brain, and this book was a huge part of what allowed me to do that. i’m still by no means cured of my hater tendencies, but this book was a beautifully tender examination of that little spark of humanity that connects us all, and the numerous ways in which it has manifested throughout human history and across the borders of nationality, age, and gender. green somehow manages to weave in his own life experiences in a way that avoids being preachy or self-aggrandising in a way that i think a lot of non-fiction writers really struggle with - i’d also highly recommend consuming this in audiobook form as his narration really made the experience for me. 

fantasy favourite - a court of silver flames, sarah j maas

if you read this and immediately want to start lecturing me on how booktok is ruining the fantasy genre please know that im manifesting your downfall as we speak. i have my own issues with the flattening of the fantasy genre that takes place on tiktok, but the acotar series is a sugary, pulpy delight and this spinoff novel is where, in my humble opinion, it really hits its peak. as you can probably tell just by reading this, i am what is affectionately known as ‘a prickly unfriendly bitch’ in my day-to-day life, and i love seeing characters who represent me in a way that doesn’t glamourise being an unkind person - and nesta in this book is someone whose tendency to push people away isn’t justified or apologised for, and whose growth i found legitimately inspiring. also i’m still waiting for sarah j maas to stop teasing a dp scene and actually write it, the coward. 

sci-fi favourite - the arc of a scythe trilogy, neal schusterman

this trilogy rocked me to my fucking core, bitch. this was another audiobook read from early 2023 and it’s one of the better pieces of speculative fiction i’ve ever encountered. schusterman pulls off some really complicated and in-depth worldbuilding in a way that doesn’t feel like i’m reading an instruction manual - something that’s genuinely hard to do in this genre - and the series only gets better as it goes. as someone who is profoundly afraid of artificial intelligence this offered a perspective on ai that i’ve not really seen in media before now - and i will also be thinking about my pookie scythe lucifer for ever and ever amen. 

lit fic favourite - all the names they used for god, anjali sachdeva 

i’m actually not going to talk about this one too much because it’s quite a difficult book to explain without giving away too much - not in a spoiler sense, but in a 'this is an experience that you need to go into with an open mind' sense. this is a collection of short stories that play with genre, setting, and character to tell a series of profound stories about the human struggle with fate and the pursuit of meaning. sachdeva manages to build such engrossing and vibrant worlds in the limited space she allows herself for each story - and she avoided the pitfall i find that a lot of short story anthologies fall into where you can very clearly tell that the writer had one story they desperately wanted to publish and wrote the rest as a way of filling up space for a full book.

well, those are some of my 2023 faves. i have a million honourable mentions but i’m not going to put them here because i’ve already written way too much. i’m not sure who’s taking over the reins for week 2 of this little blog experiment but be sure to give them a kiss on the forehead from me! 

yours, 

magnolia

[punch-love]

this wasn't on any of the ask list games but im curious, what are your favorite genres to read? do you have any book recs or works that have influenced your work? both your original and fic stuff lol

I love answering questions, so ask away. I've been reading a lot of non-fiction lately because I find real world information often builds up my ability to tell a convincing and human story + information runs this machine. I'm reading a book on drug cartel economics right now for writing reasons, and a book on fundamentalism and masculinity for my own personal interests. I also read a lot of occult literature.

Genre wise, I have been finding myself enjoying a lot of sci-fi recently, even though it's usually a genre I avoided in the past. I think horror is probably my favorite genre and the one I read the most of. I prefer good characters > good plot, so I don't usually read things that are heavy on word building or political intrigue.

I had a non-traditional childhood, so the books and media I was consuming (and by association, influenced my writing) was based more on what I was allowed to read more than what I wanted to read. I grew up in a very healthy diet of action and karate movies though because of my dad along with superhero cartoons, and I think those probably influenced my writing more than any books I was reading. I also am a very critical reader, and I like to say that the best way to learn how to write is to find something that you hate to read and figure out why you hate to read it. I read a lot of books I hated as a kid because I didn't have anything else to read and what I hated about them is reflected in what I don't write about. (bland characters, contrived plot, weak dialogue, skippable sections, contrived worldbuilding, cliches, etc.)

I do think The Hollow Kingdom series by Clare B. Dunkle is a big reason why I write for this fandom (non-conventional but charming love interest) and Enders Game is a big influence on my current space opera work Black Ace, but I can't think of anything else that directly influences my work now.

If you want book recs though here are some fiction that I really enjoyed recently:

the darkness outside us by eliot schrefer (cosmic space horror, devastating, beautiful, profound once in a lifetime read)

iron widow (fantasy mecha, great protagonist, polyamorous couple, way more violent and depraved than you'd expect)

the family fortuna (family tragedy, monster protagonist that likes being a monster, circus setting)

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow (queer platonic relationships, making video games as a love language, so fucking sad and beautiful)

the murders of molly southbourne (violent clone killing, excellent execution of a concept)

I also have a storygraph if you want to see what I'm reading @mountainzombie

[malt-rants-and-stuff]

okay switching to reblog bc its easier than just replying. ignore the time it took to get these i was rereading come of them and got emotional but here are some from me, though most arent very recent lol:

The Children's Rebellion is forever a huge recc of mine, classic dsmp fic and the series is just such an amazing read. Though be warned the sequel hasnt updated in a year but it doesnt really matter when the rest of it is completed. Awesome sci-fi star trek inspired space au mind the tags :)

going the complete opposite direction, All Together Getting Out Of The Hole Together is a newer fic but still amazing, boreal trio supremacy!! just a warm and healing fic about mental illness and healing together :)

The Dread Pirate Ranboo is yet another classic that i hold so close to my heart. techno and ranboo found family my beloveds, with good heaps of beeduo and just general sbi extended family content to heal all wounds and create them at the same time.

there is this fic which is just pure crack. you can check it to see the name yourself it is just all around a funny time and a good throwback to how we were all coping with limbo being a thing.

His Curse of Binding you may of heard of from others, it is THE tommy au fic i can not reccomend it enough. the angst is supreme the dynamics are amazing.

Hush Now is probably one of my favorite fics that came out of the dsmp superhero au boom, classic and a good read. lots of awesome whump. sadly incompleter but it has lots of chapters!

i saw youve read tumoasd and i know most people dont really mention it but eneli wrote many awesome fics while in the fandom not just that, so if you liked their writing they have a series of their other works called the ecu which id say are all amazing to read.

Lost In The Woods Somewhere fae tubbo beeduo horror au, one of my favorites, along with just about anything Hellenite has ever written like the Event Horizon series or my absolute favorite beeduo fic of all time Fading Lights. would reccomend all of them though be prepared to get very scared, very stressed, and then break down crying in order of fics.

the Honeybee series is for sure one of those things you have got to experience if you like c!tubbo. its That Girl when it comes to non-tommy-centric superhero aus and i love it to death. lots of awesome beeduo and clingyduo stuff here to enjoy

baby steps micheal is a part of techno's chat and its sweet :)

I don't want familiarity with your mind sweet mind reader tommy fic very comfy

speak the only language they can understand ohhhhh THE SYNDICATE!!! very good very fun would read again

if you would like some runaway tommy goodness, there is How to Balance a Kid and a Career as an Entertainment Fighter and Vibrations which also have some dadinnit in there too if youre down for that

Fuck You I'll Do It is pure gold, tailor tommy with lots of fantasy bullshit and angst to go with it

The L'Manberg Stories unhinged, messy, everyone is going through it.

30 Days to count the stars is a big hear me out because i know this is supposed to be dsmp but if you enjoy 30 days smp beeduo and all that comes with that, this heap of angst will be a spectacular read for you

The Knight, the Bard, the Soldier and...Ranboo? is incomplete but if you enjoy characters going to alternate universes and having A Time then you will love this, c!tommy and his journey through a messed up fantasy verion of his world

dead relatives and daddy issues is life-changing i swear. not only a beautiful story about love and healing and chronic illness but also the complexities of everyone's relationships is just so damn amazing. uni student government au ranboo pov mostly as well as tommy and tubbo, THE bench trio series i cannot recommend it enough and also while most is complete the most recent one is still being updated so you can follow along if you like to ^^ plus kale is actually hilarious in the authors notes and very detailed and can you tell im obsessed with it yet lol, coming up on 3 years of being a reader so i need everyone who want to hear about it to read it <333

Any good dsmp fanfic recommendation?

Im looking for more dsmp fanfics to read cause im slowly running out lol.

No x readers, just like, fanfics, yk?

Ive already read Tcfsv, Tumfasd, Passerine, Shrike, Accelerate, and im planning on reading Butterfly reigon. Also, idc if ir has Wilbur or george in it, honestly.

Thank you thank you!!!<3<3<3

[theoncomingdoo-dah]

series 7

here goes

series rating 0/10

Overall Doctor Rating 3/10

Barely any episodes were worth the watch. The bad episodes were terrible.

I'm in actual tears because this is character assassination.

I love the Doctor. I love them so much. I want to immerse myself in this canon as much as I can. I can't wait to go back to Classic Who since it was so charming and I just *love* the Doctor.

But what Moffat did to 11 and what he could've been, was atrocious. When Matt said goodbye, I started bawling. Because he never actually got to be a *good* Doctor.

And Clara was just there. Like he barely acknowledged her. 11 just mugged to camera for his speech before giving his "mother in law" bedroom eyes.

Clara meant nothing to him at the moment...that's tragic. Honestly.

And the theme from Rings of Ahketen (whatever) played like it was some grand moment. But it wasnt...

When 10 regenerated and Vale Decem plays with the motif that has existed since the beginning of RTD Era, it hits HARD.

While the rendition of The Long Song plays in 11s regeneration, it's beautiful but it's also hollow.

What did 11 do to deserve that song? That departure?

And apparently he wasn't over Amy, could've fooled me because he never mentioned her to Clara or anybody.

Best episode:

no. just no. none of these episodes are worth it.

Most Surprising Episode:

Day of the Doctor. It was SO MUCH WORSE than I thought it would be.

Most Disappointing:

DAY OF THE DOCTOR. I could just post links of better breakdowns than i could give because I'll just reiterate how tired I am.

Worst:

Time of the Doctor. Yeah. Not just because it was bad and had some of the STUPIDEST plot points and asspulls, but because it was the death of 11 and all possibility of him being a good Doctor. 11 had potential. MATT had potential. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE FUCKING CHARACTERS HAD POTENTIAL.

OUT OF 11S ERA

Best: Vincent and The Doctor.

Nothing tops it. It wasn't written by Moffat and it will be the best out of his run. It is an emotional and beautiful episode and has some of the best Amy characterization. The ending (not just the 'scene' everyone knows, is what gets me) When 11 is holding onto Amy for dear life and talking about the "good days and bad days"; it feels so genuine. Amazing episode. Not the best out of Nuwho, but the best of 11s era.

Worst: The Wedding of River Song

Nope. Not even Day of The Doctor tops how AWFUL this one is. Awkward writing, TERRIBLE romance plot line, STUPID STAKES and just River. Just River. I cannot stand what she is and represents and her stupid writing and everything about her UGHHHH I TRIED to like her. I TRIED. I know I'm bias but when you have the FUCKING MASTERCLASS that is The Doctor and Rose and you downgrade to THIS?!? I can't! I just can't take it seriously!

RTD FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, FUCK THIS PLOT LINE UP. Moffat will make you sleep on the couch, BUT FUCKING DO IT.

Destroy the essence of this STUPID PLOT LINE. OBLITERATE IT.

I'm tired. I'm tired from crying and screaming and just being so passionate about a STUPID BRITISH SCI-FI SHOW. That I used to adore and cherish, and got to watch a showrunner who obviously hates what he's writing for fuck EVERYTHING UP. Even the things that he did right in RTD Era (like the Angels), he fucked up.

I despise Steven Moffat as a person and a writer.

12 is next. And I'm so scared. My partner and I are taking a break from the show for a bit. But dont worry, ill be back and im still going through the rewatch. (Long Game notes/review sometime this week, promise!)

I want to love Peter. I want to love the Doctor again. Please let me love something, Moffat. Please. I don't like hating this show.

now for the love of God, someone link me a good elevenrose fic that's nice and fluffy and well written so i don't have to cry myself to sleep.

[sirpseudonymphoapish]

Aftermath oneshot for the end of season 3, episode 11. (spoilers!???!) (terry x korvo. not nsfw but they make out a lot)

i wrote this at like 3 am off a whim so its probably not the best but i just wanted to write some fluff so i dont really care about any low detail descriptions or grammar mistakesm. i hope u enjoy :3

-

Hot air wafted into the room and a bright light shone into the corner of Terry's eyes. He squinted as he stared up at the ceiling, the right side of the room being illuminated by the warm glow of the bathroom light. Shuffling was heard as the pudgy blue alien soaked the last bit of water off himself onto his towel, and changed into his night-time button-up gown. The light soon shut off, and Terry felt the mattress sink from the new guest who had taken space under the covers.

He was so tired, but he couldn't stop staring up at the ceiling of their bedroom. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep forever, but he was wide "awake." This fraction of time he spent in bed at night was his only ticket out of his regular new life now. he spent the moment while it lasted, even if it was full of dread.

Korvo joined him. he had no words to say, just an uncomfortable silence as he shared the sight of the ceiling. If you stared long enough, you could see the pattern in the walls even through the darkness.

Terry sighed a heavy breath; he must've been holding it without realizing. Korvo tilted his head away from Terry and shifted onto his side, pulling more of the blanket to fit on top of him.

"Goodnight, Terrence."

The weight in his name felt heavy.

"Night, Korv."

Despite the exchange of nightly endings, Terry kept his eyes wide open and up at the ceiling.

A silence crept in once again, but a soft, tired voice cracked it open in reply.

",,,I miss being called that name."

Terry sighed internally.

"Heh heh, yeah. I miss a lot of things."

,,,silence.

"im,,, im so fucking over this, Terry."

Just hearing him be called by his main name lifted a weight off his shoudlers.

"God, me too. I can barely take this anymore! but uh, anything for the pupa i guess."

"Ugh! the pupa SUCKS. i want to go back to being sci-fi! I hate this job! i hate this life, Terry!" Korvo shifted back upright. not entirely facing Terry, but not facing completely away from him. Terry looked at him and listened. "This job is fucking stupid! I-I dont even remember what the fuck we work for! All we do is write documents of already made documents and print out paper of the documents to send to other people to make documents and then collect more documents to write documents about!! its fucking insane, Terry!"

Korvo was, visibly, on the verge of gooblering. Terry reached a hand out for comfort. Not touching him but, keeping him close as a reminder for company.

"oh my god, right??? and i cant even drown out my sorrows in any personal goods because of our damn tight budget."

"I had to cancel our hulu subscription to pay for the pupa's karate classes! I had to cancel hulu!!! We cant get anything for ourselves because we're using all the money on the Pupa! But if we don't he'll go back to being some annoying tween again with his weird gen boomer language or whatever they call it."

Korvo instinctively put his hand on top of Terry's offered one, and shifted to face Terry even more. He never gave direct eye contact.

"I hate having to risk losing my terrible job if i dont cook meals and shine shoes for our boss. I-I want to get rid of this job but the job market is so rough."

"Dont worry, man," Terry squeezed Korvo's hand reasurringly, "once we make enough money, we'll put it aside to try and get some other job! Maybe we'll do youtube video reactions of us reacting to youtubers reacting to youtube web series!"

Korvo squeezed back, but with a tight, aggressive grip. "Oh you know thats never going to happen, Terry. we barely make enough to cover our food. I've been buying SO much crap in cans just so i can keep that karate class subscription. I can't risk the pupa telling me I have "fatherless behavior.""

"Well,,," Terry leaned forward slightly, craving intamacy. "We can dream, and dreams always come true! PBSkids told me!"

"We dream when we sleep. which is 5 hours exactly, usually less when we wake up randomly in the middle of the night multiple times. MAYBE 5 hours and 10 minutes, if we're lucky."

An uncomfortable silence shone over them again. Then Terry felt something land on his arm and dance around.

Korvo pulled Terry close and shoved his face into his chest, bawling his eyes out and gooblering all over.

"I-I want to go back to our old life, Terry!! I hate this! I fucking hate all of this!"

Terry formed a sad expression and stroked the back of Korvo's head, trying to ease out the gooblers.

"Shh, hey, its okay, baby. It'll all end well in the end, right?"

"no it WONT Terry!!!" Korvo brought his fist up in frusteration and slammed it down on Terry, who yelped from the sudden blow.

"O-oh gosh, im sorry Terry! I-I didn't mean it!"

Terry hissed at the soreness, but rubbed it off. "It's fine, man. I wanna punch things too."

Korvo sunk back into Terry again, holding onto his now regular pajamas. "You're the only highlight to all of this, Terry. And even then most of the moments i have with you suck tits. Even if its all for the pupa, i just--" He started to goobler again, so Terry continued rubbing at his head trying to get his skin to calm down. "None of it feels worth it, Terry. i just want to have fun and be with YOU, and be with our family. I want to do fun solar opposites stuff again. that's all i want."

Terry yawned, forgetting how tired he was.

"Well,, i doubt thats ganna happen any time soon. but we can try and do regular minimal fun stuff in the meantime?"

"Oh and when would we HAVE this "meantime"? Our asses are stuck at work almost all day! We can hardly do anything! And on our off days all we do are take short naps the whole day because of how sleep deprived we are!"

"Uhmm,,, well,,,," Terry tried so hard to think. He just wanted to make Korvo feel better, in this instance, at least.

Terry slid his hands to Korvo's back, moving one up to his face and cupping his cheek.

"We have now?"

Korvo sighed in exhaustion. "Yes, i guess, technically we do. but im so tired and we need the sleep for work tomorrow. What can we possibly even do right now?"

"Make out?"

"hmm,, it HAS been a while-"

Before Korvo could start a new thought, Terry brought his face close and locked his lips with his, suckling rythmatically with Korvo as his hands caressed his body. Korvo's grip on Terry's boring pajamas tightened, only to release and wrap his arms around Terry and squeeze hard.

Terry flicked his tongue through the opening of Korvo's lips and licked at the other, Korvo widening the kiss and reciprocating the gesture. Korvo pushed his weight onto Terry's and rolled Terry over onto his back, laying on his lap and continuing to go at it with their mouths. Terry reached his one hand down to rub his thigh while the other remained on his back.

They squeezed and kissed at each other continously, each of them moaning into each other. All they wanted was here, right now. Just some nice time alone, doing something relaxing and comforting.

"Oh god," Korvo spoke between breaths, "I love you Terry. i love you so much. This is all i want right now. I just want to be a happy family again."

"We'll get that soon, Korvotron. For now, just kiss me."

And they went right back at it. This time, Korvo let his weight sink into Terry's instead of pushing on it, and Terry took the opportunity to push Korvo over and straddle him instead, laying over him and pinning him down by the wrists.

A trail of saliva trickled down both their chin's, slobber connecting them both by their mouths. They just wanted each other, to melt all their stress away into quality time spent together. They wanted to have fun again, do sci-fi shit again, be partners and be a family. They wanted to do dumb fun things together again, like binge watch new seasons of their favorite shows on hulu, or more intimate things like make love. All they wanted was to be together and to not have to worry about this shithole planet with their shithole rules and societal functions. some of it was great but, the rest of it was absolute garbage.

After more minutes of kissing passionately at each other, they both parted for a quick breather. Korvo wiped his chin, ridding it of the sticky saliva he shared with his partner.

"Ohhh, we haven't kissed like that in a while."

"Heck yeah, now im all excited! We should totally fuck, too."

"Hm- maybe on our free night. We have to work tomorrow."

Terry was suddenly in shock. "Oh hell, i totally forgot about that." He put a hand to his forehead and leaned over weakly. "Wooah, and i forgot how fucking burnt out i was."

"Yes, lets get some rest. We'll overthrow our shitty jobs and become space nerds again some other day."

Terry scooted back over to his respective side on the bed and patted down at his clothes, and Korvo the same. They repositoned the blanket to be more evenly spread, and after struggling with trying to make sure they both got even amounts of the blanket, Korvo just pulled Terry over to his side to cuddle.

"Oh Great thinkin Korv, now its easier to share!"

"Mhm,," Korvo sunk his face into Terry's shoulder, smiling at the warmth of his partner and at the closeness.

Terry patted Korvo's back and yawned. "Well, now im really tired. eugh. Goodnight Korvy, i love ya."

"I love you too, dummy."

They both held onto each other in a tight embrace and closed their eyes, finally letting themselves wait for sleep to come to their minds.

An hour passed.

"psst, hey korv, i cant sleep. wanna make out again?"

[andi-is-bored]

no you are so cool!! but i getcha i am the least cool person irl it’s not funny

OK so movies: mamma mia, it’s a classic and has fucking good music whats not to love. a knights tale, a movie my parents love that i now love. free guy, im in love with ryan reynolds and joe keery a little but it’s also just a really fun movie. deadpool, the best superhero movie honestly and again, ryan reynolds. and pitch perfect, this movie was my childhood it’s so stupid but also awesome and i’m in love with anna kendrick!

now i never finish tv shows but some that i really like are: the sandman, cause it’s so weird but epic and episode five i think? amazing, peak television honestly i love that episode. the west wing, it’s about the us president and his staff working in the white house, so if you like that kind of thing than yeah! lockwood and co, it’s only 1 season and was canceled but it’s so fun and a little spooky but in a fun way. the imperfects, its a sci-fi series and it’s SO cool! also only 1 canceled season (fuck netflix omg) but yeah

BOOKS! the lunar chronicles by marissa meyer is so much fun im rereading it rn and the world is just so cool just, yeah read it pls and tell me how it was! VICIOUS BY V. E. SCHWAB IS SUCH A COOL BOOK IF YOU LIKE SUPERHEROS AND MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERS READ IT PLS! and the once upon a con series by ashley poston, it’s a really cute and nerdy fairytale retelling series and it’s so good and i need more books but i don’t think she’ll write anymore and it makes me sad :( ANYWAYS YEAH!

omg this was so long i’m so sorry, anyways <333

kit you’re so fucking cool and your blog is awesome and CONGRATULATIONS ON 200 FOLLOWERS!!!

american horror story and midnights pls <33

Plz give me a suggestion while u wait for ur moodboard :)

Also thanks <3 I rlly don't deserve the compliments tbh bc I'm actually uncool irl lmao

[wistfulrat]

a 4-part rec list of my fave drarry fics - the thrillers, dramas, soft bois, and wankbanks getting me through 2020′s shitstorm

[ for my fellow fledgling drarry stans bc im also very new here! like tbh i think the last fic i read pre-pandemic was a 1D ziam series back in 2013?? lmao god. but alas, after reading HP fanfic for the first time during lockdown & subsequently 300+ drarry fics since then, it is time. it’s time to be embarrassing about it online via lengthy rec lists. and if you end up loving any of these fics? follow the authors, leave kudos & comments on their work, send them nice msgs bc they do all this shit for free & that’s wild ]

part 1: thrillers

mood: for when i need something exciting, haunting, immersive, fast-paced

includes: case fics, mystery fics, plotty adventures!! expansive world-building, time warps, magical theory, wizarding politics!! the thrill of a chase!!! you’ll get your drama & spicy sex but mostly it’s the unravelling that hooks you. because for these?? you’re here for the ride, bitch.

Shibboleths by @lol-zeitgeistic​​ - 100k - E Douglas Adams sci-fi fantasy rom-com wet dream. i'm mad about how good it is. the boys are hogwarts professors and something Scary Big is happening in the magical world and the Dursleys are here?? i audibly gasped, i laughed, i remained on the edge of my fucking seat the whole time

Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by @waspabi​​ - 93k - T canon divergence excellence!! jkr*wling is punching the air rn. harry doesn’t learn he’s a wizard till he’s 17 and he’s Miffed. voldy is ruining everything, the Order is underground. hermione’s got her own band of rebel teens. also draco’s here and he's very gay for harry and very mad about it. road trips, tent sleeping, hijinks, guerilla warfare, seizing the press, feisty kids out to fuck ur shit uP while flirting a little. this is honestly an all-time fave.

If an Injury Is to Be Inflicted by @shealwaysreads​​ - 45k - E ANARCHIST DRARRY IS GOD TIER and the pacing here is relentless. it’s a post-war hellscape and harry’s missing and draco is scheming. it’s violent, it’s sexy, it’s tightly written, it’s got observations on the cost of survival and revolution, it’s brilliant.

Azoth by @lol-zeitgeistic​ - 88k - E 8th year magical theory time and the boys are Ambitious in a hot-mad-scientist kind of way. harry is a late-bloomer Swot and has a heart-boner for genius!draco and draco tries not to have a gay panic about it?? there’s animagi, alchemy, poetic theories of change!! & lots of bird metaphors. immaculate

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by @letteredlettered​​ - 54k - E a spy and his handler ohmygoD I'm a hoe for missions of the impossible sort and secret identities!! & the unravelling of said identities!! the need to be seen at war with the need to escape. draco & harry as equals, evenly-matched and whip-smart and terrifying on the battlefield?? incredible

Who We Are in The Shadows by @quicksilvermaid​ - 100k - E an ex-auror. an elusive investigator. boys Gone Rouge. it’s very hot of them in a magical-bourne-identity kind of way. powerful werewolf harry + intelligent draco + outmaneuvering bad guys outside the law?? there’s a reason you’ve seen this specific creature fic in every drarry list bc IT’S FUCKING EXCELLENT IS WHAT IT IS

Turn From Stone by @harryromper​ - 45k - M post-war hogwarts castle-magic turned malevolent as shit and it might be lost forever except!! hermione’s going to save the day and her plan’s seedy as hell but the DA gang + draco are all here. an adventure fic feat. the black lake but even more ominous, haunted common rooms, libraries of death, flying daggers, deception, ancient spells, drarry fighting for their lives but in a hot way.

The Art of Shadow Boxing by @tommylane​ - 178k - E draco’s a professional fighter in Thailand and oh shit harry’s here but he hasn't seen harry in 7years?? and what the fuCK happened during their AU horcrux adventures with the trio that made draco disappear to Thailand?? something is amiss. mafia moms, wrestling sexily, so much pining, flashbacks, pentagrams. draco needs a hug.

The Fall of the Veils by @letteredlettered​​ - 60k - M "muggles find out about wizards, wars are fought, apparition is abolished, political conspiracies abound, draco is asexual, and harry has legilimency sex with him” -- IS THAT SUMMARY NOT FUCKING WILD I WAS HOOKED. the scale of this fic is breathtaking and makes you appreciate the labor of world-building in genre fics bc the political and moral complexities of this fic, bitch??? lives rent free in my head

REVOLVELOVER by @firethesound​ @lol-zeitgeistic​​ - 46k - E hit-wizard harry and anti-government extremist draco!! ethics, political corruption, car chases, subterfuge. and god the mood of this fic. the characterization! weaponized-stoic-hurting harry. obsessive-anarchist-yearning draco. carnal, us-against-the-world kind of love. hmm I would simply die for thEM.

Like Clockwork by agentmoppet - 40k - E curse-breaker draco and unspeakable harry!! they’re both hoes for puzzles. harry has a Secret and broods a lot. draco is pissy about it. they’re both too clever for their own good. featuring mysterious objects with a side of trust issues and wanting to murder your crush.

Burn the Curtains and the Wine by @nerdherderette​​ - 24k - E mr. and mrs. smith but it’s harry and draco and it’s exactly as hot and exciting as it sounds. the secret lives of married assassins feat. car explosions, sexily dueling in the desert, draco wielding muggle weapons!

In The Hand by aideomai - 28k - T HELL YEA DRARRY MULTIVERSE BITCHES LOVE THE DRARRY MULTIVERSE. harry’s been missing for months and now we’re dabbling in other dimensions, messing with time travel, racing against the clock, meeting every version of drarry you’ve ever read about. fics within a fic!! god I love it I would read anything aideomai writes tbh, they invented thrill and they do it with less than 30k words?? the talent

Crossing Lines by ren @alcoholicrevo - 48k - E smuggle rings, undercover investigations, draco being hot, harry being flustered by draco being hot -- all of this taking place on a swank train with themed sections and everything. it’s magical murder on the orient express time, bitch!!

Tales from the Special Branch by @femmequixotic​​ - 1.2m - E a 5-part, multiple pov, behemoth of an auror-fic series worthy of its hype bc you know what? it truly Has It All - murders, drama, sex, treason, spooky magical shit, political conflict, drama-ridden relationships, a truly complex & full-bodied cast featuring the Hot Slytherins. jkr*wling fucking WISHES she had the range

[part 2: dramas | part 3: soft bois | part 4: wankbanks]

[gizkasparadise]

watch update!

about halfway through the umbrella academy s3:

man they just. dont know what to do with allison, do they? 

luther is really enjoyable on his own or when he’s interacting with his siblings, but luther/sloane is like watching paint dry and i have 0 idea what she sees in him lol

no. 5/aidan gallagher continues to be awesome/perfectly cast. even as he’s getting older, i still just see a burned out retiree in an angry child’s body

this fucking cube is killing me (appreciative)

the sparrows are fun! their tote bags of swag was incredible

klaus being amish is the most onbrand thing and i love it (and him)

glad viktor finally gets an arc that isnt ENTIRELY seeped in angst

the accents they have people from dallas do....continue to be a mystifying choice to me

LEOBEN CONOY?!!!!!!!!!!!

even when i dont agree with the writing choices, this show is always 100% fun to watch and i love that

in drama news:

i tried out alchemy of souls and it was too dense for my brain at the moment. i always have that problem with fantasy/sci-fi stuff where i have to calibrate for the world-building so i think im gonna put this one on pause and see what happens. hong sisters are so incredibly hit or miss for me (ex: loved girlfriend is a gumiho + hotel del luna, HATED master’s sun), so i’ll just tumblr!watch for now

i want to finish bloody heart but lmao knowing it has a happy ending killed my enthusiasm a little. i’ll get back to it eventually!

tried money heist: korea, but the first like 3 minutes with that random BTS/ARMY stuff was so...asinine? that i immediately backbuttoned lmao. i’ll give it a try again later because park hae soo and kim ji hoon are 💯

i’ve stalled out a bit on shining for one thing despite really enjoying the first few eps because the female lead is way too dense for a late 20 year old (ex: parents having an “affair,” everything maizi, etc.) and the sound effects are starting to get grating. i know there’s a pivot some point in the series where it goes from fluffy to angst/tragedy and so i’ll muscle through to that point in the hopes that things turn around. it makes me really appreciate how someday or one day wrote alice ke’s characters, because the 29 year old felt like she was 29 even when she was time-travelling back to high school/interacting with high schoolers

[junkworldusa]

belated book asks, thank you for indulging me!

1- What book are you currently reading? bros karamazov, 2/3s through atm.

i hate that i’m thinking about pathologic (video game) the entire time but i can't help it. the way characters are constantly bursting into people's houses & going "you’re an angel, you're the best person i've ever met, you're a saint" to someone they just met 5 minutes ago is so. distinct. i joked on twitter that the first half of the book is just alyosha running around completing sidequests, which i still think is true, but once i got to the grand inquisitor part i was like "Okay mr dostoevsky, you’ve got me."

2- What book did you recently finish? "selections from science & sanity" by alfred korzybski, recently featured in the gumby quotes. a while back i listened to a 6 hour long interview with robert anton wilson where he talks about korzybski & general semantics so i gave it a shot. it's an abridged version of a 900 page book & i definitely plan on reading the full work at some point, it's wild. if you’re interested in language, consciousness, the gap between words & meaning, and/or hacking your brain i would recommend it. he repeats himself a lot but that's a side effect of his pedagogy, the goal of which is the eventual re-wiring of your entire nervous system in order to achieve a more rational worldview/healthier reactions to things. (so repetition via words/sounds/actions is necessary 2 engage the organism-as-a-whole.) the most important takeaway for me is that everything & everyone you interact with is a completely unique object, and this necessarily extends to temporality-- Bob in 1999 is NOT the same person as Bob in 2010, and treating them as though they were is a harmful mistake. interestingly enough, im taking a class with J.F. martel (weird studies podcast, author of "reclaiming art in the age of artifice") & last night he said what amounts to exactly the same thing, except he was arguing for like, a soft animism (i-thou vs. i- it) & korzybski was arguing for a more "rational" & secular world. so fascinating.

3- What’s a book that’s been on your to-read list for a long time? ulysses. i know. i know. i have a copy but keep bouncing off of it. idk why, i liked portrait of the artist as a young man. i think i’m worried i’ll turn into this person:

4- What’s the next book you’re hoping to read? i just got "speech play: research & resources for the study of linguistic creativity" in the mail so probably that. i'm on a childlore kick rn & this is like... horizontally related 5- Is there a book you own, but aren’t planning on reading?

around 2 years ago i was walking home after a show high on E & i ran into a guy i had met at work a couple times. went over to his apartment because MDMA is like, "everything is SO meaningful and SO much fun." i barely remember our conversation but he ended up being like "you would like this book, here take it, i have 3 copies." so i now own a copy of "the eater of darkness" by robert m coates. i still haven't read it. the moral of this story is [???]

6- What was your favorite series as a kid? Would you still read it now? so many of you asked this question :P

THE TRUTH: i was obsessed with lotr from age 8 to 13 with a level of dedication that i've never known since. yes, i would still read it now. i reread the silmarillion last year & it was naturally a way more rewarding experience than when i was a kid! 8- Fantasy or sci-fi? i like & have read a lot of older sf/f (le guin asimov pkd etc etc) but im not actively into either nowadays. i read whatever reaches me from the queer sf/f twitter pipeline (like whatever's on wizards vs lesbians) but otherwise dont pay much attention. so the answer is "idk!!!”

12- Have you ever read a celebrity memoir? If so, whose was it? the only memoir i've read in recent years has been "memories, dreams, reflections" so if jung counts as a celebrity, there you go 14- Fiction or non-fiction? non-fiction in both quantity of books owned & what i prefer reading. i almost view them as 2 separate activities bc the motivation for & experience of reading them are so wildly different 15- Favorite fiction genre? i know i said im not "actively into" sci fi but 16- Favorite non-fiction genre? "philosophy" i guess. i also really love any phenomenological/experience-based studies of paranormal stuff, like "the terror that comes in the night" by david hufford or anything by jacques vallée. basically books that both a) take strange experiences seriously & b) examine/catalogue them scientifically (to whatever degree). 

22- How do you organize your books? “poorly” 26- What’s your favorite book? fav non-fiction book: “time loops” by eric wargo. what if freud's career-making "irma dream" was a premonitory dream about the oral cancer that would severely impede his quality of life in his old age? (fantastic blog entry by the author, serves as a kind of intro to this topic: http://thenightshirt.com/?p=4326 )

when i read “time loops” it felt like everything i had ever read (& will ever read future tense) was for the sole purpose of understanding it. “time loops” picks up where J.W. dunne's 1927 "an experiment with time" left off. i won't say too much more about it but everyone should read it. it's so smart & engaging & will totally blow your miiiind, maaaan speaking of "an experiment with time," in 1964 a guy named vladimir nabokov began an experiment of his own following the directions dunne laid out in his book. dunne encouraged readers to write down their dreams in order to test the theory that a later event could generate an earlier dream.

nabokov’s experiment with dreams & time strongly influenced “ada or ardor: a family chronicle” which happens to be my favorite novel. i first read it when i was 18, and i've reread it 3 times since then (with the help of ada online, my beloved http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ ) i would not recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t already like nabokov & know what he’s about. it’s fucked up & self indulgent & i love it so much

30- What character do you connect with the most? when jung said he was bad at math? i felt that

[peachypunk22]

Harringrove Feedback Fest

not me participating in something when I haven’t been active in months 😅 

fic recs from AO3 authors that inspire me! these fics are all incredible and i’ve re-read each one listed multiple times!! 

@gothyringwald thank you for putting this together! its such a cute idea!

knit more tightly together by lymrics (E) @lymricks

part one of the blues in chicago series. i think one of the first harringrove fics I read. love the steve/billy dynamic and so emotional and high tension that im pretty sure it made me cry at some point? even though it’s not a sad fic! idk it just really pulled some emotion up. literally the fic that got me into the fandom and wanting to write for it! the whole series is amazing!

Steve takes a second to feel relieved it's not Dustin getting all sorts of arrested in places he shouldn’t be, then he goes back to staring.

It's Billy, who looks as good now as he did the last time Steve saw him: three years ago. He looks just as complicated, too. He’s got bruises on his face, a split lip.

star-crossed bullshit (black holes feast) by ?? (E)

this work got orphaned, but i’m so glad the author didn’t delete because it’s one of my all time faves! strong dom/sub undertones and messy relationship with an incredible use of the unreliable narrator! plus it has mechanic!billy 

Billy makes a mixtape for when he fucks boys, except it’s on Spotify, and he’s only fucking Steve, and all the songs are oddly, and suspiciously, romantic.

liquor (on your lips, makes you dangerous) by eternalgoldfish (E) @eternalgoldfish

i love a college!au with some gross hot Billy and this one is so good. equal parts cute, funny, and sweet with a side of kinky that I hadn’t read before

“Careful, sweetie, don’t break a nail,” Billy said, leaning over Steve’s shoulder, lazy cat’s-grin gleaming up to his eyes.

“I’m not going to break a fucking nail.” Steve hissed and elbowed him, like he hadn’t been thinking the same thing as he struggled to wedge one of his shiny red nails into his wallet’s tight leather pockets.

Or, Steve makes a bet he can't win and Billy doesn't realize his mistake.

i’m saucing on you by Boardingschooled (E)

speaking of college!au’s this one has fratboy!Billy being gross hot in all the best ways. also sweaty concert grinding, boys being absolutley smitten, and waffle house breakfast dates? it’s like college slaps you in the face and makes you listen to AMINE and it’s great

Steve wants a ticket to the biggest party on campus; Billy's got one with Steve's name on it.

Tale as Old as Time by hoppnhorn (M) @hoppnhorn

i’m an absolute sucker for beauty and the beast au’s and hoppnhorn is such a fantastic writer that i had to include this one

Prince William, imprisoned in the form of a beast, can be freed only by true love. What may be his only opportunity arrives when he meets Steven, a man who bewitches him from the very moment he steps foot in his enchanted castle.

Honeyed Wine by Antarc (T) @rascheln

am i biased because this fic has literally all of the thing i like because it was written for me? perhaps. but for real, this fic is SO sweet and well-written! it has baker!billy and a twist at the end that i did not see coming at all. every time i read it i just have a huge smile on my face

While he recovers from an injury at Robin's farm and helps run her market stall, Steve unexpectedly reunites with his old high school rival. Billy, once a tough asshole who got into weekly fights, is now a proud owner of the best bakery in town and mans the stall right next to Steve's- with the best croissants Steve has ever eaten.

samarra by gothyringwald (T) @gothyringwald

i think this was the first fic in a long time that i’ve read that took a more gen/mystery/sci-fi approach, with the romance taking a backseat for most of it, and honestly this fic made me remember how much i like reading. the story and universe building is excellent. very trippy and gives off a lot of twin peaks dream walking surrealist vibes.

When the kids bring Billy back from the dead, it doesn’t go quite as expected: he’s alive but his soul has been left behind. And Steve is the only person who can bring it back.

Salt in the Wound by SheWritesDirty (E) @shewritesdirty

if ‘fuck your enemies’ was a genre, this would be THE fic. rough, gritty, and violent. I could wax poetic about how much I love the writing style and imagery and how different it feels in comparison to other fic. steve and billy are toxic and messy and so bad that its good

The way he ate slow, like his jaw hurt. Like it was tender, like whatever had put that bruise on his face had left more of an impact than just… flesh and bone. And now that he was seeing it... Steve knew that he hadn’t done that to Billy.

That someone else had, after that night and over the weekend... someone else had gotten their hands on Billy and put karma into his skin.

And he still hadn’t looked at Steve.

Here I Go Again by HeckinaHandbasket (E) (WIP) @heck-in-a-handbasket

oh god oblivious!Steve is top tier in this A/B/O fic. combine with a lifeguard!billy that’s trying (and failing) in his rough, fumbling way to make it obvious that he’s courting him and you get this adorable mess. it’s so sweet and funny and the rest of the gang are actual little kids that run around and create havoc. i’m always excited when it updates!

Not just a new lifeguard, either. No, Billy was the lifeguard supervisor.

Because of course he was, the prick.

Swing Away by lemonlovely (E)

sports!au sports!au sports!au - specifically a baseball!au that actually serves as a really cool character exploration of billy and his dad and sports. this one is so bittersweet and i love the dynamic between steve and billy as they figure out a rocky start to a friendship and romance

Steve and Billy go to the same Hawkins Baseball Camp that Steve's been going to since he was a kid, and Billy is not particularly thrilled to be there - he fucking hates baseball, alright? And he tells Steve as much.

lamp-bright rind by nagdabbit (G) 

chef!Billy teaching his neighbor Steve how to cook au. unbelievably sweet and a writing style that is unique, expressive, and comedic. you really fall in love with the characters, as flawed as they may be, and the descriptions of food. did i mention its an almost 100k slow-burn? 

Billy spies on his cute neighbor, his cute neighbor doesn't know how to cook. Luckily, Billy can do something about that.

[lady-grace-pens]

This or That: Writer Edition Tag Game

@writingonesdreams tagged me to do this! Major thanks to you!! I’ve actually wanted to do this tag for a bit now lol

1. Historical or futuristic?

Futuristic just doesn’t fit my vibe at all lol, plus it’s kind of boring. I’m a huge fan of history and vintage things! Always have been

2. Opening chapter or closing chapter?

I haven’t written many closing scenes yet, but I feel like I would be much much better with them as compared to the opening scene.

3. Light and fluffy vs. Dark and gritty

I thrive off of the drama I give my characters lmao, give me angst any day

4. Animal companion or found family?

5. Horror or romance?

Hot tip: I’m a big sucker for cheesy Hallmark romance movies and I’m not afraid to admit it ;p

6. Hard or soft magic system?

I honestly have no idea. I haven’t read or written enough fantasy or done enough research in order to really form an opinion on this

7. Standalone or series?

I don’t have any plans on writing a series. Right now I prefer to write standalone novels that have enough potential set up for a sequel if I so desire to write one in the future. I feel like that’s a happy medium between the two

8. One project at a time or always juggling 2+?

I’ve said this before, but I like to dedicate all my love and attention to one story at a time. I can’t imagine trying to juggle any more than that, so huge props to those who are able to!

9. One award winner or one bestseller?

Both. Both is good

10. Fantasy or sci-fi?

Fantasy! By far. Im so sorry, but sci-fi is just so boring to me 😂

11. Character or setting description?

I feel like I’m good at both. Characters have my heart but I’m also good at describing things! Especially places.

World building though… uuuuuggggghhh 😂 I HATE it. Like I need to do it because I don’t usually set my stories in an actual real life town or country, but still. It’s hard as fuck and I dread doing it.

12. First or final draft?

Oooh boy, I’ve got enough to say about this to write a whole post and start a little conversation 😂

The short of it though, is this. As of right now, I like investing all of the love, planning, and care that I possibly can into my first drafts. That way it’ll resemble the final product and I’ll save myself future frustrations. Quality over quantity, pay attention to all the little details, and focus on making the story exactly as how I see it happening. That’s my personal attitude towards this, and that as a result does make me a slow writer which sucks ass. But hey, you can’t have it all right?

Besides, the payoff seems worth it to me in the end. I’d rather have a first draft that I enjoy instead of something I hate and will have to rewrite and edit to death.

13. Literary or ‘commercial’ genre?

Both? Neither? As a reader, I don’t really look at one vs the other. I just enjoy stories that I enjoy.

As a writer though, my talents tend to be with literary, character focused stories

14. Love triangle in everything or no romantic arcs?

I tend to not enjoy romance outside of the actual genre itself. I typically avoid writing it in my own stories. It’s only when I can’t imagine a certain pair of characters being separated that I include romance. Usually though I don’t enjoy it as a writer and reader. I like to focus more on showing interesting family dynamics and strong platonic relationships.

15. Constant sandstorm or rainstorm?

Both of these choices sound evil to me. Give me sunny and 75 degree weather by all means 😂 Buut if I had to choose, I’ll take the rain because I’ve never been in a sandstorm before.

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Think I’m gonna leave an open tag for this one. If anyone out there who sees this and wants to join in, do it! This is your sign lol