#back to writing now hehehe

[ghost-bxrd]

how was your vacation? 🦉

It was great! Lots of great food and weather, got a lot of writing in, broke a rib, and finally got to try an iced white chocolate mocha and fell in love 💚💚💚✨

[quick-otp-prompts]

First and Last Sentences, Fic Prompt

"For you, I would take actions unbeknownst to me, and have realizations of which were once thought of as inconceivable."

"Your love is a key that unlocks all doors."

[umbracirrus]

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @hircines-hunter , @oblivions-dawn , and @thequeenofthewinter!!

“That’s my mother alright – stubborn enough to leave Skyrim just so that she could be with my father...”

>:3

Tagging @skyrim-forever , @nyarevar , @bostoniangirl21 , @illumiera , and anyone who wants to share a last line, no obligations of course-!!

[queenofbaws]

from the call me up at midnight prompt list:

"talk to me, what's going on?"

Waking up didn't happen quickly - not for him, not anymore. There was no sudden jolt startling him into the land of the living, no magical moment where his eyes snapped open and the day's events slotted cleanly into place. Instead, he found himself being pulled slowly, inexorably, up and up and up, as if from some great depth; the darkness grew less, a few rays of light shimmered above, his body remembered how to float bit by bit, and then...

James pulled in a long, aching breath. It was too bright to open his eyes, the violent red of his eyelids reminding him that he'd left the drapes open before he'd fallen asleep, so he took to slapping around the nightstand to find the phone, relying on muscle memory. Even so, it took him until the fourth (fifth?) ring before he found the receiver. Another still before he managed to lift it from its cradle and bring it to his ear.

"Hello?" he croaked, then winced, pressing hard against his sinuses with his other hand as he tried again. "Hello?"

The line was quiet for a moment. And then she spoke, her voice soft and cool as the other side of his fevered pillowcase. "James? Honey? Are you all right?"

He wished he could say that did it, that the sound of her voice was enough to flip some magic switch inside of him, but...well. Maybe it had been, once. Things had changed, though, life was different now, and while there would always be a part of him soothed and comforted by the shape of her words, the bourbon had beaten her to it tonight. Today. This morning? Hell, he wasn't even sure.

James rubbed his eyes, but the thought of opening them was still too much. He pinched the phone between his ear and shoulder, pressing the heels of his hands hard against his eyelids until his vision seemed to sparkle. "I'm fine," he said, and he'd give himself this much at least - he'd managed to sound halfway convincing while saying it. "How are you? It's early for you to be up, isn't it?" Maybe not as convincing as he'd hoped, on second thought. "Is everything all right?"

The line was quiet. Not perfectly so, but quiet enough for him to notice the absence of the usual sounds, the beeps of the monitors, the hiss of oxygen from her cannula, the low, distant chattering of the nurses and doctors as they went about their lives acting as though hers wasn't ending.

"...Mary?" he tried, his head far too heavy to even attempt sitting up. "Hey, talk to me. What's going on over there? Is everything - "

"Why?"

His stomach dropped. The shame, the guilt, it all came creeping back to him, slithering through the fog of his grogginess. It was the conversation he'd spent all of last night avoiding, the conversation he'd drowned himself in shitty whiskey to escape. They'd had it so many times, of late, replayed it in an endless, unwinnable loop, and there they were again, taking up their parts, same as ever: Her, the victim; him, the monster. He wondered how many times they could rewind this tape before the celluloid snapped from the heat.

"Mary, I - " he began, then realized he hadn't been able to come up with a good excuse when sober, much less hungover and half-asleep, feeling like something dredged up out of a lake. So he pivoted. Deflected. Bought himself a little more time, despite knowing full well it might be more than she had to give. "I'm coming to see you, all right? I am. Work's just been crazy, and my dad's been calling, and - "

"That's not what I meant." Something about the way she said it sent a chill through him, starting at the notch of his collarbone and moving down, down, down until it bisected him like a lover's caress.

Despite himself, he shivered. Why had he let himself drink so much last night?

"I don't...um..." He wracked his brain for what she'd meant, what she might've been referring to, but everything behind his eyes felt rusted over and sharp. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter against the light coming in from the drapes, the bright red splash of his eyelids, and after a moment, it came to him. "We've been over this. The doctor said you can't travel. I'm sorry - you know I am - but the drive to Silent Hill is bad enough on its own. To get to the hotel, there's a boat ride on top of that, and you're in no condition to - "

"No, James," Mary interrupted him, and suddenly her voice went flat. Robotic. It seemed to blend into the ambient static of the line, an electrical hum only mimicking his wife. It distorted, shattered, tore like old bedclothes being fed into an industrial grinder, "Why did you kill - "

He sat up with a gasp, a sudden jolt startling him back into the land of the living. His eyes snapped open. The events of the day slotted neatly back into place.

In the darkness of what had once been their bedroom, on the stripped and soiled mattress that had once been their bed, James sat back against the headboard and remembered why he'd started drinking that night. He looked to the window (the lacy drapes shut tight the way Mary had always liked), looked to the bedside table (her glass of water still beaded with condensation beside her pill caddy), and, after a brief moment of contemplation, yanked the phone cord out of the wall.

Just in case.

[archangeldyke-all]

she'll complain about a sore back for the rest of the night but the next time the girls ask to play 'ride the horsie' she'll agree

[bidisasterevankinard]

Wip Wednesday

tagged by @wikiangela @jesuisici33 @giddyupbuck thank you <3333

hope you had fun with my last post from criminals au cause we're back with you left me or secret wip angst (evil laugh)

Upon entering the room, Eddie can no longer hold back tears, seeing Buck so white and motionless on the bed, sharply recalling the events from Buck's last cardiac arrest. “But now he is not in a coma,” Eddie reminds himself that, “there is no ECMO around him that breathes for him. He's just sleeping after anesthesia and from everything his body has been through. He's just sleeping. He's alive, he's breathing, he's here.” “We get through it, ok? Just come back to me,” Eddie whispers these words into Buck's hand, which he took to feel his pulse himself. He knows that he should have taken a chair and sat down, but the pain of his knees hitting the floor is grounding, making Eddie feel like he begs someone more powerful to have mercy on them. On Buck. It almost feels like a good enough price to pay to be able to hold Buck's hand now.  It almost feels like he has a chance to hope that everything gets better eventually. That's all Eddie has right now. This hope and fear that Buck kicks him out as soon as Eddie tells him everything that happened to him.

tagging @911onabc @wildlife4life @watchyourbuck @eddiebabygirldiaz @rogerzsteven @rainbow-nerdss @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @transboybuckley @underwater-ninja-13 @pirrusstuff @spaceprincessem @spotsandsocks @spagheddiediaz @devirnis @daffi-990 @fortheloveofbuddie @heartshapedvows @honestlydarkprincess @hoodie-buck @hippolotamus @housewifebuck @jeeyuns @jamespearce9-1-1 @callmenewbie @bigfootsmom @bekkachaos @mandzuking17 @monsterrae1 @malewifediaz @steadfastsaturnsrings and anyone who wants

[spiritedstars]

Finally had a breakthrough on a chapter that I've been stuck on for AGES.

[keikaru]

When I was younger, I remember reading a volume from Heart no Kuni no Alice. I really enjoyed the characters, design, and the world--but I never got my hands on other volumes LOL. However, I remember REALLY liking Joker (White/Black), Julius, Blood Dupre, Elliot, etc. and really enjoyed the eponymous heroine, Alice!

Hoping my adoration for this series still holds true now that I'm older! I'm going to revisit this series and properly read through it now~!

[lae-zels]

The Raven Queen's eyes witness those beyond the Shadows, her lost ravens. I have kept her gaze fixed on the Abyss for now, but a heavy, cold breath just behind my head, of source unknown, causciously reminds me of how precious little time we have got left in these lands, my Shiver. Or perhaps it is your absence, a phantom presence at my side that is the cause of this uneasiness. But I remain resolute nonetheless. You will not see me fail for I wish not to see you give in to this sickness. Hasten with your search and do not stray from the course. We shall yet cast a shadow beneath our feet. Together.

[permafrown]

at this rate the only ship I'm focused on rn is heh.. me x my sigma grindset

[bookishjules]

officially have tsott chapters scheduled/queued through the rest of the year (admittedly including a holiday break through most of december) o7

[rinhaler]

omg I felt SO nauseous last night I can’t believe how early I fell asleep

[silverselfshippingchaos]

could cozy up to me- ahem

[cilly-the-writer]

SHADOWS OF SORCERY | Part 22 | “Shadow of Darkness” | 1,285 words  

Note: The final part! 

     Maybe Elora’s fears had been unfounded. 

     The Power Authority did not press very much about what happened. The investigation was quickly wrapped up, given that James Hemlock had confessed to everything and given that his abundance of magic cores further proved his guilt. A report was written up and Elora’s parents were to be released first thing in the morning. 

     They were brought to the school and as soon as their figures appeared through the path in the forest, Elora ran to them and her firelights tagged along right behind her. Beaming bright in the sunrise’s fiery glow.

     “Oh my—.” her mother got out just before Elora and her firelights bounded straight into them.

     “I knew you didn’t poison me!” Elora sobbed into her mother’s shoulder as they embraced her right back. She sank right into their warmth. It was like she was feeling all her “missing” at once—she felt all those days without them crashing together at the bottom of her throat. It was so pent up in her chest that she refused to let go for several more minutes.

     It took a lot of coaxing to get her to let go and believe they would not leave her.

     Imogene waited in the distance to catch up with them at the appropriate time. As soon as Elora had cried it all out and explained a few pieces of the story (she couldn’t tell them everything right now anyway), they all went to sit down around the school patio furniture outside the school’s residential building.

     Imogene conjured plates of food and they all ate and talked.

     It was the most wonderful morning that Elora had had in a long time. But after a long while, as they approached the afternoon, her parents insisted that she not miss her studies. They told her that they would not be going anywhere. They would come back to visit in the evening after they took a look around the house and made arrangements to settle back into society.

     Elora reluctantly let them go.

     She found it hard to study though. She flicked her pen around between her thumb and index finger, stopping to reread the passages where she kept getting distracted. She was too happy about her parents’ return to think about anything else.

     Until a knock came at the door.

     She went to open it and she found Charlotte standing there with a smile and a small red gift box in her hand.

     “I know you don’t really need it anymore—,” Charlotte said, “—but my father was able to get one and he said it was yours if you still wanted it.”

     She opened the box and a plant core glowed at the center. Vibrant like a marble with strokes of green leaves and petals of deep purple. Just like the Luminess core pictured in Imogene’s plant study books. 

     It was floating in a smaller box of purple light.

��He put it in a magic seal so you don’t actually have to claim it. I know—well, you know…”

     She was alluding to the poison core, suggesting that she wouldn’t be offended if Elora was skeptical. Elora held her breath and picked it up. If it was really a Luminess core… then she could feel its ambient magic.

     Her fingers cooled at its touch and the tension in her shoulders from (trying) to study faded with its magic. It was like a breath of fresh air. It was the real deal—a real Luminess core. Elora smiled and thanked Charlotte with a big hug.

     After they let go, Charlotte’s voice cracked as she went to speak again.

“There’s something else I wanted to tell you, Elora. I just—.” Charlotte moved to step inside her room and close the door. She cleared her throat to say it without sounding like she was going to cry. “I know… I know you’ve been hiding something. My father thinks he knows what it is, based on a report about some kid who was playing at one of the regional playgrounds… and I just want you to know that it’s okay. He won’t say anything.”

     Elora stared, having stopped breathing until Charlotte finished talking.

“I know that’s why you got close to me… It’s okay. You don’t have to be friends with me anymore. I won’t tell anyone. I know I’m very quiet and I’m not very fun to hang around with. I don’t want to be a burden or impos—.”

     “Charlotte!” Elora pulled her back in for another hug, squeezing even harder. “Don’t say that! You’re not a burden. You’re my friend!”

     “Really?” Charlotte’s voice broke as the tears streamed down her face.

     “Yes,” Elora pulled away to go seek out her tissue box and hold it out to her, “you’re my friend… and you can call me Flora.”

     Charlotte’s lips quivered as she dabbed a tissue around her eyes. She sniffled a little bit before she went on.

     “That’s pretty.”

     A soft smile grew on Flora’s face.

     Once Charlotte regained her composure, she had even more news to tell. She told Flora that her father had saved something from all of the cores that had gotten confiscated yesterday. He had gifted one of the magic cores to the Regents Academy of Magic and the Dreamer Club would receive special privileges to access it first.

     “What did he save?” Flora asked.

     Mr. Gallison had saved the magic preservation ability. Convincing the Power Authority of its usefulness, thanks to Charlotte’s intense ramblings about their search for such an ability.     

     The very next day, they went to the magic holding room where it was being kept.   

     The magic core floated above a pedestal, suspended in gravity as its light captivated like a glass moon, the deep violet glowing as they approached it. They had invited Jaelin along too. He fought the smile forming on his face as he set his hands on the glass around the pedestal.

     He stood there, recollecting everything he had learned from his grandfather about dreamer magic systems (from seals to magic networks and magic interfaces)—a gift he did not possess—and applying it to his developer magic. He formed a set of silver wristguards and they appeared over the glass; then he turned to Flora, explaining his design intention in extensive detail. Very. Extensive. Detail. Flora wasn’t sure when he was going to finally shut up.

     Eventually, he passed the wristguards off to her and Flora held them to the glass. Her purple casting magic glowed at her fingertips as she held onto the wristguards. Instilling them with her own casting magic.

     They didn't stick around the magic holding room for very long. They went straight to one of the magic practice rooms afterwards. It was time to test out their prototype.

     “Whoa!” Imogene held her arms out in front of herself, inspecting the detail of the wristguards’ floral embossings and smiling wide as she swung her arm out. A bright purple field appeared over the wristguard—about the size of a frisbee.

     With another motion, she whisked the energy disc across the room. Almost striking Kaden in the chest before he jumped back and it sliced halfway into the wall beside him instead.

     “Hey!” Kaden narrowed his eyes. “I’m not training with you if you can’t control that thing yet!”

     Imogene recoiled at her mistake.

     “Sorry!” 

     Charlotte and Jaelin hid their laughter off to the side, having expected some troubleshooting. But Flora didn’t hide the smile that cracked on her face. She couldn’t help but smile at the couple of firelights that went over to pester Kaden after that—weaving in and out around him until he lightened up a bit.

     Feeling her own thoughts drifting out of the shadows of darkness.

[delta-piscium]

✨🌈☀️send this to ten people you're happy to see every time they pop up on your dash/notif and wish them a good day🌟🌈💥

been staring at this for a day like 🥰🥰🥰 filled with endless love and joy here, like so soft, and also right back at you, always thrilled to see you and I hope you have the loveliest day

[sysig]

Back, beast >:0 (Patreon)