#but also if i have to read this again i might explode because i wrote it a while ago and now it makes me mildly embarrassed sooo

[aster-go-brrr]

Just Say It

Ayato / Thoma - Wordcount: 1315 - Warning: Parental Illness The Kamisato siblings’ father is on death’s door. A pall hangs over the whole Kamisato Estate, and Thoma feels that all he can do is make sure things are kept neat and tidy. Ayato worries about the future, and buries himself in work to avoid thinking about it - most of the time, anyway.

AO3 Link Full text under the read-more

The situation in the Kamisato household seems to be... difficult, Thoma thinks as he absentmindedly sweeps the floor of a back hallway in the Kamisato estate. He has only been working for them for three years, now, but in all that time he's never seen Eizou, the Yashiro Commissioner, so unwell. It's just after noon, and the entire estate seems to be shrouded in a fog, deadening any sound and encouraging its residents to do their work quietly, in their own rooms. It makes Thoma feel uneasy, and when he feels uneasy, he tends to clean, as he's doing now.

Thoma is so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn't even hear the quiet footsteps approaching him from behind until the interloper announces himself.

"Ah, Thoma-kun, there you are. Do you have a moment?" Ayato's voice, always soft and gentle, still somehow makes Thoma jump a bit as he turns around to face the young Kamisato.

"Ayato? Is something wrong?" Thoma is more than fluent in the Inazuman language, but somehow he always stumbles over the proper honorific to address Ayato with.

Normally, he's able to use "-san" without anyone raising an eyebrow, but when he addresses Ayato as such, it somehow feels as though it saddens the other man. "-kun," he thinks, is out of the question, though that is how Ayato addresses him. "-dono," similarly, just feels wrong. And so, usually without thinking, he defaults to using no honorific, though he knows that with anyone else, that would be a terrible faux-pas - but Ayato seems to understand, and perhaps even enjoys the lack of formality.

Ayato shakes his head, long hair gently swaying side to side with the movement. "Not at all. I was just hoping to ask you something."

Curious, Thoma tilts his head. "What is it?"

"In my opinion," Ayato begins after taking a deep breath, the significance of which isn't lost on Thoma, "There is no chance that we won't find your father - it isn't a question of 'if' we'll find him, but rather 'when.' My question, Thoma, is... When we do find your father, what will you do?"

The housekeeper was taken off-guard. "...What?"

Ayato’s eyes are locked on him, and Thoma knows him well enough to know that he’s watching his expression closely as he speaks. "The whole reason you came to Inazuma in the first place is to find him, wasn’t it? Most of it, at least. But when we do find him... Do you plan to stay in Inazuma?"

Ah, Thoma thinks. So that's what Ayato was wondering about... "I... don't have a good answer for you yet, Ayato. To be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead... I will, though. And when I come up with an answer, I'll tell you."

Ayato smiles, and behind that smile, Thoma can feel a hint of sadness and weariness. "Thank you, Thoma-kun. Please take your time. If you want to talk more, I don't mind if you come visit me in my office."

Thoma can guess what answer Ayato is hoping for, and it's hard for him to resist the urge to say that, actually, he's made his decision now, and that he wants to stay. He knows, though, that that urge is borne not of his own certainty that this is what he wants, but from wanting to take a burden, however small, off of Ayato's shoulders.

If Thoma is here, then Ayato can have certainty that at least the estate will be kept in top shape. Thoma doesn't want to make such a large decision purely based off of one moment's feelings, and so, he decides, he'll mull it over. It does take a significant amount of restraint, however, to stop himself from reaching out and pulling Ayato into a tight hug.

He can only imagine how much stress Ayato is dealing with, and with that man's habit of rarely trusting anyone else, Thoma is sure that he must be buried not only under his own workload, but that of his sick father.

No matter how much he knows that rushing his decision would be bad for both himself and Ayato in the long run, he can't help but feel guilty as he watches Ayato walk away, as if him having his answer at the ready would have somehow saved Ayato all of this heartache and stress.

--Later--

By now, Thoma has swept every floor in the shared areas of the Kamisato estate, and even swept all the fallen leaves off the walkways outdoors. He still can't stop worrying about Ayato, and equally as much about Ayaka, Ayato's younger sister. With their father's illness, both siblings are no doubt under heightened stress, and Ayaka, having taken on their mother's workload after the older woman's passing, is currently in the thick of planning for the year's autumn and winter festivals.

Both of the Kamisato siblings have inherited from their parents a habit of overworking themselves, and in Ayaka's case that bad habit always rears its head just after the summer festival season.

Eventually, having swept all that there is to sweep (and then some more) within the Kamisato estate, Thoma sighs as he puts his broom away. It's been four hours since the last time he saw Ayato, and the last time he saw Ayaka was at breakfast - Ayato, however, had not been at breakfast with them, nor at lunch. As a matter of fact, Thoma hasn't seen Ayato at any meal in several days.

Ayaka is in Inazuma City for the day, Thoma recalls, so it's perfectly normal to have not seen her at lunch, but as for Ayato... Well, Thoma knows that he's prone to ignoring the necessity of such trivial matters as food and water when he's busy.

As such, Thoma decides to bring a small meal and some water to Ayato - he knows that Ayato hates eating in his office, due to the risk of sullying his paperwork, but if he doesn't want to eat in his office, then he'll just have to eat somewhere else.

Small bento and canteen of water in hand, Thoma knocks softly on the door of Ayato's office. The malaise over the whole residence still hasn't abated, and it makes the dainty little knocks seem like claps of thunder to Thoma's ears.

"Come in," he hears Ayato's voice call wearily from the other side of the door, and he enters, careful not to drop the bento or canteen as he turns the doorknob with one hand.

Stepping into the room, he says, "I noticed that I didn't see you at lunch, so I brought you a bento--"

Halfway through his sentence, Thoma's heart skips a beat. Ayato is slumped over his desk, face buried in his crossed arms. Did he even answer the door in his sleep?  "Ayato?! Are you alright?"

Hearing Thoma's voice seems to wake Ayato up a bit, and he mumbles, "Hm? Thoma-kun?" He sits up and turns to face the other man.

"A-Ayato... You, um, have ink on your face..."

"Oh? I do?" Ayato laughs quietly, "I must have fallen asleep at my desk... Oh dear, I hope I didn't smear these papers..."

"I think... that's not the main issue, Ayato. Have you gotten  any  sleep lately?"

"I have, indeed," Ayato says mirthfully as he stands up, his back cracking audibly. "Just now, in fact."

Thoma has to fight back an annoyed sigh. "Ayato..."

"Thoma-kun, I'll rest properly once I finish this batch of paperwork. For now, though, do you think you could help me wash this ink off my face?" He flashes a small, weary smile.

Thoma sighs deeply. "Alright... Just promise me that after we clean your face, you'll eat this bento." He holds up the bento for emphasis before carefully sitting it in a clear spot on a table next to Ayato's desk.

Ayato laughs again. "Alright - I promise."

[amsznn]

can you do a first time with matt? they’re not together yet but really like each other and hang out together a lot kinda vibe. she goes on a date with another guy to get her mind off of matt and when her date tries to take her home with him and have a one night stand, she’s super into it but then freaks out because she doesn’t feel safe and comfortable with the guy. the date kinda gets frustrated with the reader because she “led him on.” so she asks matt to come and pick her up and she breaks down and tells him everything. she explains that she wants that kind of intimacy with someone so bad but she’s embarrassed and has so much trauma that she needs to feel really safe and comfortable with whoever she crosses that line of intimacy with. basically matt asks her if she’s comfortable with him and she asks him to be her first? he’s SO sweet during sex with her, MAJOR praising towards the female and really passionate and intimate. i’m really wanting/envisioning a side of matt during sex that’s very very sweet and comforting, yet a little dominant and sensual at the same time! but definitely gentle with her since it’s her first time and TAKES HIS TIME WITH HER??? like how sweet would that be you know??? BEGGING YOU FOR THIS. 🤍🤍🤍 love your writing :)

NOTHING LIKE YOU - m. sturniolo

warnings: slight cursing, SMUT (don’t read if you’re uncomfortable), p in v, soft dom!matt

A/N: thank you for the request, hopefully i wrote it how you were imagining. again if you want me to fix anything lmk! <3

-

“going somewhere?”

you heard a familiar voice call out behind you. you turned around to see matt, your best friend standing in the doorway as you attempted to zip up the black silk dress you were planning on wearing.

“believe it or not, i am going on a date.” you watched his reaction through your mirror, not sure of what to make of it. but ultimately matt just put on a small smile before making his way towards your figure.

“who’s the lucky guy?” he asked before assisting you in zipping up the dress. you didn’t miss how his hands lingered for more than a few seconds, or how his eyes traveled all the way down your body, admiring you.

you simply shrugged off his question. “ill tell you if it becomes anything serious.” grabbing your purse off your bed side table, you took one final look at your appearance, deeming it was good enough. “i’ll see you later okay? don’t wait up.” you said as you grabbed your house keys.

before you could make your exit, matt swiftly pulled you by the waist, bringing you into a secure hug. “what’s up with you?” you asked amused while circling your arms around his torso.

“call me if you need anything, alright?” matt said while pulling back from the hug, still not ready to let go. maybe your heart stopped for minute, matter of a fact maybe it exploded. from the way matt was looking at you, it was enough to forget about the whole date. but you knew you couldn’t. there was no point on waiting on something that would probably never happen.

“okay matt.” you softly replied before breaking out of his grasp, leaving the house to make your way to your date.

-

so far, your date was going well. to your surprise your date was easy to talk to. he started conversations easily, and listened to you as spoke, which is why it was easy for your mind not to wonder to the brunette you left back at home.

you two had went to a semi-fancy restaurant and were laughing the whole night through. from cracking jokes, to telling one another funny stories, you thought this might just end well for you.

“how about we go back to my place after this?” your date said while paying for his portion of the bill since you insisted on splitting it. you smiled at this while also putting your card down.

“sure, why not?”

-

back at his house things escalated quickly. mere seconds after getting past the front entrance, his hands were all over you.

he held you as you two engaged in a heavy make out session, leading you towards his room, never breaking the contact. your arms unwrapped around his neck before falling back onto his bed. quickly climbing on top of you, he dives down to your neck, leaving a trail of kisses all the way down to your collarbone. you sighed and propped yourself up on your elbows, making yourself more accessible to him.

as his free hand road your dress up, your hands were busy fumbling to get his shirt off, just as eager. he paused for a moment, leaning towards his bedside table to look for a condom. upon finding it, he undid his belt, and pushed his pants and boxers all the way down.

his teeth teared open the condom wrapper, as you watched his every movement. you laid back down, shutting your eyes, trying to brace yourself for what was about to come.

the guy placed his elbows on each side of your head. you could feel the tip slowly prying at your entrance.

shit

shit

shit

“wait, i can’t!” you quickly scooted back to the headboard. the guy looked at you confused, before taking the condom off and pulling his boxers back on.

“what the fuck, you serious?” he asked, eyes scanning your face to see if you were just joking. you adjusted your dress, swinging your legs off the side of the bed. “i’m sorry, im just not ready.” you muttered before finding your panties scattered somewhere on the floor, quickly putting them on you rushed out of the room.

the guy followed suit, yelling accusations at you. “you’re just gonna leave like that!?” he called out after you. you didn’t dare to look back, not even bothering to slip your heels back on, you ran out his house and didn’t stop until you were a couple of blocks down. you collapsed on the sidewalk, quickly pulling out your phone to call your pinned contact.

the phone rang and rang, until finally you could hear matt’s groggy voice on the other side of the phone.

“hey, what’s up?”

“matt, i need you to come get me right now.” you said, trying to compose yourself so he wouldn’t worry. on the other side you listened as matt shuffled around to grab his keys, making his way out the house in an instant.

“i’ll be right there.”

-

matt arrived in less than 15 minutes, since your location was a good distance between his house. he slowed down when he saw you at the side of the road, coming to a complete stop before you fell into the car.

he saw the look on your face. he didn’t need you to tell him, he knew something went wrong.

when you guys made it home, you made your way to matt’s room, not wanting to be alone that night. matt stopped in the kitchen to grab you some snacks before making his way back to your figure laid on the bed.

he shut the door and dimmed the lights, in case they were bothering you. he left the snacks on the table beside your head before laying down next to you.

“wanna talk about it?” matt asked gently. he turned over on his side to face you better. you sighed and ran your palm down your face. tears dropping down the plump of your cheeks. you couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“we almost fucked,” you took a deep breath before continuing. “but i freaked out and ruined everything.” your eyes continued to water before you turned to face matt.

“what’s wrong with me?” your voice broke matt’s heart. to him there was absolutely nothing wrong with you. to him you were perfect, there was nothing that compared to you.

“hey, hey, hey” matt gently caressed your face while wiping your tears with his thumb. “there’s nothing wrong with being scared y/n. you don’t have to be ready right now.”

you let out another frustrated sigh. “but i am ready matt. he just..wasn’t the one i guess.” matt pulled his hand away from your face before looking into your eyes.

“then who is?”

your heart skipped another beat, or maybe two. he’s been right in front of you this whole time. the one you wanted, the one you needed. it was matt.

you shifted on your side before your hand made its way to matt’s neck. you watched his expression, for any sort of discomfort before connecting his lips with yours.

although the feeling of your lips on his brought matt to euphoria, he couldnt bring himself to do this while you were in a state of vulnerability, causing matt to back away from the kiss.

“y/n, are you sure about this?”

“yes matt, im really sure.”

matt smiled before pulling you in for another kiss, instead this one was more passionate, and desperate. your bottom lip hung open as matt took this as an invitation to push his tongue past the entrance. the atmosphere in the room only got thicker as matt shifted his body on top of you. you could feel the bulge in his pants rub against your core which made you whimper into the kiss.

“matt..please.” you gasped into the kiss.

“there’s no rush, baby. it’s just me and you.”

matt’s hands made their way down your body, reaching behind you back to undo the dress and reveal your breast out in display for him. matt dipped down, kissing all along the area, but purposely dodging the place you needed him most.

as matt’s hands went further, you could feel them just above your core. he could feel how wet you were through your panties. he made work to take them off, causing you to shiver from the exposure. you pulled at the hem of matt’s shirt, practically begging him to take it off. he complied, while also pushing his sweatpants, and boxers off. you couldn’t help but tense up, and do the same as before and lay back down to brace yourself.

matt grabbed a condom from his drawer, tearing it open and rolling it down his length. he could sense how tense you were. he gently placed his hand on your waist while looking into your eyes, trying to ease any of your worries away.

“i’ll go slow okay? tell me if you wanna stop.”

you whispered an ‘okay’ in approval. matt lined himself up with your entrance, slowly pushing in. your knuckles almost turned white with how much you were gripping the sheets to the new burning sensation.

“it’s okay angel, i got you.” matt reassured while caressing your face in hopes to calm you down.

matt groaned until he completely bottomed out. staying in place so you could adjust.

“fuck, you’re so tight.” matt breathed out.

you shivered at his words before taking a deep breath before telling matt he could move.

his thrusts were slow, but deep. enough to make you feel every inch of him.

“matt, can you go a bit faster?” you breathed out. matt nodded before propping himself up on his arms, making the snapping of his hips faster.

“oh god, matt!” you moaned out at the newfound pace. you mind was clouded with pleasure and the with the brunette in front of you. you reached up to push matt back down by his neck so your lips could clash against each other once again.

matt moaned against your lips, the clenching off your walls around him was enough to make him explode right then and there.

“you’re doing so good for me, angel.” matt whispered above your ear.

you whimpered, the combination of matt’s pace and the feeling of his lips peppering soft kisses all around caused your head to spin.

“matt, im gonna..” you could barely finished your sentence before matt’s free hand made it’s way to your clit, rubbing circles helping you chase your own high.

“go ahead baby, im right here.” matt mumbled, talking you through your orgasm.

“matt!” you cried out as you felt the knot in your stomach burst, leaving you a shaking mess as matt, also came undone, moaning your name as he rode out his high as well.

“fuck.” matt muttered before pulling out, which earned a shiver from you, still sensitive. matt made his way to the bathroom to clean himself off before coming back in his black sweatpants and a fresh towel for you. he gently cleaned you up, careful as he knew any sudden movement could cause you discomfort. you sat up before grabbing a clean set of matt’s boxers, and one of his sweatpants before collapsing back into bed.

matt did the same, pulling the covers over you two. his arm snaked around your waist, pulling you in closer. “are you okay?” he asked while peppering kisses along your neck.

“i’m amazing.” you chuckled while playing with the hand that held your waste.

“yeah, you really are.”

-

A/N: yall i………..i have no words, i dont usually write smut, I’ve probably written it like once but i decided to try smth new ig. I WAS GIGGLING THE WHOLE TIME. also message me if you wanna be moots, need some more. (need matt rn)

[breathinlove]

glue 002 ellie williams imagine

read this

sinopse: you might have a crush on your friend, college!au

cw: swearing, basically fluff, ellie plays soccer, puppy love again because that's my thing, slightly nerdy loser!ellie, reader and ellie are oblivious, not explicit if reader is fem or masc, not exactly proofread.

you had been up all morning, not up really, awake. it was 11:43 when you actually got up, sick to your core. niyah had checked on you before she left for her classes, leaving you some cash for lunch, it's not like you didn't have any but niyah just felt like a mom sometimes. she also gave you a forehead kiss.

you rubbed your eyes while your other hand hugged your aching stomach. you grabbed your phone and squinted at the brightness of the screen.

“shit fuck.” you hissed, boy did your head hurt. you had suspicions that ellie had made so much nervousness pile up in you that it was threatening to explode your head and your poor stomach.

you had always been a little… anxious and got nervous when you hung out with new people, especially without your best friends. they were your safe space, you smiled sweetly thinkin about them, so you read over the texts on your group chat ‘take ur meds’. never the instagram one, because it's just your friend luana spamming instagram reels.

you laughed at your phone, turning it off just to wait for your friends to show up, you knew they would. you grabbed a piece of fruit and sat down again.

you grabbed your little notebook where you did all of your journaling, you always read some pieces before actually writing in it, so you did that. ‘ellie’ this ‘ellie’ that, from just last night before you got sick. but maybe you had already been sick from the moment she stepped into the room.

sick in your stomach, crippling nervousness. you and ellie hung out so much 1 on 1, so you assumed that's what happens when two anxious people get together to talk alone, even though you had known each other for a while now. you didn't give it much thought, well maybe you did. you wrote in pink ink...

‘she's so cute’ ummm late night thoughts were so funny to read over, right? just hilarious. ‘ellie williams #8’ adorned with stars and hearts? you were already sick last night, for sure!

on the other side of campus, ellie was at class but her mind was on the same side of campus as yours. ellie was very much in tune with her feelings for you, she'd say. ‘we're so awkward, we need to get closer!’ that's all you two needed, right? just that. she sighted, you looked at her adorned name in your notebook, she imagined your face adorned with flowers and asteroids?

she needs to pay attention in class! she'll think about you later, she wants to text you but she'll see you at lunch anyways so she decides against the text. ellie tried her best to focus on her boring class, impatiently waiting to see you again.

abby had texted you a few to let you know she was coming over, she was your childhood friend, inseparable at that. caring and loving, gentle giant abigail anderson. she was now on your carpet in front of you bed.

“so, did you take your meds?” she laughed, abby was a med student and definitely a good one but damn her she didn't know shit about pharmacy.

they might’ve teached her some of it, but this girl had very selective memory, it's not like you know what they teach at med school anyway. but you still thought she should cure you everytime you got sick, all your other friends agreed too.

“yep, i looked it up. turns out my friend being in med school doesn't serve me anything.” you stretched my leg to touch her with your feet and she gave you a disgusted look.

“you're such a bitch to me, i came to see you, sick girl.” she grabbed you by the ankle and pulled you with no force.

“abbyyy!” you laughed and tried yanking your feet back and she used more of her strength. she laughed with you and you felt less sick.

you two kept it up until you were falling off your bed onto her, she grabbed your torso, manhandling you so you looked at her. she looked mischievous, she had something up her sleeve.

“how's our favorite soccer star?” she smirks and you look scared, head jumping up and hitting hers. “hey! ouch lil girl…”

she soothed her head before soothing yours, with harsh pats... you weren't sure if she was soothing you or actively making it worse. you both laughed again, what the hell was wrong with you? you had slipped out of her thighs and sat on the carpet, right next to her.

“she's…” you coughed. “she's alright, i saw her yesterday.” you nodded to yourself and abby nodded back.

“right… right…” abby stared at you, smirk still in her lips, waiting for something.

you thought of what she might’ve wanted you to say. you used your brain so much that you realized something, eyes widened and eyebrows furrowed.

"what? you look like you developed your first thought.” she chuckled and you looked frightened.

“i forgot to tell her i'm sick.” you searched for your phone around the carpet and the bed.

“why would you have to tell her?” abby leaned back, watching you look for you phone.

"you know, even if she was a nurse in your wet dream, i don't think she can help.” she added when you ignored her.

“abby.” you actually slapped her nape and she hissed. “we were supposed to have lunch together, i don't wanna be rude and leave her hanging.”

“oooohh you're bailing her on your lunch date.” abby loved pressing your buttons and she knew which ones to press.

“yeah, our date at the campus cafeteria, abigail.” you found your phone under a pillow, one that you were sure you checked before. whatever, you texted ellie.

“abigail is crazyyy…” abby got up and peeped your phone from behind and you pushed her face, the fat on her cheek smushed. “sweetness, let me see.”

abby had a big sweet tooth growing so when you became friends, her dad started calling you tooth and sweetness, since she could never get enough of you. she clinged to it even now, when she was being nice but really often when she pissed you off.

“fine, tooth.” you caressed the cheek you had pushed. she laughed and playfully bit your shoulder as you turned off your phone.

“it's fine, y/n. she'll understand, of course.” abby slurred, you turned to her.

“yeah, i know. i wanted to see her though.” you rubbed your nose sitting on the carpet again, followed by abby.

“you'll see her soon, it's alright.” she patted your head and you looked at her blankly. “what? don't wanna see me too?” she pushed you head and snickered.

“i do, stop abby!” you laughed, pushing her back.

“you gotta crush and now you're gonna abandon me and lua.” she shook her head. “you won't abandon niyah because you live with her, but who knows! you might move in with ellie.”

“what are you even talking about?” you chuckled at her while she tried to maintain a serious face. “i'm not abandoning anyone.”

"AHA! so you do have a crush on ellie, lil girl…” she laughed loud, slapping her knee, now it was your turn to maintain a serious face while she laughed.

“first, you’re not funny. second, i don't have a crush on anyone.” she arched her eyebrow you held her temples, pressing her eyebrows back to their place. “stop, i don't”.

“be for real with me, pookie wookie.” you cringed hard with her.

“you can leave.” you both laughed so loud until she stopped and tapped your lap. “but she makes me nervous.”

“i know she does, might be something, don't you think?”

“mmm, i don't think so, we're both pretty anxious people so…” you shrugged and abby did too, she'd never pry.

“you might be right, time will tell.” she casually says as gets up. “you wanna order some? “i'm hungry.” you nod and she takes her phone out.

ellie on the other hand, is frowning at your texts, she's upset she won’t see you and she's upset you're sick. she immediately texted her friends dina and jesse about it, asking to have lunch with them instead.

she'd waited for them to meet up with her on campus, holding her phone. she wanted to text you again, but you probably needed rest so she opted out to spam texting cat, who wouldn't reply to the groupchat texts. cat was a fucking ghost most of the times, even when they dated... girl gets busy. when dina and jesse finally got there they walked together.

“y/n bailed on you, damn.” jesse shook his head ironically and dina rolled her eyes.

“shut up, jesse.” dina tickled his ear and smirked. they were walking towards the local subway.

“yeah shut up, she's sick dude.” ellie replied, with little to no humor.

her friends noticed. her hands were in her jeans pockets and she was looking down, jesse and dina knew her all to well to know she was even just slightly upset. childhood friends are like that, you'd know. abby was exactly like that with you.

“what's wrong?” jesse asked, palming her shoulder. dina stopped walking but ellie kept going, making them get back to walking too.

“nothin’. it's dumb, i just miss y/n or whatever.” ellie slurred, looking at her sneakers. jesse and dina chucked and she snickered.

“okay, okay. my bad.” jesse looked sternly at dina so she'd stop laughing. “you had plans?”

“actually yeah, i was gonna invite her to see me play saturday.” she looked up.

“it's wednesday, man. you can ask her later.” jesse started. “right?” he looked for ellie's eyes.

“as in a date?” dina asked, not afraid to. ellie was always open with them, she wasn't embarrassed by her feelings even though sometimes she was confused.

“nah, not a date. and yes i can ask later, but i get nervous and… i dunno.” she held her fingers as she sighed.

“just say it, els.” dina chuckled, jesse and ellie chuckled back.

“yeah, alright. i want her to see me play but i get nervous to ask and i thought i’d do it today.” ellie laughed at herself. dina and jesse nodded, they understood her.

“it's alright, you will ask. don't worry, she's gonna be thrilled.” jesse slapped ellie's back and dina looked at him in disgust.

"thrilled" dina mocked jesse, holding her fingers up as quotes.

they all busted out laughing as they got closer to the subways shop, talking about the saturday game, but never distracted ellie from the thoughts of you.

taglist: @mikellie @amberputh @ellslvr @elliesactualgirlfriend @macaroni676 @onlinelesbo @aispike @kalyxvfx @ellieschair

[marisol-holme]

The retired good girls guide for writing

I haven’t always been able to understand myself. 

I never felt like I was able to clock pure basic needs. Couldn’t tell if I was hungry or thirsty. I finished my meals early, preferring to always feel full, in a silent critic of my mother and father’s controlling rule over my life. A few bites of fuck you always left on the plate. I liked to see how far I could push it. How little I could drink, sleep, or eat, and still function. A true desert island scenario would see me lasting years; I had inadvertently trained myself for it. Except my desert island was more devoid of emotional fulfilment and attention. 

I had to get creative. I developed some interesting tendencies, sure. But mostly I just wanted to escape. Now my parents never went out, and my internal world was already tumultuous at best, so I did what anyone would do and read. I read voraciously. The ability to turn off my hunger had seeped into all areas of my life. A fugue state dissociation through most of my early years through to adolescence. But I was able to come alive when I was reading. When I read, it was like my first breath. Hungry. I could imagine these worlds and built them up easily, colourfully within my mind’s eye. I'd picture the strong female characters that I admired. I’d taste food, hear music. It was the only time I was ever able to really live, before I had to go downstairs and pretend to eat.

Unwittingly, my upbringing fostered just the correct environment for me to develop a writer’s hunger. Because a writer is always a reader before they grow mad to write. I grew mad fast. I had to. I had to create worlds for me to escape into, away from all the shouting and fighting. Alchemise what I’d read into something new and original. It helped that I was an avid daydreamer, although a psychiatrist might call me a maladaptive daydreamer, but it only ever occurred to me when I was bored. Parallel to this, I grew into shame, so what I wrote I would throw away. I sadly have none of my early works. They are long decomposed into sub-atomic and absorbable waste, probably seeped into a water system somewhere and live inside all of you. Yuck. Not even my best work. 

Then I grew up and I had no dreams because I was not hungry. I hadn’t picked up a book in a long time. I dabbled with things that made me feel warm. Partying and shallow conversations. Grotty pubs and sticky clubs. Good friends made me feel a good kind of warm. But it took me a long time to find my way back to literature. Through a work stint as a Nursery Practitioner, I found my way back into writing. You see, at the nursery we had to send updates to parents all about what their children were getting up to. I enjoyed this task and wrote the children’s days like stories. Descriptive and alive. I’d got the bug and the bug had bit me. I didn’t last long once I had started writing again and I quickly found myself working at the Ideas Foundation. 

Through my new employer, I was encouraged to trial as much as possible to find out what I enjoyed doing. I was also very privileged to have access to several creative professionals who genuinely wanted to help and mentor those younger than them. Mentors can see all your ducks and help you to get them in a row. My ducks were all over the place and needed very graceful guidance. You push my ducks too much and, well, they explode. Poof!

Speaking to seasoned professional copywriters, I was able to glean their persistent journey into the profession. The confusion I once had around my goals has seemed to have dissipated. The ability to feel hungry for life and understand myself has only grown. My spark is back. 

The excitement and giddiness I feel when I think about myself as a writer is immense. The energy can fuel me for days. I look to the bottom left of my documents and the number of words that can pour out onto a page grows and grows with each project I set myself. The possibilities as a writer seem endless from this perspective. 

I understand that there is a lot more to these dreams that simple want. I must be focused. Persistent. Take up the offers of guidance from those around me. Accepting critic and moving towards goals. But the potential is there. I understand myself a little better. I value my work a little more. Hopefully, one day in the not-so-distant future a book of mine might get thrown away and end up decomposing in the damp soil into tiny fragments that find their way into us. At least that work will be better and born of something other than the child’s will to survive and create. That would make me feel okay. 

[mecachrome]

omg k i just saw ur top 3 landoscar moments post from october 2023... any changes/updates since then? new moments made it onto the list? or if not... favorite moment of 2024 so far? (i just like hearing (reading?) ur thoughts it's like reading an intellectual (but still sappy in my fave way) bedtime story 🥰)

hklsdfhlsfhd naurrr... this is so embarrassing why am i still deeply landoscarpilled 6 months later 😔

but honestly i have been thinking about this and the sheer volume of crasyinsane material and lore we've accrued since last year because now i'm like how would you even begin constructing a top 3....... the possibilities are endless!!!

in terms of pre-october content that i might have missed before, i'd say most of this ask still holds (lando's biggest fan dot mp4 will NEVER lose its insanity to me. quintessential landoscar meta as far as i'm concerned) but now i also desperately need 2 shout out portrait painting challenge...... when it came out i was of course susceptible to the "you look beautiful" bantz though mostly just wrote it off as shipbait and since then i've looked back on this video multiple times and been like ?! why was oscar's deference to lando so insane actually.... i've alr mentioned this b4 but 1) oscar taking lando's intro in stride and immediately responding i am ready lando norris 2) oscar playfully acquiescing and letting lando use purple after he'd already chosen it 3) >like 5 seconds later. "you like purple don't you?" "uhhhh... i can do now" (who says that.) 4) another stunning display of lando Nooticing and fixating on oscar's hair swoop and last but not least 5) the way oscar FOLDS OVER and giggles helplessly when lando tells him i've just done you all pink ??? like. OKAY. cheers

looking @ recent content..... personally i find 814 so fascinating because while there are many Discrete Moments i can point out that make my brain explode i also feel like to some degree the reason we (? or maybe just me. again i apologize for the nonsensical drivel i create) love to make parallel gifsets of them is because they have such an understated dynamic built off many minute unspoken habits and wordless exchanges and essentially Patterns so there is less of like... a need for spontaneous intimacy.... if that makes sense. it's about the consistency of reciprocal comfort... iterations..... palisades palisades......... ok this is totally not related to the ask i've just been rotating it in my mind

anyway 10 personable favs !!! arranged chronologically

finish the lyrics (oct 2023): a deeply obvious one but you can't Not include it 😩 i can't believe this came out a week after i answered that because seriously what da hell. @ OSCAR PIASTRI WHAT IS WRONG WITH YEWWWWWWWW. there are sooooo many things i could mention here that i feel have already been exhaustively expounded, the most obvious of course being the classic ojp Heart Eyes moment(s) (Many such cases......but also specifically the love story one) (like i'd argue silverstone was mostly responsible for getting 814 off the ground BUT this video was when their dynamic became the most "mainstream" and accessible to fandom as a whole... the amount of non-f1 fans i saw qrting reups of that clip!!!!) anyway but then you also get 👉 whatever the inside joke they have about old town road is. oscar saying "i reckon you'd be unreal in a karaoke bar in japan" which i still think is such a Line... just me ??? the way he verryryryyyy softly sings "yes" with lando at the end of their love story karaoke and the insane camera angle of him just out of focus. like. really in general there is just such a soft and lighthearted and Fun air to their dynamic in this video that makes me ;__; AND this is another prime moment of lando narrating oscar's firsts for him (singing on camera at mcl!!!) . ALSAURR lando tapping oscar on the bicep while sarcastically complimenting him. once again for two guys who never touch it compels me... actually i could go on about this video tbh like how oscar nearly falls off the couch giggling at lando playing the songs together and then it cuts to the next one and he's suddenly all flushed and his bangs have gotten all fucked up. he's so... they're so... let's move on.

splunk sim city challenge (nov 2023): many classic lines such as "i haven't even distracted you yet!" + oscar knowing his podium year and lando saying "you're a nerd!" + lando going ":) :o are you okay?" and so on... general setup of this challenge was crasy tbh. how it revolves around disrupting the other person's focus and the visual asymmetry of one being sat higher and having to lean over to distract them and how oscar just giggles goodnaturedly when lando sticks his cue cards in front of his face instead of getting annoyed and—SO ON. also forever obsessed with how oscar wordlessly lifts his eyebrows at lando at the end lol

that one sticker video (nov 2023): this video is insaaAAANEEEE to me. ANYONE ELSE??? first of all oscar and lando gingerly standing across each other on either side of the flower bed (while zak brown assumes a power stance directly on it lmfao) is already so visually overwhelming but then the way oscar glances up as he's removing the sticker from the cap, how you can seeeeee him calculating the move the entire time and being adorably pleased about it, @__@ the way lando grins at him afterward... (also crying at zb glancing at them and being equally charmed by their antics) wahhh TT__TT the vibes of this clip... immaculate

oscar thanking lando in their final post-race message (nov 2023): honestly the entire message in general but :__) one of my fav 814 moments OAT is oscar including lando in his thank you speech and lando not really expecting it and being genuinely touched by the gesture. lando is so endearingly fidgety the entire time honestly and the way he perks up a bit and wrings his hands together and playfully smiles at oscar when he mentions him... okayyy. anyway 2 me it's reminiscent of yes/no challenge "am i the funniest teammate you've ever had?" "(shyly) yeahhh... you're up there" (said in the same baby-ish voice as "so... lando?" UGH. UGHHHH) and how lando genuinely gets a bit awkwardly flustered by it like!!! god. wait ALSO i don't have the space for this so i'm throwing in end of season awards MMMM debatable + how gleefully lando threw oscar under the bus and in general just the incredible expression work going on for both of them during this exchange. God [2]

si rapid fire questions (dec 2023): this video was crucial in determining that oscar... well. is obsessed with accommodating and mirroring lando. many things we already knew (aka listening to whatever music lando listens to; insert prema lap "maybe i should move to an english team because the music's better" moment here) but equally important is oscar "stealing" lando's dinner, how lando presses him on the back to the future question until oscar just changes his answer to his, and of course as you know per my blog title NO I'M GOING TO KEEP YOU HAPPY is in my eyes top 5 most insane things oscar piastri has ever said. likeee... lando showing a bit of jokey remorse over enforcing his rules (don't even get me started about lando and game/challenge rules...) but oscar being sooo determined 2 honor his teasing 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 :melting_face: x100!!!

need to split this into two lists because apparently there's a div character limit 😔 continuing on

hilton spa ad (feb 2024): of course this pained me because of This Moment (specifically lando bringing his hand back down when oscar tried to lift it from beneath him 😮‍💨) but that is neither here nor there. obsessed with the salmon at the engineering table anecdote because the most logical explanation for oscar Not doing that anymore is because lando didn't like it... or he just eats different things now but we already know that he's adopted lando's preferred meal b4 so that's equally a lot 2 digest !!! also >the callback to their one million LOOK AT YOU/HIM moments >how they touch shoulders exactly Once when they sit down and then never again despite lando continuously leaning into oscar's space to get to the button... eugh. also just top tier oscar faces + hair 🥰

opening title behind the scenes (mar 2024): thinking about all the hilarious gifsets of this moment that i ate up deliciously 🧡🧡🧡 this was such a significant reminder of how 814 have just gotten like, exceedingly comfortable around each other & have learned 2 communicate via the most inscrutable expressions and noises and gestures that somehow suit Them perfectly x__x although i doubt they will ever really become ~effusive~ with each it's frankly even more devastating that they both help each other care less about maintaining appearances / how they often get so sucked into their interactions (see next bullet point) that everything else kind of just fades away in that instant.... all right ⚠️⚠️⚠️ maybe that's a bit of a stretch but we can pretend for the rpf lens!!! see also my tag spiel in this beautiful tuva gifset.

photo day antics (mar 2024): do you ever just...... what went on in bahrain. honestly. more from this weekend in a second but this video plus the accompanying photo encapsulate their dynamic so perfectly it makes me scream... how 814 are not only so annoyingly focused on each other all the time but also stand SOOO UNNECESSARILY CLOSE while every other teammate pairing is spaced out normally. yuki and checo glancing at them alksfdhdf 😭 truly so ridiculous that the poor photo person tried to get lando's attention and they pretended to comply for two seconds before oscar was lifting his foot to show lando his boot again. also why did it take oscar a million years to step away from lando and put a more appropriate amount of space between them...?! and even then it was barely that much........... (10 paragraphs of speaking later) I prefer really not to speak.

accidental waist grab (mar 2024): this gave me psychic damage so bad i should be lobotomized. we've already spoken about this perhaps erm excessively but why did lando feel the need to stand JUST as close to him if not closer after they broke apart. there was truly no need...... honestly the way this ship will have us looking up driver cams and staring at esteban ocon's ass as he gets out his car just for a single glimpse of their parc fermé dynamic.

bahrain post-race interview antics (mar 2024): You already knowwwww. the sky sports "he follows me everywhere" moment is equally important but the f1tv interview giving us horrifically natural banter (juxtaposing this with their previous interview moments...), lando's dumb faux australian accent and oscar playing along as always, and most of all them HIJACKING THE INTERVIEW & commiserating on camera together ❓❗️ lichrally the grid photo all over again. often when i have emotions over an 814 moment i worry that i sound overly He_Only_Got_Two_Eyes.jpeg but truly sometimes two people are just objectively insane. plus land of piastri/lando piastri.....

also runner up is the f1tv interview with lawrence aka lando's cooing noise @ oscar discussing lily (anyone else frame by frame color pick oscar's face to see how badly he flushed... no? just me?) + the beautiful self-aware surfacing of the CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS of their relationship...... !!! love when 2 guys expose and confirm their own sincerity in trying to verbally resist it. hem

is this anything. sorry eve LKSFDHLDHSF thank u for the ask & pls lmk what ur fav moments are too 🧡

[callsign-mayhem]

southern state of mind

Pairing: Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x Reader Word count: 2.7k

You and Jake are best friends, bonded by your hometown and love for line dancing. You take Bradley and Natasha into the city to a country and western bar and teach them to dance, and hopefully to make your move. 

Y/CS - your call sign 

Use of Y/N but no description of reader

A/N: I wrote this with the bar scene from Footloose (2011) in mind. Listen to ‘Fake ID’ by Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson when you read the final scene.

The music was turned up deafeningly loud and your foot was against the floor and, in your opinion, it was the best way to drive anywhere. Nothing said summer like speeding down the highway at sunset with the roof of the Jeep off and the wind in your hair, and it was even better with company. Taking the top off your car was a somewhat tedious job and you’d enlisted Bradley and Jake’s help earlier that afternoon especially for your little road trip into the city. It had been well worth it as the vibes, to put it simply, were immaculate.

Obviously Jake had called shotgun before you’d even left your apartment but you didn’t really mind; he was one of the very few people who was allowed to have the aux cord in your car. Music had been one of the first things you’d bonded over. That and the fact that you were both from Austin.

Natasha and Bradley were sitting in the back sipping gin and tonic from a can, quite happy watching the world pass them by while you and Jake belted the lyrics to a Jason Aldean song. It had taken a long time for you to get to this point with Jake and you knew most of the squad still weren’t completely sold on him, but you were hoping tonight might help change that. You wanted them to see the side of him he seemed to save especially for you, hence why you were heading into the city to a country and western bar you’d found online. It was one of the rare weekends you were all free and after a lot of convincing, Bradley and Natasha had agreed to go with you.

You locked eyes with Bradley in the rearview mirror. He had his aviators perched precariously on the edge of his nose and when you stuck your tongue out at him, he winked at you. It was damn lucky you didn’t crash the fucking car.

You glanced away in embarrassment and continued your duet with Jake, desperately hoping that he hadn’t noticed the blush dusting the apples of your cheeks. Originally it was just going to be you and Hangman - a friend date if you will - but then he’d had the brainwave of inviting Bradley as a way of finding out if he reciprocated the feelings you had for him. Telling Jake about your crush was probably the worst decision you’d ever had the misfortune of making because he’d been coming up with creative ways to try and get you together ever since. There’d been a few times where you’d almost considered outing yourself just so Jake couldn’t. You agreed to his plan this time, hoping it would be the last time you ever had to, but you insisted on inviting Natasha too. For one, she was more fun on a night out than both the guys put together, but also because you couldn’t imagine spending time with just Jake and Bradley alone. It would be one big dick-swinging contest.

The sun was low in the sky, glinting off all the skyscrapers that made up the gorgeous San Diego skyline. Jake reached into the glove compartment and pulled out your own pair of aviators and you took them gratefully, trying to put them on one-handed. Instead of watching you struggle he snatched them back off you and put them on you himself, poking the tip of your nose once he was done. If you’d chanced a look in the rearview mirror at that moment you would have seen Bradley watching this exchange, eyes hidden behind his glasses again. The only thing that gave his annoyance away was the stubborn set of his jaw, but that was Bradley Bradshaw all over. For the most part, he kept his feelings bottled up until he couldn’t anymore, and then he’d explode when he least expected it.

You didn’t know it, but Bradley had been spending a lot of nights laying awake wondering if he should tell you how much he liked you, weighing out the pros and cons in his cluttered mind. He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a coward, and he wasn’t hiding it from you because he was scared of rejection. In fact, the only reason he kept stopping himself from grabbing you and kissing you senseless was because of Hangman. The two of you weren’t officially dating (as far as anyone knew) but the way you interacted was more than suspicious. Guys and girls could be friends, he wasn’t that naive, but the way Jake looked at you made him wonder if he wanted it to be more than that.

As for the way you looked at Jake, Bradley wouldn’t know much about that. He didn’t like watching you too closely when the two of you were together, just in case your smile or your eyes gave you away and confirmed his worst fear.

When you finally arrived at the bar you made sure to park as close to the entrance as possible in case your friends decided to get absolutely shit-faced. Agreeing to be the designated driver had seemed like a brilliant idea at the time - you’d be hangover free in the morning and able to enjoy your Sunday outdoors instead of in bed with a huge headache - but now, as Bradley slung his arm around your shoulder lazily and pulled you into his side, you were kind of wishing you’d let him drive. Ever the gentleman, he’d offered to bring the Bronco so you could have a drink, but since it was your idea and you were going to be subjecting him to country music and line dancing all night, it only seemed fair that he be able to have a few beers.

Now you somehow needed to get through tonight without any Dutch courage.

The bar was packed wall to wall with people in denim shorts, flannel shirts, cowboy boots and hats. Being from Texas yourself, you could tell who was just trying to fit the aesthetic and who actually dressed like that on the daily. Natasha and Bradley’s mouths were hanging open as they surveyed the scene in front of them. You’d given Nat one of your gambler hats to wear for the night and it suited her well, but you hadn’t been able to convince Bradley to wear one.

‘Bet you’re regretting turning down my offer now, huh Bradshaw,’ you poked him in the side and he flinched, laughing raucously, ‘Feeling like the odd one out?’

Jake moved the toothpick he was chewing from one side of his mouth to the other and adjusted his own hat, ‘He made the right call. There’s no way he’d be able to pull it off.’

Bradley swiped the hat from your head and put it on, adjusting it so it sat right on his head. Jake scoffed but he was smiling so you knew he wasn’t really trying to insult Bradley, but he flipped him the bird anyway. You stopped in your tracks to get a better look at him. He was wearing a blue flannel over a white tank, 501s and a pair of brown cowboy boots, and the hat was the icing on top of an incredibly delicious looking cake. The hat suited him better than it did you.

‘You’re such an asshole,’ you told him, nudging him in the ribs. He laughed again and shoved you playfully, ‘Can you stop fucking bullying me, Y/N. First you tell me I’m the odd one out, and now you’re calling me an asshole for trying to fit in.’ ‘You’re an asshole because that hat looks better on you than it does on me, and I’ve been wearing it since I was fifteen years old.’ Natasha and Jake shared a knowing look, ‘We’re gonna go get some drinks.’

One of your favourite Dustin Lynch songs was playing and to prevent things from getting awkward after what you’d just said (idiot, idiot, idiot) you took Bradley by the hand and led him out to the middle of the dancefloor. Perhaps ‘dancefloor’ wasn’t the right word since there were people dancing in every spare space in the bar. There wasn’t really anybody sitting at the hightop tables, they were just being used for bags, coats, and half empty glasses, and you were sure it was the same on the second floor. Although it didn’t feel like it, the place was huge and you were kicking yourself for not coming here sooner. Maybe it was a little cringe and slightly over the top (not every bar in Texas was like this) but it felt like you’d come home.

Bradley nearly tripped over your feet a couple times as you dragged him through the swarm of dancing people.

‘I can’t dance,’ he shouted. You spun around, still holding tightly onto his hand, ‘But you sing so well!’ ‘And?’ ‘Usually they go hand in hand.’ He cocked his head like you’d missed the point entirely, ‘You can dance?’ You flashed him your prettiest smile, ‘Obviously.’ ‘Then your logic is flawed,’ the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smirk, ‘because you can’t sing for shit, darlin’.’ God, you wanted to kiss that look right off his face, ‘So you want me to teach you to dance, or what?’ ‘How do I know that what you got to teach is worth learning?’

Jake and Natasha appeared behind you with four bottles of beer. You accepted gratefully - because one wouldn’t hurt - and downed half of it in one long sip. Bradley didn’t take his eyes off you as you handed him your bottle and grabbed Jake’s hand.

‘I’ll show you.’

Bradley and Nat went and stood at one of the high tables, more than happy to watch you and Jake do your thing if it meant they got out of dancing for a little while longer. They were leaning casually, sipping their drinks with the air of two people that weren’t expecting much.

You leaned over and whispered to Jake: ‘Let’s show them how we do things back home.’

The song faded out, transitioning smoothly into another one. It was upbeat - perfect for line dancing - and you knew it well. Jake knew it too he was grinning from ear to ear as everyone moved into position, ready to dance.

It was now or never.

Admittedly, it had been a while since you’d danced like this and you were worried you’d be rusty, but when the song kicked in and you got going it was like you’d never taken a day off. There was something almost sacred about dancing in formation with this many people and the sound of hundreds of pairs of cowboy boots stomping against the floorboards sent shivers down your spine. You hooked your fingers through the loops of your Levi shorts as you dragged one foot across the floor and pulled forward, swaying your hips all the way around in time with the music. When the song reached its bridge, everyone broke off into pairs and you and Jake took the opportunity to really show Nat and Bradley what you could do. You could hear Phoenix cheering for the two of you as you scooted and rambled, completely enthralled in the music.

You spent your days flying fighter jets, but this was the most alive you’d felt in a long time. Your heart was racing against your chest and you could feel a stitch developing in your side, but you honestly couldn’t care less and if you went into cardiac arrest right now, you wouldn’t be mad about it.

When the song was over you headed back over to your friends who were clapping for you, stunned expressions on their faces. Bradley handed you your beer and after catching your breath for a beat or two, you took a sip, your eyes never once leaving his.

‘So, you want what I got to teach or not?’ He shook his head in awe, ‘You’re really somethin’, you know that?’ ‘Oh, I know.’

You headed back out there with Bradley on your arm and Jake and Natasha in tow. Luckily they were fast learners so it only took an hour to teach them the basics and get them dancing relatively confidently. You were taking mental pictures of Bradley dancing the two-step in that damned hat so you could remember them later. He’d told you he couldn’t dance but you were beginning to think he’d just never tried because the way he moved was so enchanting, you had to keep reminding yourself not to trip over your own feet.

‘Shall we put your new dancing feet to the test?’ you said to him.

When ‘Fake ID’ came on you and Jake forced Bradley and Nat out to the very middle of the floor. It was your turn to cheer for them as the song started to pick up and everyone fell into line, boosting their confidence just enough for them to get into it. It didn’t take much and before long, the four of you were in perfect rhythm as you side-stepped and clapped, turned and cross shuffled. You’d never seen Bradley smile like that before and you desperately wanted to take a photo, but you didn’t dare stop dancing.

Why couldn’t you do this every night?

In the middle of the song, everyone broke off into pairs again and somehow you ended up with Jake. This clearly wasn’t part of the master plan to get you together.

‘You need to go get your man, Y/CS. I ain’t going home until you do.’

As nervous as you were to make your move, you knew he wasn’t kidding. You tapped Nat’s shoulder and leaned in to tell her that Jake wanted to dance with her. She wasn’t an idiot, she knew what you were planning to do, and as she passed you mouthed ‘good luck.’

‘What’re you doing dancing with another woman when you’re wearing my hat,’ you teased, ‘That is so disrespectful.’ He raised a brow, ‘Well I wanted to be dancing with you, but you already chose Hangman as your partner,’ he challenged.

His tone was light but there was a question hidden somewhere in that statement; he wanted to know if you liked Jake.

‘I just didn’t know if you could keep up with me.’

In response to you challenging him, he started dancing again, reaching up to take off your hat and put it back where it belonged. You took his lead and started dancing in front of him and he reached out and put both hands on your hips as you swayed them, stepping forward until he was pressed right up against your back. You didn’t think you’d be able to carry on dancing if you got any closer, but then he did the unimaginable and looped his fingers through your belt loops and pulled you back so were flush against him. Black dots filled your vision when you felt his semi through his blue jeans and you couldn’t help but move a little more, shaking your hips and making him even harder.

He wasn’t expecting it, just like he wasn’t expecting you to spin around and wrap your arms around his neck. He was like a deer trapped in headlights as you pulled him down to your lips and finally kissed that shit-eating grin off his face, but when he eventually got over his initial shock, he kissed you back with such ferocity that you had to stop dancing. Nothing could have prepared you for the taste of Bradley Bradshaw, the scent of his aftershave mingling with sweat. If not for the room full of people you would have let him take you right there and then.

‘I think I’m gonna take you dancing more often, Rooster,’ you said against his lips, ‘you really know how to move.’ He kissed you again, dragging your bottom lip between his teeth and drawing a mewl from you. It was lucky nobody could hear the two of you over the music.

‘When we get back later, I’ll show you just how well I can move,’ he promised, ‘but I don’t think you’ll be able to dance for a while afterwards.’

[erithel]

I'm surprised you don't include Klance moments in that "fav moments" ask. 😆

Okay, first of all, thanks so much for your blog. Because of you, I start shipping Klance (and I love them). So....

- When did you start shipping Klance (what moment that made you ship them)?

- Can I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

- What are your top 5 fav Klance fics ever?

Sorry if you already answered the above questions before (newbie Klance shipper here, just starting last year).

That's fair lol

I'd say I picked my favorite moments based on ones that were truly satisfying, and while I thoroughly enjoyed many klance moments, since they never really paid off, they always left me a bit unsatisfied, so that's why I left them off the list.

To answer your questions:

I think I started shipping klance through stumbling across fanart before even watching the show. There was so much out there when I found it, and it all looked really interesting, and I realized "I want to know more about these two." So I kiiiindof went into the show with a super low-key ship. But if I could pinpoint it, it was probably the "I cradled you in my arms" line that made me go "oh I'm gonna be looking forward to all of their interactions from now on to see where this goes."

I had to check my ao3 to see if I'd even written 5 fics (I have). #1: "Broken Things" This one is special to me for the same reason I was inspired to write it: It was a very tough subject that I was so tired of seeing handled poorly in media. It became even more special when I started receiving comments from people who let me know they had been through similar things and they felt I handled the subject well. #2: "Gone" (a comic, but it still counts) I'm still counting this one even though the experience of posting it turned out to be one that almost made me want to quit before completing the comic. This was also a subject that I had seen handled very poorly, and I wrote it at a time when I had a new understanding of grief, and what it can do to a person. It was very important to me that Lance's side of things was taken seriously, and understood, and unfortunately it really wasn't. But that's kindof why I want to write stories in the first place - to get those thoughts out into the world so they might exist in someone's subconscious, even if they are not fully realized at the time. #3: "Stand Here on the Edge With Me" I started writing this because Chasing Stars was becoming too dark for me to write. I usually stick with angst and love it, but I was writing a really angsty scene where Keith was pining super hard while having their conversation on the lion at sunset and I just thought "wait a minute. What if he's totally fine for once?" and then this fic just kindof materialized. It also has one of my favorite last lines I've written, so that's something to look forward to. ;) #4: "Chasing Stars and Memories" I've always liked stories about traveling to different worlds, and the idea of Klance meeting themselves was always a fun idea to think about. But then I realized that I had never read a fic where only one of them was gender-swapped, and that made it so much more interesting for me, because the angst options just exploded with that one little change. This one's special to me because again, it deals with heavy themes and large emotions and I just adore writing those, and I hope I do them justice and convey the gravity of them. #5: "What If You're Someone I Just Want Around?" I'd always wanted to write a 5-and-1 fic, and I actually wrote this entire one around the third part ("Scared"). It was still pretty early on that I wrote that and I felt like I basically nailed Keith's and Lance's "voices" in that one based on their actual canon selves, so that was a nice little accomplishment at the time!

Basically, my inspiration comes from a lot of emotions, and also because there are specific subjects we see in movies/TV/books that I feel could be handled way better.

I've probably answered the top 5 fics before tbh. I don't know if I have a top 5, but here are 5 I love:

There Nestled Against His Pulse

You're Always Welcome Here

New

In This Moment, You Mean Everything

Terminal Velocity

(Some of these contain NSFW content btw)

There are, of course, many other fics I love, and as always I will recommend anything written by Iybms, Wittyy_Name, or Autumn_Ignited. Sadly, I haven't had the chance to read anything super recently, as I've been trying to read more published books (for pitching reasons), and have been a little disappointed so far unfortunately.

[terranoctis]

I played Hades II a fair bit yesterday during my breaks and free time for Supergiant Games' technical test of the game. Part of me wants to keep playing today, but I got stuff to do and I do want to keep up the excitement for the early access. I wrote a rough, kind of unedited essay about it before I went to sleep last night though below, mostly for me to have record of my memories in written form. Some spoiler-y screenshots and random thoughts/analyses below if you want to read more. I mean it--there are spoilers and the most random long tangents because I like to analyze. (I do recommend playing first if you have a chance to)

First thing I'll say is that the game is pretty phenomenal and so damn fun. The experience reminds me of when I played Hades for the first time in their initial Early Access of the game years ago. Longtime Supergiant Games fan here (since Transistor release)! I remember running into a bug then and reporting it when I froze in-game, but I have not run into any noticeable bugs at all yet for Hades II. I've done some reports for minor bugs, but extremely minor ones that I actually feel bad for even reporting and adding to their list of messages to go through. Supergiant has their QA down, truly. I have so much respect for them and how they've developed the game. Darren Korb did an amazing job on the music again. It has that iconic Hades sound with the strings (that is not a guitar, I forget what it's called) while also being its own distinct soundtrack.

The 4th wall banter moments between Melinoë and Homer (who is revealed as narrator!) have been one of my favorite things about the story/narration execution. Her being cognizant of Homer does make it so there are rather funny moments, but also brings up the question of how that might shape the narrative later on. I'm so curious!

When I first started the game, I had a funny moment where I died almost instantly in the second room because I was testing out Melinoe's skillset and ran out of MP (?) and then got slapped because I wasn't actually doing damage when trying to use her bigger skills, heh. It did take me some time to get used to it, but Mel's skills and cast abilities are so much fun to use when utilized well. Her cast and its ability to hold your enemies for a time is one of the best upgrades to combat, in my opinion. For all I love the first Hades, I remember having to dash like crazy to escape exploding carts coming after me if I didn't have a good boon to mitigate or avoid that. With the cast for Melinoë, it'll change that to placing strategically some casts that can hold quick enemies or enemies that are very dangerous if they get close to you (wailers in this game are one such enemy). In terms of boons, Demeter's, Hestia's, and Apollo's have been some of my favorites. Aphrodite also has a phenomenal one for casts that will gather your enemies into your cast, making it an ideal combination with some devastating other boons that can easily damage groups of enemies all at once. Hephaestus also has a pretty fun one where I think he can explode in a certain proximity with your special or attack, I forget. I do wonder if they'll have to rebalance some of these boons because there are certain ones I can annihilate enemies with--but then again, maybe that is needed for later sections of the game.

The numerous references to the moon in the game are a nice nod to Melinoë's lore in Greek mythology and poetry too. Though she's more associated with being a goddess of ghosts (I find it a nice touch you can salute shades you meet in the Crossroads because of this) and nightmares (I don't think it's a coincidence Hypnos is the only other survivor of Hades' inner sanctum), Melinoë has at some point been referenced as a moon goddess as well of the underworld. Selene is the moon goddess and Artemis has also become known as a goddess of the moon in mythology in addition to being the goddess of the hunt. So that connection between the three and the friendship they share in the game is pretty cool in that regard (Selene calls you the "Silver Sisters.")

Having Artemis become your friend in Hades II, something akin to a friendly rivalry like Thanatos was to Zagreus, is such a fun story--and then you have Selene added into that mix as well. From the few runs I've done, I've gathered that Artemis and Hermes are the first of the Olympus gods who knew of Melinoë's existence in her youth as Hecate's pupil. She helped Hecate hide the truth of Melinoës survival (at least from the Olympus gods)--and when Melinoë was ready, it was only then that Artemis leaked through Apollo that Hades' daughter was coming to fight Chronos and had survived the fall of Hades. So the boons you get are because the twins, Artemis and Apollo, played a role in connecting you to Olympus for the fight against Chronos. There seems to be more in this background that I'm curious to learn about. Just from their banter, it's clear Artemis has spent much time with Melinoë and Selene in some form. I don't know if they have duo boons in this game (or boon-hex? Selene gives you a hex), but I'm curious to see what these two's duo boon(s) would be if they have them.

The game also does that thing the first game did so well of shifting the world as you progress and have changes in the relationships about you. Nemesis is one of the new characters in Hades II who doesn't seem to like you very much initially, but with your dialogue with Odysseus nearby, you get the sense that it wasn't always this way. When you gift her a nectar, Melinoë subtly starts calling her "Nem," and you can tell the two of them are very slowly mending whatever it is they have (Odysseus chuckles nearby probably seeing the progress). You also meet Doom Incarnate (Moros) and have to unlock having him at the Crossroads by invoking him, which is also pretty fun in terms of letting you slowly do more runs and experience the world more in order to gather enough "resources" to call him. It allows a natural progression of characterization and getting to know the people around Melinoë, in my opinion.

Dora's also one of my favorite character already. There's something so funny about Melinoë encouraging Dora as she tries to scare and haunt her as a proper ghost, but then also rather touching that she just accepts that Dora just likes to hang out in her room and not go out much. I love Arachne too, and how she's just chillin' like, I'm bored and alone and just spinning webs, so here Melinoë, have some clothes I made.

This game makes me love it as much as I loved the first one. In some ways, in terms of how they executed establishing background and connections between Melinoë and her companions (Odysseus' calls her a "little goddess" as a child! Hecate plays hide-and-go-seek with her!), I think they've started out much stronger than they did in the first game. And this one already starts with a sort of high-stakes situation from the get-go. Melinoë's entire family has been taken by Chronos and she grew up apart from them. The game does well of letting you step into the world even if you haven't played the first one--and playing on your affection for Hades, Persephone, and Zagreus if you did. After all, considering how hard you worked as Zagreus to bring back together that family in the first game, the second game logically comes back with a vengeance with Melinoë at the loss of such a family and a need for vengeance against Chronos for ruining it. The world feels familiar, yet the cast of characters are so different.

And the designs of all the new gods! And the new designs for the old gods! They're all extremely well-done. I've been a longtime fan of the artists for the characters and the environments. They've done stellar jobs on it again for this one, and there's more touches to icons and designs of the UI I like too. The dialogue log is one of my favorite things too, as someone who might miss a piece of dialogue here and there when I take off my headphones. The voice acting in this game is also a whole notch up from the previous game. Not to knock anyone from the first Hades, since I think they did a great job, but I do feel like the voices have been more professionally recorded this time around. Or something about it is a little more polished. Kudos to Supergiant for another game that's an A+ in my book thus far. Ahh!

I could keep going, but honestly, I think it's best to have people experience the game in Early Access. I mostly just wanted a record for myself to look back on for being a small part of Hades II's journey and share some of my excitement and the random analyses I had. It'll be fun for me to look back on how I read some things and how I felt when the finished version of the game comes out eventually.

[shrekgogurt]

Well folks. I’m on my substitute teaching grind again this week! Scheduled each day up in hopes of getting some good writing done. I did on Monday! And then proceeded to finally start reading @ninemagicks Game/Set/Match yesterday and did that every bell so uhhhhhh. Today………..well ummmmm…..yeah today I worked on chapter graphics because I’m in big procrastination mode. I want to keep riding this wave of engagement (that sounds corporate gross) but I’m also very much in my head about delivering. I should probably channel this energy into writing the chapter since such pressure is Baz’s literal arc but uhhhhhhhh why do that when I could Simon avoid. I love being mentally well!

One might say I need to find my own bravado. (more under the cut)

lol the chapter title for 13 is bravado by lorde

ok anyway

“Work In Progress Wednesday” right? That means I can talk about the progress of every part of the process? Huh? Yeah? Are you gonna stop me? TRY! TRY TO STOP ME!

Aggression aside, let’s get into it.

As previously stated on Sunday, we find ourselves at intermission. But that’s just the theatrical way of slicing up the story. The fun thing about 24 chapters (I got rid of my originally planned intermission chapter because I didn’t want to write it anymore) is that math really loves the number 24. It’s scrumptious. Yummily divisible. Ergo, IKABIKAM also has/is/will be deliciously divided. Afterall, I do keep saying I’m cooking on it.

Now, to put @alexalexinii on blast (sorry for perceiving you), they wrote in the tags of a Chapter 12 reblog: #made me realise that this fic had proper arcs? And I grinned. I cackled. I rubbed my grubby little hands together at the top of my tower as I’ve been doing this whole time because oh ARCS???????? YOU WANT ARCS???????????? I’VE GOT ARCS LYING IN WAIT LIKE YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE. (I love overselling myself.)

Allow me to let you in on some of the building blocks thus far.

Chapters 1, 2, 3: a complicated reunion which is shaky but ultimately sets up

Chapters 4, 5, 6: developing the friendship which is a crucial foundation for

Chapters 7, 8, 9: the gay (Baz’s increasingly more external “hi i’m gay”, Simon’s internal “oh wait me too”) which then explodes into

Chapters 10, 11, 12: all that political parent stuff that’s been hinted at in passing which is BIG relevant and incredibly intertwined in this tangled up mess that leads into the work of….

You get it. They’re mini trilogies. Don’t ask me about dividing the chapters into groups of four because I didn’t have that in mind while writing. I like threes better. Always have. Absolute banger of a prime number.

If you for some reason want to read more about the structure, I write a little more about it in this wipsday from when I was procrastinating 9.

Now, @cutestkilla keeps telling me I’m at the downward slope now but honestly delivering on what I’ve set up scares the shit out of me WAY more than the grunt work. I’m uhhhhh yeah. This is why I’m chronically unable to finish projects but by GOD I will finish this one. I swear by it.

So here are three sentences. You get to guess from who and when.

Loving him comes as naturally as breathing. It’s intuitive when I’m not thinking. Or rather, when I’m not panicking.

If you want to follow along with all the songs I’m hyperfixating on as inspiration I’ve been sharing them over on the “shrogurt” instagram. There’s nothing I love more than talking way too much about this damn fic. Thanks for reading!

And thank you for the tags today: @nausikaaa @facewithoutheart @hushed-chorus @artsyunderstudy @prettygoododds @emeryhall

Now tagging: @brilla-brilla-estrellita @captain-aralias @dani-vc @ebbpettier @excalisbury @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @hagnoart @iamamythologicalcreature @ileadacharmedlife @imagineacoolusername @ivelovedhimthroughworse @j-nipper-95 @larkral @letraspal @martsonmars @messofthejess @moodandmist @mooncello @nightimedreamersworld @onepintobean @palimpsessed @raenestee @rimeswithpurple @theearlgreymage @theimpossibledemon @thewholelemon @valeffelees @whogaveyoupermission @youarenevertooold @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[delyth88]

Mid season trailer breakdown

Finally found some time (ha!) to take a closer look at the mid-season trailer.

It starts with a very brief shot of Loki time-slipping in a spaghettifying TVA that we've seen before, and then a split second shot of Loki walking into the pie room. But the lights in the pie dispensers are all off. Does this mean it's near the very end of the timeline where the power was cutting out? Or is there some other significance to this? Where is my anon who suggested they need to go through enough repetitions of the time loop to eat through all the pies...!

Then we move on to this scene of the gang in front of the model of the gantry and the Time Loom.

OB asks, "Loki, how much do you know?' and Loki replies "Lets assume I don't know much but I'm a fast learner, and I'm a god."

Timely is still holding his device, so this is towards the beginning of episode 4 shortly after Timely arrives in the TVA, and before the pie room or the Dox in a box.

I'm assuming Loki has just explained to them the situation and they're just going with it! :)

Then it skips to this scene where Loki says "Here we go".

Later in the trailer he follows on with a voiceover saying "Listen to me carefully, hit the green button", and then shows this shot again as he says "it can be a little sticky".

When he says "Hit the green button", Loki seems to be quite fearful and intense, with a slightly more whispery quality to the sentence, than the following shot where it's more light hearted when he says "It can be a little sticky".

Now if I'm not just reading too much into this (which to be honest that is exactly what I'm doing in this entire post, but its fun), it looks like this might be two different instances of the same event. Maybe the first is earlier on and the second is later on once it's resulted in destruction a few more times? Or perhaps the other way around once Loki's been through enough repetitions to be confident this bit will go well. *shrugs*

We then see what I assume is Timely again (because he's the only one missing from the shot above) out on the gantry having actually made it as far as the sphere at the end, pressing the green button.

However, we ALSO see this shot of what I again assume is Timely, but from behind this time. He's not wearing a helmet and we can see his hair, and the throughput multiplier is leaning against the wall. The airlock doors have been opened though and he's being spaghettified again.

So it looks like we're going to be seeing this attempt to fix the Loom multiple, presumably spectacularly unsuccessful, times. Poor Victor. :(

There's also shots in the operations centre (what are we calling the room looking out onto the Loom. Oh. Okay that just wrote itself, didn't it? XD). In the LOOM ROOM we have another shot of Loki saying "Here we go" and Mobius excitedly shouting "Yes!" as Loki drags him over towards the control panel / airlock. Which I'd guess is once they successfully manage to get a Timely out to the end of the gantry, or possibly even fire off the throughput multiplier.

There's a shot of Loki in the Loom Room turned back to face OB and the other while it looks like the Loom is exploding. He looks more dishevelled than he was in the scene we saw in episode 4. And I can't tell if he looks sad and defeated or suspicious. He's looking towards Sylvie, OB, Casey, and B-15. There was that whole weird moment with Casey and the throughput multiplier that just seemed off, so really putting my effort into leaping here, could this be that Loki's suspicious Casey sabotaged it?

Then outside the TVA we get those shots of Sylvie listening to music. I'm really not sure where she is - but I'm assuming since she looks to be wearing a T-shirt rather than her armour under her coat that she's on the timeline.

For Casey we get the shot we've seen of him in a tunnel, immediately preceded by this shot of what looks like a searchlight at a prison and audio of a siren. So is Casey escaping from prison? A POW camp?

They show Casey in two short shots in time with the music - does this mean anything? Like indicating the repeating of events? Or does it just look cool.

I do wonder if they're going to make some of the really likeable characters have a despicable past on the timeline and use that to further the discussion of free will and the power to choose to be different. That could be interesting. But I'd like Casey not to be a horrible person. :(

There's a couple of shots of a new location we've not been to, but one that still looks like it's within the TVA. There are pneumatic tubes behind Loki and great big fans. Some old armchairs on one side, and a pinboard on the other. The shot starts with what looks like spaghetti strands with Loki's magic radiating out from the centre.

As the magic fades we see the strands have disappeared and there are some other people in the room with him.

B-15 in plain clothes, and Sylvie just moving out of shot as the camera zooms in towards Loki. It also looks like Sylvie is in her outfit with the grey T-shirt.

So does this indicate Loki can use magic to hold things together to stop them from spaghettifying, even if only temporarily?

We get a fairly horrifying shot of Loki being distorted in front of spaghetti.

And I'm afraid this next image is going to give me nightmares, but it looks like this is in the same room - we can see the yellow on the wall and the same ceiling lights behind him.

By the time he's slipped away the spaghetti is gone. So again, is this because he somehow carries this destruction with him? Or is this a shot shown in reverse because time really got all timey-wimey on him and time is actually flowing backwards at points? (That would be pretty damn cool to see how he deals with it!)

Then we get another shot of that room and Casey, OB, and Mobius are there with Loki. All in their plain clothes. But this shot is flipped around from the one above that had the chairs on the other side of the room. Again, is that meaningful, or just somehow one of the versions looks cooler? Or does the room just have a pneumatic tube gizmo at both ends?

There's also this shot which I can't figure out where it is. Sylvie's still in her T-shirt, and Loki is either pointing at the ceiling or making some magical gesture. All around them are spaghettified strands. I still don't quite understand how it's possible for people to be in the same space as anything else that's spaghettifying (I never thought I'd need to use that as a verb so often!), without becoming spaghetti themselves.

It looks like that record player Sylvie was using might be in the background, if so does that mean the last thing Sylvie was doing while the universe crumbled around her was listening to music? And then Loki turns up to get her out of her timeline and take her to the TVA to help? Or is the spaghetti somehow related to Loki?

It looks like we get the final shot of episode 4 in reverse. My bet is this is the opening of episode 5.

And finally we get to see Mobius on the timeline. And the house he lives in.

Loki visits him at work and says "The TVA is gone."

Mobius has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. So I think we can assume that Mobius is the first person Loki tries to find on the timeline and he wasn't expecting Mobius not to know him. I wonder how on earth Loki manages to convince him about the madness that is the TVA!! I think that's going to be a fun conversation. :)

I also wonder how Loki is actually able to find them all? Does he jump back and look everyone up in the system? Does he use HWR's special tempad?

I'm not usually a big fan of trailers mid season, but there's still so much unknown at the point that I've really enjoyed looking through this and trying to work out what might be happening. :D

Tagging my partners in wild speculation @pinkpondofasgard @woodelf68.

[paradoxcase]

Harrow the Ninth audiobook, through to the end of Act 1

I had to regenerate the audiobook again because I made a mistake editing the chapters file last time, whoops, and the Act 1 mp3 ended in the middle of Harrow getting all riled up about Ortus being passive-aggressive. I'm really enjoying Ortus being a little shit again in this book

I listened to a bit of the previous chapter again, because I also wrote down the timestamp I stopped at wrong, and I note that Harrow experienced temporal lobe pain when she saw Babs' knife, but I'm not sure this makes sense? This happens to her when she sees or hears something that she should remember from Canaan House but which she erased with the brain surgery, but as Gideon correctly points out, she doesn't have any memories of Babs' knife, she never saw him fight with it. And she doesn't react this way to other things that she just generally doesn't have knowledge of that Gideon as the narrator has knowledge of and comments on, like every single time she sees a pommel

When Harrow points out that "bone frenzy" is kind of suggestive, Ortus goes on a rant about how he wouldn't want someone who giggled at things like that to even read his poetry, which kind of makes me wonder what Gideon's relationship was to the Noniad, if she had any at all. Like, I can't imagine she would have read it of her own free will, but it sounds like Ortus liked to recite it for everyone regardless of whether or not they wanted to read it and now I can just imagine Gideon making dumb crude jokes about "bone frenzy" and Ortus indirectly implies that Gideon is a moron and it goes completely over her head and she has no idea he even said that

The Wake letters don't sound nearly capslock enough in the audiobook, I expected something more shouty and a little unhinged

At some point on the Erebos, John is referred to as "the god of dead kings". What dead kings? I don't think anyone in the Nine Houses remembers or has any records of any dead kings, or anyone who ever used the title "king" other than John himself. There might be dead kings outside of the Nine Houses, but John isn't their god

Mercy's voice is exactly right, A+

Sarpedon voice is good. I can't tell if it's a different accent, or if I'm just imagining things

John tells the people on the Erebos that "our enemies have once more raised their hands to those who would be at peace with them" referring to BOE's recent attack, and calls them "those who cannot forgive [us for being necromancers]" which is massively ironic after reading Nona, actually

The dead languages on the stele are mentioned, and I ask again: what dead languages? Supposedly everyone in the Nine Houses doesn't remember any of the languages that were around on Earth, except for English, which has supposedly been spoken unaltered for 10,000 years, and I guess Maori, which I get the feeling only John knows any of. So what dead languages exist in the Nine Houses?

John talks about "the first method" of FTL travel "destroyed something to do with time and space, making it not useful for anything else". I guess he means that method that the trillionaires used to escape Earth?

The lava metaphor for the River was actually Cassiopeia's originally, I've never been so disappointed

I mentioned this before, but John categorically states that non-Lyctors cannot survive in the River at all, regardless of whether or not there are hungry ghosts there, but this definitely doesn't seem to be the case in Nona

John says Pyrrha's trial was in Lab 3, but I remember it being in Lab 2?

Ianthe sees Some Shit in the River prior to when the ghost ward exploded and the ghosts started appearing. I'm kind of curious what she saw, now

During the River travel segment, John and Mercy seem to think there are fewer corpses in the River than expected, and that this is worrisome. I wonder if this is a precursor to whatever caused the River to completely empty of ghosts in Nona

Abigail and Magnus are back! Yay!

In the Canaan House scene where Teacher is introducing them to the trial, Harrow says to Ortus: "The choice [of cavalier] is beyond me now, unless you can conjure me the spirit of Mattias Nonius, in which case I will take on his services" and about the Sleeper, "in the worst case scenario you can simply declaim to it", I love that this is exactly what happens on both accounts

Harrow has this weird doublethink about what she remembers from Canaan House - like, on the surface, it seems like she made the River bubble to be her replacement memory for what happened, but that doesn't match up in some cases. We know at the end of the book that the River bubble is happening in real time, whenever Harrow goes to sleep (or passes out) and she doesn't have direct control over what happens there, because the ghosts are really there and are able to make their own decisions on how to act. But she seems to remember Corona's death at the very beginning of the book when she tells Ianthe that Corona is probably dead, even though she hasn't experienced that part of the bubble yet. Also, she has very clear memories of killing Cytherea at the beginning of the book, and these aren't accompanied by brain pain so she must not have tried to remove them at all (sensible), but Cytherea isn't in the River bubble at all, so it's not at all clear where she fits into the false memory. I can't think of a reason why Harrow couldn't have summoned Cytherea to take part in the bubble, although that might have been a bad idea since maybe Cytherea still has Lyctor powers in the bubble for the same reason that Wake and Nonius had powers there. But Harrow still has these very clear and pain-free memories of things that actually happened at Canaan House mixed in with the fake memories that don't logically make sense together with them. This sort of raises the question of why she couldn't have allowed herself to have, say, similarly contradictory memories about Camilla's survival, since she specifically wanted to follow up with her and Camilla's death in the River bubble was not super plot relevant

Augustine voice is fine, but I don't feel like it's particularly distinctive

Augustine is worried that G1deon will "put two and two together" about the BOE attack, but I'm not sure I know what he means. I think this was in the context of G1deon having complicated feelings about Wake, but it's common knowledge at this point that Wake is dead. Or does he mean like, G1deon might draw the conclusion that BOE only attacked John in that manner because Wake was no longer in charge and that might make him feel bad about killing her?

I like G1deon's voice, interested to see how this gets modified to become Pyrrha's voice

Harrow describes G1deon as looking like a poorly-made construct, which makes some sense, because he was only John's second attempt at making a completely new body and the first time he just used Hollywood Hair Barbie as model. But like, on the other hand, John surely knew what G1deon looked like before the suitcase nuke. Did he actually have a stronger mental image of Hollywood Hair Barbie than of his own best friend? Or did G1deon just already look like a poorly-made construct naturally? Or did John actually somehow have his Hollywood Hair Barbie with him when he created Alecto's body and that's why it turned out well? Did John bring Hollywood Hair Barbie to the cryo lab and sleep with it at night? Or was Alecto right about her body being hideous (from a human perspective) and Harrow's opinion that she is hot is just Harrow being a weirdo?

[corviiids]

I saw your post about Achilles and Patroclus (the one for the ask game) and it was really interesting, I like the points you made and I enjoyed reading it, but I have a question about Achilles' bloodlust before Patroclus' death: what about what he did to Troilus? This happens before Patroclus' death in most accounts, so Achilles is very brutal with it for someone, who says he prefers to ransom the Trojans rather than kill them.

Yes, Troilus had to die, if the Achaeans wanted to win the war, but his death didn't have to be so brutal. Furthermore, Achilles kills him in a sanctuary (Apollo's temple) with no regard for the consequences, and then throws the kid's head to Hector and a few other of his brothers (there are also even more severe versions about what Achilles did to this kid before and/or after killing him)

And then there's Polyxena, who usually is accompanying Troilus and gets kidnapped (and most likely r*ped) by Achilles after he kills her brother. In some versions she was partially the cause of Achilles' death, setting up his ambush by her brothers in Apollo's temple (which in my opinion seems like her way of avenging Troilus' death).

And then the ghost of Achilles demands her sacrifice (either as revenge to her revenge or because he still wants to have her, or both, 'm not sure), otherwise the Achaeans wouldn't be able to leave Troy.

I'm really curious about your thoughts on what Achilles did to these two.

(The argument about the Iliad characters is never ending and there are tons of different takes and opinions. I'm not trying to pick up an argument, I just want to hear you take on this, maybe what versions of these myths you prefer, why do you think Achilles acted the way he did and how does it fit in his characteristic you wrote previously?)

hellooo yeah so first and foremost obviously due to the nature of mythology it's always going to be kind of impossible to have, like, one unified "version" of a character that brings together every depiction of them throughout history, as you said. i think every storyteller is going to add something to a figure that doesn't necessarily mesh with every other depiction. it's like spiderman. it's for that reason that in that post (i had to go read it again lol i forgot exactly what i said but im pretty sure) i only talked about events that happened in or were referred to in the iliad. i.. clearly.. dont have a very good memory so i could very much be wrong about this but i dont think polyxena is mentioned in the iliad and troilus is only mentioned by name, i don't thiiiiiink the story of his death is relayed? i could be wrong! but yeah all of which is to say if my characterisation of achilles seems inconsistent with other myths, it sometimes might just be because it simply is. i dont try to account for every myth bc i would explode into a shower of snails

that said though i think in this instance we can find a compatibility. my point in that post wasn't that achilles isn't ever bloodthirsty or brutal, only that he shouldn't be defined by his bloodlust. quoting my own post bc again i had to go reread it

it's not that he isn't violent or hasn't killed or that he has reservations about taking lives

it's uncontroversial that he committed a lot of pretty heinous acts and clearly has the capacity for great cruelty and does not really weigh kindness or compassion or charity as a major factor in his decision-making. from my post again

he doesn't fight to kill, he fights to win. that's not hugely different in terms of the outcome, given it is in a war context where defeat and death tend to mean the same thing, but it IS different from a personality and character perspective, because it tells us achilles is at worst indifferent to human life rather than actually being driven by a desire to take it. better? worse? doesn't matter, not my point - just different.

achilles is more than happy to commit atrocities. it doesn't bother him to do so, morally. indifference to human life is sometimes indistinguishable from being outright driven by a desire to kill first and foremost. sometimes it's worse. achilles kind of does what he wants - he enjoys excelling at things - he excels at killing. so, stands to reason he might take a particularly brutal or bloodthirsty action if he feels like it. im putting the rest of this under a cut because it got long again

achilles choosing to ransom lycaon isn't proof that he is a merciful soul. it's just that he isn't at war for the love of making war and ending lives in and of itself. he absolutely does not give a shit about lycaon at all as an individual. if someone doesnt have to die, he might decide to let them go (vs someone who's in this because they love killing and therefore would just kill anyway). or he might kill them. if someone DOES have to die, achilles wouldn't go out of his way to make it a kind end. he might if he feels like it. but he might not. the bottom line is he can be bloodthirsty, but that's not his core driving trait. he's not in this to kill, he's in this to win and to be remembered for it. the killing is incidental (if he wins enough then it doesn't matter if his victims survive or not), so it'll happen or it won't and it doesn't really matter to him. so yeah, a plea for mercy might work on him better than it might work on someone who really actively wants to kill people because maybe he has no particular stake in killing them, which is why ive said he isn't fundamentally driven by bloodlust. but like if achilles thinks it might be fun to kill someone in a brutal way, no voice in his head is gonna be like Whoa there champ! How about not doing that? bc his reasons for not killing aren't ethical concerns, it's just a byproduct of what drives him. this is a fine distinction i know but i think it's important. again im not arguing (and wont ever) that achilles is a good moral figure, it's more just about understanding who he is. the killing isn't his goal hence why hes willing to ransom trojan soldiers moreso than the other greeks but if he DOES kill he's probably also going to do it more brutally than others again because his reasons were never rooted in morality to begin with

basically in terms of how im able to marry my view of achilles not being driven by bloodlust with the fact that he does objectively violent and brutal acts, i think those things are compatible with each other bc he can be bloodthirsty without that being the core driving force of his character and the thing that makeshim what he is. does that make sense? the issue i was railing against specifically w that post was that he tends to be depicted as a guy who just wants to fight kill bite kill blood blood blood and i think he DOES act like that guy but that's not the be all and end all of him. killing is incidental to winning, but he can take it or leave it - what i refer to as the breakdown of achilles' character following patroclus' death is the transition in achilles from "i want to win, and i'll kill to make that happen" to "i want to kill for the sake of killing" it stops being about glory and starts being about destruction and pain

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 13/01/2024

RNR (Rip No Riffs)

Season 1 No Album Release (Read More) DND (Do Not Destroy) - No More Heroes

Ripped by Triple-Q

Alright, uh, WHEW - I hope everyone's had a great day in a post-Christmas Comeback Crisis Episode 11 world!! I've been absolutely giddy with excitement and joy ever since I watched it and I'm so glad that the reception has been so universally positive all around. I'm trying to wind down from all of it, and figured I might as well push a rip I had down the pipeline to cover up earlier in the schedule. And hey - RNR (Rip No Riffs) is also somewhat Christmas Comeback Crisis-related! If you haven't heard the rip on its own, you've DEFINITELY heard it within that series.

For those out of the loop, RNR (Rip No Riffs) is used as the theme to the Rapper's Union HQ in the CCC, the hub of the story's chill resistance faction fighting against The Voice. Yesterday with 9​来​4s I wrote a fair bit about how excellent a job dante and c.o. have done in giving the series a very distinct soundscape, but the thing is - that doesn't just apply to composing new songs for the series. Plenty of rips from the channel's life have been used for music in the series without being explicitly made with that purpose, and RNR (Rip No Riffs) is probably the most widely recognized of these tracks?

I think it's an excellent choice for a lot of reasons, quality aside, because of just how well it slots into the series' tone and feel. The original DND (Do Not Destroy) is the laid-back lounge theme of the original No More Heroes, playing whenever Travis Touchdown is at home rather than slaughtering people en masse outside - it's a chill calm before the storm, so to speak. At a first inattentive listen, you may not even notice that RNR (Rip No Riffs) is edited at all, as its edits aren't exactly explicitly out of tune or in contrast to the original tune. As the track's chill vibe plays out, elements from All-Star are inserted into the backing, eventually being replaced with the guitar from Linkin Park's In The End - a song typically associated with pent-up anger, frustration, rage, hatred, the works. Yet the rip builds it all up so subtly, it never interrupts the chill lounge beat that laid the foundation for the original track, and so this change in emotion never truly registers as sounding out of place or wrong.

And to me, that's what makes it such a perfect fit for the Rappers' Union's theme - it's a home where these people relax, where they talk to one another and lounge, yet its also the place where all their bubbling rage against the oppression they face is being stored - the last remaining home to all of these damaged souls. The Christmas Comeback Crisis, for as silly as its premise is, and for as many lighthearted moments that it does have, is still fundamentally a story about strife and conflict, about a bubbling state of disarray that's slowly exploding into full-on warfare. RNR (Rip No Riffs) feels like the perfect theme to embody all of those emotions, a breezy jam playing in the background to a downtrot apartment space that slowly bubbles to become something far more serious, with far more grit and rage.

I certainly don't believe this sort of vibe was what Triple-Q had in mind with the original upload - at the end of the day, it's just a silly, classic Season 1 rip, changing just enough in a familiar song to sound different while still sounding recognizably like the original. Yet I find it so fascinating that the rip still stands on its own two feet, whilst adding some genuine gravitas and mood to the series it was eventually grafted on to - althewhile being such a relatively-obscure pick for a rip to use, that it didn't feel played out whatsoever when it showed up again.

A lot of the stuff I've covered for Season 1 on this blog has been of a sort of "higher" status, be it all-time classics like Live and Ooooooooooooooh and Pikmin Park, the emotional highs of Epic Flintstones and Stone Halation, or just generally ones tied to more well-remembered passion projects like Everyday Goodbyes (SiIvaGunner Band Cover). And in comparison, rips like RNR (Rip No Riffs) may end up feeling kind of...normal, kind of basic and simple in their edits. Yet that simplicity has never been a bad thing, and its never been anything holding rips down from striking pure gold, and there's something just so sweet about knowing that any rip, of any kind, any popularity, can eventually get this kind of association, this kind of retroactive use and meaning, that ends up drawing so many more associations and thoughts to it than were originally intended.

[campbyler]

*i wrote all this at approximately 4am, so bear with me for how deranged i sound lol*

oh. my. GOD. AAAAAAAAA!!!! this chapter like holy fuck i was giggling and kicking my feet after reading the first three paragraphs. like omg my GOD THEY ARE SO ALFJDKAL!

i would just like it to be known that i have driven a standard vehicle one (1) time in my life and my experience was so similar to will’s with how i almost burst out crying the first time i stalled as well LOL! i can’t really say much about all the technical car stuff since its been a few years since i’ve driven a manual car and i don’t know shit about cars, but from what i remember my dad said basically the same things to me that mike said to will when teaching him so i would say it’s pretty spot on!

HOLY SHIT THEY ARE SO KING IF MY HEART CODED OMG!! “That’s it, baby!” like holy fuck “now you try on calling me baby like trying on clothes” first the thrift store date and then mike calling will baby!!??!!! so king of my heart of them. the mall date and the restaurant have changed my life. if i talk about it in too much detail i fear i might explode. so all ill say is OH MY GOD THEY ARE SO AAHADJKALSD LIKE “you should draw me” OMG I WAS SCREAMING JNTO MY PILLOW!!! “i already draw you all the time” KILLED ME! I DIED FOR A SECOND THERE ! “smoking hot… accurate portrait” i might as well have been six feet under at that point. “I’ll get jealous of her” holy shit michael wheeler. holy shit. i just have to continue before i really do explode. MIDDLE SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS!!! OH MY GOD I ALMOST DIED AGAIN! THE PHOTO BOOTH!!!!! i love a good photo booth moment and this one did NOT disappoint. THE HEART FRAME OMG!!!

will just absolutely ignoring max because she has them all figured out is just *mwah* but holy shit that car ride. will finally stopped ignoring that thing in the back of his mind and figured his shit out. like holy fuck my pillow probably hates me for how much silent screaming i’ve been doing through the chapter. will broke the no kissing in the mustang rule. HOLY SHIT HE BROKE HIS OWN RULE!!

this chapter is one of my faves!! can’t wait to see how mike is doing in the next chapter i bet he’s an absolute mess

AMAZING JOB AS ALWAYS!!! TAKE CARE!!!

<3<3<3

see you in the next chapter!

AHHH WE LOVE A 4AM COMMENT (EVEN IF YOU ARE INSANE FOR STAYING UP SO LATE TO READ)!! i am So So glad that you enjoyed!! i read this entire thing while nodding and also reaching thru the screen to pay your head gently 💗 tysm for reading and commenting and we hope you continue to enjoy the future chapters!!!

[pricechecktranslations]

the heavenly yard blog infomine, part 2: uploading Daughter of Evil, collaboration, new songs, and karaoke

I wanna make clear again these posts are NOT translations of mothy's blog. They are me reading his blog and summarizing or paraphrasing the info in them.

11 August 2008 ~ 1 December 2008

---August 2008---

11th

-he's entering regret message into the 20th VOCALOID album

15th

-back to Daughter of Evil discussion, and mothy's thoughts on finishing the song.

-mothy was very disappointed at how much of the plot he wrote had to get cut in the finished product. this led to him having an idea!

-he's being coy about it but essentially when he decided to make Servant of Evil, he went back and adjusted some things in Daughter of Evil to foreshadow the twin switch.

16th

Page 1

-mothy describes his tribulations in getting the Daughter of Evil PV made. he wanted it to look nice, so him drawing it was out.

-He tried finding some illustrations on Piapro but there wasn't much to be found in the way of "Medieval Rin" pictures. However, this does remind him that a lot of uploaders will recruit illustrators on Piapro by uploading their work and then tagging it "illustrations wanted", so he decides to do the same.

-The only problem is that he's practically a nobody at this point so he's unlikely to get a lot of takers.

Page 2

-mothy again has to tell people that he is NOT doing karaoke unless Joysound contacts him on their own because he doesn't want to go to the hassle.

-also too busy to reply to emails

19th

-this entry has a lot of cute emojis in it

-Though mothy was expecting it to take a long time for someone to illustrate the song, Ichika wound up making him one pretty much immediately. Mothy looks into her and sees some of her other work on NicoNico (including her PV for Cantarella, which is most well known). Naturally he is overjoyed and immediately starts work on making the PV with the illustration.

-Funnily enough, he closed the illustration recruitment after that thinking no one else would bite and someone left a disappointed comment because they'd been drawing a picture for it too (he's very sorry about that)

31st

-mothy's working on a Rin and Len song, notes it's Miku's first year anniversary

---September 2008---

6th

-onto the making of the DoE PV. Mothy admits to being a novice in this area, with only Windows Movie Maker to work with. He put more work into it than his previous videos, wanting to grow his talents some, and then uploaded it.

17th

-mothy's finished his new song but he's going to upload it at a later date.

-Daughter of Evil might be getting distributed on MikuMoba (he says maybe because he has the wrong phone type to download it)

-Answers some questions. Says he's okay with people making doujin content and fan videos using art they made themselves, and asks they get permission from any other illustrators whose work they use.

-people are still asking him about karaoke. He MIGHT do karaoke.

24th

-mothy talks about how Daughter of Evil exploded in popularity after he uploaded it (he finally made the site's official ranking), which of course he was really excited about.

---October 2008---

1st

-mothy relates how he got a really swelled head from Daughter of Evil getting in the ranking only for it to fall off the next day. Still, the song outperformed his expectations going in, so he was happy for that.

-He decided to focus on making the next song (incidentally, Daughter of Evil's views went up after he uploaded Servant). He suggests that Daughter of Evil's popularity is what gave him the motivation to keep going.

-This concludes his comments on Daughter of Evil's production, though there's still more to tell (which he may cover when talking about Servant of Evil, if he ever does)

6th

-mothy finally uploads his new song, which is Tale of Abandonment on a Moonlit Night

-Naturally the video was done by Ichika. He's been wanting to try doing a "Hansel and Gretel" theme with Rin and Len, and so did it here. He does hint at the song being part of a broader story, but doesn't say what that story is.

-Though there are commenters who want mothy to go into his making of Servant of Evil, he's not sure he will because A) he already talked about the plot concepts in it with Daughter of Evil, and B) he worries he'll look egotistical spending all his blog time talking about how a novice like him got popular (I think).

-Some people have asked him if he could teach them composing. He admits to being a bit green in that area as well and suggests they ask someone else.

-again confirms doujins are fine.

7th

-uploaded Abandonment's mp3 and karaoke to Piapro

9th

-mothy's grateful that people really like Abandonment, he's gotten a lot of views.

-He got interviewed by something called the Yamaha Mook series ("Let's Enjoy VOCALOID"? idk at a glance it looks like some kind of Japanese sheet music magazine). It also has some comments from Ichika.

10th

-He talks a bit more about Abandonment. He has a slightly roundabout way of saying it but he seems to have based it on the Grimm Fairytales version of Hansel and Gretel specifically rather than any later version.

-he mainly used RinLen act 1, but also used act2 in areas where act1 wouldn't cooperate with him. This song required a lot of adjustment. Melodically he feels it's closer to his earlier work before he made the Daughter of Evil songs, which he personally prefers.

15th

-he entered the ranking again

16th

-He talks about illustrations for his videos here, and how Abandonment is the first time he's actually commissioned someone to draw the art for one (incidentally, I didn't know that Regret Message's video was done using a stock photo)

-He was nervous that Ichika wouldn't go for it, but she was happy to work with him, so he's grateful for that (moreover, he was just expecting her to make an illustration for it, she was the one who went to the trouble of making a full video with that illustration, which impressed him greatly).

-mothy added lyrics using Premier Elements (which he bought recently)

29th

-He's been busy working on a collaboration so his blog got put on hold for a bit.

-His upcoming Rin song is part of that collaboration (pretty sure he's talking about South North Story)

-He'll be attending VOCALOID Master 6 to promote the CD that this collaboration song will be on.

-He asks people to be patient on the karaoke front but suggests they register on Joysound for it.

-Also says he's okay with people performing his songs non-commercially like in a school recital or something.

-I think in his last comment he's responding to Ichika for something, so without seeing what she said I'm not 100% sure what his reply means, sorry.

31st

Page 1

-Yep, his collaboration is South North Story with uniMemoP (I believe all the collaboration for this song and others on the CD it's for is being done on RinLenSNS), talks about upload schedule etc

Page 2

-the karaoke versions of Daughter, Servant, and Regret Message are in the running for Joysound, but they need to be voted in.

---November 2008---

3rd

-he seems to have installed a piapro player as a widget on the blog? (I can't find it so idk if it stopped working at some point after this post)

5th

-he's getting a lot of votes on JOYSOUND, with servant getting the most so far.

-he bought some books on digital music making, and also MEIKO and KAITO.

-thanks people for the votes and has two responses I can't really understand without context (one is about the player? i think?)

10th

-releases the crossfade for cheeRfuL, the CD with South North Story on it.

-more commentary response. Joysound is still getting votes. I believe he comments here on how working with KAITO and MEIKO is coming along (they're hard to use).

16th

-poor Regret Message is getting left behind in the Joysound voting.

25th

-he'll be uploading South North Story soon.

-as said earlier, he'll be at VOCALOID Master6. It's his first time going.

-Regret Message is still floundering in Joysound

28th

Page 1

-South North Story is up

Page 2

-mothy talks a bit about his participation on the cheeRfuL album and his collaboration on South North Story. It's interesting to hear some of his thoughts on it but it's not really related to Evillious so unfortunately I won't be summarizing it here.

-I will say the song was originally going to be called "Kimagure Kousaten (Whimsical Intersection)" but he changed it to reference RinLenSNS. He also wanted the lyrics to reflect the nature of the collaboration itself.

-Someone called "Deko(maru)" did the illustrations I think?

-Tale of Abandonment on a Moonlit Night has entered the hall of fame.

---December 2008---

1st

Page 1

-mothy talks about having attended VOCALOID master 6, what his weekend was like, etc. It sounds like he had a great time and things went well.

-He was a little overwhelmed and there were some things he missed out on, and people he missed out on talking to due to some miscommunication and whatnot, but that's okay. He'll be prepared next time.

Page 2

-it's karaoke time all three of the songs he submitted got voted in :)

-his other songs may get in sometime in the future.

Page 3

-he thanks everyone for voting on JOYSOUND, and says he'll talk with uniMemoP about when and where to upload the MP3 for South North Story

And with the JOYSOUND arc having come to a close, I think that's a good point to stop. More to come when I feel like reading it.

[antimony-medusa]

Ao3 Wrapped

I like numbers so here I am delving into my works again!

__

Overall stats for 2023!

User Subscriptions: 164

Kudos: 4,786

Comment Threads: 695

Bookmarks: 1,308

Subscriptions: 288

Word Count: 198,621

Hits: 30,820

That's an increase in everything except subscriptions, I had a good year. It was the year of many smaller fics, mostly, with just a few longfics.

I am particularly touched that user subscription count, that people want to stick around to see everything I wrote, especially as I broke into a new fandom this year and did some Original Work. Thank you all for coming along for the ride!

Fun Stats:

Fics Published: 31, including four on anon, for 198,621 words

Number of One-Shots: 28— I went pretty hard into exchange this year, and that encourages oneshots. I only wrote one multichapter for a bang, one for an event, and finished one ongoing from last year. Of all of those however only 2 were under a thousand words, so I did less sort of treats and drabbles than I did last year.

Number of Multi-Chapters: 3, 4 if you count the one that's still sitting at one chapter that I might continue someday. Ulp. Okay so the good news is all of those multichapters are finished, but the bad news is I still have multiple ongoings from the previous year that are just languishing. Did I mention I went hard into exchanges this year?

Number of Inspired Works: 3, two of which were because I participated in challenges where everybody writes a fic inspired by the one in front of them in the chain! And also Droid wrote me an excellent phandom shubbleandwilbur fic. :D

Longest Fic: Freaking Out In The Middle Of The Street (With The Complete Conviction Of Someone Who Has Never Had Anything Actually Really Bad Happen To Them) (28,369 words), my silly worldbuilding nonsense multichapter, but I started that one the year before, so if we only consider the ones I did entirely this year that would be my bang fic, A Hundred Things You Have Not Dreamed Of  (27,743 words). I had a lot of fun with dehumanized human weapon recovery with that one.

Shortest Fic: Taking A Break (335 words), basically an overgrown drabble that I wrote on tumblr when people were challenging me to write anything as a QPR. Soley put on tumblr to help boost up a relationship tag (misskristin/missa/philza).

Most Kudosed Fic: Twenty Minutes After The Family Dynamic is Forcibly Assigned By The Government , at a staggering 568 kudos for a fic that isn't even a thousand words, which is just proof that if you write something while the kettle boils at the exact moment that a fandom is exploding and it makes it to the top of the tag, it can stay up there for a while. People are STILL reading and kudosing that one and I don't even know how they find it.

Most Viewed Fic: Freaking Out In The Middle Of The Street (With The Complete Conviction Of Someone Who Has Never Had Anything Actually Really Bad Happen To Them) , at 3,629 hits! However, 1,528 of that is from last year, so really the hits for this year are only 2,101, so my top hits is A Hundred Things You Have Not Dreamed Of , 2,990 hits. and that is 100% the power of being a daily-updating multi-chapter, the hits on that one exploded for that reason. But the hits on multichapters are always higher.

Most Subscribed Fic: Freaking Out In The Middle Of The Street (With The Complete Conviction Of Someone Who Has Never Had Anything Actually Really Bad Happen To Them)  again! 87 Subscriptions! But a full 76 of them are from last year, so we're back at A Hundred Things You Have Not Dreamed Of, with 49 subs.

Most Bookmarked Fic: Look it's Freaking Out In The Middle Of The Street (With The Complete Conviction Of Someone Who Has Never Had Anything Actually Really Bad Happen To Them)  again 122 bookmarks, But 58 of those were from last year, so. Again. Different fic— and it's Twenty Minutes After The Family Dynamic is Forcibly Assigned By The Government tied with an anon fic, with 117 bookmarks.

Most Used Fandom: Dream SMP with 12 fics, but QSMP is coming up fast with 7 fics!

Least Used Fandom: That is the Internet & Social Media (Anthropomorphic), with one fic! Let's fucking go for Yuletide assignments!

Most Used Rating: Teen, 23 fics

Least Used Rating: Gen, 2 fics, and Mature, 2 fics

Most Written Relationship: Technoblade & Phil Watson | Philza, 9 fics. This is down from 10 last year. I'm falling off.

Most Used Additional Tag: Guys, don't make fun of me, but it's Food. Beating out Fluff this year. I know I keep writing about food. I KNOW. I will get more original beats next year.

Most Frequently Used Characters: 

Philza (21)

Technoblade (11)

Ángel Missael Castañeda Vega | MissaSinfonia (4)

Chayanne (QSMP) (4)

Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF) (3)

Niki | Nihachu (2)

Toby Smith | Tubbo (2)

Tumblr (Anthropomorphic) (1)

Reddit (Anthropomorphic) (1)

DID TOMMY SERIOUSLY NOT MAKE THE LIST? Wow, tide change. Anyways, it was a fun year. Here's to more next year!

Last Year's Stats