#chapter 9 complete!

[spotted-owl-sketches]

Ch9 [first][prev][next]

And with that Chapter 9 is wrapped up! I've decided I'm going to take a break for the rest of the month for the holiday season. I got family coming down again and some projects I need to focus on. I don't know wheeeeeen in January I'll begin posting again but when I figure that out I'll make an announcement post don't worry

I might try and post doodles or something when i get the chance. I do feel bad pausing on such a bummer but this is a good place to take a break since Riko needs it too. Oh if anyone has questions or thoughts they wanna share I'd be happy to answer those during the break or any time really!

Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far ♡ The story will continue in 2025, and I hope you all have a happy holiday season! ♡♡♡

[kirby-the-gorb]

[thusspoketrish]

Harry and Draco. The Art of Getting By. Commissioned from the wildly talented @lights-on-the-ridge. For a higher quality, please visit AO3 here.

[anistarrose]

yes, my favorite line in all of TAZ does continue to be Barry's "I would feel guilty living in a world that I... poisoned." even on top of the fact that he's talking to Taako. even that it's pre-Glamour Springs. it's the way Barry spends his ten years alone in a downward spiral over the "poison" on his hands, completely in parallel to how Taako does. maybe not even realizing they're the same. you know voidfished Taako certainly doesn't realize.

relatedly, I think a lot about how Barry is the most obviously genre-dissonant character in early Balance. how obviously he doesn't belong. how everyone has their eccentricities, but with Barry there's always the — at the time — comedy, of reactions like "get out of here, you can't have a fantasy character who revolves around blue jeans!" but the thing is, Barry isn't any more alien to that world than Magnus or Merle or Taako is. he's just the one who allowed himself the least opportunities to know or interact with that world.

and I think he would've lagged behind THB in that regard even if the Voidfishing hadn't happened. not only does he hold even more guilt than them for half-inventing the Relic plan, he was charged by the judges with the "sin" of isolating himself on his home plane — yearning for connection with the world, but depriving himself of it. when Barry is crushed with more guilt than he's ever felt before in his life, what does he do? fall back into old habits.

[volivolition]

DAY 4: DRAMA - Put on your prettiest face for the masses!

gonna start adding silly captions actually. [POINTS ACCUSINGLY] MELTY FUCK (AFFECTIONATE)!!

[tracle0]

Snippet Sunday VIII

I think it's the eighth Sunday...? Maybe maybe! Here's some prophet story I wrote freshly for you (yes, you!)

A hand raised to his chest, trying to find the mutilation that had forced his ribs to poke out like ageing farmhouse fencing. His skin was sealed, unblemished under his fingers; sticky from his blood, but otherwise untouched. An identical inspection around his throat found the same. No hole for pathetic, fleshy pleas to wheeze through. All fixed. All perfect.

“You saved me,” he finally whispered, eyes wide and awed. “You – you didn’t have to, but you…?”

The Blight – previously quiet, considerate, letting him get to terms with the gift of his life – curled in his head, content. You’ve done me well, it said simply. I don’t want to lose you yet.

He probed carefully at his skull, hair sliding between his fingers. He could see where shards of his skull had been ejected, pick them up and inspect them, but he found no hollows in his head, no blemishes. “Thank you,” he said softly. “I… thank you.”

Your brother is almost here.

Cain blinked, the brief memory of something – a squirrel? – flashing through his mind, before he shook it away, focused. “We should go, then,” he said, starting to stand. The ground glimmered. His surroundings groaned and sobbed, the forgotten guards whimpering and wheezing, the fury surrendering them to shock and agony. “To Body?”

It hesitated. As he started to walk past a pair of guards, one pinned down by the other, bloodied and bruised, it drew his attention down to the ground, to a discarded knife next to the freed, fighting pair. See if you can slow him down, it suggested idly.

[thingsthatbleedfic]

been updating the fic's art and CSS, you might want to check the fic again to see what i've been up to :)

[tartarduck]

words about tot chapter 9

Gave myself a solid day to stew in my thoughts about ch9 and I just want to say that mihoyo is EVIL for timing it right before the anniversary. I don't know if I can be happy knowing Luke is suffering all alone in every conceivable universe other than his personal story/card timeline.

Point 1: How the chapter explored Luke's feelings of guilt for... Existing I guess?

I've been eagerly awaiting the reveal of Luke's survivor's guilt. The whole [wanting spirits to exist so he can at least apologise, or do SOMETHING, but knowing they don't] is such exquisite angst. I'm very happy they took the effort to write it in (though fortune tellers actually scare me in real life).

And now onto the related Point 2: Luke's feelings of guilt for literally everything else

I was reading through Luke's birthday greetings, and realised how often he calls himself greedy for literally wanting anything. God damn, SHE IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND IT'S NOT GREEDY OF YOU TO WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH HER --

That aside, it comes back to the theme of Luke Pearce's thought process, which in my brain goes a little something like this:

Good thing happens -> I do not deserve this

Bad thing happens -> It is completely my fault and no one else's

Which, might I add, vaguely reminded me of something from a lecture I forgot from my psych undergrad years. I'm worried for you, Luke. Please, Dr Yishmir, refer him to one of your colleagues for mental health.

In his personal 'route', he finally starts to come around with the idea that sometimes bad things... just happen and it's no one's fault (thank you, strategically placed rainbow in iridescent heartbeat). But in the main story? He's been feeling guilty ever since he saw MC after avoiding her for YEARS. There's no Aaron meddling with the two of them, or MC helping him clean his mess of a house to kick-start a card story. This is the man who hid in the attic after sending his confession after a YEAR of dates with MC -- the main story doesn't even give him a chance to start forgiving himself.

Basically, Luke Pearce is a mess in the main story, because everything that makes him un-messy happens by pure chance.

Point 3: Luke's black and white thinking of good and bad

One of the highlights of this chapter for me was Luke's anecdote about him faking a cold so MC would go out with her other friends and forget about him. Now, that's all well and good until he compares himself to the mum with Munchausen's syndrome, who is the closest thing we get to a 'villain' in this chapter. On top of his guilt, this whole I'm either a good or completely bad person mindset is really not doing favours for his mental health.

His anecdote also happens to be an interesting parallel to shape of you, because I remember Luke specifically wished to be forgotten in that card. He wants what's best for MC (because he thinks that he's taking everyone's love from her) but he also wants something for himself. And because he doesn't believe he's able to do both, but also because he isn't able to let go of his 'selfishness' sometimes, he thinks he's an awful person.

And now, to the last to do in my rant agenda.

Point 4: what happens in chapter 12. (Spoilers for CN server, but only about the Luke scene)

1. Ohmygod. He's going to run away. I can't see main story Luke NOT blaming himself for nearly hurting the MC. In whichever timeline, his priority is to keep her safe, and god, if he thinks he's a danger to her, the only way to keep her safe would be by disappearing again.

2. I'm going to read too much into this but MC trying to get Luke to recognise her while she's being pinned to the ground is such delectable angst. He's always worried that she'd forget about him -- whether it was the 8 years or literally just hanging out with other kids at school. But here she is, in a situation where he's essentially forgotten about her. The voice that my brain concocted up for MC was extra desperate in that scene.

Anyway, that's all I had to say about the recent main story developments in ToT. Keep the angst coming, writing staff. What a power move to send this out right before anniversary on BOTH servers. If there's anything I've taken away from this, it's that Luke stans are absolutely unhinged. Twitter circle people, I see you requesting more angst. How can we get even angstier than Luke nearly hurting MC while he's dressed in the outfit that he wears for his proposal card ??

[tojiscrack]

after doing some reconsidering, ive reached a conclusion.

megumi is pissing me AWF.

for the record!! this does not mean i am team kamo now, i am still apart of the #kamoisover party, BUT. megumi…. please… MAKE A MOVEEEE.. even if she doesnt know it, just one PLEASE BRAH 💔💔

ive been giving my megumi funko pop glares all day since ive come to this conclusion btw, he needs to man up right neow

you know what this reminds me of? 😭

the dude-bros on twitter getting pissed off at megumi for not doing anything 😀

‘even if she doesn’t know it’ — i think megumi would rather jump, ngl 💀

nah i’m jk. i have a few things planned for him. he has 0 game but we’ll see how it goes :)

p.s. the funko pop is representative of canon megumi, don’t give him the stink eye, the poor bean 😭☹️

liar, liar megumi is who you should be pissed at 🙂‍↕️💞

[mha-fic-recs]

FIC REC #21

Living Well - Krisington

Toshinori Yagi could recall learning three facts about Izuku Midoriya’s father. First, his name was Hisashi Midoriya. Second, he lived overseas in America for work. Third, he had a fire breathing quirk. Then, he learned a very important fourth fact: Hisashi Midoriya visited about every two years at a moment’s notice when he could get the time off. His last visit, according to young Midoriya’s estimate, was almost exactly two years earlier.

STATUS - COMPLETE

CHAPTERS - 9/9

PUBLISHED - 2023-03-10

COMPLETION DATE - 2023-05-05

POV - Third Person

[boinin]

Cassis Orange chapter 10's wordcount is at 5,700 words this morning, with about half the writing left to go. 🫡

[somnicordia]

4 5

by TheHangedMan

X. Rain

XI. Take Me Back to Eden

[[ chreon, rated m, 11/25 ]]

Right as he was about to pass Chris, however, a firm hand grabbed onto his bicep. Leon faltered. "Chris?" "Just," Chris' eyes were scrunched shut, almost like he was injured. When he opened them again, they glistened. "Just stay safe, alright?" Something ached deep within, a stinging throb he couldn't explain. As Leon opened his mouth to say something, anything, the train groaned and shuddered again, physically jolting them apart. "Don't worry," Leon rasped. "I'll be back before you know it."

read more

[adreamoverlife]

Good news for insane people who like q!french (me)

[thusspoketrish]

New Chapter | The Art of Getting By

Chapter 9 | The Art of Getting By

Excerpt:

Once they’re safely back on the zoo’s path, Draco reflects darkly on Harry’s infallible knack for finding new and creative ways to endanger himself—and slowly drive Draco to the brink of madness. Whether it’s through his relentless flirting and sexual innuendo, his arseholeish sass, or his sheer, idiotic recklessness, Harry manages to infuriate and charm Draco in equal measures. It’s utterly maddening that, despite everything, Draco finds himself torn between wanting to suck his cock or toss him into a horde of angry flamingos.  Draco’s musings are cut short as they sidestep a group of tiny children wearing neon yellow vests, walking in two messy lines down the pathway. One little girl at the front stops, staring wide-eyed at Draco, and points a pudgy finger at his head while touching her dark red hair.  “Oh, pretty!” she exclaims, grinning and revealing two missing front teeth. “A pretty princess!” Draco blushes as Harry bursts into laughter. Oh, Merlin! He was getting hit left and right today with mortifying moments—an insane, man-eating snake, his equally insane, man-eating boyfriend, and now, a child calling him a princess! Just as Draco further contemplates his growing list of embarrassments, one of the child’s carers swoops in to usher her along. “Now, Isabelle, it’s very rude to point,” the older woman gently chastises. She glances up at Draco. “Oh my! You do have rather pretty hair.”

Read The Art of Getting By on AO3, here.

Please mind the tags and warnings.

_________________

I need to give another shoutout to my glorious beta, @youknowyoudid for the phenomenal work she's been doing in triple checking over these chapters again before posting!!! Thank you!!! x

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Image Text:

The Art of Getting By

Interlude: Fuck Them, Only We Know

Written by Trishjames and Edited by YouKnowYouDid

_________________

Chapter Playlist:

Banks: Fuck Em Only We Know

Sigor Ros: Hoppípolla

Saoirse Ronan: Tell Me

[fairytalefragments]

❥ | LIGHT FIELD

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[artnew8]

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