#double update week

[nuwildcat]

Cocktails and an Irish WIP Wednesday

Happy WIP Wednesday Team! I know it’s stab Caesar Day, but it will shortly be St. Paddy’s Day and given my Irish roots I decided to dip my toe into writing some fae lore. While torturing myself with this I managed to pull @luckydragon10​ in with me! We’ve both crafted some Gaelic stories for your enjoyment with a nice side bonus of monster fucking, because why not?

Silvered Perceptions is getting an update tomorrow! Because of that you all are getting a cocktail recipe here!

The High Horse

Chill a Martini glass using ice and set aside.

1 1/2 ounces aged rum

1/2 ounce kirsch brandy

1/2 ounce cherry liqueur

1/2 ounce sweet vermouth

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in a mixing glass with ice. Stir mixture until well chilled, 30-45 seconds. Strain into chilled Martini glass and garnish with a brandied cherry.

As for our Irish Snippet! I have wandered into uncharted territories here. @dr-lemurr​ is all to blame here for tossing an awesome prompt into the KP Kink Meme. So for this fic you’ve got a new flavor from me, Kim/Chay! Here’s a little taste test for you before it gets posted on Friday with Nemi’s beasty.

Without further ado, I give you a sample of The Death of Autumn:

All around him, autumn is slowly dying, the frost creeping in and leeching the life away from plants that will go dormant over the winter. Bugs no longer hum in the air and animals have gone sleepy and quiet. The silence of winter is starting to descend.

The tug in Chay’s gut lights up as he thinks, like a compass pointing him due north. He scrambles up, smearing mud on his sweater and knocking dried leaves from the seat of his pants. He plods off in the direction his instincts are calling. The song that he created with Kim is humming underneath his skin, and Chay has to let it out. 

It doesn’t take long for him to come to a clearing. Chay knows this part of the woods. In the summer this field is full of flowers, now it is a dullish brown. He can see a figure standing across the way, shrouded in shadows despite the fact that the sun has not yet fully set. Chay steps out into the field and tries to get a better look at the figure. In doing so he freezes in place, stunned by what he sees.

It’s been unraveling in his head the whole day, clues and hints that he hadn’t put together at the time. The things Kim was doing that didn’t add up, or couldn’t be explained. All of it pointed to the fact that Kim was not the human he masqueraded as. Chay is now certain that the boy he met a few weeks ago is in fact fae. As he approaches the shadowed figure, he knows it’s Kim.

Chay isn’t afraid. He’s never truly been afraid of Kim, even when he should have been. But this isn’t Kim. This isn’t the awkward man who watched him in the woods. This isn’t the man who has kept Chay company while Porsche is missing. This is something else entirely.

If you need a little more Irish in your life go check out Nemi’s little snippet! Sealed with a Kiss, I both love and hate the pun...

[enka11]

i feel like i can’t be blamed for expecting a little bit more those mystery boxes look huge

[sheprd]

took a crack at my own interpretation of grimmjow's second resurrection form from the mobile game.

[pepurika]

good grief I am SO TIRED after con weekend that I can't even hold the pen straight HAHAH so there might not be a page today! I might wake up properly later, but so far it looks like today is a bad drawing day!

[ender1821]

afterglow

chapter 2 posted on ao3: read here!

Gem ran.

It was the only thing she could do, the only movement her limbs knew, the only reaction she could have— running, the sole act that can save her from scarlet cloaks and white wolves and crooked towers and the thoughts that make tears prick her eyes and none of it made sense—

There is no real escape, the white blur of a building that Gem’s approaching reminds her, because she’s just woken up from death to find herself in a new cage, which reeks with the same smell of death and sulphur.

[teatimecort]

I felt someone whose determination is even stronger than the regret he carries.

[forgottencomic]

[tangledinink]

are you guys ready for a monday in which i do not publish any new fic for the first time in almost six months.

[tennessoui]

Wait, there are people who LIKE WIPs? Mind officially blown. O_o

yeah idk maybe just consider that all your favorite fics were wips at one point and one writer liked it enough to spend hours turning that wip into a finished fic and I doubt they were writing just to write an ending

like that fic did not emerge fully formed as a multi chapter novel length anon divergent masterpiece on ao3 one day!!! even if a fic is all posted at once, ONE person knew it and loved it as a wip or it never would have been posted at all!!!

like come on!!! think about fic writers as people who are experiencing their wip more than you ever will no matter how many times you read it and I promise the concept of liking a wip will NOT blow your mind

[madamadragon]

GOOD NEWS

I haven't posted chapter 5 but I have a good reason, I'm writing chapter 6! this way I will be able to post two chapters so have a little patience, kisses!

[birdcatt]

First | Prev | Next

i want grill chese

[arthropod-concoctions]

(AO3 - prev)

After discussing the details of being the 'royal stunt double' for a little while, Bigb was dismissed by king Ren, who clarified that he really meant it this time. So he left the throne room and descended down a narrow spiral staircase all the way to the ground. He was about to head outside, when he noticed an odd sound, like someone pounding their fists against a wall repeatedly.

He traced the sound to a diorite wall to the right of the door. He approached the wall and then, hesitantly, called out.

“Hello?”

The pounding stopped. Faintly, a voice responded from the other side; Etho's voice. “Ren? Is that you?”

“No, I'm- uh. Yeah. I'm totally Ren. Etho, is that you?”

“E- what? No, I'm Joel. Ren, do you see any buttons where you are?”

“Buttons?” Bigb was fairly certain he did hear Etho's voice, but then again, he looked like Ren now. Maybe the same thing had happened to 'Joel'. “Nope. No buttons here. Why?”

“Well, I'm in this big dark room, and I can see that there's a piston door here, but I can't find any way to open it, so I thought maybe the way to open it was on your side? But I guess not, so-” he made a hysterical laughing sort of noise, which definitely sounded like something Joel would do- “well, that's fine!”

“Okay. Alright, don't worry, I can get you out of there,” Bigb replied. He scanned the room again. There weren't any buttons, but he did see an observer in the floor, with some candles on top of it. “There's an observer here. I can try and trigger it, see if that-”

“No! Dude, don't just trigger an observer, that's probably a trap!”

“I mean, it sounds to me like you're already trapped. I don't think we have much to lose.”

“Trapped?” Joel made another noise. “I'm not trapped at all! I could easily break out of here, it's just very dark, and I don't have a blumming pickaxe in my inventory, and, well, a god of the sky just isn't supposed to be in a dungeon like this, and-”

This was getting out of hand. “I'm triggering the observer,” Bigb said.

“DON'T YOU DARE-”

Bigb reached down and grabbed one of the candles standing on the observer. It clicked.

Behind him, pistons retracted, and then someone collided with him.

Joel breathed out sharply, sounding relieved. He made no attempt to move away from Bigb, so Bigb just awkwardly hugged him instead. I sure am getting personal with these guys today, he thought. Strangely enough, he didn't recognise Joel's features at all. He had pale skin, and white hair, and a scar over his eye-

No, wait. He recognised that scar. And the top half of his face. And the piece of dark blue fabric that was now hanging around Joel's neck.

Joel finally pulled back. “I wasn't scared or anything, you know. If you th-”

“Dude, your mask!” Bigb interrupted him.

“My mask? You mean this thing? I don't- wait.” Joel looked at the mask he had pulled down, then at the rest of his outfit-- Etho's outfit. He tapped on his face around the scarred eye. “Oh. Well, I guess that explains where my depth perception went...”

Bigb continued to stare at his- at Etho's mouth. “This is surreal. I feel like I just walked in on somebody naked.”

Joel let out a hum. He sure was making a lot of noises today. “Then- if I look like Etho but am actually Joel, does that mean you're actually Bigb?”

“Yeah.” Bigb nodded.

Joel nodded too. “I thought you didn't sound like Ren.” Then he pulled the mask back over his face and said: “Well... Bigb. Can we agree to forget about, just... this whole encounter?”

Bigb chuckled. “Sure. I can do that.”

“Sweet. Thanks,” Joel replied, then opened the door-- a regular door-- and went outside. About three seconds later, he came back and asked: “By the way, where the heck are we?”

“I have no idea.”

---

Gem opened her eyes, and cracked her knuckles. Both other members of the soup group were away, doing some sort of hardcore challenge, which meant she had a few hours to work on her base with no distractions-

Oh, nevermind. The player list showed that Impulse had already arrived, and a bunch of the other participants too. That was strange. The game was supposed to last around 24 hours, maybe more-- and 17 hours was not 'around 24', in Gem's opinion.

“Well, I guess that's what happens when you trust Grian to estimate a time,” Gem said, and sighed. “Goodbye, productivity.” Then she solemnly grabbed a rocked and flew into the sky.

Impulse wasn't in his own base, which meant he was probably at the shopping district. Flying in that direction, she found him soon enough- about halfway to spawn, in a screaming match with Bdubs for some reason.

“...whole time, I was thinking, 'I can't wait to be back so I'll be taller than Impulse again', and now this has happened!” Impulse shouted as she approached the two of them.

“Well what do you want me to do about it? I didn't cause this!” Bdubs shouted back.

“Impulse!” Gem yelled, interrupting the argument. Both of them jumped as she landed on the ground.

“Hi Gem!” they both said, almost in unison.

“Guys, what's happening? Do I need to slay somebody?”

“Th- no, no, that won't be necessary,” Impulse said. He didn't quite sound like himself.

“Good. Impulse, what were you even saying, about being taller than... yourself?”

“Uh- okay, that does sound weird, but it makes sense, I promise,” Impulse replied. “You see... hm. How do I put this...”

“Oh, Pearl's just gotten back,” Bdubs interrupted, looking at his chat.

“Pearl's gotten back... or... somebody else?” Impulse replied.

“Yeah. We should probably go greet... them.”

They had yet to explain anything. Impulse and Bdubs took off flying, and Gem followed them. “Okay, would somebody explain what the heck is going on?” she asked as she caught up.

“Yeah, we probably should,” Impulse replied. He slowed down, and for some reason stuck his hand out towards her. “Hi. I'm Bdubs. Nice to meet you.”

“Wha-” Gem stopped herself, and sighed. “Okay, first of all, if you're Bdubs then we've already met, so there's no point introducing yourself again. Second of all, I just left my larping world, so I'd appreciate if you didn't-”

“We're not larping!” 'Bdubs' yelled. Admittedly, his tone of voice did sound a lot like Bdubs'. Ahead, the real Bdubs-- was that Impulse now?-- landed in front of Pearl.

“Hi. How you feeling?” he said to her. Yep, that sounded like Impulse.

“Very confused,” Pearl responded in a Scottish accent. “I don't know where I am, I wasn't expecting to see you again- no offense- and I have the body of-”

“Of Pearl. Yeah.” Bdubs nodded. “Welcome to the club, Scott.”

“Scott?” Gem repeated.

“Gem!” Pearl- no, Scott- turned to her. “Can I have a word with you, privately?”

The two of them walked away from Impulse and Bdubs. Scott grabbed Gem's shoulder and whispered: “Where are we? What is this place?”

“This is Hermitcraft. I live here. Welcome!”

“You... live here? Don't you live in Dawn?” Scott said, confirming Gem's suspicions: not only was this the same Scott she knew, but he was still acting in character.

Gem replied: “Well, I live here too.”

“Okay,” he replied, looking up and around at the fantastical landscape Pearl had terraformed. “Do you know how I can get back to Chromia from here?”

Gem hummed. Scott wasn't whitelisted to Hermitcraft, so the only way he could be here is if he got Pearl's permissions as well, but she wasn't whitelisted to Empires. “I'm not sure you can.”

“I- excuse me? I can't just stay here, I have a responsibility to my empire! As do you, by the way!” Scott said, looking at Gem sternly. Classic Scott; he wouldn't break character if his life depended on it. Also, he was taller than Gem now, which she did not like.

“Oh, relax, I'm sure it'll be fine. Also, I can go over to Dawn whenever I like. I was just there!”

“Oh.” Scott looked down, then at Gem again. “In that case, can you also keep an eye on Chromia when you return? As a favor?”

Gem sighed. “Yeah, okay,” she said. “I can do that.”

As if she didn't have enough to do already.

(next)

[hirazuki]

For Now [Chapter 12 snippet]

Sasori/Haruno Sakura, Sasori & Haruno Sakura | T | Blank Period | canon divergent | angst, hurt/comfort, enemies to friends | ongoing [AO3]

•────────────────────⋅☾ ☽⋅────────────────────•

“Hand,” Sasori demands, holding out his own towards her, palm up.

It’s a day off for Sakura, and they are lounging on the couch after another healing session. The progress is slow, as expected, but more whole than she had dared to hope, and evident in the steadily growing precision and strength of his chakra threads when he periodically tests them – usually on her. 

She’s absentmindedly flicking through TV channels and he’s sitting only a foot or so away, close enough to practically lie across if she extends her legs to the side from where she has them curled up in front of her, reading the latest inter-village pharmaceutical bulletin that came in for her at the hospital yesterday, which he pilfered from the stack of paperwork that she left on the living room table. Like most things she brings home, it’s confidential, as he well knows, but that’s never stopped him from helping himself; it’s never stopped her from not stopping him, either – though, she thinks distantly, she probably should, professionally-speaking.

Instead, she’s been silently encouraging this behavior with her unspoken permission, happy to see him increasingly curious about the post-war world around him, and discreetly admiring how healthy he looks compared to even a week ago, nevermind when he first arrived. 

His complexion has become bright and even – and the fact that, after everything he’s put his body through, his skin is still so much better than hers is both medically fascinating and extremely unfair – his previously lifeless hair is back to being the vivid splash of color that used to stain her dreams, and his nails are neatly shaped, no longer broken and brittle. The hollows between his bones are filling out and, though he’s still all hard angles, it is now primarily due to his build. His eyes, too, have been different, dull blades slowly being resharpened and glinting with that dangerous intelligence that she’s finally had to admit to herself she enjoys, as he engages with more and more things, allowing them to catch his interest. 

The subsequent fuzzy warmth that blooms inside of her and worms its way through her body is something that she determinedly attributes to satisfaction with his healing – a job well done on her part, especially for how experimental it’s been; after all, who else can say that they’ve rebuilt someone’s entire chakra network? – and not to pleasure at witnessing how boneless with content he seems, after more than a lifetime of being strung-out. Hypervigilance is something all shinobi struggle with, of course, but she’s found that Suna-nin are a particularly bad case; Gaara-kun, for instance, despite the years, still has trouble sleeping.

Sakura looks at the other redhead currently in her life, and on her couch, and raises a brow.

Sasori sighs, somewhat dramatically, but humors her. “Hold out your hand,” he amends.

[bleaksqueak]

There's one weird page in chapter 3 where the coloring came out so weird, it looks like none of the other pages, and it drives me a little crazy. But, you know, whatever lol done is better than not-done. I have a huge buffer, I *really* should get to posting. I also want to get to posting bc (well, I want to, I like reading update comments more than you can know)...and bc I keep getting asks that have a few things that are quite literally in chapter 3, so I sit here looking at them, going (marge thinking sounds)

Well, here, have two unrelated statements that look amusing put together.

[queenarsinoethepoisoner]

Hermittober day 14: Clash

YIPPEEE!!!! IM ACTUALLY POSTING ON TIME!!! It’s when Gem was pvping Etho and he kept losing to the point where she had, like, 40 heads from him. One of my fav moments from Gem during season 9. It’s really rough cus I was procrastinating doing it, and also was really busy

[princessbelix]

Dear Class of 2021,

3044 words

roughly 7 pages

that's how much paper it would take

to fit the names of the last class of 2021

the class that didn't finish the year

the class whose stars collapsed a bit early

the class who was supposed to go to colleges

get jobs

write books

have kids

find love

find themselves 

And

change the future

about 7 pages is what we have left

about 380500 pounds of rock is what we have left

about 54792 years, is what was taken

3044 words

it doesn't look like a lot

it's not a small number by any means but,

not a big one either

that amount of words is at a middle school reading level

          just enough to pack a story

no background

no unnecessary words

no unnecessary sounds

or moves

or breaths 

or-

3044 chairs

Empty

its graduation season

and some seats are left

Unfilled

Uncovered

left

and they stay there

like the ghosts in the hallways,

and they stay there

like the hard-to-clean blood stains on white tile,

and they stay there

like the easy-to-turn-over desks by doors,

and they stay there

even after the bell rings for summer,

when the kids run out of the school

into cars

into busses

into loving arms

into a moment of peace

3044 students

in my graduating class

In the year I made it to the end of my senior year

3044 students

who didn't get the chance to walk across the podium

who will never get that chance

3044 students 

who will never leave for the summer

into cars

into busses

into loving arms

3044 students

who left in black bags

3044 students

who had to be identified by loved ones

3044 students

How many more are left?