#first one is from a larger drawing and bestie you do not want to know where that tongue is going

[paintedcrows]

He posts these to interdimensional instagram with a disturbingly cutesy caption and then kills 10 men

[justkpopjokes]

“Giant Bees!” || Lee Know

Ft. Lee Know + florist!Felix cameo (not ship) AU: giant beekeeper Word Count: 698 A/N: Indirectly requested by my bestie jaesea on May 28th of 2020 LMAO it literally took me 3 years smh (also @/hagun-suna I started writing a baker!minho for you YEARS ago and I decided to combine it with this one! idk if you’ll even see this HAHA I doubt you’ll read it but just wanted to say I thought of you!)

if you’d like to reblog just my fanart you can see it on my art blog ^^

If you know my fics, you’ll know that each AU comes with a twist…this one is giant bees

That’s not a figure of speech lmao the twist is that there are giant bees

Like I need you to understand that Minho takes care of LITERAL GINORMOUS BEES

It’s a bit of a challenge considering the bees are larger than his head 

Averaging 1 foot (~0.3 metres) long, Apis magna is the world’s largest species of bee!

(For context, a normal honeybee is 0.5 in or 1.2 cm long, which is 0.04 ft or 0.012 m)

Entomologists would be hesitant to even call it a bee anymore if it wasn’t for the blatant bee-haviour ahahahahah get it bee behaviour and appearance of a bee

(The drawing I made for the header is just a cuter depiction lol

I imagine they’d look more realistic, but you can also imagine lil blobs for this fic)

Minho took up beekeeping after discovering that the giant bees visiting his garden acted like his cats

His cats were actually scared of them at first LMAO but these giant bees don’t sting because they have lost their usual natural predators

In fact, they don’t seem to have any natural predators and don’t reproduce as often as normal bees, so they’re rare to find

Kind of more like something out of a fairy tale than an actual insect

But, somehow, Minho finds one such giant bee in his garden one morning feeding on the few colourful flowers he has planted there

He’s spooked at first, but his cats start playfully swatting at the bee and the bee seems to be having fun with them

So Minho brings out a jar of honey from his kitchen to feed the big bee

The bee drinks some of the honey and then flies off on its way

The next day, he wakes up finding 3 in his backyard

It understandably FREAKS HIM TF OUT and he doesn’t really know what to do??? Who does he even call???? Pest control seems a bit much?????

His cats seem to be playing with them again, though, so maybe this isn’t a huge problem (figuratively, of course)

So he calls his friend Felix who happens to be a florist

Minho: “FELIX I found a giant bee in my backyard yesterday AND THEY MULTIPLIED WHAT DO I DO??”

Felix: “Woah woah okay calm down, I’ll come over with some sunflowers”

Felix stops by and helps Minho plant some sunflowers in his backyard

Apis Magna love sunflowers because there are certain species of flowers that evolved to also be larger, which makes it easier for the bees to drink nectar from and pollinate

The obvious solution in Minho’s eyes is that Felix takes the bees, but beekeeping with giant bees isn’t like normal beekeeping

You can’t really choose where to keep the bees, they just fly out on their route to where they want

And if they trust you, they’ll let you harvest honey from their hive!

So, essentially, Minho got chosen to be their beekeeper LOL

He gave them honey one (1) time and they sort of imprinted on him

Bees were rlly like “we like this one can we keep him?”

(haha they beekeep but like the other way around,,,)

So Felix advises Minho to try and follow the bees

Once they trust him enough, they’ll lead him to their hive

Minho isn’t really focused on getting honey, but one day, all 3 of his cats run off

And so he follows them out…

…and finds the beehive!

A few bees seem to greet him, which he recognizes as the original bees in his garden!

They’re sort of fuzzy, so he gets an itch when they start to rub against his face

Anyway, he’s just there to collect his cats…but now that he knows where the hive is, might as well collect some!

So he collects some delicious honey (and his cats), pets some bees, and then heads home

From then on the bees visit Minho’s garden and he asks Felix for more flowers in exchange for their honey!

And they lived habeely ever after the end :D

[bardengarde]

SHAKES FIST!! I need to know more about your FMA Ocs!! I don't have any specific questions SO JUST- INFODUMP GKLFDJLKGF,,,, Anything about them THEY LOOK SO COOL,,,,,

JDJGJGKGKDKD JEEZ I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO ANSWER THIS BUT IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME THANK YOU SO MUCH AAAAAAA

I have about 6 FMA:B ocs at the moment and tbh they can be split between a group of kids I have from Leore and two Briggs folks (though one is retired from the military) But without further ado!!

Damaris is one of the first fma ocs I've made!! She's from Leore, her mom is Amestrian and her dad is Xingese and they run a flower and tea shop, respectively. Damaris is a hugeee nerd as well as a tomboy and she's not afraid of getting her hands dirty and was known to brawl with neighborhood bullies, especially if they picked on any of her friends. She's 19 by the events of the series, and uses medicinal alchemy as well as a form of alchemy that allows her to change the chemical makeup of metal and wears a set of bangles and rings she turns into a knife and brass knuckles, respectively. She's also Bi 😗✌️Her introduction into the series occurs shortly after the Elric brothers expose Father Cornello as a fraud, when she returns from her studies of alchemy and alkahestry in Xing on word that her mom is seriously ill.

This is Sylva Cartwright! He's one of Damaris' childhood friends and they are opposites in almost every way between her extroversion and his introversion, her recklessness and his anxiety, etc. They are besties tho and she defended him a lot from people picking on him when they were kids. His dad is a Colonel at Briggs who works in Intelligence, and his stepmom is a school teacher in Leore. He works in Damaris' dad's tea shop and is also 19 during the series.

Rena is another of Damaris and Sylva's friends. She's also 19 in the story. Her mom ran a bakery and pastry shop in Leore and her father was a tailor. They were both murdered in the Ishvalan massacre, and she and her younger sister Miriam were separated. Rena holds onto hope that her sister survived, however, especially after she's given a crumpled letter in her handwriting meant to tell her that she's trying to find her. She has significant burn scars on the left side of her face and her shoulder and torso.

Rena eventually returns to Leore and finds Damaris and Sylva who are both equally shocked to see her again when they'd feared the worst for her, and there was a tearful reunion between the three of them before Rena explains that she's looking for Miriam, thinking she'd tried to go home too and when she's not able to find her in town, Damaris and Sylva both agree to travel with her across Amestris to find her.

And this is Miriam! I can't tell you very much without spoiling the story I'm wanting to write with her, but do know that she's alive. She's 16 during the story.

One of my (former) Briggs oc's! This is Laurel Enfield, he is currently a foreign languages professor at a military academy in Central. He holds the rank of Brevet Colonel, and is retired from the military after receiving a very serious injury that cost him his right arm and left him with a permanent limp. He's about 33 during the series and is prematurely graying because he went through a lot of stress with u know.... almost dying, and having a particularly brutal recovery process.

Despite how I drew him here, he's very sweet and a huge nerd about history and languages and eventually becomes bf's with @decoloraa 's William Thorne! He actually only had a minor role in my story but my friends decided he was babygirl so I was able to really flesh out his story and give him a larger role!

Whew! And finally this is Dr. Antony Fairchild! She is a psychiatrist who works at Briggs and is a huge lesbian. I don't have any colored drawings of her unfortunately so this will have to make do😭. She comes from a family of doctors in Central and is a bit of the oddball in that she chose psychology as her specialty- which I sort of view as holding a lot of uncharted territory with current studies in Amestris. She's sweet and got a corny sense of humor, and I look forward to writing her shenanigans with the Briggs medical team!! I also ship her with Patricia 👀

[battle-of-the-jrwi-aus]

POKETIDE AU!

Creator: @burning-sol

Links: au tag, animation

Summary!

Riptide x Pokemon but *I* have the most based takes about it. Girl don't look at those other AUs, I have the best iteration.

Additional Propaganda

Okay so you can check the #jrwi poketide <- that tag if you wanna see shit. It's not fully developed but like here are some of my fav bits.

I have pokeball lore!!! It's actually pretty different to canon pokemon, so I just wanna shout it out. Jay Ferin has traditional pokeballs that grow and shrink and have the symbol of her family because they're custom made for the Ferins. Chip has older pokeballs he recieved as hand downs that do NOT work that good and don't adjust in size <- this is like a cheaper and more common pokeball, they're made from acorns. Gillion has undersea pokeballs that can hold multiple pokemon and are based on like shells? Which helps explain his much larger team of pokemon. And you should totally check out this underrated lil' video of mine that shows off how they look when used. (https://burning-sol.tumblr.com/post/695164166727663616) But yeah, basically they got some greater implications to themz.

ALSO FUCK STANDARD POKEMON TEAMZ. I don't wanna be rude but this is a bracket so I just wanna say, these bitches teams reflect something about them down to just how many pokemon they use. Jay has less pokemon because she's more rigid and deathly unsure about what she's meant to do with herself. Chip has a ragtag found family team, a lot of them very silly additions. Gillion has WAY too many pokemon, and he doesn't rlly follow the unspoken "6 pokemon battle" rule because he is a bad bitch!! Let Gillion have like 4 corsola btw, I think he's allowed to be high key obsessed with them and looking after them. (BTW pokemon fight alongside their trainers they arent separate battlez, just want you to know)

Pokemon highlights:

Jay and Eevee "Eevee was a pokemon she inhereted from her family. She was given a firestone to eventually evolve them into a Flareon but she hasn't done it on her journey yet. Jay thought that she was just procrastinating at first but as time goes on she's starting to realise she hasn't followed through because that's not what she wants for her Eevee or for her." And I have considered drawing a custom evolution for Eevee because that'd be so cool.

Chip and Bonsley "Chip stole this house plant. I mean house plant I mean house plant I mean house plant I mean-" He accidentally took a pokemon he mistook for a houseplant.

Chip and Sableye "Chip is so distressed that Gillion is throwing all their money away just wait until he realises his pokemon is eating it too. He genuinely has no fucking clue what this thing is."

Gillion and many magikarp "Gillion has a collection of Magikarp (all on the smaller side) he looks after so that one day they will evolve into big strong Gyarados. :) Jay and Chip did not understand why Gillion was collecting these Pokemon until one of them evolved on the journey with them and they're just, "WAIT THAT'S WHAT THEY EVOLVE INTO??" Gillion thought they knew."

...and Chip spinoff of above story "Funny side story, you remember Gillion and all those Magikarp? Well Gillion suggested that Chip help look after them and Chip found a Magikarp he fucking ADORED. He was feeding them! He was chatting with them! They were BESTIES!!! And then the Magikarp evolved but it didn't want to go back into the sea, they wanted to stay with Chip. Chip has a Gyarados because Gillion convinced him to look after a Magikarp and Chip decided they were the best Magikarp ever. I hope that makes you happy."

Gillion and Seadra "gillion has basically had kingdra since he was really really small, and it was regarded as one of the few times as a child where he really managed to step up and sort of embody what he's meant to be? but the kingdra actually was just a pokemon who looked at the tiny not very well treated child and adopted him. kingdra is older than gillion and i didnt quite realise HOW big kingdra was, but searching it up for drawing... kingdra is 5'11″ (180cm), which makes it even TALLER than gillion at his tallest. and that's a height i dont use so gillion is like 5'1" (154cm). kingdra rlly does just look like gillion's poke parent, its so silly." Seadra adopted gillion you guys.

Gillion and honedge "gillion STILL has a honedge when he joins the story, and they evolve into doublade episode 15 which coincicides with gillion's growth as he develops a better understanding of the world (also there was a sword fight like yeah its fitting). HOWEVER, to evolve into an aegislash you need a dusk stone. ... i propose that doublade evolves episode *73* in tandem with when gillion makes the oath of vengence... i feel like its such a noteworthy moment for gillion AND the magical effects charlie describes are as follows "..and you see as the sparkles around him- this funny, zanny, quirky pixie dust starts to turn into almost a charcoalish colour-" <- that seems like adequate dusk stone vibes to me."

also gillion has an Omanyte and Kabuto that he was given as a child that hate him because they think he's a disappointment i love when pokemon trauma <3

so that's a lot anyways MY pokemon au is the MOST fucking based PLEASE believe me

[only-lurkin-dont-mind-me]

The Path of Loyalty is Paved in Blood

While I enjoy reading Mostly fluff pieces, it seems as though whenever I write it always ends up... a little angsty (mostly with a happy end though, I’m not heartless)

@chiliiscereal

TW: Blood. Injury. Character death(s)

The night had been cold when you first met them, you remembered it well. You were still so young, so were they. You had been wandering the empty park in the later hours of the night, wandering aimlessly until you heard other children's laughter. Short stubby legs racing to find where the noises were coming from, the chattering grew louder as you made your way to a single basketball court. 

As you looked past the shrubbery dotting the edges of the court, you saw them, four brothers smiling and laughing in delight as they passed the ball around in what seemed to be a game of catch. You were too young to even think of how they looked different from you. Instead, you stood in place, wondering if you could join in their game. 

When the smallest of the group lost his aim and ended up throwing the ball into the same bushes that hid you, you took it as your cue.

"Mikey!" one of them laughed gleefully, "I'm over here; you gotta throw it to me!" 

"I'm doing my best Leo, catch better!" the other replied in turn as you grabbed the ball. Slowly you walked to the edge of the chalk outlined court, ball in hand, looking around nervously. You could hear them walking towards you. You only looked up when the biggest of the group spoke to you with a cheerful tone as you bounced the ball towards him.

"Nice find, I thought we lost it that time." Despite being the largest out of his brothers, he was smaller than you with a big grin. You couldn't help but smile back; yeah, they seemed like fun. 

Taking another step forward, you finally found your voice, "Can I play too?" You asked with a bright smile, one that was matched by the kid that had two red stripes by his eyes. 

He was quick to move to your side and grab your arm, pulling you along while exclaiming loudly, "New friend's on my team!"

"What?!"

"No fair!"

"NO TAKE-BACKS!" 

The darkened smoke-filled skies hid the sun from sight. You watched your heavy breaths rise into a cold mist, glowering at the looming threat that towered over you. You thought of that moment, of each and every moment you had cherished with this found family of yours.

The common tradition that came with sleeping over in the lair, you and Mikey would go straight to the kitchen, baking tools in your grasp as you both set about designing something that would be amazing. The music had been loud as you both danced around each other, tossing stencils back and forth, drawing out ideas for cake designs. Taking turns kicking the others out each time one of the brothers tried to infiltrate and sneak off with the tasty decorative pieces. "You know-" Mikey had spoken in an easy tone as you both worked on the final touches of the nights' creation. "-it really is fun getting to do this stuff with you, you're my favorite crafting buddy!" He would say while throwing an arm around your shoulders, beaming smile and all.

As the cold air of the storm seeped around you, fighting off the burning heat from the creature, you snarled at the beast above you, fist clenched, widening your stance, placing yourself directly between it and your family that lay in a bloodied and far too silent heap just behind you.

Another late night with Donnie, hiding out in the lab trying to be as quiet as possible while watching old horror movies. You could never be scared of them whenever watching them with the purple-clad turtle. "See? See?! right there, it's a big ass wire holding the doll up can you believe it!" You had jumped on him, covering his mouth to stop the roaring laughter from waking up everyone else in the lair. In the same fashion, he had covered your mouth to help you bite back the same laughter. shoving your hands away to keep his commentary up, "The blood looks like it's just water mixed with ketchup!" He had wheezed out. Throwing popcorn and chips at each other to try and silence each other in the strangest attempted stealthy food fight as the ridiculous horror movie played on. 

You could feel the ache in your bones as the rain and ash pelted your skin, your muscles wanting nothing more than to give out. You knew that the only thing keeping you going was adrenalin and a deep-rooted instinct to guard and stand by your family. As the blood dripped from your wounds down your person into a puddle on the ground, you planted yourself in place. Standing firm and unyielding.

Evenings with Raph, sitting with him on the floor of his room, holding his trembling hands together as he held a paper flower in his palms. 'The Beauty of Origami' laid open on the ground next to you both, Raph had asked you to go over the instructions and make the simple lotus flower first so he could see the steps in person. As he stared at it now it seemed so small and fragile in his larger hands. "You can do this, Raph. Paper is easy, it takes a light touch and that's it. Even if you mess up it's alright. It won't hurt anything if you tear a piece or two, we'll just try again." He finally looked to you, absolute trust in his eyes as he nodded. Gingerly placing your flower down in front of him, Raph took the piece of colorful paper from you, and he began to craft. 

You felt every emotion at once rising from within you, faithful love for your family, Warmth from all of the small moments you held close to your heart with them. You could physically feel your spirit rise in a violent force to defend them, this wasn't just a group of brothers. This was yours, your family. 

"Hurry up, if you don't get in here already the dynamic duo is going to be a dynamic uno. I will leave you behind if Raph finds you in the kitchen this late!" Leo whisper yelled as he stood halfway through the portal that leads to who knows where. You could only throw the bag of chips at him as you rushed his way, food, and drinks in tote. As a heavy set of footsteps slowly sounded through the hallway you saw Leo's eyes widen, He lunged forward, wrapping an arm around your torso, and pulled you through the portal with a laugh. As the world brightened once again to reveal a quiet cliffside, you could hear the water below. "Come on bestie, help me set everything up." So it would go, snacks, drinks, a blanket to lay on, and an endless sky of start to watch, fake constellations to make up and give stories too.

The beast let out a crashing roar as it stomped the ash-covered ground in front of you. You could feel the force of what felt like many in your words as you bellowed a wordless, hateful cry. You could feel tears rushing down your face now. Still, you remained in place. "This is my family! You will not touch them!" Thunder booming as your voice sounded. The storm only growing as though it was lashing out in your own emotional state.

Your ferocity faltered as you felt a hand reach out to rest against your ankle. You risked a glance behind you, looking down to see that it was Leo, you could see his bloodied mouth trying to move, unable to form the words, and tears falling down his bruised face. his hand shook from the effort of trying to grab hold of you. His eyes were desperate, tired, near lifeless. He wasn't going to tell you to fight, or to run. He was just... Scared. Of existing at this moment alone. 

You looked to the beast with a burning, hateful, wrath. You growled towards the creature as you turned your back to it. Instead of fighting fruitlessly with your last breath, you allowed your body to fall to the ground. Hitting your knees as everything you had was finally given out. 

You leaned against Raph’s side unable to feel for his normally pounding heartbeat. resting an arm on top of him to hold onto Mikey's limp hand, squeezing lightly, waiting for a responding squeeze that you knew would never come. Stretching your other arm over Leo's back to reach for Donnie, resting a hand on his chest, feeling for his slow heartbeat, only to be met with a cold lack of the familiar rhythm. Finally, you let yourself slump forward onto Leo's upper shell. You pressed the side of your head against his, no longer holding back the anguished broken cries. You felt his arm wrapping around your shoulders desperately as he tried to catch any breath he could. You could hear his crackling breathing slow as his body began to relax.

This was your family, you had found them when you were young. You had grown up with them. Celebrated with them at their best and mourned with them at their worst. You would find a permanent rest with them. You would stay until your final breath gave out and beyond. 

You called out their names softly in turn, waiting for any response. 

Nothing. 

You closed your eyes, knowing that this was where you belonged. Besides your family, till the end. As you allowed your body to finally rest, you held tight where you could. Allowing what final strength you possessed to be poured into a final declaration. "... I love you."

You could hear the fading noise of the beast finally getting closer, you had a feeling though that none of you would feel the burning as its molten fire gathered in its gut, its maw unhinged, the fading light of its flames shines and-

...

"HEY!" Your eyes shot open as you sat upright, greeted by the sight of four smiling brothers, no equipment, no blood or bruising, not a single scar from their lifetimes marred their scales. They seemed, healthy, glowing even in a way you had never seen before. 

Leo kneeled next to you, Raph was standing tall with Mikey perched on his shoulders. Donnie standing a few steps behind them, looking outward along the treeline of what seemed to be a meadow, staring towards something that had caught his attention. 

"C'mon, Donnie says the river down there has got to lead to a lake or something." Raph gestured to where Donnie was looking. 

"Yeah, baby! We're gonna go for a swim, see what we can find out here." Mikey chimed in, hopping from Raph’s shoulders to the ground, snatching up Donnie and pulling him along in his excitement.

"Yes, do try to hurry though, Michel here just might leave us all behind if we take too long!" Donnie shouted back to you as he was dragged along.

Raph could only laugh as he raced to catch up with his younger brothers. 

Leo grabbed your arm, pulling you up easily with a relaxed grin. As soon as you were up he began walking in the direction his brothers left in. Once he realized you weren't walking with him, however. He stopped, turning to you with a knowing look. "Hey-" Leo reached out a hand to you. "You coming?" 

You stared at him, settling into yourself with a wave of newfound peace, you couldn't feel a single ache or pain, just a light airy happiness surrounding you and your family. You slowly reached out and took Leo's hand, smiling back at him with a shine in your eyes you could only remember having when you had first met a lifetime ago. "Of course I'm coming with you guys, I'm always right with you aren't I?"

Leo nodded with an amused snort. "Course you are, you're always with us, oh and by the way-" Leo pulled you along, walking at a leisurely pace, seeming to settle into this new place just as much as you had. "-We love you too."

[fiddlepickdouglas]

Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 19 - The Masters

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, what are they up to?, 3.6k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18

Willie was back in Vegas, wandering through the street late at night. He was just leaving the hotel, like he’d just dropped Alex off by the front doors, knowing that he was saying goodbye and couldn’t stand to leave it on a heavy note. Still, he moved onward without looking back. He was just going to enjoy the memory that he had of the green eyes and the waves and the way he’d been nestled against Alex’s chest with fingers in his hair and wearing the hat and feeling like a handsome prince at the look on Alex’s face and - yeah, he was just going to cherish it forever. Without ever having another chance. Rock stars didn’t keep promises like that, no matter how much they meant to. The second Alex made it big, he would forget him, Willie was sure.

The journey from the hotel back to Caleb’s house was incredibly short. He looked back toward the street in bewilderment, unsure what could have happened. Sure, Willie knew his shortcuts, but he’d definitely clocked that journey numerous times.

As he walked up the drive, he rounded the corner and to his horror found the shed already ablaze. Stepping back in terror, Willie stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Caleb loomed over him with a monstrous look in his eyes. He seemed to grow larger by the second and his face became twisted and grotesque. Then he opened his mouth, letting out a cry of rage as his eyes began burning a fiery purple and he raised his arm as if to strike.

“I told you to clean up this mess!” he cried.

Running away from the house, Willie was only just able to escape his attempted blows. His feet seemed to slam against the pavement, and his breathing was too loud. Looking up momentarily, he somehow had already arrived at the diner, and that was in flames too. Willie couldn’t help the small cry of distress that released from his throat, almost like a sob. Changing direction, he eventually came to the hotel and watched as it was already crumbling apart as it burned. Fear and confusion consumed him as Willie continued running with tears streaming down his face. The bodega was on fire too. And so was Roy’s. Anywhere that Willie tried to run to roared in fiery destruction.

He was sitting inside the truck, but it was empty. Nobody sat in the driver’s seat - nobody smiled back at him. All Willie could see was that the truck was burning but he couldn’t open the door to escape. He tried rolling down the window but the flames got too high and he had to roll it back up. The door wouldn’t unlock or be forced open. Willie could feel himself suffocate in the confined space, feel his pulse rising. The ever encroaching doom of never making it out shrouded him like it was its own force.

“Willie!” A banging could be heard on the window and Willie looked up to see Alex frantically trying to open the door on the other side. Pressing his hands up against the glass, Willie shook his head, telling him it was no use. Alex just kept tugging on the handle and pounding his fist on the window in desperation, and didn’t seem to be affected by the flames consuming the truck as he did so. All Willie could hear was his name striking against the glass with every fistfall, but no change in Alex’s ability to save him. The agonizing sound repeated, slowly fading back as everything darkened and became more muffled, and then finally his mind regained consciousness.

Sitting up in bed, Willie sucked in a breath and huddled himself close. Taking a few seconds to try and let his pulse calm down, he looked over and found Sheldon had been curled up in sleepy contentment against his stomach, and was already stretching to find another place to sleep. Picking up the cat and cuddling him into his chest, Willie scratched his favorite spot behind his ears, hoping to convince him to continue sleeping at his side. Hearing Sheldon purr helped slow his excited heart rate.

Thank goodness it had just been a nightmare. But why had it been so terrifying and bizarre? He had already been through the loop with the one that went backwards, and now having everything go down in flames and being teased with the hope of rescue? Willie didn’t think he wanted to know what it meant. It was beginning to be a pattern now that dreams like that had a significant meaning. He was afraid of what the meaning of this one might be.

Sheldon took advantage of his loosened grip while he was caught up in his thoughts, and scuttled off of the mattress into the dark. Sighing heavily, Willie laid down and pulled the covers over himself, trying to get back to the same level of warmth and comfort as before. Nothing was bringing him back into a state where he could easily drift back to sleep. The wonder of the ocean in Alex’s green eyes didn’t help this time because it only brought the echo of his voice crying Willie’s name. He could only focus on missing the feeling of his cat curled up beside him.

“It’s gotten worse,” Alex said over the phone. Willie was just finishing another shift at the record store when he’d gotten the call. It’d been a few weeks since their first date and Alex hadn’t even been able to call in that time. He didn’t know how he’d been able to handle months without him after that whole day filled with absolute bliss. It was great to hear his voice again.

“How much worse?” Willie asked.

“He’s been doing this thing where he criticizes the tiniest things, but then he uses every bit of persuasion to make us nod and say yes to what he wants. At first we fought it, but now we just do what he says and then hate it later. It sucks.”

“That’s how he started with me,” Willie told him. “I didn’t know any better, so it was worse.” So much worse - his mind had been so addled with the loss of memory and new information had been frightening for a while. He’d merely been a toy in Caleb’s puppeteer hands.

“Yeah, and now he’s watching us like crazy. He’s never stayed in L.A. this long. He’s there from the second we’re in the studio to when we leave.”

“Huh,” Willie replied. “I think I might be to blame for that.” A cruel memory arose of all the times he’d ignored Caleb’s imposed curfew and then been asked what he’d been up to.

“It doesn’t even feel like we’re doing music anymore,” Alex lamented. He’d been fired up when he had started the conversation, but the way his energy flickered out pained Willie too much. Alex hadn’t had a chance to be open with him about why music was so important to him, but Willie was able to take a few guesses.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, the guys and I have been talking…”

Willie rode in the back of the van with Alex and Reggie as the guys carefully rolled up into the alley behind the studio. They all remained hushed, but the anticipation in the atmosphere was electric. Each of them scrunched their faces at the sound of squeaky brakes as Bobby slowed to a stop and parked beside a door. He hadn’t spoken a word for the entire drive, but Willie shared a glance with Alex, both of them full of nerves and adrenaline, and they each held in awkward laughter. Luke got out as quietly as he could, made a careful sweep of the premises, and then unlocked the door before signaling everyone to get out.

“So you want to be in on this?” Alex asked. He had just told Willie their plan to get back at Caleb and it immediately got him excited.

“Of course!” he told Alex. “I’d give anything to make him pay back for everything he did.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Alex said. Willie could hear his smile from the other end.

As they each carefully entered the back end of the studio, Willie caught the stench of cigarette smoke in the first place they entered and covered his nose. While they continued further in, Bobby lit a flashlight.

“Ow!” Reggie immediately covered his eyes from being accidentally blinded. Bobby winced as he moved the beam away from his face.

“Sorry!” he whispered. “It’s hard to tell what’s what in here, it’s so dark.”

“When are we going?” Willie asked.

“Next Sunday night.” Alex told him. “Caleb should be out of town that weekend. Plus we have a few things that need to be ready first before we go for it. But I wanted to make sure you were totally in before we put all the plans together.”

Willie smirked. He wasn’t sure if Alex was aware he was tickling his rule-breaking side, but he wanted to think that maybe he did know. For someone as sweet as he was, it sure was nice that he didn’t try to stifle that side of Willie.

“Are you and the guys gonna pick me up?”

“Yeah. We’ll come around...eleven? Does that work for you?”

“Yeah, that works perfectly.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to see you.”

Willie had to suck in a breath at those words, already wishing he didn’t have to wait an entire week.

“Can’t wait to see you either.”

They had gone all out with wearing black together and everything. Luke had been really vocal about it because Willie guessed he’d always wondered what a heist would be like. Did this count as a heist? It didn’t involve taking money or precious gems or anything - not even stuff that didn’t already belong to them, technically. In any case, it was definitely somewhere past midnight and due to the circumstances the guys had to break in to get what they wanted.

Willie followed them through the hallway, intrigued. This was where Alex had been spending a good deal of his time. Where Caleb had come and continued to spread lies. What the man wanted with them Willie was still unsure of, but he wondered if he’d been part of drawing Caleb’s attention to them. He didn’t like the possibility of having dragged them into his mess, but maybe it would be over soon. Alex put a hand on his shoulder and he immediately responded with an encouraging smile as warmth spread all over him.

 Luke was shuffling through the key ring. He hadn’t explained where he’d gotten it from and Willie honestly didn’t care to ask. The fact he had one instead of picking every single lock was impressive.

The door opened to reveal the studio they’d spent the past months recording in and Willie looked around at all the strange things he’d never imagined inside. So many different kinds of microphones and cords, stands for all sorts of things, smaller rooms to the side, headphones hanging everywhere. It seemed so different from just playing a show somewhere. Alright, maybe that was the point, but still, Willie was in wonder about how this somehow meshed with Alex’s rock n’ roll world. He didn’t want to laugh, but this place seemed so...wrong for the guys of Sunset Curve. Not because it was just any recording studio, but this particular one made him picture a bunch of guys in pressed business suits making some easy listening record. He would’ve tried to tell them not to sign here even if Caleb weren’t involved.

While he looked on, the rest of them began taking out all of their equipment. Quickly, Willie aided Alex in carrying out different pieces of his drum set. He had to be especially careful carrying out any cymbals so they didn’t make any noise, moving at a ridiculously slow pace. The rest of the guys packed up their guitars and amps and they managed to somehow place everything in the van so it fit tightly and securely.

“Is that really everything?” Willie asked, peeking inside once they’d hauled everything out.

“We’ve done this plenty of times,” Reggie told him. “Not the breaking and entering thing, of course, but the whole packing all of our stuff into Bobby’s trusty van.” He patted the side of the van affectionately. “It’s like Tetris!”

“Her name is Thelma, thank you,” Bobby teasingly corrected before he disappeared back inside the studio.

Reggie got flustered as he followed him. “I...wasn’t calling her Tetris…”

Willie chuckled as he shut the door and brought up the rear. This time the guys went into the booth behind the studio and began looking into every box and drawer they could find. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, but Willie still joined them anyway. What were masters even supposed to look like? After filtering through everything they could, Luke and Bobby stood up.

“I’m not finding anything,” Luke said. “Anybody else?”

Alex rose from where he’d been kneeling over a box.

“Nothing.”

“Gonna be honest, I have no clue what I'm looking at,” Willie told them. Reggie peeked over into the box he’d been rifling through. After a few seconds, he shook his head.

“Nope, nothing there either.”

“Ahh, I figured they wouldn’t be here, but I thought we should look anyway, just to cover all our bases,” Luke admitted.

“Where else were you planning on looking?” Bobby urged slightly. He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost one already.”

“Everywhere man, what else?”

“Luke, we can’t spend all night here,” Alex said.

“Okay, guys” Luke defended. “We can split up or something and get things done twice as fast.” The guys looked around at each other, although it was obvious what the pairings would be.

“Okay, Alex, Willie, you two can go together. Bobby and Reggie, come with me.” Willie instinctively took Alex’s hand as they looked at each other, both smiling a little. “Just don’t get stuck in a closet together or something.”

“Really, Luke?” Alex remarked. “Us? In a closet? Choice words, man.”

Luke only rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smirk as he followed Bobby and Reggie. Alex turned to Willie, also shaking his head at his friend.

“Okay,” he said. “Come on, let’s go.” 

Hand in hand, Willie followed Alex into another storage room, having difficulty getting his mind off the now-forbidden closet scenario. Maybe they could find the masters and then kill some time? He’d gotten a chaste little smooch as he’d entered the van and plenty of knee touches, but as they were already in the middle of breaking in, why not take the chance to make out in a closet while they were at it? The kind of story that would make for later? The memory? It was too tempting.

“I won’t lie, I definitely thought you guys knew where these masters would be,” Willie told Alex as he pulled open drawers full of file folders. Alex sighed as he shut the drawer he’d been searching.

“I should’ve told you we were guessing at best,” he said. “But we really did think they were most likely going to be in the mixing booth. Or, I guess, all of us excluding Luke.”

“What are you guys going to do if they’re not here?”

Running both hands through his hair, Alex thought for a little bit. It appeared their plan lacked a great deal of thought toward contingencies.

“So next time you tease me for forgetting what busses are, I’m just gonna bring this up - ”

“Shut your face,” Alex laughed, playfully shoving at his shoulder, making Willie giggle. “This isn't even close to that. Anyway, I guess we would just have to come up with a new plan. I mean, no one would even know we came tonight as long as we don’t get caught.”

Willie placed his on Alex’s back assuringly and for a moment they simply shared a look of hope. His hand slowly trailed from his back and held the side of his face, gently rubbing his thumb along Alex’s cheek.

“We’ll find them,” he insisted softly. Placing his hand over Willie’s, Alex’s eyes emanated gratitude and he gave a small smile.

“Thanks for coming,” he said, returning the tender tone he’d been given. Shrugging casually,  Willie shut the last drawer, making sure everything remained as it had before. He trailed Alex as they headed back out and almost immediately clashed into the other three boys.

“So we’re thinking it’s in...the office,” Luke told them.

“The office?” Alex asked in disbelief, apparently understanding what that meant. All the guys looked at each other with uncertainty, none more than Willie himself.

“The office?” he repeated. “Is that supposed to mean, like, Caleb’s, or something?”

“You guessed it,” Bobby replied, gesturing toward him dejectedly. “And it’s the one that Luke definitely doesn’t have a key for. So unless you’re good at picking locks, we came here for nothing.”

Willie wasn’t sure what it was, but at hearing Bobby say that it was like lightning struck in his mind. Sitting back on his heels, he looked between each of the guys, landing his gaze on Alex last.

“Actually, I think I can,” he told them seriously. “I’m not sure, but...I don’t know how, but I think I know this.”

“That’s a better chance than none at all,” Luke said with the slightest hint of confidence. “Anyone got something we could use?”

“Ope!” Reggie immediately began digging into the pocket of his pants and shortly procured a bobby pin. As everyone stared in bewilderment, he merely shrugged. “I had to do my sister’s hair this morning; I think it turned out pretty okay.”

“Alright, well hand it over,” Luke demanded. Reggie passed it to Willie and they all gathered around the door of Caleb’s office.

Kneeling and licking his lip, Willie concentrated on placing the bobby pin correctly into the lock, pressing his ear against the door and listening as he slowly turned the pin back and forth. A couple minutes of distilled silence passed as everyone held their breath, watching him carefully work with the lock until they all heard a satisfying click and Willie cracked a wicked smile. The whole band exhaled in relief as he turned the handle and pulled the door back.

“Come here,” Alex said, pulling him into a quick kiss with both hands before venturing into the room. A very twitter-pated giggle let loose from Willie’s throat that he tried not to dwell on because of how embarrassing it must have sounded. Reggie smirked as he passed them, nodding in approval.

“Awww, yes!” Luke cried as he found what he’d been looking for: the master copies of their newly finished album. According to Alex, the mixing and rendering had only been finalized a couple days before and they had more of Caleb’s stamp of approval on them than anything close to their songs. They couldn’t finish ruining his business without them. This was only half of their plan, anyhow.

As Luke filled his hands with the precious records in victory, an alarm immediately began blaring into everyone’s ears. They all looked around in panic before they all rushed toward the back door of the studio again, hands over their ears.

“Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit!” Luke repeated, clutching the masters to his chest.

While they were almost out the door, Reggie stopped as he caught sight of the recording booth again, an odd look in his eye.

“Reggie, come on, we’ve gotta go!” Bobby called to him.

“No, I’ve gotta do this!” Reggie shouted back, heading inside the booth. Willie watched in confusion as he unbuckled his jeans while leaning with his back against the glass of the booth. He lowered the back of them until he could press his entire rear end up to the window, trying his best to make a print in the glass. Bobby sighed in exasperation and shook his head as he rushed to get behind the wheel of his van.

Reggie finally left the window, struggling to pull his jeans back up as he hurried toward the van again. Alex stood back as he climbed into the same seat that he’d had before, and then made to clamber inside himself before bright lights illuminated them from behind. Turning and raising an arm so he couldn’t be blinded, Willie stood petrified at what he saw.

Caleb Covington stepped out of his vehicle, a look of fury that struck his very core. Suddenly, Willie could feel flames beginning to devour him, and the way the man had leered over him in his dream made his blood freeze. He’d once been completely trusting of this same creep who had his gaze fixed on him with pure hatred. He could hear the pounding on the glass. He could also hear the sound of his name.

“Willie!” Alex tugged on him harshly, dragging him backwards into the van and slamming the door shut before Willie even realized what had happened. Snapping out of his trance, he looked up as Alex was gripping his hands tightly and Bobby floored it out of the back of the alley. He couldn’t help but stare back toward the fading headlights where Caleb’s figure was still silhouetted in a desperate stagger, and he thought he heard that same cry of rage.

He felt a sensation on his hands and looked down to see Alex planting a kiss on his whitened knuckles, rubbing them over with his hand. His face was full of concern, and a bit of his own fear mirrored back. They kept wary eyes out the back window of the van, but ultimately didn’t see Caleb following them. After a few blocks, Willie finally felt he could let go of the breath he’d had trapped in his lungs and pressed his forehead against Alex’s. That had been terrifyingly close, but they’d made it out. That’s what mattered.

[buttercup-of-kaer-morhen]

Hello yes I am Completely Anonymous ONCE AGAIN and I have a prompt for you! Temporary (perhaps potion or drug induced?) Amnesiac!Geralt being absolutely floored and delighted that Jaskier is his lover. Please and thank you.

Hey completely anon,

I may or may not have gone a little off script for this prompt and really wanted to write more for my dumb magical college AU. Hope you enjoy it anyway. May I present!

Magic and Exams: Amnesia

Main tags: college AU, it’s modern but with magic slapped in, Jaskier and Yenn are besties (Fight me), Lambert/Aiden kinda?, Non human Jaskier,  And they were roommates~, pure fluff, pre relationship, pining… Kinda, unbetaed, we die like Renfri

——

It was official! Fate was cruel and destiny hated him. Jaskier had been fine with how life had been going. Classes were good. Friends were great. And, you know, he had finally stepped into a tentative friendship territory with his hot roomie rather than that weird close relationship you develop with your roomie. Things were just grand!-- Ignore the fact that he had a monster crush on said roomie, not important!-- What was important was that Lambert, the ass, suddenly showed up on Jaskier’s free day-- a day he was dedicating to his reading and composing, bouncing around his hobbies as he pleased-- with a semi confused looking Geralt. The witcher had barged into the dorm room towing Geralt along as Aiden brought up the rear. Now, he was going to ignore this intrusion at first but Lamby seemed to have other ideas. He loudly proclaimed to the bewildered white wolf that this was his room and, oh look, his partner. “Go ham bro!” To which, Geralt’s gaze snapped to Jaskier and proceeded to silently stare at the musician in contemplation.

Jaskier, as one would imagine, was stunned as his brain tried to understand what was happening but the dickhead explained no further as he turned to leave. Having none of it, Jaskier quickly stumbled to his feet and bolted for the two retreating figures, almost tripping several times on the shit covering the floor-- he really needed to remember to clean one of these just as Geralt had nagged him to do days ago! He managed to get a hand on the other wolf before he fully got out the door. “Explain. Now.” He demanded, his voice warbling as his eyes darkened slightly. 

“Woah shrimp!Calm your tits, you’re starting to look a little red around the gills-- Seriously though, a little siren is beginning to show.” Lambert tried to make light of the situation-- fish puns again, really Lambert?-- even though his smile gained a touch of nervousness as Jaskier tightened his grip. He held back his claws for the moment but he was this close to having a truly marvelous freak out on the man if he didn’t start giving answers. 

“Calm down angelfish, Lambert’s just being a prick as per usual.” Aiden cut off anything Lambert was going to say. Lambert gasped in betrayal as he gave the third witcher a look that probably tried to convey how much he was wounded, he couldn’t really see though nor did he really care right now. “Situation is, we were having a class trip across campus, something monster related that our proff was gushing the fuck over and insisted we needed to see. Waaaay too excited over it if you ask me but while we were passing a class of freshies in an outdoor charms 101 class, this one chick starts going off at--” Aiden explained but really, it seemed more like he was slowly getting off topic as he spoke. 

“Kitty, Get. To. The. Point.” He insisted slowly punctuating each word, while frowning in annoyance.

“Rude. I am! Anyway, this girl gets into a row with this guy in her class and fires off some kind of spell which was deflected but hilariously it ricocheted right towards us.” That was not hilarious in anyway but rather terrifying but Jaskier refrained from pointing this out. “You know Geralt though, life loves to fuck with him, so he gets hit straight in the back with it and Poof! He can’t remember some shit now. We think he only remembers up to starting college but nothing after.” Aiden finally finishes with a proud smile at having riveted the musician with his tale of adventure but it diminishes slightly in the face of Jaskier’s baffled expression. The half-siren really was quite proud of it, it just conveyed the right amount of Are you fucking idiots or did you just lose your brain on the way over!?

Jaskier took a deep breath and calmed himself before flatly staring both in the eye, his fingers steepled in front of his mouth as he thought of how to respond. “And why, pray tell, did you bring my accidentally spelled roommate to me rather than sending him to infirm?” He asked, deceptively sweet with a razor’s edge to it. 

Lambert scoffed. “He was being fucking annoying--” His words were abruptly cut off by Aiden’s hand roughly smacking over his mouth. 

“What he means is…” Aiden growled, glaring at the wolf to make sure he kept his mouth shut, to which Lambert huffed and flipped him off but otherwise remained silent. “Geralt kept prodding us ‘bout going to see his partner and, well, you were like the only one we could think of since everyone else has someone and this idiot is single like you.” The man punctuated his simplistic logic with a small shrug. 

Jaskier took a deep breath through his nose. “Uh-huh… This is a terrible fucking idea--” Before he could finish what he wanted to say, Lambert suddenly yanked his self free of his grip and threw Aiden over his shoulder.

“Your problem now bard!” He called over his shoulder as he booked it down the hall, cackling like the bastard he was. 

“Oh nonononono! Get the fuck back here!” He called after fruitlessly. They were already long gone. 

Jaskier sighed as he turned and closed the door to their room. Geralt seemed to have ignored and blocked out the whole exchange. Whether out of courtesy for Jaskier privacy or in favor of refamiliarizing himself with their space, he’d never know nor did he really care. When he finally turned his gaze back onto Jaskier, he just stared while scowling intensely in thought. It was rather insulting if Jaskier was being frank. With a roll of the eyes, the musician realized he’d just have to roll with whatever the idiots told Geralt about their “relationship” but wanted to head off the coming disappointment from the witcher. Jaskier was obviously not what he had been expecting, especially since normally the man barely tolerated him much less ever tried to invite him out, but it would sting less if he were the one to address it rather than the larger man stating it. At least that’s what he told himself. “Ok, alright. I know I’m not what you were expecting and rather disappointing compared to some of your past dalliances but please, let’s just get you to infirm. Once you have  your head back on right, everything will make more sense about the whole us thing and we can just forget about this whole embarrass--”

“You’re so handsome…” Geralt’s awed words cut Jaskier’s rambling off at the knees and had him blinking in surprise. “Or cute. No, both… How do you manage to be both?!” Geralt’s marveling had Jaskier at a loss for words. The witcher had never once complimented him in all the time they had lived together. Barbed jabs? Yes. Playful teasing? Very Often. Statements of facts? Definitely. But actual full on compliments? Nope! No, never happened. Was this how he actually saw the musician or was this some hokey hocus pocus side effect?! Or the man was dying as they spoke and was out of his mind. Either way Jaskier snapped his mouth closed, no it had not been hanging open thank you very much, and tried to get his brain to work again. 

“Wai-What?” Smooth Jaskier. His flabbergasted tone and excessive blinking seemed to not queue in Geralt however. 

“Man, I really lucked out. How’d I get a catch like you to even look my way? Wish I could remember how…” The normally stoic individual whistled long and low as he gave Jaskier a once over. A once over! Like Jaskier was a hottie from a club-- or however Ren said it-- instead of some music nerd overloaded with college minors! Jaskier was so astonished and caught off guard that he bagan sputtering incoherently, much to the Witcher’s amusement apparently if the wolfish grin was anything to go by. He was shocked and scandalized! Delighted but absolutely shocked! He had never witnessed this side of his roommate. Instead of addressing whatever was happening here, Jaskier stumbled over to his phone on the bed and quickly dialed Yennefer. 

It rang twice before he heard the familiar click of her answering and began nearly shouting before she could give her usual passive aggressive hello. “Yenn! I need help--”

“Whoa, calm the fuck down Jask, what the hell happened?!” Her worried demands cut him off. It was rather heartwarming to know his best friend sounded ready to draw blood for him. He could coo and awe about that later though!

“I’m fine but Geralt got hit with some hoodoo amnesia magic but I think it’s really just killing him! He’s acting delusional Yenn! He called me cute-- Stop laughing! This is serious!” He attempted to explain what was going on but his witch cut him off with her hysterical laughing on the other end of the line. Rude, by the way. This was a very serious matter.

“Sorry Dandy, you just, whew, gave me the best pick me up, I could have asked for. You really got me.” Yenn attempted to speak after most of it calmed down but a few giggles still managed to slip out. 

“Yenn… I’m serious. He actually doesn--” He was cut off yet again. People really needed to cut that shit out. 

“Lemme guess, Lambert is somehow involved?” She questioned, finally taking him a little more seriously, and he could practically hear her eye roll at the mischief maker’s name. 

“Yes…” He confirmed slowly as his eye wandered to Geralt again as his panic died down slightly. The white haired man looked very confused as Jaskier tried to smile reassuringly but it probably came off as unsure at best. 

The larger man came closer and placed warm large hands on his biceps as he looked intently into Jaskier’s eyes. “I mean it… I’m sorry if I never told you, I guess I was a pretty shitty boyfriend if I never told you how wonderful and caring you seem to be.” The other man apologized, as he looked away in shame. The words had the musician’s heart going wild as Yenn continued to talk in his ear. He really couldn’t hear her over his heart beating in his ears but it sounded like a demand to get Geralt to the infirmary. 

To which Jaskier answered, “That’s nice dear. I think I have to go to infirm now because I believe my heart is about to give out.” His voice was sighed out in shock as he hung up on Yenn’s sudden worried screeching.�� Geralt on the other hand suddenly looked panicked and rather worried. 

“What?” He questioned as he started to look over his “boyfriend”. “Don’t worry Jask, I’ll get you there. Just hang on.” Geralt tried to reassure him, his voice was handsome with how rough and rumbling it suddenly was, as he scooped the smaller man up into his arms like a bride. No, Jaskier did not swoon he’ll have you know! The wolf then booked it out of the room. “Damn it! I wish Roach were here…” He muttered in a growl and Jaskier thanked the heavens that the man did not remember his horse-- cat? Was in their room sleeping. There would be plenty of rumors after this but it especially would have gone down in infamy if the Witcher had rode like the wind across campus on horseback again. Jaskier couldn’t do much at that point except lay back, accept his fate, and enjoy the other’s cooing, about taking care of his boyfriend or how good Jaskier was, while it lasted. But hey, at least he’d finally get Geralt to infirm.

[deathvsthemaiden]

wuthering heights or stormlight archive? granada or fgo holmes? tamino or fiona apple?

The SOUNDDDDDD the ongoing SOUNDDDDD of delight and disbelief... I just let out... you know me 🥺🤲🏽 and so expertly used that to hit me right where it was bound to hurt 👊🏽😔 I’m in absolute awe bestie bravo 🤭👏🏽😳💓💝

Ok for WH vs Stormlight: STORMLIGHT!!!!! First of all more content, second of all its ongoing and looking forward to consuming future installments makes life more bearable! At this point in time, we’re only 4 (main) books deep, and it’s projected to be 10! 👀 and then each book has year long gaps between it and the rest and is 1000+ pages apiece, and Sanderson keeps coming up w/ unplanned novellas... like even if The Stormlight Archive were not attached to the greater Cosmere, it is so deliciously vast!! 🍴 Endlessly entertaining in comparison to Wuthering Heights, which I love for very different reasons. Sometimes I think abt how old I’ll be when Stormlight ends and I’m like @_@ insane and dizzying to think about how long it’ll be part of my life... how I will grow and regress as it gets incrementally more and more complete and complex...... 😖!!

Also! It’s fantasy, and not only that but high fantasy, which is probably the first genre I ever fell in love with. That’s partly why the art ppl make for this series is more vibrant and a bit more abundant, I think, (at least when you’re casually scrolling the internet) and Stormlight has a lot more sentimental value attached to it for me than Wuthering Heights does, since it was rec’d to me by a friend and the character development + depictions of mental health in this series has rlly gotten to me at several points... and will probably continue to do so for the indefinite future whsjwnw not to mention how Sanderson established that these characters are indeed of color! And that Kaladin could/would totally look desi! Likeeee I am weak and predictable that means a crazy amount to me (both Stormlight and Wuthering Heights are written by white ppl, and that the fact that some if not all the characters in them are of color is, for various reasons, misunderstood or overlooked by readers is one of the most vexing and unfortunate things abt both books/conversations surrounding them, so it’s very fitting that u pitted them together tbh! 👀)

The Holmes q... you are soooo evil I love u! THIS IS SO... My two favorite Holmeses and ur making me choose... 🥺🤭😖💔🤕 !! gonna say FGO Holmes because he was what kickstarted my interest in Holmes related anything-at-all and I enjoy how he’s true to canon in the best ways, like his priorities and mischief and personality, but his role in the story of FGO and the setting of FGO are more thrilling and creative than his role in and the setting of Doyle’s original stories! I have more bones to pick w/ canon Holmes than FGO Holmes, which means I have more bones to pick with Granada, since it’s such an overall faithful adaptation. Also sometimes I get paranoid abt coming off as an angl*phile or smth for being such a fan of Holmes (😑) but as I’ve said a few times before, no part of British history holds anyyy special charm for me, and I think it’s very unfortunate sometimes how people romanticize the settings of British classics! Like I’m also not one of those ppl who’s obsessed w the concept of a “Victorian dandy,” or whatever... that the anime character I’ve taken such a strong unshakeable shine to is based off of one is incidental 😭😔 !! (It influences some of his more endearing or funny behavior and mannerisms but it’s not like. Integral to his character that he is one imo) This is my long winded way of saying that the way FGO plays fast and loose w/ ACD canon is right up my alley and makes it easier to express appreciation for Holmes as a character without accidentally sounding like I’m also fawning over the settings + aesthetics + symbols he was originally attached to and meant to stand for that I find insufferable. Jeremy Brett did an incredible job but... FGO Holmes is my flexible, spindly 2D doll and I’d love him just as much even w/o the existence of ACD canon, while a large part of Granada’s charm is how good of an adaptation it is (although it stands wonderfully on its own too)

THIS TAMINO VS APPLE Q... the way every prompt gets eviler... crying and screaming !!! The Universal Diabolical Genius strikes again!! 😠🥺🤫

Oh my god Tamino’s voice is so haunting and I adore how he works with The Firka (an orchestra of mostly Iraqi and Syrian refugees) + in so doing deliberately draws on musical traditions from his cultures to enhance his music... but Fiona Apple’s lyrics are truly so genius and charming.... and the ENERGY!! In general I prefer when music excites rather than soothes me, which is not mutually exclusive ofc, but Tamino is what I listen to when I want to feel out of touch, as a treat, and Fiona Apple is... god I can’t even explain it, it’s almost never the wrong time for Apple. Between the two, ideally I’d just choose death? Like these are legit my all time favorite 2 artists but I am at metaphorical gunpoint here and trying not to be a spoilsport so I will say....

😐

Fiona Apple 😔 her discography is currently much larger!! And I listen to her more nowadays 😖 forgive me Tamino 💔

[itskicks]

1, 25, 33 for amara 16, 23, 24 cloud siblings and 6, 37, 43, 54 for khamchan!!!! (attacks you 🥰🥰🥰)

(is attacked) aoibsdfoasidf thanks for the ask bro!! this is long so i have a read more :3c

link of the ask meme here!

Amara (she/her; for a khr circus family that my friends and i have :))

1. What does your character typically keep in their pockets?

she keeps a lot of tiny stuff in her pockets that she makes larger through her cloud flames! she has a sticky hand toy because that’s her weapon, but she also has a blanket for aldis (@takeshiyamamoto’s circus oc for those who don’t know :3c), snacks for anyone who gets hungry, a first aid kit (that goes empty a lot because these people are a *mess*), water bottles, extra chargers, tissues... just anything that could be handy to her and her circus fam :3c

25. How does your character feel about spending money?

to be honest... she’s kinda cheap lmao!!! while she likes buying stuff for other people, she dislikes buying stuff for herself and tends to talk herself out of it. she’ll get whatever the circus kids (and honestly any of the circus members) ask her for, though. if she needs multiple of something really expensive, though, she’ll buy one and propagate as many as she needs >:3c

33. How do they feel about the unknown?

the way amara sees it, she was born into this world with everything unknown to her and she’s still living and breathing. she think that, while it’s healthy to be wary of what you don’t understand, you don’t necessarily have to fear it and it shouldn’t keep you from taking chances that could lead you to happiness. she looks at any unknown path or future with cautious optimism

Cloud Siblings (they/them; from the same circus group as amara!)

16. What keeps them going?

their family (the other circus members, especially amara and tafno [@r0d30-brqt’s circus oc]) and each other. they’re not really sure what happened to their parents (they could be dead or they could have abandoned them), but they remember that they relied heavily on each other right after they found themselves alone. it’s the reason they cling to each other and are very rarely seen individually or even smaller units of two or three, always moving as a full set of six

23. Would your character want to be famous? Why or why not?

not really. the attention they seek doesn’t really extend past the family they’ve found in the circus. they like performing and the praise they get from their family for doing well, but they’re content with the level of “fame” they have as part of a traveling circus.

24. What’s a controversial food opinion they would have?

food on the floor is still good. period. doesn’t matter what it may have fallen in, they’ll eat it.

Khamchan (he/they; a fuuta/fran fankid to interact with my friends’ fankids :3c)

6. How does your character express that they’re uncomfortable?

he’s a very quiet kid and takes after fran a lot in terms of expressing himself, only really showing when experiencing really intense emotion. typically he wouldn’t have a big tell, he’d fidget a bit and blink a lot/avoid eye contact, but otherwise you wouldn’t be able to tell he’s uncomfortable. if he’s *really* uncomfortable, however, his face scrunches up and he starts crying.

how he deals with it isn’t really part of the question but he doesn’t like to be touched by strangers/people he’s not close with during these times and likes to sit somewhere closed off and quiet (a closet or, when he’s really little, under a bed) and be by himself for a while

37. What are some ways your character acts silly?

his illusions! he takes after fran in being capable of creating realistic and powerful illusions, but also in having the most fun with cartoony/looney tunes-esque illusions. his favorites are: 1. drawing a circle on the ground and it turning into a bottomless pit as soon as an enemy steps on it and 2. pulling something giant out of his little pocket.

he’s also the kind of kid that’s just... spacey? he’s the kind of kid that overestimates how tall a table is and bonks his little head on it while he’s trying to walk under it. or the kid who gets bundled up really tight when it’s cold and falls over and can’t get up by himself. or the kid who keeps missing his mouth with his straw and keeps poking his face. just makes silly, cute little mistakes like that. i think his family has a compilation of random mishaps he has, not because they’re trying to actively catch them but because he just has so many of them

43. Is your character good at apologizing? Why or why not?

they’re fairly good at apologizing because fuuta made sure they learned how. one of the worst traits about fran is he doesn’t know how to say sorry, and fuuta noticed around the time they were two that, while kham is naturally quiet and doesn’t get into trouble (unless coerced by briar [@r0d30-brqt’s bel/basil fankid]), they’ve got fran’s stubbornness and tends not to think they’re in the wrong.

they usually can apologize after some self reflection, but sometimes that stubbornness they got from fran comes out and they’ll quietly (and often one-sidedly) feud with the other person for weeks.

54. What is something they currently look forward to? What is something they dread?

looking forward to: the next time they can hang out with their cousins (especially briar, who they consider their bestie even despite the large age gap :3c)

something they dread: growing up/change. they’re very attached to their parents, and they’re scared of having to leave their side once they grow up. they feel safest with their parents and the other members of their family, and they think that, if they never grow up, they’ll never have to part

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Terms of Engagement ch.4

Summary: Rus is still a kid himself and with his life turned upside-down, he has no idea how he’s going to take care of his baby brother. Having other kid skeletons appear in his world wasn’t exactly the help he was looking for.

Tags: Pre-Spicyhoney, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Sans, Undertale Sans, Undertale Papyrus, Babybones, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Possible Past Child Abuse, Skellie Daycare, Growing Up Together, Big Brothers Caring For Their Little Bros, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Notes: Ah, the days of skellie daycare are over. Our boys are grown, but things aren’t well in their worlds. Something is wrong and Rus is going to find out what. Whether he wants to or not.

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three

Read Chapter Four on AO3

or

Read It Here!

~~*~~

Some Fifteen Years Later

~~

“Time to get up, brother!”

Rus rolled over on his bare mattress with a groan, pulling his blanket back over his head. Not that a flimsy barrier was going to stop his bro, not a chance. Nothing short of a brick wall could stop him once he got going, and Rus didn’t keep one of those in his inventory.

Maybe he should look into it.

In the meantime, he could only hiss like a new vampire when Blue yanked open the curtains to let in the artificial light. It gleamed blindingly off the snow and through the window, directly into Rus’s cringing sockets. Satisfied at his brother’s betrayed howls, Blue dusted off his hands and turning back to Rus to scold, “Brother! Get up!”

“c’mon, bro!” Rus’s words were muffled into his pillow. “can’t you see i’ve been working myself to the bone?”

He peeked out in time to see Blue stamp one of his booted feet indignantly, gloved hands on his hips. “You have sentry duty in an hour! How can I catch a Human if we aren’t watching for one!”

Rus rolled over with a yawn, “don’t worry, bro, ulna be late.”

“Ugh, brother!” Blue shook his head, but beneath his pained disgust was a glimmer of humor. “All right, I’m leaving, but I’ll check on your post later!” He left, but poked his head back in to add, “I wasn’t bone yesterday, mweh heh heh!”

Blue vanished again as Rus chuckled to himself. He waited until he heard the front door close before rolling over to snag his cigarettes. His bro couldn’t stand the smell and he had enough to gripe about already this morning. A flick of his lighter and Rus drew in a long breath of smoke, held it in even as trickles escaped through his ribs, and exhaled it in a pale cloud. He flopped back in bed, careful to let the ash fall to the messy floor rather than into the sheets.

Idly, he considered the glowing tip of the cigarette dangling between his fingers. He’d started smoking not long after they came to Snowdin. Couldn’t really hurt him much and it made him seem older to Monsters who weren’t interested in looking too closely. Back then, anything he could use to make others not question him raising his brother had been helpful.

Mostly he’d fooled everyone with a trick as simple as abandoning his stripes early. That made it easy to pretend to be older than he was. He’d been tall even then and no one asked any troublesome questions. They’d let him come into Muffet’s after a long day of napping on sentry duty, let him drink alongside them and no one questioned that he preferred honey to whiskey; all Monsters had their preferences. It’d worked until he was old enough for it to not matter, and no one had been the wiser.

That was years ago now, though and Blue was of age himself, for whatever good it did him here. Ah, his wonderful, sweet-natured bro. So desperate to be liked and to make friends. The residents of Snowdin were nice enough, but outside of Muffet’s, they tended to keep to themselves. The cold weather and being trapped Underground tended to sap away friendly impulses and no matter how hard Blue tried, no one had been willing to step into the role of friend for him.

It hurt a little to know that Blue probably hadn’t had a decent friend since they’d stopped using the machine.

Since he’d lost Edge and Papyrus.

Damn, but it’d been a while since he’d thought of them. Rus sat up a little more in bed and lit another cigarette as he thought of his bro’s childhood playmates.

The scrapbook Blue made with their pictures all those years ago still sat on his bookshelf, but it was dusty with disuse. It was a wonder Blue remembered them at all, he’d still been a wee baby bones back then.

~~*~~

Barely a month after whatever happened to Red and Edge was when it all finally fell apart. Their little shared worlds were already beginning to unravel on the day it was Rus’s turn to watch the kiddos. Sans came right on time to drop off Papyrus. Kid was as wriggly as ever in his cheery orange-striped shirt, squirming down from his brother’s arms and off to play with Blue.

The two of them stopped asking when Edge and Red were coming back, but Blue still sniffled about it at night, lying in bed with Red’s worn-out jacket clutched in his arms.

To Rus’s surprise, Sans lingered and his grim expression brought no comfort. Not after what happened with their missing friends.

“what is it?” Rus asked, low to keep the kiddos from hearing him.

“we need to talk.”

Shit. Rus nodded and led Sans to his room. Their bros would be okay to play on their own for a little while. He sprawled out in his bed cushions, drawing up a knee to rest his chin on.

“okay, spill, what’s going on?”

But Sans wouldn’t be rushed. He settled to sit on one of the larger cushions that passed for a chair, legs crossed under him, and said bluntly, “we need to talk about what that fucker did to us.”

Rus could only blink, shocked to his core. They all had a fair idea of what had gone down before, even if their memories were pretty damn shaky. None of them ever compared notes, but they’d been to each other’s worlds, dozens of times. They’d seen the equipment, the tables with the straps on them. They all knew without a word, so Rus wasn’t sure why Sans wanted to share any now. “i don't want to talk—”

“i know you don't!” Sans said and his normal amicable tone was lost in a fury that jumbled in even more confusion. “me either, but we hafta. someone came to our lab yesterday.”

That nugget of information froze Rus’s soul. “what?”

“someone in a white coat,” Sans picked at the ragged hem of his shorts moodily. “don’t think she was looking for us, but she was with some others, poking around. they looked like they might be trying to open it again. and if they’re trying to do it in my world, they’ll try it here, you know. that’s how this works.”

It was true. They’d all noticed odd parallels between their worlds past people looking alike and if someone was coming to Sans’s lab...a painful thought occurred and it hurt to think it, of that sweet little baby bones who’d craved hugs being hurt or afraid, but Rus forced out, “do you think that’s what happened to red and edge?”

“i dunno what happened to them, maybe.” Sans blew out a long breath, his finger bones scraping his skull as he rubbed the back of his head agitatedly. “look, you guys weren’t the first worlds i came to. found another one first, another pair like us. those two seemed nice enough. they lived with the queen, took me to see her. but i gave her a hard look, i saw her. i saw her soul was bad.”

Rus looked away. He didn’t like talking about seeing souls. Neither had Red. The way it felt, someone else’s sins crawling up their spine like a bloated spider, ugh. It was horrible and Rus preferred not to, thanks. “she wanted me to stay, see,” Sans went on, doggedly, “wanted me to show them how the machine worked. i said i was gonna, played like it was all dandy. and then i ran back and got the hell out of there. scrambled the coordinates, but they still have a machine. if they figured out how to use it on their own?” He shook his head. “we’ve been using the machine for our own piddly shit, started all this back when we were kids and didn’t know better. but i don’t like to think what could happen if someone else tried it. someone with a little more determination.”

“what are you saying?” Rus whispered. But he already knew.

“come on, let’s be honest.” Sans was always grinning; with his skull structure, he didn’t have much choice. But there was nothing pleasant in the way he smiled now, “we can do that with each other, yeah? d’you trust anyone in your world with the machine? bet the nice cream gal is a real sweetheart, but you really think the old doc was the only bad soul around?”

“but…” He could feel the tears stinging in his sockets. He and Red had never been besties, but Rus found he missed the little asshole more than he’d ever thought he could. Losing Edge hurt even worse, that sweet baby bones, and remembering the last time he’d seen the kid, those thin, strong arms hugging him so tightly. If he’d known, had even an inkling what might happen, he never would’ve let the kid go.

Now Sans was saying he was losing him and Papyrus, too.

“we could move in together—“ but Rus trailed off, already knowing the answer even as Sans shook his head. All of them living in the same world would mean leaving the machine behind for anyone to use. That would kinda miss the point of it all. “fuck it, this sucks!”

Sans looked as miserable as Rus felt, blinking too hard. “i know. and it’s gonna break our bros hearts. but we can’t know what all is on the other side and i’m not sure i wanna wait until they step through to find out. and i definitely don’t wanna leave them for some other white coat to find. we need to shut them down, get them someplace where no one else can use ‘em ever again.”

Everything Sans was saying made sense, no matter how much Rus didn’t want to hear it. Hot resentment welled up, filling Rus’s soul; against the scientist, the machine, even against Sans. This wasn’t fair, none of this, why did they have to be the ones to do this shit? All Rus ever wanted was to be like the other Monster kids he’d seen, playing and getting nice cream, waiting for Gyftmas and a Santa who never managed to find his way to laboratory where little skeletons waited hopefully, thinking maybe this time, maybe they’d been good enough, and never were.

But there was no point to being mad about it, never was. All they’d ever had was each other, and someone had to do it. The same way someone had to clumsily wrap little presents for all the baby bones because if Santa couldn’t be bothered to show up, then a trio of big brothers weren’t about to let their little bros be disappointed again.

Someone had to and much as Rus hated to admit it, Sans was right.

“how can we move the machines?” Rus swiped at his damp sockets with his sleeve impatiently, “not like we can piggyback it around like we do our bros.”

“that’s another idea i got. follow me, i wanna show you something.”

Rus scrambled back to his feet, almost on Sans’s heels as they went out the door. But something felt odd as they walked through, a wavering of some sort and when Rus blinked, they weren’t in the hallway. They were standing outside the lab where the sweltering heat of Hotland was already making them sweat.

“how did you—“ Rus whirled around, blinking hard, but the scenery didn’t change. They were outside somehow and Sans’s grin was showing a little more humor.

“neat, huh? that’s why i said we needed to talk, cause if i can do it, i bet you can. and it’s not just monsters i can move, i can take things, too. maybe with a lil’ more practice…” He trailed off meaningfully.

“yeah, i get you, but i still don’t get how. or why.”

Sans could only shrug. “ain’t like we can ask. if i was gonna guess, i’d say he was hedging his bets that if the machine didn’t work, we’d be a different way through the barrier.” That grin twisted sourly. “shame none of his shit worked the way it's supposed to.”

Wasn’t a shame at all in Rus’s opinion. The real shame was the use they’d found for the machine was about to get dumped like so much trash. But when he thought of that other world Sans described, thought of Monsters coming through with bad souls filled with LV. Like the world Red was from.

Yeah, no. That wasn’t happening.

“show me how,” Rus said and Sans did.

It was exhausting and painful at first, worse even than the machine. He’d step out from a shortcut chilled to his marrow and it would be hours before his shivering stopped.

But it was easy, right within reach, and soon he was good at it, too good, good enough to take other people and things with him, and when he learned about the sentry job opening in Snowdin, he knew it was time.

After that, they’d only needed to say goodbye.

~~*~~

Rus stared up at the ceiling as he finished his cigarette, quietly consumed by memory.

Damn, but that was a long time ago now. It’d been what, fourteen, fifteen years? Their faces were reduced to blurred smears in his mind, maybe he needed to have a look of his own in Blue’s scrapbook tonight.

But even if the faces weren’t clear, he remembered Papyrus’s exuberance, his laughter. He remembered little Edge’s shy sweetness, the precious giggles from the kid who was so determined to marry him someday. Red and Sans, so like him and yet not, big bros determined to protect the baby bones.

So long ago but it still felt like there was gap in his soul where they’d all been once.

Rus snorted and smashed out his butt. Why was he thinking about them, anyway? Today wasn’t some kind of fucked up anniversary or anything. It was just another day in the Underground, another day, another G, and tonight it would be the same as any other. Watching Napstaton on the television he’d scrounged from the dump, choking down his brother’s less than appetizing version of tacos and secretly eating over at Muffet’s on the sly. Write another post-it to put by his sock for Blue to howl about tomorrow, and maybe head out for a drink, maybe even something else depending on who was there.

Nothing happened in Underswap, nothing changed.

So why the hell did he feel so agitated?

A niggling idea occurred, shaken loose by his nostalgia. Might be that there was a little something something he needed to check on, a thing he hadn’t looked at in years. He still had a little time before he had to get to his sentry post and it wasn’t like it took him longer than a minute to get there, anyway. He had the time, but the place he was heading wasn’t one he liked to shortcut into.

Rus pulled on a pair of shorts and a hoodie, scrounged from the pile of ‘not too stanky to wear again’ clothes and headed downstairs to shove his feet into his untied shoes. He lit another cigarette while he walked around back, standing uncomfortably by a door he rarely opened and Blue never seemed to notice. That was something right there, wasn’t it, that his little bro didn’t even see this door. Hard for Rus to figure out what that meant, and he wasn’t much one for puzzles or mysteries, anyway. Knock knock jokes, that was his gig and he wanted to keep it that way.

So why was he here, then, unlocking the door and pushing it open, all creaking and wheezy like a fucking late-night Halloween Special.

The lights still worked, thank the stars, or Rus might’ve said fuck it and headed off for his morning nap sentry duty after all.

Down in the cold basement, the machine sat hulking in the corner where Rus had dumped it after a painfully exhausting shortcut and there was a memory Rus could do without. Laying quivering on the dirty floor, close to vomiting from the burnt dregs of magic in the back of his throat along with bitter satisfaction and tears.

It was covered in a heavy cloth that was dusty and untouched. Useless. The machine didn’t have any power, cut off and starved to keep away any of the other Universes.

But Rus still shivered from something other than the cold. That feeling was still there, the same sensation he remembered as a kid. Like it wanted to be used.

“stop it,” Rus said aloud. Stupid. Like anyone was here to hear it? But his soul was crawling, a prickly sensation tiptoeing up his spine. He was alone, but it felt like something was here, a presence.

Rus wasn’t afraid of ghosts, knew a couple personally. This wasn’t a ghost and he couldn’t tell if it was malevolent or kind, only that it was there. And it wanted something from him.

“knock it off. i’m not listening,” Rus said, but it was a lie. He was listening to the throb in his head, the faint hiss like white noise echoing. Thin panic was starting to rise and he’d had enough of being here on his own. Let the machine crumble to dust, he was out of here.

He ignored the creepflesh feeling in his soul; he wanted out of here now and he reached out for a shortcut, the same way he had since he’d learned how and a thousand times since.

But the moment he stepped into it, he knew something was wrong. Colder than it’d ever been and it wasn’t gone in an instant as it should be. The dark/not dark lingered, his vision rattled, shaken in a psychedelic kaleidoscope. It hurt like his very molecules were being squeezed in an vice.

All together it only lasted an instant, but when Rus could see again, he was blinking through tears, staring uncomprehendingly at what was in front of him.

That…was not his sentry post. His shortcut should’ve plopped him right into his chair where he’d been a hundred times before, ready to sink down with his head on his arms and nap away the morning. This was wrong.

The trees were wrong, the sentry station, the snow, even the fucking light, everything was wrong, the world tilted to the side and off.

He felt like he’d walked through a door and ended up someplace else, which yeah, that was what a shortcut was, but this was a grotesque parody of where he was supposed to be.

This sentry post looked like a fucking fortress, crisscrossed with razor wire and there were bars in the windowed section. Warnings were graffitied on it in garish paint and what the fuck was a LV hunter? Not something Rus wanted to meet, that much he knew.

Rus stepped backwards and away, the sharp taste of fear heavy on the back of tongue. He was already reaching automatically for another shortcut, felt that unnatural cold in his grasp a split second before unexpected pain broke his focus. Rus yelped as he fell, hot agony zigzagging up his leg as a bone in his ankle snapped when he hit the ground.

The snow was as cold as the void, maybe colder, seeping wetly through his clothes. Painfully, Rus managed to roll over only to stare downward in disbelief. There was a trap around his foot, winding up his leg like a cruel vine. Nothing like the childish games his brother designed. This was a fucking snare made of barbed wire and springs that dug dusty gouges into his bones, and he was caught but good in it. He tried to kick it loose and had to stifle another scream, dull agony flaring sickeningly from his broken ankle.

Fuck, what was going on, what? Something was wrong, this whole place was wrong, not his shabby little cardboard post with the rickety chair he’d scrounged from the dump. This was someplace else, someplace terrible.

Through the haze of pain, Rus could hear the distant baying of dogs.

~~*~~

TBC

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.4 (Pool Party)

The Actual First Episode

A classic Lizzie Mcguire episode

- For some strange reason, this episode was considered episode #4 and the fourth episode to air even though the production code for this episode is '101′. Meaning that chronologically, this is episode #1 and probably the series pilot. It’s no wonder that all the kids look a lot younger here than in other episodes.

- That being said, let’s begin my episode recap. Lizzie is running through an obstacle course during P.E. class and she’s having a miserable time; I can definitely relate. Side note: Coach Kelly is played by Dot Marie Jones, who also played Coach Beiste on the hit Fox television series, Glee.

- Cartoon Lizzie, who is Lizzie’s conscience gives us a brief commentary on the different social circles in her gym class and she describes herself as someone who doesn’t fit in any category. I can also relate to her in that aspect just because during high school, I didn’t fit into any sort of clique. And that’s fine because having multiple interests and friends from different walks of life was beneficial to me.

Introducing Lizzie’s BFFs and Classmates

This is so pure, I love it

- Babies! They look so young here for real. Miranda is first introduced as Lizzie’s best friend and they basically confide in each others secrets. But more about Miranda later on.

Gordo is so cute but extremely wise for his age

- Lizzie knew Gordo since she was a day out of her mom’s womb. She describes him as “smart, funny, creative and right about everything”. That’s our Gordo for sure.

Kate looks quite different here and it’s not because of the face she’s pulling

- Kate Sanders, as you all know is Lizzie’s frenemy but former best friend because she hit puberty and became popular because of that. I kinda need more info on how that happened. Did the other girls suddenly look up to her? Or did Kate suddenly develop a lot of confidence and a mean attitude to pair?

Danny Kessler was more visible at the start of the series. I wonder what happened?

- I believe Danny was meant to play a larger part in the show; However, his character just kind of faded into the background later on only to be somewhat replaced by Ethan Craft, who is a far better character in my opinion. He serves the purpose of being the hottest boy in school who girls go gaga for and that’s about it really. Danny invites Lizzie and Miranda to a pool party on Saturday and they lose their minds from the invitation. 

The Mcguire Household

Lizzie vs Dad and Matt lol. Jo as referee.

- I found this scene, which introduces us to Lizzie’s parents and brother to be a little chaotic; Lizzie tells her family that she’s been invited by the ‘hunk-in-training’ of the school to a party. We also get mentions of spit-swapping and strip poker as well as her dad thinking she has been kissing Danny and having second thoughts on allowing her to go to this party.

- Well, Lizzie doesn’t have to worry about it because she can’t go either way because her Nana’s 80th birthday party falls on the same day. Lizzie gets mad and storms off. I’m guessing her Nana lives out of town and so, it isn’t possible to go to her birthday party and also come back for Danny’s party on the same day.

Miranda’s Betrayal

- Lizzie vents to Miranda and Gordo about not being able to make it to Danny Kessler’s pool party and because of that, being the best friend Miranda is supposed to be, she tells Lizzie that she too won’t be attending his party either in order to show her support for Lizzie.

Side note: Knowing that this episode was written by Terri Minsky, I made the connection that Gordo’s parents who are shrinks is similar to Andi Mack Cyrus’s parents and step-parents being therapists too.

- Kate approaches Miranda and asks her a favor to ask her mom to draw some fake, temporary tattoos on her and her friends for the upcoming party. Miranda accepts and agrees to hang out with Kate after school, which pretty much means she’s re-attending the party and hence, betraying Lizzie in the process.

Miranda is disliked by most fans because of instances like this

- I honestly cannot be too hard on Miranda because she’s only 13 and everyone at school keeps talking about the pool party. Plus, she has a crush on Danny. So, I can’t fault her for ditching Lizzie but she could have at least asked Kate if Lizzie could come along to her house.

- However, I didn’t like how Lizzie was sitting by herself in the same school bus as Miranda and Kate and Miranda did not bother to ask her to sit with them. Even if Kate isn’t willing to let her, she should definitely stand her ground. Poor Lizzie has to sit with this one kid who proudly picks his nose and flicks it.

“Eww! Ya Nasty!” *in Raven Baxter’s voice

Obligation vs Being Forced to do things

- Jo Mcguire is on the phone talking to someone about trying to get out of volunteering to write for a newsletter. Lizzie overhears this and confronts her mom for being hypocritical as she is forcing Lizzie to attend her Nana’s birthday party whilst she herself is trying to come up with an excuse to get out of doing something else.

- I get what Lizzie means; how is it okay for her mom to make excuses while she can’t? Well, Jo is an adult, so excuses are something that she is able to make and bear the responsibilities that come out of it. Lizzie is still a kid and I believe that her old grandma’s birthday is more important than some middle school party.

Heart to Heart

- After Lizzie confines herself in her room, Jo deploys her husband, Sam to try to get Lizzie to open up by asking him to use a simple yet complicated technique known as the ‘hairbrush routine’, which is making an excuse to look for something in the room and proceed to talk about a neutral topic and only engage with the questioning at hand when she makes eye contact and speaks in full sentences. Lol, that’s a mouthful.

- Luckily, we did get this beautiful moment in the end:

Give me some tissues :(

Gordo is the Man

This is some good acting imo

- Can we first talk about that long stare between Lizzie and Miranda in the hallway when Miranda, Kate and her crew were walking past Lizzie by her locker? Their expressions were so believable; I can almost read the dialog between their faces alone.

- Lizzie complains to Gordo and accuses Miranda for being a hypocrite but Gordo tells Lizzie that she shouldn’t be mad at her because the party was something Miranda really wanted to go to.

- Ughh, it’s hard. The position Miranda was put in is so difficult. It’s either she doesn’t go to the party to show her loyalty or she does go and have the best time of her life but risk having her friend hate her because of it. Either way, I think Lizzie shouldn’t be mad at Miranda regardless. There are plenty more episodes for that in the future.

- Gordo delivers the final blow when he says that he wasn’t even invited to the party and that pretty much cancels out all of Lizzie’s arguments.

Another cute Lizzie x Gordo moment

Lizzie makes up with her Mom and Miranda

- Jo enters Lizzie’s room and tells her that her Nana is going to Las Vegas to play poker and so, Lizzie is free to go to the pool party. What a grandma haha! I’m happy they hugged it out. I don’t like Lizzie being mad at her mom.

- Lizzie decided to skip the party (good for her!) and she and Gordo played in the backyard and made art by dipping a huge piece of cloth in some color dye to create a really cool effect.

- Miranda unexpectedly shows up at Lizzie’s backyard after leaving the pool party and turns out, she had a bad time because Kate’s ankle swelled up from the tattoo and she had to sit with her in the locker room. She also admits being a bad friend to Lizzie for blowing her off.

- Lizzie doesn’t hold any grudge and she and Miranda are back to being besties!

Overall Thoughts

- There was a lot to talk about in this episode from Lizzie’s relationship woes with her best friend to her feeling like her opinions and thoughts are not seen as valid by her family. I do think that for how Lizzie was so upset at Miranda, she kinda forgave her too easily. But I don’t think I would want to see them continue to not be on speaking terms for more than 1 episode.

- I am glad that there was no unnecessary sub-plot involving Matt and Sam in this episode. His story-lines are really a hit or miss to me. I prefer the ones where his relationship with his friends and family are tested as well as when he faced situations that gave him character development. I don’t like the goofy, comic-relief ones like last episode’s cooking fiasco.

[oc-rehab-centre]

[HNK OC Review] Sapphire

Hey there guys, gals and other gendered pals! This account has been rather quiet as of late, wouldn’t you say? A shame indeed, although we received our first public OC review request today. While the user would prefer to be left anonymous on this post, this review is available for you and them to read through. So sit down, relax and let’s do a quick review of this Houseki No Kuni OC!

Part 1 - Biography Analysis

+ some quick words in advance!

What there was to read of Sapphire’s bio was admittedly scarce. The amount of information chalked up to about 1 page and just over 500 words. While shorter character biographies are quicker to read and easier to get through - I’m a firm believer that when it comes to telling your OC’s story and telling us about them, more is always great! I would definitely suggest adding more to this bio and there are several templates for OC bios available on platforms like DeviantART and Amino.

Also, apologies if I’m mistaken, but it looks as if this and the other piece of Sapphire sent to me were created in an avatar/anime dress-up game. I’d advise instead of doing this, perhaps drawing your OC yourself or requesting/commissioning artwork from an artist instead. It just adds something more original and personal to your art and OC, plus there’s more creativity that way!

Name: Sapphire Nicknames: Saphy, the Blue Angel, Jewel

There is already a canon “Sapphire” in the Houseki No Kuni universe. However, this isn’t a huge problem. Perhaps add a colour, shade or type into her name to distinguish her from the canon character. For example, there are various diamonds in Houseki No Kuni: Diamond, Yellow Diamond and Red Diamond. Perhaps you can distinguish your Sapphire from the canon “Sapphire”. Below is a picture of some shades of sapphire and I think “Cornflower” or “Kashmir” might fit your character the best.

Credit: SpiralMuse.org

As for your character’s nicknames, perhaps add some more context, like:

Who refers to Sapphire by these names? 

How did she earn these nicknames?

Does she like these nicknames?

I believe doing so would add some more dimension to your character. It would show the reader how she fits into the universe and can even allow them to determine things about their character before even reading through the entire bio. Also, I don’t think that the Gems would know what an “angel” is, given they don’t seem to have much of a grasp on human religion albeit mythological creatures stemming from these religions. 

Age: Between 200-250 years old

Species: Sapphire

While I can’t say a straight-up “no” to this being an answer to this question, sapphire wouldn’t qualify as your character’s species. For this category, I’d suggest writing “Gem” or “The Bone”, as those are the most common names for the species’ of the crystalline characters in Houseki No Kuni. My apologies, just a nitpick!

Strength: 9

Sexual Orientation: Straight

Appearance: Sapphire is a blue gem with long flowing hair tied up in a ponytail. Everyone likes Sapphire’s hair because it is very sparkly and shimmers a lot in battle, making them hard to miss when they fight the Lunarians. Sapphire’s eyes are also blue. Sapphire has markings on her face which appear when she’s very angry at the Lunarians, and they don’t go away until Rutile comes to calm her down. Sapphire doesn’t like these markings but Sensei says that they make her special, but it doesn’t make her like them any more though. Sapphire has large wings made out of wax and pieces of silver that were made by Rutile, which she uses to fly and cut through her enemies with. 

To begin this, in the two images that I was sent with this biography, there is very little consistency in the design, which I reckon is because the customization options varied between the two used games/apps(?). Nothing hints to this character having a wardrobe of outfits and I believe that more care should’ve gone into at least ensuring the design didn’t change so drastically and like this. Like I said, drawing it yourself or asking for art from another person can make a larger difference than you may think!

Now as for what is stated here in this portion of the bio, it is admittedly very cluttered and rather disorganized. The sentence structures are rather awkward in nature and seem to jump from one topic to the other. (eg. Rutile calming her down and Sensei’s opinion on her markings.) A few pieces of this information could definitely be removed from the “appearance” section and placed into another, like “personality” or “relationships”. Please stay true to the fact that this is an “appearance” description and not a description of everything under the sun.

There is a strong emphasis on Sapphire’s beauty and strength in this portion, which is alright, although it comes off as just slightly conceited. (Though I think I’m alone on that stance, nor was mentioning that opinion truly important lmao.) I have a slight problem with her two most apparent traits, I will confess. Sapphire’s facial markings and wings. 

What struck me as odd about the facial markings is that such things have never been seen in the canonverse, it just seems so alien and frankly unnecessary. The markings are cited as only showing up when she is angry and sound as though they serve no sense or purpose other than displaying this single fact. While there is a potential for some interesting OC lore, I would personally suggest removing this feature unless you have a logical way of explaining their presence on her face/body.

The gems also wear thick coats of powder across their bodies, remember? If these markings were anywhere, I imagine they’d exist within/on Sapphire’s crystalline body and would struggle to show up through this powder... This concept is just very confusing and I can’t think of any logical reasons/examples to give you that would make them work. 

Now for the wings, it’s obvious that this was inspired by the Greek tale of Icarus. I personally think that your concept is interesting but it brings up many questions, both for the sake of character-building and well, science.

Why would Rutile create Sapphire a set of wings? How come none of the other Gems get their own wings? Did it take Sapphire time to learn how to use their new wings? In Houseki No Kuni, the laws of physics are constantly defied, but seeing a character flying with wings made from a metal that is 655 lb per cubic foot seems like science the creators wouldn’t push against... Ahem, anyways, I believe these are questions you should explore if you plan on keeping the implemented features there. 

Personality: Sapphire is an emotionless character who is very strong and works alone whenever she can. She thinks that she is too dangerous to work alongside other Gems because she could hurt them when she gets angry or made in battle. This is why Sapphire asks to work alone. Sapphire also wants to protect her friends very much and that’s why she’s always so angry at the Lunarians for taking away the other Gems. Sapphire also competes a lot with Phos because they’re both strong Gems only Sapphire is more loyal and useful to Sensei more than Phos was. Sapphire also doesn’t like Padparashadda very much because Padparashada isn’t helpful to Sensei either when he’s asleep all the time, and because he makes Rutile really upset which Sapphire doesn’t like.

Emotionless, hm? Given the fact that she supposedly have markings that trigger as a result of an emotion (anger), I would hardly go to say she’s emotionless. In this paragraph, she’s listed as: angry, protective, competitive, loyal and passionate - all of which are emotions. 

Just like in the “appearances section”, there is information in this paragraph that would fit better elsewhere, like her relationships with the listed characters, whose affinity and history with are never explained in this bio. 

I think that there are definitely more traits you could add to Sapphire’s personality. She is rather simplistic and I believe there is a lot of potential for her to be much more. Perhaps read about sapphires and find out what they symbolize for some inspiration or even randomly generate personality traits/attributes in online generators! Spice things up a little, make this OC more personal, make them feel more real.

Likes: Sensei, killing Lunarians, blue roses, King, her wings, being strong, the night time Dislikes: Phos, Padparashadda, when the lunarians get away, seeing broken gems, getting very angry

Powers: She has wings that let her fly and attack the Lunarians in order to make sure they cannot return back to the moon. Sapphire is stronger than Phos

Another useless piece of info, but you’ve spelt Padparadscha wrong a number of times. It’s not so hard to do a quick spellcheck! I probably sound like a broken record, but the wings continue not to make much sense to me, and I think you need to revisit the concept a little more. Given how you explained them, they sound very very powerful, seemingly strong without consequence. Also, the fact that Sapphire is stronger than Phos would be more believable and intriguing if Sapphire had clearer motifs and a more developed personality. 

Her likes and dislikes are rather generic, which admittedly broke my interest a little. I’d suggest adding some likes and dislikes that reflect Sapphire’s character a little better than her love for murdering the Moon People. 

The characters she likes and dislikes also may leave the reader curious. Though you went into slight detail about why Sapphire and Phosphophyllite aren’t besties, seeing more info on relationship with Sensei, Padpa and the aforementioned Rutile would be great. 

Backstory: Sapphire was born on the Cord Shore and taken to the school by Sensei. Sapphire liked to cling to Sensei because she saw him as a father and always wanted to please him. When Sapphire was growing up, Sensei could tell that she was powerful when he saw Sapphire’s markings, which showed up when she got mad after seeing some gems return to the building broken by the Lunarians. Sensei let Sapphire fight earlier because he knew she could protect the gems with her hardness and her ability. One day, Sapphire was in battle but the Lunarians escaped too quickly, making her very angry. Rutile gave Sapphire a gift which was a set of wings made out of wax and silver so that the Lunarians could never escape her again. Sapphire’s wings were so powerful she didn’t have to use a sword anymore and could take down even more Lunarians every day with only her wings. 

*inhales*

Oh boy. 

Ok, uh, I feel as though Sapphire’s backstory makes her seem like a very very special snowflake - something you should never strive for with a character. Sensei and Rutile both seem to be out of character, as both seem to feed Sapphire what she wants with a silver spoon... She seems like a bratty chosen one and I can’t say this backstory will sit well with everyone. 

There’s so little here that it makes me question a lot, and it frustrates me that’s there isn’t more to justify the choices and thoughts of Sensei and Rutile. Why did Sensei see such potential in Sapphire? Why would Rutile craft wings for Sapphire? Why did Sapphire get away with working alone?

There’s just so much left unanswered and unexplained... Please, if you ever decide to work on this, please add more and fill in these enormous holes. Adding a timeline would help with the pacing because when all of this is happening and at what ages Sapphire was when these events happened isn’t specified, adding to the confusion. 

Fun Fact

Sapphire has never gotten broken before but she is curious about what it feels like. 

Sapphire wraps herself in her wings when she sleeps.

Haha that first piece of trivia is rather cute. It reminds me of being young, seeing a friend with a cast and wondering what it feels like to break an arm or a leg. I think that’s really cute! The second - well, you already know my stance on the wings ^^’

Notes + Summary

If there is one thing that always sucks about fandom OCs, it’s that the fandoms always impose restrictions on creativity. In the case of Sapphire, I feel that a lot of the creative choices would definitely work to her benefit, but in the world of Houseki No Kuni, several aspects of her character feel unnatural and vague. 

Anyways, here’s a reiteration of my main points from this review.

Please add more to this bio! There wasn’t a whole lot of information in this bio, certainly not enough for Sapphire to be considered a fleshed out OC. As a result of how short this bio is, there are a lot of holes and a lot left unexplained. There is a lot of potential for this OC to be bettered by filling in those holes wisely! You can look online for a template to find section headings you’re missing, like: relationships, statistics, etc.

Getting your own images would be pretty great! Artists are always better than doll maker games!

Altering her name just a little by a colour prefix (eg. “Cornflower Sapphire”, “Kashmir Sapphire”, etc.) would differentiate her from the canon blue Sapphire. 

The removal or better explaining of the facial markings and wings would definitely be beneficial if you want to make her fit better into the series. 

Sapphire is written like a special snowflake, she’s practically written like a protagonist and seems to directly challenge Phos. Perhaps tone down the amount of special features she has, there’s nothing wrong with being just average. Sometimes, looking and behaving like a wallflower can make an OC better?

Explaining Sapphire’s connections with her peers in greater detail would be beneficial, considering they seem to baby her a fair bit. 

Overall, I’d give Sapphire an overall rating of 3.5/10. There just wasn’t a whole lot to work off of from this bio and what’s there is admittedly not superb. I hope this doesn’t discourage you from creating OCs and encourages you to make some changes to Sapphire. As I said, I see a lot of potential in her, as long as you fill in those holes in her bio and correct what is flawed in a way that makes sense and seems natural. 

That’s all for this review, Ciao!

[varricmancer]

Written in the stars | 1

Pairing: Varric Tethras x Bethany Hawke

Word Count: 2,019 (A little short, but I’ve been super busy with work and I wanted to get this started. Hopefully it’s still good!)

Summary: When his best friend Garrett Hawke decides to follow his dream and open his own movie studio, Varric is more than happy to offer help in the form of a huge donation and ignore Garrett’s pleas for him to write them a script. Until he learns Garrett’s sister Bethany is meant to be their main actress. Varric may never feel worthy enough to act on his infatuation with the sweet girl, but he’ll do anything in his power to make her a star. 

Notes: A modern au! Obviously. Still set in Thedas, but it’s been fiddled with to adjust to my vision. Mages are still treated like crap. Val Royeaux is basically Hollywood and Garrett’s dream is to make his own studio right there in Kirkwall to rival theirs. This is only my second DA fic and my first time trying to capture the entire Kirkwall crew, so I’m a little terrified over how this will go. I’ll do my best! 

If there was one thing that he was certain all of Thedas knew about him, it would be never wake up Varric Tethras before noon. This is how he knew that whoever was knocking at his door at seven in the morning - only three hours after he’d finally gone to bed, mind you - was either an idiot or suicidal. 

He reluctantly left the warmth of his bed and threw on his favorite red silk robe before shuffling to the front door, where the soon to be dead person was now banging on it hard enough that he was surprised it hadn’t been smashed in yet. 

With a weary sigh, he flung open the door and the witty reproach he’d been preparing on the way there vanished from his head when he spotted the unrepentant grin of his best friend. 

“Hawke. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this morning?” he drawled, letting the much larger man stroll past him so he could shut the door. 

Garrett shrugged and started walking towards Varric’s office, having been here so often he knew exactly where everything was. 

“Can’t a guy come say hello to his bestie?” 

Garrett went straight to the spare coffee maker that Varric had set up in there for late night writing sessions. He hummed loudly while he scooped out coffee grounds and filled the machine with cold water. 

“Uh huh. And why didn’t you use your key?” 

Varric settled into his highback brown leather chair that was starting to crinkle with age. His friend was up to something. He’d normally have it all figured out by now, but he was still only half awake. 

“That would have been rude.” 

“I see,” Varric snorts. Garrett throws a look behind him that said he knew perfectly well what he’d done wrong and wasn’t sorry in the least. 

“You realize, of course, that by waking me up mere hours after we last saw each other I am now honor-bound to kill you and everything you love.” 

“Then I hope you’re ready to die today, my friend.” 

“Damn that was smooth,” Varric grumbled aloud. 

Garrett chuckled as he started up the machine and pulled out a couple of mugs from the bottom cupboard. He was still humming obnoxiously loud, but Varric was too tired to protest. Instead, he slumped into his chair and closed his eyes, listening to the gurgling of the ancient machine as it began to fill the carafe.

Just when he was beginning to nod off, a steaming cup of black coffee was shoved under his nose. He supposed it was too much to hope Hawke would have mercy on him. He sighs sleepily and accepts the mug, slurping down the hot brew with practiced ease. Garrett pulls a chair closer to the desk and settles in with his own drink, studying Varric over the rim like he’s waiting for the caffeine to take effect before he strikes. 

“So,” Varric finally rumbles after the coffee had settled in his stomach a little. “What do you need? Money? Contacts? An alibi and an extra shovel?” 

“No to all of those, but I’ll keep that last offer in mind for the future,” Garrett grins. “I’ve done it, Varric.” 

Varric’s foggy mind couldn’t quite grasp what he’d supposedly done. Knowing his friend, it could be anything. He quirked an eyebrow in question, leading Garrett to lean forward with maniacally bright eyes. 

“My dream. I finally found the perfect place to open my own movie studio. I’d done a favor for the owner of the building and they lowered the price for me so I was able to afford it. It needs a little work, but it’s a start.” 

Garrett’s face is practically glowing with joy, and Varric couldn’t be happier for his friend. Ever since they’d met back in their college days he’d had to sit through so many rants during movies nights. “That’s the problem with those big studios in Val Royeaux, Varric. Everyone is too afraid to take risks anymore. It’s all about the money. When I get behind the camera, I plan to change the world.” 

“Shit, that’s great! I’m happy for you, Hawke. Anything you need, just ask. I can help fix up the place and buy equipment to get you started. It’s going to be a lot of work to get it up and running.” 

“Actually,” Garrett started slyly, “I had hoped to ask you to help with something specific.” 

“Which brings us to why you’re really here,” Varric grunted with a smirk. 

“Indeed. How would you like to be the first official employee of Hawke Filmworks? 

Varric chuckles. “I’m happy to slip you some cash or recommend some talented workers, Hawke, but I’m rather fond of being self-employed.” 

“Don’t worry! You can still work from home in your underwear most of the time! I need a scriptwriter, Varric. Who better to help me turn the entertainment industry on its ear than my best friend?” 

Varric scrunched his nose and huffed. “I don’t know about that, Hawke. I write adventure tales and stuff that’s basically shitty erotica. I don’t know the first thing about writing a script.” 

“Please! I will kneel and grovel. There’s no one else I would entrust my dream to. Varric, my dearest friend. My love for you has - “ 

“Andraste’s tits, shut up. And get up, you idiot,” Varric rumbled at Garrett, who had fallen dramatically at Varric’s feet, grasping his ankle like the drama queen he was. 

Varric sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I’ll think about it. I’d have to do some research. Are you sure you don’t just want some money? What would I even write about?” 

“I have some ideas! Don’t worry about that. We can work on it together. Beth is going to be a mage that overthrows the monarchy and becomes the country’s first elected leader. Imagine that! A mage in power! It will be a little more complicated than that, of course, and lots of political subtext. And there will be a love story with the former Prince...and DRAGONS!” 

Garrett had lost him after the name he’d mentioned, Varric’s chest aching as it usually did when her name was mentioned. 

Bethany Hawke, Garrett’s little sister. A beautiful and kind woman that was so far out of Varric’s league - though it didn’t prevent him from daydreaming occasionally. 

“Bethany is going to be in on it?” 

“Of course. The whole gang is. Bethany is going to be our lead actress, Marion is going to do her stunts. Carver is our sound engineer and whatever else we need. Issy says she’ll help with costumes. Aveline has agreed to come in and help too. I was thinking of calling her our Executive Producer. Meaning she gets to do all the boring sitting at a desk and making phone calls to hire people and secure locations, make sure we’re all doing our jobs. The lot mom.” Garrett chuckles. 

Varric’s fingers began to twitch with the need to grab his pen. His mind was suddenly filled with images of Bethany as a warrior mage, her silken black hair flowing in the wind as she gazed deep into the viewer's soul with her striking amber eyes. She’d strike down her foes with her powerful magic, and give the people hope with her gentle smile. 

And...Hawke said a romance. Would she giggle over stolen moments? Stare up at her lover passionately as they towered over her? Would she sigh or moan when the Prince- who looked remarkably like Varric in his mind - pressed kisses to the little mole on her collarbone? 

Varric gulped and forced himself to focus, feeling guilty for thinking such things about his friend's sister right in front of him. 

“Bethany does realize that a role like that, especially with the way mages are still treated even here in Kirkwall, would bring a lot of attention to her? And not all of it good. She could be in danger.” 

Garrett nods. “We thought of that. I was going to hire an actress, but she said she wants to do it. She thinks if we can tell the right story, it might help change the way people treat mages. Aveline is going to hire someone for security.” 

Varric sighs. “If she’s going to put herself in the public eye like that and basically draw a target on her forehead, I’ll do it. I’ll feel better if I know I have some control over how she’s portrayed.” 

Garrett reaches over actually pulls him into a hug, slapping his back harshly in excitement. 

“You’re the best, my friend. I feel much more confident knowing we have you in our corner. And I know Beth will be happier knowing you’re helping too. She would have been sad if I’d had to tell her you’d said no. And you know that Bethany Hawke sad is a bad thing. Flowers wilt, crops perish, stars fall from the sky.” 

Varric scoffs. “Like you didn’t know you’d get me to agree eventually.” 

Garrett smirks and stands up. “I’ll leave you to your rest then. Come by later to check out the building. I’d appreciate your opinion on where to start.” 

“Oh, now that he’s caffeinated me he’ll let me sleep,” Varric grumbles as he follows his friend to the door. Garrett laughs and pats his head. 

“You know you love me.” 

Varric shrugs and grins as he opens his front door and kicks Garrett’s ass outside, literally. 

“Yeah, yeah. Send me the address. I’ll take a quick nap and come by with some food. Sound good?” 

“Perfect! Later, Tethras!” 

Varric waits until his friend has safely driven away before he closes his door with a sigh. What he’d actually agreed to was finally soaking in. He’d avoided interacting with the extended Hawke family as much as possible the past few years. They’d questioned it a few times, especially considering he’d once practically lived in the Hawke home he’d been there so much. 

However, being tempted so often by someone he could never have had gotten too hard to deal with. There were so many reasons he could think of for Bethany to never even consider him an option. He was older than her, with an often bitter and jaded outlook on life and relationships. She was literal sunshine and was so kind and gentle that it was like she’d walked right out of a fairy tale. She was stunningly beautiful, tall and shapely. He was...well, a dwarf. Though he admittedly took more care with his appearance than many of his kind. They were complete opposites in so many ways that there was literally no reason for them to ever be together beyond one - That Varric adored her and would do anything to make her happy. 

Unfortunately for him, what would make the entire Hawke clan happy was for him to apparently attempt writing a script for the ages. 

Varric yawns and scratches his belly as he trudges back to his bedroom and the comfort of his blankets, visions of warrior mages with gentle amber eyes floating through his head. 

[bees-for-the-wildmother]

Author Tags

I was tagged by the ever wonderful @the-most-beautiful-broom​. Thank you, my dear. Your answers were wonderful and I’m looking forward to what mine will be...

Fandoms You Write For:  The 100.  I’ve considered other fandoms, but I’ve never quite done it.

Where You Post:  A03. Technically, also ff.net, but I never go there anymore really.

Most Popular One-Shot: Stuck on You. From the prompt “Elevator”; Clarke repeatedly gets stuck in her building’s elevator, but luckily there’s a nice fireman named Bellamy who comes to her aid.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter:  All My Friends Are Heathens.   A group of superpowered delinquents get sent down to Earth to determine if it’s survivable.  It is by the strictest sense, but that doesn’t mean it’s not without its dangers. This story was/is my baby.  It was born out of Suicide Squad inspiration, but then it’s more X-men, and it’s also canon inspired with the plot. I’ve never been happy with my summaries for it, but it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written.

Favorite Story You Wrote:  Probably Heathens, but I gushed about that above.  But closely after that, Fanning the Flames.  It’s an urban fantasy starring witch!Clarke and mundane!Bellamy. It came from a prompt “An Unlikely Pet” which, given it’s me, is of course a dragon. But the universe I created for this and its prequel, Down the Rabbit Hole, is probably my favorite universe I’ve written.

Story You Were Nervous to Post:  Unexpected, but Not Unwelcome. After drinking one night, I decided to write my first ever E rated story.  Sometimes I still can’t believe I wrote it, let alone published it. It is so unlike me that I was actually a little nervous to include it in this post because it would draw attention to it.

How Do You Choose Your Titles:  Poorly. Titles are literally my least favorite part of writing fanfiction.  I struggle SO hard and was actually cringing when I had to put titles in this post because I still can’t get past some of them. 

Do You Outline:  For my multi-chapter fics, yes.  Other ones not really; I maybe have a couple notes of ideas but that’s it.

Complete Number of Stories:  Seventeen.

In Progress:  Published WIPs?  0.  On my computer? 15 partially started stories, not including writing scraps...though I haven’t really touched a lot of them in a long time.

Do You Accept Prompts:  Yes!  I haven’t written in a while, but that’s because I know the deadlines I set myself are bullshirt.  But if someone was to give me a prompt, I would feel obligated to write it and post it.  That’s literally how I kept up with Heathens; I had people, including my  bestie/beta, who would be looking forward to updates and bug me about getting writing done.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited About:  I think I’m actually going to try to finish a story I started last year around Halloween entitled Bad Moon Rising (a title I’m actually happy with; thanks CCR).  It’s a supernatural thriller (I don’t know that thriller is the right word, but it’s the one that came to me) in which Clarke returns to her hometown for the first time in years after the mysterious death of her father who was the Protector of a town full of magical people. As the story progresses, Clarke and Bellamy work together with some friends to solve the mystery of her father’s death which seems to be tied to something much larger, and which may or may not have to do with Jake’s, and now Clarke’s, adoptive daughter Madi.

To all fellow readers and writers, thank you.  Thank you for your contributions and support. Readers will always be grateful for writers; and writers will always be grateful for readers. Fanfiction would not exist as well as it does without both parties.

Tagging a few people who may want to see this post and/or want to do their own, if they haven’t already. @thegriffin-blakefamily, @thehundredtimesobsessed, @pawprinterfanfic

[kiddomhearts]

Ordinary Days

Summary: An ordinary day for the Hart Family. AO3 link

“Although my heart may be weak, it’s not alone. It’s grown with each new experience, and it’s found a home with all the friends I’ve made.”

“Be back by lunch!”

Sora quickly scampered down the steps, Xion and Roxas on his heels with goodbyes of their own. It was a race to see who would reach the corner first. Sora’s win streak had been going strong for the past three days but he knew his siblings could easily win if he wasn’t careful.

Of course, at that moment Roxas reached the corner first with Xion in a close second. He swore his siblings could teleport sometimes.

“Yeah Rox!” Xion cheered while their brother gave a tiny, but smug, smile. Sora stuck his tongue out but relented and handed over the gummiphone they shared between the three of them. Vanitas had pitched a fit that they had gotten one when he hadn’t gotten one until he was at least eight. But the triplets were much more outgoing than he had been at their age, their father had pointed out, so gummiphone it is.

Never mind that the triplets were technically supposed to keep together and that splitting up defeated the whole purpose of them sharing the phone.

With a quick wave, the triplets split down their respective paths. Sora was excited for the day ahead of him it was a Beach Day! Everyday was Beach Day except for Hospital Days, School Days, Party Days—well, most days were Beach Days. But this Beach Day was special because Namine was finally allowed out of the house!

What a perfect morning!

“Best friends are supposed to be honest with each other!”

“Aw, c’mon Rox! Lighten up a bit, it’ll be fine.”

Roxas leveled his best disbelieving stare at Lea. Too bad the redhead was too busy setting up his glowworm pile to notice. He tried not to give a weary sigh, he really did! He didn’t want to be mistaken for Isa after all who had already sighed for the fifth time just that second. But Lea made it hard not to sometimes.

“I don’t think Roxas believes you,” Xion commented distractedly. Her hands were already busy with her newest project (matching crochet scarves for the four of them) so she wasn’t really paying attention to them in the slightest.

Lea turned around dramatically, hand placed on his heart. “Oh Roxas, how you wound me! Do any of you have any faith in your old friend?”

“No,” Isa responded flatly. Roxas couldn’t very well verbally agree with Isa so he settled for glaring extra hard.

Then the smell hit him.

“Lea, is that lighter fluid?” Isa sharply asked. Xion’s head snapped up, throwing her project into her bag and scrambling away from the blast radius. Roxas had already put five feet between the glowworm monstrosity at the unfamiliar smell and put in an extra five at the name of the culprit.

“No?” Lea chuckled weakly. The matchbox in his hand wavered.

“Lea no.”

“Lea yes.”

Roxas wondered if Ienzo had any plans for before noon as he left the soon-to-be crime scene.

“You’re both my best friends.”

“Ta-da! What do you think?”

Xion clapped her hands together in amazement as Kairi showed off her latest friendship bracelet. It was a pink and white crocheted thing that resembled a mit more than a bracelet. But Kairi was still learning and they knew that any of her friends would wear it with pride anyway.

“It’s a bit wide,” Namine laughed. Kairi pouted and stuck out her tongue but couldn’t keep up her expression as they all descended into giggles. Xion was glad that Kairi and Namine decided to stick around after lunch. It was a shame that Aqua couldn’t be there too.

Dusk gave a soft bark from where he laid at Xion’s feet, tail wagging a staccato beat against the floor. Xion reached down to pet his head, earning a few licks in return. She’d have to walk him soon.

“And done.” Namine sat back and clutched her sketchbook to her chest. They waited patiently for the blonde to show off her latest work, knowing she was notoriously shy about it. The wait proved fruitful when she finally turned the sketchbook around to them.

The drawing was of Xion, Kairi, and Namine, all done in the finest crayons hand-me-downs and couch cushions could buy. They were holding hands at the beach with smiles on their faces. Although…

“Why am I in a coat?” Xion questioned. Namine shrugged. It had just seemed right at the time.

A nudge at her foot was all the warning she could get before Vanitas poked his head in from down the hall. He seemed surprised, probably not expecting the visitors. He picked up Flood as the irritable rabbit hopped back to him with his mission accomplished.

“Hey, uh… keep it down in here, okay?” And with that, he left just as quickly. Xion figured that wasn’t what her brother wanted to say but Kairi and Namine made him uncomfortable. He’ll come to her later though.

Packing things up, Xion went to grab the leash for Dusk. It only took a few moments before they were ready and out the door. Chatting among themselves, they kept close to the shaded areas as they met up with Sora and Riku.

It was a nice afternoon walk.

“Hmph, it’s always about your friends, isn’t it?”

“Cut it out, I know you’re hungry.”

Flood honked at that, already in the deserted kitchen and parked right next to the fruit bowl. Hareraiser was running circles around Vanitas and forcing him to take careful steps unless he wanted to trip. He would glare at the insufferable rodents but it had long since had an effect.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you little lump of evil,” he muttered. Flood huffed at that but at least Hareraiser had stopped. They both stared expectedly at him as he grabbed a banana. Quickly peeling and breaking off half of it, he grabbed a butter knife (stupid Ven and his stupid safety rules) and divide the half into little pieces. The smaller pile then went into Flood’s bowl while the larger bile went into Hareraiser’s bowl.

Flood gave him the stink eye but he rolled his eyes at that. The little rat could sulk all he wanted, he wasn’t getting his favorite today. (Because Vanitas had forgotten to add strawberries to the grocery list last week.) But oh how his tune changed when Hareraiser gave his bowl an experimental sniff.

Rabbits situated, Vanitas sat down at the empty kitchen table. It had been a boring day with Ven not around except for lunch. But even that was awkward since Ven’s ‘besties’ (barf) had tagged along. He had hid stayed in his room for the most part.

It was warm in here, he realized. Had someone turned off the AC? Probably Xion, she was all about going green or whatever it was. Or Ven, he was always the responsible one… Maybe Roxas, he was…

A soft but firm nip jolted him back to awareness. He had slumped a bit onto the table as he had begun to nod off. Flood sat attentively at his heels, the nipper in question, while Hareraiser had hopped into his lap. A glance at the clock showed that he was only out for a few minutes at most.

Scratching Flood then Hareraiser (between the eyes and down the back, respectively), he stood up and headed for his room. At least if he fell asleep in there, he’d have his bed. But he already knew he was going to be up for at least a couple of hours, feeling refreshed even with that small nap.

At least it was a quiet evening.

“At least I have some!”

“Look, look! A shooting star!”

Ventus hopped around excitedly, too wired from his short nap earlier to properly peer through the telescope. Aqua and Terra chuckled at his antics as they had already expected this. Eraqus had turned in for the night a while ago.

The picnic blanket beneath them was soft when Ven finally tired and flopped down onto it. His eyes were still trained above him though. Meteor showers, while not common, still seemed to happen unnaturally often on the shores of Destiny Islands.

He could hear the far off sounds of Sora’s shrieking laughter and the faint splashes from the tiny wavepools that Xion and Roxas were exploring. It was a shame that Vanitas didn’t stay for longer. But he knew how shy (no matter how much his brother denied it) his brother was. He’d bet that Vanitas was already holed up in his room at home with those spoiled (another thing his brother denied) rabbits of his.

A faint brush across his head had him tilting his head back. Aqua smiled at him, continuing brushing her hand through his hair, and he grinned in return. Terra mumbled something off to the side and Ventus bet that he had already somehow messed up the telescope settings in those five seconds.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Aqua asked rhetorically. Ventus just nodded at that, not wanting to break the calm mood. It was Terra’s increasingly frustrated cries that eventually had them leaving their nice spot.Within moments, Aqua had the telescope sorted out.

“I tried that.”

“Obviously not.”

“It’s like a bunch of dandelions,” Ventus interrupted, looking back up at the night sky. The two blinked and then looked at each other with fond expressions. Ventus had a soft spot for the plants, even going so far as to have a special spot for them in his little garden in the back of his house. But…

“They’re still weeds Ven,” Terra teased, Aqua shaking her head.

Before he could reply, there was a sharp whistle that cut through the air before the sky lit up further. With colors this time. The two conspicuously absent troublemakers were found not far down the beach, especially as Isa’s roar filled the air.

“LEA!”

Another ordinary night for another ordinary day.

[archangelakira]

MHM

So May is Mental Health Month? Not something that ever really concerned me until recently. That being said, I think it has a much larger impact on me now given that I have begun the road to recovery from my own mental health issues. And if my story can help even one person then it's worth sharing.

Anxiety is no joke. I always had a manageable case of social anxiety growing up. You know, I was the kid that didn't really have many friends in school. I preferred to read rather than socialize. I hated being called on during class, presentations made my hands sweat profusely and made my stomach do backflips. I would hold on to a gum wrapper throughout an entire class just because I didn't want to be the center of attention when I got up to throw it away. I would suppress coughs or sneezes because I didn't like drawing attention to myself. School dances were a nightmare but for some reason I insisted on maintaining a sense of normalcy and... well, everyone else was going.

None of these things ever affected my daily life. Did they make me uncomfortable? Sure. Did I replay something stupid I said 10,000 times in my head and come up with a million better ways to have said it? Absolutely! But not once do I recall ever having an anxiety attack as a result. Although I'm sure those presentations brought me pretty close more than once.

Today is a different story. Today I fight off anxiety attacks a few times a week. What changed? Was there a turning point in my life? Did things just build up over time and eventually tip the scales? Was there some sort of traumatic event? Yep. That's it. That one, right there. Traumatic event. Flashback incoming:

Here's the thing, I had very few constant support systems in my life. Mom died at an early age. I had my dad, of course. And my brother. Had my best friend in the entire world that I had known since we were five! Gosh, she's a life saver. Probably more than she will ever know. Then I had my relationship. My other half. My S.O. We met in 2005 when we were 17 years old working a summer job at our local movie theater. Started dating in October of that year. Moved in together in December of the next year. We were the proud parents of two doggos. We spent 12 years of our lives together. Until it all came crashing down at once.

It took a only one session of speaking with a specialist for them to clearly define what had happened to me. PTSD. I always associated it with veterans and the like. People that experience extremely horrific situations on a regular level. But I guess everyone has their breaking point. So pretty much it was one loss on top of another that pushed me past mine. My best friend moved across the country. Not a huge loss... I still talk to her regularly. But part of my support system and really the only social life I had was chipped away. My dad died. Another chip. Lost my childhood home. One more chip. And then the big one. My whole world was shaken up when I lost my significant other. Then the fur babies. Things just piled up all within a short time period and I buckled under the weight of it.

I guess it started in the summer of 2017. That's when I felt my world begin to really fall apart. Bestie had recently moved. I came home from work one night and the S.O. was asleep, snoring lightly. I hung up my purse and took off my shoes. I went to wake him up when I realized that he wasn't snoring. He was gasping for air. His eyes were rolled back in his head and he couldn't breathe. To say I freaked out was an understatement. I called my brother who lived very close and he came over and asked if he had any history of night terrors. No. Seizures? Nope. So he helped me roll my boyfriend over just to eliminate the chance of choking on vomit. That's when we saw the lighter. And the aluminum foil. And the charred remains of some drug. We continued trying to wake him. I called his 'friend' that he had been spending so much time with lately. He couldn't tell me what the substance was, only that I shouldn't call an ambulance. He would come out of it, this friend assured me, and I wouldn't want authorities to find drugs in my home. What a dumb thing to believe but I was naive. Okay, so what now??? My brother and I started to carry him to my car so could make the short trip to the ER. We got about halfway through the house and my boyfriend just snapped out of it. Just popped up like nothing was wrong. Started asking us what was going on. I broke down crying on the floor. I told him if he ever did anything like that again it was over between us.

October of 2017 my dad is hospitalized. His organs are shutting down and he's on life support. For two weeks I drive an hour and a half each way every day to be at his side. Early November he passes away. I'm heartbroken but I've been through this before so I know I will recover. The funeral passes quickly this time. I guess I wasn't dreading it as much as mom's. Thanksgiving and Christmas come and go. I had moved back in with my father when he started to get sick. He left no will and the medical bills are substantial. My brother and I prepare to lose the home we grew up in. In the process of packing things I notice that my significant other is missing quite frequently. Spending the night at friends' places. Taking my vehicle.

After about a five day stretch in February of not hearing from him, having no idea who he is with, where he is, what he's doing, if he's even alive, I get on his computer to see if I can get in contact with his friends through Facebook. He hasn't replied to my texts or messages. He won't answer my calls. So I open his laptop and sign in. The first string of messages I see are to a woman named Angel. I know I shouldn't open it. I know I don't want to see whatever is in there. But I'd also like some peace of mind. After looking through months of lewd photos and videos sent between them I pick up my phone and text my best friend. I warn her to be prepared for an onslaught of ugly crying as I'm about to end my 12 year relationship.

The next message I send is to him after 10 phone calls at 4am on February 28, 2018:

You have until noon to bring my car back to me or I will report it stolen.

He calls back in less than 30 minutes. He's in the driveway before 8am. We make arrangements for him to stay in the guest room until he finds a place to live or until the bank forecloses because I'm not heartless and don't want him to be homeless. I find a place to move into shortly after and start a new chapter in my life.

A new chapter filled with insomnia, an eating disorder, depression and anxiety. See, somehow, after all that my brain decided that it was my fault the relationship failed. Because when I asked him why he did it he said he was bored. And in my mind that meant he was bored of me. I was boring. So I began to use negative self talk as a coping mechanism. I hid the breakup from my family, friends, and colleagues for months. I was ashamed. I stopped eating because my depression told me he didn't want me because I was fat. I went from 170 to 130 pounds in less than two months. I stopped sleeping because I couldn't turn off the negative thoughts. I started to have anxiety attacks when the thoughts became overwhelming. I would go to Angel's profile and look at her picture and berate myself for not being as pretty as her, or as fit, or as intriguing. I would wonder why I wasn't enough. I would clench my fists so tight my fingernails cut into the palms of my hands. My heartbeat would start racing. I would start to hyperventilate and feel sick. It got so bad that a friend from work had to tell me to go talk to someone. He knew something was up and I honestly don't know if I would be here today if he had not intervened.

So now the insomnia is under control. Most nights, anyway. I still have an episode here and there but it's no where near what it was. I started eating again and I'm maintaining a healthy 155ish pounds. The depression is significantly reduced. I'm only battling the anxiety attacks now. A few months after that friend from work suggested I speak to a specialist, we started dating. Now my anxiety attacks are mostly a fear of losing him. It usually starts with something simple, like him finding out about some insecurity that I have and then it snowballs into negative self talk then, ultimately, me convincing myself that he doesn't want to be with me either. That I'll screw up this relationship too. As if the last one was my fault. Rational me knows that I'm lucky to have an amazing, caring, understanding guy in my life. Rational me knows that the negative thoughts are ridiculous and that even if this one 'gets bored' too it wouldn't be the end of the world. Anxiety attack me is irrational. Anxiety attack me feels like everything is spiraling out of control and it IS the end of the world. Luckily, the attacks are fewer with each passing day and it doesn't feel like an endless cycle anymore. For the first time in almost a year it feels like there might actually be an end to these vicious moments. I am healing.