#hosie half-shot

[uncleasad]

Sunday night status update

As Rod Stewart was fond of saying, “It’s late September and I really should be back at school…”

Here at Uncle Asad in Fandomland, that means it’s time for the annual “some night status update” checking in on all the unpublished words and works. (OK, the 2022 update was in May, dunno why, that was…18 months ago, and you expect me to remember? 😂 Oh! It was because of the announcement of the cancellation of Legacies, which felt to me a little bit like a non-event in the wake of Kaylee’s departure the previous fall/winter.)

Back in 2021, nearing the end of my summer writing hiatus, I tallied up all the words in my unpublished, in-progress fics—7 works and nearly 107K words then; in 2022, it was 10 works and nearly 135K words.

Sad to say that although I’ve published 8 new stories since then, all 10 of the in-progress works are still unfinished (8 with no new words), and I’ve added 6 more in-progress stories, too!

The list, with word-counts and estimates of percent complete:

Josie returns to a derelict and overgrown Salvatore School after 10 years away (aka After Ten Long Years) (25,213 words in 5 distinct sections, +60 words, ~75% complete)

Hope meets the Saltzmans in the post-Civil War upper midwest (aka Old West Hosie) (11,340 words, ~25% complete)

Alternate realities bleed over into the lives of Hope and Josie (21,040 words, ~50% complete)

Part 3 of The Model and the Painter (1,265 words)

Hope investigates the disappearance of crime boss Josie (2,778 words, 1+ chapters complete)

Crime heiress Hope meets an enchanting woman who may be her moll (aka runaway Josie) (36,053 words, ~25% complete)

Newly-divorced Hope takes a job teaching art at Whitmore College (aka divorcée Hope) (14,376 words, 8+ chapters complete)

Hope, Josie, Lizzie, and others struggle with their lot in life in the brutal Geminid Empire (aka Hosie dystopia) (16,313 words, ~10% complete???)

A sequel to the surprisingly-popular You Couldn’t Even Bother To Check On Me? (3,140 words)

No-Humanity Hope goes on a rampage across North America, hunting her enemies and extracting revenge (aka Dark Hope on a rampage) (4,708 words, +358 words, ~60% complete)

In the olden days, Alaric sells Josie (aka Selling Josie) (608 words, ~10% complete???)

Ten years after leaving Mystic Falls to try to save Hope, Josie is summoned home by a mysterious letter from her father (aka Stepmother Alyssa Chang) (11,328 words plus an 831-word excerpt scene; ~60% complete)

A disaster of a fic I shouldn’t write and which may never see the light of day (aka The best ones always break my heart twice) (16,260 words, ~75% complete)

Hope Mikaelson is sitting at the bar when Josie Saltzman walks in (aka Josie walks into a bar) (2,211 words, ~50% complete)

Something something Hosie Santa Claus (aka Hosie Santa Claus) (962 words, ~10% complete???)

An intersection of the lives of Hope and Josie just before the fire (aka Hosie half-shot) (1,239 words, ~50% complete)

That’s now almost 170K words of unfinished stories! 😳🤯 (Across 16 works; 32,608 words in 6 new in-progress fics.)

I did finish/publish more works than I added new unfinished ones since the last check-in, however; thank goodness for small favors, however minuscule! 😂

I don’t have a great strategy for whittling this down; as many of you may have noticed, I’ve been in a bit of a slump since spring—and I haven’t written a word since July 1 😢 I feel like, aside from the late summer writing sabbatical of 2021, the summer writing decline usually happens to some degree, and with the coming of fall and winter, I have more time, but that may all be wishful thinking. Still, fingers crossed. At some point, though, I’ll find an hour or so to finish writing the Hosie half-shot and go from there….

Thanks to everyone who’s stuck with me this long and read my fics along the way, and I’m sorry I don’t have a more upbeat outlook right now.

[uncleasad]

It is now officially my headcanon that Josie has this in one of her notebooks.

Plot twist: Hope drew/illustrated it for her.

Seriously, I think this is going to find its way into at least one of my fics…

[paperglader]

going back into the hosie rabbit hole and i’m like: why do i still actually miss this godawful show in the year of 2024? like. legacies was bad. truly. terrible storytelling.

but then it dawned on me: of course, legacies was a modern day fantasy story with half of the ensamble composed of queer characters, that also happened to have a female lead. i hear that right now with no more information and I’m sold. what show is doing that right now? the only ones that i can think of have been cancelled (like legacies, although that one was for the best).

my point is, though, of course i miss it. and it truly is sad that i can’t think of another show that sort of checks the boxes that legacies did (don’t get me wrong, i don’t want another legacies. the issue with that show is that the entirety of its intentions had always been TO check those boxes and not do anything with them whatsoever, but the dream of someone getting it right is still there)

shot out to critical role, of course, the best fantasy storytelling that i’ve ever seen (and the queerest, and most perfect). It obviously fits every single box and beyond, but it’s quite a different format, and definitely not for everyone (it’s my favorite… if anyone does see this silly post of mine, likes fantasy and queer storytelling go for it)

[unholyhelbig]

Hosie "you keep stealing my clothes"

Title: Gnomes & Laundry 

Word Count: 1129

AO3 Link

She didn’t notice it at first. It was something subtle like a mosquito bite or a dull ache after a long day on her feet. Hope never paid much mind to what she wore- because what she wore was always embedded in gold and blue. Always stamped with the crest of the Salvatore school. It was easy to misplace something when everyone had the same exact thing in their closets.

But when she started to circulate a couple of t-shirts (and on occasion a blazer that was telling of her brief foray with the Stallions debate team) she knew something was up. Maybe a mix up in the extensive laundry rooms. Hell, Hope even considered gnomes that got off on pilfering random objects that happened to take from in her wardrobe.

She breathed in a steady heaping of the soap-soaked air and frowned down at her half-empty basket of clothes. There was no stock in that saying about the half-drained glass. The way she saw it, she was losing clothes and whoever was stealing them was gaining something.

“Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t know someone else was in here.” A soft voice sounded from behind her. It made her skin prickled with heat. “I can… leave.”

Josie Saltzman was struggling with her own bag of unwashed clothes. They weighted her down from one side and her cheeks were reddened from the journey down here. The basement was cold, she wore a flannel that looked oddly familiar over a Stallions hoodie.

“No, it’s okay,” Hope said, offering up a sort of smile. “I’m just finishing up.”

“Oh, okay” Josie let out a breath of relief, walking towards the washing machine as Hope reached down and grabbed a pair of pants and another t-shirt from the dryer. She could feel Josie’s eyes flick to her every couple of seconds.

“Have you had any clothes go missing?” Hope shut the dryer with a small click.

“Huh? No-“Josie’s words rushed together. “I mean, not me personally but anyone could have sticky fingers around here. It’s a big school. Really big.”

Hope had let the conversation die and left Josie to it before she ascended the stairs to the old Salvatore school. It had always been extravagant and dark and gave her a good picture of the brothers who owned it before it was turned into what it was today. Still- she wished it was a little more up to date with a laundry room on the actual floors instead of what used to be an old wine cellar.

There was an instant warmth that enveloped her as soon as she walked down the hallway towards her room, laundry perched on her hip and thinly veiled discontent on her face. She set the basket down and went to open the door, pushing her way into the room.

A crimson and black flannel sat draped across the nicely made bed. Hope blew air out of her nose and picked up the piece of clothing. Gnomes, yeah, definitely gnomes.

The next time Hope noticed something missing, it was a sweatshirt. One that wasn’t marked with anything blue or yellow, instead it was a simple gray sweatshirt that had an embroidered M against the front. She had never understood her families need to brand everything- but when she stole it from her aunts closet one spring break, she couldn’t help but to sleep in it every night.

Tonight, when she started to rifle through her closet, she noticed it was gone. Admittedly she had stripped herself of it earlier in the day and left it on her closet floor. But she still expected it to be balled up in the corner where she had left it.

Hope let out a grunt of frustration and pulled the closet shut again, settling on pulling on a t-shirt and flopping down on her bed. These gnomes were going to get it, she decided right then and there, as soon as she saw them pilfering another item of her clothing, she was sure to drop kick one.

“Hope?”

She shot up quick enough to see stars in her eyes. That didn’t’ sound like a gnome. In fact, it sounded like Josie Saltzman. She stood, leaning against her doorframe with a guilty look on her soft features and something grey clenched between her fingers.

“I wanted to… I think this is yours?” She thrust her hand forward with the sweatshirt in it.

“Oh?” Hope stood and crossed the small expanse to meet Josie halfway. She sheepishly handed over the sweatshirt. “Where’d you find it?”  

“I uh, I’m kind of the one that took it.”

“Oh,”

Her voice was less leaden that time. So, Josie was the one that had been lifting all of her clothes these last few months. Shrinking her wardrobe drastically. It was hard to feel any type of anger towards someone who looked so innocent. Someone who always seemed to color inside the lines no matter how hard Hope, or even Penelope, tried to lead the marker away.

Lizzie. Lizzie, she expected this from.

“I’m really sorry,” She rushed out in a breath. “You left your shirt the other month and I accidentally brought it up to my room and it was super comfy so I just kind of fell asleep in it. Then I took your flannel and promised I wouldn’t take anything else after that but then I saw your sweatshirt and-“

Josie took in a long heaping of air, Hope studying her “It’s really hard to sleep sometimes. And somehow… I don’t know, it just helped.”

Josie had been an insomniac since they were kids, but Hope hadn’t paid much mind to it before. She was fine for a long while, sleeping through most of the night if not to wake up just as the sun peaked over the horizon. Hope would struggle to sneak in late at night, all the while avoiding the third floorboard from the front door because it moaned. And Josie would always be sitting in the kitchen bathed in warm light. They had a silent agreement.

Hope realized she was still talking, taking her shoulders and squeezing them slightly. “Jo, it’s okay.”

“What?”

“I said it’s fine. I’m not mad.”

“you’re not?” Josie let her shoulders slump in relief as she stood up straighter. “Wait, why not? I physically stole something that’s yours.”

“mm, you’re not helping your case.” Hope let her hands fall to her sides. She grasped at the sweatshirt she had thrown onto the bed. “But in all honesty, you taking my sweatshirt is better than the alternative. If it helps you sleep, then you can wear it. Never hurts to have something comfortable around.”

Josie narrowed her eyes. “What was the alternative?”

Gnomes. “Don’t worry about it.”

[blodreina-noumou]

I was tagged by: @teeandsnowflakes and @boomheda! Two of my faves in this fandom. <3 Thanks ladies!!

List your top ten ships without looking at the questions, then answer!

1. Peraltiago (Jake x Amy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

2. Memori (Murphy x Emori from The 100)

3. Cheleanor (Chidi x Eleanor from The Good Place)

4. Hosie (Hope x Josie from Legacies)

5. Deanoru (Karolina and Nico from Runaways)

6. Stelena (Stefan x Elena from The Vampire Diaries)

7. Linctavia (Lincoln x Octavia from The 100)

8. Sizzie (Sebastian and Lizzie from Legacies)

9. Clexa (Clarke x Lexa from The 100)

10. Janason (Janet x Jason from The Good Place)

1) Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Stelena: I actually think I really fell for them when they had their scenes at the Gilbert family lake house. They were so soft and safe with each other. For a little while.

2) have you ever read fanfiction about 2?

Memori: Here and there. I’m not big on fanfiction though.

3) Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr avatar?

Hosie: No, though they probably would/will be if I ever make a Legacies sideblog.

4) if 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Linctavia: I’d be happy, because it would mean Lincoln was alive, and there was still hope for them. 😭 But Lincoln’s dead, so technically speaking, they’re already broken up. By death. Ugh.

5) Why is 1 so important?

Peraltiago: They’re a really good example of a healthy “opposites attract” relationship. They had time to build up and figure each other out, and they’ve both grown together. They work through their issues in a respectful, loving way. You never get the feeling that they don’t like each other, even if there are things about each other that they don’t absolutely love. Plus, Melissa and Andy have great chemistry, and they make for a very cute couple. Shipping can be shallow. 

6) Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Clexa: ... I still cry about it sometimes. There was never anything funny about them. God bless the people who managed to make crackposts out of that epic tragedy.

7) Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Memori has chemistry beyond like, anything reasonable. They’re on fire. Any moment where they’re on-screen together is charged - with sexual tension, with love, with desperation to protect each other. Those two know how to emote. Clexa is a close second.

8) out of all of the ships, which ship has the strongest bond?

Cheleanor lasted through several iterations of eternity. That’s a damn strong bond right there.

9) How many times have you read/watched 10’s fandom?

The Good Place: I’ve seen every episode at least three times. When I’ve had time to heal, I’m gonna go back and watch in order again.

10) Which ship has lasted the longest?

Cheleanor, because, again, literally several iterations of eternity. Janason is up there, too. The Good Place has a real wacky timeline, lol.

11) How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

Stelena: Like... four? Three for real, because once was to fool Katherine. I think. She breaks up with him real early on because she doesn’t think it’s gonna work, with all the craziness. Then, they separate again in s3, although they don’t really break up after Stefan leaves with Klaus... it just kinda falls apart. Then they get back together, but break up when Elena develops feelings for Damon. They only had like, three happy weeks together total, lmao. Lotsa angst in that one.

12) if the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

Memori or Sizzie, huh? This is actually a tough call, because although Murphy and Emori are a lot more suited for the apocalypse (that’s their universe, after all,) Sebastian is a semi-indestructible immortal vampire, and Lizzie is a powerful siphon witch. Frankly I’d pay good money to see all four of them team up. But if it came down to it, I think Murphy and Emori are scrappier, more used to survival-based adversity, so they’d have the advantage.

13) is 4 still together?

Technically speaking, they haven’t gotten together... yet. I’m really hoping they do in the next couple of seasons, though. #hosierights

14) is 10 canon?

Janason - Yes, in the cutest way possible. I love Janet x Jason forever. J + J!

15) if all ten ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Ooooooh...that’d actually be really tough. It’d be a damn good show, though. 

Sadly, I think Janason is automatically out of the running - if the battle royale doesn’t take place in the afterlife, Janet and Jason are just two relatively normal, good-hearted people. Same with Cheleanor. None of the characters from The Good Place are made for combat. I’m throwing Stelena on the kill list, too, because Elena was mostly mortal when she was with Stefan, and he’s just one regular vampire.

Peraltiago is a weird wild card, because they’re only human, but they have guns, and hand-to-hand fighting experience. If they shot fast, they’d get pretty far. But could they? We’ve rarely seen them discharge their weapons on the show, and usually without serious consequences.

Almost every other couple on this list would have some advantage, though. 

Memori, Clexa, and Linctavia all have legitimate battle experience - both Lexa and Octavia won their own combat competitions. Murphy and Emori are scrappy survivors, and Lincoln and Clarke are both formidable fighters, too. Half of them also know how to shoot guns.

Deanoru, Hosie, and Sizzie all include people with unique supernatural powers, plus a werewolf/vampire/witch tribrid and a regular vamp, to boot.

I think, ultimately, it would come down to a battle of the supernaturals, and Hope is canonically the strongest of them all. Throw in Josie, and I think everyone else is pretty much screwed.

16) Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

Deanoru - I don’t think so. A lot of people hated the flash-forward in the last episode, where it showed that they’d broken up for a bit, and they blamed the girl Karolina ended up with. But I think that was just like...a normal thing to have happened, given the circumstances.

17)Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

Not really any of them, tbh. I think shipping should be relatively light-hearted.

18) Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

Cheleanor - Not anymore. I did when the show was still airing, though. Sadly, their story is now done.

19) if an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all up forever, which ship would you sink?

...is it cheating if I pick one of the ships that’s already doomed, lmao? I mean, Stelena is canonically dead, never gonna happen again, so. I’d just pick them. They were happier in-universe broken up, for the hot second that they were both alive to experience that. But I’ll always have my early memories!

Tagging: @twinzmoon @murphystartedthefire @johnmurphysreddit @hosie4legacies @kingrosalie @bombshellsandbluebells @blodkru @blodreina @nightbleeder and anyone else who sees this and wants to steal it!!

[wizardingbeasts]

Another Hosie one shot. Enjoy. :)

Hope knew she was dying. Knew this was the last day she would feel the warmth of humanity. Feel hot blood pumping through her veins. And even though she knew this was not the end, she was afraid. Afraid it was, and she would be left alone in darkness, in that black void of nothingness she once lived in. That she would spend the rest of her life searching for a way out, a way back, and find nothing but fear.

So, Hope was afraid, but she was not alone.

The monster wreaked havoc, its blurry form undulating in her fading vision. Someone else would take care of it. There was nothing she could do with her heart smashed into the ground two feet away. She should be dead right now. Unconscious at least. Instead, she wavered between death and life, glimpses of her past and future floating by in hazy half dreams.

“Hope!”

That welcome voice beat through the dreams as a hand grasped her own. The tone and gesture were frantic, and concern registered deep in the tribrid’s brain. Josie must be terrified, but all Hope could think about was the softness of her skin and how relaxing it was to have her near.

“Wake up. Wake up, Hope.”

The brokenness of Josie’s voice forced Hope’s eyes open.

“Hope.”

It was a whisper. A question. A plea. A promise. A letting go.

With difficulty, Hope raised a weak hand to Josie’s face, the girl’s heart rate calming immediately, and memorized the touch. The last touch with both of them human.

“I’ll be back.”

The hoarse weakness of her own whisper reinforced her theory that then was an end. Not the end, but an end.

“No, don’t go. I can heal you.”

Josie’s voice was desperate, fearful.

Hope laughed, a quiet, shaking laugh. If her own supernatural healing powers could not mend the damage, it was unlikely magic would.

“I’m going to sleep now.”

It was dark but did feel like nothingness. She fell into dreams. Dreams of Josie. Dreams of family. Dreams of a future. Of always and forever. And when she woke up, it was Josie holding her hand. Josie’s veins that brought Hope back to life for good. Then she was not afraid. Of life, or her own bloodlust. And there was no question of deciding to stay. Josie was here, so she was, too.

[uncleasad]

My second Hosietober has come and gone, and, unlike last year, not only did I not miraculously write three fall-themed fics (one of which specifically to a prompt), I did not write a single fic. Worse, I did not write a single word 😳 Worse still, I haven’t written a single word since July 1.

So I certainly did not finish the half-finished Hosie half-shot (try saying that five times fast!), nor did I do anything more than noodle around plot/setup ideas for the Hosie Harlivy Halloween fic…

But darn if it wasn’t half-past six on Halloween and I came up with another idea for a Halloween-themed fic, which I realized was  bit reminiscent of the Halloween episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Necromancer’s giving out cursed costumes, and Hosie hijinks happen.

Next year, insha’allah.

November 1, 2023

[uncleasad]

[Image ID: a watercolor-style digital image by @glacier-shrimp featuring five flowers/leaves. Clockwise from upper left, 1) a small trumpet-style purple flower, 2) a compound green leaf in a roughly triangular shape (possibly a fern?), 3) a red rose with multiple levels of petals, 4) a cluster of a half-dozen or so shiny green leaves attached to a twig, and 5) a five-petaled white flower with delicate petal veins and stamen. /end ID]

Some flowers for you ❤️

[uncleasad]

So ends The Great Deluge of Fic Ideas, Late Summer 2023 Edition…

Of course, it would be helpful if I were ever able to do any writing these days…say, finishing the Hosie half-shot I started writing in June and have written nothing on since July 1 😳

Maybe as fall moves in, I’ll have more time again? No promises…

But that’s about the status of things (save a listing of all of the different in-progress fics I’ve thought about or talked with someone on AO3 about 😂)

[uncleasad]

Wed, 0:30, 362

Thu, 0:40, 527

Fri, 0:10, 79

👀

[uncleasad]

Hosietober 2023, Day 7: Angst

Hello, Hosietober 2023! Let’s do this…welcome to Saturday, October 7, where today’s prompt is Angst!

AO3 tells me that I have written 15 works featuring the angst tag; that’s…almost half my oeuvre! (Although to be fair, several of them are in the “light angst” or “angst with a happy ending” genre.)

A few recommendations/explanations to guide you through this section of my back catalog:

If you want something to really sink your teeth into, the flat-out best, most-angsty one of those is…the entire Josie Saltzman’s Final Holidays trilogy (46K words across 3 fics, spanning Christmas to the Ides of March).

If you like your angst bloody and sex-filled (or as sex-filled as I can muster 😂), let me recommend This Painting in Blood and Death.

You Couldn’t Even Bother to Check on Me? is fairly dark, set after 4x04, ends with Dark Hosie, and is surprisingly-popular (enough so that I’ve barely started a sequel).

I See You Got My Message is both fun and angsty, and features a great arc for Lizzie, as well.

I think, in general and with the exception of the aforementioned Josie Saltzman’s Final Holidays trilogy, the one-shots are the most angsty (aside from those tagged “light angst” or “angst and fluff” or the like), and, bonus, quick to read.

Hope you find something you like. Happy Hosietober, y’all! 🎃

[uncleasad]

A little bit mood for the Hosie half-shot, I think. Or at least related.

People who hate Amy x Laurie and wish Laurie got together with Jo will never understand it’s about the girl falling first and the boy falling harder it’s about loving someone from afar, sketching him when he doesn’t even realize you’re watching and keeping the sketch for years to give to him when he needs to be reminded of the boy he used to be and the man he could become it’s about love that helps you grow and change and improve instead of staying stagnant it’s about slowly growing feelings for someone without knowing it, because she lingers in your mind until she becomes your muse and you’ve written an opera for her it’s about the relief you feel while peacefully and naturally falling in love because the first time it happened it was too passionate and fast and filled you with grief from start to end and it’s about realizing love is golden after years of believing it was red it’s about pulling a boat together so well you wish you might always pull in the same boat it’s about tender confessions it’s about not having to make a scene it’s about not having to say anything because your actions are enough it’s about comfortable silence and enjoying each other’s company it’s about your second love teaching you that your first love wasn’t really the kind of love you thought it was it’s about real love

[uncleasad]

As a follow-up to those earlier posts, I now know how long it took Scene 3 to reach 500 hits…100 days. (It jumped from 499 to 502 in the past two hours.)

I’m sure this is partly due to the fact I haven’t published anything since then to bump me back into people’s minds, or, specifically here, no new scene in the series to cause new arrivals to read the prior installments.

With 15 kudos, Scene 3 is right at that 3% level. For reference, Scene 1 now sits at 955 hits and 57 kudos (6%) after 126 days and Scene 2 at 794 hits and 19 kudos (2%) after 121 days.

If I ever finish the Hosie half-shot, I’ll try to remember to check whether it gives these a boost…

[uncleasad]

53 whole Hosies are crazy enough to want to read what I write, whenever I finally write something (again)! 😃

(As an aside, I love that the personal AO3 stats are hidden off on a separate page rather than in-your-face all-the-time. I think I remember to check it once a quarter or so, sorta nod thoughtfully…and realize I will never top my very first fic—the oft-mentioned Have at Least One Totally Epic Love 😂 Actually, a S4 super-angsty two-shot did, in subscriptions and kudos, in half the number of hits and 20% of the chapters! Still, I’m very glad that those stats are hidden away, which helps prevent obsessing unhealthily about them….)

Ao3 Subscriber Statistic