#little list of details i added + want to point out just for fun:

[hey-melissa]

rewatched equestria girls recently + felt inspired <3

[dreamlifebunny]

how to script your dream life and use it with any method!

hello friends! today i want to share with you how i personally script my dream life, and how this script is both my void list, states list, and precursor to almost every manifestation method i've ever used. i love scripting because it is not only a method in and of itself but it is also a simple list of everything you desire that you can now manifest using any method you love!

check back later for a link to my scripting templates. in the meantime, here are the steps to creating your perfect script from scratch with examples! all you need is a place to write it down.

step one:

time to brain dump! at the top of your page, write out every desire that comes to your head in list format. don't overthink it and don't worry if they sound silly or unrealistic; remember, absolutely anything is possible! you can write out a few desires to start or go hardcore and write out hundreds, whatever you feel inspired by. you can always come back to this step later. here is my example:

step two:

now its time to get organized! look at the desires you've written and figure out what subcategories they fall under. for example, "my eyes are light blue and gorgeous" could fall under the category of "appearance," and "i have $100,000 in my bank account" could fall under the category of "wealth and items." feel free to use any category name that makes sense to you.

step three:

now that you have a couple of categories written out and understand the structure of the script, your mind might start to have even more ideas. "ooh, now that i see revision is a category, there are a couple more things i'd like to revise..." or "why stop at one SP when i could have everyone chasing after me?" for step three, we go a little deeper into these categories and add more details of what our dream life will look like. you can also add new categories that pop into your head - in the example below, i've added "the world and society" and "skills and abilities."

note: the reason why i broke this up into multiple steps instead of just writing "write out all your desires at once" is because our brains can be mean to us and make us procrastinate if something isn't done "perfectly," so that's why adding an extra step is important to bypass the perfectionism.

optional steps:

because scripting is such a creative and expansive process, we might think of ideas we'd like to manifest in the future but not right now/not instantly. i like to organize my script further by adding another category: "future manifestations." these are ideas that i would love to manifest at some point later on but not necessarily while my dream life is manifesting right now.

another idea is separating categories even further into "instant manifestations" (manifestations that happen right now without things needing to unfold) or "perfect timing manifestations" (manifestations that slowly unfold naturally and linearly), if you want to get specific about how they show up in your life! however, these steps are completely optional and just fun details for specificity, and i can make a more detailed post on this later.

how you can use your script with any method:

scripting has been used as a successful manifesting and shifting method on its own forever because it specifically addresses one of the most important steps in the manifesting process - deciding what you want! by writing out what you want in your dream life, you can now decide that your script will manifest on its own or you can use any method under the sun to fulfill yourself within:

the void state: if you enter the void state to manifest, you could affirm "i have everything in my dream life script"

affirming: you can affirm "everything in my dream life script has come true"

visualization: you could create an imaginative scene where all of your desires from your script are fulfilled, or you can imagine looking at your script and smiling because everything came true

subliminals: you can create a very simple subliminal where all of your desires are included, or even a sub where the only affirmation is "i have everything in my dream life script"

the possibilities with scripting are absolutely endless. i hope that this guide has given you the inspiration and direction to write your own wonderful and unique script. now, go and get your dream life!

have fun! bunny 💕

[celestelunia]

I’ve been loving your fics so far! And I was wondering if you could write Jamil being poisoned/hit with a love potion and being all over gn!reader and they’re just kinda like really flustered (turns out the live potion only works on who ever the person already loves) so gn!reader confesses to Jamil once he’s back to normal! Ty!

Aw! Thank you so much! I'm glad you've been enjoying them! I've been having fun writing them lol

Sorry this took a while. Been slowly making my way through the list, but this is my first Jamil ask! I hope it came out okay and that you like it!

Warnings: None. Reader is GN.

"This....is just so weird...." You said as you sat on a cushion in the common area of Scarabia. A pair of arms were wrapped around your waist from behind as Jamil chin rested against your shoulder as he cuddled against your neck gently, causing you to blush.

"Ahahaha! I think it's cute! I've never seen him like this before." Kalim laughed with a grin as he placed his hands on the back of his head.

You didn't get all the details, but one moment you had walked into Scarabia to see your crush, and the next, he was suddenly all over you, showering you with affection.

Needless to say, you almost fainted on the spot at the sudden onslaught of attention from your long-time crush. According to Kalim, he had mentioned something had gone wrong in potions, and Jamil was hit in the face with a puff of dust and magic due to the mini explosion that was triggered by the event. Professor Crewel had mentioned that it would wear off in a couple of hours and to just look after him till it does.

Jamil had acted like nothing was wrong at first, and he seemed like his usual self, so Kalim figured whatever the professor might have been worried about was just a mistake.

That was until you walked into the dorm, and Jamil's personality did a 180! He turned into some kind of love sick puppy who couldn't keep his hands off of you.

"T-This isn't like him at all! I'm sure he is just being this way to me since I was the first one he saw when I came over! This isn't fai-ahhh!" You yelped when you felt Jamil warm lips against the side of your neck as he gave it a small kiss. Turning bright red, you had tried to free yourself, only to have your crush tighten his hold against you. This was torture!!

"Hmmm." Kalim hummed softly in thought as he paid no mind to your struggles. "I don't think that's right. He was with me the whole time and even saw a couple of students on our way back to the dorm, and nothing happened." He explained before pulling out his phone to check something. "We were trying to make a certain potion in class, but because I added the wrong ingredients, it completely changed the contents of the potion."

"So this is your fault?!" You yelled as you pointed at the housewarden who just laughed.

"Yep! I'm sorry!" Kalim grinned as he looked back at his phone.

With a pout, you huffed before looking back at Jamil, who was still happily cuddling against your shoulder. "This...isn't real, though. He wouldn't be like this with me if it wasn't for that potion..."

At hearing your words, Kalim looked up from his phone. He knew about your crush on his best friend, and you two often talked a lot when you were feeling down and frustrated about the situation. If he was being honest, Kalim thought you were perfect for Jamil. He needed someone like you in his life to balance him out. The housewarden paused for a moment as he debated on bringing this up. He really wanted you two to figure things out on your own, but maybe a little push wouldn't hurt, right?

"That's not entirely true." Kalim said as he watched you turn to look at him. "He only started acting this way the moment you showed up. The spell on this potion just amplifies feelings that already existed inside someone." He said with a warm smile.

At his words, your eyes widen. Was that true? If it was, that would mean...

At that moment, your whole face turned red as a puff of smoke appeared above your head as you were suddenly overloaded with this information.

Kalim grinned as he stood up from his spot in front of you. "He should be back to normal in an hour or so. Keep watching over him for me! Thanks, Y/N!" He said before heading off to give you two some alone time..

"Nooo! Don't you dare leave!" You had yelled, but it was too late as Kalim had disappeared somehow. How was he that quick!?

Over the next hour, you had managed to drag Jamil to his room, but he didn't make it easy. Having him being this clingy was killing your heart. As time went on, you noticed how Jamil was starting to get a bit woozy as you managed to get him on his bed in time before he seemed to fall asleep. Good. Maybe this was a sign the potion was exiting his system.

With a sigh, you pulled up a chair to the side of his bed as you waited for Jamil to wake up. At least now you had a moment to gather your thoughts.

If Kalim was correct, then that meant that Jamil felt the same towards you as you did him. Just the thought alone made your heart race! While Jamil did give you some special treatment from time to time, it wasn't really enough for you to figure out his feelings. He was a man who kept his cards close to his chest, after all.

Maybe you could be brave and finally open up to him about your feelings...?

After a moment, Jamil let out a groan as he slowly opened his eyes. Noticing the ceiling of his bedroom, he sighed before placing his hand against his forehead. He had a bit of a headache. What the hell happened? The last thing he could recall was doing potions with Kalim...

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

At the familiar voice, Jamil's head snapped to the side to see you sitting next to his bed. Why were you here!?

"Y/N?" Jamil called out as he sat up in his bed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to look after you. Do you remember anything?" You asked as you watched Jamil carefully.

At those words, Jamil frowned slightly, not liking how you asked. Why did he feel like something happened that he was missing? He didn't do something embarrassing in front of you, did he!?

Hearing his phone ding the vice housewarden reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Noticing it was a text from Kalim, he opened it to see a photo attached that made him almost drop his phone...

It was a picture of him with his arms wrapped around Y/N as he was basically cuddling with them from behind. 

What happened!? Was this real!? Feeling his face heat up, Jamil put his phone down before placing one of his hands over his face in embarrassment.

You, on the other hand, just watched as Jamil checked his phone before turning bright red. As you went to speak, you felt your phone vibrate, and as you pulled it out, you saw a message from Kalim.

"Jamil should be back to normal by now. I believe in you! You got this!" Was the text he had sent. In that moment, you got the feeling Jamil had received something from the housewarden as well.

"Jamil." You had called out as you got your courage together. When you saw him about to speak, you held up your hand to stop him. You were worried if he said anything that you might lose your nerve. "I like you." You had managed to get out.

At your words, Jamil froze up for a second before he suddenly turned his head towards you. His eyes full of surprise.

"I like you, Jamil." You repeated. "I know you have a lot on your shoulders, but it doesn't change that you're an amazing person. You're smart, a great dancer, and an amazing cook! I really love everything about you."

Feeling his cheeks warm up more, Jamil leaned his head back to look up at his ceiling. To think you would be the one to confess first. He really needed to step up his game...

"H-how about you stay over tonight for dinner? I'll make something special. Just for the two of us." He said before he looked back over at you with a grin. "Think of it as my way for saying sorry that you had to confess first."

At the offer, you blinked before you felt like your heart was going to explode. "Y-you really feel the same?" You whispered in surprise.

Jamil turned as he threw his legs over the side of his bed. "For a long time, but I kept finding excuses to not face this feelings. I shouldn't have put you through all of that. That potion mishaps just opened my eyes a bit more." He said as he made a mental note to give Kalim a lecture about being more careful in the future. He normally wasn't this open and honest, but he owed you that much after what he did to you. Maybe it was okay to be selfish for once.

"Come on." Jamil said as he gently poked your forehead before holding out his hand to you. "Let me treat you like royalty today."

You couldn't help but let out a small laugh as you stood up and took Jamil's hand. "Just be your normal self." You said happily as it felt like a weight had been lifted off of you.

To think a small mishap like this would work in your favor? You would have to make sure to thank Kalim later.

[wintfleur]

౨ৎ put a bow on it

°. — pairings ( Estella Hughes oc! X Rutger McGroarty )

°. — summary ( Stella wants to put a bow on her boyfriends bicep, she’s just a girl !!! )

°. — details ( g; fluff. w; pure fluff, it gets a little suggestive at the end. wc; 1.6k )

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( I don’t know what happened I just had the sudden inspiration to write this after watching this Tiktok, so this is definitely based off of that. I hope you guys enjoy !!! Please don’t be a silent reader !!! Also omg I can’t stop giggling about that picture of rut, I had sm fun making it !!! )

°. — ( feel free to send any requests of things you would like to see in this series, or if you just want to share some thoughts! I would absolutely love that! Please comment if you would like to be added to the tag list! )

au masterlist — you can find asks under #💌stellahughes!

°. — asks about stella and rut are under #⋆ ˚｡⋆୨🩷୧˚ stella & rut!

Stella giggled as she watched along to the TikTok video, her feet absentmindedly kicking in the air as she laid on her stomach in her bed. The video showed a girl trying to wrap her boyfriend's chest with a ribbon to make a bow. It was simple but it was adorable and now all Stella could think about was trying it out on her own boyfriend. 

Stella liked the TikTok before shutting off her phone and dropping it somewhere amongst her few plushies and pillows she had on her bed. She lifted her jaw that she had rested on her hand and tilted her head back to look at Rutger who was sitting at her desk, his laptop in front of him and his headphones on his head as he worked on his homework. 

He was wearing one of his gray compression shirts that drove her wild, to the point where Stella had playfully banned him from wearing them around her because she was afraid, she wouldn't be able to ‘control’ herself around him. Rutger wore them anyway . . . he loved her stares. 

Stella bit her lip as she watched her boyfriend who was oblivious to her stares, his shoulders flexed as he quickly typed his paper and his head occasionally bopped along to the song, he was listening to through his headphones . . . it was probably a playlist she had made him. It wasn't fair how effortlessly attractive he is. 

Stella sadly tore herself away from her thoughts of her boyfriend's very . . . very muscular shoulders and quietly slipped out of her bed. She felt the cold air of her dorm hit her bare legs as she left the comfort of her warm blankets to distract her boyfriend. Stella wrapped her arms around Rutgers shoulders and leaned down to rest her chin in his shoulder, she felt her  ⸺ his shirt rise up, she shivered feeling the cold on the back of her bare thighs. 

Rutger smiled and paused his typing, tilting his head to face her while he took off his headphones, setting them next to one of Stella's many sketchbooks that were stacked on her desk. “Hi pretty girl” he whispered before he placed a quick smooch on her jaw, Stella smiled and placed her own kiss on his jaw before whispering back “so . . . i have this silly idea.” 

“Oh? say more” Rutger turned around in her spinning chair to face her, his hands moving to her hips and bringing her to sit sideways on his lap while one of her arms were still wrapped around his shoulders. Stella smiled as she made herself comfortable in his lap, she fit perfectly against him. “Can I wrap a bow around your biceps for a TikTok?” Stella asked him quickly. 

Rutger couldn't help but have a chuckle of shock leave his lips at the strange request, but he could never say no to that pretty face, so he smiled and quickly pecked stella’s lips before saying “get your ribbon” Stella almost squeals in happiness, quickly placing a big kiss on Rutgers cheek before hopping off his lap and rushing over to her bedside table, opening the bottom drawer that had some of her arts and crafts supplies. 

Rutger bit his lip and leaned back in her chair as he watched her lean down and look through the supplies, giving him a good look at her panties. A hum of success leaves her lips as she pulls out a pretty pink ribbon, quickly turning back to face him as she holds it up. Rutger quickly looks up to her face and he smiles “Where do you want me?” 

“Just stand here and look pretty” Stella winked as she motioned for him to stand in front of her. He got up from her chair and stood where she wanted him to, watching as she got on her knees on her bed to look for her phone that got lost in the blankets and pillows. “That just so happens to be what I'm best at,” Rutger jokes, smiling when Stella giggles. Rutger stopped himself from grabbing onto Stella's waist and pulling her against him, once she found her phone and stood in front of him. 

“Would you mind holding this for me you stud?” Stella teased him playfully as she held her phone out for him to hold so she could tie the ribbon into a bow. Rutger felt his lips twitch into a smirk at the nickname Stella loved to tease him with, he grabs her phone and slides it into the pocket of his sweatpants. Stella smiled and grabbed one of his arms, wrapping the pink silk ribbon around it, humming along to the song that was playing from the TikTok she had watched. 

Rutger watched Stella with a fond smile as she tried to smooth the ribbon around his bicep so the bow would be pretty and neat. Her fingers were so gentle as she tried to tie the bow, he didn't understand why it drove him so crazy. Stella looked up from his bicep when she felt him flex under her touch, she looked up at him through her eyelashes “Stop flexing, I can’t tie the bow.” 

“I’m not flexing . . . i guess I'm just too muscular for your ribbon” Rutger smirked as he shrugged his shoulders, pretending like he totally didn't flex his arms so she could feel his muscles. Stella rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics before letting out a giggle when he flexed again as she tied the bow “I can literally feel you flexing” Stella rolled her eyes again when she saw the bashful smile on Rutgers lips. 

“Save the flexing for the video sexy” stella gave Rutger a wink, teasingly placing a kiss on his shoulder right above the pretty pink bow. Rutger bit back a groan as he felt her slip her hand into his front pocket to grab her phone, her hand teasingly lingering near the inside of his thigh for a few seconds before pulling her hand out and acting like nothing happened. Rutger chuckled and shook his head in disbelief as he watched Stella unlock her phone and find the perfect audio. She knew what she was doing. 

“What?” Stella asked Rutger as she looked up at him, batting her eyelashes innocently as she pretended to be oblivious. Rutger smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, he felt the bow tighten around his bicep and he held in a wince at the tight pressure. He watched as your eyes dropped from his face down to his arm, eyes widening slightly at the sight. Rutger clears his throat and gives stella a smirk when she quickly looks up at him, her cheeks flushed as he spoke “Are you gonna keep staring or are we gonna film the TikTok.” 

“Cause if not, i have an idea of something else we could film” Rutger smiled as he leaned his face closer to stella’s, this wasn't the first time Rutger had hinted at them making their own home movie . . . stella was always worried about their iClouds getting hacked . . . but stella had a perfectly good camcorder they could use. Rutger gave Stella a toothy smile when he noticed her breath hitch and the shy look that comes across her face at the thought. 

“Shut up and stand there please” Stella shyly mumbled as she grabbed her boyfriend's arm and moved it so it wasn't folded across his chest, her cheeks were burning, and she felt her heartbeat faster under Rutger's gaze. Rutger didn't look away from Stella's pretty eyes as he let her move his arm however, she wanted. “I love when you're so demanding. '' Rutger decided to close his mouth when Stella looked up at him with a heated glare, but he could see that his words were starting to affect her. 

Rutger kept his mouth closed as Stella started to film, he could hear the familiar sound of Lana del Rey playing from her phone. When he noticed Stella started to zoom in, he lifted his arm up and flexed, a gasp leaving Stella's lips when she heard the rip of her ribbon before it fell to her floor. Stella stopped filming, deciding it was long enough already, and before she could complain about her ripped bow Rutger was putting his hands on Stella's waist, pulling her flush against him as he leaned down to whisper in her ear “Wanna see something else wrapped in a bow?” 

“But your homework!” Stella exclaimed as she put her hands on Rutgers chest and softly pushed him back from her neck he was about to kiss. Rutger chuckles and slides his hands down from her waist and to the back of her thighs, effortlessly picking her up and moving to drop her softly on her bed. Stella giggled and moved her hips a little to get comfortable before Rutger was swiftly moving between her legs. 

“Consider it as helping me study my anatomy” Rutger breathed out before leaning down and taking her lips into his in a passionate kiss. Stella let out a sound of surprise at the rough kiss, but she was quick to kiss back, her mouth opening and his tongue smoothly sliding into her mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Stella softly tugged on the hair at Rutgers' nape as his hands traveled her sides. Stella pulled away from the kiss to whisper as she caught her breath “You don't take anatomy classes?” 

Rutger smirked and slid one of his hands under her shirt, his warm touch sending shivers down Stella's spine as he softly moved his hand up her side. His thumb teasingly resting under her boob as he stared into Stella's pretty eyes. A smirk makes his way across his lips when he sees the look in his girlfriend's eyes. His homework was long forgotten in both of their minds. 

“I do now”

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( rutger, stella . . . and her camcorder . . . imagine 😵‍💫 )

°. — taglist ( @privatemythss @juraj-slafkovsky @cixrosie @toasttt11 )

[winterdaphne2]

Gay Easter Eggs in BBC Sherlock

(I trust the above requires no explanation.)

Perhaps someone has done this before, but I wanted to put together a compilation of gay easter eggs in the show that I’ve seen other people point out and/or have thoughts on myself. So here it is!

When I say “easter eggs,” I’m thinking of small clues that the show creators included in the set designs, music choices, and other details of the show to reference that Sherlock and John are in love. I’m thinking of things you could miss at first, especially little clues that often require a bit of extra information or require observations across episodes to understand.

Of course, there’s also lots of subtext woven into the show, moments where interpreting the dialogue or visuals in a certain way tells us something about Sherlock, John, and/or the state of their feelings for one another. I’m not sure if I can clearly define “subtext” versus “easter eggs” and explain what distinguishes them, but at least to me, several of the things I’ve listed here seem a bit different from what people often refer to as subtext. Maybe subtext is about uncovering the layers to a piece of dialogue or an action that takes place in plain sight and seeing how that impacts our interpretation of the story, but easter eggs are about spotting smaller, hidden details. I’m not trained in literary or film studies, though, and I’m not trying to be doctrinaire about this at all! This list is just for fun, anyway. (The above image might not actually count as an easter egg, but I couldn’t resist including it here. Indulge me.)

The more I read about this show and the harder I look, the more I think that hardly anything is there on accident. All these easter eggs must have been included on purpose. The creators knew they were telling a love story all along.

I’ve linked to the posts where I initially saw people point these out or to other good sources, and for some of these I’ve added my own commentary/observations/interpretations. I’m sure there are many other easter eggs that I’ve missed! What have you spotted?

John’s PIN in TBB – When John tries to pay for his groceries at the beginning of the episode, we see that his PIN is 743. In ASIB, Irene’s code to unlock her phone is SHER, which would be 7437 on a phone keypad. So, John’s PIN is a clue that he is or will be in love with Sherlock. Source: @loudest-subtext-in-tv, here.

Shaftesbury Avenue, 20m from Piccadilly Circus in TBB – While investigating in Chinatown, Sherlock and John bump into each other at what used to be a cruising spot for gay men in London. Source: @the-signs-of-two, here.

Archer the American in ASIB – In the scene where the American CIA agents try to get Sherlock to open Irene’s safe, the head CIA agent pressures Sherlock by threatening to have one of his men shoot John. The agent says: “Mr. Archer, on the count of three, shoot Dr. Watson.” Ordering someone named “Archer” to shoot John could be a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle’s poem “The Blind Archer,” which is about Cupid and describes Cupid shooting two men who sound an awful lot like Sherlock and John. Source: couldntpossiblycomment, here.

“¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” in TEH – The song that plays during the scene with John and Sherlock’s disastrous reunion at the Landmark restaurant is a cover of the song “¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” performed by the band Pink Martini. The Spanish lyrics to this song are about searching for a long-lost lover, which is fitting for the scene where John sees Sherlock again for the first time since his fall. Notably, the creators didn’t use the first of the two versions of this song that Pink Martini has released. The band’s first version appears on their 1997 studio album Sympathique and features a man singing about a woman. Instead of using that version, the creators used the version from Pink Martini’s 2011 compilation album A Retrospective, in which China Forbes performs most of the vocals. So, the creators deliberately chose a remade version of the song in which a woman sings about a woman. They chose a gay song about searching for a long-lost lover for Sherlock and John’s reunion. abrae (@tea-and-liminality on tumblr) has a meta with more to say about the use of this song here.

John’s “oscillation on the pavement” in TEH – In TSOT, John observes a potential client standing outside 221B and trying to make up her mind as to whether to come in. Sherlock tells John “I’ve seen those symptoms before. Oscillation on the pavement always means there’s a love affair.” In the previous episode, John came to visit Sherlock at 221B but hesitated on the pavement outside, staring at the door and trying to decide whether to go in. Sherlock’s comment, “I’ve seen those symptoms before,” is a hint that we, the audience, have also seen those symptoms before—with John in the previous episode. Source: @bidoctor, here. (I saw someone else point out that last part about Sherlock’s hint to the audience, but I can’t find that post, sorry!)

Lilac dresses in TSOT – While planning John and Mary’s wedding, Sherlock chooses lilac-colored dresses for the bridesmaids. When John tells Sherlock that he likes the bridesmaids in purple, Sherlock pointedly corrects him by stating that the dresses are lilac. Apparently, “In Victorian times, giving a lilac meant that the giver is trying to remind the receiver of a first love.” So by dressing the bridesmaids in lilac, Sherlock is trying to remind John of his first love: himself, Sherlock. My heart breaks. Source: @asherlockstudy, here.

Putting the horns on Mary and Janine in TSOT and HLV – In TSOT, there’s a shot where Mary gives Sherlock and John a thumbs up before they head out on a case. The way Mary is standing, the horns on Sherlock’s cow skull thing on the wall behind her are placed right over her head. (I always thought this shot looked pretty weird, but now I see that it must have been intentional!) In the HLV scene with Janine at 221B, there’s a moment when Janine steps in front of John in the frame to kiss Sherlock, and her movement positions the horns right over her head. “Putting the horns” on someone means cheating on them. So in both cases, placing the horns right above Mary’s and Janine’s heads indicates to the audience that Sherlock and John are the real relationship in this show. Source: this post from multiple users on the @sherlockmeta blog.

The architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace in HLV – In the mind palace scene after Mary shoots Sherlock, the architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace is based on locations from ASIP. Sherlock literally built his mind palace out of places from his first case with John, illustrating that his relationship with John is what grounds him and that it means everything to him. abrae has some very helpful screencaps of this here (and I would recommend that whole meta, btw!)

The glasshouse scene in TAB – In TAB, the Victorian John tries to ask Sherlock about his sexuality and sexual history while they’re sitting in a glasshouse. In Victorian Britain, “glasshouse” was another term for a military prison. So John, a military veteran, asks Sherlock about his sexuality in a setting that represents where he would have been sent if he had acted upon his homosexual desires at a time when homosexuality was criminalized. Source: @haffieliesel, here.

What do we say about coincidences? The universe is rarely so lazy.

[yennefer-of-vengerbergs]

Masquerade

Kinktober 2024 - (an extremely late) Day 16 - Formal Wear (from this prompt list)

Rating: E (18+)

Pairing: Astarion x Syanna (my Dark Urge OC)

Well...this was supposed to be a quick little one shot, but instead of that, it just went completely out of control, with me adding more and more to it, and expanding a bunch of stuff. And honestly? I want to expand it even more 🤭So this idea will most likely end up being reused and even more expanded in my fic series too😁(at a much later date, but still, at least I have this written down for when the time comes). It definitely wouldn't be the first one shot I want to rewrite/reuse to incorporate into it at some later point either 😁

Summary: Astarion and Syanna attend a masquerade as part of their search for a way for Astarion to walk in the sun once more. After their successful search, and an evening spent teasing one another, they indulge in each other.

Tags: sexually explicit content, inappropriate use of spider climb ability, clitoral stimulation, handjob, vaginal sex, PiV, multiple orgasms, vampire biting, vampire spawn Astarion, established relationship, post-canon, post-game

Word count: 5.3k

Dividers from here

Tag list: @iizven | @bg3-fanfic-reblogs

If you want to be added to my tag list, please let me know in a comment or message!

Read below or on AO3. Comments are appreciated so please feel free to leave them and let me know what you think 💖

Life after defeating the Netherbrain had been intriguing for both Syanna and Astarion - after all, there were still plenty of adventures to be had, a world to travel, and their goal of finding a way for Astarion to walk in the sun once more had certainly taken them to interesting places. Unique even. 

Or, simply put, it had allowed them to experience things they hadn’t had the chance before, one such example from those years being the masquerade that they found themselves in need of attending. 

Thrown by some noble or other, a collector of occult and magical curiosities, whose name they hadn’t bothered remembering, it was a lead on information that they needed, as well as a welcome change of scenery. 

And, if they were to be honest, it was also the perfect excuse for them to simply…dress up. Have some fun while they were there. 

Pretend to be the noble Lord and Lady Ancunín for an evening. 

At the same time, it was something which was not a common occurrence for them, and as such, they made sure that everything would go smoothly, planning their moves - or rather,  Syanna was the one who actually planned what would need to happen, from gathering any and all information she could on the layout of the estate during the day, to where they would need to go in the manor to search for the scrolls and books they needed, along with how to not get caught during the entire ordeal.

Astarion was still very much, ‘not a details person’, as he had always put it, hence why he hadn’t been as involved in that particular stage of their preparations. Even so, it did not mean that he did nothing. On the contrary, he was very much responsible for acquiring their invitations, which, quite naturally, he had done by pickpocketing them from someone who had been legitimately invited, during a night market, which he and Syanna had also coincidentally gone to. 

Then, there was also the matter of their outfits, masks and jewelry, which only meant that he had targeted the best stores he could find, his lockpicking tools granting access long after their doors had closed for the day, Syanna there with him, invisibility spells at the ready in case something went awry, which would have led to them needing a quick getaway. 

And he had been particularly pleased with the outfits that he picked out - his consisting of a dark teal jacket with silver embroidery and varying accents in a lighter shade of the same color, while Syanna’s was a dark green dress with gold accents and accessories throughout. Then, he chose gold jewelry and hair accessories for her, a pair of intricate ear cuffs, made of white gold for himself, followed by a pair of matching black masks, with precious stones and peacock feathers, as well as black ones framing them. 

He was absolutely certain that they would both look simply exquisite in them.

To complete their image of nobility, they also practiced certain mannerisms and habits that would allow them to better fit in for the evening, as well as a few dances that Astarion had picked up in his past life - a skill that had been required of him whenever he had to entertain palace… guests. Because of that, he had never cared for the activity since, but seeing as Syanna had no way of knowing whether or not she even knew how to dance, Astarion had taken it upon himself to help her with it.

As it turned out, they needn’t have worried much about that. 

“...now place your hand here and step…” Astarion paused, “Well, aren’t you full of surprises.” he noted.

Syanna looked at him, slightly confused.

“Why? Am I that bad at this?”

“Quite the contrary, my dear. I’m starting to think you’ve done this before.”

She scoffed. 

“Of course I did, because in between all the killing and plotting and the internal politics of leading a murder cult, there was plenty of time to dance around the temple of Bhaal.”

Astarion couldn’t help the giggle that left him.

“Oh yes, I can already picture it, you naked, covered in blood…”

“I thought this was about dancing.” she interjected.

Astarion gave her a pointed look for interrupting.

“…Dancing on an altar after a kill…” he sighed.

Syanna laughed, amused by how he seemed to be enjoying his little daydream.

Astarion cleared his throat.

“In any case, you’re no beginner. Rusty perhaps, quite rusty, if I’m being honest, but that’s nothing we can’t fix, especially with such a dedicated teacher as myself.”

A giggle left her as Astarion pulled her close. 

Finally, there was the issue of having to access the restricted area of the manor, where guests would not be allowed entry during the party, which only meant that Astarion would have another opportunity to show off his skills with lockpicking and - more likely than not - disarming traps. And, of course, Syanna would be at his side once more, ready to cast any spell they would require at a moment’s notice. 

With their plan in place, all that was left was to prepare for, and then attend the party.

And that had been a process all in itself. 

Using one of the many scrolls of Mirror Image that they kept a steady supply of, especially for him, Astarion carefully got dressed, paying particular attention to how everything fit and looked. 

Perfect as always, naturally.

And just as naturally, the mask complemented his outfit wonderfully, tying everything together. As for the finishing touch, he then added the pair of ear cuffs, which ran along the entirety of his ears, their design intricate, suiting him beautifully.

In Syanna’s case, watching her get ready had certainly been interesting, to say the least, from how she had summoned two mage hands, which were busy intricately braiding her hair - it still intrigued him, how she was always able to manipulate spells with such ease, and in ways that others versed in magic could not,  be it by extending their reach, casting them on multiple targets or by twinning them, suiting whatever need she had - to how she was carefully applying her makeup.

“Well, aren’t you a clever little multi-tasker?” he couldn’t help the little quip.

Syanna smiled, stopping briefly.

“Of course.” she turned to look at him, the mage hands following her movement, continuing their work. “You have to admit, it’s efficient.”

“Oh, certainly.” he agreed as he walked over to her. “And effective.”

“Hmm…” she looked up towards him, through her lashes, smiling softly, “Thank you.”

He leaned down to kiss her, distracting her just enough to cause her concentration to waver, both mage hands seeming to falter, as if they no longer knew how to go about braiding hair. Not enough to end the spell entirely, but it certainly made him want to tease her some more. 

Deepening the kiss, one hand brushing over her face before reaching her neck, his thumb gently rubbing the skin there, he was pleased to see how she melted into his touch, while her own arms went to wrap themselves around his neck. Pulling her up to her feet, Astarion drew her closer to him, his hands moving lower and lower over her body, enjoying everything about the moment they were sharing, from how velvety smooth the fabric of her dress felt under his palms, to how she sighed into the kiss, or how she pressed herself into him even more, wanting more of that closeness, and even the giggle that left her once his hands came to a stop on her ass, gently squeezing. 

“Really?” she couldn’t help grinning once she pulled away.

Astarion pressed another kiss to her lips.

“I don’t think you can blame me for that, love.” he gave her another squeeze, as if to prove his point, “You do look positively stunning in that dress, after all.”

“Why, thank you.” she was still smiling, “So do you. Very dashing, if I do say so myself.”

A chuckle left him.

“I should think so, seeing how easily distracted you were just now. Or did you not even notice your little mage hands disappearing?”

Astarion was smirking. 

Of course he was. 

And of course he was right - she hadn’t really paid any kind of attention to what was happening with her hair, or the mage hands, once he had approached and started kissing her. 

She laughed at the thought.

“Would you rather I was entirely focused on my hair instead of you?” 

Astarion’s reply was to pull her into another kiss, more passionate than before, his hands moving over her once more, taking full advantage of the deep slits her dress had. Reaching her thighs, he lifted her into his arms, her legs instinctively wrapping around him.

“Do perish that thought, darling.”

Syanna giggled, delighted by the moment’s playfulness in its entirety. 

“I think you’ll be fine. It wouldn’t be the first time you manage to distract me like this.” 

And it most definitely would not be the last, if she knew him at all.

“Then why don’t I distract you some more?” Astarion suggested, a sly look on his face as he walked them over to their shared bed, setting her down gently on its edge, so she was sitting, one of his legs settling between hers, running his hands over her arms. “I already have some ideas.”

She laughed again.

“We’ll be late.”

“Fashionably late, darling. It’s only fitting, if we want to blend in for the evening.”

“There’s fashionably late, and then there’s the hours we’d be late if we do this now.” She countered, although unable to contain the smile on her face as he caressed her. 

“Ah, and here I was, hoping I would get to tear that dress off you now.” He pretended to be wounded by the thought of not being able to do so.

“Then we’d never make it there. Besides, I actually like this dress.”

Astarion waved a hand at nothing in particular.

“I’d steal you a new one.”

“Ah, my hero.” she grinned. 

“Aren’t I just?”

It was such a familiar exchange between them, and she still loved it every time.

“Then maybe you can hold off on ripping this off until we get back? And then-” she leaned up, pulling him into a brief kiss, “-I can spoil you in whatever way you want.”

Astarion considered it for a moment, before looking at her with that look that could only mean he was up to no good.

“Or, we could sneak away during the party itself.” 

Syanna giggled.

“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”

”When it comes to you, darling? Always.”

She brushed her fingers over his cheek, her affection clear in the small gesture.

“I’m flattered, truly.” a sigh left her, even if she was still smiling, “But I really should finish up my hair, see how much of a mess it is and all that.” 

Ever the gentleman, Astarion helped her back to her feet, his hand still holding hers as he led her back to the small vanity she sat at before. He moved behind her, then noticing that there hadn’t been much damage done, besides a loose braid that had mostly come undone.

“Here, let me.” he said, taking the strands of hair in his hands, undoing them completely before starting over, with him taking his time, enjoying that small act of comfortable intimacy between them. 

After all, small things like that, those little moments of intimacy, so casual, yet significant, were still among his favorite things to do with her. 

Not long after, he had finished the braid, securing everything in place with the golden accessory she had passed him when asked, which he followed by holding a hand mirror behind her, so she could see the result. 

Smiling, she turned around to look up at him.

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

Once he handed Syanna her own mask to put on, they were ready.

After their arrival, they bid their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip away and into the restricted wing of the manor. While waiting for said opportunity, they, quite naturally, had also decided to enjoy themselves as much as they could.

So, they danced, something which they never had the chance to do before, each step, each touch, each twirl, each glance in time with the music, each teasing remark and joke they made adding to their enjoyment of each other’s company and of the evening. 

What a difference the right dance partner, the right occasion made for him. With her, it was truly enjoyable.

They also sampled the most expensive wines, with Astarion mixing in some of Syanna’s blood to his when no one was nearby to see, to make it more palatable. In Syanna’s case, she also enjoyed the food, trying and tasting whatever caught her eye, both savory and sweet. 

And it had all been exquisite, with each drink and item of food a delicacy.

They also listened in to conversations for anything that sounded interesting, be it just gossip or a slip up or more about valuables. 

A passing mention of expensive jewels here, talk of rare and magical artifacts there, the absolute scandal that two women spoke of in hushed whispers…It was all intriguing, or at the very least, rather entertaining. 

All in all, it certainly had been a fun evening for them, a very welcome distraction from their usual ones consisting of long travels and searches, or of completing whatever contracts they would take on for money.

Then, it had finally been time to make their move, which they hoped would end in a resounding success. 

And following that, it would simply be a matter of making their way out, unseen and unnoticed. 

“Be still, somebody’s coming.” Syanna whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Astarion stopped what he was doing as she then whispered the incantation for an invisibility spell, obscuring them both as a guard did his rounds, walking past them. 

Once the guard was far enough from them, Astarion resumed his lockpicking, dextrous hands making short work of the locked door in front of them, finally allowing them to quickly slip into the empty room, thankfully unnoticed, shutting the door behind them. Only then did Syanna drop the invisibility spell

Both looked around the large room, assessing it. Something between a library and a trophy room, there were plenty of shelves and display cases to go through. 

“Now, if I were something that had information about vampires walking in the sun, where would I be?” Astarion mused. 

“I’m hoping the answer is ‘in its own dedicated section’.” Syanna quipped. 

Astarion raised an eyebrow at that, to which she simply shrugged.

“What? It'd be better than having everything thrown in at random, wouldn’t it?”

He couldn’t help the smirk that made its way onto his face. 

“I can’t say you’re wrong, darling. Maybe even a few direction signs to point us the right way.”

“See? Now you understand my vision.” she laughed. “So, what do you want to take?” she motioned in the room’s general direction, “Bookcases and shelves? Or the display cases?” 

“Hm, the display cases. Can’t have you clumsily trying to pick the locks, now can we, darling?” he looked at her smugly, teasing her about the time he had attempted to teach her how to pick a lock. 

Besides, there was a greater chance of the display cases being trapped, and he certainly would have preferred to be the one dealing with that risk, not her.

“Then maybe you should consider doing a better job of teaching me how to do it.” It was Syanna’s turn to smirk.

“Excuse me?” Astarion pretended to be deeply offended by her statement, “I will have you know, I’m a very dedicated teacher.”

She raised an eyebrow at that.

“Oh yes, you whispering filth in my ear was a very interesting lesson in lockpicking.”

“It’s an experimental method, darling.”  he retorted. 

She giggled in response.

“Of course, what else could it possibly be?” 

“Precisely.” Astarion leaned in, whispering to her, a hand brushing over her cheek and down her jaw, towards her neck.

So smug. With good reason. But so smug.

She shifted slightly, moving so that she would be looking at him, staying just as close to him.

“Well, my oh so clumsy self will be searching the bookshelves.” she leaned in, as if for a kiss, but stopped, “I wouldn’t want to distract you in any way, after all.”

She turned away, making her way towards one of the bookcases. She heard Astarion chuckle behind her.

“Cheeky.”

Syanna was certainly pleased with her search, having found the books she was looking for. Excited, she carried them back to where Astarion was. 

“Look what I found!” she grinned, lifting the tomes slightly, to show them off.

Astarion returned the smile, feeling the same excitement she did, or rather, even more so.

“Excellent, darling!” he continued to pick the lock of the last display case, “Give me just a moment and I’ll take those off your hands. They do look terribly heavy, after all.”

She laughed softly in reply, still giddy as she waited for him to finish. Moments later, the case was finally unlocked, with Astarion grabbing  what they needed from it.

“And…one more little souvenir...” he picked up the last of the scrolls from the case, adding everything into the bag of holding they had taken with them, before reaching for the books, “...now, let me take those as well…”

Once everything had been tucked away, the bag hidden in the pocket of his jacket, he pulled Syanna into a kiss, smiling and pouring all his affection into it as he drew her closer to himself, holding her there, leaving not even a semblance of distance between them. 

It was all so surreal to him, so thrilling, finally having promising information on being able to walk during the day once more. Even if he had learned to accept the shadows as a part of himself, it was still something that he missed and wanted to enjoy once more.

In their excitement, the kiss became more passionate, touches were suddenly filled with a need for even more closeness than before, with their hands roaming over each other, wherever they could reach, a need that was punctuated by how they gripped and squeezed and lingered. That, combined with the inherent risk of them being in a restricted area made everything all the more exhilarating, small groans of pleasure leaving them both as the kiss deepened. 

A sigh left Syanna as she pulled away, almost breathless. Astarion’s hands lingered on her as he went to kiss her neck instead.

“You know, darling, I think this counts as us sneaking away…” he trailed off.

She exhaled, an amused noise leaving her.

“That would be true, yes.”

Astarion hummed in further agreement as he moved, guiding her towards a wall until her back was against it, a small gasp leaving her as he pressed himself against her, one hand moving lower and lower until he could grip one of her legs, bringing it up and wrapping it around himself. 

“So…I was thinking we could take advantage of that…” he continued, leaning in closer, pausing when their lips were barely touching. 

Syanna nodded, her eyes half-lidded.

“We could.” she grew serious for a moment, “Is it-”

He kissed her again, smiling into it once more, before she could finish her question. He knew what it would be. And he loved her even more for it, something which always touched him, again and again, each time she would ask it.

It all made him positively giddy with excitement, which only made him want her more.

“Gods, yes.”

Syanna smiled as Astarion returned his attention to her neck, gently nibbling along it in between kisses. She, in turn, began to run a hand through his curls, gently letting her nails scratch along his scalp, enjoying the little hums of approval he let out at the sensation, all while her other hand came to a stop on his waist. A hum of her own left her lips as she felt Astarion lingering on a particular spot on her neck, especially paying attention to it as he kissed her there, his tongue teasing and licking, his fangs gently grazing, the question silent, before he uttered even a word. 

“May I, darling?”

She tilted her head to the side, fully exposing her neck to him.

“Always, yes…”

Placing another kiss on the same spot, he then bit her, his fangs piercing her skin, trying to be as gentle as he could, his free hand slowly caressing her, his touch soothing her. Even so, his bite still made her groan from the sensation, the pain mixing with the arousal that had started to slowly make its way through her. Her grip on him tightened as he drank from her, the leg he had wrapped around himself trying to draw him even closer, followed by her quickened breath, her racing heart, another gasp leaving her as she felt his own arousal growing, pressed against her as he was. 

Moments passed, and he pulled away from her neck, but not before applying slight pressure to the small wounds to stop the blood flow from them. 

Smiling, she looked at him through half lidded eyes before pulling him into a kiss,not caring and not bothered in the slightest by the taste of blood that still lingered on him. 

It all felt hazy, with nothing else mattering in that moment, only him and how he made her feel.

How tantalizingly close he was, pressing and grinding himself against her once he had hiked up the fabric of her dress, having moved it out of the way.

How he then went to run his fingers over one of her ears, making her shiver.

How, at some point she couldn’t quite pinpoint, his hand had left her thigh, instead slipping between her legs, lightly teasing her through the fabric of her lingerie, all while his other one made its way down from her ear to her throat, and lower still, until it reached her breast, palming and teasing and kneading it. 

How utterly breathless his kiss left her.

How their eyes didn’t leave each other, too caught up in one another as they were.

And, as was always the case, how she wanted nothing more than to reciprocate that, to spoil him in all the ways she knew he liked. So, she let her own hands roam over him, wherever she could reach, teasing touches lingering, insisting wherever he particularly enjoyed them. 

In turn, he was emboldened by it all, tugging at her underwear, moving it to the side before letting his fingers ghost over her. Teasing her for what seemed to be the longest moments, a soft moan left her when he eventually parted her folds, finally applying that exquisite pressure that he knew she enjoyed to her clit, followed by the way his fingers rubbed and then moved along her, making her moan yet again, something which was always most delectable to him. 

Wanting more of those noises from her, to see more of those reactions that always spurred him on, always adding to his own enjoyment, he began to tease her entrance. Humming in approval once he saw just how much of an effect he had on her already, he returned his full attention to her clit, rubbing circles on it as she moved her hips, chasing more of his touch. His mouth found hers once more, muffling the sounds of pleasure that left her as he continued to spoil her. 

And he so enjoyed spoiling her, lavishing her with his full attention whenever they made love…

So he did just that, his fingers continuing their ministrations, as he still kissed her, be it on her lips, along her jaw or even lower, on her neck until she was crying out for him, her climax having built and built until it finally washed over her, its intensity rippling through her as she held onto him, her grip on him tighter than before. 

Eventually, Syanna shifted slightly, letting her hands wander lower on him until they reached his trousers, where she began to tease and stroke him through the fabric, enjoying the way he groaned and pressed himself against her palm. Or the way he then moved towards her when she pulled her hand away, which only made her grin.

“Patience, love…” she teased, as she unbuttoned his trousers, lowering them alongside his underwear, finally freeing him. 

“You’re a-” another groan left him as she ran a finger along his length, with her then teasing his sensitive tip, “a cheeky little thing…”

“Only for you.” she smiled, kissing him as she carried on, spreading the precum that had already begun to gather before gently grasping him, her hand beginning to move along him. 

Slowly.

Deliberately. 

Intent on having him enjoy himself thoroughly. 

Listening to each moan and each sigh that left him as she continued her movements, pumping him in her hand, her thumb teasing his tip, her other hand on his chest. 

Astarion then took her by surprise - stilling her movements, he then gripped her, lifting her up, her arms and legs wrapping around him as he kissed her hungrily. 

He wanted so much more of her, to feel her warmth, her heat, everything that she was and that she would give. 

Pressing himself against her once again, he left no distance, no space whatsoever between them, wanting nothing more than that absolute closeness between them. 

And he kept moving in closer, kept pushing against her, until he was crawling up the wall and then onto the ceiling with her, something which made her let out a squeal, both surprised and delighted by the change, followed by the way she tightened her grip around him. 

“This is new.” she couldn’t help the grin that appeared on her face. 

“Well, I am a paragon of innovation, after all.” he smirked.

“Then-,” Syanna could only giggle, “-why don’t you show me what you had in mind?”

Astarion kissed her, his body keeping hers pinned against the ceiling, something which only made her moan softly as she felt him so close to her, his hips moving once more, grinding against her. 

Arousal gripping her once more, she moved one of her hands between them, reaching for his cock, taking and guiding him between her legs, to her entrance. Moans left them both as he pushed inside of her, so easily and so eagerly. 

Then, as he began to thrust into her, she found the sensation entirely different than usual, given their current position. While he was technically on top of her, it was also true that she was the one above him, which only made her want to meet his movements even more, eagerly matching his pace and rhythm each time, the intensity of it all enough to drive her mad. 

There were barely any coherent thoughts left in her, only the way that she focused on him, on each thrust and drag of him inside of her.

On how he too was starting to unravel, his movements becoming more erratic as he indulged in her more and more, his eyes not leaving her. 

How her body tensed, both from the sheer pleasure of it all, and from the strangeness of being on the ceiling, as if she was bracing for a fall at any moment. She knew that Astarion wouldn’t let that happen, that he would hold her there, safely and securely, she trusted him to do so, but the sensation remained all the same.

Then, there was the way in which the purr of his voice would bring him and only him back into focus once more.

“Eyes on me, love.”

She complied with his request, which only added to the overwhelming sensations and pleasure she was feeling. Seeing him that way, so genuinely enjoying himself, taking his own pleasure just as much as he was giving Syanna her own, hearing those amazing noises that he made in the moment - all the ways in which he would moan, or whimper, or groan - alongside the way he seemed to just want to bury himself in her until they became one…

It was electrifying, as if sparks would soon fly from the sheer fervor of it all. 

And he would not stop, making her moan so wantonly, louder with each thrust that reached that spot which always drove her mad, more and more, until finally, he brought her over the edge once more, with Astarion following soon after as his own release came over him and into her. 

Sparks were too insignificant a word to describe how they both felt.

Astarion couldn’t help the breath that he exhaled.

“Tell me something, darling…”

She looked at him curiously.

“...Why did it take us so long to try this?” he finished his question.

Syanna laughed.

“Well, you know they say, better late than never and all that.”

He hummed in approval, relaxing ever so slightly into her.

Then, he tensed up.

“Syanna, darling? You might want to hide us with one of your spells right about now.”

Nodding, she quickly cast an invisibility spell on the both of them just as the door opened.

The guard from earlier entered the room, muttering something about useless coworkers.

Astarion couldn’t help but grin at the man’s tirade.

“First that useless bastard forgets to lock this door, then there’s the weird noises coming from exactly this room…I swear, if there’s another possessed artifact here, I’m quitting tomorrow…Unless someone snuck in, then I’m getting fired tomorrow. Either way, good riddance.”

He then continued walking the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary, all while still ranting,  before stopping abruptly.

“You know what? Fuck this. I’m quitting tonight. If someone did sneak in here, good for them. And if something got stolen? That stuck up bastard had it coming.”

His mind made up, the guard turned around, leaving the room. Once the door behind him had closed and been locked - no doubt the guard covering his tracks - Syanna dropped the invisibility spell. Both she and Astarion were grinning before they burst into laughter.

“Well, goes to show what being a bad employer gets you.”Astarion quipped. 

Syanna was still giggling. She then cleared her throat.

“Good for that guard though. Now, let’s go, before someone less disgruntled decides to do the rounds.”

Agreeing with her, Astarion began to move across the ceiling and down onto the wall, with Syanna holding on to him for dear life, now that she was no longer distracted by him. 

Once back on solid ground, they both made themselves as presentable as possible before looking for a way to leave the room. 

After all, it wouldn’t do at all, to cause any problems for their friend, the guard. 

“I think the windows here,” she pointed towards the opposite wall, “actually face the gardens. With any luck, they won’t be too crowded.” she then turned to look at Astarion, “So I’m thinking we just fly out of here, and avoid anyone out there that way.” 

Astarion nodded, agreeing with her as he took out the bag of holding, searching for a scroll of Grant flight to use on himself. 

She then opened the window.

“Let’s go then, darling.” he pressed a quick kiss to her lips,”I can’t wait to get back to our room now.”

She grinned.

“Is that so?”

“Well,there’s plenty to celebrate, wouldn’t you say so? And you did mention something about spoiling me in any way I would want once we got back, didn’t you, darling?” he purred.

Syanna couldn’t help but laugh, a low, throaty, delightful  sound, which he enjoyed greatly when it came from her. 

Incorrigible, indeed. 

[pinescent-and-gingerbread]

Pineyyyyy,

I'm asking for the masses: please bless us with your writing process! How do you perfect these wonderful fics?

Thank you so much for asking Zae! 💞

As my writing process is a little chaotic and not very disciplined, I'll try to gather some advice and a rough timeline of what I do and how!

I think you'll already know most of those tips Zae, considering how incredible your writing already is! I hope this will still be helpful! Also forgive me because this is going to be long and detailed (I'm hopeless).

To everyone reading this, please keep in mind that I do not claim to have a perfect recipe for writing things that will make everything absolutely incredible (first of all, I do not think my work is perfect—far from it—and it's important for you that your writing process stays fun and comfortable!). This list is about things that work for me, but you have to find what works for you!!

NON-WRITING STUFF

Before writing: I love to set myself in the mood. As I don't have much free time my dedicated writing time has become a sort of sacred moment and I have my rituals (I put up the holy combo music+a good teapot of tea+Frankincense)

Music is a HUGE part of my writing process. As you and the amazing @/redwritr have already told me (thanks again both of you this is the best compliment ever<3), my writing sounds like music and I think this is also why. (Typical example for Fantasies II: I listened to Mother Mother's - "Body" in a loop to write the desperation moment. Maybe it's just me being too suggestible, but the pace and tone of a music piece totally guide me while writing).

I use Google Docs (on dark mode lol) to write, always. I know it's not super original and I regret not being able to put a nice background or typing sounds like ZenWriter allows you to for example, but it is the most convenient for me because I can carry my WIPs everywhere through my phone or laptop (plus it has the autosave, thinking about your writing curse LMAO).

THE WRITING ITSELF - what I do very factually and in what order.

I start by writing absolutely ANYTHING that comes through my mind, even if it's very shitty or doesn't make sense. Really, anything, no filter, just pure creative torrent flooding through my brain. Most of the time, I never publish the fic like this, it's purely to keep me motivated and to let ideas flow from my brain, otherwise they just don't want to appear. It's more difficult for me to find good ideas/work the flow of what's happening if I have to stop every two minutes and reflect on what I've done. I never correct my spelling at this point either and sometimes even leave words or bits of sentences in French lol. It must be spontaneous and wild.

I usually have the main ideas somewhere written on a note and new ideas are added between them as I write.

Once this draft is finished, I have the rough lines of what's happening and the different parts of the fic, and it's time for what I like to call the "Ripening" phase (yes I'm French ofc I'm using cheese/wine metaphors for my work lmaoo). Basically, I re-read the draft a LOT of times and focus on parts that seem odd/are not well written enough to my liking.

During that phase, I do a lot of research. I like to search for lexical fields, synonyms, original or uncommon words. I use Notion to organize links of all the website/Tumblr pages that I like for discovering vocab. I visit almost every time @/literaryvein-reblogs; their blog is a pure goldmine! (let me know if you want me to share some resources).

With this newly acquired vocab, I like to go for alliteration/assonance. I often replace words I had written during the spontaneous phase with new vocab words that simply sound better together. I also try out different versions of my metaphors and keep what feels better or what is the more telling/meaningful/simply more pleasant to read.

Once all this is finished, I always take the time to re-read the whole thing in one go, trying to step back and put myself as a reader. I often end up deleting parts that seem too long or not essential enough from fear of boring you guys. I think this is purely personal, you writers know what you really want to keep or not in your writing.

So basically that's what's happening: 1. Pure chaotic writing session where I let myself be wild and write nonsense 2. Ripening phase (sorting out the good from the horribly bad from the first phase, vocab, deleting or changing parts, trying out different words and figures of speech, sometimes re-writing whole paragraphs). This phase might be the longest actually. 3. Final reading in one time and last details before publishing.

INSPIRATION AND WRITING STYLE - Getting the pretty picture out of your brain!

I know it feels difficult to put exactly what's on your mind to paper, and sadly just like while painting/drawing, imo you can never reproduce EXACTLY what you see in your brain into a physical object. You can only approach this vision as best you can! Here's what works for me.

I always try to immerse myself completely in the setting; where are the characters, what mindest do they have in this moment, what is surrounding them?

Use the five senses, this is something I do almost systematically. Sight is the most used ofc, but smell and hearing are also ultra important to me. Touch and taste also are central, especially during smut. They help bring words to life!

Don't be afraid to describe a lot; this is important to get closer to what you're picturing and putting the same image in your reader's mind.

Now, this isn't a secret to anyone, my favorite tools are metaphors and comparisons + allegories when I'm good enough to find one. To me they are the best way you can explain to readers what the thing you're picturing is close to without having to factually describe every little detail of it; or how a character feels without being too obvious.

(This is a personal preference of mine. You have to find figures of speech that feels natural and good to you, that you like reading and writing!)

Read. Reading books, poems, other people's fics, and listening to songs and their lyrics are imo the best things you can do to nourish your own writing. We're social animals; a brilliant idea may spontaneously appear from nowhere in one's head but 99% of the time it's from discovering others that your writing style will be refined and perfected (identifying what you like/don't, why you're particularly in awe of a specific sentence or particularly attracted to certain types of phrasing without trying to copy/paste the thing is the way to go)

Be curious! Inspiration also comes from anywhere; go to museums, watch movies, go take a walk in nature, really let yourself be filled with all types of art and information. I use a notebook and my phone to note random things that I see or hear that gives me a sort of "inspiration potential".

e.g: I broke a match trying to light up a candle once. Completely banal and forgettable event. Well, it ended up being a comparison for a wasted potential in Through My Eyes. Yes, the notebook is flooded with random things I probably will never use, but this is also a good way to stay open and receptive to little things around you that can inspire you.

The "show don't tell" technique, as in cinematography is a pretty difficult balance to find but is really efficient to get people interested without offering them obvious things on a golden platter, and I personally love it. Here, here, and here (symptoms and afflictions method) are some more resources!

CONCLUSION AND FINAL ADVICE

As I already said, this is what works for me! You have to find what does for you and always remember to have fun! I know it might sound weird but most of my writing process is spontaneous and words just flow "naturally" out of me most of the time, so I don't really know how to explain things clearly (sorry about that :/)

ALSO your writing takes the time it needs and it's no one else's business!!!

As you can see, my drafts in perpetual change; it's totally fine not to write the perfect fic in one go! Don't be afraid to re-write and change things as many time as you want! (I honestly think I have to stop myself from reading my works because even now after publishing, I would still be changing things!)

Never ever put pressure on yourself while writing, this must not be a source of negative emotions (this goes for writer's block too, everyone has been through it, and you should not feel bad for it!)

The most important thing is for you to try! Try different styles, and different settings, try to get interested in new stuff even if it's not your usual medium. Always be curious!

And for my fellows non-English natives, try to use Grammarly to check your grammar and spelling, WordReference to check for translations/meanings, and DeepL instead of Google's translator!

Here, I think I'm finally done! Sorry it was that long, I hope I could help you Zae, and bring you guys some useful advice! As always, take care, and have fun writing!

-Pine 🌱

[kunikiiida-kuuun]

BSD Locations- Yokohama Visit 2024 - Part 5

The final part of the Yokohama Pilgrimage!

The previous parts:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

24. Harbor View Park (S1EP9)

It's so close to France Yama. It was really windy and a pleasant area to relax after a long day. You can see a wonderful view of the entire city from here!! The sun was setting around the time I visited so it was kind of perfect :')

25. Harbor View Police Station (S1EP9)

Only a few minutes from the Harbor View Park. It so happens that a black car also passed by as I was taking a picture, such a great coincidence XD

26. Motomachi Park Telephone Booth

A nice old-fashioned telephone booth!! I'm not sure it is still operating though...There were some beautiful western styled architectural buildings on the way here.

It was getting so dark at this point that I was worried I wouldn't be able to find this telephone booth, but thankfully I did! (It was only like 16:45 or something 😭)

27. Motomachi Park (S3EP26)

The park featured in the 15!anime adaptation. Honestly this place was kinda difficult to find (i think I literally passed by a cemetery??). It was so deserted and I'm the kind of person who gets spooked when alone and loses sense of direction when it starts getting dark lmao. I tried to match the angle of the anime but the design of the park was slightly different.

How was Dazai even jumping over that pillar thing? It was so big, it would take a lot of effort to climb on top of one, much less jump from one pillar to another 😭

When I was leaving the park, I saw a cute kitty too!! Somehow, I felt like my trip was really complete lol. I really wish I had some cat food (I want more cat friends!!!! 😭)

28. The Sky Garden Yokohama Landmark Tower (OP2)

The final place on my list and one I was dying with excitement to visit!! S2 opening is so iconic and my favourite BSD opening, so I tried to search for a building with the same view hahaha. The ticket costs 1,000 yen, but I got it for 900 yen by booking in advance on Klook! The view was absolutely stunning!!!! I would definitely recommend coming here for the night view! 💕

The Cosmos Clock 21 changes colors every 15 minutes and it's so pretty!! They have a cafe and they have some books too! You can just sit and relax while gazing out towards the beautiful Yokohama timeline! :)

Speaking of which, they even had the BSD Anthology collection in a section labelled, "Books based on Yokohama" XD

I picked a random one and there was a chapter in which Kunikida was sick? I'm not sure if the anthology series is being translated anywhere but I sure as hell do not remember any chapter like this?? There was even one where Fukuzawa was feeding cats or something and I'm so intrigued, I will consider getting a copy if I ever find it in stores.

It seems that they have days when they plan fireworks at the Yokohama harbor. I saw it on a free pamphlet i collected from the subway station. It's called Yokohama Sparkling Twilight!! I've added the link for any of your fanfic requirements lol. Imagine how cool it would be to see the fireworks from here thoo!? 😩💖

Yokohama Museum of Art was the last place on my list. It's actually located close to the Landmark tower, but it was getting really cold and my legs were killing me so I had to call it a day lol :')

Final Thoughts

Looking back now, I find it crazy to think I planned to visit all these places on foot in one single day (and managed to pull it off???) If I had started a little bit earlier, I suppose I could have squeezed in a few more places, because it gets dark so quickly in winter, but the exhaustion would have got me before that hahaha. I think I walked 30,000 steps that day, the most I have ever walked in my life ig 😂 But it was totally worth it!! I felt so happy to see all the places featured in the anime, and it's just amazing how much work the anime team put into the smallest details. It's just so wholesome and fun to connect the places to the anime versions.

I think it would be better to do such a pilgrimage in summer instead. The BSD anime page on twitter had also made some posts about some of the locations, which i forgot to share. I'll add them to part 1, to the other references I listed.

I'm not sure if it's because I love the series so much, that made me romanticize the place a bit, but Yokohama really was such a lovely place. It was such a charming and peaceful city and when I walked around the harbour I found myself thinking how I wouldn't mind living here hahaha. If I ever get the chance to visit again, I would like to relax a bit, without having to worry about moving along to the next destination XD

And that's the end of my Yokohama Pilgrimage!! Thank you for taking time to read this! Honestly I'm so honoured if anyone even bothered to go through these posts and I did not expect this to have five parts hahahaha but I hope you enjoyed hearing my silly commentary!! ❤️

[prettypumpum]

Title: Crossed Dimensions I Logan Howlett x Reader

Summary: You were living an ordinary life until the day a portal throws you into the Marvel universe. Trapped between an unbearable Deadpool and a Wolverine as troubling as he is charming, you discover powers you didn't know you had and an unknown past with certain heroes. As your anxiety grows in the face of this new reality, will you be able to find your place and perhaps become the hero they need?

Warnings: strong language, mentions of violence.

Previous part / Masterlist

Chapter 2

“Rise and shine.”

I jolted awake to find Wade’s face uncomfortably close to mine.

“Why don’t you just teleport?” the mercenary asked, visibly disappointed.

“I don’t know, Wade, I can’t control my powers. But believe me, it’s in the top 5 of my to-do list,” I replied, getting up from the couch and rubbing my face.

“Leave her alone,” Logan grumbled from the kitchen. I joined him, grabbing the cereal box on the counter. I didn’t even recognize this brand. This universe was so different from mine. Oddly, the most disturbing part wasn’t that the Avengers existed or had superpowers, but rather the little details, like different logos or stores and restaurants in completely different locations.

“Do we have oat milk?” I asked, staring at the strange tiger on the box.

“We don’t even have regular milk, so forget your fancy whims, princess,” Al replied, fiddling with a small bag of white powder.

Great, so no milk, but we still had hard drugs. At least the household priorities were clear.

“We’ll add it to the shopping list,” Wade grinned, grabbing a small notepad and a unicorn pen.

“And with what money?” the old lady asked, outraged.

“About that, I was waiting for everyone to wake up,” Wade said calmly, fixing his gaze on me to emphasize that I was the “everyone.” “I called one of my contacts, Dopinder, and he found us a mission for our team!” he added enthusiastically, clapping his hands.

“What team?” Logan asked, clearly already on edge.

“Ours,” Wade replied, pointing at Logan and me.

“Hell no, I’ve got my own plans,” Logan growled, getting up to rinse his coffee mug.

“And what, you’re just gonna go back to living in the wild forests of glorious Canada like an animal until some old Japanese guy tries to steal your powers?” Wade asked.

“That’s exactly my plan,” Logan replied, not understanding half of what Wade had rambled but clearly wanting to end the conversation.

“I knew you’d be hard to convince, so I prepared a little PowerPoint,” Wade said, opening his laptop to show a slide titled, Reasons to Convince Logan and Lydia to Be My Best Friends (And More if We Feel Like It).

“Reason 1,” Wade said, pressing a key, triggering a star transition so tacky even Al cringed. “You’d really make me happy.” The image showed a little cartoon Deadpool hugging a tiny Lydia and a tiny Logan. “Number 2,” another horrid transition, “Disney saw the money they made off of us and they want a sequel, maybe with a love story. Reason 3: if you don’t come, you’ll ruin the whole team-sandwich aesthetic. People won’t get it if we lose the mustard,” Wade explained, outraged.

“I’m done with your nonsense,” Logan groaned, heading towards the bathroom.

“Reason 69: we’re out of booze and you’re out of cash!” Wade shouted, frantically looking for slide 69, which featured a little Logan looking delighted at a giant whiskey bottle.

Logan seemed to be weighing his options, but they weren’t any better than mine. He rubbed his temples, finally relenting.

“Fine, alright,” he grumbled as he walked into the bathroom.

Wade couldn’t have been happier. He was literally bouncing with self-applause, then turned his gaze to me.

“I have another PowerPoint for you, in 130 parts,” he said, searching through his files. “Here it is,” he said, opening a file titled, My Super Arguments for a Threesome with Logan and Lydia, Part 1: I Have Lots of Fun Toys. “Oops, that’s not it. You saw nothing,” he said to the wall.

“Why do you even want me to come? I’ll just slow you down.”

“Logan’s the muscle, you’re our emotional support, and I’m our brave and fearless leader, not influenced by Captain America at all,” Wade said as if it were obvious. “Come on, it’ll be fun. And most importantly, we need cocaine for Al; trust me, this place will get unbearable without it,” he whispered like it was a terrible secret.

I had two choices: go on this mission and, at worst, get shot, or stay stuck in this apartment with a coke-addicted grandma going through withdrawal.

“Alright, I’ll come.”

“Great!” Wade cheered. “You’ll see, it’s going to be awesome.”

Honestly, I doubted it.

It was not awesome. I’d been stuck in this damned forest for hours. At first, everything was fine. I’d met Wade’s smuggler friend, who talked way too much, and the mission was simple: we had to take out a drug lord with a bounty on his head. But we hadn’t expected the guy to be armed to the teeth with alien weaponry. We found out the hard way after Wade mocked the boss’s haircut, and the guy fired a laser that left a huge hole in Wade’s abdomen. Logan barely had time to grab him, and I managed to teleport us into the forest. The problem was, we didn’t know where we were and had lost track of our target.

“Do you smell anything?” I asked Logan.

“They’re not nearby. We can rest while this idiot regenerates,” replied the mutant, still on guard.

He didn’t seem bothered by the surroundings; his powers helped with that. Wade, on the other hand, still hadn’t regained consciousness. Watching his broken body was both fascinating and gross.

“Did you talk to Laura last night?” Logan suddenly asked.

“Yeah, we chatted a bit… she wants to spend some time with us,” I replied, a little uncomfortable with this conversation. Co-parenting was challenging enough, but adding a multiverse element made it insane.

“I know, she told me,” Logan replied. “If you’re not comfortable with it, don’t feel obligated.”

Honestly, I wasn’t comfortable with it. I started fiddling with my coat sleeves, avoiding eye contact, and instead focused on Wade’s wound.

“No, it doesn’t bother me,” I replied in a small voice. “But this whole situation is completely crazy.”

“Tell me about it,” he said, smiling.

He was really handsome. I’d never been a superhero fan, but I’d always had a crush on Logan, and seeing him in real life was pretty overwhelming. The TVA had offered to send me back to my universe, but I’d refused. That would’ve been even weirder—to be in a world without mutants, with teleportation and healing powers. That would complicate things, especially if I lived as long as Logan.

“I’m sorry for getting us lost,” I said, lifting my head. I couldn’t control my powers, and I didn’t even know if Dreamwalker was a real character in the comics.

“It’s alright. The most important thing is that you got us to safety. And the real problem is this idiot. He’s the one holding us back,” Logan said, pointing at Wade. He hadn’t enjoyed the plane ride, and it was a miracle Wade’s buddy was still alive.

“Do you still want to finish this mission?” I asked, a bit resigned.

“Damn right, we’re finishing this mission!” said a voice behind me. “Look at what he did to my suit. I just patched it up! People have no respect,” the mercenary said, examining the damage. “And look at you, Mr. Grumpy—there are bloodstains everywhere. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that out of this beautiful yellow suit I just stitched up?”

“By the way, how did you fix it? Because from what I remember, there was nothing left to save,” I asked.

“For convenience, I’d say it’s magic, even though I know you loved the old suit, you little pervert,” Wade replied.

I couldn’t help but lower my head, blushing. I could feel Logan’s eyes on the back of my neck. It was true, I’d had trouble forming a complete sentence after he’d disappeared.

“So, what’s the plan now?” I asked, hugging myself and trying to change the subject. But Wade kept staring, and even under the mask, I could guess his little smile and nonexistent eyebrow wiggle.

“We’re gonna kill that guy, then celebrate with mojitos. Come on, gang!” Wade said, clapping his hands and starting to walk.

I shot a small glance at Logan, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me.

“We’ll finish our conversation later,” he said. I nodded in response. “Not that way,” Logan yelled at Wade.

“I know, I was testing you,” Wade said, turning back. “Is it this way? No question, I totally know where I’m going.”

Logan groaned but followed Wade. It was the first time he’d gone this long without trying to maim the mercenary. And honestly, I already pitied the guy with the ridiculous haircut and his henchmen.

[ineffable-doll]

Tips on writing fanfic summaries

No one has asked for this nor has any reason to listen to me, but I see folks complain about this part of fic writing rather often, soooo here are some tips for writing fic summaries that I’ve learned after writing over 160 of them and reading many thousands of them:

-Keep it as short as you can, as long summaries can be daunting. If your summary is more than a few sentences, consider finding a natural place to break it into sections. If you include a snippet, don’t make it too long of one.

-Use a tone that matches the tone of the writing. This helps people understand what they’re getting into. E.g. if it’s a humorous fic, consider including a joke in the summary.

-Make your premise clear. The main point of the summary is to tell the reader what to expect (which the tags can elaborate on), so if your summary may leave a reader going, “Okay, but what’s it about?” then consider including more information. It’s good to build intrigue, but not to confuse. This is where a beta reader or a little assistance in a fandom Discord server can be useful.

-If the first sentence of your fic is strong/intriguing (your classic “hook,” basically), that often makes for a great summary.

-Don’t disparage yourself in the summary. Unsurprisingly, this makes readers not want to read it. Just don’t disparage yourself in general, in the tags or notes or on tumblr or anywhere, it’s a terrible habit and unkind to yourself and everyone who reads your words. It’s okay if you’re not confident, but bullying yourself isn’t going to help. (For the Good Omens fans: shouting at your plants won’t actually help them grow.)

-Feel free to provide several different versions of a summary in the summary. Such as, if you have a detailed explanation you worry may be overwhelming, you could include something underneath that lists keywords to catch the eye. Example: [long thing about your fantasy au] (A Fantasy AU with dragons, curses, and True Love’s Kiss.) I especially like doing the multi-summary trick with 5+1s.

-Read other people’s summaries and pay attention to what style of summary makes you want to read, and what makes you scroll. If you find a fic writer with summaries that you consistently like, go through their page and “study” what tricks they may be employing. Suspense? Humor? Snappy snippets?

-Bold certain words or lines that you want to have pop out. Like I’ve been doing this whole time! On AO3, this means adding a <b> and a </b> on each end of the desired text (or a <i> and a </i> for italicization).

-There are no rules do what you want forever

These are just my opinions, but I hope someone finds them helpful. Remember that this is fanfic, you’re not selling anything, and you should focus on having fun – but these tips can help you find your readers with more accuracy, and your readers to find you.

Feel free to add your own tips. <3

[the-irken-pony]

Compilation of disorganized facts (and derived headcanons) about The Henry Stickmin Collection's "narrator"

First thing’s first, since I typed more than I should’ve for a single bullet point.

Who is this “narrator” anyways?

In this post I’m talking about the implied source of the fail screens, bios, and certain other interactions in the game (which I’ll get into as we go. It’s implied that this character is the same across these different sources of meta interactions.

It is possible that this character is a self-insert of PuffballsUnited, but for the sake of this post we'll assume that this isn't Actually Puff. I feel weird tying my blorbo detail-plucking thoughts to an actual person and don’t want anyone making assumptions about Puff based on anything listed here, plus certain things may be added, exaggerated, omitted, etc. to the character for comedic effect in a way that further delineates the two. (tl;dr narrator ≠ author)

The wiki (derogatory) notes a theory that this character could be Wilson Stone. Granted, it’s not an entirely groundless theory: there is no message on the fail screen for D.E.B., which could be seen as a result of Wilson dying. I disagree with this for a couple of reasons: Wilson is referred to in the third person in his bio, the narrator makes a disdainful comment about the CCC having a surplus of nukes in CtM (there’s little reason for Wilson to be opposed to nukes but not a dark energy bomb), and Wilson’s voice is different from the narrator’s (I’ll get to that later).

The general fandom consensus that I've seen uses "the narrator", but this character/being/whatever isn't known by any name officially, nor any pronouns. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to this character as "the meta" or “the meta voice” and use they/them and it/its interchangeably for them (partly to distinguish from the large surplus of male characters). I prefer “meta” over “narrator” and “commentator” because it doesn’t really narrate anything, it gives more than just commentary, and just because it rolls off the tongue better.

More on the meta

It comments frequently on Henry’s stupidity, but it’s hard to truly baffle them. Not that Henry hasn’t managed to before in fails such as Cheese and Distract.

Getting the obvious out of the way, they’re known to crack jokes of all sorts, including memes, wordplay, references, & callbacks.

Lots of these jokes are at the expense of Henry, the player, or someone else. It frequently makes disparaging comments about the player or Henry in general; more common jabs include fatphobic comments toward Henry or making fun of the player’s poor skill.

Speaking of Henry and the player, it typically uses “you” for both you (the player) and Henry himself, but it does also differentiate between us and Henry, such as in the Duplicatorange fail and Toppy fails, even noting you to not be a stick figure

Not only are they aware of the player and Henry as separate, but they’re also aware that you’re playing a game.

The meta seems to have the most control over the timeline, including what counts as a “fail” and when a fail cuts off, as shown in the duplicatorange and invisibility pill fails.

It has a certain amount of control over the nature of the game itself. The slingshot fail in FtC has them creating various popups that the player must click through to get an achievement. This power isn’t limitless though: the CorrupTick fail in particular shows that things can fall out of their control.

They’re capable of summoning objects (this is implied in Dance Off v4 and outright confirmed in the Lockpick fail).

The free transform option also shows that it has the ability to directly alter people in-universe. The mind control fail implies that it may also be able to outright control people to an extent, but finds this difficult and thus avoids doing so.

They seem to exist in a flux state between being “the game master” and simply being a bystander. It knows at least a little bit about nearly every character in the game and has some control over the environment, but it also reacts to events as though it’s just a spectator and seeing things for the first time.

On a related note, they seem to be in a state between being “in” the game and existing outside of it. Things that would wipe out everyone in the vicinity have no effect on it, but things that alter things on a meta level (such as the corrupted disk, Goodball, and CorrupTick fails) do affect them in various ways.

They aren’t omniscient. They have info on nearly everyone, but they don’t know everything. A lot of their comments in fails seem to be guesswork, and their bios for some people, notably Ellie, are very lacking.

It can feel pain. They complain about their ears hurting from the high pitched sound of the sonic pulse. At the same time, it isn’t nearly as sensitive as Henry or other stick figures and can survive the subsonic wave with little consequence.

It can, supposedly, use the bathroom.

The duplicatorange and invisibility pill both imply that the meta voice has some sentimental attachment to Henry, triggering a fail screen whenever they lose track of Henry.

Related to the above, it seems to have a vested interest in keeping Henry alive, despite having killed Henry themself. Revenged is notable as an ending for the fact that Henry dies in every outcome, and The Betrayed isn’t much better in this regard.

It also shows mild concern for Henry’s wellbeing in RPE/RBH, asking him if his head is okay.

While it’s unknown if they know all languages, they do at least seem to know German, specifically commenting on Friedrich Spielen’s nonsensical German.

They can sleep and even dream; in the G-inverter fail they comment that they “had a nightmare like this”. It’s unknown whether they need sleep or if sleep is simply recreational for them.

I don’t know if the above indicates that they used to be affected by gravity or if they simply had a dream about being affected by gravity, but given their ability to simply hover at a point in the air or even outer space, they probably aren’t affected by gravity at any point that we know them.

The meta is aware of other timelines, making a reference to Charles during the helicopter fail in Toppat King.

While it doesn’t have a known physical appearance, it does occasionally emote with hand-drawn “emoticons”, some of which are even animated.

On rare occasions, it can conjure Twitch emotes or even a full animation of a stick figure.

Feel free to add if you think of anything!

[jimblejamblewritings]

the fake date plot | part 2.

Summary: Gryffindors, seventh years, classmates, unrequited love. Just a few things Y/N and James Potter had in common. When a brilliantly dumb plan is hatched the two end up getting something a little different than what they wanted.

Warnings for the Series: literally none that I can think of this is supposed to be just good fluffy fun

Pairing: James Potter x reader

Word Count: 4.7k

Previous Part | (Series Chapter List)

James passed a note to you after you sat down for Transfiguration. It was the start of a drawing. You added a few details before passing it back to him. The two of you kept doing that the whole class. It wasn’t really to make people think anything but every little bit counted. You could feel his friends’ eyes on the two of you, burning holes into your back.

You supposed you would be confused too but it’s not like the story was unbelievable. You and James were class partners and talked every day until you became friends and then something more. But were you guys moving too fast as friends? You didn’t have time to think about that because class was ending and James stood up before turning back to look at you. 

“Do you actually share a dorm with Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas?” 

“Yeah,” you said as you packed up your textbooks. “Why?” 

You and James were now walking through the hallways together. He shook his head. 

“No reason. They just mentioned it when I said I invited you to the party.” 

“Sorry again that I couldn’t go.” 

“Don’t mention it, not a problem. But you can make it up to me.” 

“Oh no, how?” 

“Ravenclaw’s having a party, come with the rest of us.” 

“Ravenclaw?” 

James raised an eyebrow as he answered you with a yes. He had sent you an owl yesterday evening to tell you the plan. You knew there was a party and you were going to say yes. Why were you suddenly acting like the entire plan didn’t exist? 

“I don’t really know, Xeno is gon—” 

“Y/N, stop.” James realized the problem. “We’re going to the party, you’re gonna show him how hot you are, and you’re going to be the baddest bitch at the party and make Xenophilius Lovegood want to show you how he loves good. Now say it with me.” 

“That was a horrible pun.” 

“Y/N, say it.” 

James swung his school bag over his shoulder and went to grab your shoulders. He shook you a little before moving his hands to cup your face, squishing your cheeks a little. He chuckled softly at you looking like a chipmunk. You looked him up and down as best as you could. Seeing him away from a school desk, James was taller than you thought. He always seemed like a short king when you were just class partners. He gave you a pointed look. You took a deep breath.  

“I’m going to be the baddest bitch at the party,” you whispered. 

“More confidence.”

“I’m gonna be the baddest bitch at the party!” 

“And?” 

“I’m going to make Xenophilius Lovegood… realize I’m a bad bitch?” 

“Good enough.” 

You went your separate ways at the top of the staircase, you going to History and him going with his friends to Charms. James ignored the others, not even bothering to fill Wormtail in when he entered the classroom. He was thrown off script and didn’t know what to tell them that would help the plan. They just saw him try to help you figure out how to get with Xeno. 

The other three weren’t focused on that. They were focused on James daring to call another girl hot in the public of the corridors. He was so head over heels for Lily that he would normally never dare someone misconstruing his words about another woman. You two must have been closer than they thought if he was willing to risk being overheard.

Of course they didn’t say anything when you waved to James at lunch before sitting with Alice and her roommates at the Hufflepuff table — sitting with James wasn’t supposed to start happening for another nine days. 

They did, however, say something when James started leaving his dorm early. Remus set down his book when he saw James putting on his shoes. 

“Mate, where are you going? The party isn’t for another two hours or so and you’re not dressed.” 

“Y/N wanted help getting dressed.” 

James ignored their laughing and went up to the girls’ dorm to find you. He knocked on your door only to be greeted by Marlene. 

“Why the fuck are you here?” 

“Hello, Marls. This is a new way of saying hi to me.” 

“Well, we’re in the middle of getting ready so we don’t have time right now, James.” 

“Is Y/N in there?” 

“She’s in the shower.” 

“Great. Are you all dressed? Can I come in?” 

Marlene swung the door open in confusion. James made himself comfortable on the only empty bed, assuming it was yours. He noticed the room looked like the Marauders’ dorm. You must have suggested it to them. He stared at the ceiling while the other girls watched his every movement. They all piled onto Lily’s bed to just stare at him. He turned his head towards the bathroom door when your humming turned into full blown sing-screaming. 

He looked at your nightstand, spotting a sewing machine and a book of patterns. James flipped through the book until you finally came out. You jumped when you opened the bathroom door. Still in your towel, you forgot you had asked James to help you get dressed. He sat up and immediately slapped his hand over his eyes. 

“Give me your best outfit,” he said. 

You went to your wardrobe and took out the outfit you had prepared. James took his hand away when you tapped him on the shoulder. You frowned when he didn’t clap. The boy in front of you shrugged. 

“Is there a second outfit?” 

You found something else only to barely step out of the bathroom before James shook his head. You kept finding outfits only for each to be rejected. Annoyed, you came back out in just a towel.  

“None of your outfits say that you’re hot,” James reasoned. 

“To you. What if Xeno likes it?” 

“Well, actually, I liked the last five outfits. Look, I asked Wormtail to ask the Dueling Club guys he’s friends with to find out what catches Lovegood’s eye at a party.” 

“You did?” 

“You’re welcome. And while you dress absolutely adorable for you, you just look cute.” 

“I don’t have anything else.” 

James opened the bag he came in with, dumping it out on your bed. “Which is why I am your designer for the evening. So, go ahead. Pick something.” 

You stared at all the clothes on the bed. James had a lot of random t-shirts and jeans. Very tight looking leather pants stood out the most. You were a bit curious what he could possibly do with those. You ended up putting on the pants, a Zonko’s t-shirt, and a hoodie. James clapped his hands before moving to your desk. He grabbed some white chalk and kneeled down in front of you. 

“Question.” 

“Answer.” 

“Do you want it slutty on top or slutty on the bottom?” 

“Um, I don’t really own any bras that make your cleavage nice.” 

James nodded as he marked the clothes. “Hot pants it is. I am so happy you have a sewing machine by the way.” 

He finished marking the spots on the fabric to cut before closing his eyes so you could take the clothes off and put a towel back around you. James moved to the sewing machine at your desk. You sat on your bed and watched him start cutting fabric. 

“Wait. You know how to sew but you can’t mend a hole in a jumper?” 

“Knits scare me.” 

“When did you even learn to sew?” 

“I’m an only child of elderly rich parents. I basically did everything with them when I was little… Here, is the hemming enough on the shorts or do you need the waist altered?” 

You laughed as you zipped them up. “You can see cheek!” 

“That’s kind of the point,” he said, turning around to check the fit. He looked up at your roommates. “Ladies, do you want outfits? Lily?” 

They stuttered through “no, thank you” as they just watched him, making note to definitely ask for an outfit later. You had to admit that James was a good wingman. He finished the outfit after what felt like forever to you but wasn’t very long at all.

Hesitantly, you put on the backless halter top made from the Zonko’s t-shirt and the leg warmers made from the hoodie sleeves. Your roommates made you blush with all the compliments they were throwing out as they found their own outfits. 

“You are full of surprises, James Potter,” you said as you searched your trunk for the platform shoes he suggested you wear. “What else can you do?” 

“Badminton, fencing, candy making, bowtruckle relocating, charm creating, bartending. Oh, I make an absolutely smashing saffron risotto. The trick is using gillywater instead of elf wine.”       

“Interesting.” 

James nodded as he took his own clothes into the bathroom to change. His outfit was much more understated, just jeans and a tank top. Over it was a thick corduroy button down that he left open with the sleeves rolled up because you told him you caught Lily staring at him at lunch when he had his uniform sleeves scrunched up past his elbow. 

He walked to Ravenclaw with you and your roommates, figuring the rest of the marauders were already there. Before you could walk off to go find Alice somewhere in the sea of bodies, James grabbed your elbow. He leaned down right by your ear just in case someone overheard. 

“Don’t forget, save me a dance towards the end of the night.” 

“Got it.” 

You patted him on the shoulder and went to go find your friend. Alice’s eyes widened when she saw you coming towards her. Heat rose to your face when she wolf-whistled. Your friend placed a bottle of gigglebeer in your hand. You took a swig, face scrunching up at the initial taste before a little laugh escaped you. 

“Do you want to dance? I want to dance!” 

You started jumping up and down to the music before receiving an actual answer. Another bottle was placed in your hands the moment you finished the first one. Your feet couldn’t handle the jumping in platform shoes anymore so you settled for swaying. You lost sight of Alice after twirling too much. Shrugging your shoulders, you tried to find your roommates or James. 

You incessantly tapped on the back of some brunette that was taller than you. The man stopped talking to turn around. Your eyes went wide at seeing Xenophilius’ friend — Xeno was the person he had been speaking to. 

“Sorry, I thought you were someone else… Have you seen my roommates?” you yelled over the loud music. 

Xeno eyed you up and down. You remembered what James said on the way to the party and turned around. While you pretended to look for your roommates, you gave your crush a view of your open back top and your leather shorts that had surely ridden up by now and exposed more cheek. A hand on your shoulder made you turn back around. 

“I like your outfit,” Xeno said. Up close, you could see his face was flushed from the alcohol. 

“Thank you! James made it for me.” 

“Potter?” 

“I don’t know any other Jameses.” 

“Where is he now?” 

You shrugged before pointing to his nearly empty drink. “Are you gonna finish that?” 

“No, I’m not really a fan of Phoenix Sours. I’m gonna get a firewhiskey from the table.” 

He handed you the drink. You were ready to dance again, happy that the music had picked back up. You grabbed Xeno by the bicep and tried to drag him to the middle of the room. 

“Come dance with me!” 

“Let me get a drink first.” 

“Okay! I’m gonna dance!”   

You watched him go to the drinks table but went to the middle of Ravenclaw’s common room. A large smile reached your face when you found the person you were originally looking for. 

“Jamie! Oops, sorry, too loud. Jamie,” you said in an exaggerated whisper. “Hi, Lily.” 

“Hello, tipsy,” she said. “James, I’ll let you know when the poker circle is finished or whatever we end up doing.”  

“Sounds good,” he said before turning his attention on you. “Glad you remembered that dance.”  

You both held each other’s free hand and just wiggled around for a little bit. You were on cloud nine from the gigglebeer. James spun you around so his chest was flush against your back. His hand rested on your waist as the two of you swayed and grinded to the rhythm. Checking to see where Xeno was, James angled the two of you to be in the man’s eyeline. 

Your eyes were closing until your dance partner suddenly stopped. With a pout, you turned around to find out why. His friends and your roommates were standing there, inviting the two of you to the small circle in the corner of the common room playing a mixture of truth or dare, who’s most likely to, and go fish. Xenophilius’ group was there as well. 

“Okay!” 

You stumbled before actually making it to the circle. James steadied you. He turned you around to see your eyes half shut.  

“Y/N, how much have you had to drink?” 

“I don’t know,” you mumbled with a shrug. “Like five?” 

“Like five?” 

“Yeah,” you said with a nod. “I love alcohol!” 

James laughed. “Is this your first time drinking?” 

“How’d you know?” 

You shuddered before dropping your head on James’ chest. He began to take off his corduroy button down. You sighed in relief at the warm fabric covering your shoulders, letting your friend move your arms into the sleeves of the shirt. 

“Alright, let’s get you someplace to lay down… Hey, guys, I think Y/N is done partying. I’m gonna take her back to Gryffindor.” 

The others pouted because James could be the life of the party but said their goodbyes. You wiggled out of his hold to say goodnight to everyone. Your roommates laughed as you gave everyone in the circle a sloppy kiss on the cheek, including Xeno and his friends. 

“Goodnight, everyone. I love you.” 

“We love you too, Y/N.” 

You stumbled once more. James stopped you. The party circle watched him kneel down to undo the straps on your platforms. James put the shoes in your hands, making you promise to hold on to them tightly. You nodded with the utmost seriousness. He turned around, still kneeling. 

“Okay, get on.” 

Clumsily, you did as he said. “Ooh, Jamie, you’re tall.” 

“Yes, bug.” 

“Jamie?” 

“Yes, bug?” 

“You’re very strong.” 

He laughed as you left Ravenclaw. “I’d hope so, I am captain of the quidditch team. Plus, I’m the one who carries Moony’s sorry ass back through the castle.” 

“Why do you have to carry Remus?” 

“Um, he’s a lightweight like you.” 

“I’m not a lightweight.” 

“Do you know how much alcohol is in gigglebeer?” 

“A lot.” 

“Not nearly as much as you think. Like I said, lightweight.” 

James was certain you fell asleep by the time he reached Gryffindor tower. Your head was slumped on his shoulder and you weren’t babbling anymore. He didn’t think letting you be alone in your room was a smart idea so he took the stairs on the right to go up to his dorm. You woke up when he set you down on the bathroom counter. 

“Accio Y/N’s bathroom stuff.” 

James started sorting through your stuff and you just looked at him. He organized everything in a row so he could get started helping you. James uncapped the tube of toothpaste to spread it on your toothbrush. You sighed as he ran the toothbrush under the running water of the faucet. 

“Jamie, you’re really pretty.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Not as pretty as Xeno.” 

“Well, I don’t think anyone’s beating Xeno in your eyes. Open.” 

You let him brush your teeth, looking him in the eye the entire time. James was careful as he washed your face. He made sure the foam cleanser didn’t get in your eye and that water from the towel didn’t drip all over you. He held you by the shoulders. 

“Can you manage a shower by yourself?” 

You took a breath. “No.” 

“At least you’re honest,” he muttered. “Do you want my help or do you just want to change? Y/N, understand me. It means you will be naked in front of me.” 

You nodded. “Help please.” 

“Okay.” He looked at the shower. “You aren’t getting in that without an accident.” 

James added the plug to the sink and let the water run until the basin was filled up. He told you, as he soaked a washcloth, that he was gonna help you wash the bottom half first and then the top half. James looked you in the eye, not moving his gaze from anywhere that wasn’t your face. He helped you into a pair of his briefs and his sweatpants before setting you back on the counter. 

“What’s so funny?” he asked while passing the washcloth up and down your back. 

“Most people stare at my boobs, Mary says they’re really nice.” 

“I’m sure they are.” He helped put his quidditch sweatshirt on you. “What did you say?” 

“I’m sorry I made you leave the party early,” you said once you popped your head out of the sweatshirt. 

“None of that. I didn’t realize you never drank before. I would’ve taken you out to Hog’s Head first to know your limit.” 

“But you were going to do something with Lily.” 

“It was just a card game with everyone else, nothing even remotely romantic. We’re in the same friend group.” 

“Oh, right.” 

“You need sleep.” 

James made sure you were actually in bed first before he went to take a shower and change. You snuggled into a pillow and listened to his singing. It was actually sweet sounding, very different from what you expected him to sound like. 

He was shocked, as he exited the bathroom putting on his glasses, to see you were still up. He held up your wand, telling you he was putting it on his desk at the head of his bed so you could find it in the morning. Your hand shot out from underneath the comforter to grab his wrist. 

“Don’t sleep on the floor. The carpet isn’t very soft.” 

“Are you sure?” 

You nodded. James set up a pillow barrier between the two of you and bid you goodnight. He set his glasses on the nightstand right next to him that blocked his face from the rest of the room. The two of you let the darkness lull you to sleep. 

The other marauders came in a little after midnight. They were going to ask James if he successfully got you to your room but the lights were off and their friend was already asleep. They’d annoy him in the morning. 

Peter was the first one up when the sunlight came streaming through the windows. Remus and Sirius were up when he came back into the room carrying a large tray of breakfast foods he convinced the house elves to give him. Remus looked over at where James was still knocked out. 

“Should we put something on the nightstand?” 

At the agreement of the other two boys, he set a plate down along with a cup of water and a cup of fizzy orange juice. The three marauders all sat on Sirius’ bed, talking and eating. Peter and Remus looked over when Sirius squeaked. You had risen up from your sleep, stretching with an audible pop from one of your elbows. Rubbing your eyes, you just sat up for a moment. 

“I hate alcohol.” 

With your eyes half-shut you went to go use the bathroom and brush your teeth. James woke up at the sound of the toilet flushing. He sat up, excited to see food on the nightstand. The marauders all locked eyes as you came out of the bathroom. 

“Good morning,” you said with a wave. 

“This is so weird,” Peter muttered. 

“Okay, I’ll say it.” Sirius set down his strip of bacon. “What the fuck is going on between the two of you? First you tell her to show Xeno how hot she is, next thing she’s sleeping in your bed wearing your quidditch stuff.” 

You and James looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Improv still wasn’t your strongest suit, even with a fake dating idea. You kind of planned on letting James fabricate the entire story from the start of your relationship to the eventual fake breakup. You flopped over to the bed, laying behind James and burying your face in the pillow.

James was fiddling with his fingers while trying to come up with any answer that wouldn’t derail your entire fake dating plot. There were still two weeks before you two were supposed to become more than friends and another weeks before he publicly asked you to be his girlfriend — there were going to be white roses and a performance featuring the singing toad choir. 

“We were going to ask him for a threesome.” 

Everyone’s eyes went wide. You pulled James down and threw the comforter over both of your heads. The other three men, still in shock, watched your hand stick out of the bed and pat the nightstand to find his wand. Shortly after, the curtains were pulled around the bed and the silencing charm was cast. 

“Did you really just say that?” you asked him.  

“I panicked.” 

“So we’re dating now?” 

“I guess.” 

“Our original story doesn’t work anymore. You haven’t seen me doing karaoke at Three Broomsticks with Alice and Dorcas before I dragged you on stage and we sang a duet that had so much tension everyone wouldn’t be surprised if we started dating.” 

“Right, right. Never mind then. I’ll figure something out.” 

“Like how you said we wanted to invite Xenophilius for a threesome?” 

“Do you trust me?” 

“I did until just now… Fine. Let’s do this.” 

You and James put the curtain back at the ends of the four-post bed. He scratched the back of his head while you decided to grab the plate and eat breakfast. 

“We were going to ask Xeno if he wanted to participate in relations with us but Y/N got too drunk so I just let her crash here.” 

Peter pursed his lips for a moment before speaking. 

“A threesome? But you’re a virgin, isn’t that a bit much for a first time? You haven’t even kissed someone.” 

“Well how do you think I was planning on losing it, Wormy?” 

Sirius scoffed. “Asking one of us would have been easier.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

“Wait, Y/N are you a virgin?” Peter asked. 

You gave James the rest of the bacon in your hand. “Uh, yes.” 

“So, both of you as complete virgins were going to ask the most notorious manwhore to pop your cherries together?” 

“Having a lot of sex doesn’t make you a manwhore.” 

“Frank Longbottom has a lot of sex, Xeno is a manwhore.” 

Remus, Sirius, and Peter blinked when suddenly the curtains were pulled around the bed again. They could hear James grunt when you pulled him down before it sounded quiet. You probably casted the silencing charm. For good measure, you pulled the comforter over the two of you again. 

“This isn’t working,” you said. 

“Well, what do you want me to do?” 

“Lie better.” 

“You could try to lie too, you know.” 

“I’m not good at improv.” 

“And you think I am? We’ve been sticking to the script until now.”

You and James blinked at each other. He wasn’t wrong. James was a little playwright. Every purposeful interaction was written down on scrap paper and scrolls like a script, tucked in the back of his nightstand. This whole thing was his plan in the first place but the two of you needed to work together for it to be successful. You left the comforter once again to meet three sets of eyes that were waiting for an explanation. 

You got out of the bed, bouncing on the balls of your feet and wringing out your hands. The three marauders had different expressions on their faces. You puffed up your cheeks before taking a breath. Remus, Peter, and Sirius leaned their backs against the wall to let you know they were ready to listen. James’ mouth dropped open when you ran. 

“She stole my slippers,” he said while the others were howling in laughter. 

Your roommates jumped when the door suddenly opened. 

“Hi,” you said as you grabbed a bunch of stuff before leaving again. “Bye.” 

You came back to the marauders’ dorm with your hands full. They watched you set up an easel and a large notepad. 

“Why do you even have this?” Remus asked as you flipped to a blank page. 

“For pattern making but sometimes I let Charlotte borrow it. She makes portraits of all of us for practice.” 

You directed the three boys to sit on James’ bed while you pulled James up. The others were wondering what you were possibly doing because James blocked most of the board. Eventually, the two of you moved to the side. 

“James plus Y/N equals question marks?” Sirius asked. “So you’re dating?” 

“So you really tried to ask Xeno for a threesome?” Remus asked. 

You said yes while James said no. 

“Yes and no,” you tried to recover, seeing an out that would allow you to stick to the script. “Yes we asked Xeno for a threesome, no we aren’t dating.” 

“Sooo…” 

“It was a spur of the moment decision. Everyone makes it such a big deal and we just wanted to get it over with so we thought to just do it with each other.” 

“But neither of us know what we’re doing exactly.” James started to catch on. “So we were just going to ask Xeno since he definitely wouldn’t care.”  

Instead of writing your detailed dating plan on the next blank sheet, you made up a bunch of shit. 

“James wanted to explore his sexuality and I wanted to try a few kinks of sorts… These. So, yeah.” 

“Again,” Sirius said. “You could have just asked.” 

Remus stood up, placing hands on both of your shoulders. “Just because everyone teases you about being virgins, doesn’t mean you have to have sex. We’ll stop if it makes you feel better but I really don’t think a threesome is the right idea.” 

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” James muttered. “So, who’s feeling Hogsmeade?” 

“Me!” you said before grabbing your wand and leaving to go get changed. 

“You, especially. You need greasy food in your system or that hangover will be worse.” 

As you all walked to Hogsmeade, the rest of the marauders fell a bit behind you and James. You were listening to a quidditch story of his. At some point over the summer, the two of you decided being real friends was important to sell the story. You both couldn’t just laugh at the expected moments before people realized it was a script. It was important to actually hang out. 

“So do you think they’ve already slept with each other? We all know the threesome thing is a lie, right?” Remus asked as they watched James tie your shoe for you since you were in a short skirt. 

Peter nodded. “Totally a lie. But we would’ve known if they were a thing by now.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Prongs writes everything in his diary. The last time he did that was on the train when Lily gave him a thank you card for hosting the summer party. He would most definitely write a five page soliloquy if he finally had sex. Besides, Ja—” 

“Lily!” James yelled before leaving you to try and catch up with the redhead. You started walking back to them. 

Sirius frowned. “If you were embarrassed about passing out in his bed, you could have just told us not to mention it.” 

“I guess we didn’t think of that.” 

“Clearly.” Sirius threw his arm around your shoulder. “Come one, let’s go get you some cheesy pasta before you throw up on yourself.”

(part 3)

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[allastoredeer]

If it's not too much work, could you share what your outlining process is like? I always feel a little lost when I try outlining my fics and I know the process is different for everyone but I feel like it would help to know what others do. Every time I try to google help I get processes for original novel writing, and it doesn't feel as applicable to writing a short fanfic.

I would love to :3

There are actually a few different ways I outline, and sometimes it depends on the length of the fic and how complex the plot is.

I'll use one of my saved radiostatic prompts as an example (it also gives me an excuse to sit down and actually outline it hehe)

So, sometimes just the prompt itself is a good enough outline for me (this is dependent on how long I think the fic is going to be. If it's short, sometimes the prompt itself works and I don't need to go in-depth. I say "prompt" but that also can mean a specific scene in your head that you want to write, or a concept, or even a piece of fan-art that inspired you).

Here's the paragraph prompt I wrote for this radiostatic one-shot/short fic (spoilers, I guess):

So sometimes, just this is enough for me to start writing the fic (my prompts do tend to get a little big because I like to add a lot of detail - about the scene or concept that grabbed my attention - so that I capture all the vibes and emotions that I want to incorporate.

But sometimes, it helps to go more in-depth so I'm not overwhelmed trying to get to the part of the fic that I want to write (NOTE: It is totally fine if you write out the scene/parts that you want to write the most, even if it's in the middle or the end. You can always fill in the blanks after. Or you can just post the scene you wanted to write without adding more. It's up to you).

I like to figure out what scenes happen that lead up to the parts I want to write, so sometimes, I'll make a bullet-point list of chronological scenes, plot-points, and details. For example:

And etc... you continue on until you've hashed out the sequence of events that take place in the story. This doesn't have to be super detailed (it can be really brief and to the point) and doesn't it have to be super clinical either. Just have fun and write down whatever silly thoughts you have in your head.

You bullet-point list can be as simple as:

Alastor goes downstairs to do exercise.

Vox shows up to do the exercise as well (invited by Charlie)

They get into an argument about modern technology.

Vox leaves.

It's really just about putting down the sequence of events starting from the very beginning to the very end. You can keep it simple like the above example

OR

You can make it even more detailed by doing an in-depth summary of the fic, scene by scene, plot point by plot point, until you get to the end (this is what I usually do because it gets everything planned out and on the page, down to the smallest details). For example:

And then it goes on like this until I've outlined the entire fic. You can be silly with this. Just have fun. Let yourself ramble and get all you're ideas out. Don't try to stick to a rigid plan, let the story flow naturally.

Then, once I've finished my outline, I use it as a guide as I write the rough draft. The thing about outlines is that you don't have to follow exactly what you planned. It's okay to diverge or adds things or cut things out. It really is just a loose guide to help you through the events of the story and get your thoughts on paper.

Additionally: You don't even have to fully finish the outline if you don't want to. Sometimes you get half of it done before you want to start writing, and that's fine. The rest of the story will reveal itself as you go.

If I'm doing a multi-chaptered fic, sometimes I'll break the overall idea of the story into pre-determined chapters and summarize it section by section. Or, I'll just be a maniac and summarize the entire fic in one big, super long, super detailed block of text. Another staticradio fic I'm currently outlining is 16,152 words long and I'm not even close to being done. I expected this fic to get super long and complex, so writing it out in a very chronological and detailed manner helps it feel less daunting. AND now I have every plot point, twist, emotional scene, and bit foreshadowing planned out and already placed where I want it to show up in the fic. It's great. It makes me life easier when I actually buckle down and write the rough draft.

Just as a final note, I want to say that everyone's process is different. This is how I outline, but I know it won't work for everyone. It's all about finding what method works for you.

I'll say that one of the most important to do while outlining is simply having fun with it. Make it your hype list. Make every scene you jot down a scene you're excited to write. Make yourself want to write it so it doesn't feel like a chore to slog through.

Best advice I've ever recieved: If you're bored writing a scene, the audience will be bored reading it.

Have fun and write the story you wanna write 👉👉

Hope this helped!

[blorbo-from-the-cosmos]

Hello Everyone!

* . . *. . . *. . . *. * . * 🌙 . *. . * .

I decided to compile a list of some of my favorite manifestations that I’ve gotten since I was last regularly active on this account. Feel free to send asks if you’d like me to elaborate on any of them, as I won’t be doing too much of that here :)

* . . *. . . *. . . *. * . * 🌙 . *. . * .

I. PHYSICAL

Clear Skin

A no brainer, I feel, in the manifesting community. I was one of those kids growing up who got acne before anyone else, it was persistent all throughout my adolescence and into adulthood. One day I just got sick of all the burning, itching, dryness, oiliness, and overall feeling of how much I hated my own appearance. So, I gave up. I literally decided I did not care and if my skin was meant to clear up it simply would and I left it at that a few years ago.

Cue to now, I constantly get compliments on how smooth and radiant my skin is. People always comment on how it looks bouncy and natural dewy. Go figure

Tattoos

I’d always wanted tattoos but was scared to go alone and intimidated by the prices. I remember adding a few tattoos I was inspired by into my yearly manifesting Pinterest board (I can elaborate on this later if you would like) and sort of forgetting about it. Since then, I’ve had 3 opportunities with different friends and artists for cheap yet lovely flash tattoos. I’m currently working on a more detailed piece and simply waiting to manifest an artist closer to my house to do the job :)

Straight Teeth

A work in progress. I had a very unfortunate snaggle tooth and essentially zigzagging lower teeth as a child, went through the fun of traditional braces, and at the end of it my teeth never got 100% fully straight when they removed them. My retainer stopped fitting shortly after, and my teeth went back to a (thankfully not as bad but) similar state. I’d always been self conscious of my smile and it got to the point where I’d avoid opening my mouth at all for irrational fear of judgment. I was too old to be on my parents insurance and did not have the funds to pay treatment as an adult.

Lo and behold, through my job I was able to get name brand Invisalign for a fraction of the cash price and my smile (again, while still a work in progress) has never been better. Apart from the physical change through the aligners, Ive also manifested them to be whiter and healthier when they definitely weren’t before.

Tweaking Facial Features

I’m gonna just put them in one category, but I essentially tweaked my eyebrows, lashes, eyes, lips, and nose. Nothing super dramatic, sorry to disappoint, but I always thought they fit my face just not in the size they came in if that makes sense? I realized recently that my eyebrows are incredibly sleek and well maintained for someone who doesn’t take care of them more than plucking them every few weeks. My lashes (when curled) are way longer than they’ve ever been, my nose is the slightest bit smaller and therefore more complimentary to my face, and my lips are poutier and nicer than before (they’re always hydrated and plump). I also noticed my face chiseled out a bit, as someone who has always had a rounded baby face, but that could’ve also just been long overdue for my age haha

Nicer Hands & Less Body Hair

Little about me, I’m Hispanic. So, my genetics lovingly gave me an abundance of thick and dark body hair all across the way. I’m not here to tell you being hairless is better than not because it genuinely should be up to you personally, but for ME it is a sensory issue having body hair (I hate the way it feels rubbing against clothes or catching in things ugh). Tmi but even my hands were quite hairy, with my arm hair thinning yet continuing to about halfway up the back of my hand.

Soon enough, using the same “fine I give up” mentality, I noticed that (while still hairy lol) my hair doesn’t grow in as thick not as much as it used to. I literally looked at my legs the other day and realized it’s been probably over a month since I’ve shaved them but the hair grew in all sparse which is super unusual. Same with my hands, my fingers no longer look knobby and and scrawny like they used to, but they are quite elegant and I’ve actually received recent compliments on them which made me have that realization.

Ideal Hair

This one isn’t too dramatic as I’ve always been blessed with thick and healthy hair, but more so the fact that I dyed and cut it myself at home quite frequently and yet no matter what I do to it it remains as healthy and thick as ever. I alone made the attempt to go nearly platinum blonde at home, meaning I was using volume 30(?) developer by myself with zero experience on actually bleaching my hair (I dyed it often but always got the bleaching done at a salon). I think I did a total of 3 sessions within a two week time span where I left the bleach on about an hour per session and not only did it come out unscathed, people regularly ask me what salon I had it done at because they apparently can’t tell it was an at home job lol

II. Material

this one will be a fast round !

iPad Pro & newer iPhone with 513GB for a fraction of the retail price

Brand new gaming PC & ideal gaming setup

Brand new Docs

Ideal jewelry

Ideal closet staples & ideal shoes

A new car, partially gifted

Collection of amazing perfumes, all gifted

A diploma I definitely didn’t deserve because I should have failed it tbh lol

Fairy lights for my room, gifted

My perfect shades of makeup staples, all gifted 🫶🏼

Art supplies & kits, mostly gifted

A book I’d been dying to read, gifted

A random $2 pay raise I didn’t even ask for & that wasn’t due within that time frame (but am definitely not complaining about lol)

III. Miscellaneous

another fast round because I have to be somewhere and also my brain is blanking listing these out haha

The light is always green for me or about to turn green, this one never fails me and my friends/family all think I’m just really lucky 🍀

Even when I just rolled out of bed, I look amazing and even my panic lazy outfits look great

People are intimidated yet awed by me, I get a lot of people surprised when I’m nice to them and get told I always look busy and they don’t want to disturb my peace when in reality I just didn’t wanna talk to anyone haha. This one is important as someone who’s always had a “cutesy” demeanor who really dislikes social interactions

I always smell good, has saved me when I run out of the house and realize in a panic I didn’t use enough deodorant lmao. It sounds like a joke but I swear Ive even had people who I know to be brutally honest smell me and I’ve never been told I smell bad

Going to concerts, raves, and clubs (again, I was always socially awkward and didn’t have friends who were willing to do these things with me). On that note…

… a new friend group! I love my childhood friends but we are all a bunch of hermits and I really went through an era where I wanted to have fun and enjoy my 20’s, hence this new group of the loveliest and craziest people I absolutely love 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Trips to NYC & San Diego. Before I discovered manifesting I rarely ever left my city, let alone the state. The trips were everything I could’ve hoped for and I’m currently manifesting about 3 more this year!

Passing grades in classes I definitely didn’t earn them in 😬

Money, specifically money Ive saved. I’m not sharing the quantity just for personal safety reasons, but I will say I probably have more money saved alone than all my friends do combined

* . . *. . . *. . . *. * . * 🌙 . *. . * .

So, there’s that! I’m actively manifesting many other things as well, specifically a new high paying job, my dream apartment in Seattle, and a significant other as I’m finally in a place where I feel ready for a relationship 🫶🏼 mark my words I’ll have a success post about these soon >:)

Let me know if you guys have any questions, and comment below your favorite manifestations so we can all inspire each other! -love, Blorbo

[diana-fortyseven]

Why not enhance your fanfic reading experience with a fun challenge?

Generate your own Fanfic Reading Bingo Card and try to finish it over a timespan of your choice (e.g. during your next family gathering).

Details & instructions under the cut

Generate a new bingo card until you're (mostly) happy with the results. You can re-roll every single bingo field separately by clicking/tapping on it. When you have a card that fits your reading habits (or takes you out of your comfort zone, if you want to challenge yourself), take a screenshot of the card to keep it. Closing the page and reloading it will reset the card.

There are no fanfic-negative or bashing items in the lists. This bingo card is meant to be a positive experience and celebrate fanfiction and fanworks in general.

It's just a little practice piece I made for funsies mostly over the weekend, with some finishing touches earlier today. I will add more content over the next few days and weeks (and let's be realistic, probably months), but everything that's currently in there should already work as intended.

The bingo generator is responsive, which means it should work on desktop and mobile. The mobile layout isn't ideal yet, I'm trying my best to make it better (but I'd also still consider myself a newbie and I'm learning by doing).

The platform I'm using, Perchance, recently added AI options for their generators. This is a regrettable decision that I don't condone, and I'd like to emphasise that this generator is 100% handcrafted chaos.

Leaving the NSFW checkbox unchecked should remove all NSFW tags and tropes, but you could still come across content you find objectionable. Leaving the AO3 Tags checkbox unchecked removes all tags, but you could still come across tropes you find objectionable.

If you run into any issues or come across any bugs, please let me know. If you find something that should be in the NSFW category, but isn't, please also let me know. It's possible that I missed a few tags when I worked through the list. (But don't ask me to remove content you find objectionable.)

What do the checkboxes mean?

NSFW is basically what it says on the tin. If you tick this box, the NSFW tropes will be added to the mix. If you also ticked the AO3 Tags box, NSFW AO3 tags will be added.

AO3 Tags is also what it says on the tin. It's a list with roughly 1,000 AO3 tags. Around 250 of them are currently marked NSFW and can only be generated if you ticked both the NSFW box and the AO3 Tags box.

Stats & Meta currently only includes the lists "length" (contains wordcounts ranging from drabble to >500k) and "meta", which currently contains items like "a work with a song lyrics title" or "a work in a series". I will probably add other lists to that category at some point.

The already populated lists are:

challenge (various challenges and events like Yuletide, Whumptober)

creator (items like favourite author, anon creator)

discovery (various ways you could've found a fic)

fandom (ranging from tiny fandom to megafandom, also options like old fandom, inactive fandom, etc)

length (wordcounts from drabble to over 500k)

medium (items like podfic, fandom meta, fic with fanart)

meta (a fic's front-end and stats, also "citrus scale for rating" xD)

platform (where you read the fic)

reader (your relationship with the fic; is it your comfort fic, or your first fic in a fandom?)

style (chatfic, iambic pentameter, custom workskin, stuff like that)

trope (roughly 100 tropes)

tag (roughly 1,000 AO3 tags)

Lists that are currently planned, but empty:

canon (probably stuff like anime fandom, video game fandom, etc)

category (planned to add the AO3 categories and maybe Archive Warnings to this list)

content (might be scrapped, might be populated with some items moved over from other lists)

genre (what it says on the tin)

setting (where or when does the fic take place)

It's possible that I come up with more ideas for more lists at one point.

I had lots of fun making it, and I hope that you'll have fun with it. If you're using it, let me know when you got a bingo! :D

If you have fannish accounts on there (or don't mind inflicting fandom on your regular followers), you can also share the Fanfic Reading Bingo on Twitter, Mastodon, and Bluesky! :D

[sleepyblr-heart]

not on anon because i am a brave little boy . but i really love your adventure forward point designs, they might be my favorite depictions of them ! are you fine with me asking what inspired them? theyre very inspiring to me personally and i'd like to know your thought process on them %]

yes. of course. i love having autism. i’ll organize it in a little list because otherwise it would be 26 pages of me talking about nothing

General point things:

- all (non-pure) points have a mask with their point on them. they’re like fused to their face or whatever. i wanted it to reinforce the theme of identity, and the points having used to be people before this.

- the pure points are all based on an object. passless is a roll of film, morward is a crystal ball, yawgate is a star gate, and voixer is a crack. it was originally unintentional, but after designing morward and yawgate i realized it would be awesome.

- points and how human they look generally connect to how closely they feel human. in my mind the points shapeshift based on their state of mind. it’s slow. you can see it best with ulipse and ixol i think, since those are the two who i feel are the most other-ed by the other points (mainly cyalm) for the majority of the game. i think the only one who doesn’t really follow this rule is arrolin, but yknow what arrolin can be a dragon bc they are awesome.

- color pallets were mostly limited to a point’s gradient and symbol color. There was def some shifting for the more neon points (why does arrolin have to have such a bright red and green bro) and accent colors were added for others (ulipse is all purple/blue basically. i’m not cursing them like that)

- a lot of aspects are inspired by other designs. the pure points esp were directly inspired by gaycyalm’s pure point designs. because they are AWESOME !!! i don’t remember who inspired what for most other points so uhm woops

going in order now

shallare:

- unfortunately not a lot to say. they’re a very basic design. prolly my most basic.

- they’re just a mechanic i dunno what to tell you.

- though, the one detail i like is their background on their apron.

- i was going to redesign them at some point, i had a few sketches. the main difference was that they had a prosthetic arm that was like cobbled together and powered by a big ass battery on their back. it’s awesome. maybe i’ll draw it again idk

signol:

- unfortunately also one of my more basic designs. neither of these two have much to work with personality wise. which sucks. i love shallare.

- they have an outfit associated with jazz. the buttons on their outfit are their symbol. not much else to point out sorry 💔

compale:

- ok this one is actually fun

- compale a outfit is inspired by inuit clothing. everything about is almost taken from it directly, in fact.

- the thing that hangs from compales waist that i can’t remember the name of has part of a compass, and is supposed to represent the north star.

- i will be so honest i didn’t realize anything about compale’s symbol changed in their true form. i thought their gradient just swapped. and that’s why i didn’t design a true form for them. wooos

ploque:

- besides the obvious woodworker things, i think the only thing i can point out is that they have a saw shaped hair tie and that’s awesome. sorry ploque fans

anshine:

- obvious angel motif, shares a similar halo with the angels themselves

- anshine is FAT and a TRANS WOMAN!!!!!! because i LOVE THEM!!!

- like genuinely anshine and maynot are number 1 trnasgenders. i really wish that in the game about identity that we got at least one person who was trans. because why wouldn’t we.

- i wanted purposefully to stay away from the mayor outfits other people had on their anshine designs at least partially for this reason. and also because i feel like it’s a bit silly ascending your city into Actual Heaven and then Not getting a sick outfit change.

- anshine is the only other character i’d say breaks the ‘relation to humanity = how human you look’ rule, because i didn’t have it in mind yet, but i think the idea of humanity itself changed over time for them thanks to seeing humanity literally evolve in front of their eyes

ulipse:

- ok. this is a big one.

- ulipse has a lot of goat theming (boots and horns being the main part). this is mainly due to how i bee ulipse as having a low self esteem and in a way demonizing themselves to the point where they literally show ‘demonic’ features

- ulipse outfit is representative of how close off they are, you can’t see much of their body and they wear clothes that are loose fitting so things like their arms are hard to make out, They’re hard to make out

- i didn’t have reference of how the pre-points looked as i was designing the points and i thought umbra had a pony tail, which inspired the smoke thing on ulipse’s head

- ulipse’s true form almost literally has them breaking out of their shell. they show a lot more skin, their hair is taken down, truely another Transgender™️ moment

(fun fact: apparently me and voixyy (i think that’s how you spell their name) had the same idea when it comes to ulipse’s horns. i don’t think we were inspired by the other but it was really funny looking at the wishing stars au blog and seeing just Mh Fucking Guy)

mino:

- i don’t like my mino design that much. i will be truthful. i like mino a lot but they’re prolly the most boring design of mine.

- main inspirations were lego and r15 roblox characters

- mino is teeny because it would make it easier to reach into the small spaces in their machinery. and because it was funny.

- i don’t draw it often but mino has a whole gaggle of gadgets they use to make communication easier. mostly screens that project them that move around near eye level and drone like things (similar to dr.egg man ig) that carry them

arrolin:

- obviously took a lot of inspiration from a specific chinese outfit which i cannot remember the name of at this moment

- i deliberately avoided giving arrolin wings because the chinese dragons i had seen never had them and i wanted to remain accurate to that. they can still fly tho. because they deserve it.

ixol:

- so let’s start off with the fact ixol’s a freak

- they are the person who is most disliked in the emporium by a long shot, for mostly sound reasons.

- over time being isolated from like. living people and abstract beings being your main company. i think you’d get fucked up too

- i think ixol is really the only point that can shapeshift when they want. i think it’s a good way to represent how ixol’s mind is ‘broken’ or whatever.

- they do use it just to fuck with people. btw.

- they don’t use the normal form i had drawn them with in the original reference like. ever. it was mostly just to fuck with the 2ss.

- i wanted at one point to redesign ixol. or like reimagine what parts of them look like because god. they are a little boring. but i for the life of me could not figure out what to change. this id just the perfect ixol in my mind i guess

naen and solgon

/ they get to share this because they’re boring and i don’t like them

- i know someone pointed it out when i first showed off their designs. but on they’re little belt chain things solgon has little power up charms and naen had 8 red coins and a star. because i thought it was funny

- these two took the most inspiration from other designs. because i don’t like them and i had no clue what to give them.

- i very intentionally avoided any kinda ‘money hungry ceo’ or ‘super fancy rich guy’ aesthics that i saw other people have. because naen. doesn’t do that???? like they’re just a cashier idk where people get the idea they have the money to afford fancy clothes. bro is paid minimum wage

- both of them do try to look fancier then they actually are tho. mainly in their matching top hat headbands.

- solgon has a bunch of punctuation littered across their design. idk why solgon has punctuation in their background but it gave me Something to work with so i’ll take it.

yawgate:

- as i mentioned before they were inspired by gay cyalm’s design (and are the pure point most heavily inspired)

- was an object before being an object was cool

- fingers are very much inspired by peridot of steven universe fame. cause why not

- i really like my yawgate but i don’t have much to say about them,.. i sorry 💔

morward and passless:

- they get to share this one not because i don’t like them but because they have a grand total of 10 text boxes between them

- these ones took me so long to get right bro. it was so bad.

- passless’ body was based off those old baby dolls, the ones with the plush body and like porcelain limbs and morward’s is a lava lamp

- they are very much supposed to contrast each other as much as possible due to the past/future theming. passless is round and morward is sharp. morward is a skinny fuck while morward is a fat fuck. you get it. they are like mario and luigi only cooler

voixer:

- man i mean they of the hour

- i went through a lot of iterations when making voixer. originally they were going to be based on an ink bottle instead of a crack but i couldn’t figure out how to do it in a way i thought fit them well.

- i’m still not entirely sure about the crack idea either. but i really cannot think of anything better of them.

- i wanted to make sure their true form literally showed the piece of cyalm they were forced to have in them.

- it’s like a self made mockery

cyalm/celesteal:

- this bitch

- so the main point of cyalm’s normal form is to lure the 2ss into a sense of safety. like cyalm is someone who can be trusted without a doubt

- the bath robe is supposed to be kinda hiding their actual clothing, though you can still see it despite how (poorly) cyalm tries to hide it.

- unlike the other points also, you can see the strap holing cyalm’s mask on.

- cyalm’s second form is mainly just a transition between forms. not much to say unfortunately.

- celesteal.

- based mostly on fencing outfits, meant to look as different from cyalm as possible. any stars that were on cyalm’s outfit are replaced with their symbol. bc really it was all about them from the start.

- in my mind celesteal’s mask is shattered after the first phase. hence, showing off what they really look like

stratosfear:

- i leaned very heavily into the scorpion theme because god they really only used it for the tail. their outfit is directly based off scorpion anatomy

- they have a bunch of scars across the entirety of their body meant to represent the weird slash things on their af1 design

- i totally didn’t realize strat was Blue when designing them. i thought they were like fully grey. but i like my design too much to change it.

bonus things (guys that aren’t points or aren’t in af2 but i wanna talk about anyways)

red x:

- as you might have noticed cyalm doesn’t follow the pure-point rule of being based on an object. dont worry! church+stained glass window be upon ye!

- i planned at some point to mess w/ celesteal’s design to be more in line with red x, but i never finished it. it’s sick tho trust

verfextion:

- i don’t like how verfection was planned to be in vain revival. i think having a second stratosfear would’ve been boring and it would’ve contradicted the fact cyalm was the only person who could turn people into points

- my version of verfection is a 2ss who feels like they have failed, running away from the points and hiding their identity so they don’t have to face their mistakes head on. when the possibility of cyalm returning comes they are quick to make sure that they don’t fail again.

- their outfit stay mostly the same. but unlike the other points they don’t have an unatural skin tone and their mask has a strap. because they aren’t a point.

blueband:

- what if we took maynot and made her evil. wouldn’t that be fucked up or what.

- i have always had the opinion that blueband is a creation of cyalm’s. i don’t care what the wiki says they don’t cite their SOURCES!!!

- as such i made him look like maynot. because i think it would be a very celesteal thing to make someone who looks like ur dead gf give you the task that dooms you

pre-point things:

- despair, cynocurna and umbra are gods. of destruction, winter, and the moon specifically. because i thought it was like the easiest explanation as to why they’re stronger than the other points.

- umbra looks normal because they ran away from their duties sorryyyy

- they also all have a bird theming in their true forms. despair being the most apparent since they are literally a harpy

- all the other pre-points are as normal as normal can be. like actually half of them are just like cashiers.

- also half of them are transgender