#mine: sneak peek sunday

[backslashdelta]

Thank you @cryscendo for the tag! I haven't written much in the last few weeks, but I do have a few sentences of something new I can share. I suspect you'll know the context ;) and we're sticking to 6 sentences exactly!

“I disrespected you, sir,” Kurt says quietly.

“That’s right. What made you think that was okay? You think you can trade yourself for personal favours like a whore?”

“No, sir.”

“That’s right,” Elliott says, and he lifts Kurt’s face with a hand under his chin until their eyes meet. “Because you’re mine to trade.”

It's actually no longer Sunday anymore for me so I won't be tagging anyone, but if you see this and want to share some writing (or art!) feel free to consider yourself tagged!

[memescomicswriting]

It's Nice to Have A Friend

Fate is cruel on how it goes about obtaining its desires. It must be fate, because there is no other explanation for how perfectly molded Y/N and Helaena are to one another. They complement one another like opposite sides of a coin. Where Helaena is shy, Y/N is outgoing. Helaena has a photographic memory. Y/N has emotional inteligence. They have the right temperament to be the missing piece in one another’s lives. Ying and Yang. Then there are the boys. Love them or hate them, they’re there. Even the adults cannot escape the Targaryen chaos, and the fallout doesn’t spare the minors simply because they’re adolescents. Follow how Y/N and those around her carve out lives for themselves amongst the weight of the Targaryen legacy in a modern Westeros.

Pairings: Aegon x Y/N, Aemond x Y/N, hints of Jace x Y/N, Platonic! Helaena x Y/N, Father Figure! Harwin x Y/N, Mother Figure! Rhaneyra x Y/N, Mother Figure! Alicent x Y/N

Warnings: 18+ you’ve been warned

Lots of profanity, sexual innuendos, drug and alcohol use, boys being stupid jerks, infidelity, divorce, eventual smut

Word count: 32.9k and counting

Background Information

Preview

Sneak Peek Sundays

AO3

Chapter 1: I Got Wasted Like All My Potential

Chapter 2: There's Many Different Ways That You Can Kill The One You Love

Chapter 3: Everything Has Changed

Chapter 4: You Weren’t Mine To Lose

Chapter 5: My Heart, My Hips, My Body, My Love

Chapter 6.1: My Words Shoot to Kill When I'm Mad

6.2: I Have A Lot Of Regrets About That

[arise-children-angel-is-here]

Master post! (Some stuff are OLD so bare with me here-)

Through out my time on Tumblr I have talked to so many awesome people! You should follow them and check out their blogs too! It is also a must to check out @somerandomdudelmao c.a.s if you haven't! Have a great day.

Reminder if you use my art plz credit me! <333

Almost forgot the sparkles! ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

List of people to follow (I will keep adding on to this so you guys know :]) (you gotta earn a spot here by simply interacting with me!)

Who knew humans are so fun and goofy?

@meowph-132 @madzrottmnt @beewasdeleted @tistic-hellspwn @notjustdragonspages @thetmnt101 @bftpl @auggie-arts @artistheworld @daddyricsdoll @cuddlebugmonster @qeelovestea @bossbabyfan2 @thatrottmntdonnieguy @m3l0man14c @mikey-rottmnt @risewriter @ghostytoad @sanfezu @diona-98 @rosekatara @justmesadlysry @mikebeanz @fluffyr0cky @save-rottmnt 😭 @ofthefrogs @ender-outlaw @ilikestarfoxturtles @flowerblossom22 @animal-lover-forever @gamerblade1 @mistermertensophryne @taperecorder-gizmo @darkdull59 @finleyforevermore @sk1nand-b0nes

ARTISTS BATTLE? (Idk anymore)

-------------------------------------------------------

Here's some of the stuff I did:

Sona stuffs:

[Sona designs and reactions sheet 1]

[Sona designs and reactions sheet 2]

Old design refs! Old ref thingy idk

Kraang apocalypse design thingy (idk)

NEWEST SONA REF!!!

Some sona art, more art, spidersona spidersona updated

1, 2,

Animations:

A lil animation :> [it's totally Canon guys] Another one.... Another one [cat silly] Something I guess 🤷🏾‍♀️ undertale meme

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Literally Rottmnt based:

Pb + J duo!!! [A lil silly I made :>]

The....turtle boys? (Wtaf am I doing?): 1, 2, 3, 4

The turtle bois but better because kawaii is better than romance: 1, 2, 3, 4

Other arts!: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,

SOME YUMMY ANGST 😋

MORE ANGST FOR THE HUNGRY SOUL

Comic thing: wip sneak peek. Finished. Another thing :3 Disaster twins

Nah,

something interesting <:D

Donnie reactions, draw this man some pupils please 🙏 (no time limit lol)

Incorrect quotes for the heck of it:

Pasta 💀,

Idk random off topic rottmnt?:

Eep progress. Eep completed

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Other very interesting stuff:

Randomness: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

Is traditional art not digital?: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

Sillies: 1, 2, 3, 4,

Crochet projects: 1, 2,

Phone back grounds: 1, 2, 3,

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RANDOM GIF SUNDAY!:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

DTIYS!!! [no time limit <3]

This deserved to be here too (not mine): this

[f1version]

wip... sunday?

note: i saw a couple of moots posting their wips so here are mine! these are fics i'll hopefully be posting in the next two/three/maybe four weeks. i've been working on them for a while, trying to get over my block and waiting to have some free time so yeah let me know which one you think you’ll like the most! 💞

• HISTORY — MV1 x teammate!reader ( smau )

• WAR OF HEARTS — CL16 x engineer!reader ( one shot )

• LIGHTNING MCHAMPION — CL16 x wife!reader ( smau, part 4 in life is a highway )

• YOU BELONG WITH ME — YT22 x gf!reader ( smau )

• TE QUERER TANTO — LH44 x brazilian!reader ( smau, part of amar x100pre )

• DRIVER PROFILES — DTN SERIES ( part of drive the night )

ft. sneak peek!

[rainbow-nerdss]

Today's inspiration Saturday/sentence sunday is just the fact that I HAVE BEEN FIGHTING WITH THIS EPILOGUE FOR WEEKS AND JUST FOUND A DOC I MADE IN J U L Y WITH THE WHOLE THING FULLY PLANNED OUT.

I was tagged by: @steadfastsaturnsrings @wildlife4life @daffi-990 @diazsdimples @spotsandsocks @wikiangela 💙

anyway, here's a sneak peek:

Chris checks the time, then grins. “Dad, we’ve gotta go!” “What?” Eddie is confused, but Chris is already up and halfway to the entryway. He sits down, starting to put his shoes on. “C’mon, it’s time!” “Time for what?” Eddie insists. “You’ll see when we get there! Come on! Buck’s waiting for us!” Eddie can’t get any more out of him, but he shrugs. This must be whatever they’d been plotting. “Okay, sure. Let’s go.” Chris insists on taking control of navigation, pulling up the directions and refusing to give Eddie more than one turn at a time. After an hour of driving in circles, Eddie notices a familiar cross street. “Chris, are we just going home?” he asks. Chris bursts out laughing, and Eddie fights back a wave of irritation. “Yeah, very funny, kid.” Eddie drives back home without further direction from Chris, spotting Buck’s jeep parked in the drive. Had he been in on this prank? Eddie makes a mental note to get him back later as he makes his way inside behind Chris, who’d bolted in as soon as they parked, no doubt in an effort to escape. The house is transformed, lit with the Christmas lights which should still be in the attic at this time of year.

And I'll tag (no pressure!): @disasterbuckdiaz @exhuastedpigeon @theotherbuckley @aspecbuddie @thewolvesof1998 @loserdiaz @kwills91 @trenchcoatsandtimetravel @devirnis @sunflowerdiaiz @lover-of-mine @liabegins @kiti-the-warrior-poet @lovelettertothewise @slowlyfoggydestiny @buddieboos

Hope you've all had a good weekend so far 😁

[mistresslrigtar]

WIP Wednesday!

My current 20-chapter WIP (which is complete!) and has weekly updates! While it's a sequel, it can be read as a stand-alone since it's a brand new story arc (for the most part).

You can read chapters one and two HERE. Next update will be Wednesday, September 18. (for those who are following, I'm changing the posting day. Sunday isn't working out so well.)

Summary:

As Zelda begins her doctoral fellowship at the Ghirahim Institute, she finds its founder’s intentions toward her may extend beyond professional admiration. Meanwhile, Link is forced to step in as the frontman for his band, Hyrule Warriors, when crucial member Revali decides to go solo.

They'll face the ultimate test of their relationship when they find themselves juggling their demanding careers and being caught in the midst of a scandalous tabloid storm.

Chapter Three sneak peek:

Zelda’s flight is already boarding by the time they arrive at the main building, and check the departure board. Thankfully it’s a small terminal with only seven gates and her’s is right by the entrance. Grabbing the handle of her suitcase, she hurries toward the check-in counter, Link following close behind. He takes her hand as they pass by a group of teenage girls waiting for a shuttle bus. Their eyes light up when they see him, and begin whispering excitedly, pointing and giggling. 

Zelda can still feel their eyes on them even after they’ve moved by, and glancing over her shoulder is shocked when one of them gives her a dirty look. She refrains from rolling her eyes when she turns back to Link. “Fans of yours?” 

“Beats the hell out of me,” Link says with a shrug, squeezing her hand. “You’re the only fan of mine I care about.”

“Who says I’m a fan?” Zelda snickers when his bright blue eyes widen at her teasing tone.

“Hurtful.” A playful grin tugs at his lips when he leans in to give her a kiss.

[softboynick]

sentence sunday - 3/24/24

i got distracted by my rwrb big bang and i almost forgot, but thank you for the tags @priincebutt @onthewaytosomewhere @eusuntgratie @bigassbowlingballhead @itsmaybitheway @captainjunglegym @taste-thewaste @anincompletelist i see you and your wips make me go insane!!! 💜💜💜💜

also happy early birthday to my sunshine darling, alex claremont-diaz. you can try to take celebrating fictional characters' birthdays out of my grubby little hands.

here's a sneak peek from chapter 5 of a beautiful chance to celebrate:

“Earlier,” Henry speaks up after a beat. “You said this phrase in Spanish. What did it mean?”  “Hm?” “I know I’m going to butcher the pronunciation, so don’t laugh at me, but… You said something about… er, casual…lidad?” “Oh.” Alex’s chest rumbles beneath his ear with a soft chuckle. “Fuiste, eres, y siempre serás, mi más bonita casualidad.” “Yes,” Henry nods, feeling a warmth spread like wildfire throughout his body when he hears it again. “That one.” “It means…” Alex pauses, and Henry tilts his head back to find him staring wistfully up at the ceiling, a gentle curve to his lips. He watches him as long, curling lashes flutter across high cheekbones, a pink tongue peeks through full lips to swipe at his bottom lip, and a breath releases through flared nostrils.  Henry drags the tip of his pointer finger along the bump of his Adam’s apple, feeling him swallow underneath his touch. He presses a kiss to his shoulder, his golden brown skin warm against his lips. He breathes in—cinnamon, magnolias, and burning wood—and suddenly, he thinks he is home.  Then, Alex says, quietly into the still air, “You were, you are, and you always will be, my most beautiful chance.” Tears prickle at his eyes, and Henry smiles. “And you are mine,” he whispers.

OPEN TAG because it's a little too late in the game to tag anyone <3

[therealgchu]

Snippet Sunday - Seven Days style

giving everyone a sneak peek into Day 6 for Snippet Sunday.

we're almost to the end. chapter 6 is 75% done; chapter 7 is finished.

read Seven Days from the beginning here on ao3.

my other fics live here on ao3.

tagging the coemancer crew, and anyone that has any fics they'd like to share.

sneaky peeky

“Funny thing about relationships. People assume the dominant one always has the power. But, that’s frequently not true. It’s the submissive one that usually does. I mean, so long as the relationship isn’t abusive.” He scratched his beard, realizing he hadn’t seen a mirror in six days, and wondered what a sight he must look. “With me and Lillian, people always thought that I was the one in control, I was a Coe, after all. But I wasn’t. It was Lillian calling all the shots. I’m generally an easy-going guy. I mostly didn’t care. But she cared about everything. All. The. Time. So, it was easier to just let her have her way. Then Cora came along. And I started caring.

“I’m assuming your Sam had a similar past as mine? Met Lillian while smuggling? She came in and saved his ass?” The woman nodded. “Yeah. I was pretty self-destructive at that age. Really, really fucked up. If you’re not a total idiot, you can actually learn a lot about yourself when you hit rock bottom, though it took awhile to figure it out. Like, I got really into some kinky sex. Just kinda let myself get used by whoever, however, when we partied. Realized later that it was me trying to punish myself. It was all of that self-hatred and loathing that got instilled by Jacob coming out. I was so outta control. But at the time, it felt like I was in control, that I had the power. It was a lie, though.

“Then Lillian came along, helped clean me up, set me right. But, I still didn’t have any power. I felt like I was always trailing in someone’s footsteps, Solomon, Jacob, and then Lillian.

“But Cora changed everything. She made me want to be a better person, a better man. Lillian…well, to be honest, Lillian didn’t have that much interest in being a mother. I mean, she loves Cora, but she ain’t exactly the maternal type. A lot of the time it was just me and Cora. I had taken more of a desk job so I could be closer to her. Lillian, though, never slowed down, at least once she went back to rangering.

“You learn a lot about power when you have a baby. With Cora I learned to take control. I had never felt like I was in control before, but I had to be with her. Had to be the parent. That was one of those things all the parenting books said: be the parent; take control. Honestly, it was really hard at first. But, I gradually learned how. It was also what led me to quit the Rangers and leave Lillian.”

Sam heaved a sigh, and then laid down on the cell’s floor, with his hands behind his head. “I’ve had a lot of time to think in here,” he said, “about where I came from, and where I’m going. All the choices I’ve made, good and bad. So often, you think you’re the victim, when you’re actually the one victimizing yourself.”

[missmagooglie]

Tidbit Tuesday

Just a little sneak peek from the next chapter of How Long Do You Wanna Be Loved

“You were just so young when you had him, Eddie,” his mother says. “And maybe it was wrong of us to let you take such a big role in raising him up until now, letting you play parent when you were still just a child. But this is your chance to put your life back on course.” “I wasn’t playing parent, I am his parent,” Eddie says as his temper rises. “You don’t get to erase that. You don’t get to steal my kid just because you’re ashamed to admit that you couldn’t protect yours!”

Chapter 2 is coming on Sunday!

Tags under the cut. Interact with this post if you want to be added!

@onyxmoonstone @daffi-990 @lover-of-mine @pleasestopdeletingmyaccount @coatedpanda16 @littleblackraincloudofcourse @littlefruitybastard @idealuk @blackberry-l @imabtastic @indiearr @machtaholic @zahlibeth, @ladydorian05 @piratefalls @poetry-protest-pornography @911-on-abc @robinplume @mattsire @coatedpanda16

[mega-aulover]

Sneak Peek of Chapter 2 & 3 of An Everlarked Ever After

Chapter 2

“Care to tell me what happened?” Gale questioned.

“I dove off a cliff for that,” Peeta said, pointing to the painting.

“Whose horse is that and what happened to yours?” Gale said, pointing to the horse. Gale gave Peeta another tunic and cloak, since his things were wet.

“Mine lost a shoe, this one belongs to the old Everdeen manor,” Peeta said changing.

“Oh you mean the Baroness de Ghent home,” Gale made a face.

Peeta shivered when he thought of the Baroness. She was one of those women who vied for power as soon as she arrived at court with Sir Everdeen. The Baroness was trying to become one of his mother’s ladies in waiting. He recalled she had a few daughters he had not seen, since before he went to war. Peeta figured if they were anything like the Baroness he should stay out of their reach.

“I thought that place was abandoned. It was a coincidence that this horse was in the field. I switched the mounting. As I was doing that one of the servants called me a thief, I was lucky to get out of there with my life.”

Gale began laughing.

“Another got me here.” Peeta pointed to his forehead.

“I thought you got that from fighting the Gypsies!”

“You should have been there, the girl came charging out of the apple orchard. Gale, she had an aim better than most of our archers. I was on the horse traveling and she was a few feet away. She felled me from the horse.”

“What did she use?” Gale asked as they mounted their horses.

“An apple,” Peeta said.

Gale laughed. “An apple…my goodness I want to meet this servant.”

“Don’t laugh, it still hurts,” Peeta said, rubbing the spot on his shoulder as they rode toward the manor. “She got me on my arm, my back, and my legs.”

Chapter 3

Katniss stopped because the Crown Prince was blocking her way. She went around him.

“I am begging, a boon please.”

“Your highness, you want my name because you find me interesting, correct?”

“Yes.” He grinned revealing that dimple that would make many a maiden's heart flutter.

“My argument was for the freedom not just of my servant but for all of the servants.”

“So.”

“You freed one man but the rest are still slaves,” Katniss countered. She pointed to the carriage as it moved out through the gates of the palace.

“Do you always argue so passionately?”

“Yes, when I see a cause worth fighting for.” Katniss walked around him. She was so close to the exit. He was taller than her and for every three steps he took one.

“Who taught you?”

“A great scholar,” Katniss replied, thinking of her father.

“Please, I beg, a name,” the prince asked.

She was feet away and by now a crowd had gathered listening. Katniss needed to get out and if it took a name she would provide him one that would allow her to escape. “The only name I can give you is Countess Nicole de Lancrae.”

-

Just as an FYI I'm hoping to post Ch2 on Friday and Ch3 on Sunday this is beta'd so all mistakes are mine. @norbertsmom what do you think?

[firstkanaphans]

Since last week we got the new chapter a bit early, will we go back to the normal schedule this week? So, on Sunday? And if so, can we get a sneak peek? 👀

The next chapter will be posted on Sunday! Mostly because I haven't had a chance to edit it yet, but also because I have a lot of religious trauma in my past and like the idea of posting gay porn on Easter. It's what Jesus would want. I have added a very brief sneak peek below the cut. It's not explicit, but it does take place in the middle of a sex scene, so...be warned? I had trouble picking a passage because the first 3K words of this chapter is a very explicit blow job scene and the last 2K is spoiler-y. But anyway, enjoy!

Akk fell back against Aye’s pillows and situated himself comfortably among them as Aye rifled through his drawer in search of a condom. When he glanced back over at the bed, Akk was touching himself over his clothes as if he couldn’t help himself. When he caught Aye staring, he flushed even darker than he already was and removed his hand. Aye didn’t know how to tell him that there was no reason to be ashamed without sounding patronizing, so instead, he told him the truth. “You look beautiful.”

It took Akk a second to register his words but once he did, he grinned. “Really?”

“Really,” Aye agreed, crawling onto the bed with him. He kissed him and then he kept kissing him until he could feel Akk’s muscles start to uncoil beneath him. By the time he pulled back, they were both breathless.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Aye asked softly. “Because we don’t have to. We can stop any time.”

“I want to,” Akk said confidently. “I just—god, my heart’s beating so fast.”

He laughed as if he was embarrassed, so Aye took his hand and held it over his own heart. Immediately, Akk quieted. “Mine is too.”

The look Akk gave him then was so raw and open and vulnerable that Aye had to look away because staring into Akk’s eyes was a lot like staring at the sun—beautiful and dangerous all at once.

[seriouslysam8]

Brumous Sneak Peek

Chapter Thirty-Six: Happy Birthday, Sirius

Sirius was exhausted. He had barely slept over the weekend, opting to survive on pure caffeine and stubbornness. While he loved Andromeda more than he could put into words, her constant hovering suffocated him. There was only so long he could push down his annoyance and smile at her. Sirius knew Andromeda meant well and she worried. And Merlin had he given her enough to worry about for years to come, but he was happy to go back to having a bit of space. 

Once Sirius and Harry arrived at McGonagall’s office, Sirius offered her a strained smile, knowing she knew what had happened a few days ago. He didn’t feel like making small talk as he signed Harry back into school. What could he really say after all? Hello, how was your weekend? Oh, that’s wonderful. Mine consisted of a terrible night of binge drinking that landed me in the hospital after my godson found me in a puddle of my own vomit. Yeah, that was fun. 

Sirius glanced at his watch, watching as the second hand ticked in front of the constellation face. A lump formed in Sirius throat as he jotted down the time onto the parchment. Fleamont and Euphemia had bought him and James matching watches for their seventeenth birthdays. James hadn’t even minded that his parents had bought watches with constellations on them. Astronomy was one of the few things he enjoyed about being a Black - the naming scheme of them all and the interest in the stars they all seemed to share.

“Professor Dumbledore has agreed for Harry to take private lessons with Remus for the remainder of the semester,” Professor McGonagall announced. 

Truth be told, Sirius forgot about the request. He sat his quill down and turned towards Harry to see he was beaming. 

“Although, Professor Dumbledore wants to amend your request, Sirius,” McGonagall continued. “He wants Remus to meet with Harry once a week. Harry will be required to take a knowledge exam before the Christmas holidays to ensure that he is keeping up with his studies. If he passes, he may continue with the arrangement next semester.”

“Sound good, Harry?” Sirius asked. 

Harry nodded. “I’ll get an Outstanding. I promise. Remus is the best professor I ever had,” he added, staring at McGonagall. Then, he squirmed for a second. “In Defense, I mean. You’re brilliant too, professor.”

McGonagall looked amused. “Thank you for the glowing review, Mr Potter.”

Harry shot Sirius a desperate look. Sirius felt himself smiling, his hand reaching out to grip Harry’s shoulder. 

“Hey, I’ll see you Sunday, kid,” Sirius assured him. “You only have a half hour to run to your dorm and grab your things before class starts.”

Harry nodded, taking a step closer. “You’re all right, right?” he asked in a soft voice. 

Sirius sucked in a breath. “Yeah, I’m all right. Remus stopped by and dumped everything in the house. It’s all gone.”

Harry didn’t look convinced. His fingers picked at the skin around his fingernails. 

“Will you call me tonight on the mirror?” Harry pressed. 

Sirius nodded, both hands resting on Harry’s shoulders. “Promise. Every night,” he assured in a hoarse voice. “I’m going to that Mind Healer this afternoon, all right? If I have the urge to do something stupid, Andy gave me a calling tree. She put herself as number one, of course.”

Harry shifted. “Am I on the calling tree?”

Sirius nodded. Harry was at the bottom, given his age, but his godson didn’t need to know that. Honestly, Sirius didn’t think he’d ever get that far down in the list.

“I’m all right,” Sirius assured him. “Promise. I won’t do anything stupid again.”

Harry chewed on his bottom lip, his green eyes boring into Sirius. Not waiting for a response, Sirius pulled his godson into a hug and threaded his fingers through his unruly hair. Sirius screwed his eyes shut, savoring the contact to remind him why he needed to seek help. Letting Harry down again wasn’t an option. 

“Have a good week in class,” Sirius whispered, pulling out of the embrace. “Call me whenever. I always have my mirror in my back pocket.”

“I know,” Harry replied.

[marypsue]

Sneak Peek Sunday, and this one's original fiction! Have a chunk of the ominous homoerotic makeover scene from Fearleading Squad.

...

Tiffany, unsurprisingly, turned out to be stubbornly persistent in evading Avery’s questions. When Avery asked how long Tiffany’d been cheerleading, while Tiffany was stirring together some kind of concoction of yogurt and oatmeal, Tiffany made Avery let her smear the goo all over her face instead of answering. When Avery asked whether any of the boys in town had caught Tiffany’s eye and why, despite being maybe the most desired person in the high school’s history, she hadn’t been on a million dates already, Tiffany’d just said she didn’t like being told what to do, and then asked Avery to pick out a movie. As Molly Ringwald handed over a pair of her panties on the huge TV screen (Tiffany hadn’t had Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp, and she’d never even heard of The Stuff), Avery had awkwardly tried a new tactic.

“God, I don’t even get why you like this movie,” she said, trying to watch Tiffany’s face without looking like she was watching Tiffany’s face. It was already hard enough to tell what Tiffany was thinking, the layer of quickly-hardening oatmeal-yogurt goop only made her expressions all the more inscrutable. “You must think Sam’s just pathetic. I bet nobody’s ever forgotten your birthday.”

It took Tiffany a long moment to answer. Avery was just starting to think she wouldn’t when she said, “You might be surprised. Hey, I think these masks might be ready to come off. Mine’s cracking.”

Avery dutifully paused the movie and followed her back upstairs to wash off the oatmeal masks. But she wasn’t going to be dissuaded so easily, this time. “Seriously? But you’re so pretty, so popular, so involved with everything. Everybody likes you.” She couldn’t stop herself from adding, “Or at least they pretend they do.”

Tiffany laughed, at that. It wasn’t her usual mocking, bell-like, I-don’t-even-have-to-care laughter. It sounded closer to unhappy. “That’s true.”

She beamed at Avery, and then grabbed the glass she’d filled with ice cubes from the fridge’s icemaker before they’d come up to her bedroom. “But that’s why I’m glad you’re here. Why I’m so happy you’re finally coming around. I think you and I could be real friends.”

It was all part of the act, and Avery knew it. Still, she found it hard to swallow around a sudden, prickly ball of guilt.

She reminded herself, again, of what she was doing this for. Who she was doing this for. Her real friends.

Still, the words tasted bitter on her tongue. “It’s shocked me to my core, but…you know, I think maybe we could, too. If we can expand your taste in music out into movies. I can’t believe you’ve never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show. What do people even do for fun out in L.A.?”

Tiffany’s smile went a little thin. But she hid whatever had just flashed through her mind well.

“My parents used to be…pretty strict,” she said, and delicately selected one of the ice cubes from the glass. “You know. Religious. Hold still and shut your eyes, this is going to be cold.”

“Not surprised they wanted to keep you out of trouble. Isn’t Los Angeles the gang violence capital of the USA?” Avery couldn’t resist prodding. And then, as Tiffany reached forward with the ice cube, “Wait, what the hell are you planning to do with that?”

“Everybody knows that violence begins at home,” Tiffany said, smarmily putting on a breathlessly earnest, sincere tone, like some kind of moral crusader eager to get Avery to open her heart and her wallet to the cause. She even opened those blue eyes as wide as they’d go and gave her impossible lashes an innocent bat, before grabbing Avery’s shoulder to stop her from shifting backwards into the vanity. “The ice works as a toner. It helps close up your pores so you don’t get shit in them. Do it before you moisturise and it keeps you from breaking out.”

Avery shut her eyes and braced herself against the shock of cold as Tiffany rubbed the ice cube all over her freshly-washed face. Another shiver ran through her. If all beauty treatments felt this weirdly good, maybe she could start to understand why other girls bothered.

“I can’t believe you know the Rocky Horror Picture Show and not this,” Tiffany said. “What did you and that other cheerleader even talk about?”

“Courtney was the one who introduced me to Rocky Horror,” Avery said. The shock of cold she was feeling was suddenly not just from the ice cube. “Hey, do you still talk to her much? She’s been really cagey with me since she left the cheer squad. Do you have any idea why?”

Tiffany didn’t answer. She just finished rubbing the ice cube over Avery’s face, dragging it up along her cheekbones and smoothing it across her forehead towards her temples. There was a clink as she dropped it back into the glass, and then something soft battered gently against Avery’s face. “Pat that dry, and then we moisturise.”

Avery dutifully patted her face dry with the thing Tiffany’d thrown in her face, which she realised when she opened her eyes was a red terry facecloth. “Do you two not like each other or something?”

The look Tiffany gave her said, loud and clear, that she knew Avery was trying to give her a taste of her own medicine. And she thought it tasted pretty foul.

But she didn’t call Avery’s bluff. Just dabbed a little cold cream onto Avery’s freshly-toned nose with two fingers.

“You wanted to know why I don’t date,” she said, as she massaged the cream into Avery’s cheeks with the very tips of her slim fingers. Avery didn’t have to be told, this time, to shut her eyes. “And honestly, it’s partly because, I mean, have you seen the dating pool around here? Because I think every last one of these boys is swimming in the shallow end.”

Avery couldn’t resist a snort. Tiffany smacked her shoulder with the flat of one hand. “Hold still.”

Avery sat up a little straighter on the plush-topped vanity stool, tilting her face up to follow Tiffany’s gentle guiding hand under her chin. “Yeah. The water’s a little stagnant.”

She couldn’t be sure, with her eyes closed, but Avery thought that one had got her a hastily-suppressed snort in return.

“Maybe this is going to sound a little selfish,” Tiffany said, putting the cold cream back on the vanity with a little click and picking up a plastic powder case shaped like a seashell and a satin-bow-topped powder puff. Avery braced herself for something that was going to sound a lot selfish. “But right now, people are interested in me. They want my attention. They want to know my beauty secrets. They want to get invited to one of my parties. They care about what I think, what I wear, what I say, what I like – and who I don’t like.”

“Bet that feels powerful,” Avery said, more to herself than anything. But Tiffany obviously heard her. And smiled beatifically.

“More than you could imagine.” She reached out and patted Avery’s cheek. Avery tried to recoil, suddenly disgusted, but Tiffany just rubbed the fingers she’d patted Avery’s cheek with against her thumb. “Hm. Think that’s absorbed enough now to start with makeup. Shut your eyes again. And quit wriggling.”

Avery dutifully froze in place. She shut her eyes only reluctantly.

The featherlight touch of the powder puff against her forehead nearly made her jump off the stool. She took a deep breath, and gripped the stool’s underside with both hands.

Tiffany didn’t seem to notice. Or pretended she didn’t notice. “But if I picked one of these duds and let him take me out on a date, then – that’s it. Nobody cares about me anymore. It’s all about him. And, even if I dump his loser ass, then it just becomes all about who comes after him. It’s all ‘who gets the girl’. I’m nothing but some – some trophy that some boy gets to brag about winning, that they all get to pass around. And all that power? It just goes straight to him.”

She patted powder over Avery’s cheeks and chin. “Just like with Sam and the panties. Give them an inch, decide that just because they’re being nice, you can trust them, let your guard down for a second, and they’ll ruin your whole life. Just to prove they can.”

Avery didn’t know what to say to that. She’d been expecting – something shallower. Stupider. More ‘I’m better than all of you and nobody here is good enough for me’. And oh, boy, was that ever something she could hear in Tiffany’s little diatribe. But…

She couldn’t help remembering the glitter of broken glass on concrete, the rage and disgust on Tiffany’s face. I’m supposed to be in control.

[wizardofarles]

Sneak peek of LYKMC chapter 11!

(a bit late today, sorry about that! my aim is to have this chapter done by next sunday, but as always, check back here for updates.)

Eventually he drifted off, and when he opened his eyes he saw the courtyard at school, awash in silvery moonlight. He was looking down on it from above, as though he were floating somewhere in the starless sky. There was a dark-haired figure seated on Aimeric’s bench, but Laurent knew at first glance that it was not Damianos. The figure knelt before him was too small to be Kashel, with a mop of brown hair atop his head and blue sapphires dripping out of his ears. They piled up around his knees, the puddle of frozen teardrops growing as he knelt.

A chill hand gripped Laurent’s heart, and snowflakes fell from his eyes to dust the ground beneath him. They landed unmelting in his uncle’s hair, and Nicaise’s too, glimmering like diamonds upon their heads.

Uncle looked up and smiled at him. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked, in a voice sharp with amusement.

Then suddenly Laurent was watching from behind the tree where he’d hidden from Damianos and Kashel, and in his fist he clutched a rock the size of a softball. With a wordless cry of rage, he threw it toward the bench. The stone bench split in two with an impossibly loud crack that echoed inside his skull.

A plump white dove took startled flight, vanishing beyond the trees. Uncle and Nicaise were gone.

The clouds parted, and Laurent squinted against the sudden sunlight in his eyes. The grass was summer green beneath his feet, and around the border of the yard yellow and orange daylilies swayed in the breeze. They waved at him like old friends.

A rustle in the brush behind him sent Laurent’s heart leaping into his throat. He whirled, expecting a rabbit, but it was his uncle who stepped into the grass, crushing it beneath his toes. He stopped in front of Laurent, smiling.

“I have a gift for you,” he said. “Hold out your hand.”

Laurent did. His uncle pressed something cold into his palm that seemed to bite at his skin. Laurent unfurled his hand. It was a small metal razor blade, sharp as sin.

He looked up, but his uncle was gone. Nicaise sat across from him on the floor of the bathroom stall, a blue wall behind him. The razor lay on the tiles between them.

“It’s my turn,” Nicaise snarled as chips of paint flaked off the wall behind him and drifted lazily downward like a slow blue snow, “mine.”

He lunged forward, and Laurent did too. They scrabbled on the floor, fighting each other for the blade. Laurent’s hands turned red with blood. Nicaise’s remained white as bone.

Laurent gasped and sat up in his bed, his arms and legs all tangled up in his sheets. Across the room, his door knob turned, creaking softly. He never knocks. A shadow slipped into his room.

[dayo488]

Hey, how’s the last chapter coming along? Really excited to see how it ends.

Funny you should ask - working on it right now, actually. Got a little bout of inspiration thanks to a good friend of mine who is one of the actual best.

Here's a little sneak peek for all your unending patience -

Kie pulled lightly on the hair on the back of his head. “Shut up, you idiot.” JJ tugged her a little closer. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot.” Her nose brushed with his, a full smile finally breaking out on her lips. “Damn right, you are.” “And you are a menace,” he smiled back. The kiss was brief, over far too quickly for all the possibilities and desires running through JJ’s head. But they were in the middle of an interrogation room, again, where one of their freedoms was on the line, again.  The new lawyer cleared her throat behind them, and JJ turned, releasing Kiara so she could step in the room and close the door.

I know I had high hopes for this to get out weeks ago, and there's a whole host of reasons that mainly boil down to life getting in the way of my motivation and energy. Also, maybe I hate the idea of saying goodbye to this fic. But I'm back on again, so you'll see me soon 😉

Along with updating my other jiara week fics!

Happy Sunday ❤️

[dwell-the-brave]

Six Sentence Sunday - 11/02/2024

Merry Sunday, everyone!

I'm in the thick of finalising the final chapter of Did My Heart Fly To Your Service today! Here's a sneak peek of what I've been working on:

They keep a hold of each other. A receiving line would mean standing there for hours greeting every single guest, but at least this way they can try and chat to some people. They greet politicians, diplomats, dignitaries and celebrities. David and Victoria Beckham compliment Alex’s suit. The Prime Minister of Japan tells them he thought the service was lovely. The Finnish President drains his flute of champagne after he salutes them.

This final chapter will be posted tomorrow, so keep an eye out.

If you like what you're reading, please check out my other works. This is the third part in my series, Heavy Weighs the Crown, a RWRB AU where Henry becomes heir. The first fic posted was Give Me Comfort, Give Me Help, followed by But Still My Griefs Are Mine.

See y'all tomorrow for posting day!