#so they won't be POV characters

[doodlejoltik]

my favourite writing device is having an un-Rei-liable narrator

[feroluce]

When Al Haitham dreams, it's in shades of sandy blonde and red, metallic gold and feather-blue. His nightmares are colored much the same.

Kaveh leisurely strolls ahead of him, shoes leaving deep treads in the soft desert sand. He keeps a careful distance, arms length, and in return Al Haitham keeps an eye on him, the other man's back dead center in his sights.

He curses the sand in his boots and the long line of footprints he steps into, already the exact shape of the soles of his shoes.

They aren't lost. Al Haitham knows where they are. They've been here before. They are still here.

Kaveh doesn't watch their feet. His head is constantly tipped back with his eyes on the stars and their constellations (of which Al Haitham only knows two, Vultur Volans and Paradisaea). He'll walk right into a cactus like that. Al Haitham yells ahead for him to watch where he's going.

Kaveh reaches up to touch the side of his head in a strange motion, but otherwise there's no acknowledgement. They press on into the dark of night.

Something squelches beneath Al Haitham's boot.

It stops him short, pulls his attention like a magnet and as much as he wants to, he can't ignore it. He doesn't want to lose any more ground. But something won't let him move on. Al Haitham watches as red seeps into the golden sand, spills beyond the border of his bootprint until he slides his foot aside.

It's an ear.

It's a human ear, and there's a heavy earring attached, metallic gold, gems red and green, a familiar shape, a familiar shade-

Al Haitham opens his mouth to yell. Chokes. Swallows the lump in his throat as he quickly restarts his pace. Tries again.

"Hey!"

Another squelch under a hurried footstep. He doesn't stop to look. Al Haitham is pretty sure he knows what it is.

"Kaveh, hey!"

The path becomes littered, little slices and small pieces, fingertips and knuckles, Kaveh's arms once held casually behind his back now strewn along the sands. Every time Al Haitham extends his hand to him, reality warps and bends like the twisted image in a broken mirror, lines mismatched and edges jagged. Kaveh flits just beyond his grasp, fleeting fae, no longer able to hear him or to reach out to him. Al Haitham can only grit his teeth and follow.

His right foot marches forward. His left follows. His right again. His left suddenly doesn't follow, and Al Haitham is thrown off balance and pitches forward, swinging his arms outward to land on his palms and keep his face off the ground, because he's been in the desert enough times to know what a foot suddenly being stuck can mean.

Quicksand.

Al Haitham curses and swears in just about every language he knows as he tries to spread his weight as evenly as possible, stay afloat at the top of it because if he sinks, he knows he'll be done for, and shit, Kaveh.

His neck cranes uncomfortably in his search, Kaveh had only been a few feet in front of him, he can't be sunk much further, and he's in the desert much more often than Al Haitham anyway, he'll be familiar with what to do-

Kaveh stands in front of him, empty sleeves fluttering loose. Still just out of his grasp, still watching the stars. The quicksand is already up to his calves.

"Say, Al Haitham..." It's the first he's spoken this whole time. His voice resonates somewhere deeply nostalgic in Al Haitham's chest, produces a ripple that momentarily stuns his heart.

Kaveh is sinking.

Al Haitham stretches out on his belly as far as he's able, it's quickly up to his knees, Kaveh isn't even trying to redistribute his weight or pull himself out, it's at his thighs, Al Haitham sucks in a breath and yells for him, his hips, yells louder, his waist, Al Haitham's trembling fingertips can almost reach, his chest, Kaveh drops level with him, quicksand about his neck like a noose.

Kaveh's head tips back, back, impossibly far back, until it hangs, angle awkward, and he's looking right past Al Haitham with his tired smile and gouged, blinded sockets full of starlight.

"Do you believe in karma?"

The quicksand swallows him entirely and Al Haitham dives, shoves his arms deep and pushes off with the one foot he'd had left on safe ground, because he can't, he can't, it's not the same without Kaveh, not anymore, he needs him, no one else keeps him sharp, no one else challenges him like Kaveh, if he can just grab him, if he can just pull him back up-

Al Haitham thrashes, against the sands, against gravity, against the hardwood of his bedroom floor. Clumsily scrubs the back of his hand across his face to rub the grit of quicksand and sleep out of his eyes.

Sometimes he thinks he preferred it when the Akasha was still harvesting his dreams.

He pops his head out from under his weighted blanket and lays where he'd fallen out of bed for a moment, blinking blearily against the lamplight shining from his desk in the corner. Deep breaths. His consciousness shifts along the blurred line of nightmare and reality, crosses over the slow transition into wakeful awareness.

He's home, Kaveh is home. It's dark out. The house is dead silent.

He's just going to go check, he tells himself as he peels himself out of his sweat-soaked shirt and roots around for a replacement. He's already losing memories of his nightmare, the details spilling away from him like wet ink, but he knows he needs to see Kaveh. It'll feel better to do something, anything, than try to go straight back to sleep.

He's quiet when he slips out of his bedroom door, because they both keep late hours but their bedrooms are right next to each other, and Al Haitham will never hear the end of it if he wakes his roommate up.

Lights off, door shut. Nothing conclusive. He moves out to the main room.

Kaveh sits on one of those ridiculous sofas he'd ordered three of for some reason, back to him as he tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. A mostly-empty wine bottle stands tall on the table, next to the cobbled-together remains of an architectural model that's been picked and fussed over for four days straight now.

"Kaveh? What are you doing?"

This earns him an exaggerated startle, but Kaveh doesn't turn to look at him, preoccupied with whatever new sketch or blueprint he probably has in his hands. "Ohhh, nothing," he slurs cheerfully. "Just working. Just thinking."

Kaveh has always been the world's chattiest drinker. Al Haitham waits for the rest of it.

"Say, I think...I think I asked you this years ago, back then, but you never answered me." Al Haitham feels all the blood drain from his face in ominous familiarity, drip cold down the length of his spine. Kaveh sinks into the couch until he can tip his head over the back of it, looking up at him with a tired smile and exhausted eyes.

"Do you believe in karma?"

[eikichi-supremacy]

hey so do you think wtv keiko had to deal with growing up with yusuke could be considered a type of parentification

[cruelprincae]

A sequel to The Cruel Prince, directly with Cardan and Jude and Nicasia starring ??? And Cardan's pov ??? Jude and Cardan baby confirmed ??? Holly Black finally feeling confident enough to write an adult Cardan and handle his trauma AND give us a 400 page book fully on his own perspective with glances at his past ??? I'm deceased I'm on the floor, I'M DEAD -----

[myersesque]

so like. what is the general consensus abt getting gale's orb tattooed on u. bc i relate to him n his backstory a fuckton and Really Want It (no promises i'll listen to the general consensus, i just wanna know what it is)

[nearestend]

i'm really sorry to javi because he definitely tried his best to be supportive and a decent friend but this is kind of what happened i'm so sorry. anyways kate just is looking at the sky, she does not know what is happening around her ever

[mostofthingsmostofthetime]

Sorry, still following the serise. Just can't post much right now coz of real life commitments. So have a tier list -

[theshalesky]

How far would you go for someone you love?

How far would you go for someone you once loved? How far would you go for someone who ruined your life?

A long time ago, she loved them. She was young and stupid and innocent, and still believed the world was a good place. She had a job and a friend and a father, and why would anything disturb that peace?

Then she met her. A bright and flaming blaze, so full of life, full of beautiful chaos. They convinced her to join this life: A night at the tavern, ending with a broken window and all the plates shattered against the wall. The next night outside in the cold streets, decorating the walls of stangers' houses with stolen paint. Every night ending with her wiping the dirt and the blood from her lover's face. She didn't enjoy the destruction like Azari did, but when she saw her eyes light up with that beautiful burning joy, it was all worth it. She could have lived like that forever.

Until she couldn't. Every day, as Azari chose the chaos again and again instead of simply choosing her, she felt the flame in her own heart fading. Every morning, her lover sound asleep in their bed, she sat at the window with her guitar. She stared into the distant night and waited for a song that didn't come. For months, the music inside her had been silent.

In the end, it was Azari who told her to leave. Who told her they could never love her like she deserved to be loved. And she felt it too, felt that neither of them could make the other whole anymore. So she left. And then there was emptiness.

Had there been light in her life before that fire? Even if it had been there before, now, there was nothing left. Nothing to warm her. Nothing inside of her - that was the real problem. Because her life had stayed the same. She had her father and her work, and also her friend, to some extent. She even found a new lover, a starry night that gave her comfort. But nothing more. She had fallen out of love once, and now she was incapable of feeling it again. Azari had taken away her ability to love. For a while, she tried existing despite it - despite the nagging feeling that there was now something wrong with her, something broken in the fabric of her soul.

But living like this just wasn't possible. She had to cut all the ties, destroy what had destroyed her so she could glow again. So she went to their house, and she burned it to the ground.

That was a few months before she decided to travel to hell for them.

[respectable-username]

Res gon' give it to ya. I'm gon' give it to ya. Res gon' give it to ya. Whaaaat? A new chapter of my fic is what!

If you've not been following along, this is part of the Hermitgao3ng event, taking a line from the song Hermitgang as inspiration for a story. This particular fic is about Gem being mind controlled into enchanting items for her fellow Hermits that trap them into an unknown dimension. If this piques your interest, you can find the first chapter here!

I'm gon' give it to ya - Chapter 11

11. Reinforced

Fandom/collection: Hermitcraft/@hermitgang-ao3

Words: 3640 of 24740 total so far

Summary: The Hermits try to open the portal, but it takes a lot more than they expected.

Preview:

Another flash ran through the city as Gem's hands made contact with the enchanter. The sculk sensors let out yet another warble as the wave rushed through them, though this time their dancing tendrils stayed in sync after the light had passed, waving together as if to an unheard rhythm.

The glow danced around Gem's body, jumping towards her hands as the several hundred levels from the enderman farm coursed into the enchanter, flowing from the top surface down in intricate lines through previously unnoticed grooves in the sides of the table. The enchanter started to hum as the levels kept pouring in, growing in intensity as the power increased and the light grew stronger.

And then the hum changed, as if it reached some threshold and overflowed.

Tendrils of light shot out from the base of the enchanter into the surrounding brickwork, that same greeny-yellow glow trailing through the cracks and cervices in the stone. They crawled towards the giant pillars on either side of the altar like vines, twisting and turning as they made their way up, up, up towards the portal.

As the light travelled, a different song seemed to come from the surrounding cavern. It was as if the sculk sensors themselves were singing, an otherworldly warble more melodious than any noise she'd heard them make before, calling out to whatever lay deep beyond the stonework.

The tendrils of lights wreathed around the giant structure, forming a halo of light that knitted together at the top. The sensors' song grew in intensity, as if anticipating what would happen next.

And with the loop completed, the light changed direction, redirecting inwards into the reinforced deepslate from all sides.

"It's working!" shouted Grian, spinning around to get a better view of the show.

"I don't have enough level," said Gem, wincing through the raw exertion of her power. Indeed, the glow around her had already started to wane, her hair drifting lower and lower towards her shoulders as the magic drained away.

Ren stepped forward, putting his hand on Gem's shoulder. He winced slightly as the glow passed through into his hand and up his arm, racing to surround him, but he held firm as the Gem seemed to refuel her power.

The veins of light pulsed stronger, the reinforced deepslate taking on a glow of its own. The song slowly crescendoed, becoming clearer and clearer as the levels continued to pour into the enchanter.

Then suddenly, with the sound of a bolt sliding into place, the centre-most bottom frame lit up fully, as bright as glowstone but with that same greeny-yellow that characterised everything the enchanter did.

The sensors warbled again, a new layer of harmony added to the song as it passed.

"Holy smokes," said Etho, staring up at the portal in awe. "It's actually working."

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

the next scene in the hedgehog's dilemma is just described in my outline as ted and jamie having "a classic unhelpful ted-talk"

[rascheln]

The Monster Falls Apart & The Monster Exposed: forehead kisses and touches

[banannabethchase]

💬 jamie

So this is in the aftermath of probably the roughest scene in the fic, where Jamie, Adam, Mox, Matt, and Nick just about commit felonies on some people who absofuckinlutely deserve it.

“I would have killed him,” Jamie says as she takes off her basketball sneakers and throws them in her bag so hard they bounce. “You hear me? I would have killed them if they’d let me.”

[nostalgia-tblr]

Today I wrote about 900 words \o/ But only 100 of those were in the thing I wanted to add words to :( And most of them are in the wrong chapter. :( :(

[kiastirling-fanfic]

Few Against the Wind (DAI)

In honor of hitting 10 chapters the first long fic I’ve written in ages, I’m gonna actually make a post about it.

Few Against the Wind by KiaStirling on AO3

Fandom: Dragon Age Inquisition (drawing from other Dragon Age media as well in pieces, but not compliant to the full Dragon Age canon)

Main pairing: Solas/Original Inquisitor (Modern Character in Thedas) - slow burn (as in they’re barely even friends yet, expect no romantic overtures for a good while)

Important tags: Multiple PoVs, Asexuality, Religious stuff (author is not religious), Canon-typical violence, languages, Fade Buddies, Fantasy Racism

Summary: A woman falls from the sky just when she’s needed, what could it be but the work of the Maker? Why else should she speak in tongues but for being struck dumb by His grace?

She would disagree if anyone asked her. Could ask her. But by the time she has the words it’s too late, and June is heralded the Herald of Andraste. Burdened with knowledge and an entire system of faith carried on her shoulders that she holds no stock in, an earthling muddles her way through Thedas.

Current Length: 82k+ words/10 chapters (chapter length 5-10k words each) Projected Length: Unclear because scope creep.

[ourskiesaboveus]

dsbehy you say

acronym for "dating sim but everyone hates you"

i think i posted the placeholder title screen on the usher server once?

it's a visual novel that has a cast of characters all based off of dating sim archetypes, but you guessed it-- they all hate you. your task is to perhaps make them not hate you in various ways-- setting them up with a crush, helping them in business, proving your innocence, et cetera.

tbf not all of them hate you. some of them just dislike people in general and that's fair.

it kind of got pushed to the sidelines because of the other visual novel i started that i got much more invested in (it had inspiration from several mythologies! c'mon i can't be blamed!) but i do work on it from time to time

[junipaca]

claws at the walls....where are the pokemon desolationers.....theres so much pkmn reborn and rjuv art i need to shake someone over tristan so bad. i have to do the work myself .....