#sphere fic

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Two Losers At A Christmas Party

Make The Yuletide Gay was supposed to be the only Christmas fic but then I was like "Why not write a sequel so I can use this fun fic title" and then I wrote this one and realized by the end that I'm gonna have to write a third Christmas fic. Yeah, I am aware it's January I don't want me to be doing this either lol I have other things to write.

But here we are, so I hope you enjoy!

Hunter already wished she hadn't agreed to go to this Christmas party with Sara, and she'd only been there for three minutes.

Her normal party protocol was to beeline to the corner. Maybe do some vandalism while she was there. But Sara, who normally loved her artwork, had very nicely requested that Hunter leave her markers at home. 

So now Hunter was standing in the middle of a crowded room full of people she did not know, wearing a very ugly Christmas sweater that did not fit her. According to Sara, Hunter looked adorable in the oversized sweater Sara had DIYed, but the outfit just made her feel more out of place.

She was sticking pretty close to Sara, but Sara was outgoing, jingling and mingling as if this was her party instead of just a party she'd been hired to attend. She was so good at turning it on, at making friendliness and cheer a business strategy. If she played her cards right she'd get more gigs tonight, more holiday parties in need of her charisma. 

Hunter was about to disappear into the corner when she heard another familiar voice talking to Sara. 

“Oh my god, I love your sweater.”

“Thank you! You should see my girlfriend's, I made it myself.” That was Hunter's cue to step forward, but even without Sara's beckoning she would have come over to investigate. 

“Hunter?” 

“Petunia? What are you doing here?”

“My roommate dragged me here,” Petunia explained.

“Same,” Hunter said.

“Oh! You know each other! Awesome!” Sara beamed and waited to be introduced. 

“Yeah, Sara, this is Petunia, she runs the flower shop that provides flower arrangements for the funeral home.”

“Huh. I never realized that that's a job someone has to do, that's cool! Your job is so interesting, Hunter.”

“Not as interesting as yours,” Hunter replied. 

“What do you do for a living?” Petunia asked. 

“Oh, I do this,” Sara said, gesturing around.

“You're a party planner?” Petunia guessed.

“No, I go to parties to make them more lively, mostly through the power of dance.” Sara spun Hunter awkwardly. 

Petunia laughed, “That's delightful. Do you have a card?”

Sara produced a business card with practiced precision. “Do you? It might do me some good to know someone who knows all my girlfriend's favorite flowers.”

Hunter blushed, amazed at how Sara could network and flirt at the same time. 

“I don't have one on me but I can text you the details.”

“Perfect. Can I ask you something else?” Sara asked, beginning to bop in time with the Christmas music so the host didn't think she was slacking.

“Ask away.”

“Did you become a florist because your name is Petunia?”

“Uh, no, actually I chose the name Petunia because I loved flowers.”

Sara's eyes lit up with recognition and she wordlessly signaled “same” with her thumb and pinky, one of the few signs she remembered from an ASL class she'd taken in college. 

“It's nice to meet another,” Petunia paused and looked around, never fully sure when a so-called gender critical would pop out of the woodwork, “entrepreneur.”

“Hunter, why didn't you introduce us sooner?” Sara asked. 

“Sorry, I don't mix business and pleasure.”

“Our first date was at the cemetery.”

“That was actually our fourth date, technically.”

Petunia laughed again, “Don't worry too much about it, Sara. I think Hunter forgets she has friends sometimes.”

If it was possible for Hunter to appear more flustered, she did.

“Well, Hunter seems very lucky to have you as a friend.”

Hunter didn't say it, but Petunia was one of three or four friends, max. Most people found her abrasive and unlikable. It was embarrassing to admit her lack of a social circle, especially when Sara was so personable.

There was a crash over the sound of Jingle Bell Rock and Petunia's expression soured.

“I think that's my roommate, I should go bail him out. It was wonderful meeting you, Sara! I'll be sure to text you.” She squeezed Hunter’s shoulder on the way out. “Say hi to Marian for me.”

When Petunia was gone Sara gave Hunter a quizzical look.

“Who's Marian?”

“My cousin. Petunia's only met him once, but I think he might be her type.”

“Hm. Okay. Come dance with me.”

Hunter obliged, because dancing was better than dwelling on the weird tone Sara's voice had taken for a moment.

Watching Sara dance, her passionate, sporadic moves taking over the floor, was the only part of the party Hunter actually liked. She tried to match that energy and gusto, to earn the price of the Deluxe Diamond Party Package, but Sara was impossible to match. 

Part of Hunter wondered if the extra energy Sara had tonight meant that Sara was mad at her. It would make sense, she'd kept Petunia a secret when it should have been obvious that the pair would get along like a house on fire. 

She worried about that all night while Sara danced and mingled, wondering how to broach the subject when they were finally on the bus heading home.

Hunter didn’t have to bring it up, though, because Sara did it for her.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Petunia and Marian?” Sara asked, her brows furrowed a little bit. She didn’t seem mad, just confused.

“I guess I didn’t want you to know how small my circle of friends is. I mean, you have so many-”

Sara threw her head back and laughed. “Hun, you’re my only friend.”

“What?” That came as a shock.

“I’ve lived here for like a year and a half and I basically only have business colleagues. Just because my job is going to parties and being friendly doesn’t mean I have actual friends. It’s um… I get what you mean, it is kind of embarrassing. I want to connect with people, it’s just hard. People usually only want me in small doses.” 

“Well, people are stupid,” Hunter said.

Sara laughed again and wrapped an arm around Hunter. 

“Maybe. But maybe I’m the problem. I don’t know, but I want to keep trying.”

“I’ll help you,” Hunter said. “I know a lot about being the problem, most people can’t stand me, even in small doses. But the friends I have are good, and I’d be happy to introduce you to them properly. Hey, why don’t you join me for my family’s Christmas? That way you can meet my aunt and uncle and Marian and my other cousins.” 

“Do you think they’d like me?” Sara asked hesitantly. She had an even worse track record with families than friendships.

“I know that they’ll love you as much as I do.” She’d grown comfortable saying I love you. It felt right.

Sara beamed and hugged Hunter tighter. “I love you too, Hun.”

If, for now, they only had each other, they would make each moment count. And one day, maybe the whole world would see them the way they saw themselves.

[celestial-sphere-press]

Fanbinding: Hibernating with Ghosts by @fayet

Getting stuck in Kaedwen in winter had never been on Jaskier's plan.

Hyped to share photos of the set I made at the end of 2023 for the @renegadepublishing annual exchange! In addition to "Hibernating With Ghosts" these volumes include 30 pencil illustrations by @saeculorum-art, the fic's prequel Silent friend of many distances, and a song (The Siren Song) by @stillmadaboutpetra. I was over the moon that they all agreed to allow their work included so i could make this for the lovely Kitty / @perfectlynormalbooks (thank you for the intro to the wonderful fic!!).

This book was bound in Duo dragonfly cloth, with marbled lokta and hand-foiled cover accents. All art not by saeculorum is sourced from public domain woodcuts. I went a little harder than usual on the typeset, but it was a lot of fun and I finally had a good reason to use a vertical header (the chapter titles are SO LONG) and colored dropcaps (i was printing color for the art, anyway!). I justified my embroidery thread spending with a fun five-color color endband, and I colored the top edge.

I had a lot of fun making this and trying our a few different ways of doing things! Thanks again to everyone for a wonderful Renegade Exchange!

[dyerink]

art for @heavilycaffeinatedsblog ‘s newest chapter of silver bells!! this fic is so funny and so cute

[csainzzz]

this picture officially sent me to happy death race hell, why does he look so hunted, why am i so unfunnyly worried about this snoring farting hot pie

[uncontrol-freak]

New chapter of Beyond the spheres fic is up! Go and give it and @kg-clark-inthedark some love <3

[goodluckbabeheffron]

he earned his masters degree in yearnalism

[otrtbs]

i delete any hate comment on ahb! that i see bc i’m not the one except for the for the very first hate comment ever. which came directly after i uploaded the final chapters of that story. ironically, the person who left it was the first person to read the whole fic in its entirety (ouch! but i digress). i keep the little hate comment up as a relic. the first hater ever if you will. imagine there’s a gold frame around it.

[fitpacs]

,

[aimeelouart]

One of Shinra’s Little Generals meets the other. They should be friends.

Patricide is Harder Than It Looks is a very good fic :)

[celestial-sphere-press]

Fanbinding: Dirt and Ashes, or: The One-and-a-Half Body Problem by @tozettastone

In which Sakura carries half of Hidan across two countries, leaving a trail of blood, bodies, and other people's legs.

I made this book for @aetherseer as part of an exchange we did, and I had such a great time making it. I saw this fic on their list and remembered reading it ages ago and was like I CAN DO SOMETHING WITH THAT! and here it is.

The cover is Colibri bookcloth, handpainted with acrylic (all of the lettering is freehand- easy when the font you choose is irregular). @pleasantboatpress suggested including a quote on the spine since the title wasn't working there, so I got to add the absolutely banger quote from this fic "Your pain is sacred. Your suffering is beautiful."

For the edges, I used fluid graphite and polished and waxed them. On the endbands I used my Japanese silk thread for the first time (its a dream tbh).

For the typeset, I leaned in hard on the blood sacrifice aesthetic, creating the Jashinist symbol for the front page (and also the cover) and using a font aptly called "Bloody Scratch." You can't see them here but for paragraph breaks there are little scythe.

@tozettastone, if you would like a copy I would be happy to make you one!! (I think my ask to you got eaten, feel free to dm).

[emys-123]

I’m on a superbat reading spree again, please give me recommendations.

[pastelaspirations]

What if at some point, ink met his original self and the other characters from the perseverance au.

What would be their reaction? Would some characters end up in a fight or some end up getting to be friends?

I'm sorry, I don't know if I understand this question exactly. But, from what I can gather, it sounds like what would the Perseverance au characters' reactions be to meeting their "canon" selves? That is an interesting question! One I actually thought a lil about >:)

S o. A lot of the characters' reactions from the Perseverance au would be uh... Let's just say, are you familiar with forbidden knowledge and how obtaining such knowledge would drive someone mad?

Well, y e a h. I think the majority of my au characters would lose their mind upon discovering the multiverse and all that entails. After all, exposing mere, ordinary souls from an au to such a grand revelation is unlikely to have positive, lasting effects on their psyche.

I think this "being driven mad" outcome will unfortunately affect all of my au characters. So, Dream, Blue, Asgore, everybody. This might be doubly so for characters that I made up? Like, my ocs basically: Oren, Boris, Mary, etc. Imagine finding out that the multiverse is real, but you aren't present in like... any other universe. That would mess with your head big time.

S o o o... unfortunately, on account of "going absolutely insane," not many Perseverance au variants would retain their sanity long enough to actually interact with their "canon" selves. H o w e v e r. I think a character like Dr. Gaster would actually have a field day. He might be driven insane in a different way; go on his mad scientist arc trying to discover all the secrets of the multiverse and his alternate selves... however morally gray that might be.

N o w. Perseverance Ink??? He probably would be driven insane too, 'cus let's be honest. Imagine living in his world for a change and then discovering, y o, the multiverse is actually real AND you are the protector of it with heavy implications that you were sort of forced into the role whether you wanted it or not. Oh, and "you're" just flat out soulless now instead of just having a messed up one. F u n.

But I like to think he's a bit... more open-minded than that. Maybe after a bit of hyperventilating and having the wildest mind-warp his brain ever went on, Perseverance Ink just then. Calms down. Shuts his brain off. Decides, "Okie dokie, alright. Okay. The multiverse is a thing and 'I'm' the protector of it. Cool." I mean, when you get down to the nitty gritty, his world is kind of a mind-warp too, right? In the grand scheme of things, stuff he just accepts as fact don't make sense. Giant monstrosities that showed up out of nowhere and ended the world?? Y e a h, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Canon Ink kinda just. Stands there, blinking at him, maybe mid-waving his hands because he was trying to calm Perseverance Ink down before he just did it himself. Then he's like, "Oh! Neat, you're, uh... Fixed now. Are you good...? No, uh, going insane anymore hopefully...?"

Perseverance Ink just gives a thumbs up, facial expression painfully neutral, "Yep, I'm okay." He then puts a thoughtful hand to his chin, "I... might have probably seen stranger things than just 'the multiverse is actually real,' now that I think about it."

Canon Ink blinks, then lets out a laugh, "Oh my stars, yeah, you're probably right about that! Come, oh my gosh, you have to see this, okay-" He effortlessly glides over to somewhere in the Doodle Sphere since he's used to the zero gravity, while it takes Perseverance Ink some squirming and odd movement to do the same.

He then gestures outward, to a whole bunch of floating papers that Perseverance Ink is still wrapping his head around what they really are, "Your AU is weird. It took me so long to know where to, like... stick it. It's, you know, obviously scary with all those-" Canon Ink breaks off with a shudder and semi-disgusted look, "Things. So I had to decide, 'H m m, does it go with the scary AUs or the romance AUs?' 'Cus like, it's also got such cute, romantic stuff and I just really had to make the call and-"

He abruptly breaks off, looking over his shoulder at Perseverance Ink, who is just giving him a... very confused, if not slightly perturbed, look. Canon Ink then clears his throat and lets out a nervous laugh, "Never mind that! I guess your timeline isn't up to that point yet- I mean! Never mind 'timelines' either, what's that? You don't need to know that, just- Let's just say I ultimately decided to slap your AU with the other scary ones 'cus I thought that made the most sense."

Perseverance Ink kinda just. Looks around at the "scary aus," not really knowing whether to feel depressed his world is lumped in with those or validated. He then goes, "Uh... Ink?" feeling v e r y weird he's essentially saying his own name.

Canon Ink spins around, beaming smile on his face, "Yep!"

Perseverance Ink glances away, taking a moment to compose his words since he isn't even sure how to ask this question, "Do... the other worlds here..." He gestures around to all these papers surrounding them that supposedly contain entire worlds, "Do they... Are they all like... mine?"

Canon Ink's eyes change into question marks and he looks really confused, "Uh, what do you mean?"

Perseverance Ink looks down at his hands before hesitantly back up at Canon Ink, "Are all the other worlds overrun by Beasts too?"

It takes Canon Ink a bit to respond, face going blank as Perseverance Ink assumes it takes him that long to process what he said. Then, Canon Ink just belly laughs and hunches over in the air, absolutely wheezing. He then floats over and smacks Perseverance Ink on the shoulder, bringing him into a hug as he breathlessly wheezes, "No! Oh my stars, no! Yours seems to be like... the exception. There isn't a ton like yours, there's only a select few with like, zombies, giant monsters, and other things, see?" He points to a small cluster of papers that Perseverance Ink assumes his world is lumped in with because they have the same requirement of "giant monstrosities that took over the world."

A small smile crosses Perseverance Ink's face, relieved not every world out there has to deal with the same reality he has to, "Oh, wow. Good, that's good. I'm really glad."

Canon Ink releases him from the hug and wipes a tear from under his eye, "Thanks, Ink, you're funny-" He breaks off before chuckling awkwardly, "It's... weird saying my own name like that, you know? Since we're both named the same thing."

"Yeah... I suppose you can call me something else? Like... a little nickname, I guess? I don't mind."

Canon Ink just tilts his head, "Are you sure? It's your name too, I don't want to-"

Perseverance Ink shrugs, "I mean, you're the... 'original,' right? It only makes sense that you have the name first."

Canon Ink glances elsewhere, gesturing with a hand as he seems to almost be talking to himself, "Well, asides from all the semantics of what truly makes an 'original' from either a multiversal or AU standpoint-" He then claps his hands together, "Okay! So, hmm, let me think..."

His eyes change into stars and he exclaims, "I know! I'm going to call you 'Willow,' since you're gentle, soft-spoken, and stand steadfast just like a willow tree!"

Perseverance Ink or... 'Willow' just blinks, as he is doubtful he would describe himself that way, before chuckling, "Yeah, okay, I suppose that makes sense."

Canon Ink laughs and pulls 'Willow' into a hug, "Great! Then we won't have to be confused anymore! Now-" He whips out his own Broomie, grinning, "What kind of neat stuff do you have on your Broomie? I like to dress up mine too for the holidays and stuff! Even if it gets irritated at that sometimes-"

Thus, a friendship was born ✧˖°. A non-canon friendship. But close enough that if they ever met, I imagine their interaction going this way. Ink then makes a game out of trying to name everyone in the Perseverance au a plant/tree name, to keep up with the "Willow" motif he accidentally set. So far, he calls Error "Cedar," Dream "Daffodil", Blue "Bluebell," and Boris "Oaky." Because "Oak" was not 'cute enough' in his opinion.

Perseverance Ink doesn't know what to make of that.

[kg-clark-inthedark]

when humansider walks away from corvo for 30 seconds

fic update later today btw

[thatmooncake]

I've been obsessed with the idea of somniphobia orb moon being used by someone who is in love with him and instead of studying or memories they have fantastical daydreams with him.

Or a moondrop orb being the one to be obsessed with his owner and manipulates whatever they are trying to use the orb for to make them fall for him too and willingly enter the dreamscape much more quickly and excitedly.

But once your soul is in the dreamscape what actually happens to it? Is it stuck there forever or just...cease to exist?

Absolutely LOVE the idea of a reader fic with Somniphobia Moon! 🥺💗 Moon using the dreamscape as a space to trap the reader and try to lure them in deeper because Moon is insanely lonely in his little bubble with no one to interact with and has actually grown to like this person whose dreams he visits, and eventually comes to hope that they might like him in return (or at the very least, what he can do for them). The reader becoming obsessed with Moon because when they enter the dreamscape (whether he has good or bad intentions) he takes their problems away.

What about a universe with a reader who is at first trying to study or look into a memory, but inside the dreamscape just as they’re starting to explore they suddenly see Moon? And what if Moon has never been seen before from within the dreamscape, so this is all new to him? He’s helped people, he’s lured people, but it’s all been from behind the scenes. Making them see what they want to see. What if he’s never been perceived by a single soul before this moment and now he’s faced with this whole new situation, and a whole new set of feelings? What if when they leave the dreamscape he’s afraid they’ll think the sphere is faulty and that he gave them a nightmare and then they won’t come back? But then they do come back, and they see him again, and that’s almost even scarier for him to navigate because he’s never directly interacted with a person before …

(Dammit Moon, now you’ve got all of us pondering your orb asdhhscs)

As for what happens when your soul gets sucked into the dream sphere, I think canonically you leave your body and become trapped there. You at first have a vague awareness of what’s going on outside (like an out of body experience) before disconnecting from your body completely. Moon takes the protagonist of the book by the hand and they walk off together at the end. It’s left open-ended after that, so there are a million directions that could take as well.

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Ohhhh we are popping the biggest bottles, it only took writing 25 fics (plus a small number of fics from other talented writers) but Sara and Hunter are FINALLY a recognized relationship tag on AO3

To celebrate, please enjoy:

Sara and Hunter are Two Rats

Hunter was exhausted after a long day of overseeing funerals. It was a stressful job, because mourners don't always behave tactfully and also because most funerals were for crows and crows tend to eat rats.

Her parents had had a much more friendly relationship with the local birds, but they'd been lost in a tragic rat poison incident and now Hunter was left running funerals for creatures that could eat her if they decided they didn't like the flower arrangements.

So she was a little on edge at the end of the day. All she wanted to do was collapse in her little hole until she had get up and go to work for the next murder victim or piece of roadkill that deserved a touching tribute.

The second she got comfortable and closed her eyes the hole filled with noise. She didn't have to open her eyes to find the source, she knew it was Sara.

Sara had acquired a zune from the humans and so everywhere she went she had background music. It was weirdly endearing- when you didn't have a skull splitting headache from a day of hard work.

“Hey! You want to go to the rat rave?”

“The what?” Hunter asked, which was a mistake. Responding meant confirming that she was awake.

“It's a rave for rats.”

“I should have known.”

“It doesn't get as crazy as the bat raves but those are pretty exclusive. I mean I can get in and I'd vouch for you, you do fit their aesthetic… Do you want to go to a bat rave?”

“Mmph.”

“How do you feel about being upside down?”

Hunter cracked an eyelid and looked at Sara. She loved Sara's enthusiasm and obscure party knowledge, but she couldn't match her energy on a good day and this one had been especially bad.

“Look, I almost got eaten today, so I don’t really feel like going out.”

Sara's eyes seemed to glow with anger at this revelation, “Who?”

“No one you know,” Hunter said quickly.

“Tell me their name and I'll hunt them down to the ends of the earth and make sure they never party in this city again.”

“Or,” Hunter suggested gently, “you can come over here and snuggle.”

Sara thought about it for a second, turning off her zune right as it was in the middle of “I Am” by Bon Jovi.

She came over and lay protectively in front of Hunter, so that any predators that found them in the night would have to go through her first.

“I'll keep you safe.”

Hunter nuzzled into Sara, “It's enough for you to keep me company.”

“I can do that, too.”

“Thanks for skipping the rat rave for me.”

“There will be other rat raves. But there's only one you.”

As she was falling a sleep Hunter kind of smiled and mumbled, “Yeah, I love you too.”

[aimeelouart]

That’s the face of someone who is definitely doing fine and doesn’t need help at all, no sir

For Smile and Wave, Boys