#this boy can fit so many bad omens

[jestroer]

What I love about Jimmy being out first every single time Is that it's not even that he is so bad at the game, he is just so fucking unlucky at all times. Like, the best example I can give is Last Life, where he spawned with two lives, which is in itself very unlucky, didn't gain any and still he died seconds before Mumbo who spawned with 4 and in the same ep as the others who had more lives than him. Like, he barely ever died in some epic battle where his PvP skills just weren't good enough, it's always some shit like falling from somewhere, traps not meant for him, accidently looking at an enderman. It's always a chance he dies first and the chance somehow is always against Jimmy. Like I know we love calling Jimmy bad at the game but for me it's much more interesting that his skills are genuinely not the main reason he dies first. Bad luck omen as well as death omen he's not fucking beating those allegations boys

[iz1331]

I'm not the only thinking that these tags are Betelgeuse & Lydia and Gabriel & Beelzebub coded... Right?

Got these from here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

[notalostcausejustyet]

Heeeeeey. How about some suggestive poetry?

[snazzy-serpent]

Omg I just realised when Aziraphale and Crowley are talking in Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death there's a classical version of Bohemian Rhapsody playing.

I love that

[colleendoran]

Great Big Good Omens Graphic Novel Update

AKA A Visit From Bildad the Shuhite.

The past year or so has been one long visit from this guy, whereupon he smiteth my goats and burneth my crops, woe unto the woeful cartoonist.

Gaze upon the horror of Bildad the Shuhite.

You kind of have to be a Good Omens fan to get this joke, but trust me, it's hilarious.

Anyway, as a long time Good Omens novel fan, you may imagine how thrilled I was to get picked to adapt the graphic novel.

 Go me!  

This is quite a task, I have to say, especially since I was originally going to just draw (and color) it, but I ended up writing the adaptation as well. Tricky to fit a 400 page novel into a 160-ish page graphic novel, especially when so much of the humor is dependent on the language, and not necessarily on the visuals.

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Anyway, I started out the gate like a herd of turtles, because  right away I got COVID which knocked me on my butt. 

And COVID brain fog? That's a thing. I already struggle with brain fog due to autoimmune disease, and COVID made it worse.

Not complainin' just sayin'.

This set a few of the assignments on my plate back, which pushed starting Good Omens back. 

But hey, big fat lead time! No worries!

Then my computer crawled toward the grave.

My trusty MAC Pro Tower was nearly 15 years old when its sturdy heart ground to a near-halt with daily crashes. I finally got around to doing some diagnostics; some of its little brain actions were at 5% functionality. I had no reliable backups.

There are so many issues with getting a new computer when you haven't had a new computer or peripherals in nearly fifteen years and all of your software, including your Photoshop program is fifteen years old.

At the time, I was still on rural internet...which means dial-up speed.

Whatever you have for internet in the city, roll that clock back to about 2001.

That's what I had. I not only had to replace almost all of my hardware but I had to load and update all programs at dial-up speed.

Welcome to my gigabyte hell.

The entire process of replacing the equipment and programs took weeks and then I had to relearn all the software.

All of this was super expensive in terms of money and time cost.

But I was not daunted! Nosirree!

I still had a huge lead time! I can do anything! I have an iron will!

And boy, howdy, I was going to need it.

At about the same time, a big fatcat quadrillionaire client who had hired me years ago to develop a big, major transmedia project for which I was paid almost entirely in stock, went bankrupt leaving everyone holding the bag, and taking a huge chunk of my future retirement fund with it.

I wrote a very snarky almost hilarious Patreon post about it, but am not entirely in a position to speak freely because I don't want to get sued. Even though I had to go to court over it, (and I had to do that over Zoom at dial-up speed,) I'm pretty sure I'll never get anything out of this drama, and neither will anyone else involved, except millionaire dude and his buddies who all walked away with huge multi-million dollar bonuses weeks before they declared bankruptcy, all the while claiming they would not declare bankruptcy.

Even the accountant got $250,000 a month to shut down the business, while creators got nothing.

That in itself was enough drama for the year, but we were only at February by that point, and with all those months left, 2023 had a lot more to throw at me.

Fresh from my return from my Society of Illustrators show, and a lovely time at MOCCA, it was time to face practical medical issues, health updates, screening, and the like. I did my adult duty and then went back to work hoping for no news, but still had a weird feeling there would be news.

I know everyone says that, but I mean it. I had a bad feeling.

Then there was news.

I was called back for tests and more tests. This took weeks. The ubiquitous biopsy looked, even to me staring at the screen in real time, like bad news. 

It also hurt like a mofo after the anesthesia wore off. I wasn't expecting that.

Then I got the official bad news.

Cancer which runs in my family finally got me. Frankly, I was surprised I didn't get it sooner.

Stage 0, and treatment would likely be fast and complication-free. Face the peril, get it over with, and get back to work. 

I requested surgery months in the future so I could finish Good Omens first, but my doc convinced me the risk of waiting was too great. Get it done now.

"You're really healthy," my doc said. Despite an auto-immune issue which plagues me, I am way healthier than the average schmoe of late middle age. She informed me I would not even need any chemo or radiation if I took care of this now.

So I canceled my appearance at San Diego Comic Con. I did not inform the Good Omens team of my issues right away, thinking this would not interfere with my work schedule, but I did contact my agent to inform her of the issue. I also contacted a lawyer to rewrite my will and make sure the team had access to my digital files in case there were complications.

Then I got back to work, and hoped for the best.

Eff this guy.

Before I could even plant my carcass on the surgery table, I got a massive case of ocular shingles.

I didn't even know there was such a thing. 

There I was, minding my own business. I go to bed one night with a scratchy eye, and by 4 PM the next day, I was in the emergency room being told if I didn't get immediate specialist treatment, I was in big trouble.

I got transferred to another hospital and got all the scary details, with the extra horrid news that I could not possibly have cancer surgery until I was free of shingles, and if I did not follow a rather brutal treatment procedure - which meant super-painful  eye drops every half hour, twenty-four hours a day and daily hospital treatment - I could lose the eye entirely, or be blinded, or best case scenario, get permanent eye damage.

What was even funnier (yeah, hilarity) is the drops are so toxic if you don't use the medication just right, you can go blind anyway.

Hi Ho.

Ulcer is on the right. That big green blob.

I had just finished telling my cancer surgeon I did not even really care about getting cancer, was happy it was just stage zero, had no issues with scarring, wanted no reconstruction, all I cared about was my work. 

Just cut it out and get me back to work.

And now I wondered if I was going to lose my ability to work anyway.

Shingles often accompanies cancer because of the stress on the immune system, and yeah, it's not pretty. This is me looking like all heck after I started to get better.

The first couple of weeks were pretty demoralizing as I expected a straight trajectory to wellness. But it was up and down all the way. 

Some days I could not see out of either eye at all. The swelling was so bad that I had to reach around to my good eye to prop the lid open. Light sensitivity made seeing out of either eye almost impossible. Outdoors, even with sunglasses, I had to be led around by the hand.

I had an amazing doctor. I meticulously followed his instructions, and I think he was surprised I did. The treatment is really difficult, and if you don't do it just right no matter how painful it gets, you will be sorry. 

To my amazement, after about a month, my doctor informed me I had no vision loss in the eye at all. "This never happens," he said.

I'd spent a couple of weeks there trying to learn to draw in the near-dark with one eye, and in the end, I got all my sight back.

I could no longer wear contact lenses (I don't really wear them anyway, unless I'm going to the movies,) would need hard core sun protection for awhile, and the neuralgia and sun sensitivity were likely to linger. But I could get back to work.

I have never been more grateful in my life.

Neuralgia sucks, by the way, I'm still dealing with it months later.

Anyway, I decided to finally go ahead and tell the Good Omens team what was going on, especially since this was all happening around the time the Kickstarter was gearing up.

Now that I was sure I'd passed the eye peril, and my surgery for Stage 0 was going to be no big deal, I figured all was a go. I was still pretty uncomfortable and weak, and my ideal deadline was blown, but with the book not coming out for more than a year, all would be OK. I quit a bunch of jobs I had lined up to start after Good Omens, since the project was going to run far longer than I'd planned.

Everybody on the team was super-nice, and I was pretty optimistic at this time. But work was going pretty slow during, as you may imagine.

But again...lots of lead time still left, go me.

Then I finally got my surgery.

Which was not as happy an experience as I had been hoping for.

My family said the doc came out of the operating room looking like she'd been pulled backwards through a pipe, She informed them the tumor which looked tiny on the scan was "...huge and her insides are a mess."

Which was super not fun news.

Eff this guy.

The tumor was hiding behind some dense tissue and cysts. After more tests, it was determined I'd need another surgery and was going to have to get further treatments after all.

The biopsy had been really painful, but the discomfort was gone after about a week, so no biggee. The second surgery was, weirdly, not as painful as the biopsy, but the fatigue was big time.

By then, the Good Omens Kickstarter had about run its course, and the record-breaker was both gratifying and a source of immense social pressure.

I'd already turned most of my social media over to an assistant, and I'm glad I did.

But the next surgery was what really kicked me on my keister.

All in all, they took out an area the size of a baseball. It was  hard to move and wiped me out for weeks and weeks. I could not take care of myself. I'd begun losing hair by this time anyway, and finally just lopped it off since it was too heavy for me to care for myself. The cut hides the bald spots pretty well.

After about a month, I got the go-ahead to travel to my show at the San Diego Comic Con Museum (which is running until the first week of April, BTW). I was very happy I had enough energy to do it. But as soon as I got back, I had to return to treatment.

Since I live way out in the country, going into the city to various hospitals and pharmacies was a real challenge. I made more than 100 trips last year, and a drive to the compounding pharmacy which produced the specialist eye medicine I could not get anywhere else was six hours alone.

Naturally, I wasn't getting anything done during this time.

But at least my main hospital is super swank.

The oncology treatment went smoothly, until it didn't. The feels don't hit you until the end. By then I was flattened.

So flattened that I was too weak to control myself, fell over, and smashed my face into some equipment.

Nearly tore off my damn nostril.

Eff this guy.

Anyway, it was a bad year.

Here's what went right.

I have a good health insurance policy. The final tally on my health care costs ended up being about $150,000. I paid about 18% of that, including insurance. I had a high deductible and some experimental medicine insurance didn't cover. I had savings,  enough to cover the months I wasn't working, and my Patreon is also very supportive. So you didn't see me running a Gofundme or anything.

Thanks to everyone who ever bought one of my books.

No, none of that money was Good Omens Kickstarter money. I won't get most of my pay on that for months, which is just as well because it kept my taxes lower last year when I needed a break.

So, yay.

My nose is nearly healed. I opted out of plastic surgery, and it just sealed up by itself. I'll never be ready for my closeup, but who the hell cares.

I got to ring the bell.

I had a very, VERY hard time getting back to work, especially with regard to focus and concentration. My work hours dropped by over 2/3. I was so fractured and weak, time kept slipping away while I sat in the studio like a zombie. Most of the last six months were a wash.

I assumed focus issues were due (in part) to stress, so sought counseling. This seemed like a good idea at first, but when the counselor asked me to detail my issues with anxiety, I spent two weeks doing just that and getting way more anxious, which was not helpful.

After that I went EFF THIS NOISE, I want practical tools, not touchy feelies (no judgment on people who need touchy-feelies, I need a pragmatic solution and I need it now,) so tried using the body doubling focus group technique for concentration and deep work.

Within two weeks, I returned to normal work hours.

I got rural broadband, jumping me from dial up speed to 1 GB per second.

It's a miracle.

Massive doses of Vitamin D3 and K2. Yay.

The new computer works great.

The Kickstarter did so well, we got to expand the graphic novel to 200 pages. Double yay.

I'm running late, but everyone on the Good Omens team is super supportive. I don't know if I am going to make the book late or not, but if I do, well, it surely wasn't on purpose, and it won't be super late anyway. I still have months of lead time left.

I used to be something of a social media addict, but now I hardly ever even look at it, haven't been directly on some sites in over a year, and no longer miss it. It used to seem important and now doesn't.

More time for real life.

While I think the last year aged me about twenty years, I actually like me better with short hair. I'm keeping it.

OK. Rough year. 

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Back to work on The Book.

And only a day left to vote for Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, and Sandman in the Comicscene Awards. Thanks. 

[knifeforkspooncup]

Holy shit this is gorgeous and vivid and visceral.

abandon your propriety and gorge yourself like the starving animal you are

Aghhhhhh.

tarnish yourself with my longing, crimson from the foolish need I've grown, overripe and fermenting on the bough

^^^^ THAT GOES SO HARD WHAT ^^^

That metaphor is 🔥🔥🔥🔥 I'm am sat I am knelt I am a puddle on the floor I want to lick those lines off the screen.

Especially the fermenting part, that is so clever. Wanting so much and for so long that the want changes form, doesn't degrade, but starts to change, becomes intoxicating.

glutted and intoxicated by my mouldering spirit

Fucking. Wonderful.

There is so much longing in this one and the imagery is just INSANE. INSANE.

No Angel of Temperance

curl your hands around my heart  squeeze dig your nails into its flesh  rip it open like a pomegranate  staining your fingertips with the mess of it  fill your mouth with my arils bite into me and chew and chew my desire bursting across your tongue my suffering pooling at the corners of your smile my desperation grinding between your teeth abandon your propriety and gorge like the starving animal you are  tarnish yourself with my longing crimson from the foolish need I’ve grown overripe and fermenting on the bough devour it  devour me until you, too, are slavering glutted and intoxicated by my moldering spirit

[beenbaanbuun]

emo!mingi

im writing something big rn but for the time being, i can’t get the fact that mingi is a certified! emo off of my mind… like ever….

it’s all i think about and as an emo/metal girlie myself, i can’t help but think about mingi fucking you to his personal horny emo/metal playlist.

bc i can guarantee he has one. like the man said one of his favourite songs was dance dance by fall out boy??? like i can just imagine him taking the lyrics to that song a little too personally, stripping you bare on his mattress, putting you on your front and kissing down your naked spine. pete wentz was sooo right when he wrote that song… mingi does want sympathy in the form of you crawling into bed with him…

and i’m sorry, if that man ever listens to death of peace of mind by bad omens??? oh that man would be DONE. FINISHED!! because how is he supposed to hear that song without you popping into his head. memories of him folding you in half as he fucks into you, mascara tears streaming down your face as you cry out for him. chanting his name over and over again like a mantra… it’s like that song was written about you.

and that man has eaten you out one too many times to K.M.B by nova twins… he gets so pussy drunk and just goes dumb between your legs while the music degrades him and calls him out for what he really is. there really isn’t much going on between his eyes once he gets even a hint of your pussy juices. literally turns into a pretty puppy that exists solely for your pleasure, and you’re okay with that…

and i just know that this man goes fucking i n s a n e when he hears the first note of a deftones song. imagine him listening to my own summer (shove it) and just ramming into you. he’d have you pinned down as he almost completely loses himself, thrusting hard and sensual, trying so desperately to hold on to his last thread of sanity. trying so hard not to snap completely and let himself go absolutely feral on you. he wants to, so bad actually, but for the sake of you being able to walk the next day, he holds back… barely.

but like, we also know this man is a giggly baby half the time. like he’s such a princess and i refuse to believe that every single time you have sex with him, he’s completely serious. like imagine he’s trying to be but then the playlist switches songs and it’s a fucking limp bizkit song or something. like it just switches the mood entirely because how is he supposed to fuck you when fred durst is singing rollin’ directly in his ear. like you’re not telling me this man won’t collapse on top of you in a fit of giggles, rigid dick still pressed inside of you as he tries to contain his laughter in your ear. and you just slap his shoulder or something because what the fuck is LIMP BIZKIT doing in his sex playlist?!?!?!?

i’m so sorry, but emo mingi DOES THINGS TO ME!!!!! like it’s all i can think about at any given point in time and i need people to understand that this is my roman empire!!!

[noneorother]

The art director & the Good Omens book cover tier list of doom, part 2

Part 1 l Part 2

I am your resident Art Director/Good Omens enthusiast, and welcome to my completely meta-free book cover tier list. Listen, making a book cover is HARD. I should know. But while we salute these artists for their hard work and time, I think we can all admit that once in a while, the vision is just not on. And on very rare occasions, publishers seemed to have managed to commission the cover art directly from hell... here's where we left off last time:

Onwards and upwards, as they say. 11. International paperbacks, Goda Omen

It is inexplicable to me but I LOVE this cover art. It's so sweet and innocent, the colours are contrasty and fun, and the layout leaves enough room for the text. Maybe I would call it slightly inaccurate to have our boys dancing on Greenland while the UK has drowned in a great flood, but hey. It's charming. The international cover gets a thwack with a ruler for trying to fit "creator of Discworld" in between the two wings like that, though. Tier: Great

12. Italian Cover, Buona Apocalisse à tutti!

The Italian translation of Good Omens into "Happy Apocalypse to All!" really tickles my funny bone. Unlike this cover which is trying to scrape at it with a dull knife until I'm screaming on the floor. I know demons can only dance badly, but does Crowley *really* have to fracture both ankles while trying? Aziraphale pelvic thrusting his way into heaven is a visual I didn't think I'd ever want. Minus so many points for random murder alley where this is all occurring. At least the designer managed to wrangle the type into one of the best proportional layouts I've seen thus far? Tier: Bad

13. Italian Cover, Good Omens

A truly valiant attempt here to rectify a terrifying situation with that earlier Italian version. While this one actually seems much more interesting at a glance, the details kinda get to me. The Bentley's steering being on the wrong side, the word Omens kindasortanotfquite fitting on the black wing, the motorcycles with no drivers... TIMES NEW ROMAN FOR THE AUTHORS NAMES. I don't think it can even be redeemed by the most powerfully rendered Sacred Heart/Cardi B W.A.P. imagery I've ever seen. Tier: Good (Omens)

14. Japanese cover, Good Omens

Look, this designer GETS IT. Crowley and Aziraphale are a pair, a group of the two of us. Do not separate. It's also the only cover I've seen that uses shades of grey! The woodcut vibes are STRONG AND POWERFUL. The type is well placed! I should love this, except the end result kinda looks like a manual for clinical depression in the workplace? It's ending up higher on the list than it deserves, frankly.

Tier: Good (Omens)

15. Japanese cover, Good Omens

This cover might as well be an Ethereal/Occult firemen's calendar. Someone wanted teens to cut off this cover and tape it to their bedroom wall. I can't even judge the typography or the symbolism because I'm just getting hit with waves of pheromones and angst. I can't even tell if it's good but it's going in the Good pile because I can't look at it anymore...

Tier: Good (Omens)

16. Japanese covers, Good Omens

Other people have assured me that this is, in fact, a dual Good omens cover. Alas, I cannot tell. I don't possess compound eyes or even an exoskeleton, and as such lack the ability to decipher these decisions.

Tier: WTF

16. Japanese cover, Good Omens

Holy overlap, Batman! I can’t fault this designer for wanting to reuse the wonderful dual illustrations in a Ying-Yang layout, all the elements are there, but there’s a clinginess to the type and positioning that makes me feel like someone is trying to hurt the letters? Is this designer okay? Do they need a hug?

Tier: Does the Job

18. Chinese cover, Good Omens

Can I say how charming it is they’ve managed to conserve the halo and devils tale on the Chinese title, as well as the woodcut detailing? However, the simplicity of the cute, contrasting wing design is sadly swallowed by the intense, New-York taxi cab vibes coming off the yellow and checkerboard text block. It could have been so good! Chinese readers: I am mad on your behalf!

Tier: Not so good (Omens)

19. UK 1991 paperback, Good Omens

What are we doing here, people. I think I've stepped into a Jungian analysis of what it feels like to have read Good Omens. It's dreamy yet unsettling. Right yet very wrong. And Ol' "Tiny Hands" Aziraphale up there is really judging me for what they found inside my mind. In less upsetting news, we've kept the improved typography and layout of the authors and book title. All is not lost to the nightmare.

Tier: Not so good (Omens)

20. 50 Shades of Gray rip-off cover, Good Omens

*panic* WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE, PEOPLE...?! Bonus : the guardian quote is almost as much of a mystery as the cover it’s on.

Tier: WTF

End of round 2.

[nobedofroses]

October 2nd

pairing: Pero Tovar x fem!reader (gendered spanish is used once in the form of querida but nothing else)

warnings: fluff!

words: 529

a/n: Prompt for today is Superstitions from this list by @raven-cincaide-words. Just a fun little married moment with Pero :)

Directory, Day 1

🎃🎃🎃

Being married to Pero was wonderful for many reasons. There was the love, the making love, the companionship, the home, the family, the fun, and so many more than you could list. But there also seemed to be new cultural differences that you discovered every day. Superstitions mainly, and mostly on Pero’s side since you weren’t raised to believe in them. 

But oh boy did Pero. From pricking your finger on one of the multiple cacti on the windowsill to being reprimanded for leaving your hat on the bed, it seemed you were constantly breaking some Spanish superstition or another. 

You did your best to follow the new ones when Pero told you about them, more for his sake since he worried when you broke them, but it was a lot to remember. 

Tonight you were having dinner, enjoying the evening and conversation with each other after a day of work outside preparing for the coming autumn chill. 

“Darling, can you pass me the bread?” you asked, gesturing in front of him. But when you moved your hand, you accidentally knocked into the glass holding your wine and it fell over with a dull thud, thankfully not breaking against the table. “Oh no! What luck, I just washed this tablecloth too.” 

You jumped up to grab a rag to soak it up, but Pero grabbed your hand, “No, querida, it is not bad luck. Spilt wine is a good omen.” 

“A good omen? But it’s a mess. It might even stain the wood of the table,” you pointed out. 

“I will help you clean it, but first let us partake in some of the good luck for ourselves,” Pero said, squeezing your hand before letting it go. He reached forward and dabbed his middle finger in the small pool of wine that had spilled on your empty plate. 

“What— how do we do that?” you asked, watching him intently. 

“Like this,” Pero gently touched his finger to your forehead and you tracked the movement until you practically went cross-eyed. 

When he pulled his hand back, you breathed a laugh, “That’s it? Wine on our foreheads is all we need for good luck?” 

Pero shrugged, “Us Spaniards, we do not shy away from a good omen. If we can soak up a little of its power with our sweet wine, we would be fools not to.” 

You smiled at that and said, “Your turn then,” and did the same to Pero, making sure not to put too much wine on his forehead that it dripped down his face. But then a drop of wine dripped along your hand and started down the length of your wrist until Pero grabbed your hand and brought it to his lips. 

He pressed open mouthed kisses to your skin until he reached your fingertip and fit his lips around it. Pero gently laved your finger with his tongue and then softly sucked at it as you watched with rapt attention. 

When he pulled your finger out of his mouth and started working towards the others, your eyes widened and you said, “Maybe we should leave the table for later. So what if it stains?”

🎃🎃🎃

[sinkingteethinwhitenoise]

Limoncello - Chapter 6

Pairings: Nick Folio x OFC, Bad Omens x OFC

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Fluff, cursing, one mini flashback, I didn't proof read half of this bc I hate myself, a stupid joke? or exchange??, like it's really fucking dumb i'm warning you.

Series Masterlist

“To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.” ~ Mark Twain

Mountains of different shirts, shorts, pants, skirts, and dresses littered the floor in Maeve’s bedroom. She couldn’t even see the floor anymore. When Nick had told her that he found it hard to believe that she owned anything black, she hadn’t expected that the nail polish would actually be the only black thing she owned. She also hadn’t realized that she had this many clothes. She growled in frustration as she grabbed yet another colorful article of clothing. She looked over to her vanity where her phone was propped up against the mirror, her best friend’s bored face covering the screen as she watched Maeve through the ongoing facetime call. 

“Presley,” Maeve whined to her friend, striding towards the phone and picking it up as she anxiously ran her fingers through hair. “What do I do? I have nothing to wear to this gig.” 

Presley sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Your floor looks like the opening scene of Clueless. You have plenty to wear,” she started. “What exactly are you going for?”

“Like…A rockstar girlfriend type of look,” Maeve sounded unsure. “At least something that won’t make me stick out like a sore thumb.” 

Presley visibly held back laughter. “Babe, that’s so not you. You’re not going to find anything that fits the bill in your closet.” 

“Well what do I do? I can’t go buy anything,” Maeve whined. “I have to be ready in an hour.” 

Presley thought for a moment, “Do you still have those dark green corduroy shorts?” 

Maeve nodded and set the phone down to dig through the closet once more. She found them relatively quick and put them on to ensure that they still fit. They did. 

“Great,” Presley approved. “Now just style those how you’d usually style them. You’ll look gorgeous. If that boy likes you for you, he’ll think so too. Plus, it’s a dive bar. Don’t overthink it.”

Maeve felt her face heat up at the mention of Nick possibly liking her. She hoped he did, but she continuously convinced herself that he was just friendly. Presley had been rooting for them the moment Maeve told her about him on the day the band moved in across the street.

“Presley!” Maeve beamed once she answered the facetime call. “I have new neighbors! Across the street!”

“I’m assuming you already went over there?” Presley questioned, knowing her friend’s tendency to be hospitable. 

“I just got back from bringing them cookies,” Maeve confirmed. “It’s four guys. And! They’re a band. From what I can tell, they play pretty heavy stuff. Well, heavy for me at least.” Maeve rambled on with the biggest smile that Presley had seen from her in a long time. Maeve usually was one to get excited about meeting new people. But Presley could tell this was different. 

“How did it go?” Presley asked gently, trying to get more information about these neighbors and why they had her so excited. 

“It went really well! They’re all so kind! They loved the cookies,” Maeve giggled before she continued. “Oh! Their drummer is really cute.” 

Presley watched as Maeve’s face turned bright red. “Tell me more about this drummer.” 

“Well, his name is Nick. He seemed a little bit shy. But when we shook hands, neither of us let go when we definitely should’ve. I feel really stupid for that. It’s probably my fault,” Maeve’s smile faded a bit. “Oh my God, he probably thinks I’m so weird.”

Presley laughed and shook her head, “If he didn’t let go either, it’s probably fine.” Presley didn’t say anything then, but she knew that Maeve had a crush and that Nick probably had one too. 

Maeve dug through the clothes on the floor and in the closet looking for some very specific pieces. She grabbed a fitted, cropped white tank top, a thin brown belt, and some brown boots. After dressing herself completely she threw on a dainty, gold necklace and matching stud earrings. She backed up so she was in frame to show Presley. “This is cute right? I don’t think I’ll stick out like a sore thumb.” 

“Super cute. Super you.” Presley gave her a thumbs up. “I love it.”

“Cool,” Maeve nodded. “One more question. Bubble braids?”

“Oh, absolutely!”

After throwing her hair into bubble braids, doing some light, glowy makeup, and saying goodbye to Presley, Maeve grabbed her purse and made her way across the street. She smiled as she saw the garage door open the second she stepped into their driveway. ‘Perfect timing,’ she thought. 

Nicholas stepped outside first, his hair sitting messily in a bun on top of his head. He offered a tight lipped smile. “Hey Maeve. You’re still riding with us, right?”

“If that’s still okay with you guys, then yes,” she grinned as she approached him. 

“Well, you’ll be riding with Folio in the truck,” he explained. “And trust me, he’s more than okay with it.”

“Oh you guys take separate vehicles?” Maeve tilted her head to the side. 

Nicholas nodded, “Yeah. The drum kit takes up a lot of space, so we have to.”

The door leading into the garage opened and Nick emerged. He seemed to be on autopilot as he went straight over to the drum kit without even glancing in their direction. As he began to prepare it for loading, Nicholas leaned over to Maeve. “Watch this,” he whispered. He cleared his throat. “Hey, Folio.”

Without turning to look, Folio responded with a hum. 

Nicholas tried to hold back a smirk, “Maeve’s here. You’re not gonna say hi?”

Folio froze in his spot for a moment. His eyes widened as he finally turned around. His face had turned beet red in a matter of seconds. 

Maeve tried to hold back a laugh, “Yeah what’s up with that?” She played along. “You invited me and you’re not even gonna say hi?” He looked nervous, embarrassed and clearly didn’t know what to say. Maeve couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore as she walked over to him, “I’m just messing.” She placed her hand on his bicep and gave it a comforting squeeze. 

His face settled into a goofy grin as he looked down at her, “Very funny.” 

“Nicholas started it,” Maeve jutted her thumb to point behind her at Nicholas, who had a hand over his mouth still trying so hard not to burst out laughing. 

Folio rolled his eyes as he turned his focus to Nicholas. “Since this is so funny, why don’t you help me load this up?”

Maeve stepped to the side as Nicholas began to help Folio. Once they were far away enough from Maeve, Nicholas decided to tease him a little more. “You are so fucking down bad,” he mumbled to him with a shit eating grin on his face. 

“Shut the fuck up.”

With all the instruments and equipment loaded up, they all left for the bar. Maeve sat in the passenger’s seat of Nick’s old truck and tried not to stare too hard at his profile while he drove. Nick was trying to keep his eyes on the road. It was proving difficult with how pretty she looked and how nice she smelled, so he kept stealing little glances. 

He then realized how quiet it was. Even with the music playing from the radio, he still felt like there was an intense, awkward silence. He needed to say something. He didn’t want it to seem like he didn’t want her there. So, he began to talk about the first thing that came to mind. It just so happened to be a shower thought that he’d had earlier. “You know dog whistles?” he asked her.

Maeve furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at him. “Yeah…” she trailed off, confused. “What about them?”

“So, only dogs hear them, right?”

“I guess…yeah.” She had no idea where he was going with this, but she was curious enough to play into it. 

“Alright. Have you ever heard of a death whistle?” he questioned, seemingly changing the subject. 

“Like the Aztec ones?” Maeve asked. A smile began to form on her face at the strangeness of this conversation. 

“Exactly,” said Nick. “Do you think it’s the same? Like only dogs can hear dog whistles. Can only dead people hear death whistles?”

She bursted into a fit of laughter. “Definitely not,” she responded. “How would that even work? How do they hear it if they're dead?” 

Nick started to laugh along with her, “I don’t know! Maybe their souls have ears or something.” 

“That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard,” Maeve laughed, clearly amused. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth as she continued to laugh harder and harder the more she thought about the absurdity of the question. 

Nick looked over at her fully as he laughed at his own stupid question and her reaction to it. Then he noticed her nails. “Hey, did you paint your nails? They’re black.”

Through heaving breaths in an attempt to control her laughter, Maeve nodded. “Yeah, I painted them last night. Thought it could be fun for us to match.” 

Nick swore he felt his heart swell at the admission and he was rendered speechless for a moment. “Yeah,” he said softly, his own laughter long faded but a fond smile still present. “That’s sick.” 

[puckpocketed]

sharks to kings trade !!! your beloveds are sending penpals to each other in the form of players (-puckszone)

the Grundstrom for Burroughs Trade Vibe Check

HELLO beloved jane puckszone my pink scalloped hem my midnight candy gram my mist over still waters… thank you for stopping by i LOVE waking up to trade news in my inbox i LOVE that our california girls are having playdates . 🎶you can check out any time you like, but you can never leaaaveeee 🎶 <- type beat. about the California Swing; this big road trip every team gets subjected to multiple times each season on account of proximity, it used to be MISERABLE and FOUL because at one point we had 3 good teams !! i hope we get back to that one day 🥹🤲

Carl Grundstrom. CARL GRUNDOTHY …!!!!! I am genuinely VERY happy for him 😭💙 he was pushed out of the lineup during playoffs for some unfathomable reason (rat clenching fist of rage about it) . he’ll be getting more minutes on the Sharks GOD WILLING……. did you watch him at worlds? i did…!! i really liked his, idk what to call it, spirit??? like SORRY LAK but you may have fumbled a bad bitch… ough to see him benched and playing like 2 mins a night during playoffs… god he played one 25 second shift during one of those games and meanwhile they were double shifting our beautiful boy quinton byfield WHO WAS ILL BTW… i thought the kings needed grundy’s fighting spirit out there on the ice :(((

anyway adoption papers under the cut!!

Grundy for the Sharks moots:

We call him Grundy (me and you jane puckszone + the two skeletons and four moths on kingsblr) and i think i’ve seen Jim Hiller call him Grunny? grundy sounds better to me so i use that <3

He’s a solid 4th liner i mean this in the best most complimentary way possible… he does SO well … throw him out there to rest your first line and the puck might just do good things!!! my defensively responsible little guy…!! like. i love hard workers they are so dear to me <3

Low key underrated shooter? mostly in that i don’t know if i ever saw him pass loooool but yeah no he has more goals than assists this past season like IF the puck is on his stick he WILL shoot it godbless !!

Perhaps on the Sharks he moves up the depth chart 😭👍 middle-six winger anyone…praying for his success so bad you don’t even KNOW

HITTER!! this boy is big and throws hits! Plays the body when defending, plays the body when forechecking <3. i love you grundy and so does the mike grier Size/Skill/Will agenda. with this trade we are swapping hitter for hitter, but making room on our blue line (Shakir full time NHL arc???? PLEEK)

Grundy might genuinely be a great fit for the Sharks Culture Plan because i never saw a game where he wasn’t extremely invested and intense … i liked that about him vewwy much but that might just be me and my penchant for becoming attached to random depth players 🥹

More broadly, the pattern of picking up guys who need a new opportunity marches on… dellandrea and now grundstrom. we may not have uhhh affordable housing or more than 20 wins but the one thing sj does have in spades is ice time <3

i do wonder what all this does to our guys in the AHL who’ve been very hungry to break through but ough. alas. </3 perhaps that’s a conversation best had on a podcast and not by me, i can’t be objective here!!

on the LAK side of things:

Kyle Burroughs played way too many minutes on a bare bones Sharks defense please don’t look at his uuhhh -42 rating and take it seriously 😭

he might look like a silly guy from a 2010s sitcom but he is in fact a GOON!!! the fighting majors… lordy….. also i haven’t checked the stats recently but last time i did he was right up in the leaderboards for hits.

this move from LA does puzzle me!! Clarke and Spence should be getting more priority ice time next season. the Burroughs trade would push them out of the lineup unless Burroughs is getting put in the AHL or lak get rid of another defenseman.

perhaps an omen? Matt Roy leaving? or perhaps noted gorgeous leg weight Andreas Englund? <- i’m more inclined to this as it seems Burroughs and Englund would occupy the same role!!

endeared by Kyle Burroughs’ moustache deeply <3 him and j.middleton are sisters to me as per one of my posts…

anyway i hope he gets fewer minutes and less rough deployment on the kings jskdjdkgk he truly went THRU it this past season 😭���

in conclusion Cali Polycule please come back from the WAR i need this place to be hell on earth again CALIFORNIA SWEEP….!!!!

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Try Me Once More

“Actually, can you do me a favor? No tempting. No sins. Just a way for us to spend some time together while I finish what I need to do.” Aziraphale considered it and then nodded. “Well, I don’t see why not.” “Can you pretend to be my wife?”

Length: 42,142 words

AO3 Rating: Explicit / Spice Level 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Best for: Romance, Fluff, Through the Ages

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by Mackaley

*Minor Spoilers* Slaps the roof of this fic, this bad boy can fit so many Aziracrow weddings in it! Tons of romance here, some pretend marriages of convenience and a couple that are just teeth rottingly sweet. This isn't without angst, but it's not cruel to you. Since this is set within the canon timeline, you'll know how some things will play out. But don't worry, this story isn't going to trap you in reliving those parts. It wants to show you the tender love that this iteration of our couple share. This one makes full use out of the fluidity of both of their genders. And to be crude, this story gives me and Crowley what we love best. Big tiddy Aziraphale. Bless all of you who write and draw big tiddy Aziraphale. I owe you everything. I love how their sexual relationship starts when they realize the loophole of being "allowed" to consummate their marriage. It is exactly the sort of excuse Aziraphale would come up with and I love it. And it leads to a very joyful scene of all the marriages they have. Safe ish in public, there's only a couple sexual scenes but it's definitely steamy so I wouldn't be reading this one at work.

Read it here, fic by Mackaley

[primalbeatsourhearts]

Some Angel!Crowley HC's

Since I can't draw, ya'll are gonna listen to me ramble for a bit. This can either be a reverse omens au or a 'Crowley Returns to Heaven' thing. Whatever works, these are just idea's that I have and they can fit into either or. (If they don't, I'll separate it specifically)

Anyways:

- I have always LOVED the idea of Crowley being Raphael theory. Even tho my fanfics tend to cater to the idea of Angel!Crowley being Lucifer, I know our Lord and Savior Neil Gaiman said he wasn't. So this AU, Crowley is the Arch-Angel Raphael. Yes, Archangel with a Captial A so he's one of the big boi's. (I'll be referring to him as Raphael from now on)

-He is the youngest of all the Archangels. Basically the baby brother but he was actually very close with them. Though he was often in his own head, which resulted in him getting into more trouble than it's worth. That's fine though, everyone is used to his shenanigan's.

-We all know Raphael loved his stars, but we never see just how much. It isn't uncommon to see him cradling a newly born star in his hands, or singing lullabies that can still be heard (not as easily anymore, the noise pollution started drowning out the celestial songs).

-Raphael is also FEIRCLY protective of his stars. He's a relatively peaceful angel, never really made for war. But holy heaven is his wrath terrifying if you ever messed with his babies. He once left Gabriel shaking in his boots and fleeing the scene after a prank went wrong.

-He is an artist by nature and really doesn't do well with desk jobs. He figured out how to sleep before sleeping was even a thing when he started getting assigned paperwork. He swears God got the idea of sleeping from him. Gabriel thinks he shouldn't be as proud of that as he is.

-Speaking of Paperwork, Raphael is absolutely dogshit at it. If he isn't falling asleep while doing it and drooling all over the papers, his handwriting is SO messy that barely anyone can read it. He himself also struggles reading all the fine print and fancy lettering because his eyes are built to handle stars and galaxies. Not little tiny words.

-Doing paperwork got so bad that Raphael had to get an angelic assistant to help him out because he hated it so bad. The assistant often followed him around, reading out the paperwork as Raphael worked on whatever project he had at the time. This worked a lot better for all parties involved.

-Raphael and Lucifer often got into a LOT of mischief. They especially loved messing with Michael and Gabriel. Though neither of them liked Sandalphon at all, so he got the brunt of a lot of their harsher pranks. Raphael became especially menacing when he heard Sanalphon talking shit about one of his newly designed Nebula's.

-Raphael was never cruel to lower angels, in fact he was often quite kind to them. However, he often didn't notice them in the first place unless he genuinely needed something. He was often lost in his own head, imagining all sorts of future projects that he could work on. He would sometimes disrupt the conversation cause he came up with something, and would just leave in the middle of talking to anyone. -Though he did this with everyone, so no one took it to heart. Though they were quite surprised when someone saw him doing it to God too.

-When he does get into a conversation however, he is surprisingly snarky. You cannot count how many times he whispered something underneath his breath during one of the Archangel meetings that left Lucifer cackling in his seat.

-Once Raphael discovered fashion, that boy LOVED it. He loves wearing pure white, and especially having gold on his attire. He says it really brings out his red hair.

-His hair is also almost always long, he really loved the feeling of it and he found brushing it became a really soothing feeling to him. Though he wears it in so many different hairstyles that you'll never see the same thing twice a week.

-Raphael invented snakes and loves them dearly. So he often has snake memorabilia, and even has a large golden snake tattoo that crawls across his body.

-Raphael's eyes are very golden, and while he mostly stays in heaven, he still very much enjoys wearing sunglasses cause he likes the way they make him look. Plus it also helps hide his eyes when he's not paying attention to something.

-In the more recent years, Raphael is still in charge for tending and carrying for the skies and stars, but there comes a point where he can only do so much. So he asked if he could work somewhere else and now helps the angels paint the sunset/sunrise. So his clothing, face, and hands are almost always covered in pain but he very loves his work.

-Raphael's office is COVERED in plants. This boy loves his plants so much that he actively takes care of them in heaven and will even visit Heaven's nursery's to help nurture the plants before they are sent down to earth to grow.

-Speaking of Raphael's office, it is also covered in actual matter. Nothing is miracled as he much prefers the actual objects then the spawned in versions. Yes, he had a hard time fitting the desk in the elevator.

-Raphael is often brimming with questions and will NOT hesitate to ask them. He would annoy Gabriel, Michael, Lucifer or anyone he could get his hands on when he asked questions. Though in return, he will never fault anyone else asking questions. He will be honest in saying he doesn't know, if he doesn't know the answer.

-(Reverse Omens) Raphael thinks Unicorns are the coolest things in the world and will spend a lot of time with them. He was devastated to find out their demise on earth after the flood, and almost raged at God for that. He held his tongue.

-Being the angel of healing, Raphael has also been tasked with helping people heal. In the war, that is mostly what he focused on. He was an artist, not a fighter. Though he focused on healing both sides because he couldn't understand why everyone was hurting each other. Suffering never made sense to him.

-Raphael loved the concept of gender, and often changes between them a lot. Then the concept of the LGBTQ came out, and he loved it even more! Even if his permanent station isn't on earth, he LOVES going to Pride Parades whenever he can.

-(Reverse Omens) How he met the demon Azira was a long time ago, after he was assigned to painting. He grew curious of earth after finishing up a Sunrise, and decided to check it out. He met Azira and at first he was wary, but the demon's kindness and willingness to anwser questions made him stick around. Especially once Azira started showing him around. -Now him and Aizra meet as much as they can, but they do have jobs and are quite busy with their work. That is until the apocolypse and it meant no more sunrises or sunsets. No more plants, or animals, or fascinating humans or kids. Raphael didn't step up, all those millenium ago when the Great War happen. He'll step up now. Especially since his stars were also in danger of falling. Though he doesn't understand why the demon is so hesitant.

-(Crowley Goes with Aziraphale AU) Raphael wasn't really what Aziraphale expected when he took Crowley up to heaven with him. He knew him only for those few precious moments he had, but he also forgot just how spacey Raphael was. How he utterly detested being in charge. How mishevious he was. How little he cared about paperwork and would rather fly off with his stars. Aziraphale didn't realize how much the angel changed when he became a demon and he found himself wanting Crowley back.

---------------- Am done for now! I may come back with a part 2 if I have more idea's but anyways I hope ya'll enjoyed the word vomit I spat onto you all :D

[wordsinhaled]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @landwriter <3 thank you, gloam!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

14! (yes, only 14)

What's your total Ao3 word count?

14,842

What fandoms do you write for?

so far, it's been the sandman, good omens, and merlin - though i don't have any published (or finished...) merlin fics. i also just finished dead boy detectives, which may result in a bit of fic - we'll see!

Top five fics by kudos:

just pull on your hair, just pull on your pout - shameless excuse to make dream & hob make out in the cold like teenagers, inspired by the cure & a beautiful fanart of professor hob by @pomegranateruin!

eternity is in us now - dreamling proposal fic <3

if the walls were too thin, you would break right in - this was the first dreamling fic i wrote! :D

while the little moments dream - the one where dream offers hob godhood at the end of the world. soft <3

we are the cosmos fleeing the night - i think this was my second dreamling ficlet? dreamling FWB but make it still romantic

Do you respond to comments?

i'll be honest, i'm pretty bad about responding to comments - NOT because i don't appreciate them! i love each comment i receive dearly and they all mean the world to me. but being less generally flustered and knowing what to say in response to comments is something i'm working on. <3

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

maybe this one? all night or a hundred years is my take on the wine-sharing scene from season of mists. so you know, angst comes with the territory but that one hurts me particularly badly, so it probably fits the bill.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

it's DEFINITELY this one, which has no name and which i should probably crosspost to Ao3 at some point, but it's basically dreamling being sappy and getting married. that's it, that's the plot

Do you get hate on fics?

thankfully i never have!

Do you write smut?

i write... smut-adjacent? i don't think i've ever written like, a pure PWP before or anything i would say rates as explicit. it's just something i've never tried and feel kind of intimidated by tbh, though i'm sure it would be fine if i ever do get around to it! if anyone wants to cheerlead me through my first smut fic i am game, lmao (is there ghost detective smut on my horizon???? IS THERE??? listen. it's not an impossibility is all i'm saying)

Craziest crossover:

i am not sure i've actually written a crossover, but i just finished dead boy detectives and i have many crossover thoughts! oh, also sandman/the old guard, of course. though that's not so much crazy as reasonable, i think

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

i don't believe so, but i would be honored!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

never, but it sounds fun!

All time favourite ship?

well, i'm a multishipper, so this one's hard - i can list my OTPs per fandom... the sandman - dreamling, gaulcienne, hob/destruction (honestly hob/all the endless thanks to @softest-punk but i particularly love how you write hob/desire) doctor who - tenrose / doctor/rose & thoschei my beloveds (particular shoutout to twelve/missy, no one's doing it like them) bbc merlin - merthur, merwaine, mergwenthur dbda - obviously edwin/charles [and edwin&charles of course\ (whatever their ship name is I REFUSE TO CALL IT CHEDWIN... PLEASE... SAVE ME...). but i was absolutely also rooting for crystal/niko in addition to that...

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh my god i have so many. SO MANY. TOO MANY. i really want to finish the dreamling fealty fic one day because i literally have 2k+ words for it already sitting in my drafts, but i have no idea if i will. also it would be nice to finish ANY merlin WIP sometime this century. i am also debating if i want to start any dbda WIPs but they are... percolating still

What are your writing strengths?

i would say conveying atmosphere in a small number of words, if i had to say something!

What are your writing weaknesses?

FINISHING THINGS! god, and i'm terrible at turning fic ideas into actual writing. the ideas form faster than i can even write them down, but writing the ideas instead of having them play out cool music video-style in my head is SO HARD! also longfic is my kryptonite, i have no idea how authors do it!!!

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

i think it can work, but if it's in a language i understand i find myself focused on if the grammar is correct and such. russian usually... has not been (stevebucky fandom i'm looking at u)...

First fandom you wrote in?

harry potter ages and ages ago was my first fandom, but i don't recall if i ever had any actual proper finished fics that i posted anywhere, until sandman fandom. i wouldn't say i considered myself a "proper" fic writer until dreamling actually

Favourite fic you've written?

hard to say - i like them all for different reasons but i'm proud of the opposite of blindness !

tagging whoever wants to do it as i'm sure most of my mutuals have already done this! <3

[hotbowlofstew]

🎵OC Song Tag

Thank you my lovely sister @awritingcaitlin for the tag!

Rules: share a song to describe your character and a song they’d love

I'm doing this with my ffxiv OCs first (minus a few, since they dont have many songs in mind for them) and foremost. At the very least, until I get more figured out for some of my other stories lol.

I do not have anyone in mind to tag! So if you see this and you feel inclined to do it, feel free! Say you were tagged by me if you want!

~

«Alidae»

describes her - Hero by Blossom

Put your faith in me, but I want to be honest I'm losing my patience And I'm losing myself Someone rescue me, I need help, 'cause… Maybe, I'm not fit to be a hero But I'll try But I'll try

she'd like - It's Too Late to Beg For Mercy by Starship Amazing

this song is completely instrumental. it's dance/electronic i purely think she wouldn't really like to listen to a lot of songs with lyrics, since they would distract her too much from her work.

«T'lyr»

describes him - Gladiator by Jann

Is it everything and more than you were hoping for? Now show us something we ain't never seen before Smash your competition, baby Show us some good entertainment Victory's your only payment Gladiator, gladiator

he'd like - Caleb Trask by The Crane Wives

So you got bad in your blood Brother, you're one of us So you got bad in your blood How long you gonna wait for those azaleas to bud?

«Raana»

describes her - Rule #9 Child of the Stars by Fish in a Birdcage

You are a child of the stars Shout what has been unsung Open all the doors around you Use the powеr in your lungs I could only lead you so far I believе in who you are

she'd like - Maria by AlicebanD

I somehow know a song's a song And singing never fed the world But singing never felt so good Oh, my Maria Oh, my Maria I don't really wanna go, go, go Go, go, go

«Koren»

describes him - Tip Toes by half alive

I'm on my tip toes, trying to see past my ego Reaching for something more than This feeling of being important Leaving my heart behind, it's bleeding But still my pride is screaming My future will listen to me

he'd like - I Don't Care by Fall Out Boy

I don't care what you think As long as it's about me The best of us can find happiness in misery

«Sthallona»

describes her - Hell, Well by Broken at Best

This captain goes down Only to bring this ship back up I've pulled that weight before And its never been enough

she'd like - Millie Warm the Kettle by Rabbitology

Catch me walking with the ghosts again Must be on that double dose, depends Roman chamomile all down the throat, lift hands In Michigan, the lakes all darken Blackbirds flocking to and fro, sevens Roots drag marsh/harsh over the floor, levelin’ Millie, can’t you stop them? You slow no omens Like exhaling, it never еnds

«A'vhea»

describes her - Nunemaker's Parable by Everybody's Worried About Owen

He said: One home burned down, one fell apart One met a flood, and one was nothing from the start Weapons build against me, well they all seem to fail But weapons built against my home They always will prevail

she'd like - Dear Arkansas Daughter by Lady Lamb

As my love for you dies As my love for you dies As my love for you is steadily dying As sharp and serious as a pistol in the eye

[stevethehairington]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

ty to the lovely @thefreakandthehair and @hexiewrites for the tags!! this looks like a fun one!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 117 so far and still counting!!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 662,484!

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently stranger things and i've been toying around with the idea of jumping back into writing for good omens! just gotta get the worms to worm, yknow?

but i have also historically written for: skam; marvel; love simon/simon vs; it; shameless; supernatural; (and once for hp and once for trust but i will likely not ever write for either of those again sooo how much do they really count? lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. good for my boy (steddie) 2. can't hide the way you make us glow (steddie) 3. i want to hold your hand (steddie) 4. sloe gin fizzy, do it till you're dizzy (steddie) 5. the world will follow after (steddie)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? YES!!! i DO!!! i am INCREDIBLY behind on replying to comments, i got busy and didn't have the chance to reply to any and then they started to pile up and now there is an overwhelming amount in my inbox (currently around 450 sdkljfds) so i just gotta. carve out some time to start tackling all of them. but i am firmly of the belief that if you took the time to leave me a comment i will take the time to respond!! it... just might be a hot minute before that response comes... but it will!! that is a guarantee!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? haha if you know me you know that writing angst is not something i do all that often. i am a Certified Soft Bitch, and when i do write angst i always try to end it on a happy note because my blorbos deserve that happiness. but i suppose there are a few fics i've written that have... less than happy, perhaps more ambiguous endings. i think there are probably two that i can think of that could potentially fit the bill here...

keep me on a rope, which is my unrequited stommy fic. it IS a happy ending for steddie, but certainly not for tommy lol, so i suppose that counts!

and then i'll throw in beneath the stars too, which is the very first good omens fic i ever wrote (directly inspired by samson by regina spektor!) in which in the early days of their acquaintanceship, aziraphale shows crowley kindness, crowley makes a move and kisses aziraphale, and aziraphale pushes him away and is vehement about the fact that they can't. though, this one kind of ends with aziraphale having an italicize ohment (literally), sooo i guess it's not all that angsty of an ending?

if we wanna bring tumblr drabbles into the mix tho... i definitely have some angsty ones that do not end happily...

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? happiest ending!!! oh boy!!! try, like, every fic i've ever written basically?? dakljfsd as previously established, i am a Certified Soft Bitch, so pretty much all of my fics end with my blorbos happily in love and living/on their way to living their best lives. i really don't know if i can pick one that is the "happiest". i suppose if i absolutely had to pick, i'd maybe say let me know your future plans, which i wrote for the stucky big bang way back when. it's PURE romcom and it ends in a happy wedding so!!

8. Do you get hate on fics? i have not! which, considering how many fandoms i've written for and how crazy some of those fandoms can get, i am INCREDIBLY grateful for. i've got good egg readers and i am very very thankful for it. i think the worst comment i've ever gotten on a fic was one where someone like criticized robin in my fic and called her a bad friend, but that was because they THOROUGHLY misinterpreted her actions in the fic and like seriously misunderstood that she wasn't actually genuinely being an asshole. but yeah, i wouldn't really classify that as hate, that was just lacking reading comprehension lol.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? i do! i feel like it's been a hot minute since i have published any lol, but, historically, i have! and i certainly will (eventually) write and publish more! as for "what kind", gay. i write gay porn. dskljfs. all of the smut i have ever written has been gay and very likely all of it ever will be lksjfs. i also don't think my smut writing ever gets, like, super wild or anything. i'm fully one of those people that likes my smut to be very feelings heavy and like there's gotta be that emotional connection, that seals the DEAL for me, so yeah i tend to write it that way too. fun fact though, the first fic of mine that ever hit 1k kudos was a smut fic! lmao.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? nope! i am very much NOT a crossover fan. don't like to read 'em, don't like to write 'em. i just think there's too much going on in them and i don't like to mix and match my fandoms.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i'm aware of! and hopefully it never will happen either!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? honestly? i cannot remember. sdkfjlsd i feel like i maybe had a request to translate a fic a looooong time ago, but i genuinely do not remember.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? none that have ever been posted! i've started co-writing fics before, but those have never been finished rip. i would really love to actually co-write something and finish it eventually though!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? ohhhhhhhhhhh MAN. that's a TOUGH question. i've loved so many ships over the years, and they've all been incredibly dear to me. obviously, my favorite at any given time is going to be whatever is my current favorite, whatever is actively snagging my attention and digging it's claws into me (so atm, steddie or ineffable husbands). BUT. since we are talking favorite of all time... i think i gotta go with stucky here. there is just something SO beautiful about that one and there is SO much to work with there, the possibilities are truly endless.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? well i've got a MILLION wips i want to finish in my wips folder that will likely never get touched again skljgfsg but. oh man. i think i gotta say if you love me, if you hate me, which breaks my hEART to say. but skfljdf it's been five years since i posted it and i STILL have not ever gone back to finish it, despite desperately wanting to (because gOD DAMMIT IT HAUNTS ME, IT FUCKING H A U N T S ME!!! THAT IS THE ONLY FIC I'VE E V E R POSTED THAT I HAVE LEFT UNFINISHED AND I HATE THAT SO MUCH!!! I WANT IT TO BE COMPLETE!!!). i always say that i would love to go back and finish it one day, and that sentiment still stands!!! i really would!!! but man, i havent thought about skam in a writing-sense in, obviously, years. and i truly don't know if i ever will be able to get back in that mindset. like i always say though, never say never...

16. What are your writing strengths? writing strengths ooh hmm... well. i personally spend a lot of time on making sure i get my characterizations right when i'm writing any character - that is one of thee most important parts of fic writing to me, because a poorly characterized character is one of the QUICKEST ways to take me out of a fic. so i take that shit seriously. and i like to think that i understand the characters well enough that i am successful in this, that i do do a good job of it, that you can read any one of my fics and go YEAH he WOULD say that. i've gotten compliments about my characterizations on lots of my fics before too (which is genuinely the highest compliment to receive, it makes me so happy to hear), so i like to think that my judgement of my own skill here is not wildly off base lol.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? hmmmm. well, i tend to get super in my head about everything when i've been staring at a doc for too long. i start to like,,, forget how to write well lol. i feel like when that happens i start to like get repetitive and super basic in my writing, which is, obviously, not what i want lol. also, endings. i have so much trouble writing endings. also i struggle SO HARD with just like. writing a random scene that doesn't have like. all this buildup and background. like i cannot for the life of me just start writing in the middle of a scene adflskd. i have to have some sort of setup, which makes it very difficult when i cannot figure out what that setup should be lol.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? don't really have many thoughts on it tbh. i don't do it. mostly because i don't really include any other languages in my fics lol. but i suppose if i ever did and it wasn't like a well known phrase or something that the fandom would know without a translation, then i'd definitely include a translation somewhere. there is nothing i dislike more than when a fic throws in a significant amount of another language (aka not just one or two tiny phrases here andnthere) and doesn't include a translation. like i'm not out here trying to switch between tabs just so i can understand your fic. so yeah if i ever did include other languages, i would definitely be sure to include translations too.

19. First fandom you wrote for? first fandom i wrote for and published my written work for was skam!!! skam my beloved, you will always be special to me. i diiiiid dabble in fic writing before skam, but none of that was ever finished or posted and it never will be and i will not be saying what fandom it was for skfljgdfg (if you know me though you probably know the answer sdfkjsd). but yeah!! skam was baby's first fic writing fandom!!

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? omgggg this is like asking someone to pick their favorite child... i CANT skdjfsl. can i cheat and list a couple favorites? sdkfjdsf. im gonna cheat and list a couple favorites. OKAY. so some of my favorites i've written include:

let me know your future plans - my fic for the 2018 stucky au big bang! this is the first bang i ever did, and it is the longest fic i have ever written! i'm honestly incredibly proud of myself for having done it; bangs are hard sldslkfs. writing a fic over that long of a time period and sticking with it until the end is hard, but i did it! i stuck with it and i finished it and wrote the whole thing i wanted to write and honestly it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my writing career. also, i fucking love a good romcom and that fic is pure romcom so. yEAH.

good for my boy - my wayne pov steddie fic! i'm ALSO super proud of this one because writing from wayne's pov was something so different for me and it was a challenge to make sure i got the balance of getting his voice right without crossing the line and making it sound like a caricature of him, and i think i did a pretty good job of getting him right!

under my umbrella - another steddie fic! this one was just something that came to me totally randomly and i just remember how easily the whole thing spilled out. it was SO incredibly fun to write and it combines some of my favorite things (steddie and RAIN kafjsd) and i just love this one a lot.

keep me on a rope - my unrequited stommy, steddie fic!! i LOVE L O V E LOVE writing tommy pov, and i LOVE L O V E LOVE writing tommy lore and this fic let me do both and it was just SO fun to write and to explore that fucked up little guy and i'm so so pleased with how it turned out. and also the response it got? THRILLING. having people tell me that me and my fic got them thinking about tommy as more than just some random side character that shows up in a couple episodes and disappears and that it got them appreciating that character? THEE BEST!!!! LITERALLY!!! spreading the tommy agenda to as many people as i can is my goal in life and this fic FULLY helped me open some eyes sdkfljsd.

imagine being loved by me - you know WHAT im gonna add this one to the list too because i think it is the best smut i have ever written. this was my first and only (so far anyways) foray into good omens smut lol and i'm actually suuuuper proud of how it turned out. like feels a little weird calling something i wrote hot but,,,,, i kinda went off with how hot it turned out adlkfjdslkf. at least to me it did anyways skjflsd.

that's the end of it now!! so i will tag: @withacapitalp @toburnup @2btheanswertothequestion @flowercrowngods @cheatghost @steddielations @henderdads @harmonictechnicality @sidekick-hero @frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe @steddieasitgoes @aidaronan @phoeniceae @pizzaqueen @fastcardotmp3 @wynnyfryd @maxineholtzmann @maxinemaxmayfield and anyone else that wants to do it!! (also if you've already been tagged feel free to ignore! i did not look at anyone else's tag list before doing mine lol)