#this is new fic territory for me

[obsessedwhyyes]

The Art of Not Admitting a Thing (1/2)

Summary: You can't help but notice that Gale and Astarion have been acting... differently towards one another lately. Perhaps it's time to investigate!

Alternatively: one simple question leads to some big thoughts!

Rating: T Word Count: 1177 Pairing: Astarion x Gale Content: First Person Gale POV, interview format, mutual pining, yearning, denial of feelings, character study, Gale is bad at feelings, fluff, a teensy bit of angst but not much!

A/N: So here we have my first ever Bloodweave! I am both exceedingly nervous, and very excited about it. I've had ideas in mind for Bloodweave for months, but actually writing these ideas and sending them off into the big, wide world has been a rather intimidating affair. But we're finally doing it! And what better way for me to dip my toe into Bloodweave waters than by being incredibly predictable and writing yet another first person fic?

Chapter 1: "What do you think of Astarion?"

What do I think of Astarion? Well, that's a rather loaded question, is it not? Not that I don't have an answer, of course. No, quite the opposite, actually. I have too many answers, all vying for precedence. Because, you see, Astarion is not the sort of person one can sum up in a single sentiment. He is… how shall I put this? He is an equation with variables that simply refuse to behave. Utterly unsolvable.

Come now, don't look at me like that.

It’s just that Astarion is - well, to put it plainly - a lot. A relentless force of nature wrapped in silk and a layer of his own smugness. He walks into a room and suddenly you're aware of him. No, not just aware - attuned. It's all deliberate, of course. All part of the performance.

Yet, somehow, despite knowing it's all a performance, I still find myself watching.

And it's not just his presence. He's also clever, which is, dare I say, the most irritating thing about him. Not just sharp-witted, but… strategic. He understands people, knows exactly where to sink his teeth. Not just the literal ones - though those certainly warrant consideration - but also the more subtle. A smile, a look, a well-placed word. He plays people like instruments, plucking their strings just so, and I… Well, I have spent a great deal of time telling myself that I, of all people, should be immune to such things.

Alas, I am not immune. 

Which, of course, presents something of a metaphysical conundrum. Feelings, after all, are best understood when dissected. Laid bare and examined like lines in an ancient tome. One does not simply experience something without questioning its nature, its source, its… implications. No, the wise approach - the rational approach - is to study it with the same rigour that one would apply to any magical phenomenon. To categorise it, to determine whether it is genuine or merely some arcane anomaly. A peculiar resonance of the heart, if you will.

And so, in pursuit of intellectual honesty, I find myself studying Astarion with perhaps more dedication than strictly necessary. Any lingering thoughts are purely academic, I assure you. Elminster once told me that understanding the world means understanding its people, and what is Astarion if not a mystery to be unravelled? The way he moves, the way he speaks, the way he wields his beauty like a blade.

… Yes, he is beautiful, but that is besides the point. The point is–

…

I've lost the point.

That's what he does to me, you know. He derails my thoughts. I'm speaking perfectly rationally one moment, and the next, I'm somewhere else entirely, wondering if that grace comes naturally to him. If, behind closed doors, he rehearses those cutting remarks, those honeyed words.

Of course, I’m hardly special in that regard. I’ve seen him turn those honeyed words on just about everyone. He gives people what they want with such artful sincerity that they can’t help but believe him. He doesn’t mean it - not truly. And I would be a fool to imagine I’m any different. The world is his stage, and he is quite the performer.

And yet…

There are things about him. Real things. Beneath those rakish charms. I see them sometimes, in the quiet moments, when he doesn't realise anyone's watching. A weariness. A wariness. He's always aware, it seems. Of every room he walks into, of every person in it, of where the exits are. I recognise that sort of awareness. It's the kind you learn when you have been made someone's pawn for too long. When you've spent years convincing yourself that you're the one holding the strings, only to realise the strings are wrapped around your throat.

It unsettles me.

Dare I say, it even hurts me.

Not that I would ever say so. I doubt he would ever want to hear it. I doubt he would believe it.

And, anyway, it's not as if–

Not as if what?

No, truly, what was I about to say? That it's not as if I care? That would be a lie. That it's not as if I think about him more than I should? That would be another.

Perhaps I should stop talking.

…

You know, there was a time where I thought myself above this sort of thing. I thought I understood love completely. How could I not? I had experienced love in its most divine form - quite literally, in fact. My devotion to Mystra is… was… something transcendent. Something cosmic. I thought that was all love could be. All it should be. That anything less would be settling for a pale imitation of true devotion.

But lately, I find myself wondering if perhaps I’ve been rather short-sighted about the whole thing. Mystra herself appears in many forms; adapts to what her followers need. Perhaps love is similar - not always a grand, cosmic force that reshapes reality, but something more… subtle? The way a person looks at you when they think you aren't watching. The way their voice changes when you say their name. The way they make you feel like you are something more than what you were before. 

But if I did feel something - hypothetically, of course - it would hardly matter. Because what could I possibly offer him? A man who’s spent centuries under the control of another, only to find himself finally tasting freedom… What could he possibly want with someone like me? A wizard with borrowed time, carrying within him a responsibility so great that I am expected - destined - to lay down my life for it?

I’ve seen the fire in his eyes when faced with that which threatens to cage him. That fierce, burning defiance - the look of a man who has faced centuries of servitude and vowed never to be chained again. And what would I be, if not another form of binding? Another tragedy waiting to unfold? No. No, I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted nothing to do with such complications.

And yet… sometimes, I wonder.

If things were different - if I were different… If my fate weren’t already destined to end in sacrifice, would he look at me differently?

If he did - and that’s a big “if” - would I be so willing to accept that fate? To willingly embrace my end, if it meant never knowing what this - what we - might have become?

I was so sure the answer was simple. But then he looks at me, and for just a moment, I feel something I thought was long beyond my grasp. A foolish, reckless thing. It makes me hesitate.

And hesitation, well… that’s dangerous, isn’t it?

But stranger things have happened.

… Perhaps I have rather a lot to think about.

But I believe I’ve taken up quite enough of your time with these philosophical meanderings. No doubt you have better things to do than listen to a wizard ramble about matters of the heart. Besides, I have some rather important reading waiting for me. Something about… well, anything other than this conversation, really.

Masterlist can be found here!

No Pressure Tags: @roguishcat, @davenswitcher, @silverfangmarks, @sparrowbard, @chonkercatto, @stokzr , @trafalgarussy , @asterordinary , @bite-me-tonight , @transparentkittenheart , @vividiana (thank you for being so supportive with this one <3), @bg3-fanfic-reblogs

[wernerherzogs]

the thing is. i can't even fully make fun of bucktommies for their tommy takes given what continues to be done to my man eddie diaz. like at least tommy's a canvas blank enough that even batshit insane headcanons with zero basis in show's canon are like. eyeroll worthy to me at most. because that man does not matter longterm at all. but with eddie it's like some of you can't envision gayness if it doesn't fit a Recognizable Media Stereotype. so he's been repressed his whole life and hasn't lived a single genuine experience ever yet and everything he does is a performance and he doesn't know how to be A Man because he's secretly an elder sister. despite nothing in canon even remotely indicating that as he's been perfectly normal about being a man who's a single parent all this time. he literally only worries about the emotional side of him not meeting the societal/parental standards of Being A Man Who's A Single Father. his ptsd is a not mental or canon enough a canon mental illness you guys are now forcing an entire dsm-5 on him. he secretly longs to be a weho fag who wears cashmere sweaters and has a purse dog or a cat and he's only overcompensating with his truck because god forbid his fashion sense or current hobbies were genuine. meeting kim was a psychotic break instead of a network procedural character dealing with seeing a dead copy of his late wife in a genuinely the most normal way possible under the circumstances. like why are you twisting this guy into shapes he's not because otherwise you just can't buy him being queer/gay like... do you only know bi sluts and formerly repressed broadway gays in real life with no in between? is that it. because buck is another fascinating part of this. his characterization seems fairly consistent no matter where on the top-bottom spectrum people put him. is it because bisexuality has a smaller amount of stereotypes associated with it so you don't feel the need of implying he's been performing everything his entire life like what's going on. and being a Bi Slut has actually canon room to exist here, so it's naturally never been an issue. but he can be a late bloomer bi and yet no one accuses him of only overcompensating with his truck or being a passenger princess despite tommy driving him around and he can be your dom top while still regularly displaying an affinity for things stereotypically viewed as female-coded (as cooking/baking, even for his girlfriend taylor, or cooing after newborn babies like a fic-worthy omega in heat). those specific things either get ignored or dialed up to eleven in fic but he's still ol' good fun buck who aches and wants to be loved and has his abandonment issues and sex issues and so on and so forth but remains fairly recognizable and mostly true to canon every time in the eyes of bajillion different writers. why is he immune while eddie isn't why are you respectful of canon when it comes to buck but eddie's suddenly in a hbo show and not a network procedural when transported into the fic realm can someone explain this.

[of-chaos-and-flame]

Concept art for this au/crossover idea I’m working on

[jods-tablet]

How close can I make them get to realizing things without actually realizing them? -> ♥︎

[lightyaoigami]

creative hobbies are so good for you if you actually do them. unfortunately, i have the witch's curse (depression) and the gift of prophecy (ocd) and as such i cannot write. so what should i do today instead

[strawberrypinky]

WIP GAME

Rules: make a new post and share 1-2 sentences from your most recent unposted WIP(s) with zero context – Let your followers guess!

Thanks for the tag @nyda-the-tav 💗

I’m tagging @gufu-vire @legacygirlingreen @taveliara-as-in-tav @heyitszev @hallowsden & @luniidae 💗

💗

So - I’m curious to see if people get this right 🙈😂

As he approached his salvation with whist steps, an almost squeaking sound resonated from the baby carriage, and Enver watched as the Infernal Mason suddenly appeared panic-stricken. As much as a skeleton could appear that way, at least.

[maylovesfiction]

Still deciding if I write my Multiple Scenarios fic as in "Reader/You x Buggy" or if I should create a character for it.

Any opinions?

[ameliafuckinjones]

To be quite honest, I do not care for the c@rdverse or the FACE family trope. Why? Because it insists upon itself

[thecodeveronica]

OH HEY I reached 200 hits now on my first Burnfield fic!!! (which was also the first fic I wrote at all in a long time and tbh I functionally consider it my "first" fic)

That may not sound like much to more prolific writers but it's A LOT to me when I truly didn't expect anyone to read it when I posted it, so I'm kinda over the moon :') It was kind of the impetus for several more positive things in my life so I'm quite fond of it for that reason too

Sooooo anyway I drew a quick, crappy little celebratory drawing which I'm NOT tagging lmao

[confusedkittensposts]

Do we have active midam shippers?

I want some help.

[altschmerzes]

🌹 if you want to!

(also thank you so so so much for writing gen fics and fics with aro characters and for sharing them. i appreciate you so much)

augh thank youuuu thank you! thank YOU for caring about them, it's near and dear to my heart to do so and it means a lot that the stories i write and the kind of stories i write matter to other people too <3

on that note, from the qpr two aces fic, loneliness into loneliness:

(Dani had put in the new, gently toned lights recently, swapped the bulbs a few weeks before the season started. He’d done it after he noticed Jamie kept squinting and wincing under the harsher white light whenever he was in Dani's kitchen. He’d gone and replaced all of them, even though Jamie had insisted it was fine, it was dumb to change things in Dani’s house just because he had a weird problem about lights. Dani had looked at him like Jamie was the dumb one and shook his head and told him they are just lightbulbs, Jamie, and that had been the end of it.)

[waywardsalt]

tbh the bellum x linebeck fic is probably the place to start writing linebeck as being outwardly curious as a monsterfucker

[merlinemrys]

TESTED WITH TORMENT: ALTERNATE ENDING

Summary: Merlin and Morgana fight.

══════════════════

Merlin feels the air around Morgana and pulls, leaving her choking, gasping. The dull ache in his chest returns like a new wound. She collapses on the ground, clutching at her neck much like she did when he shoved hemlock down her throat. His jaw clenches as the dirt falls away. He releases his hold on the air as he walks towards Morgana. She’s still struggling to gain her breath when he kneels down in front of her.

Her green eyes are lined with furious tears.

READ THE REST ON AO3

[caesarclowningaround]

Fandoms: A Dangerous Fortune, What Happened to Monday Fic Rating: E Chapter(s): 1/1 Ship(s): Adrian Knowles/Mickey Miranda Fic Summary: While on holiday, Mickey seeks out a famous relaxing magic meadow out in the middle of the forest and ends up discovering a slumbering nature guardian.

Note(s): For @topjoediscord’s Monsterfucking event ;D

Kink Prompts used: "Size Difference" and "Belly Bulge" Monster(s): Incubus/succubus, Satyr/Nature spirit

Mickey the Incubus series

[rosenbergamot]

im writing an au where scar wasnt one of the founding members of boatem and just Pops up one day w his huge wagon, disturbing the very foundation of the village with his salesman grin, and initially it seems hes trying to start an industry there but hes really just running from his fucked up past and trying to make a living and let me just say that NOBODY in universe is enjoying this (he is getting rocks thrown at him by the boatem crew)

[meercraft]

my first post immideatly going viral was actually planned out and is the setup to provide for attention for when i eventually post my desert duo sort-of-horror fic . however if i get five likes on my future post promoting that fic i will delete my account forever