#untitled piece

[liusaidh-writing]

Hi, just stopping in to say that I may not be posting at the moment, but I am writing!!! Working on something I HOPE to hold off on posting til it's completed. We will see....!

Here's a tiny (unedited) piece of it.

----

The stream was beautiful, just as she'd hoped; clear water took a meandering path down the rolling hill, scattered with lily pads, stepping stones, all glistening in the afternoon sun. It was considerably warmer than when she's first arrived, though Claire shivered anyway.

Tightening the sash on her overcoat, Claire stood at the water's edge. The air was smoky, no doubt.coming from the chimneys in the main house. The fires burned all winter, it seemed.

Sitting back on her heels, Claire stuck the fingertips of one hand into the water, breaking the stillness. Her reflection swam before her as she let her mind wander to her work. It was all she had to occupy herself, anyway.

More clean linen for the cabinet; I need more morphine, and I need to tell someone that the flu in the boy's room seems to need cleaning...

Swirling her fingers, she felt the pain of the icy water. It felt good though, reminded her where she was.

I need some aloe or.. or--

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of splashing water just down the stream. Looking up, she saw him: the red-headed man she'd seen at dinner her first night. Today, he wore nothing but a pair of trousers. His sinewy form wasn't surprising, exactly, but she lost her balance all the same.

Laying face-first in the cold water, she pushed herself up on her hands, sputtering and swearing. Claire jumped when she felt his hands on her arms, urging her up with a gentle pull.

"Are you all right, Miss..uh...?"

Getting back on her feet was no easy task, but the man gripped her hands and she was grateful for the help. Her dress now weighed more than she did, she was certain. He still held her as she faced him, worry etching his features.

Claire involuntarily flinched as one of his hands went to her face, gingerly touching a spot on her forehead.

"it might bruise, but I don't think there will be a bump," he said, half to himself.

"I'm quite all right, thank you. Just took a little fall!" Claire laughed half-heartedly, trying to pull herself away. "You're-"

She stopped herself, nearly blurting out what she's been told about him - as if he wasn't aware of the talk. She didn't now see what the fuss was about, however.

At the moment, he seemed like a perfect gentleman...

"James Fraser, Miss." He said, giving a short nod. "You're sure you're all right to walk back? I can take you, if you'd like."

"No,no. It's okay, I'll manage."

Claire wanted to say more; his kind eyes invited it. He wore a lopsided smile and as he finally released her, he gestured to her head once more.

"May want to ice that a bit...just in case."

Saying goodbye, Claire looked back as he walked on downstream, the urge to call back to him almost too great.

She didn't know what she'd say if she did; afterwards, she'd keep replaying the whole thing over and over in her mind. The image of him would not leave her.

[deecotan]

There’s a knock on the door. 

Zoro stirs from his sleep. Blinking his one functioning eye open, his mind – still foggy from having just woken up – slowly comprehends the darkness surrounding him. He struggles to gather his thoughts, wondering whether the knock was real or just a figment of his imagination. 

There’s another knock on the door. 

He shifts his gaze towards the digital clock on the bedside drawer. 4:47 AM. He groans; who the hell could be up this early?

He feels the body wrapped in his arms shifting slightly, the figure letting out a soft groan — apparently woken up by the mysterious person behind the door as well. He gently presses a kiss on the messy crown of blond hair, whispering, “I’ll get it.”

Sanji replies with a soft hum. Zoro reluctantly separates himself from his boyfriend and groggily stands up, not even bothering to put on a shirt to cover his naked torso. Whoever’s behind that door should know that no sane person would care about being presentable this early in the day. 

There’s another series of knocks, this time sounding more insistent, as he walks towards the door. Yawning, he peeks through the peephole and sees Luffy standing behind the door. He’s spotting some messy bed hair and is wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, his baggy red jacket, and his trademark sandals. 

Frowning, he opens the door, carefully as to not make a noise, and stares at Luffy with a squinted eye. He definitely didn’t bother arranging his eyesight either. 

“Morning,” Luffy greets him cheerfully. 

“It barely counts as morning,” he hisses, voice rather raspy, mustering the deepest glare he can make in his current condition. “What do you want, Luffy?”

“I’m looking for a pair of headphones.”

Zoro blinks at that. “Headphones?”

“Technically Usopp’s headphones. I borrowed it from him and I’m pretty sure I left it here in your room yesterday,” he continues. Right, he did remember Luffy coming into their room to talk about something with Sanji the day before. He wasn’t really paying attention though, so he couldn’t know if Luffy really did bring Usopp’s headphones and then somehow left it in their room — especially since he didn’t actually notice that object lying around. However, it might’ve as well got stuck in some corner, hidden from plain sight. 

“... you sure it's here?” he asks again.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Can’t it wait until later? Why now?”

“Me, Chopper, and Usopp are planning to go cold swimming,” Luffy grins. “We actually wanted to do it last night but the pool was closed after 8 PM and the hotel staff insisted on not letting us in even though we begged, they said I’ve already made enough mess in their dining area or whatever and they didn’t want any more trouble, so we couldn’t really do anything about it. They said it would open at 5AM so we decided to do it this morning. But Usopp said he won’t come unless I bring his headphones back, so—”

“Okay, stop, I get it.”

“Great! Now can I go inside or…?”

“Just- stay here. I’ll look for it. Fucking hell,” Zoro grumbles, moving inside the room to search for the object. “Where’s the last time you put it?”

“It’s near the sofa, I guess?” Luffy answers. He at least pays enough mind to keep his voice low to avoid disturbing the other person in the room, knowing wisely that doing so would only bring more problems. 

Zoro begins to inspect the sofa located on the corner on the right side of the room, forcing himself to search in the dark since there’s no way he’s going to turn on the lights. Sticking his hand to the back of the sofa, he eventually feels something wedged between the sofa and the wall, and after a little bit of fumbling, he manages to take it out and confirm it’s the supposed pair of headphones Luffy’s been looking for. 

“Is this it?” he presents the headphones to Luffy. 

“Yee-up,” Luffy cheers as he grabs it. “Thanks, Zoro!” 

Zoro gives an unbothered nod. 

“You can join us too, if you wanna,” Luffy offers.

“I'll pass.” Zoro is about to close the door on Luffy’s face before stopping halfway. He peers at the younger man from the slight opening of the door. “...have fun.”

Luffy grins widely, giving him a pair of thumbs-up. 

Zoro closes the door with a soft click before walking towards the bed and then throwing himself into the mattress. Tucking himself under the cover, he wiggles towards where his boyfriend is located and spoons the blond as soon as he touches him. 

“Cold swimming, hm?” Sanji muses. “Let’s just hope they’re not stupid enough to catch a cold after this.”

“M’sure Chopper’s ready to handle that.”

“You don’t wanna join them?”

“Nah,” Zoro replies, “I’d rather stay here with you.”

Sanji let out an amused chuckle. He gently turns his body so as to face the other man, circling his arms around Zoro’s back. “Just say you wanna sleep longer, you big baby.”

“Shaddup,” he hugs Sanji a bit tighter in a mocking attempt to crush him, causing  the other to laugh heartily. “Go back to sleep, curly.”

Sanji's laugh begins to slow down, ending it with a soft exhale. He tucks his head under Zoro’s chin and nuzzles comfortably into his boyfriend’s neck. He let Zoro’s gentle breathing soothe him into sleepiness. Soon, before he knows it, they both fall into a peaceful slumber. 

Notes: I wrote this on a whim in... 2020. Holy shit. I thought maybe this deserves a chance to be put on the spotlight for staying in my drafts for so long. I was partly inspired by my own experience of staying at a hotel with my extended family in the event of my relative’s wedding. There’s just something about the experience of staying in one place with your family or close relatives, the feeling of liminality where you know that moment of togetherness is only temporary. It’s also a moment where you and your similar-aged relatives would get into all sorts of weird shit, at least in my experience. 

[vizuart]

Guy Billout - Untitled (1978)

[mr-payjay]

Mindscape

clean version

[junebugdunes]

it's a beautiful medium, and you are a horrible painter.

[birgerbosbach]

the basement is hazy, filled with smoke, sweat and noise. even in the middle of winter you couldn't possibly need a coat down here. your eyes wander over the crowd. unfocused, intoxicated. your head is already pounding, your ears ringing. it's disorienting in the best way you could imagine. as you push through the crowd your heart races. in the middle of the room. that's where they had built their stage. was more authentic, they said. she's regretting listening to them, people bump into her from all sides, beer drips onto her head. even with the earplugs the howling of the crowd is hard to bear. heart's racing. small break between songs, so she grabs some water, then continues. with a final crashing sound the encore's end, next act. you need a breather, grab something to drink and head out. the night is crystal clear, freezing cold. not that you'd notice, too flush with alcohol and adrenaline. you breath out a small ghost, that hovers around your head for a second, somewhere besides you there's a spark, then a flame, then smoke. away. she just needed to get away, even if just for a moment, just for a second. the smoke from her lungs rises, mingles with your ghost, joins it somewhere beyond. usually she doesn't smoke, at least she tells herself that. only after shows, and before shows. and during interviews, sometimes. while writing songs, or during practice of course, but the rest of them do that too. it's an agonizingly slow smoke. beads of sweat still on her skin, goosebumps and shivers. you tilt your head, offer a beer. there are no words left in the night, still there is solace in sharing. she takes the jacket you offer, her own is still inside, but she doesn't want to go back any time soon. too full, too loud, too much. you wonder why she does this in the first place, but neither of you knows. the question doesn't even cross her mind. she's always done this. and if you'd ask, she'd say she enjoyed it. really she does. despite the smokes and the shakes. the shivers and the lonely nights. you wake up, not in your bed, but on someone's couch. cigarette smoke lingers in your lungs. there's another show tonight.

[fortunaestalta]

[yonpote]

intricate rituals

image w/o text:

[anyataylorjoys]

HELLO??????

[voxofthevoid]

No Context WIP Tag

Tagged by @joeys-piano <3

What it says on the tin: share a line out of context. I've shared two because they're too connected to pick just one, and I'm pretty fond of them! Skewed power dynamics my beloved.

Mild NSFW:

It’s the mouth that kills him first, spread so sweetly around Satoru’s girth and sucking with a dedication that was charming and arousing and everything in between the first time Yuuji did this, inexperienced but determined and so, so willing to learn, and Satoru taught him, scooping up his youth by the fistful to swallow it hot. Yuuji let him then, and now the look in his eyes says it’s only right that Satoru lets him do this, have this, and that’s what kills him next.

Tagging (no pressure) @naamah-beherit, @cursedvibes, @eusuntgratie, and @m34gs

[vizuart]

Guy Billout (1941-) - Untitled

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

hey everyone!!!!

your diligent mods here at the art that fucks you up tournament have been trying to track down all the artworks you’ve submitted, and some have been..... tough. so if you could please keep in mind that if you don’t know the artist or title, then that makes OUR job significantly harder, and makes it more likely your submission won’t end up in the final!

[heloflor]

You know, considering that new untitled Peach game is a bit like Luigi’s Mansion with how it puts a Mario character in a new environment with new game mechanics, I’m kinda hoping Peach gets her own original villain the same way Luigi was given King Boo.

Hell, with Super Mario RPG coming back, which has many original characters, and with the characters from the Peach teaser being something other than Toads, it seems Nintendo might be willing to dip their toes into original characters again. So what’s better to start making new characters than by giving Peach her own bad guy ! Also the new Mario Bros game has some new characters as well from the looks of it, so again, it’s possible !

And don’t get me wrong, Bowser is absolutely iconic and I do enjoy the irony of Peach battling against him. But with this game not being a platformer, and again taking into consideration Luigi’s Mansion, it would be a fun change of pace for Peach to have a new villain in her own series (god I hope this game becomes a series of several games!!!). Plus, it seems Peach will be more and more playable in mainline games, meaning more Bowser beat-up from her anyways.

And yes, part of me wants that new villain to be a female character as it's been forever since Mario games has had one and I am very much aware of how people would go crazy over it for the shipping.

(Also going back to Bowser, it’s more of a “me” thing but I always found it slightly weird to see Bowser attack Peach, since he’s supposed to be in love with her (Paper Mario games prove it well) and in all the games she gets captured, there are no indications he ever raises a hand on her. Hell in Odyssey he’s very gentle when putting Tiara on Peach’s head. Also Peach is never particularly afraid of him despite how horrible he can be, which implies he doesn’t physically hurt her.

Fun fact : this is why I headcanon Super Princess Peach as taking place very soon after Super Paper Mario, since the two of them would have just spent weeks working together and getting along. So it would work for Bowser to lose his shit upon getting rejected yet again “despite doing everything right” and thus be willing to fight her. As for 3d World, there’s three other people Bowser can focus on to avoid hurting her)

[birgerbosbach]

dust gathers on your windows, the wind comes somewhere from the south this week, and you've had no time to clean them. it's no big deal, you've never cared too much

your neighbor recently bought a new machine to clean her apartment. a little helpful robot, that follows her around and scares the cats. on occasion you can hear her curse at it. apparently it's not great at navigating the, admittedly, cluttered space. you've seen inside her place, it's eclectic. more museum than home, and awfully warm.

you grab the last mug from your cabinet, filling it with boiling water and broth powder. there aren't any bowls left, but you've been craving soup, not that you have anything to make any. so you sit on your balcony sipping broth.

down on the street a couple of kids are having an argument about who's in charge of their little gang. there's two distinct voices that seem to be leading the chorus back and forth. you think you recognize one of them. there's a kid always spray paints the walls around here. you had seen him do it once, and ever since then he's been hounding you. "since you were cool with it," he asks for cigarettes and booze. kid isn't older than twelve, maybe thirteen at most.

the mug is empty, the sink isn't. it's a problem for the night shift. your phone alarm goes off and you get ready for work. who's got time. the wind will be coming from the south tomorrow, the sink is always full. the kids will keep arguing and your neighbor will keep on cursing her robot for scaring the cats.

[shoshiwrites]

WIP tag games!

I was tagged by the lovely @tortoisesshells and @mercurygray in the last line tag game and WIP tag game, respectively. Sooo why not post two lines because I am for reasons unknown to me attempting to work on Chapter Seven and Blind Dates at the same time~

Chapter Seven

What kind of girl did he take her for?

Blind Dates

Paulette’s papa was a mechanic too; she knew the chambray shirts with their pockets, stained with oil and stuffed with pens, wrenches hanging on the wall, the smell of new tires and grease. 

Tagging: breaking the rules and saying anyone who wants to do either (or both!) of these, because I knows there's a bunch of posts floating around — please consider yourself tagged! <3

[lycanphobia]

wyvern tales.