#very baz centered

[cattocavo]

A preview of my artwork for @thewholelemon ‘s wonderful fic “Just Remember Me When” - written for Carry On Big Bang. The full artwork will be released sometime in early august, so watch out for that!

This entire drawing took me 49 hours and 23 minutes, breaking my previous record of 35 hours. Unfortunately my drawing program blurred a bunch of stuff when i merged all my layers together, so bazs entire body is just a little blurry, which saddens me greatly. Ive literally never had it happen before, and it was kind of important that he was C r i s p

(Its fine, just pls procreate, dont do it again)

[stylespresleyhearted]

CCG UNIVERSE - dad! Austin

notes: this is based on Mccall’s infamous Coffee Girl universe. Two years later I’m still obsessed. Honestly she should guess this is coming. Very Dad! Austin centered but CCG is still the bestest and I love her I just want dad! Austin and had so many ideas. LOVE YOU MCCALL 🩷❣️🦖🐠

—

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coffee.girl If you’ve tried to contact me this past week, this is why I haven’t been able to get back to you. 🥹

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jillian.mua “If Daddy doesn’t see it, it didn’t happen.” - Luci 😂

coffee.girl no, seriously. Calls him multiple times a day it warms my heart.

austinfan her contact photo being austin w baby luci KILL ME

fan12 the bath one 😭 ‘member when austin said him and luci name all the birds and fishies together

austinbutler Hidden talent ♥️

fan13 i seen @coffee.girl at lunch with luci and luci was ‘vlogging’ for austin lmao what an icon

ashleybee she can call auntie ashley whenever she wants 😭💗

lennykravits Beautiful relationship between father and daughter ❤️ Isn’t it the best @austinbutler

entertainmenttonight You have broken the internet.

fan23 AND HE LOOKS SO HAPPY IN EVERY SINGLE CALL MY HEARTTT

austinupdates Did she make him a drawing of a heart 😭

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jillian.mua Someone didn’t answer the phone @austinbutler

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austinbutler Was on set. Calling back now.

coffee.girl LOL 😍

bazluhrmann She’s going to be a movie star!

fangirl1 lmaooo baz already working on her career

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people Join the poll at the link in our bio! Who do we think Austin Butler is talking to:

1. Luci Butler

2. @coffee.girl

3. someone else (enter a name)

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fan23 PLSSSS 😂😂😂😭 Luci won the poll 98% and the other two percent people said Callum 😂😂

fan13 lol the bromance that lives on forever

fangirl if you didn’t vote for luci have u been under a rock?

austinfan convinced if it wasn’t for luci austin would throw his phone away

fan43 austin and ccg are finally being a bit more open about luci pls don’t ruin it by being weird everyone

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coffee.girl 🧜🏼‍♀️🧚🏼‍♂️🦄🐠🐟🐬🐙🦖🦕🕊️🪸🍤🩷💜💙 daddy

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jillian.mua love love love when I get me some of these

oliviadejonge Luci-code 🥀❤️‍🔥

ashleybee Sweet girl, she’s going to break his heart 🥹 love you Luc!

ashleytisdale She’s really missing him, isn’t she? Jupiter’s the same when Chris has trips.

coffee.girl Oh yeah I’m letting her sleep on his pillow and counting down the days 😢

evalongoria They get older and they understand but missing them never gets easier. My girls are the same. ❤️ Love and strength to your family.

austinbutler Hi baby ❤️🐠 Thank you. Love you both.

austinbutler Calling now

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people No more tears! Our hearts are spared from any more Luci Butler missing her dad posts as Austin Butler reunites with his family in NYC today.

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fan13 honestly so happy for them poor baby luci was breaking my heart 😭����

fan23 can’t imagine how austin felt having to be away for work he’s such a good father and husband. ♥️

fangirl HAPPY 4 UR BEAUTIFUL FAM 💗💗 @coffee.girl @austinbutler

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austinbutler My girls are stylin’ ❤️

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zendaya the coolest 🔥

tchalamet i see the fit 👀

fan13 wahhhh so happy they reunited !!! 😭

catherinemartindesigns Beautiful ladies. 😍

keoghan92 OI OI lucky fella ☘️

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people Spotted in New York City: Austin Butler happily watches on as his wife keeps their daughter entertained while he films.

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ccgupdates me as a mom.

fan13 LMAO PLS thats so cute! Love you so much @coffee.girl

sophieturner You’re an icon babe 🔥

coffee.girl 🤣

fan23 I love that Austin looks so amused 😂😂

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hollywoodreporter Amidst filming on Darren Aronofsky’s film for new movie Caught Stealing, Austin Butler and @coffee.girl had to console their daughter who did not enjoy seeing her dad bruised and battered. More pics at the link in bio.

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butlerfam Luci sweetheart you are SO adorable ❤️❤️❤️

fan23 i love that they’re consoling her but so obviously amused 😂

fan13 need them to adopt me like yesterday ❤️ thanks

jillian.mua This little girl owns me

ccgupdates We all know Luci don’t play about her dad 🤣

fan41 LMAO IN HER LITTLE DINO SWEATER TOO OH LUCI 😭😭

ccgfan Aw how sweet lol. Hope she’s okay! @coffee.girl

coffee.girl Haha yes thank you everyone! Took some cuddles and kisses but now she’s in the make up chair getting some matching cuts and bruises 🙄😂

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dailymail Austin Butler and his wife look gorgeous as they enjoy a solo date night

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user12 I don’t care about celebrities but I wish this family love and happiness. They do their own thing.

fan13 Austin’s life completely changed when he did Elvis 🥹

ccgfan I believe in true love bc of them

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people Another film day, another cute moment on set. Luci Butler adorably waves to taxi her dad enters during shooting.

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fan23 hahaha if u watch the video austin waves back at her

fan13 thank you Darren for having an open set so we can see all these adorable Luci moments 😭

butlerfan She’s going to be a star ⭐️

catherinemartindesigns Let’s do another film so we can have Miss Luci join us on our set. ❤️

bazluhrmann She’s going to be the lead !

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dailymail Austin Butler hangs with Luci while his wife, @coffee.girl, runs some errands.

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fan23 Luci crying when Austin was carrying the bag of potatoes flashback 😂

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butlerfamupdates Austin attentively watches over Luci as she plays on set ❤️🥹

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fan23 He’s such a great dad. His mom would be so happy and proud.

zoekravitz Luci has stolen my heart 🐠🥹 I think it’s time @channingtatum

fan41 LMAO LUC MAKING HER WANT BABIES 😭😭😭

coffee.girl She loves her Aunt Zoe ❤️

lennykravitz The Butler family is the best. I’m convinced Luci knows the entire animal kingdom. Smarty pants!

fan31 Luci is the only celebrity child who has celebrity as fans. Her power unmatched.

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austinbutler Fulfilled.

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ashleybee Can’t wait for you guys to come down so I can smooch her face off!! Love you guys ❤️

tomhardy Love to your family mate ❤️

florencepugh Can I come over soon please 😢

zendaya Aunty Z is gonna be in NYC in two days 👀👀

tchalamet @coffee.girl and Luci are part of the Dune family they gotta be there! ❤️‍🔥

krisjenner Family is blessing. Love you guys.

fan12 oh no stay away from them 😭

keoghan92 me and Brando on our way to see youse ☘️❤️

sabrinacarpenter Luci takes Short n’ Sweet MSG - sounds like a plan

coffee.girl haha she’s OBSESSED 🤩

dualipa Love from Aunt Dua and Uncle Cal! See you guys soon! 💗

butlerupdates It says so much that the Butler family garners so much love from the public and celebrities. It speaks of their humbleness, beauty, kindness, and love.

coffee.girl AUSTIN THIS ISN’T THE PHOTO WE AGREED ON!!! AGAIN!!!

—

um hi @blainesebastian blame my ovaries we talked about this

[azsazz]

Here for You

Azriel x Reader (Zuzu Centered)

Summary: Anon Request: could we get something zuzu centered? we don’t get enough of the girls, and it would be so sweet to see az being a girl dad and y/n being a girl mom for a bit 🥹 maybe them being super excited to finally have a baby girl, when she’s really young or something? whatever you thinks best!

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,076

_________________________________________

“C’mon Zuz! Keep going, you’re almost there,” Azriel shouts from your side.

You can’t contain the smile on your face, beaming as your daughter races across the open field on her little legs, kicking the ball with a determined look on her face. Her sleek black hair is twisted into tight plaits courtesy of her father, who had – like all things – studied the intricacies of braiding until he was near perfect. There had been many late nights you and your husband had spent together, letting him practice different hairstyles on you while you read, tucked up as far into his warmth as you could, giving him gentle reminders and praises on his final looks.

Zuzu also has dark streaks of paint on her cheeks, a gift from Uncle Cassian, who’d also given her a pep talk before her Moonball game had started. Between him, Azriel, and Rhys, you didn’t know who was cheering the loudest for your little girl, and your heart is bursting with joy at the pride your family is showing in the matching ‘Zuzu Rules’ shirts Rhysand had made for their final game.

Malos pouts where she’s been jostled in Azriel’s arms, on the verge of falling asleep when he’d excitedly begun cheering as Zuzu was passed the ball. Nesta notices at the same time, and is quick to take the babe and soothe her, waving a dismissive hand to Azriel who gives her an apologetic look for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the Moonball game before him. 

He’s nearly vibrating with excitement, and you’ve had to pull Baz out of the way as his wings flared when one of the children on the other team had stolen the ball from Zuzu. 

She’s certainly come a long way since her first game, where the same thing had happened and she’d tried to pummel the child into the ground for doing so. You had glared at your husband and his brothers who had all ducked their heads to hide the grins they were biting back. That was their girl.

Even your older sons had stopped their game of playing warrior to come cheer on their sister, their cousins pushing between all of the tall adult legs for a better view.

One of the children in a navy jersey chasing Zuzu towards the goal suddenly trips and falls into the grass with a surprised gasp but Zuzu doesn’t take notice. Unfortunately, you do, shooting Baz a warning look that says he’s going to get in trouble when he gets home. He’s only eight but he’s already learned a multitude of tricks with his shadows, and to an untrained eye they would’ve thought the child had merely tripped. You knew better than that, and by the way Baz switches sides with Wren so he’s standing further away from you with red cheeks and hunched shoulders, he did too.

Even Knox is intently watching his sister race across the grass. The midnight purple of her jersey brings out the ribbons in her hair, provided by her Auntie Elain and Uncle Lucien, who hadn’t been able to make it, as they were visiting Day for a surprise getaway. 

“Come on baby, come on baby,” you mutter under your breath as she goes. Two children from the opposing team are blocking the way and if she uses her wings again she won’t be able to join the team next season, so you pray to the Mother she doesn’t flare those little wings wide and sweep these kids off of their feet.

“Yes, Z!” Wren jumps, shouting at his sister as she side-steps the offending players. He’d taught her that move when Uncle Cassian hadn’t been playing very fair in the backyard. Everything she’s learned about Moonball had been from her brothers and the rest of her family. She’s a warrior through and through, tough as nails and never backs down even when she was learning with all of the roughness her brothers and male cousins showed. Asteria hadn’t shown interest in the sport, instead she liked playing with her dolls and putting them in poses to draw in her coloring book.

“You got this, Zuz,” Baz encourages, while Jax claps his tiny hands and chants her name over and over again.

Your entire family holds their breath as she sets herself up to kick the ball into the goal. The child in the goal has a ready stance that’s startling for that of someone so young. He looks nearly professional, arms spread wide, knees bent, with a determined look in his eye. He and Zuzu had faced off before, and even her brothers had complimented how good he was at the sport.

Zuzu had scored against him this season once. The other time she had the chance, the little boy had blocked her ball from hitting the goal and you almost hadn’t stopped the rest of your sons from running out onto the field to defend their sister from the goalie who had gloated more than Cassian when he’d won the annual snowball fight, a smug smile on his face.

She’d been more determined than ever, immediately asking her brothers to go out into the yard with the instruction not to go easy on her.

Zuzu cocks her leg back. There’s steely determination in her fierce eyes. Her mouth is set in a firm line as she stares down the child like he’s her worst enemy.

And maybe he is.

The entire field is silent as her leg swings forward. The ball goes soaring through the air, looking like a shooting star, and everyone waits.

The child in the goal pushes off of the ground, throwing his body sideways into the path of the ball.

But he’s too late.

Your family erupts in mass of cheers and excitement, storming the field to gather the star player in congratulations and celebratory hugs. 

She’s beaming, grinning like the day you and Azriel had told her that she was going to have a little sister.

Azriel hikes her up on his shoulders, spinning her around as the other parents gather their children and usher them away, but you don’t care, so utterly proud of Zuzu for scoring the winning goal of the game.

Her braids flop against her shoulders as she twirls, giggling like a mad woman and hands raised in the air in victory. 

“I did it! I did it,” she screams.

And you couldn’t be more proud.

[sailorblossoms-snowbaz]

(some stuff about the perception of Simon and sex and horniness)

I've hinted at this (and maybe have even just said it, can't remember) in the past but now I'm just gonna say bluntly it because well, I use this blog to rant, and who gives a shit, this is long enough nobody will pay attention to it anyway. (This rant is brought to you by "anyone can do whatever they want obviously but I can't help but wonder... do people think this is actually in character? why?”)

Canonically, Simon is horny. He shows high libido. Canonically, these things are centered on Baz. "Baz is the only person I have ever wanted," he thinks in the context of thinking about having sex. "Maybe I'm some kind of Baz-sexual," he says, in the context of thinking about sexual attraction ("Maybe I'm only sexually attracted to Baz," he's saying.) And sure, libido is a separate thing from attraction, but good ol' Simon still centers both things on Baz...

I have no idea where the idea Simon would be the type to sleep around comes from, or why that idea is more often associated him than Baz (which I have wondered when considering "people think character is hot and so the people just want to see character fuck" – a tale as old as time, which is something I get, as opposed to "this is in character," which I do not). To be clear: I don't have anything against characters who enjoy a life of slutdom, I think such characters can be very fun to read, ya boy here likes erotica novels, etc. My specific issue is that I don't get where the idea Simon is the type comes from, and when picking up everything he's putting down, it kinda feels like a disservice? Like we're taking someone who challenges expectations, who moved past them because they were limiting and insufficient to help him understand himself, and... confining him to certain expectations, anyway?

This is someone who's not even comfortable wearing pajamas outside of the room he shares with Baz (very telling, that). He's not the type to even go into the bathroom to masturbate (no appeal to it if you don't know what you're into or what type of touch you even tolerate, anyway). He's not someone who will be down to get naked (while fully conscious and willing) in front of someone he doesn't, at the very least, know and trust. His one sexual experience outside of Baz is described as something he didn't actually want to do, as something he felt he had to do because “that's just what happens” when you have been dating someone for a long time.

I know "character is good at sex" is a logical continuation to "I want to see hot character fuck" but the idea that Simon would be good at sex in general, based on what he does... would he, really? I mean, it's perfectly fine if he's not. He has no reason to be! He has never done anything without any sort of guidance. Simon shares "the talk" he had didn't cover the truly important things, and we see him discovering "the point" and appeal of sex (for him) with Baz in real time (as closeness and intimacy). "He's good with his hands" – personally, I don't think knowing how to incapacitate, decapitate, or break someone's neck would translate into "knows how to touch someone in a way that's even remotely pleasurable." I would think those type of touches require a different set of skills, but that's just me. I mean, if you think about it, Baz describes Simon's hands as "being everywhere" as in, Simon wants so much he can't decide how to touch him, but also, he doesn't even know how to touch him. Simon jumps Baz like an animal in heat (literally dry humping him in the library!). Sometimes, Baz can get aroused by Simon in spite of the way Simon touches him (because is Simon). Simon is so rough he's bashing Baz's head against a bookcase at some point, probably without realizing (which makes sense for a fighter who has only ever know how to touch violently) (also, some scenes have made me wonder whether Simon, in his eagerness and without realizing, is grabbing and biting and pushing hard enough that if Baz was a regular human, he probably would just find painful).

I think it makes the most sense that Simon would struggle like this. It makes him relatable! Sex starts to be good between Simon and Baz when they start communicating. Sex is good for Simon when he's pleasing Baz, which is also about Baz and his feelings for him, specifically. I don't know how that turned into "sex is good for him when he's pleasing someone, anyone" – those are very different things! That there are areas in his life where he cared about what others thought and wanted to fulfill expectations doesn't mean that would translate into the sexual area, there are other things that would factor into it. This is someone who never once thinks about his cock unless it's close to or in contact with Baz's person. The entirety of his desire, of sex being good or enjoyable for him, of wanting to please (linked to wanting to take care of/make Baz happy) is all centered on Baz. Simon ties desire and the appeal of sex to intimacy with the person he's in love with. There's nothing fucking casual about Simon when it comes to sex and romance, even before he properly identifies those feelings and who he actually has those feelings for. ("I think I'm going to marry the first person I've ever dated" – you couldn't get any further from "casual" with that shit, even if he didn't really believe it was going to happen because he thought he would die, which is also not casual). "But Simon doesn't think––" he thinks a whole fucking lot, actually! He avoids processing, but everything is already inside of him, waiting for him to have the tools to process it and understand it. It's already on his radar. That doesn't necessarily translate into "enjoying casual sex" either.

And then there's horniness. Being horny doesn't mean one would turn to sex. Simon is insanely horny, but not in general... he's horny for Baz. And even then, horniness didn't always mean he was trying to have sex with him, or that he even knew what he wanted to do with it. By awtwb he's very much jumping Baz in a sexual way when he's horny, but Simon literally tells you "when I was horny for Baz, I used to pick fights with him." Before getting together with Baz (and even when he's with him) trying to blow off steam for Simon meant going to activities that are not at all sexual. Perhaps practicing with his sword until he gets tired. Picking fights, as mentioned. Getting moody and irritable and bitchy. As I said, he's not the type to ever even felt comfortable masturbating (being sexual) before he's thinking about how much he wants to cum on Baz. This is a "going to a late night run" type of person, a "engage in a form of combat to not feel so stressed" type of person, not a "casual sex enjoyer" or "one night stands" type of person. He's way more likely to go out to pick fights with strangers than to try to pick up a stranger for literally anything else.

[philaet0s]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written then pass it on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self love ❤

Ehe thanks for that! I wouldn't know who to send it to and I get embarrased about asks so let's say I'm sending it to anyone who wants to do it lol

Now my 5 fav fics I've written...

The first one is, UNDOUBTEDLY,

1. Live and Die For Moments That We Stole 

My baby (literally, it took me 9 months to write it), my masterpiece. I love what I've done with this fic, I love the characters and the trajectories their lives take, I'm really, truly satisfied with this fic. Which is rare. Obviously if I rewrote it now I might change a few scenes, but as a whole, I love the fic and I'm very proud of it. It was a huge challenge because of the time period I set it in and because of the sheer lenght of that fic, but I did, I wrote it :)

2. Second Chance

I have a weird emotional attachement to this fic, I couldn't explain why but I reread it so often (because yes, I reread my own stuff, what's the point of writing stories I want to read if I don't read them?), and it always puts me in a good mood. I love the idea of a second chance, and of characters GROWING as people before they get that second chance

3. Woundrous and Mystical

I have to put it in the top three. Before I wrote Live and Die it was my favourite fic of mine, I'm just so proud of that story. Baz is my favourite character in this universe and the way that his trauma -psychological and physical- from the coffin is dealt with in canon is something that genuinely upsets me so for the longest time I wanted to write my own version of that, a version of the story where Baz gets to be affected by the fact that he was, you know, locked in a dark box for weeks without food. That story is very dear to me because of that, because it's centered around Baz and his trauma, but also because when I look at my fics as a whole, it's really with this one that I started to get a sense of how I wanted to write the characters and their relationships. The most striking example of that is Niall, the way I wrote Niall in Wondrous and Mystical is the way I've been writing Niall in my other fics since (except Live and Die, funnily enough), like Woundrous and Mystical really shaped my writing

4. The Ephemeral Nature of Flowers

Probably the fic of mine I've reread the most after Second Chance. I just love the vibes of that fic, I like the bittersweet ending, and I especially love the idea that a strong connection can be born in a very short time. Not in a 'love at first sight' kind of way because I don't really like that trope but in a 'we've had one real conversation and I feel like you and I connect in a very special way' kind of way

5. Thirteen Days to Fall in Love With Your Worst Enemy 

That fic was soooo much fun to write. Putting our Simon with a Baz that considers him their best friend, and our Baz with a Simon that considers him his best friend + non!binary Baz my beloved <3

Simon getting to see Baz for the person that he truly is and not this evil mastermind he imagines him to be is always my favourite thing to write in fics where they start out disliking each other, and this fic is literally just that, so

[lindszeppelin]

I have a lot to say, so buckle up lol:

I definitely feel a break up is coming for Austin and Kaia. The abrupt change in Austin's attitude towards her has been very noticeable. Even people who like them together, I've seen talk of them starting to notice a negative change. Some are holding on for dear life but, I think we all know the writing is on the wall. No idea when he'll do it, but Austin will for sure be the one to end it. He just seems so done with it all and her. She did all this stuff with the paparazzi for her book event. An event no one really knew about or cared for. If people went it was for the play itself or if they knew Kaia was doing some interview afterwards, they went to possible see Austin. She did all this and got no real payoff. The only thing her calling the paps the last 2 weeks did was hold off the break up rumors. That's what she wanted. But all it did was upset Austin.

Like I said earlier in the last week alone, he's grown very cold and distant towards her. If he's acting like this towards her in public, I imagine in private, there's no love either.

I think the only time I've seen Austin appear genuine with Kaia was the night of Cannes (literally two years ago). In general, that night was huge for him. A huge moment in his career. A 12 minute standing ovation. Praise from everyone. His family got to be there, who he hadn't seen in years. I think it was a lot of emotion. A weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders because the movie went over well.

He and Kaia were still in the honeymoon stage of the relationship that night. I won't lie, I noticed how much Austin was into her that night. During Baz's speech he was seen grabbing onto her hand, kissing her hand. He was smiling at her and gave a wink. He was smitten. Sure, they played up some it for the camera's on the red carpet. But Austin was happy. The after party they were dancing together, taking pics, etc. They seemed genuine.

But that was shortly lived because then they were getting papped all the time. I think that's when a lot of people started to notice what this really was. She jumped from Jacob Elordi to Austin in a matter of weeks. She told the press she was in love with Austin after only dating a couple of weeks. I saw the game Kaia was playing. I think Austin was slightly naive getting involved with a girl like Kaia and her family. Unfortunately, this relationship has come back to bite him. Kaia is clingy and self absorbed. She has to be the center of attention all the time. He's seen it first hand. At one point her parents kept medaling in his relationship. He's too grown to be dealing with overbearing parents. But this is why you don't date a nepo baby 10 years younger than you. She still relies on mommy and daddy for everything.

Austin went the cliche route in getting with a model once he broke out. Kaia was perfect to be his arm candy during award season. In fact she was referred to as arm candy at the Oscars in 2022. That's all she's been for him. Austin went for the complete opposite of Vanessa in every single way. As much as I didn't like Vanessa, she was in love with Austin. She loved him with every fiber in her being. Their love shined through anytime they were together. But her career was dying down, while his was finally taking off. She wanted to settle down and start a family. He wanted to work. I believed that was the final breaking point in their relationship. On top of other problems they were having. So getting with a girl younger with no ambition, or rush to have kids and marriage was appealing. Until it wasn't.

Kaia's lack of ambition has been her downfall. Her book club and interviewing isn't going to save her here. Austin sees things clearly now. He even went to the press to talk about how much her lack of ambition bothers him. Given the way she's been behaving the last few weeks, she knows it's coming to an end. She's acting desperate and pathetic. It's her own fault.

Beautiful anon, this was an amazing read. And you detailed everything so perfectly! I do agree that Austin will be the one to end it with her. There is no way Kaia will ever be the one to let him go, he is a valuable commodity to her career and persona as this bookish quirky girl. And it gets her foot in the door for more acting jobs etc. She knows she'd lose that forever if she let Austin go. Austin putting his foot down and choosing his happiness is the way it has to go. And when the time is right, he will.

I too think that him getting with Kaia was initially a choice that to him at the time seemed like a good one. I mentioned before that him turning 30 a few short months before meeting her was probably also a reason why he went after a girl 10 years younger than him, who didn't have anything going for her. And I think it's so true that after a hard breakup, you go for someone who is the complete opposite of your ex. That's a common thing. So I get it. And he was probably okay with it and was interested in seeing where it went, but then once he got to know this girl he realized he made a mistake. And it's not always easy to admit to yourself that this is a situation you need to get out of. Her parents and Kaia and her brother seem so overbearing that no doubt they backed Austin into a corner. Lest we forget that in January this year her parents ran to L&S with an exclusive that they don't want Kaia to continue with him unless he commits. Like...be so for real. Pressuring a man to commit to your 22 year old daughter is a tough sell, especially when said man does NOT want to be with her in any regard.

His demeanor towards her these last few months is detached, but more so especially in these last few weeks in NYC. She is sucking every single bit of clout from this man before he leaves her, and she is also panicking. But it's not her I feel bad for, she brought this all upon herself. I have no sympathy towards her. It's Austin I feel bad for. And he deserves his happiness. He deserves a chance at a real love and future marriage with his forever woman when he eventually meets that person. It's not easy to breakup especially when it's clear Austin really wanted this to be a quiet split with no fuss, but since she's making it complicated and she's clawing onto the walls for dear life, he has to fight for his right to be happy. Kaia deserves to be happy too don't get me wrong. I might not like her, but she deserves to be with somebody that enjoys playing the Hollywood game and likes to be papped often and loves that life. Austin is not that man. The sooner these two free themselves from this situationship and find better partners for them, the sooner they can be happy.

[sarandipitywrites]

🐍- How do you deal with it when you come across a plothole?

I sit on the edge of it, my little shovel in hand, and stare into its depths as I contemplate my life choices.

Once I finish doing that, I try to look at what happens before the hole, after the hole, and at what's currently in the hole and figure out where the problem actually is. Like, if it's a "[character] would not do that" sort of issue, for example, I need to figure out if the problem is that [character] would, in fact, not do that, or if they would, but I just haven't done a good enough job of convincing the reader of that, yet.

Sometimes, though, a plot hole comes up because something I've written legitimately makes so sense with an existing bit of worldbuilding. When that happens, I have a choice: I can change the plot hole, change the worldbuilding, or dive headfirst into the plot hole and change the rest of the story to accommodate it. I chose the third option near the end of the first draft of The Art of Empty Space, which is how I ended up with an entirely new story lol

Not sure how much you saw of it while I was posting last year, but the basic premise of the first draft was a Beauty and the Beast style, monster-in-a-castle story, with the curse centering around Baz (the monster) and his real name. The plot hole came at the very end, when Lienzo was meant to learn the true name and break the curse; the problem was that anyone who learned the monster's real name would immediately forget everything about him (as, you know, part of the curse). What would make Lienzo so special? Why wouldn't he forget, when everyone else did?

The solution was: he wasn't special. He did forget. And that's now where the second draft of AES starts: after all the events of the original draft. Now, instead of it being a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it's a mystery thriller where Lienzo has to uncover what's already happened to him, break the cycle of this magically-induced amnesia, and break the curse on the beast and the city (and figure out who originally cursed them and why).

So, short answer: sometimes I fix the plot hole. Sometimes the hole fixes the plot 🤷

Thank you for the ask! 💜

[monbons]

an ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

thanks for tagging me @bookish-bogwitch, @thewholelemon, @cutestkilla, and @noblecorgi!

1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s): Currently, living, breathing, and eating my one and only WIP: The Eternal Life of Baz Pitch. Also, I am probably retiring after this fic because I do not think I can top it!

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___” Addie LaRue + SnowBaz = so much pain and angst

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it? Period-typical homophobia, Implied/referenced DV, Blood and Injury, Death... I mean truly the works. This is SnowBaz in the darkest possible timeline.

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)? At one point, I joked with @thewholelemon about naming it "Baz Pitch's 300 Year Long Grope-Fest" but for obvious reasons that title would really do a disservice to this fic (although it is sort of true).

5. ⚠️Which WIP you're most likely to finish or update next? Now that I've created a posting schedule for The Eternal Life of Baz Pitch, I want to stick to it. While I'm "done" drafting, I am still making a few big revisions to the last six chapters. I've also been re-reading the first chapters for continuity issues that may have cropped up now that I know how this ends. Either way, I can see the finish line.

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as) It started out as "Addie LaRue Working Draft." Once the one doc got unwieldy and long, it spun out into multiple docs titled all sorts of things - mostly chapter numbers, but I do have one not as fun as it sounds doc called "Sex Playground." (ha!)

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP. “Are you so naive as to think I cannot watch you whenever it pleases me, even if you cannot see me?”

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP. I actually have SEVERAL scenes I scrapped...like pages and pages! Largely this is because I have a whole document titled "Voice," which served as a sandbox of sorts where I could play with every possible combination of POV, tone, and style before committing to the final version you see in the story now. There's even a scene in there told first-person Niall! (Bonkers.)

I also have a whole ACTUAL scene I'd love to include as an answer to this question because it was well-written, but I cut it because it made the plot unnecessarily complicated, was frankly too close to the original plot of Addie, and would have made my ending impossible. It is also--sadly--too big a spoiler to include here, so let me give you a few sentences from "Sex Playground" that will not be making the cut:

“Stay.” Baz pushes his hand into the center of Simon’s chest, pressing him back into the mattress. “I want to look at you.” Simon gives Baz a filthy smile. He can look all he wants. 

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet? I really want to write a canon divergence where Simon successfully but somewhat accidentally reveals Baz is a vampire fifth year, so Baz and the whole Pitch family have to flee from the Mage. I already have the "everybody finds out" scene written and the scene where the Mage realizes the Pitch family is gone, so I guess I have started it. But, I also have no idea where it's going or what it's about, so I haven't really accomplished anything. If anyone has ideas or wants to be a partner-in-crime on this, give me a little shout!

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on? Literally just this one. Again, I am retiring after this fic! (Or at least taking a very well-deserved break.)

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now? Absolutely 100% it is writing the smut. Having never written any on-page sex means I'm figuring it out as I go. Lots of frustrated growls from me (not nearly as frustrated from Simon).

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send. I know many of you have already posted, but tagging anyway since you've commented/liked past WIPsdays and such, in case you're interested in the behind the scenes!

@valeffelees, @roomwithanopenfire, @noblecorgi, @cutestkilla, @iamamythologicalcreature, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @youarenevertooold, @drowninginships, @emeryhall, @hushed-chorus, @rimeswithpurple, @aristocratic-otter, @larkral, @artsyunderstudy, @brilla-brilla-estrellita

[yellobb]

Tell me about ye olde "cold case outline"

Ooooo I was hoping someone asked about this one when I first posted the ask game!!!!

From this ask game

Cold Case Outline

This is another WIP that my sister and I did that we actually fully fleshed out, but I am still holding out a bit of hope that one day I’ll actually write the damn thing.

Simon is a mechanic and Baz is an Instagram model. They first meet when Baz brings his Jag in, and he’s immediately enamored with Simon in his oil-stained tank top, messy curls, and freckles. Simon immediately falls in love with Baz’s Jag and fawns over it, which does not help Baz’s predicament. He starts coming to the shop as often as possible with any excuse he can think of (oil change, tire rotation, “the building is just very aesthetic, Snow, so I need you to take my picture while I pose all sexy”). He even keys his own car at one point to have an excuse to visit him (it was a moment of desperation and he’s not proud of it, but he stands by his actions).

Simon lives with Penny and Shepard. Shepard is very into true crime and is hoping to start a podcast of his own about it. Shep visits Simon at work one day, but he gets very quiet and starts staring at Baz when he walks in to drop off the Jag, looking like he’s seen a ghost. Baz is visibly uncomfortable, so Simon kicks Shep out until Baz is good to go. He asks Shep what the hell that was all about afterwards, and Shep is like “that’s Baz Pitch”. “Yeah, and?” “Like, Natasha and Malcolm Grimm-Pitch’s son?! From the 2002 Olympics! Do you think he’d let me interview him for my podcast?”

It turns out, Baz isn’t just mildly famous for his Instagram presence. In 2002, when he was just five years old, his mother was an Olympic figure skater. The day of her event, she didn’t show up to warm-ups. She was found dead under suspicious circumstances over a week later. There are clips of some of her last moments where she acts erratically that went viral, and her case has fascinated the public ever since.

We didn’t get far on actually writing out this story, but what I did finish is a news report that explains the circumstances of Natasha’s death 👀 I’ve included it under the cut if anyone wants to read it! I’m actually pretty damn proud of how it turned out and have always wanted to share it, so I hope y’all enjoy :)

Natasha Grimm-Pitch Death Still Stumps People 20 Years Later

Natasha Grimm-Pitch, world-renowned ice dance figure skater from Great Britain and 3x Olympic medalist, went missing on February 9th, 2002. That morning, her husband and partner, Malcolm Grimm, woke up to find she had not returned in the night. Assuming she had stayed the night with her sister, Fiona Pitch, who had traveled with the pair in order to watch their 5-year-old son, Tyrannus Grimm-Pitch, while they competed, Grimm got ready for the day’s competition, but began to grow worried when Pitch met him at the Salt Lake Ice Center without her sister. She had met Grimm to take Tyrannus, known as “Baz” by those close to the family, but was shocked to find out that Grimm-Pitch had not returned to the couple’s room in the Olympic Village.

“Nat had come over the night before, yeah,” Pitch said, when interviewed about the disappearance the day after the event. “She came over to my hotel room to get some stress relief. I mean, this was her moment. She’d been out of the public eye for a while, after having Baz, and felt like she needed to medal in order to prove herself. I couldn’t tell you who she was proving herself to, though. She never cared what other people thought of her; not even me.”

Grimm was hesitant to alert the police, hoping that his wife had stayed with a teammate, but couldn’t hesitate any longer once warm-up was scheduled to start and she had yet to make an appearance.

“Nat would never have missed a warm-up, especially not now. She’s always on time. Something happened to her,” Grimm told the press the day of the disappearance. Grimm-Pitch’s disappearance caused a stir in the Olympic Village, especially amongst her teammates.

“I knew Natasha. That woman was a force to be reckoned with. When I heard that Malcolm had forfeited their position, I knew something was wrong. Everyone was uneasy as soon as we heard. I think we all knew, deep down, what must have happened. None of us even saw Natasha take a sick day. There was no way in hell she was going to let something stop her from competing again,” said teammate, Mitali Bunce, a year after her disappearance.

A mass investigation was launched into the disappearance, with state and local police leading the search. Grimm searched the streets with his sister-in-law in the hopes of finding her, often leaving their child in the care of the other British athletes. Though the ice dance competition continued, this would not be the case for long.

Natasha Grimm-Pitch’s body was found, washed-up in nearby Farmington Bay, on February 20th, just over a week after her disappearance. The Olympic Village, and the world, watched on in shock as her death was officially announced by the Salt Lake City Police Department at 11:08 AM. The Olympic Committee officially suspended what remained of the ice dance competition that evening, putting out a statement about the tragedy:

“In light of the recent tragedy involving ice dancer, Natasha Grimm-Pitch, the Olympic Committee has unanimously decided to suspend the ice dance competition for the remainder of the Olympic season. We ask the figure skating community to come together at this time to honor her legacy and mourn her loss. The Committee will reconvene in the next month to determine when the events will be completed.”

Her body was flown back to the family’s home in Hampshire, UK, but the FBI stayed in contact with British authorities for the resulting investigation. In the coming months, the mystery only grew. According to her autopsy, Grimm-Pitch had been dead for around 230 hours, placing her death sometime on the evening of February 10th, the day after she went missing. To make the case more shocking, she had only been submerged in the water for five days upon being found, meaning there was a six day gap between her death and her body being, supposedly, dumped in the bay. Despite this, she appeared to have died of natural causes, with nothing to indicate that she had resisted an attacker. There were already rumors in the news surrounding foul play, but things really exploded once security camera footage was made publicly available in April 2002.

In a now infamous clip, Grimm-Pitch is shown entering the Olympic Village at 3:00 AM, missing her shoes and the bag her sister claimed she left her hotel room with. Grimm-Pitch appears to be disoriented, running to hide behind walls and looking around wildly, despite no one being in the vicinity. The footage lasts six minutes, with Grimm-Pitch circling the building she was staying in, even briefly entering the entranceway before stumbling back out.

Her erratic behaviour combined with the confounding circumstances around her actual death threw the media into a frenzy. Every major news outlet reported for over a month with updates in the case, but no suspects were ever identified. It seemed that there were no leads whatsoever. The figure skating community and the true crime community alike waited with bated breaths to find if her death was ruled a suicide, homicide, or accident.

Unfortunately, the answer never came. In 2013, the case was unofficially closed after over a decade with no new information. The case has gone down as one of the most shocking and mysterious disappearances in British and American history alike. The Grimms and Pitches are still desperate for answers, though.

A year after the death of his wife, Malcolm Grimm officially announced his campaign for Prime Minister in the United Kingdom. Despite critics saying he was using Grimm-Pitch’s death to further his political aspirations, which had begun in 1997 with the birth of his son, he won the seat. With his victory, the most popular conspiracy theory surrounding Grimm-Pitch’s death was born.

Many people believe that Grimm knew their performance would fail, leading to them fading from the public eye. To prevent this, Grimm chose to murder his wife and use the sympathy he garnered following her death to get elected. He, allegedly, drugged her, waited for her to die, and hid her body in their room until, six days later, the police grew suspicious of him, so he dumped her body in the bay as a cover-up. Proponents of this theory claim that the mortician performing the autopsy was paid off to lie about finding drugs in her system.

Another popular theory surrounds Fiona Pitch. Pitch has a record of substance abuse, so theories have circulated about her, accidentally or otherwise, giving Grimm-Pitch more than she could handle (despite multiple sources stating that she never used drugs). The theory states that Grimm-Pitch managed to leave her sister’s hotel room before she started experiencing delusions and paranoia. Her sister, who had aided in the search for her, then found her body six days later, dead from overdose, and dumped her in the bay to avoid indicating herself in manslaughter. Many point to a 1995 case involving Pitch where her boyfriend, Nicodemus Petty, overdosed in their London apartment. Pitch herself barely survived the ordeal, but was saved when Petty’s sister, Ebeneza Petty, happened to visit that morning and was able to call paramedics. Pitch was convicted of illegal substance abuse and spent five years in rehabilitation facilities. She claims that she has been clean ever since.

Others believe that it was simply a case of mania, despite Grimm-Pitch’s nearly spotless mental health record. She had been prescribed Wellbutrin following the birth of her son, but stopped using it after only a year. To this day, the case remains unsolved.

Despite the rumors surrounding the family, they have seen unbelievable success. Grimm still enjoys a successful political career, but the star of the show is Tyrannus “Baz” Grimm-Pitch. He has grown a large following online, amassing thirty million followers on his Instagram since its creation in 2018. Grimm-Pitch enjoys a life as an Instagram model with an estimated net worth of nearly $10 million. Despite being in the limelight since his mother’s death, he has yet to publicly comment on the infamous case. His aunt acts as his manager, but abstains from all public appearances.

[bcofl0ve]

hey, what do you think of austin in elvis? i know it's one of his biggest projects and i confess i haven't had the courage to watch it yet because i feel that maybe the film glamorizes elvin's story too much when we know he wasn't that glamorous, right? always abusive and problematic with women, especially priscilla, involvement with minors, drugs and all that. idk about the movie's approach, but it annoys me a lot of people (or even austin) think elvis is some kind of inspiration because ok, he was talented, but come on…its not hate yk, but i see so many people deifying the movie and if it's only because of austin's performance i really believe it because he's a PERFECT actor…i wanted to hear from you :)

hiii! assuming you’re a newer fan if you haven’t seen it since i feel like that’s how most of us (at least generally speaking) got here.

i saw elvis 10 times in theaters, once 3 times in 48 hours when it was doing a $5 ticket run during 2023 awards season LOL. soooo i think that tells you how i feel about it! it’s one of my favorite films of all time. i think austin absolutely knocked it out of the park and baz’s directing style is *my* style so. it was all around perfect, to me personally.

i also feel the need to clarify that i am an elvis presley fan. i have a tattoo for the man 😅. i understand he had some very deep seeded issues (i also adore priscilla to bits. not one of those elvis fan who thinks she’s an evil incarnate for daring to love him while also being honest about his short comings! i gen really liked the priscilla movie as well!) while 1+1=2 a movie endorsed by the estate isn’t going to show every waking bad thing he ever did, i think it did a good job of showing that he was very infallible. it shows him cheating on priscilla, and his anger issues. (one of priscilla compliments to austin was that he nailed elvis’s temper…🫣) the movie as a whole is very ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’ themed in that it’s centered around the ups and severe downs of the massive fame he got, at a time where he was really the first artist to achieve that level of super stardom. i love it for that.

but in terms of reservations about watching it for the first time- i think it may help you (and anyone else with similar qualms about it) to check out some of the interview lisa marie (elvis and priscilla’s daughter) did with austin? she is very *very* protective of her father’s legacy, understandably. but she adored the movie, spoke very highly of it and loved austin to bits. it makes me emotional to know she got the biopic of her father that she deserved in this lifetime.

she unfortunately passed away suddenly in january 2023 just a few days after watching austin win his golden globe and i have never been crushed by a celebrity death like that. ever. the love she shared with/for austin was so so beautiful and i was heartbroken that such a happy time for her with all the movies success, especially after losing her son to suicide in 2020 got cut short how it did. (if this feels like i’m being OTT, i’m not. lisa herself captioned a photo with austin during press ‘i do believe this might be my first smile in 2 years’)

just for some added context re: lisa marie and austin. during press she took him upstairs at graceland for *3 hours*, something that’s outright unheard of for non family members. even baz only got 20 minutes up there for pre production, and he wasn’t allowed to take photos/had to quick sketch and memorize as much as he could.

i know her adoration of austin meant the world to him, and to me that says so much more about his portrayal of elvis then i’ll ever be able to as just a fan. i hope this helps, but feel free to circle back and follow up!!! ❤️

[that-disabled-princess]

Fic Rec Sunday

Decided to do a rec post today! This post is chock-full of aro rep because why not? Aromantics are valid and deserve to be represented.

Turn and say "Dear heart, it's me" by @terrayoung [T, 4k, Nimona, complete]

Super duper sweet friends to lovers fic! Demiromantic Ballister is handled in such a wonderful way, and I love the exploration of Bal and Ambrosius' relationship through the years. An absolutely wonderful fic with all the Feels--patching your friend up, angst, hurt/comfort, and proposals.

Lonely and Alone by invisible_aliens [G, 1.6k, Carry On, complete]

A Mordelia-centric fic following her on her journey of self-discovery. Beautiful and real and full of aro feelings. And aro Agatha has some wonderful advice for baby aro Mordelia.

i want your dreary mornings by @martsonmars [G, 1k, Carry On, complete]

An absolutely lovely fic featuring a QPR! QPRs are so important to me, and it's lovely seeing more people write them. A super sweet sickfic full of fluff, comfort, aromantic vibes, specky snowbaz, and blanket cocoons. This fic is a weighted blanket on a bad day.

figure it out (together) by @tea-brigade [SFW, one-shot, Carry On, complete]

Not on AO3 but on Tumblr, but this fic deserves a mention! A very wonderful fic featuring rainy days, crochet, tea, and musician Baz! And a sickfic and taking care of your best friend. A super sweet friends to lovers with neopronouns and demiromantic Baz. Literally what more could a girl want.

Enough courage to trust by spookygreen [T, 6k, Nimona, complete]

This one doesn't center around aromanticism, but it features aroace Nimona! Also pizza, kicking ass as a bonding activity, anarchist Nimona, and a fantastic Nimona&Ambrosius friendship. There are also trust issues, which are dealt with in a great and real way. Overall, a very fun and heartfelt fic!

Tags under the cut 💖💖

Tagging @bazzybelle @j-nipper-95 @artsyunderstudy @theearlgreymage @forabeatofadrum @tea-brigade @hushed-chorus @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @yeonjunenby @valeffelees @ic3-que3n @larkral @confused-bi-queer @aristocratic-otter @stitchyqueer @ivelovedhimthroughworse @wellbelesbian @imagineacoolusername @palimpsessed @cutestkilla @mostlymaudlin @moodandmist and anyone else who wants to!

[everwitch-magiks]

Hashtag Soulmates

Alex is perfect and handsome, the golden boy, everybody’s secret crush. So there is absolutely no way that he is the reader who screeches in caps lock every time that Henry posts as much as a drabble. There’s no way. Except Alex just closed his browser fast as fucking lightning, but not before Henry had gotten a good glimpse of the page Alex had open: AO3. ‘Don't Stop Me Now’, Henry’s current wip. The one that Henry literally just updated.

Sweet Jesus. Could it really be?

I love fanfiction. I probably love fanfiction more than I love anything else. When I started to write 'Hashtag Soulmates,' I wanted to write something that tapped into all of that, something with fandom as the setting and fanfiction right at the heart of it. I didn’t actually have much of a plan (to center each chapter around a fic trope was something I decided on a whim for chapter two), but it felt very in character to have Henry be a passionate fic writer, and it seemed fun to have Alex be both someone Henry knew in real life and someone who was reading Henry’s work.

My favourite part of writing and posting this fic has been hearing how readers relate to it. So many people have talked to me about how much Henry’s journey resonated with them, and all the ways this story made them feel seen. I absolutely love all the conversations I've gotten to have through this fic, and how much that's made me think about fandom and its role in all our lives, the good and the bad of it and how I wouldn’t be the same person without it. 'Hashtag Soulmates' will always be special to me, because fandom is so incredibly special to me.

Below the cut is an excerpt from the fic that's from chapter one: it’s where we get to know about Henry’s day-to-day life as a prolific Jabriel fic writer. (Jabriel - James and Gabriel. I made up a fake ship based on Alex and Henry - see what I did there with the middle names? - so that they could effectively ship themselves. Simple, right?) Please enjoy this little window into Henry’s daily fic writing habits!

Henry is a respectable member of society.

He's worked as a copywriter for six years now. Most of his colleagues seem to like him well enough, although he's pretty sure that they all think of him as somewhat reserved. Still, he's entirely capable of navigating the office gossip by the water cooler and he tags along to the bi-weekly pub quiz gatherings often enough to actually keep getting invited. He’s sociable, polite and occasionally even funny. And he’s good at his job. That goes a surprisingly long way.

When Henry comes home from a day at the office or a night out at the pub, he curls up on the couch with his laptop and a cup of Earl Grey, and he writes. He writes about young men falling in love and subsequently falling in bed. He writes about kissing, and touching, and being kissed and being touched, about desire and desperation and sweet, sweet release.

Some of it he pulls from memory, but most of it is pure fantasy. Although it's not a wishlist, exactly. Henry is happily single for the most part, and the sex he writes isn't necessarily the sex he wants to have. It's more along the lines of very elaborate, often impossible daydreams, except Henry captures them on the page, edits them furiously and gets thousands of hits when he publishes them. All in a day's work.

Henry’s best friend, PezLikeTheSweets, lives in New Zealand. Pez has beta read every single one of Henry's fics for the past decade. They'd first connected back when Henry still wrote Wolfstar fics, except it wasn’t actually called Wolfstar back then, although the whole wizarding world has since lost its appeal to Henry either way. Fucking Joanne.

These days Henry writes about Simon and Baz, and those sweet Swedish teen gay royals, but his current main ship is definitely Gabriel and James. And he’s not alone in that. The scorchingly hot romance between a civil rights lawyer and a queer historian has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for months. There’s a movie in the works and a rumoured sequel, but in the meantime a lot of people are looking to get their Jabriel fix from fanfic. A lot of people. And Henry somehow managed to churn out his first few oneshots just in time to hit that elusive sweet spot in a fandom on the rise. Everyone read them. And now, whenever Henry posts a new story, everyone reads that too.

Read 'Hashtag Soulmates' on AO3!

[sailorblossoms-snowbaz]

Baz & biting Simon

(And why I think it’s ok if he never wants to do it)

I never thought about this before (maybe because I don't get the appeal of a vampire's bite, what with all the blood and the stabbing and being poisoned and the pain, but other people finding it hot isn't my business) (neck kisses though... that I get). I have seen the arguments in favor of Baz biting Simon, ranging from "I think that would be good for Baz's character development" to "I personally think it's hot." I accepted them (hell, I might have even thought of or written a biting scene considering the former, I don't remember) and that was that... until I saw the arguments in favor of respecting that Baz doesn't want to bite Simon.

For starters, one needs to consider what biting Simon would mean. People have read Baz's vampire nature as connected to his queerness – he often thinks about them in the same breath (very grimly including "which one is the one getting me discriminated against right now" scenarios... "I don't know if Daphne means me getting cured of the vampirism or the gayness" kinda puts homophobia on the same level as being against vampirism).

In that vein, Baz being alright with biting Simon as part of sexy times is seen as synonymous with Baz fully embracing his queerness; Baz loving every part of himself just like how Simon loves every part of him. This is where I would usually call it a day, but... actually, I don't think it's right to completely lean on the vampire identity as synonymous with his queer identity 100%. As a metaphor, it's not the only thing it can represent (I once read a good meta that saw the ways he has to plan around it etc as a metaphor for disability). In a more literal sense, the books give you enough to question the WOM's treatment of vampires. But seeing vampires in Las Vegas getting smart about drinking blood without killing doesn't erase the predatory nature associated with them... so I think it's a delicate conversation that needs to know where to draw lines, where to connect, and where to separate things.

I think much comes out of the scene where Simon says there's "nothing about you I don't want." But one also needs to consider that, while Simon absolutely means it (which is a powerful thing to convey to Baz, who has always felt he's loved in spite of who he is) when asked about why he wanted Baz to bite him, his answer to that specific question is not "I think that would be good for you" but "I personally think it's hot" (even if wanting to be with Baz when he hunts and "they should see him draining a deer!" or something highlights that it makes Simon happy and proud to see Baz getting his needs fulfilled without shame, "I want him to bite me, specifically" is more about Baz's hotness, compared to Simon wanting to try kinky stuff). And you can see that without him having to say it: when Baz is asking him about past sexual experience, Simon keeps trying to change the subject, eventually going to "I want to focus on actually sexy things, so you should let me watch you drink the nasty little rats I lovingly helped you catch."

So eventually we arrive at: it makes Baz uncomfortable to be asked this. It causes him distress, even. The fact that Simon would be into it, by itself, or even as motivation is... not a good reason to challenge Baz's feelings. One should never do anything they don't want or feel comfortable with sexually for someone else's sake. Centering Simon's desire over Baz's comfort is... well. Even more when Simon himself is just discovering desire and what it means to him – at this point, he doesn't actually know what he would be into, so he's just saying shit. All Simon actually knows is that he's into Baz, and all Baz-related things are a turn on (just like how Baz is like "wouldn't have considered myself a tail guy, but since Simon has one..." before giving him a tail job.) More importantly, I think Simon means it when he promises he won't bring it up again upon noticing Baz's distress. Simon wants to take care of him and make him happy – he won't push Baz to do anything that makes him uncomfortable (especially since Simon has experience with unwanted sexual situations, which has very likely contributed to his issues with intimacy) (I have many posts about that, finding them though...)

Then comes the point about self-acceptance. About how Baz deserves to love every part of himself as much as Simon loves him. Realistically, a lot of us have parts about ourselves that we don't like, parts that we can't change, but become okay with them by negotiating with them. Perhaps not really comparable, but just for the sake of giving an example: disliking one's body shape, but learning how to dress in a way that flatters it. Finding features we like and highlighting them. Learning how to manage bad moods.

I don't really think Baz needs to bite Simon to find any sort of self-acceptance. Baz is a natural caretaker. He has a soft heart. Even in a fight where he's in actual danger, he holds back – he doesn't want to hurt others (and only snaps if Simon is in danger or gets hurt). The predatory nature of a vampire goes against Baz's very core. And an essential part of that predation is in making humans targets. In putting humans at the bottom of a food chain. This is not something Baz can separate from a vampire bite, and he's not the type to be into about whatever role-power-play shenanigans that someone else could get out of that. When someone in Las Vegas is taking a sip, they have enough practice to let the human walk away alive, but for convenience – they don't give a shit about the actual human (I imagine people died in the process of figuring out when to stop and in mastering the control required for it). On top of that, Baz has trauma around hunting (killing) in a way that hurts him (pets). Simon is the person Baz loves the most – what Baz needs is not to put himself in a "predatory role" when Simon is the target. He doesn't need to put Simon in a position where there is even the slightest chance of Simon getting hurt, and worst of all: of Baz being responsible. Just the thought it's traumatizing for him. When Baz chooses to only eat certain types of animals (because pets too feed into his self-hatred) he's already negotiating with something about himself he doesn't like. He's turning something he hates about himself into something he can accept. Into something he can live with. I do think Baz has issues he needs to work on, but I don't think modifying his diet is required. The way in which he figured how to solve his drinking needs is pretty good when considering Baz's essence, his wants and needs. When considering how Baz wants to live his life.

Which takes me to health and immortality. Another argument in favor is that Baz will look more "healthy" if he were to drink human blood... but what else is there? Are optics important if Baz is still able to function healthily with his dietary choices? The only other thing human blood brings in this universe is immortality, something that's so unthinkable it's actually paralyzing for Baz. I've seen the idea that Baz should embrace that too; I disagree, and I fail to see an argument strong enough in favor ("it would be cool" for him? the hell it would). Immortality too goes against Baz's very nature: the idea of outliving everyone he has ever loved, for someone like Baz, would be the worst kind of torture. The fact that drinking human blood is the key to living forever just means there's actually not a single reason strong enough for Baz to have a change of heart. On the contrary: it's a good reason to fucking double down on his stance. "He could just take a little sip; enough to gain some color but not enough for immortality" But why? He can barely control when his fangs drop, why would he bother doing all that, when it implies trial and error with something that could risk Simon's safety? He wouldn't do it even if it meant just Simon getting a bit dizzy and shit.

Finally, there's the argument on why people would rather respect Baz's wishes. The thing that made me reconsider every single point in favor of biting and not finding them as strong as this. It's very simple, really, so I'll be brief here: it's the idea of having a boundary or hard line that others can't understand... that others believe it's something to "get over," that "can't be good for you," and needs to be changed. Something one "should grow out of," which heavily resonates with people who are in the acespectrum (I think the writing in these books are very ace friendly) or who are aromantic, or don't want to drink alcohol or do or want anything that society pressures us to do or want or else "something is wrong with us."

Baz not biting humans is a boundary that matters to him, even if biting doesn't end in death... His own experience with getting bitten sucked ass, anyway. It changed him in ways beyond his control – his boundary is how he gains control of who he is, and how he sees himself. It provides comfort. So when the author says "I might change my mind someday, but I think this boundary is important for him to maintain" and wants to honor that, I'm inclined to support it.

[fshoulders]

Just saw someone on here say the Baz Luhrmann Romeo & Juliet is “considered the most faithful movie version of Romeo and Juliet” and had to stop myself from chasing them down the internet like the meme goose going “BY WHO?! BY WHO!?????” Don’t start internet beef over this, self! They didn’t say THEY liked it best! They might be an innocent bystander! Also you are weirdly aggressive about Shakespeare!

Okay, deep breath, short post. Short post! We can do this!

Romeo and Juliet has an oddly small cinematic footprint, compared to its cultural impact. That’s probably why Luhrmann’s version can still hold any primacy. (Gods, are there English teachers showing this in class? Because they don’t have to fast-forward through the Zefferelli nudity? What a thought. Stay on target.) I can only theorize that other Shakespeare plays get more adaptations because they’re centered on a huge male role, so they can be a Serious Showpiece for a single male actor. R&J doesn’t operate that way.

And in my experience (having seen four or five live productions, off the top of my head) it’s a play that really lives in the theater. Stupid as it sounds, every time I see Romeo and Juliet live, some part of me feels like this time, it might end happy. The letter might not go astray: the messenger won’t get caught in a quarantine, Romeo will know Juliet isn’t dead, and everything will turn out fine. It’s so often noted that the play isn’t structured as a tragedy, but as a New Comedy (like Midsummer Night’s Dream, et c. — a story about young people defying their parents for love) that goes wrong: somehow this works on me, in person, such that I really think maybe we’ll pull it off! The kids will be all right, the parents will be chastened, and all will end well. It breaks my heart, every time, when it doesn’t.

I have small quibbles with the Luhrmann R&J, but I won’t enumerate them here. I simply want to point out that Luhrmann makes the most appalling directorial choice he possibly could. And he’s not the only one! This choice was in vogue during the 19th century in England (which is also when Bowdler took the naughty bits out of Shakespeare, so…yeah. Not very concerned with being faithful to the text.) Luhrmann, and the rest of the 19th century text-criminals, have Juliet wake up while Romeo is still dying.

I suppose some of you are now going, “why is that such a terrible thing? It allows for more acting!” Well, yeah, that’s why the hams of the London stage liked to do it in Romantic and Victorian times. Everything for more melodrama!

But it’s a sin against the text, and I’ll tell you why. That breathless stupid hope I talked about above, that the entire play’s structure induces? The hope that everything will turn out right? It builds up in you like a flood, and everything goes wrong again, and the entire weight of your hope is penned up in your heart, and they came so close! It was so close to being all right, but Romeo kills himself, and nothing will be all right.

And Juliet wakes up, still a citizen of the Country of Hope where this trick is so clever and Romeo’s going to save her, and she finds him there. And nothing makes sense to her. He was supposed to be here, but he was supposed to be alive. It’s a cruel inversion of her hopes, it’s her love made Death at last, it’s her whole world collapsing. We know how close it came to being all right, but she doesn’t know. She despairs. She sees he poisoned himself. And then she kisses him. And she says,

“Thy lips are warm.”

Now she knows as clearly as we do how nearly they were together, how close they came to a happy ending. Total understanding crashes over her, and crashes out of us. It’s the perfectly weighted moment of catharsis for the entire play. No lie: just typing her words above, I started crying with no warning. It’s the sharpened point of the play in Juliet’s heart, and ours. Those four words are the most devastating, understated thing. They are the cold, uncaring touch of Death.

And if she saw him die, they don’t work. They make no sense. She sounds like a fool saying them. And the whole weight of the play lands wrong, because some director thought he knew better than William Shakespeare how to wring the salt tears from human hearts.

[sucrosette]

★— ⋆｡˚ [Poison]

For Day 16 of Carry on Countdown 23, Smoke. @carryon-countdown

Filthy Anniversary Smut. As Simon Snow and Basilton Grimm-Pitch deserve.

Rated somewhere between M and E, for being overtly smutty. It's not the most descriptive on what's happening twixt their nethers though, so your mileage may vary.

Warnings for (consensual) smoking/cigarettes, burnplay and sexual shenanigans whilst under the influence.

⋆｡˚

It’s three in the morning. The clock ticks loudly. It’s the only sound beyond the clink of their shared wine glass whenever one of them places it back on the bedside table. Mostly Basil. This is Basil’s show and he’s shameless with it. Simon’s on fire all over again and this time it’s not even the unnatural outpouring of magick he’d been able to tap into, once upon a time.

Simon’s on his back a pillow at his spine between his wings to keep them from being squashed unnecessarily, beyond what Baz might like for him. His tail’s wrapped around Baz’s ankle, squeezing every time Baz makes another move against him. Basil, poised perfectly above him, slotted between Simon’s legs, still buried deep, not bothering to clean them up or separate between rounds.

Crowley, it’s been one hell of an anniversary. Whisked off to Paris, shown about the town, wined and dined, and now he’s pinned to their hotel bed, far nicer than the one Simon’s got in his shitty little apartment. Willingly, of course, all too willingly. He’s let Basil tie his wrists together and to the headboard, a long silk scarf the colour of his wings to make a pretty picture– just like Baz likes.

Basil’s still rocking inside of him, slow and lazy, dragging debauched moans from Simon, his Simon with every one. His throat’s gone by now, his voice raw with everything they’ve gotten up to since they’d stumbled their way back into the hotel, a little bit tipsy from after dinner drinks and lounge music, and Simon’s certain Basil’s got plans to ruin his voice even more.

It’s three in the morning, they’re in their hotel, which Simon’s pretty certain was a smoking free room, and Basil’s scrounged a cigarette from somewhere. Had he had that the whole time? Probably. Simon was too gone to tell. Baz starts dragging the tip of it over his chest, unlit, but undeniably a precursor to something more. Simon’s breath hitches when Baz shoots him a look, sends his eyelashes fluttering like some twitterpated teen girl instead of the very entwined couple they were.

Baz grips Simon’s chin and straightens his neck, taking another sip of wine, and cracks Simon’s mouth open, spitting it secondhand into his mouth. A little nearly spills, but Baz cleans it quick with his thumb, forcing that in Simon’s mouth too. Simon writhes and moans, but swallows diligently, humming when it’s all down his throat, a happy little smile playing on his lips.

“Oh, you head-empty little thing, you’re loving all of this, aren’t you?” Basil drawls above him and Simon only nods, his little smile growing. “Well, that’s good then. As you should, on our anniversary.”

Simon hums again as Baz pulls the cigarette to his lips, lighting it on his thumb and watching Simon’s eyes blow wide all over again. Tension pulls Simon’s muscles taut all over again underneath Basil. “You love that too, don’t you, Darling? Think it’s bloody hot?”

Simon nods again, even faster, earning a soft chuckle from Baz as he takes his first proper drag. “Filthy,” Baz murmurs as he settles a little deeper, hand poised with the cigarette over Simon’s abdomen. He drags his fingertips slowly up and down the center of him, the heat of the butt of it dangerously close to Simon’s skin. There’s a moment of pause between them, a fierce eye contact, an unspoken request, and Simon nods his consent all too easily.

The cigarette burns a neat circle just above his belly button and then it’s leaving his skin so Baz can take another long drag. Basil blows smoke over the burn, bending deep so he can kiss it soft, cooling it with cool lips, before pressing another perfect circle into the dip of Simon’s hips, on the left side, and then before he could even react, again on the right.

A low whine slips from Simon’s lips and Baz’s grin only cracks wider. He presses two more soft kisses to each mark before straightening again, sinking back in easy for his love, fingers tracing a small circle just below Simon’s ribs. Another unspoken question. Another quick nod from Simon, begging without words for the sadistic attention.

Baz takes another drag, blowing the smoke through his nose, and marking just where he’d marked for Simon’s approval, and then again in the middle of Simon’s chest, dead center of it. Two more kisses find their way over Simon’s aching skin between Basil’s lazy drags and lazy rocking, still taking his time while Simon’s already twisting under him, voiceless and wanting.

“One more, love, is that all you need?” Basil tone borders on teasing, his grin something wicked, made of the smoke he’s blowing. He knows better, but he’s teasing all the same.

It’s enough to make Simon throw him a glare, enough to nearly find his voice, but it cracks again on nothing. He shakes his head furiously, sending Baz a vicious pout when the vampire’s grip catches his jaw again, forcing his gaze one more time.

“Where?” is all Basil asks, and it’s entirely unfair. He can’t point where he’d like to with his hands bound like this, and his legs are useless with how they’re tangled together.

He’ll have to use his voice.

Just like Basil likes, an exasperated version of himself reminds Simon internally. Nothing he hasn’t agreed to, nothing he doesn’t like, but that urge to riot rising in Simon as his eagerness and impatience grows.

“Collar–” He manages to crack out, despite the state of him, despite the growing desperation and the glower settling on his face, but before his mood could sour properly, Basil catches his lips in a searing kiss, almost unnaturally hot.

“Fine,” Basil mutters through his smokey kiss, “Three more, then I’ll take care of us. If you’re still good to go that is?”

The hand not holding that cigarette massages at Simon’s wrists, a careful moment of tenderness, and Simon nods again as his jaw is freed. “M’good,” he mumbles out, barely audible, “M’so bloody good.”

“Alright, Darling,” Baz rumbles out, already dragging from that dangerous cigarette all over again, “That’s enough out of you for now, rest that pretty voice until I make you scream all over again.”

It’s all too easy a command to follow.

Tears start gathering in Simon’s eyes when the first burn hits him, just at the dip of his collarbone against his neck. He squints when the second hits, a mirror of the last, attempting to blink them away while Baz takes his last drag of his cigarette. The final burn presses into the hollow of his throat and Simon moans filthy even as his tears spill over properly onto his cheeks.

Basil leans up to ash the mostly dead cigarette in their mostly empty wine glass and then back down to kiss Simon’s tears away, trailing all the way down to lips to kiss him languid all over again. Their kiss tastes like poison, like smoke and ash and a hint of blood, probably Simon’s. Their kiss tastes like danger, like suffocation, like all the fire and fight they’d ever shared between them. Their kiss tastes like love, like tender velvet and soft rose petals, none of the thorns they both used to wield against each other.

Simon loves it, all of it, swallows down those kisses as greedily as Basil gives them, whining when Baz breaks their kiss to press their foreheads together.

“Ready?” Basil breathes sometime after three in the morning, barely above a whisper. Barely a nod answers him before Simon is reduced to breathlessness all over again.

[worlddevoid]

World Devoid: Episode 1.4 - This Is (Not) Your Morning

(Word Count: 1.2k)

...

As they clear the stretching road scattered with broken down vehicles and approach the campus dorms, Baz slows to a roll and parks directly in front-- ignoring the 'No Parking' sign pitched up at the entrance. He kills the engine and turns to Cassie, realization and horror finally setting in.

"Cassie. What the heck do you think happened here? And real talk- what the FRICK was that thing- because I promise you it was no spider!” He blurts out.

"I don't know, but I desperately need a shower, and so do you. Let's hope someone at the dorms can tell us what happened," Cassie responds, moving to get out of the RV, still in slight denial about the fact that they haven't seen a single other person. ‘There has to be someone, right? I mean, surely we're not the only ones around... Right???’ She reasons anxiously.

Baz hops out of the RV and falls in line with Cassie. "Yeah, someone at the dorms..." He mutters, but his sentence trails off as his eyes graze over the disheveled exterior.

The uneasy feeling that they’re being watched causes Cassie to glance around, but she sees no one nearby. Choosing to ignore the shiver trickling down her spine, she walks right up to the shattered glass remains of the entrance doors.

Carefully stepping over the shards, the crunching sounds under her toes make her cringe. Nevertheless, she pushes forward, casting aside all her worries even as she notices signs of struggle all around. It looks like some kind of fight happened and then everyone left in a hurry.

Inside, the shattered glass crushing beneath their feet litters the tile flooring and the furniture scattered about looks like it had been swept up in a tornado. Armchairs lay on their sides, loose flyers and supplies riddle the ground, potted plants have been tipped over-- dirt splashed in front of them like blood at a crime scene.

The fluorescent lights flicker as if acknowledging their presence.

Baz takes one step ahead of Cassie, centering themselves in the main entrance hall. He eyes the front desk- a telephone hanging haphazardly over the front by its cord- before calling out a hesitant, but loud, "Hello??!”

As Baz calls out into the empty room, their voice echoes ominously. They wait for a few moments but no response comes.

Tentatively, he takes another step forward, craning his neck to get a better view further down the hall.

Not a single sign of life nor movement comes. It seems that they are completely alone. “Helllooo??” He stupidly calls out again.

When Baz’s greetings are met only with his own echoing voice mocking him, he takes a step backwards in fear and trepidation.

"Ugh, where is everyone?" Cassie cries out from behind him, lightly kicking a tipped over chair in her frustration. She doesn't want to admit it, but she’s really starting to freak out. Feeling on the verge of tears, she thinks to herself, ‘What is going on??’

Baz glances back and watches a plume of dust billow out of the chair Cassie had aimed their anger towards.

Suddenly, in the distance, a very faint scuttling noise can be heard softly reverberating off the walls.

‘There must be more of those creatures here. I have to study them! But also…those guys give me the creeps.’ Baz contemplates; admitting to himself that, even for a bug lover, this is all a bit too much. He turns to face Cassie and speak his piece.

"Cassie, I think it would be wise of us to strategize at this current moment. That encounter on the road was way too close, and, though I am not easily surprised, I will admit that even I was taken off guard by those things. If I'm deducing this correctly, I think those creatures are fearful of large vehicles. I suggest that the best course of action would be to ram our RV through the entrance and drive it through the halls for protection."

‘I'm so frickin' smart.’ Baz thinks smugly, puffing out his chest a little.

Cassie was positioned to abuse the furniture once more, but stops- leg midair- to toss Baz an incredulous look.

"You want to drive the RV through the dorms? The whole building could collapse on top of us!" She immediately protests, but honestly, she doesn't really have a better idea right now.

"Perhaps" Baz replies thoughtfully. ‘They're right, but I could have sworn as soon as we got back into the RV, that spider thing was twitching and freaking out. There has to be some correlation…’ He reflects before concluding, "All I know is the vibes are freaking weird in here and I'd feel safer in the RV."

Baz looks around again at the empty and disheveled lobby. What once was a manicured and vapid entranceway, had become the stomping grounds of an event unknown to the two of them. The place not only looks empty...it looks like it had been attacked.

More scuttling sounds erupt down the hallway- this time closer than before. Baz jumps three feet in the air and grabs Cassie's arm in alarm.

"Dude- Cassie-- I think that thing that attacked us on the street had friends...." He points down the hallway towards the source of the noises. "I think there's more down there. D-Do you think-" he gulps hard. "Do you th-think those creatures are responsible for all of this?" He gestures around the room at the clear signs of mayhem.

"It sure seems that way. No time to discuss further, let's just get back in the RV for now," Cassie twirls around and heads back toward the front entrance, but before she can even take two steps, a horde of spiders pour in from around the corner, flooding down the hallway.

Hundreds of eyes blink in odd rhythms at them as they trample over each other in an attempt to make headway.

Cassie snags Baz's arm and takes off running. They drag him along behind them as they push themselves to sprint faster. Somehow, they both make it to the front entrance, jumping over the broken glass and heading straight for the RV.

"WHAAAAAAAAT THEEEEEEE FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCKKKK!" Baz is yelling as he is dragged by his arm; his feet kicking wildly behind him as he tries to find his balance between forced steps.

When their large vehicle pops into view, he finally snaps into action-- shaking free of Cassie’s hold and scrambling to get into the RV. He slams the driver's side door closed and sighs in relief, slumping into the seat.

‘They can't get us in here.’ he assures himself.

Struggling with her chunky heels, Cassie had fallen behind when Baz broke away. As he clambers inside easily, the tip of Cassie’s shoe catches on the sidewalk and she trips forward onto the concrete - scraping her palms on the way down. The spider-like creatures begin to close the distance as she struggles to push herself back onto her feet.

The sounds of thousands of tiny, tapping legs - skittering across the ground - grows more intense, and she scrambles up in a panic.

She expertly launches herself towards the passenger door, frantically groping for the handle as the hoard scuttles closer and closer.

...

(Original Photo Credit: Reddit r/LiminalSpace - u/AlexandarPANASONIC -- Edited by @same-soup-just-reheated)

(Banner by @charzardmain)