#wanna put a prompt list together so i can make more art content

[greengreasehog]

Hey, send some one word prompts over to my artblog~ @penthousedragon

[asweetprologue]

Nili’s Benchmark Geraskier Fic Rec List

hey yall! I officially hit 750 followers (a few days ago, I blew past the benchmark without even realizing!), which is... insane. I truly can’t believe that so many people over the last year have enjoyed my presence in this fandom enough to continue to follow my work. you guys are so great and I love you all so much, so I decided to put together a gift for you!

this is a list of my favorite geraskier fics from the fandom, which I have been putting together over the last year or so. a few of these are big in the fandom, but a lot of them are smaller pieces that I feel deserve more attention! I have provided ao3 and tumblr links where I could find them, as well as ratings and summaries. Most of these are canon!verse because I’m not personally a big fan of modern au’s, but there will be a few of those scattered throughout as well. I’ve divided the fics into two sections: oneshots and multichapter. See the list below the cut!

Being in this fandom truly has gotten me through the pandemic in a big way and I have made so many good friends while here. thank you all for validating my weird obsession with these characters and enabling me in these trying times <3

Oneshots

all that was good, all that was fair (all that was me is gone) | M | 7517 | WARNING: Graphic Depictions Of Violence | @xdandelionxbloomx

Somewhere, deep in a forest, a man drags himself from his grave by sheer power of will. He lies gasping on the forest floor and does not know who or what he is. The world is wide and wonderful, though, and there is so much to see.

Or, Jaskier is so stubborn that he literally comes back from the dead.

Another fascinating addition to the mythology of the Witcher. Jaskier’s slow rediscovery of himself is so well done here. One I’ve come back to again and again. 

As Fast As Love Can Go | T | 9628 | @bygodstillam

There are Faeries in the Wood.

That's what everyone said, at least, not that there was any solid proof. Jaskier had tried, more than once, to find some. Just a hint somewhere, of a real story, of real magic. But all anyone seemed to have was stories.

Jaskier was determined to find proof. He wasn't expecting to find a witcher in the process.

Fascinating fic with some really interesting worldbuilding, and a fresh new take on True Love’s Kiss. Also with some great art by @hehearse!

beautiful, he stirs up still things | T | 2575 | @alittlebitmaybe

“You’re not asking me to dance,” says Geralt.

Jaskier turns his palm up on his knee, offering it. “I think you’ll find I am.”

Just them dancing. This is a lovely sort of pre-relationship dynamic. So soft.

Dialogue Prompt | NR | 2932 | @reinvent-and-believe

Dialogue Prompt 48: “You make me want things I can’t have.” Wordless I-love-you 50: buying them a special treat when you go out shopping

Geralt gets Jaskier a gift, which prompts some confessions.

Even a small love | E | 22,272 | WARNING: Rape/Non-Con 

“Well,” Jaskier replies distractedly. “Lots of things want to strangle you.”

“You don’t.”

It isn’t a particularly troublesome accusation, or even necessarily an accusation at all.

This is one I read early on in the fandom, and it really stuck with me. The dynamic between Jaskier and Geralt is perfect, and the misunderstandings between them feel so realistic. The non-con is not extreme, but do mind the warnings. 

For the Space of a Heartbeat | T | 2021 | @drowningbydegrees

As it turns out, falling into bed with your very best friend who you are privately very much in love with isn't nearly so nerve wracking as waking up with them the morning after.

Just sweet, morning after discussions. I love to see them talking for once.

Greensleeves | T | 10,414 | @rebrandedbard

When Geralt crosses paths with Jaskier in the spring, the world is dressed in green. Quite literally. Everyone everywhere is wearing green, and it all comes down to a song Jaskier has written that, to his mortification, has become popular throughout the Continent. It's torment, being forced to preform the song over and over again and have his heart broken anew. But who is this Lady Greensleeves the people say Jaskier is so maddeningly, heartbrokenly in love with? At the baron's wedding party, Geralt is determined to find out.

This is one of my personal faves - there’s just something about Jaskier’s feelings being put on blast while Geralt remains totally oblivious that I think is so very them. And the resolution at the end is delightful.

I Don’t Wanna Fall (If It’s Not In Love) | E | 13,902 | @writinglizards

The first time it's out of desperation. Things get rapidly out of hand from there.

OR the building of a relationship through mutual wank sessions.

I love everything Ashley writes, but this one was the first fic I read by her and it still has a warm place in my heart. I also highly recommend It’s Been A While (makes me cry every time) and Tell Me Honestly

Like a Storm, Like a Flood | T | 1065 | @valdomarx

Jaskier is leaving for the winter, and Geralt can't bear the thought of not seeing him for months.

It was soooo hard to pick only one fic by George, but this one is so soft and sweet and yearning I just had to go with it. This is really just about Geralt finally hitting a breaking point and saying enough is enough.

one flesh | E | 10,763 | WARNING: MCD 

“Well, then. I’m a ghost.” Jaskier spread his arms grandly. Geralt held his gaze for a moment, then dropped his head and laughed. Jaskier put his hands on his hips. “Do fill me in on what’s so funny.” It wasn’t funny. It was just so - ridiculous, the things Geralt’s fucked up brain would invent. This had to be the last nail in the sanity coffin, it just had to be.

Or: Jaskier is a ghost, and Geralt is a mess.

Jaskier dies and comes back as a ghost to haunt Geralt into taking care of himself. Geralt does not handle this gracefully. This fic is so sad and heartbreaking, but the ending is so sweet.

to render it transparent | E | 23,901

Geralt wakes up warm, peaceful, and utterly content, which is how he knows that something is severely wrong.

Sigh. This fic. This is a time travel fic - Geralt ends up in the future living with Jaskier on the coast, just after the mountain. It’s slow and beautiful and extremely bittersweet, all about how we choose to love people despite how much it can hurt us.

With All the Continent A Stage | M | 4745 | @greyduckgreygoose

Later, Geralt learned that the play was four hours long. Four hours long. It didn’t feel like it. Most of it passed by in a fever dream of ominous music, dance-fighting and dryads in gossamer leaves, swinging from hoops attached to the ceiling. Yennefer made an appearance, played by Priscilla in a glittering negligee. She sang a song to Geralt about putting him “Under Her Spell”, and they had a sensual dance number which was made a little strange by a sickened Jaskier (played by Jaskier) coughing loudly in the background.

(Jaskier invites Geralt to a musical production inspired by his own life.)

Jaskier basically writes Geralt a love letter in the form of a four hour long play. Geralt is an idiot about it.

Multi-Chapter Fics

A Lover’s Lament | M | 25,364 | @somedrunkpirate

So,” Jaskier begins, as casually as he can, “you are telling me, that in theory, if I were to be in love with someone — anyone — that person could well be in terrible danger?”

Of all terrible and ridiculous things that have threatened Geralt’s safety, Jaskier’d never thought that loving him might be what will get him killed.

I honestly can’t count the number of times I’ve read this fic. The monster is so interesting, and the mythos of it fits seamlessly into the world of the Witcher in my mind. Jaskier being so afraid that his feelings are going to put Geralt at risk, clearly unable to see that Geralt is going through the exact same thing. I think about the scene with them looking at each other almost daily. 

A Pair of Gloves, the Scent of Roses | M | 24,134 | WARNING: Graphic Depictions of Violence

In the bustling days before the Midsummer festival, Geralt is sent into the countryside to deal with a monster - with Jaskier once again by his side. But the bard has not forgiven him, and while he's not hiding his contempt for the Witcher, he is recalcitrant about revealing his true motives for joining him. As the hunt turns into a desperate mission to save an innocent man and the monster is not what is seems to be, Geralt learns a few new things about his old friend and decides to finally attempt to mend the rift between them...

This is one of my favorite’s in the fandom - it feels so believable, the world is so rich and the oc’s are convincing and charming. Geralt and Jaskier feel so honest here, stumbling around each other but still drawn together. Beautiful beautiful beautiful

Bearing the will of the flower | NR | 11,449 

The way Jaskier sees it, his hobby of following a witcher around was always pretty likely to get him killed.

The fact that it's happening now because the witcher in question doesn't love him, he thinks as he coughs up crumpled flowers, hardly makes a difference.

My favorite hanahaki fic in the fandom. I’m such a sucker for these, and these two idiots being so incapable of talking about their feelings really makes them prime candidates. 

Food of Love | T | 22,488 | @wallatile-qvibbler

I brought a dead princess back to life through the power of song is the kind of thing that would have got an eyebrow raise even from the stone-faced Geralt of Rivia, so it's a good thing he and Geralt will probably never see each other again.

(or: the one where Jaskier channels magic through his songs, and it almost never goes as expected.)

This is a Jaskier and Renfri centric fic, which wasn’t something I knew I wanted until I read this. Jaskier is a bard which in this AU comes with magical powers, but it feels so well integrated into the universe that I wish it was just... how the Witcher is. Renfri is so good here, and even though Jaskier and Geralt barely even interact you can feel the tension and love between them. Cannot recommend highly enough.

friends and allies of the witcher | T | 10,312 | @theamazingbard

Yennefer crawls over to her newest cellmate. They’re curled up on their side. Breathing, but only just. She’s not sure what she’s hoping for when she turns them over. Still isn’t when she sees that it is indeed Jaskier.

“Shit."

Yennefer and Jaskier each suffer in more ways than one at the hands of Nilfgaard.

Yennefer and Jaskier get capture by Nilfgaard and tossed into a cell together. Exactly what I want out of season 2 honestly. Their interactions are gold.

I’d Be the Choiceless Hope | E | 45,188 | WARNING: Rape/Non-Con | @lesdemonium

As a baby, Jaskier was visited by a fae, who gifted Jaskier's mother with Jaskier's obedience. As Jaskier grew older, the "gift" became more of a curse.

You know I’m not gonna make a rec list without listing Zoe’s Ella Enchanted au. Need I say more?

Silver and Copper | M | 56,139 | WARNING: Graphic Depictions of Violence | @kaer-cuan

Geralt is just supposed to pass through the quiet Lettenhove area. He's not anticipating being begged by its people to help save their viscount from a curse that keeps him from daylight. Lord Jaskier, they call him, and he's likely dying.

As Geralt struggles to untangle the ugly web of history that has lead to the increasingly complicated curse, he finds himself spending more and more time with the strange young viscount and wondering just what he might have been before the curse, and who he might be after. But things are not always as they seem, and as the curse tightens its grip on Jaskier, Geralt is forced to face the fear of failing yet another person whose choices were stolen from them.

Or-

Jaskier is kept from becoming a bard. Geralt finds him anyway.

This is a fic that haunts me. It’s very scary in parts, and mind the tags - there are some very heavy themes here. But it’s beautiful and touching, and Jaskier feels very true to himself even though his origin is so different.

we could be married (and then we'd be happy) | E | 50,222 | @a-kind-of-merry-war

Jaskier reached into his pocket, fingers grasping around the little box. He pulled it out with what he hoped was a romantic flourish, flipping it open to reveal the simple gold band inside. “Geralt,” he said, confidently, cooly, like this wasn’t terrifying, “Will you marry me?”

Geralt and Jaskier fake marriage proposals to get free deserts and shit but it goes tits up when Vesemir catches them in the act. Not knowing how to fess up, they go along with it for a while, which is hell because they’re both pining like mad. As I said, I don’t love modern au’s, but it’s merry so of course this one had to end up on my list.

~

And that’s it! 20 fics for you, and hopefully you can all find one or two you haven’t read before. There are a lot of people and fics that I didn’t include in this list only because I was trying to not put a million down (which I could). I highly recommend anything by @wherethewordsare, @julek, @contemplativepancakes, @witcher-and-his-bard, and @inber, as well as those linked to fics above, and I’m sure there are others I forgot to mention. Yall have truly made being in this fandom worthwhile <3

[thiswasinevitableid]

For the meet-ugly prompts: #13, Indruck, SFW ? 👁️👁️

Here you go!

13: we make contact before trying to steal the last seat on the subway/bus/train and I end up in your lap and fuck you, I’m going to stay here because I’ve had a really long day and this seat was mine

The Phoenix Starport is a labyrinth, while technically made of chrome and touch-screens, is really made of lines.

Duck stands in line to show his ticket, to deposit his bags, to go through three separate security check-points and, when he gets to the section for the shuttle to take him to the Starliner, a fourth one because when your clients are high paying, you don’t want them getting blown to pieces.

He isn’t high-paying, he isn’t a seasoned space traveler, and he isn’t going to spend one second more on his feet than he has to. It’s been two solid hours of that just to get to this point. Unfortunately, every other passenger shares this sentiment. When the shuttle door opens a mass of lifeforms pile in, hunting for seats. Duck spots one, turns to sit, and finds it’s much fuzzier than it looked.

“Excuse me.” The creature whose laps he’s in reminds him of the pictures of Mothman scattered around his home state, “but this seat is taken.”

“Yeah, by me, because I saw it first.”

A click from inside the mothmans chest, “You are wrong. I saw it first, and did not foresee anyone being rude enough to use me in its place.”

Every other seat is filled, and it’s a fifteen minute ride to the Starliner. Duck crosses his arms, “you don’t wanna be a seat, you better get up.”

That earns him an annoyed chirr, “Not a chance.”

The shuttle ride is smooth, but his seat keeps prodding him with a clawed finger whenever he puts his weight on it. When they arrive, the two of them stand one after the other. The mothman shakes out his feathers, tosses a glare over his shoulder, and steps through the doors.

Unsurprisingly, the Sylvain Dream makes opulence seem subdued. There are rare flowers studding the fountain by the concierge desk, art from across the universe on the walls, and a sound dampening, shimmering carpet lining the hall to his room. He’s looking forward to some alone time; while all the suites at this level are technically two person, they’re so expensive that most travelers get their own rooms.

He keys open the door and comes face to chest with the same fucking alien from the shuttle.

“Ah. So we are in this timeline. Lovely.” The mothman says dryly, passing him to greet the bellhop who just finished scurrying up the stairs, “I see you have a message from minister Woodbridge. Kindly have someone reply and tell him that if it’s an emergency, they may contact me directly, but if the matter is anything else, they are to leave me in peace during my journey.”

“Yes, Seer Cold.”

“Thank you.” the seer drops a coin into his hand and brushes past Duck without another word.

Duck finally makes it past the entryway and gasps; when the people paying for his journey asked if he’d prefer forest, city, beach, or desert, he assumed it was some sort of vague theme. Instead, the carpet is lush, soft grass, there are flowers everywhere, and the furniture is all made to be woodsy and rustic. The bath and shower are like a mini water-fall and pool, his bed housed in a mock cabin.

“This is amazing.”

“If you are here purely for a leisure trip.” His suite-mate crosses both sets of arms, “some of us are being transported back to work.”

“Now look, this is a work trip for me too. You gotta admit this is pretty swank.”

“And an attempt to soften the blow.” Mothman mutters.

Duck rolls his eyes, decides this is not his problem to deal with, and goes to unpack for the month-long journey ahead.

-----------------------------------------------------

For the first two days he and Indrid--which is what the aloof, perpetually touchy Sylph likes to be called--do their best to ignore each other. They’re stuck on the same dining schedule, which means Duck accidentally insults the alien by giggling when he sees him lick his dessert up with an absurdly long tongue. He makes it up to the next night by saving the pineapple soda delivered in their lunch basket for the Sylph.

On day three, he’s reading by the holo-fire pit when a white badge with blue writing dangles before him.

“Would you like to accompany me to the spa?”

“Uh….”

“Since I foresee you asking no, we do not have to spend the entire time together.”

“I, uh, I was gonna say sure, but was wonderin’ why you offered it to me.”

“Oh.” His antenna flick in a new way, “I, ah, they gave me two. I have no one else to go with and it seemed silly to let it go to waste.”

“I gotta wear anything special?”

“Since humans require clothes in all but a few scenarios, I suggest wearing your robe.”

The spa is just as elaborate as the rest of the ship, with cushy chairs and complimentary booze. The secretary hands them each a menu of treatments bigger than any Duck’s held at a restaurant.

“Sugar scrub….talon wax….rock massage. Do they mean hot rocks?”

“No, that treatment helps those with scales shed.”

“Huh.” Duck pokes his tongue in his cheek, “wish they said which of these were safe for, uh, squishy human bodies.”

Indrid reaches out a claw, tapping several on the list, “This ful massage would be good; you’re muscular, it will be nice to have those muscles tended to.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. Have been workin out more, nice to have someone else notice.”

The Sylph smiles, “you may also like the hair luxury add-on; I’ve always thought humans with salt and pepper hair should show it off.”

Before Duck can ask how Indrid developed that opinion or learned that slang, they’re ushered off into separate rooms. He’s scrubbed and rubbed until his body surrenders the last of it’s stress, the oils they rub on his skin and into his hair smelling pleasantly of pine and cedar. His session ends with one of the staff leading him to a small room covered in deep green marble, where he can rinse and dry off in his own time.

Indrid is in the same room, reclining in a chair with a sun lamp on his wings. They’ve been groomed, the feather straighter and smoother than this morning. Duck takes his first real look at them, notices how the black is iridescent and that there are two bands of deep grey on the inside close to Indrid’s torso.

He’s really quite stunning.

“I feel” Indrid murmurs, “as if we got off to a bad start.”

“You think?” Duck aims for a genial tone.

Indrid cocks his head, “Yes. That is why I said it. I, ah, I ought to apologize for my temperament over the last few days. I am so very fond of earth, of humans, and I’d hoped to be able to work there indefinitely. But Sylvain is in crisis, and so they need me near. Never mind that we have the capability to transmit messages quickly between planets.”

“What’s the crisis?”

“Our plants are dying or failing to produce the resources we need. The belief is that-”

“-it’s a leftover contamination or mutation from the earth plants that crossed through the gate before it was destroyed.”

Indrid blinks, then grins, “it is novel to be the one having their sentences finished. Yes, Duck Newton; the gate has been gone for over two hundred years, but both our worlds will feel it’s effects for many more years.” His antenna perk up, “you’re the one they’re bringing on to consult.”

“Yep. That’s why they gave me such a sweet deal on the trip; they know it’s gonna be fuckin exhaustin work. Even with all the other perks they’re offerin, I know a lot of folks didn’t wanna apply.”

“Why did you feel differently?”

He pushes to the other side of the little pool so they can be closer, “I spent my whole life in the town I grew up in. I love what I do, I love helpin forests stay healthy and regrow and I...I dunno, how often do you get the chance to go to space and see forests on another planet?”

“Once, if you are me.” Indrid closes his wings, clicks off the light, and offers Duck a hand, “and I am glad you will have the chance to do the same.”

-----------------------------------------------

“You know” Indrid passes Duck the plate of toast, “I am named for Sylph who was the second most recent seer after myself. He and I are the same kind of Sylph, and when my parents learned their mothling-to-be was the next seer, they decided I would be Indrid Cold.”

“Not gonna lie, people actin like your fate is set in stone from birth gives me the creeps.”

“Understandable. I would not admit this to the other ministers, but I am no longer content with reporting on the futures. I try to change fate when I can. In this way, I am also like the first Indrid Cold. He kept trying to intervene in disasters; that’s how he got seen when he should not have been.”

“Holy fuck, there really was a mothman!”

“Indeed. I also learned from his personal notes that he was so fond of humans, he ended up marrying one.”

“Damn” Duck passes him the sweetener for his tea, teases, “you share that habit too?”

Red eyes linger a moment too long on his body before Indrid grins, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

----------------------------------------------

“You sure you don’t wanna swim?” Duck treads water in the green lagoon of some distant moon. The cruise is docked for an activity day, Duck having selected to spend it snorkeling and Indrid deciding to spend it with Duck.

“The wings are not built for it. Though the water does look pleasant.” Indrid lazily sifts black sand through his claws.

“You could wade in. It stays pretty shallow there” he points to a sand bar.

“If I get in over my head, will you come to my aid?”

“You know it.”

Indrid wades in, chirping as the waves hit his knees. When Duck next glances at him, Indrid is glancing right back. He’s smiling, soft and secretive.

“I am glad you picked this spot. The view is spectacular.”

-----------------------------------------------

They’ve hit turbulence a handful of times, all of which pale in comparison to the jolt that sends him tumbling out of bed. There are stabilizer controls to lighten the gravity in the room so they won’t feel the bumps as badly. But when he wobbles over, he finds it’s already up to the lowest it can be without him floating.

He stumbles to the window, the curtains shut against the vast universe. Is turbulence this severe normal? If the gravity doohickey isn’t able to help, maybe that means they’ve never hit a storm this bad.

Opening the window is a terrible idea; there’s no cause of the turbulence to be seen, and now he’s in a dark room staring into the depths of space, it’s so big, he’s so small, they all are, the forces of nature still have it in them to crack this ship like an egg, killing them all.

“Would it help if I said there are no futures where this storm poses a threat to us?” Indrid whispers from behind him.

“Kinda.”

“Would it help to see something breathtaking?”

“Wh-”

Indrid taps the glass, drawing Ducks attention to two massive, starry shapes, “Celestial whales. At least that’s the human name for them.”

“Holy fuck.” They remind Duck of Whale Sharks, but impossibly bigger, skin coated in thousands of star-spots, “how can they do that? I mean, obviously they ain’t mammals, but fuckin nothin thrives in deep space.”

“No one is certain.” Indrid sighs, happily, “isn’t it wonderful to know there are such things in the universe?”

“Yeah. AHfuck” He hits the wall as the whole ship shudders, “fuck, sorry-”

“It’s alright. It can be alarming when you’re on your first trip through the cosmos. I, ah, I have something that may help, if you’re alright with me touching you some.”

“Fine by me.” Duck follows Indrid to the Sylph’s bed. The seer sits cross-legged with his back against the wall and instructs Duck to rest his head in his lap. The points of his claws begin rubbing his neck and the base of his skull, Indrid humming at a low, steady pitch until Duck’s eyes start to close.

The pressure points are helping, he can tell by his loosening spine. But what soothes him to sleep is the repetitive reminder of Indrid there with him in the dark.

When he wakes up the storm is gone. His body is still moving, rising and falling in time with Indrid’s breath as he sleeps. He pulled Duck atop him in the night, and at some point must have wrapped him in his wings, since once, is still half-flopped on Duck’s back.

Seized with affection, Duck kisses his shoulder. When this earns him a happy chirp, he does it again, then kisses a cheerful path up to Indrid’s cheek. Red eyes open, sleepy and full of tenderness, just in time for the Sylph to turn his head and kiss Duck properly.

“What a lovely thing to awaken to.”

“No kiddin” Duck kisses him again, “fuck, Indrid, this is the weirdest goddamn thing to ever happen to me and I’m thinkin it might also be the best.”

Indrid hugs him close, “We shall have ample time to find out, if you wish to do so.”

“Hell yeah. But we only got a few days before we hit Sylvain.”

“Yes” Indrid kisses his nose, “but I happen to foresee Woodbridge ignoring my request for peace and sending me a message saying I will be working closely with a certain, visiting forestry expert.”

[pressedinthepages]

Adrenaline

YOU GUYS. I just hit 400 followers here on the tumble machine. I cannot thank you guys enough for your love and support and allowing me to explore this side of my creativity with you <3 To celebrate, I asked some of my friends in @continentcakeshop to give me pairings to go with a short list of prompts. So over the next little while, I will be posting 6 fics to fill those prompts!

For Prompt #4, we have “Keep quiet or someone'll hear“ for @major-trouble <33

Relationship: Lambert/Jaskier

Rating: Explicit

Content Warnings: smut, public sex, voyeurism, oral

Summary: Lambert does his best to escape a party, and finds himself on a balcony with the bard who brought him there in the first place.

Lambert narrowed his eyes at the twinkling stars above, attempting to will away the sounds of the party just around the corner of shrubbery with sheer mental force. He’d escaped the overwhelming sights and sounds quick enough, traversing through twisting hallways and up spiraling staircases, only to wind up at a balcony barely a floor above and no more than fifty paces away from the seemingly never-ending celebration.

He wasn’t even sure why he was there in the first place. Sure, he’d slain the basilisk that had been prowling the countryside for a fortnight, but he didn’t belong at an event like this. He should’ve just taken his coin and left, just like any other contract.

But no.

Of course, Geralt’s fucking bard found him in the tavern, and of course he was the one to inform Lambert of the contract on the damned overgrown lizard in the first place. Now, Lambert knew what a softie Geralt was with his bard. He’d let him tag along on contracts with merely the bat of some pretty eyelashes and a peek of fuzzy chest hair. But that was where Lambert drew the line. He’d told those stunning blue eyes that he didn’t need to be worrying about his tight little ass while also trying to avoid spitfire. He promised a good story in return for the bard’s songs, but that was all.

And then, when he’d come back, Jaskier had already roped the whole damned court into throwing a ball in celebration of his ‘victory over the beast’ and insisted that he join them, ‘just for a bit.’

And damn, did Lambert understand Geralt when he looked into those pleading eyes.

One thing led to another and there he was, alone beneath a clear starry sky with his ears ringing from the countless voices not nearly far enough away and his mind rattled trying to figure out a mental map of the castle to find a better hiding spot.

Before he could get terribly far though, a somewhat familiar set of footsteps pattered up the stairs in his direction, soft and frantic, well used to a Witcher’s ears listening for them. Lambert needn't turn to find Jaskier behind him, he could practically feel the rainwater blue eyes boring into the back of his neck.

“What, bard?”

“Chose a hell of a hiding spot,” Jaskier spoke quietly, his voice like honey atop warm bread, seeping into the cracks and crevices of Lambert’s mind. “What’s on your mind?”

“Not that it matters,” Lambert groused, clenching his jaw, “but it’s fuckin’ loud. ‘S too many people, too close together. Didn’t wanna come anyways.”

“Then why did you?”

Lambert looked over his shoulder, his heart stuttering a beat at the sight of Jaskier bathed in the light of the moon, adrenaline flushed and unkempt from an evening of performing. He’d lost his doublet before the sun had even set, and his chemise was untied and barely still tucked into his trousers. He looked like every wet dream that had been plaguing Lambert since he discovered just what a cock felt like in his ass, and he had this soft look in his eyes that drew Lambert to pause.

He cleared his throat. “Because you asked.”

“Oh,” Jaskier breathed with a smirk, glancing down and back up where Lambert leaned against the balcony railing. “In that case, might I suggest a...change of events for the evening?”

Lambert narrowed his eyes and swallowed thickly, his eyes drawn to the warm thrum of Jaskier’s pulse in his neck as he sauntered to the edge of the balcony. “Just what did you have in mind?”

Jaskier slowly reached out and, finding no ill-will or hesitation in Lambert’s eyes, dragged his finger up the edge of Lambert’s arm over his soft undershirt. “I’m sure we can think of something…”

Lambert smirked and glanced off towards the party before nodding. “Yeah, alright. I can see where you’re going with this one. Know where any beds are in this maze of a castle?”

“Oh, no no no. You’re far too pretty under the stars for me to let this go to waste here,” Jaskier set his hands on the balcony around Lambert’s waist, pinning him with a wolfish glint in his eyes. “I think I’ll have you just like this.”

“You’re on, Pretty Boy,” Lambert chuckled and leaned in, capturing Jaskier’s lips in a kiss that burned with fire behind his teeth and the soft echoes of whispers on his tongue. Jaskier tasted of rich pastry and the spice of mulled cider and Lambert lifted his arms to cup his hands around the back of his neck. He could feel that fluttering pulse beneath his fingers and he couldn’t quite help the moan that tore itself from the back of his throat.

But faster than his mind could register, Jaskier parted their lips and shoved a hand between them, covering Lambert’s mouth with his fingers. “Keep quiet or someone will hear,” he hissed, his cheeks flushed around the smirk on his lips.

Lambert narrowed his eyes once more, putting as much venom and disdain into his eyes as he could. Jaskier’s hand over his mouth was...well. His fingers were long and dextrous, and his skin was warm and soft, his fingertips haunted by callouses born from his art. He smelled of lanolin and chamomile and cherry blossoms and Lambert felt the hint of the threat of his knees buckling beneath him.

He nipped carefully at the soft flesh of Jaskier’s palm, all too aware of his just-too-sharp teeth. Jaskier gasped and shook his hand away, shooting a fiery glance at him before the Witcher tugged him back by the waist. “Then make me, bard.”

A devilish look shadowed itself in Jaskier’s eyes and he spun them around, leaning back on the bannister with Lambert overlooking the sprawling gardens and the lights of the party just around the bend. “Go on, get down,” Jaskier whispered into Lambert’s lips, “let’s put that mouth of yours to good use.”

Lambert smirked and dropped to his knees after a cursory glance behind him. He dragged his hands over the supple silk of Jaskier’s trousers and carefully squeezed the muscular thighs that were so wonderfully encased within. “You’re sure about this, Jaskier?”

The bard smiled down at him, that same soft look bleeding through the sass and smirk of the performative practice. “Truly, yes. And you?”

Lambert nodded and started undoing the buttons to Jaskier’s trousers, flitting them apart one by one until his cock hung half-hard into the night air. Well, fuck, Lambert thought to himself as he took in the dark curls that sat nestled around the base of Jaskier’s ruddy flushed cock, he’s even pretty here.

One of Jaskier’s hands balled itself into a fist and rose to his lips, stifling a gasping moan as his other hand tangled into Lambert’s hair as the Witcher wrapped his lips around Jaskier’s cock and began lightly sucking at the sensitive skin. Lambert felt him swell and pulse on his tongue and he hollowed his cheeks, slowly taking more and more of Jaskier’s cock into his mouth. He tasted the salty musk of his arousal dripping onto his tongue and Lambert felt his own cock take interest and start to harden in his trousers.

“Gods above, Lambert,” Jaskier whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear where he knelt between his thighs. Lambert closed his eyes and allowed himself to immerse himself in Jaskier. The feeling of his blood pounding beneath his hands, the velvety hardness resting in his mouth. The scent of his arousal and sweat from a night of performing, mingling with the subtle peaceful aroma that surrounded the bard. The sound of his heart fluttering, his breath hitching in his throat. The fucking taste of his slick on his tongue, the sight of his flushed cheeks and freckled chest beneath the stars.

It was enough to distract him, even to make him feel as though he were hours away, alone in a campsite with Jaskier backed up against a tree. But there was still adrenaline coursing through his veins as the party roared beneath them, and Lambert couldn’t help but imagine the flashes of what may happen if they were found in such a compromising position.

His arousal flexed and hardened as he finally took Jaskier to the base, his nose nestled in the coarse hairs and the head of his cock tickling the back of his throat. He breathed in through his nose, willing himself not to gag on the poor bard, though he’d probably enjoy that, his ego’s large enough for the both of us.

Lambert slurped and licked back up slowly, circling the tip of Jaskier’s length with a cheeky glance up, feeling Jaskier’s thighs trembling under his fingers. He bobbed his head back and forth, never looking away from those bright blue eyes that kept so many, now including Lambert, entranced. He flexed his tongue around the underside of his cock as he rose back to the tip, toying with the sensitive patch of skin and listening to the frankly delicious groans that were only just audible over the din of the party.

He chuckled and pulled back enough to catch his breath for a moment, “I thought we were supposed to be quiet, bard.”

Jaskier dropped his head back with a hearty laugh, born from deep in the chest and with enough joy to even bring a soft smile to Lambert’s cheeks. “You have me on that, Lambert. Alright, alright. Yes, fine, I take it back. Please, just-”

“Ah, my favorite word,” Lambert shook his shoulders out and shuffled his knees into a more comfortable spot, “please...”

Lambert wasted no time in swallowing him back down, setting a brutal pace that had Jaskier’s knees fully buckling into him, letting his arms hold him up around the backs of his legs. Jaskier gasped and moaned and cursed, throwing his head back unabashedly and clenching his thighs around Lambert’s head.

Lambert could feel the bard’s rapidly approaching climax with every stuttered shift of his hips and drip of slick onto his tongue. He hummed around Jaskier’s cock and felt him flex deep in his throat, pulling a cough out of his chest as he readjusted. Close, so godsdamned close.

“L-Lambert, please...please just-fuck,” Jaskier spat through gritted teeth, his blunt nails scratching along Lambert’s scalp, “‘m gonna-where should I-”

Lambert hummed and kept himself steady, taking Jaskier as deep as he could and swallowing around him, encouraging the orgasm that was so quickly looming. Jaskier gasped and gave several aborted thrusts of his hips up into Lambert’s mouth, barely enough to push him any deeper before he finally spilled into him.

Jaskier was hot and musky, deliciously thick as Lambert’s throat worked to swallow every last drop of his spend. His fingers dug into Jaskier’s thighs, his lips relaxing and slowing to ease Jaskier through the encompassing bliss of his orgasm. Lambert finally felt Jaskier’s fingers soften their grip in his hair and he pulled himself back, swallowing the last remnants of his climax with a cheeky wipe from the back of his hand.

“Right then,” Lambert stood and bracketed his arms on either side of Jaskier’s waist, grinding his still-hard cock into the crook of the bard’s hip, “my turn.”

[marvelfans4blm]

Marvel Fans 4 BLM - Rules and FAQ!

What is Marvel Fans 4 BLM?

Marvel Fans 4 BLM is a charity auction where fans offer works in exchange for donations. Our focus is to raise money for various Black Lives Matter organizations as well as focus on creating content for Black Marvel characters. 

Who is allowed to participate?

All fans from any and all Marvel fandoms are welcome! We ask that if you are under 18, you do not offer or request explicit rated content.

How does it work?

Creators sign up to offer their works. Bidders then pledge donation amounts in auction-style. The winning bidder donates their pledged amount to a charity; once that donation is confirmed, the creator starts, uh, creating!

What is the schedule?

Monday 15 June - Sunday 28 June: Creator Sign Ups

Monday 29 June - Sunday 5 July: Browsing Week

Monday 6 July - Sunday 12 July: Auction Week

Sunday 19 July: Proof of Donations Due

Sunday 15 November: Check-In

Sunday 31 January 2021: Fanworks Due

More FAQ, Rules, and Resources under the cut! 

What items are acceptable for creators to offer?

All creations should be centered around one or more canon Black characters in any Marvel fandom (movies, comics, TV - any Marvel adaptations!). Other characters are welcome to join the fun, as long as they are not the main focus. Shipping and Gen content alike are welcome! Creations accepted are:

- Fanfic

- Digital art (original art, moodboards, manips, edits, etc.)

- Physical art (artworks, crafts, merch, etc.)

- Podfic

- Fan vids

- Translations

- Fan labor (beta work, sensitivity reading, culture-picking, fact checking, SPAG editing, etc.)

If you’d like to offer something not listed, feel free to ask.

I wanna be a creator! Tell me more!

More details will be shared at each stage, but here’s an outline to get you started! 

Creator sign-ups run from Monday 15 June to Sunday 28 June. You’ll sign up via a Google form and there you can specify what type of fanwork(s) you are offering with some relevant details like characters, pairings, and content you are willing to create in addition to other notes for bidders to see!

As well as fundraising for important causes, this event is intended to create new content for our favorite Black Marvel characters. With that in mind, we will not accept any previously published or created works. The exception to this is physical goods and crafts. 

After the auction closes, we will put you in touch with the highest bidder and from there you two work together to create something great! Once you have your bidder’s prompt, you’ll have until 31 January 2021 to complete your work for them. We’ll have a check-in on 15 November but it’s up to you to follow through by the 2021 deadline. Unfortunately, failure to complete by the deadline will mean you will be unable to participate in future events - until you meet your obligation to your bidder.

You can offer up to three works for auction, but please be honest and respect your limits. We want both creators and bidders to end with a complete work and enjoy the process! For physical goods, it is up to you and your bidder to decide how to handle shipping - keep this in mind when setting your starting bidding price. 

After posting, you can tag us in and any works that follow our rules will be included in our AO3 collection and featured on our Tumblr! 

I wanna be a bidder! Tell me more!

From 29 June through 5 July, you will be able to view all items up for bid, as well as check out each creator’s other works to get a feel for what they can do. You may also reach out to contact individual creators if you have questions. We recommend that if you have a specific idea in mind, or a rarepair, or something the creator has never done before, that you reach out and confirm they will be able to fulfil your request before you bid on them.

From 6 July through 12 July, bidding will be open. All bids will be placed in US dollars, with a $5 minimum starting bid and a $2 minimum incremental bid. Bidding will not be anonymous. Group bids are welcome. 

You may bid on as many items as you like, but please keep in mind that you cannot retract a bid, so make sure you can commit to donating the amount(s) that you bid. You may donate to any of our approved organizations listed below, or ask the mods for approval to donate to another cause that is working towards BLM goals.

For physical fanworks, whether or not your final bid includes shipping will be up to the creator. Once we receive confirmation of the donation, we’re no longer responsible for communication between creators and bidders. Be aware that for physical fanworks, creators will need your address to send you the item. If you aren’t comfortable giving out personal information, we suggest you bid on other auctions instead.

Once the auction is over, we will confirm the final amount for your winning bid(s); do not donate until you receive this confirmation. As soon as we have proof of your donation (pdf receipt that shows date, organization, and amount, all other info can be redacted) we will put you in touch with your creator. At this point, it is up to the two of you to work out how you’d like to proceed to ensure that the bid is fulfilled by 31 January 2021.

If you don’t hear from your creator after we connect you, please reach out to them yourself! If it has been a couple of months and you haven’t heard from them at all despite your efforts to get in touch, let us know and we’ll try to contact your creator on your behalf or help you assess the situation. Unfortunately, there’s always an inherent risk that a creator may fall through for various reasons. If this happens, we hope that knowing that you donated money to support an amazing cause will lessen the disappointment of not receiving a promised fanwork.

Remember that this event is designed to create content for Black Marvel characters, so please be sure to keep your requested works aligned with our Content & Conduct guidelines.

What charities will be supported?

We want participants to feel connected to where their efforts are going. There are multiple organizations linked in our Resources section below, along with master list sites that are updated regularly as new donation opportunities arise.

Creators will be allowed to specify up to three sites that they’d like their winning bidder to support with their donation. Any of the sites or organizations linked in our Resources section are acceptable. Creators can also decline to list a preference, and their winning bidder will be permitted to donate to any of the sites or organizations linked in our Resources section.

We are also open to suggestions! Other donation opportunities requested by the creator and vetted by the mods will be welcome.

Can I sign up to provide more than one offering? Can I sign up as a creator and a bidder? Can I bid on more than one offering? 

The answer to all of these is an enthusiastic yes! Creators can make up to three offerings. Just be sure not to spread yourself too thin; we want everyone to have a successful participation. Do not agree to participate, either as a creator or a bidder, unless you are absolutely committed to following through.

Content & Conduct

This event is designed to spotlight Black characters in a positive way. This doesn’t mean we require fluff, smiles, and happy endings, but it does mean that for this event, we require that you think critically about what you are presenting and how that representation fits within the larger context of the way fandom treats characters of color.

All creations must be centered around one or more canon Black characters, meaning they must be the main focus of the story, artwork, etc. They should not be sidelined in favor of other characters, and if there is any shipping (which is not required, Gen creations are more than welcome) they should be in the main pairing.

This event is designed specifically to support BLM and therefore we expect all participants and creations to align with the values of the movement. To that end, we ask that you do not create or request fanworks that celebrate law enforcement or the military. This is not the appropriate event for a cop AU or similar. For characters canonically affiliated with law enforcement or the military, be critical of how those institutions are portrayed, as well as how BIPOC are treated by and within those institutions.

Some additional points to keep in mind:

- Some Marvel characters have canonical physical, mental, and emotional disabilities - including invisible ones like chronic pain and mental illness. These should be treated respectfully, with due diligence given to portraying their lived experience.

- No perpetrating anti-Black stereotypes or tropes.

- No sympathetically portrayed Hydra or other Nazi analogues.

- No explicit or romantically portrayed non-con.

- No sexual/romantic relationships between adult and minor characters.

- No sexual/romantic relationships between family members.

- All content shared publicly should be tagged appropriately and thoroughly. 

Any offerings or creations that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be promoted on any of our social media platforms, and may affect your ability to participate in future events.

Resources

Creating: 

Writing With Color blogs, recs, & resources

Sam Wilson Birthday Bang resource page

Guide for non-Black authors writing Black characters

Common Microaggressions

Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception

Donations: 

Black Lives Matters carrd

Say Their Names carrd

BLM card master list

Homeless Black Trans women fund

Who are the mods?

@a-majesti, @awesomesnafu, @gavilansblog, @samstevebuckyhq, and @thundercakes22​ are your friendly mods. We bonded together over our love for Sam Wilson, and are amongst the mods & organizers for a variety of Sam Wilson-centric spaces, including the Sam Wilson Birthday Bang, SamSteve Small Gifts, SamSteveLove on Twitter, and the Sam Wilson Appreciation discord.

I have another question!

No problem, we’d love to hear from you! Email us (marvelfans4blm at gmail) or send us an ask here on Tumblr.

**Mod note: Thank you so much to @fandomtrumpshate and @marveltrumpshate for generously sharing their resources!

[nightowlfandom]

Jung Hoseok- My Favorite Girl

REQUEST FROM PROMPT LIST- RIGHT HERE! (Psstt I write for anime too)

HELLO HORNY ASSHOLES, I AM BACK WITH SOME NEW MATERIALS.

82- You’re so good at taking orders, I wonder what else you’re good at...

This one should be fun!

Leggo!

...

“Ah Thank’s baby.” Hoseok winked at you as you handed him a bottle of banana milk. “You’re so good to me.” he but his lip, winking again. “I see you’re wearing the necklace i got you, damn I have great taste. Maybe I should get you matching earrings.”

“Hoseok.” You blushed. 

No, you weren’t really spoiled, but he sure loved to act like it, buying you gifts you every chance he got, calling you cute pet names, making comments, about how cute you looked. To Hoseok, it was just a matter of time before he started buying you cars for weird reasons.

“I’m only telling the truth.” he chuckled. “My favorite girl taking care of her oppa, damn am I lucky.” 

“Sure Hobi.” you felt your face heat up. Hoseok pat his lap, motioning you to sit on his lap. Shyly you did as he said, perching on his lap. Hoseok wrapped his free arms around your waist.

“So, does my babygirl feel like going out tonight, or does she wanna stay in and have me all to herself?” Hoseok set the bottle on the table to wrap his other arm around your waist. “You’re choice.”

“I don’t feel like going anywhere. I’m still tired from last week.” you joked. “...but a nice dinner wouldn’t hurt.” you shrugged. You knew that Hoseok would take every little thing you said over the top. You could say ‘let’s go for a walk’ and then the next thing you know you’re walking through a garden in Japan or somewhere, like he really went above and beyond. 

“Hm, dinner you say?” he perked up an eyebrow.

“By that I mean takeout...you know like a normal person!” you laughed. 

“My lifestyle isn’t normal babe.” Hoseok kissed your temple. “Which means I get to treat you every day if you’d let me.”

“Why would you want to spend your money on me?” you pouted. “You could literally buy a damn house with the amount of money you’ve spent taking me out.”

“Because I like it.” he shrugged. “So you’re gonna stop trying to stop me from spoiling you. Got it?” he pecked your lips. “Besides, don’t act like you don’t like it.”

“You aren’t wrong.” you pouted. “Fine, I’m just saying, a lot of greater things to spend money on than little old me.” you shrugged. “Like that house thing I mentioned.”

“So you want a house next? I’ll-”

“HOBI!”

“ You’re just not used to me spoiling you yet...which is strange because we’ve been together for three years.” he rolled his eyes playfully. “Accept it already.”

....

Of course he took you to an art gala benefit bullshit event. You should have known better, you really should have but as you’ve said before. Hoseok was full of surprise.

“I hate you.” you mumbled, crossing your arms.”I said takeout! Not “take me out’.” You sighed, making Hoseok laugh in your ear.

“Oops, guess I never learn.” his lips brushed your ears. “But you do look ravishing in that dress.” he smirked. “I wish I could tear it off you.”

Ah yes, Jung Hoseok. The only person on this planet who is fully content with tearing a 3,000 dollar dress of your body. 

“Hm, but I’ll wait. I don’t need any of these perverts staring at your body...plus I love seeing the envious glares you get from other women.” he laughed. You two were sitting at a table with Hoseok’s rich weirdo friends.

“So Y/N.” one of them began. “Hoseok tells us that you’re interested in arts as well, apparently you have an eye for old pieces.”

“Yeah. I mean I guess so.” you shrugged. “It’s pretty easy to tell for me.”

“She’s being humble as usual I see.” Hoseok chuckled putting his hand on your lap under the table. “She’s a natural, it’s almost like second nature.” 

“Oh really?” Another one of his friends chipped in. “I’m thinking of purchasing that painting over there.” he pointed to a painting on the wall next to another table.

“Siren’s Song by Thai-Italian artist Theron Way, painted in 1932. The underpainting is said to have some weird message along with a hidden picture in the background that makes a whole new painting. That and there are 17 hidden faces in the garden background.” you said without thinking, which garnered silence from the table. “...Highest bidding was rumored to be 60,000 dollars when it was originally released. Plus...it’s the only painted that was rumored to be released before his archive was found after his death.” (This was completely made up, just go with it)

Okay...you were being humble, art was your absolute forte. It’s how you met Hoseok actually. 

“Well Hoseok you are absolutely right, she is being humble. How do you know so much?” he suddenly asked. You were about to answer when you felt your dress hike up a little. You looked over at Hoseok who looked nonchalant. You leaned on the table a little.

“A magician never reveals their secrets, they just spend a lot of years reading back to back.” you jokingly replied. Hoseok abruptly hiked up your dress until your bare thigh was revealed to the cold air. 

Hoseok leaned down to talk into your ear. “I wonder what they would say if they saw daddy playing with his babygirl under the table.”he chuckled. 

“Hobi, really? Right now?” you whispered under your breath.

“I’m impatient, remember...” Hoseok winked. “Besides, if I could, I throw you on this table in front of everybody. So I’ll settle for playing with you.”

“Aye Hoseok, tell us how you met Y/N.”

“Hm, well” Hoseok’s hand scooted more up your leg. “She saved me from making an ass of myself.” he chuckled. “Ah I almost got cheated out of a painting that was worth less than a bus token and Y/N here, made a complete fool of the guy and his bitch of a wife.” he laughed, making the others burst into laughter too. Hoseok’s knuckles ghosted over your hand, and pinched your thigh a little when you tried to squeeze your legs closed.

You knew this game of his. It was his favorite game to play when you two went out.

Can Y/N hold herself together while that shit eating Hoseok teases her all night

“After that, I asked if I could thanks her and she hasn’t left my side since.” Hoseok looked at you with a wink. 

“How could I, you called me every day.” you faked an eye roll. “Plus I think you were just looking for someone to waste your money on.”

“Oh come on, it’s not like I went all out for your birthday.”

Yeah, you said you wanted a small birthday gift, not a 6,000 dollar tech studio for (art, gaming, music, you choose lol) IF THAT WASN’T “ALL OUT” THAN WHAT WAS?!?! The amount of money he’s invested in your hobbies could pay off your stupid debts...but oh wait he already did that.

Hoseok leaned into your ear just as his fingers slipped under your panties, rubbing your slit. “I can already tell you aren’t gonna last long, so why don’t we get outta here?”

...

RRRRIIPPP

Hoseok did as he promised and tore our dress up the back instead of just using the perfectly fully functional zipper at the side. He had placed hot, opened mouth kisses along your collarbone and he pushed you further up against the wall. Your dress, or what used to be your dress had pooled at your feet.

“Take this pretty ass to the bedroom before I drag you there myself.” he chuckled. You jumped and wrapped your legs around his torso, allowing him to carry you across his living room into the bedroom.

You landed on the bed with a thud and a bounce, allowing a giggle to rip through the air as Hoseok climbs over you.

“You’re so good at taking orders, I wonder what else you’re good at.”

(I shouldn’t have to say this again but I will just in case. I have an entire archive of requests, and if you’ve felt like you waited more than a few days, just drop me a message to remind me which request yours was and I get it done as soon as possible!)

[artschoolfreddie]

You’re My Best Friend

a/n: hey! i came across @quirkysubject‘s queen prompt meme the other day and as i was reading through it, i came up with an idea of my own - the boys just hanging out as friends. so i started thinking about it more and i decided to write a short little one shot about it!! i’m pretty proud of how it turned out, since i haven’t written much of anything, so hopefully you guys like it too! please give me feedback, that would be very much appreciated, and let me know what you think!! (i also posted it on my ao3 here)

words: 1.6k

no warnings, just friendship

The cool spring breeze came though the opened windows of Roger and Freddie’s flat. It was March and university had started, and work was piling up for everyone. After a short band meeting with Brian and John, they all decided it was better to stay here and do some work than to go all the way back home, they figured they could all study together. Although Freddie didn’t study much, being an art student, but he didn’t mind, he could find something to work on.

After the (very short) meeting, they all got to work, Brian reading an astronomy book (something about Zodiacal dust?), sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffee table, across from the tan couch in the living room. John was working on what seemed to be some sort of schematic or blueprint, in between Brian and Freddie, on a yellow bean bag Freddie found in a random stall in Kensington Market. Freddie, on the floor with his back on the couch and across from Brian, seemed to be working on a number of things at once, flipping through a sketchbook, drawing a bit on each one, until he finally settled on one and paid extra attention to it, content with what he started with. Roger… well Roger was studying for a Biology test he had coming up, but got a bit bored and distracted, so he started to read some magazine that was lying on the coffee table in front of him, while he himself was sitting upside down on the couch, long blond hair touching the floor.

It was quiet, a good noise level for studying, but Freddie couldn’t take it anymore. He could handle it for a bit, but the sound of pages turning was starting to become deafening. He broke his view of his sketchbook and looked around. All three boys were entranced in what they were doing and didn’t seem to notice or be bothered by the quiet. He quickly did a double take of Roger sitting upside down and smiled to himself. What an idiot, he thought, lovingly, of course. He glanced down at Roger’s long locks and couldn’t help but give them a quick tug, causing Roger to yelp and drop the magazine he was gazing at on his face. His yelp also startled John, who looked up at the ruckus, and Brian, who also dropped the heavy book he was reading on his face.

“Rog!” Brian groaned, sitting up and giving Roger the biggest death stare he could muster. “What was that for?! I dropped my book on my face!”

“Don’t blame me, Fred pulled my hair out!” Roger whined back, rolling on his side and ‘accidentally’ kicked Freddie’s head.

“Oh, never mind then, thanks for that Freddie.” Brian gave Freddie and Roger a big smile, to which Roger just scoffed in reply and contemplated throwing a pillow at Brian, they were called throw pillows after all.

“Don’t be so dramatic, dear, it was just a slight tug. Besides, I thought you’d be used to that by now.” Quickly dodging another ‘accidental’ kick from Roger, Freddie stood up and looked at John who snorted and was giggling in amusement.

“Not sure you have room to talk about being dramatic, Fred.” John giggled again, watching Freddie as he got up from the floor and made his way towards the turntable in a corner of the room next to a window.

“Me!? Dramatic?! Oh, I would never, why would you ever suggest that Deaky dear?” Recanted Freddie as he took a random record from an old box on the floor. These records were Roger’s most prized possessions, and hated it when anyone even thought about taking one in case they weren’t careful enough, but he didn’t mind when Freddie took one – he trusted him. The record in questions was Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland, a band favorite. He put it on the turntable and carefully placed the needle to the first track, and let it play.

“Hendrix. Good choice.” Brian said and got up from his place on the floor and followed Freddie to the kitchen, where he was starting to put water in a kettle. Roger and John decided to follow as well, finding it extremely hard to work without tea or some snacks.

“Yes of course darlings, I can make you guys some tea, thank you for asking!” Freddie said – maybe sarcastically, the boys couldn’t really tell (they could, they loved to annoy him) – when he realized that they all gathered around the kitchen with him, picking at some sweets and other food that was left over from other flat mates.

“I didn’t know you can read minds, add that to the long list of things to keep note of when I’m around you.” Roger chuckled and ate some peanuts that were laying around, realizing that he probably needed to clean this table up more, it was a mess – he’d have to tell one of his flat mates about it.

“I don’t think Fred would want to see what’s going on in your mind.” John quipped and Brian stifled a laugh. Roger could really be thinking about three things – girls, cars, or music. And John was right, Freddie – if he did have mind reading powers, which unfortunately, he didn’t – did not want to take that chance.

“He’s right, if I could read minds, I wouldn’t waste my time with your minds. I’d read, I don’t know, Marie Antoinette’s mind, to see what she was thinking. And how she’d spend all her riches, oh, and what kind of jewels she liked best.”

“I’d read Jimi Hendrix’s mind, maybe I’ll be half as good as him if I knew what was in his mind and how it worked.” Brian contemplated this as Voodoo Chile played in the background, letting the bluesy guitar take over his senses. The rest of the boys nodded and quietly agreed, Jimi Hendrix also being one of their favorite artists, one of the few things they could all agree on. “Actually, maybe I’d read Leonardo Da Vinci’s mind. I like Italians.”

“How boring. I’d read John Lennon’s mind, a musical genius and I’d like to get in his head. He’s already had such a big impact on the world, it would be interesting to know what’s in his head.” Roger chewed with his mouth opened as he said this, so Freddie gave him a glare as if to say You better close your mouth before I make you.

“All interesting, but I’d probably read William Burrough’s mind. The man’s seen and done more than I ever will, maybe I can catch a glimpse of what goes on in that kind of… environment.” John ended with a laugh, and the others followed suit. As quiet and calm Deaky was, he could go wild and cause lots of trouble, never underestimate the quiet one.

The boys thought about their decisions and all agreed with each other, thinking Of course he would pick them, knowing each other so well, they basically knew each other’s answers before anyone said them.

Suddenly, the kettle started screeching and startled them out of their thoughts. Freddie got the kettle while Brian took some teacups out of the cabinets, already knowing where they were, having been here many times before. John also knew where the teabags were, third drawer from the right, and took a box of Earl Grey tea, Freddie’s favorite. At the same time, Roger got the sugar cubes from the drawer next to him and prepared the area to make room for the tea. Freddie poured everyone a cup and fixed themselves their tea to their liking.

The smell of the Earl Grey, the sound of Hendrix, and the cool breeze was calming. Feeling content and happy in the moment, John couldn’t help but smile. He was with his bandmates, who happened to be his best friends, drinking Earl Grey tea – of all things 20 something year olds would be drinking on a Saturday – listening to music and enjoying each other’s company. He only met the guys a few months ago, but he already felt at home and was completely comfortable with them. This wasn’t exactly what John imagined when he thought of college life years ago, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“What’s on your mind, Deaks?” Brian asked, a hint of a laugh in his voice and small smile on his face, bringing his tea to his mouth and taking a sip.

“Oh, you know,” John laughed slightly, “just thinking about how I imagined life would be like in Uni versus what it’s actually like.”

“What, like we don’t party and have a really good time?” Roger and Freddie looked at each other and couldn’t help but giggle, reminiscing on all of the alcohol fueled nights at their little market stall, trying on ridiculous clothes and whatnot.

John almost spit out his tea with that interaction and he remembered all the debauchery that went on with his newer friends, especially with those two. “Well, yes of course but you know,” John started, “I just didn’t think I’d be drinking Earl Grey with Jimi Hendrix playing in the background on a Saturday having a study session with my best friends, you know.”

A couple of hm’s were heard, and again, the boys agreed. It was a bit unusual to be doing this when they could be doing practically anything else, but none of them minded. It was nice, spending time with each other, not just as a band, but as friends. They knew they had a good future because of it, a band that stays together have a very good chance to be successful. And none of them would want to share the fame, money, success, and the hardships, with anyone else. They were all each other best friends, after all.

“I’m hungry, you guys wanna get some lunch?” Roger broke the comforting silence, and a chorus of yeah’s followed. The boys quickly finished their tea and headed out the door.

--------------

just in case you wanted to be tagged @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhye​!!!

[hegglespeggles]

How to write an essay you could not care less about in 10 steps

Hello. I have an essay to write.

I am also, (unfortunately) the kind of lazy, apathetic burnout who will only do my FUCKING work if I get really worked up. Usually that ends up meaning all of my papers are spite-fuelled tirades but my profs seem to like them so fine. I hope you find this particular raging tirade useful.

Today, I would like to educate the 4 of you that will actually see this on a fine art I have perfected over the years. Writing a paper, about which, you do not give a single, solitary, crumb of a fuck about. This is (you may have guessed) and excellent way for me to procrastinate doing a paper that *I* do not give a single solitary crumb of a fuck about. For best results, I recommend doing this NIGHT-BEFORE-PANIC like, a week in advance so you can fix all the NONSENSE that your more reasonable brain will undoubtedly find. But if it’s the night before and you are shit outta luck, this will get ‘er done. And with practice, you can even pull good grades outta these bitches.

 Dissociating? I gotchu. Woke up the day of the deadline to feel like absolute utter garbage? Search no more friends.  

  FAILING GRADES ARE BETTER THAN ZEROS JUST FUCKIN DOOOOOO ITTTT

1.    Go get the prompt.

I fucking mean it. Even if you are like 1000% sure you know what the prompt is asking, go to the FUCKING assignment, and copy that shit into your word document. Got the assignment on paper? TYPE THAT SHIT UP MOTHERFUCKER.

(Do you see what I fucking have to deal with)

Boom?

BOOM.

Congratulations, you now have a document, and whats more, there are WORDS in it!! You aren’t starting from scratch anymore kiddo. Fringe benefit, you always know EXACTLY what the assignment wants because its fucking Staring You Down. Not saying you have to do exactly as it says, mama didn’t raise no BITCH and I aint scared of fuckin CALLING PROFS OUT but if you wanna break the rules you gotta know what they are first

(Disclaimer: I have also been kicked out of class on numerous occasions for fighting with the prof and had full classes where the lecture WAS me arguing so maybe take my opinions of conformity with a grain of salt.)

2.    Math THE FIRST

I know, this is an essay and not a fucking calculus test. But some of this shit is USEFUL OKAY

Take the paper in question. How long does it have to be? Mine is 5 pages. A page is generally accepted to be 250 words (double spaced because we FUCKING LOVE OURSELVES) so 5 x 250 = 1250 wds. That’s the goal. That’s the pinnacle. That’s your new holy grail.

Time to split this bitch up

  3.    Yarrrrrr, CONTENT

And finally, we get to the part that is the reason why you are being an absolute bitch baby about this essay (maybe. I might be projecting. Your life is your life and im sure youre doing your best.) I Hate this part, but now with our magic number we don’t need to pull 5 pages out of the ether.

This part really requires you to know your vibe. Is this something that you have a lot of little opinions (read: evidence) about or like, only 2 or 3 big bois? Look deep into your soul and figure out which is the easiest for you to shit out, a rant or a list. a  great way to do this is to WRITE ANYTHING YOU GOT OUT

Here you can see I’ve put all of the thoughts I have about the question into a list, slapped some standard “opening” and “closing” shit around it so I can FUCKING FIND IT AGAIN and given it a good hard look. Whats the common thread in all of my opinions? That the prompt is fucking stupid and makes no sense is asking 2 different questions. Congratulations: you found your thesis. This essay, like many of my essays, bears the thesis “this is a weird question to be asking” (which falls under my broader category of “bitches aint shit” essays.)

Congratulations you have the bare bones of your skeleton.

  4.    MATH THE SECOND

 The magic number returns. All hail our glorious leader. 1250 right?

So heres how I break this down. Break off a small chunk at the beginning. For this essay im gonna split off the 250. Split that baby in half. Congratulations, now you have a word count on your opening and closing. Personally, I know I like a lil extra space at the end to get all ranty, so Imma split this puppy up 100 for my opening and 150 for the closing. WARNING: You will think that you will be able to write enough in your opening and closing to take up lots of space. You will feel the urge to give them both the same amount of words that you give your points. This is misguided and foolish. Not only will you 1) not be able to do it but 2) even if you did, that’s like getting a sandwich which is all bread. No one wants that. Don’t be that dude. Fight the urge.

 RIGHT SO. We’re still left on the other 1000 words.

If you have an idea that like, is bigger than the others, go ahead and give that puppy more of the word count than the others, fractions are your friend here and you wanna think about how much of your final product each of these babies will be. If you, like me, are an utter buffoon with no clue what youre doing, open your calculator up. Divide the remaining word count by the number of points you have. Congratulations. Youre doing the essaying.

If this is enough to get you started, GREAT! See you at step seven. BEFORE YOU GO I would like to give you this tip

5.    CITE YOUR INFORMATION AS YOU ADD IT IN.

It doesn’t need to be a full citation, just literally a footnote with something that will help you remember where its from and for the love of god WHAT PAGE IT IS ON. The you of 3 hours from now will thank you.

  6.    Filling in the skeleton

 I don’t know about you, but I cant exactly riff off of a single sentence. Like, I know what the VIBE of my point is, but like, I cant pull it out of a hat. The name of the game here is whittling down your arguments into thinner and thinner chunks that are easier and easier to bullshit. This is how you avoid that “burning building found in flames during Brooklyn fire” bullshit that memes. You don’t wanna meme. You wanna pass. So, figure out what the things you are gonna say and in each bit, keep track of how many words you are gonna write. EITHER

a)      You put how many words you think you can write on any point beside the point as you go and just keep developing points and shuffling word counts around until it matches the total for that section

or

b)     You evenly breakup the word count between all the points and keep breaking them down until you look at a subject and a word count and go “yeah that’s doable. I can do that.”

I prefer the second so LEGGO.

Ta-Da!

7.    Write ‘er up

Ahhh glad to see we’re all back together again. Try-hards who can ACTUALLY bullshit papers, glad to see you’ve rejoined us! This is the part where you take all that shit you’ve broken up into nice little chunks and you turn it into something worth reading. You can do it. I believe in you. Try and keep your citations in place.

I like to do this as a question answer thingy, like an exam, so halfway through writing mine is gonna look like this

 The handy part about the numbers is that it gives you a frame of reference for how your bullshit is going. Realized you had a lot more to say here than you thought? Dope! Less bullshit somewhere else, take it out of a weaker point. This point didn’t give as much as you thought it would? Split the difference elsewhere! This way you have checkpoints and you can see how your essay is going

And then you can go ahead and delete your skeleton work. Its time. Its served you well. For extra drama, whisper menacing nothings to it as you send it into the darkness. Personal favourites include “no one will mourn you,” “your fate belongs to me,” and “so this is what you have come to”

  8.    Citations

Theres like a million ways out there to find out how to do your citations and its gonna depend on what kind of a paper you are writing. I use Chicago most of the time, including here. My advice? Use a site like, bib.me or something to do your bibliography, and then plaster that in the bottom of your document. Use that as the building blocks to do your footnotes. Let Purdue Owl be your guide. Purdue Owl Style Guide Is A Mighty Friend Indeed.

 Also your welcome for that, “putting the page numbers in as you put the info in” shit. That took me alarmingly long to figure out. It’s a wonder theyre giving me a degree.

  9.    Proofread that shit, ya bougie bitch.

If you wanna be time effective, getting a friend to proofread while you do your citations is a great way to go. If you have a few days, put your paper away and come back to it. If you are out of friends and time then https://www.paperrater.com/ is your last hope.

  10.       Slap a title page on that shit and GET IT SUBMITTED

 No joke, I have been using the same template for a coverpage all through highschool and my undergrad. There is only one title page and every time I write an essay I take the title page from the last paper I wrote. There is no beginning. Only title page. Title? Topic of paper: point of paper. For example, If I had to title this screed I’d call it Essay Writing: An exploration of mediocrity. slap the date and your name and the course and instructor on there and BAM. YA DONE.

 Anyway submit that shit an go to bed youre done goodnight

EPILOGUE

I’ve gotten this essay back, and when I wrote it, I was barely a human being. Barely capable of human speech let alone a coherent argument. I would forget the end of the sentence by the time I typed out the beginning. But I still for a 70%! is it the best mark I’ve ever gotten? no! but it is a hell of a lot better than the 0% I would have gotten if i hadnt done this. I get it. And i hope this helps. 

[comicteaparty]

March 23rd-March 29th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from March 23rd, 2020 to March 29th, 2020.  The chat focused on Puppeteer by Eightfish.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Puppeteer by Eightfish~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until March 29th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

eli [a winged tale]

Ooh exciting! I’ll try and get to this soon!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yes yes, I had started reading this last week, want to continue and get in on this convo!!

Joichi / Sarah

Oh I'll take a look at reading Puppeteer!

shadowhood

Ditto. Time for another art binge

eli [a winged tale]

1) I love the colours and lighting! As for the story, the banter really drew me in and when J offered freedom, that was my hook 2) My favourite moment was when J tore Eli out of his body! That was a very striking moment. 3) I really like J and Sam They’re both characters with a strong voice and motivation. 4) I enjoy the friendship chat between Sam and Eli. They really ground the whole college experience and the comic world for me. 5) Let me find it! 6) I think the themes of feeling lost in life or directionless after regimented high school are very relatable. It’s one thing to know where you wanna go and want to be but often we feel we’re just floating in reality. 7) I love the aesthetics! Very unique style yet also clear in storytelling! 8) I would say the strengths tie into the fast pace and great characters. I’m not sure where we’re headed in the comic but I’m sure we will get to know why beings like J and the Ocean lady exist and what roles Eli/Sam would play in the story great work Eightfish!

Love this shot! Great paneling!

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

The artwork is so beautiful!

shadowhood

Yeah, the flow of motion is amazing here that's really good gesture drawing

Feather J. Fern

I have to say I love the way you do the limited palette for the first few pages, it's really cool!

mathtans

Oh! From setup to where some f/f romance is implied. I shall read more. (Nice when the ships are verging on canon, if not there...)

Wonder if J is going to set things up such that Eli has to possess one of them.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Aaa, thank you all for the compliments about my art, eli, sssfrs, shadow, feather. I'm really trying to make this thing look good and I'm glad you guys like it.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

It looks really good!!

eli [a winged tale]

Love it Eightfish! Can’t wait for more!

RebelVampire

What I liked about the beginning is just kind of how jarring it is (in a good way). You get thrown right into a semi-tense/suspicious interaction, and it really kind of sets that tone for the rest of the comic. Which is actually what I like about the story all together. There's always this kind of laid back atmosphere to it where you're never really sure if you should be concerned or not. So it's got this right beat where you aren't always screaming but also aren't ever able to fully relax cause it feels like danger is around the corner. Coincidentally, the beginning is also probably my favorite moment in the comic as well, just cause again, I really love the tone here. My favorite character at the moment is probably J cause I can't figure J out and would like to know more about J. Cause J is just like this chaotic entity who I can't decide is good or evil and it's a complicated mess that I love. As for favorite interactions, definitely Eli and J. I like they're kind of friends, kind or enemies, kind of maybe sort of abusive relationship, maybe kind of sort of cut from the same fabric. There's a lot of levels to their relationship, so I do like seeing where it's going to go.

What I like about the art is just the overall style combined with the color experimentation. I think this in of itself really helps with the tone I keep mentioning, because it'll go from normal colors to suddenly very jarring, dark contrasts. So again, there's always this hint that something just isn't ever right in the world. I also think these features are the comic's strength, since it's a very interesting style that draws the eye.

Lastly for today, themes. I really like that the comic kind of explores ambition vs. lack of ambition. As someone who is more similar to Eli and would be kind of happy to just be people watching mush sometimes, I really relate. However, there are deep questions about whether this is good, whether ambition is better or whether ambition can go too far. So it's kind of good to see this explored and just kind of show that inevitably, people are different and not everyone has the same sorts of drives (or drives at all).

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh my god, you have no idea how happy I am to read that. Everything you said was exactly what I was going for and this is very validating

(also, can we just appreciate Rebel for a moment. They take the time to write these in depth analyses of every comic here and I always enjoy reading them. Even if I knew rebel was going to be the only one in this book club I would still be jumping to sign up.) (Not that I don't appreciate everyone else, those comments were lovely as well haha. So interesting to to read eli's thoughts on the characters and what will happen next)(edited)

BriDanann

Also!! Eightfish!! Your comic is so freaking gorgeous! I absolutely love the color scheme and the surrealist feel the art gives off. It really feels like it's otherworldly, but also familiar. Kind of how old Noir movies felt! I've only read the beginning so far and I am loving the tone.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Will Eli actually be satisfied with his decision to just float around away from responsibility in the long term, or do you think that will change? Additionally, what do you think caused Eli to run away from life so much?

10. Do you think Sam will ever come to accept Eli’s decisions, and how will the situation change the two’s relationship? What will Eli teach Sam about trying to fix everything, and how will the two change each other through their interactions?

11. What do you think J ultimately wants in life, and what does that have to do with giving Eli powers? Why is Sam so convinced that J is a demon? In general, do you think Eli, Sam, and Lily can put a stop to J’s mayhem?

12. How do you interpret the story’s title in terms of its significance to the events of the comic? Also, what significance do you think it has towards the theme of beliefs and how beliefs go stronger the more people believe in them?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

(This week is kinda kicking my ass but I have finished the read and will find time for some comments in the next day or two. Just putting that out there.)

Okay, just a couple quick thoughts in case anyone else wants to react to them... I think Eli felt like there wasn't much of anything left to him. Didn't seem like he had family checking up on him, and major events like breaking your arm are the sorts of times you learn who's rallying around you. Sam distancing herself was probably the last straw.

I wonder a bit whether Vanessa (the one massively possessed by J, only name dropped in the author notes if memory serves) had a similar path. Or whether she's just off the deep end (maybe she pushed J into the arm breaking on some level).

Also think that Lily's pleased to have someone who can finally do something about the visions she's presumably been having all her life (unless it's a puberty awakening thing), though it does seem like her romance with Sam goes deeper than that. I wonder about her romantic history (but then I wonder about that with all f/f ships). And could Sam be bi? Or is she not straight, and part of that is what pulled her from Eli?

As I say, couple quick thoughts.

RebelVampire

@mathtans Those are some good points about Eli's family. I have to say I did kind of where they were at, cause at the very least I do get the impression Eli doesn't feel like they can be relied on. But I do think isolation is playing a big role in Eli's decision making right now.

Do I think Eli will actually be satisfied with his decision? Yes and no. I kind of feel like Eli would be fine with it overall but that inevitably extenuating circumstances will ruin the whole thing. Otherwise I honestly think Eli might be content if people around would accept it. As for why Eli is causing to run away from life, probably social pressure and isolation. It's hard to deal with life if you have no one around you, and also hard to deal with society when you really just don't have ambitions, cause society is very much about ambition. As for Sam, I think this is also a yes and a no. I think Sam will blame herself for Eli's choices as she comes to understand them more, but at the same time learn to let Eli live as Eli sees fit. I do think Sam will learn a valuable lesson though that not everything she thinks is broken is, and even if it is, sometimes people have to learn for themselves. So I think it'll bring Eli and Sam closer.

As for what J wants, I think it's probably friends. I think J fell in with Eli because they're both just kind of lonely souls. And while Eli expresses this in further isolation, J acts out and does everything possible to get attention. I do think the group will put a stop to J's shenanigans though, but I'm also feeling that it won't be a defeating of the villain (but this may be wishful thinking cause I do sympathize with J). I kind of get the feeling the title is meant to reflect both literally that J is turning people into puppets but also the complicated relationship people have with the concept of control. Like Sam for example. Sam clearly wants to fix and "control" things to suit them to how she wants. Also, in the Eli/J relationship, there's a question of who controls who to a degree. As for its connection to belief, I think I'd argue the strong our beliefs are in something, the more those beliefs have control of our lives. And I think that's something we once again see with J a lot in that J is literally controlling people while people seem convinced they control themselves.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh Rebel, mathtans, your comments make me just want to just spoil the entire story and blurt out everything right here. It's been so good seeing that so much of my intent was coming through.

@mathtans Sam is indeed not straight. I wonder what made you see her as bisexual specifically?(edited)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I don’t think Sam had any malicious intent in keeping her distance from Eli, nor was it a case of “I’ve got a girlfriend now so I don’t need to talk to my other friends”. To me, Sam very much sees herself as the only one with the power to protect people, and because of that she feels it’s her duty to control what people get involved, where everyone goes, etc. Sam can keep this city under control, and thus she must. And, yeah, I agree with @RebelVampire that control is one of the main themes of the comic in general. Like J is constantly egging Eli on to control others, and one of their main points is that ordinary people often are looking to delegate control to someone else. And this current segment is the perfect lesson on how it doesn’t have to be one person in control - Eli and Sam can both be in control at once.(edited)

One thing I feel like should be mentioned though - the factor of Eli potentially being nb factoring into his decision? Like, when he first becomes a puppetmaster, one of the first things Eli says is “how come I still look like me” (i.e., rather than androgynous like J?), and one of the things Eli does to practice out shape shifting is try on dresses.

mathtans

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Oh, nothing specifically made me see Sam as bisexual, but nothing made me see her as exclusively lesbian either. I've learned not to take that stuff for granted and wait for it be be spelled out (I'm also not the most observant though). In fact I have a f/f relationship in my writing where one of them is stated bisexual.

Also, good point snuffy on the androgynous aspect, never occurred to me there.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

Okay, let's address some questions to the best of my abilities. ^.^ Regarding the start, as was mentioned, the muted colours and dark character seemed to fit the tone. I thought the cutaway was a time skip but it made sense when we came back later.

My favourite moment was actually when Sam and Lily spent the night in Eli's apartment. Aside from helping to confirm the f/f relation (a personal taste), it was subtle (like, just a friend wouldn't necessarily go along with things for that time) versus making out or something (which wouldn't fit the tone). And at the same time, it showed that Eli was separating himself from his past life, not even going back to check in... Sam honestly seems to be his only tie. (And I kinda wonder where his original body is, if it even exists?)

Favourite character is tough. Honestly, maybe Lily because she seems so innocent, having been drawn into things... and I wonder if J ever approached her to get to Sam? Or has the focus always been on Eli? It's not that I dislike the other characters, it's more that one of their flaws seems to be a lack of communication. The sort of thing that makes me sigh, even though it fits with what we've seen and is helping motivate the plot.

That said, yeah the Sam and Eli interactions are really good, right from the moment of "don't touch me" and Sam totally respected that as they got caught up. They obviously do care for each other in the friend way. (I wonder if Eli wanted more? Could that be why he shifted female, to be closer to Sam?)

I'm not good with art or themes. -.- The way the being in the harbour was drawn was good though from what I recall, helped to show the scope of the supernatural too. I guess a theme of belonging? Or friendship?

I haven't said much about J yet, but I think that is a something I like and a strength, the plotting... trying to guess the next move. And maybe they want to become as popular as the larger demon? Definitely drives the other characters forwards. And reminds me of Rebel's comment about ambition being a theme... makes sense in retrospect. (And yes, much appreciation to Rebel. ^.- )

9. I think Eli will eventually be satisfied, though I think he's realizing that he's becoming a bit of a pawn in a larger game, not having considered the scope of his transformation. And I already mentioned about his family. And Rebel made good points there too.

I think Sam's starting to accept the change, though not necessarily the reason for it (and I'm not sure she or we truly know what that is). What with her trusting him to possess. In fact, another reason why Eli might have done this was to be of more use to Sam, though that may not have been a conscious decision. The dynamic will be interesting.

Here I'm diverging from Rebel in that I think J wants to be recognized as a more important demon (though that's similar to having friends, it doesn't need to be). Maybe others have tried to take over beings like Sam without success? Or like Ocean Lady are so far above that they don't care? Maybe there's a clue somewhere in why Vanessa isn't enough for J lately.

That's a really interesting point in terms of the title... at first I figured it was the idea of Eli jumping into bodies. But of course, he's not really into that, and it's more J... who is perhaps puppeteering even beyond that, pulling the strings of people that aren't possessed. (There was mention of squid too, I wonder if the tentacles of a squid could be like the strings on a puppet?) Anyhue.

Will be interesting to see Lily's reaction to what's going on, as I have a suspicion that she'll show up... and perhaps blame herself for not being there when Eli was (even though Eli was brought in later). Or she could misinterpret the situation and think Eli's gone evil! Who knows. (How long has she been going out with Lily again?)

I think that's all for now. Best with it!

shadowhood

Yoooo sorry for the late response. Alright I'll try to answer the prompts as succinctly as I can. 1. The art style is very aesthetically pleasing! I love how you use mainly black against a lot of other bright colours like tan/light blue/gold; it gives it almost a Grecian vase vibe!

2. I have two actually!

The first one because it hit a really close hit to home. I loved seeing a real, down to earth conversation between friends and it felt...real. Seeing concerned friends talking about an abusive relationship and not....exploding is very refreshing.

The second one because I absolutely love that last panel, where J plays around with her words and follows through with a similar action. It felt like she was toying with Sam and it reminded me of the scene in Aladdin, where Jafar was toying with Aladdin with his words. Probably my favourite villain scene of J.

3. Funnily enough, I really like Sam. She's that one friend who's shown to be concerned for Eli, but she knows that she can't force him out of the abusive relationship. She respects his boundaries and is overall a good friend. That's rare and usually underappreciated in real life.

4. The interactions between Sam and Eli were the best for me, because they were very heartwarming and the care they show for each other resonates with me

5. The two moments I mentioned were my top favourites, actually!

6. The idea that you can't save everyone is one I really like. Sometimes you have to let the person you love make difficult and maybe even foolhardy decisions in life, but that's to let them grow up and mature.

7. Like I said earlier, it reminded me of Grecian vase paintings, which I love! Another thing I love about it is how free the gesture drawings are; drawings such as the hand drawings are testament to that

8. I think the strongest part of Puppeteer is its use of motion; my eye is always drawn to the line of action and it almost felt like a film at some parts. The story is heavily action oriented, which I like

shadowhood

9. Honestly, I don't know. Like @mathtans said, he doesn't seem to have family who check up on him, but he DOES have friends who do! Maybe someday he'll want to change, he'll see that he stayed stagnant while his friends keep on progressing in life. Either he'll go deeper into his isolation or he ultimately decides that this isn't for him. 10. I think it's a sad case where she's going to have to learn to let Eli make his mistakes and grow up. If she's constantly there to fix or solve everything for him, both characters suffer in that no one will learn everything. But hopefully, like other people have said, it brings them closer. 11. From what she's said, I think she wants control and power. But if you want a more indepth answer, I think she wants absolute control and worship from individuals. She wants to be put on a pedestal (wanting to be higher than other people?) and she wants that rush of feeling, that feeling of being dedicated to. But seeing @RebelVampire 's answer, maybe it's a twisted form of trying to keep people from leaving her, similar to how abusers try to keep their victims close. Heck, she could even develop a form of Lima syndrome and sympathize with the victim. I think Sam's and co. can put a stop to it, but ultimately, it's up to ELI himself to do so. 12. I agree with @RebelVampire on this one; Puppeteer can be a reference to how much we let others and their beliefs control us, and how the characters each covet control in some shape or form. Maybe Eli feels like he's lost control of his life and is trying to escape responsibility in a desperate effort to regain it?

13. I'm really looking forward to how this whole Eli/J relationship will affect Eli and his relationship with his friends. I'm also wondering what J's character development would be, if any; would she start sympathizing more with Eli? Learn something new from Eli? Or even become increasingly antagonistic towards Eli? 14. @Eightfish (Puppeteer) I really look forward to reading more from your webcomic, your art and conversation exchanges between your characters are top notch! Keep up the good work

RebelVampire

What I'm most looking forward to in regards to the comic is finding out more about J I think. I'm interested to learn more about the driving force behind J's actions and how those might cause the characters to rethink what J is. As for final words, I really just still enjoyed the atmosphere. So few comics can nail it, but this one really managed to capture that feeling of dread that really keeps you reading. So I can wait to see that be used more throughout the comic.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Thanks @mathtans , @shadowhood , @snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) for the recent long comments you've posted! It was wonderful reading what you thought about character motivations and themes. And I'm glad so many people said they were looking forward to learning more about J, because that's what I'm most looking forward to writing as well.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Puppeteer this week! Please also give a special thank you to Eightfish for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Puppeteer, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620

Eightfish’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eightfish

[cs-discourse]

here we go

https://cs-discourse.tumblr.com/post/179953845684/uuuuwuu-every1-whos-concerned-abt-biased-judging

ok this attitude has been pissing me off long enough that it's time for one of my Big Ole Posts (tm) about how shitty this is! thanks. 

uuuuwuu every1 whos concerned abt biased judging in comps is just soooow entitled !!!1 i cant bewieve ppl wouldnt want some1 whos literally explicitly stating at this point that they trust their friends more to "demonstrate dedication to the character" they assign to a design to b an influence in judging comps !!!!!11 bc artists Never weigh in on other artist's comps, so obviously thes ppl just want fwee merc designs !!!1!!1 also my last braincell just died pleas h

so here's the og post in question for quick reference

i honestly have no idea why people keep bringing up this idea of bias in judging competitions because, while i do think there is a type of bias that certainly exists, i think a lot of so-called "bias" that people have is ... not whatsoever like what people think it is lol. artists are people and there's always going to be SOME kind of bias no matter what you do, because it's literally fuckin impossible to NOT be biased. by that i mean:

your taste in plots/types of characters/medias influence your judging

quality of writing or art can influence your judging

the person who's applying for the adopt you may have previous judgement about

even if you say you aren't biased, you STILL have preferences and tastes in things that you prefer more than others, which in of itself is a kind of bias

people who know you (friends for example) will naturally know what your taste is. 

a competition is judged based on what form the artist thinks is best, right? 

NEWSFLASH EVERYONE'S IDEA OF "WHAT'S BEST" IS DIFFERENT FROM PERSON TO PERSON ..... "BEST" is literally the most subjective thing there is, and while i agree that there are certain aspects of art and writing that you can use as objective measurements of tangible skill, it's... still subjective. what people think is "best" will vary from person to person because we all have different tastes. so, essentially, this boils down to the idea that the winner of an adopt competition will ALWAYS be the form the artist liked best, because that is what the artist perceives as best. so like. when people appear biased in adopt competitions towards friends or certain circles, it's probably because they're literally friends because they have similar tastes in things, and therefore the form the artist likes best is naturally going to be from someone who shares similar tastes. 

so whenever i hear about """bias""" in competitions i just kind of roll my eyes tbqh because it's usually followed by complaints of "BUT I PUT IN SO MUCH EFFORT" or "I WROTE SO MUCH MORE THAN THE WINNER" uhhhh. if adopt contests were won by effort alone it wouldn't be a contest, it'd be an endurance test lol. literally just "who has the most time to waste writing out 60000k words of absolute meaningless fluff"... because, i hate to break it to you, but ANYONE can write 5000 words of mindless drivel that has literally no substance to it. 

now in caps for emphasis. takes a deep breath

THERE IS NO SKILL NEEDED TO BLOAT YOUR WORD COUNT. 

YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW HOW TO WRITE WELL TO WRITE 5000 WORDS.

YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW HOW TO TYPE AND PUT SENTENCES TOGETHER.

quality > quantity, always. like, i'm sorry you put in so many hours of effort but, those people who win with MUCH smaller wordcounts... did they not work to get as good as they did with writing? you put in 5 hours into one tryout. but others, take me for example: i have been writing for over 10 bloody years. i've worked hard to improve my writing, so you can't tell me i "didn't put in as much effort" as you because i did. i put in YEARS of work to get better so doing simple things would take me LESS time now. inb4 IT'S UNFAIR! dude, the literal definition of a contest is for the best to win. it wouldn't be a contest if it wasn't like that lol. it'd just be charity. what you should be doing instead of complaining about it is ASKING FOR CRIT and WORKING TO IMPROVE like a good sport? i get that it's discouraging but you should be prepared to lose when you join a contest. it's valid to be upset about but the moment you say you deserve it more than others JUST because of your effort, then i have a problem. 

and you know, there's gonna be times where i think a comp winner is objectively less skilled than other tryouts. honestly i just kind of shrug that off on account of different taste lol. sometimes that's just how it be, bc of those predetermined biases i mentioned before, and maybe a judge and i are just in completely stages of life so what i call quality might not appeal to the judge. that's also fine. anyway this really got off on a tangent but i'm leaving it in bc i think it needs saying. back to the og post

 > i cant bewieve ppl wouldnt want some1 whos literally explicitly stating at this point that they trust their friends more to "demonstrate dedication to the character" they assign to a design to b an influence in judging comps !!!!!11

wtf didn't i address this in a different post

here let me link it for you

https://cs-discourse.tumblr.com/post/179841459154/post179838988303-the-difference-is-that-you-have

which was replying to this: https://cs-discourse.tumblr.com/post/179838988303/179837734509-idk-anon-i-kinda-agree-with-the

i said it once but i'll say it again: artist entries aren't main adopts lol. people don't work for artist entries. all you fucking do is post on one like "can i have this pls" .. there is... no effort put into that lol. main adopts you WORK for. it's a CONTEST. claiming an artist entry is NOT a contest. if a bunch of little nasty gremlins come running up to me like a hungry horde trying to be the first one to claim my design, i think giving friends first pick is COMPLETELY FINE, BECAUSE WHAT DID ANYONE ELSE DO TO "DESERVE" THAT DESIGN? nothing. you did. nothing. you're literally coming here with this attitude that NOT GIVING THINGS AWAY TO STRANGERS FOR FREE SOMEHOW EQUALS BIAS? i literally do not understand your logic whatsoever. like. i'm trying really fucking hard. at least with main adopts the "payment" is the effort you put in trying to answer the artist's prompt. i know i sound super dumb repeating myself but i don't know how much simpler i can make this concept tbh

and this is EXACTLY why i say ya'll are fucking entitled because merc and any of the kal artists could be making REAL $$$$ selling their own designs and adoptables and art and NOT deal with all the bs ya'll throw at them. they're literally here because the ENJOY MAKING ((( FREE ))) CONTENT for you, and they're not obligated to do this. they can stop whenever they want. if you had to pay per hour for the length of time collectively worked by ANY species artist staff, the lot of you would be fucking broke. i'm actually constantly shocked that species artists work like, 8 hours or more on some of these gorgeous designs just to give them away for free in a contest. 

so, yeah, as someone who hasn't spent my entire life on CS (i've only been here for a year and a half), ya'll seem pretty fucking entitled to me lol. the world outside CS rarely gives out such gorgeous designs in write-to-adopt contests so i'm honestly baffled at the amount of bloody entitlement i see

>bc artists Never weigh in on other artist's comps, so obviously thes ppl just want fwee merc designs !!!1!!1 

this part i don't actually understand what you mean. do you mean they... help judge other comps? or like, enter them? i don't get what you mean by "weigh in" but listen, lol. just because something DOES happen doesn't mean it gives you a good reason to assume the worst. i mean... of course it happens. it's statistically impossible for skewed contests and bias to NOT happen, because there's always going to be cases of it happening. but like, what proof do you have that merc will be biased lol? like, real proof? because your main point i've basically debunked and don't believe in at all. do better than "i cant bewieve ppl wouldnt want some1 whos literally explicitly stating at this point that they trust their friends more to "demonstrate dedication to the character" they assign to a design to b an influence in judging comps !!!!!11" because this doesn't make any sense to me for the reasons i already listed above lmao. if artist entries were supposed to be contests they'd be contests. what the hell makes you important enough to get first dibs on a stranger's work. ARTIST ENTRIES AREN'T EVEN MADE TO BE GIVEN AWAY, THEY'RE MADE AS ARTIST ENTRIES.... LIKE.... JESUS i struggle to understand ya'll

anyway im done here, if you wanna actually talk and debate this hmu on discord at lysander#9229 bc if you actually talk to me instead of spew this hot mess on the blog i might actually listen to you and change my mind and be nice about it instead of being a condescending bitch. 

wait one more thing

>also my last braincell just died pleas h

yea clearly

p.s., why do you ppl keep going to the blog to give critique on merc's designs when on literally every other design merc makes there's this:

https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3950980

here i even linked it for you. idk why it's so hard for yall to give constructive crit like decent human beings

[winsister91]

Fell For You

A/N: I wrote something! Thank you so much once again to @sofreddie for providing the inspiration and being an amazing beta. This one is a combination of a few imagine prompts which I’ll list as the summary and a couple of songs as the theme and lyrics used. Credit to...well... whoever made the prompts coz I’ll be honest I have no idea who did :S Hope y’all enjoy!

Summary/Prompts:

Imagine Dean getting caught by a Djinn and dreaming of being married to you, which makes him realize his feelings when he wakes up.

Imagine Sam and Dean seeing you in your wedding dress for the first time.

Imagine Dean finally revealing his feelings for you and you calling him a liar. "Look at my face and tell me I'm lying to you.”

Songs: Warmness of the Soul - Avenged Sevenfold             Fell for You - Green Day

Warnings: Language, fluff, angst?

Characters: Dean x Reader, Sam, Castiel, Jody, Donna (mentioned), Claire (mentioned)

Word Count: 3419

My Masterlist!

~ Dean and forever tags are open! ~

Tags at the bottom and taken predominantly from @spnfanficpond Dean list. Let me know if you wanna added/removed from future fics!

“What the...” Dean mumbled, rubbing his eyes to encourage them to focus. He didn't know where he was or how he got here. His brain felt clouded, like he had awoken from a deep sleep that had lasted centuries.

“Dean?” Sam stood before his brother, placing a concerning hand on his shoulder, “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine uh...” Dean scratched his head, looking around the room. It was small and clean, everything in some form of soft cream or whitish tone, a small vase of flowers providing a colourful pop to the setting. Dean raised an eyebrow, noting Sam's suit, complete with a red rose buttoned to the lapel.

“What's with the get up?” Dean questioned, “Where the hell are we?”

Sam furrowed his brow, a mortified expression crossed his face. “Dean...” he said, forcing a laugh, “I know some people like to have a drink beforehand to calm the nerves but... how many have you had?”

“None!” Dean protested pleadingly, “I feel like I just...woke up or something! I don't know where we are, or what we're doing!”

He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and realised he was also in a suit. Matching his little brother, he too had a rose buttoned to his jacket, but his seemed more intricately decorated, bigger, more grand.

“You're getting cold feet, it's normal,” Sam chuckled, patting Dean on the back, “Remember it was your idea to do this so soon. We're lucky we even managed to get suits and a dress. So c'mon, it's time.”

Dress?

A knock rapped on the door, swiftly followed by it's opening and Jody's head popping around it.

“What are you still doing in here!?” She shrieked at Dean, “Get your butt out there now!” “Right, what the hell is going on!?” Dean barked in frustration.

“Hilarious,” Jody snorted with a roll of her eyes before turning to Sam, “No more whiskey for him. Now c'mon, we could only reserve this place for a quick service.”

Dean found himself near on dragged down a corridor by Jody, Sam quickly following behind. His confusion and near panic rose with every doorway they tore past. Soon he found himself in a new room, rows of seats on either side of the room which Sam lead him through the middle. A lot of the seats were empty, but a few on the front row were occupied. Jody took a seat in one of them next to Donna and Claire further on. “Sammy...” Dean mumbled, feigning a smile at the few who sat looking up him with beaming grins, “Am I getting married?”

“I'm gonna forget you asked that,” Sam shook his head with another chuckle, “And I'm definitely not telling Y/N you did.”

Y/N? Music began to play, the small gathering of guests rose to their feet and Dean felt like he was going to choke on his breath. The sound of piano keys filled the room.

Your hazel green tint eyes watching every move I make, and that feeling of doubt, it's erased.

The doors Dean had shortly entered through before opened again and he saw her. Y/N. Her hair sat natural and vibrant. The long white dress she adorned skimmed the floor weightlessly. It was simple in design, not fussy or overly detailed. A thin veil fell before her face, but it did little to mask the smile she wore beneath it as she walked down the aisle. Her arms were linked with Castiel's who walked beside her, wearing a suit and rose matching Sam's. “Oh my god...” Dean gulped.

“Wow...” Sam muttered, “She looks amazing.”

“She really does...”

Dean felt his panic melt away like snow in the morning sun. He could see her, like it was the first ever time he laid eyes on her, and she was beautiful. Like a recently discovered priceless piece of art, but he knew she was more than that. She was Y/N, a badass hunter, witty and sarcastic. She loved to drive the Impala with the windows down and feel the wind blow through her hair. She made everyone their morning coffees and greeted with a cheery smile no matter what dark and miserable situation they were currently dealing with. She'd cared for Dean at his lowest, and would selflessly put her own issues aside to let him vent to her. Y/N was wonderful, and he needed her just as much as needed Sammy to keep him sane.

Cas lead Y/N towards Dean, and he finally wore a smile to match his bride's. Cas unlinked from her arm and stood before them both. “We are gathered here today,” the angel addressed the room, “to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony...”

Cas continued to speak but it was all a blur to Dean, he was fixated on Y/N. She seemed absorbed in him too, and they looked into each other’s eyes the entire time, smiles worn proudly and excitedly. “Dean Winchester,” Cas announced, “Do you take this woman to be your wife, to live together in holy matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

“I... I do,” he stuttered his answer, not from panic or worry, but disbelief that this was happening.

“Y/N Y/L/N” Cas now turned to her and repeated the question for her answering.

Without a moment's hesitation her grin grew broader while stating, “I do.”

The service continued and Dean felt sure he was due to wake up in some stinking backstreet motel soon. They exchanged vows and then the rings which Sam carried in his suit pocket were also given. It was legitimate. "By virtue of the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Cas smiled warmly as he spoke these words, he turned back to Dean and finished with, “You may kiss the bride.”

Finally, with eagerness, Dean lifted the veil covering Y/N's face. They leant in to each other as their lips softly embraced. His heart became warm, he felt every muscle in his body relax. It was still unbeknownst to him how all of this had come about, but it felt right.

“Dean?” her expression changed as she tilted her head whilst looking into his eyes.

“Yeah,” he cooed back in contentment.

“Can you hear me?” she looked worried.

“Of course I can hear you...”

“Dean, please wake up.”

“Y/N?”

“Dean? Dean!?”

A sharp pain struck his right cheek, and his hand instinctively sprung up to grab it. Y/N continued to shout his name as he witnessed the room around him melt away into darkness. He clenched his eyes shut as the pain intensified and moved to his temple and a harsh ringing struck his ear drums. Over the screeching sound he could still hear her cries. “DEAN!?”

“Y/N!”

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

“Dean!” Y/N yelled, shaking the Winchester's shoulders, “C'mon Dean, wake up!” No response came from him. He hung lifeless from his bindings, his veins visible and dark blue from the Djinn's poison.

“Oh c'mon, Dean please don't be dead,” she mumbled helplessly as tears began to form in her eyes. Desperate, she resorted to a swift slap across his cheek, “DEAN!?”

A small groan escaped his lips, it sounded like he was saying her name. “Oh thank god,” she sighed heavily, she reached up to cut his binds, catching him clumsily as he slumped, “Let's get you home you big lug...”

She fumbled and struggled to support his dead weight, he was practically out cold.

“Sammy!” she cried out, “Little help here!?”

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

I had a dream that I kissed your lips and it felt so true. Then I woke up as a nervous wreck and I fell for you.

“Y/N!” Dean yelled, jolting up in his seat. The familiar Impala engine purred while he sat in a pool of his own sweat. He recognised the song playing, it was from Y/N's driving mix tape she made for herself. “Whoa!” Y/N shrieked, almost losing control of the car.

“Dean!” Sam yelled in surprise.

“What the...I...what?” Dean glanced around in bewilderment. Not knowing where he was was growing tiresome.

“Take it slow back there, Cupcake,” Y/N panted from the driver's seat struggling to calm down her thumping heart with deep breaths.

“Yeah just take it easy, “ Sam confirmed, turning in his seat to address his brother, “We don't have any Djinn antidote so you'll have to manage until we get back to the bunker.”

“He doesn't need any antidote,” Y/N laughed, still gasping slightly for breath, “He's awake right? Just need a bar and a few stiff drinks, am I right?”

More than a few,” Dean wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned back in his seat, “How long ‘til we reach the bunker?”

“Good few hours yet,” Sam answered.

“Yeah scratch that,” Dean huffed, “Motel. Bar. Now.”

“You got it!” Y/N slammed on the gas pedal, the open window next to her causing her hair to blow gracefully in the breeze.

Dean couldn't take his eyes off her, mouth slightly agape as he felt his heart thud hard in his chest. He'd kissed her, but he hadn't. He'd felt true comfort and happiness in the Djinn induced coma. Part of him wished he hadn't left it, but it was all an illusion. Now he was stuck with these feelings. This want. Like he'd had a small taste of the finest whiskey ever made, got drunk on one sip, then had the entire bottle taken away. So stupidly, he felt he had to replace it with something sub-par.

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

Y/N sipped at her beer, sat alone in the crowded bar. She positioned herself strategically in a booth that was slightly raised and gave her a clear view of the entire floor. Sam was back at the motel, claiming tiredness after his scuffle with the Djinn. He'd asked her to watch Dean as he was no doubt not fully recovered from the day's events either. Naturally she obliged, it's not like she had her own tiredness to worry about. Yeah she'll happily sit and babysit a clearly traumatised Dean Winchester slutting himself to anything with long legs and tits you could park a bus in between. Heaven forbid she just wants to hit the hay too. Then she remembered going to a bar was her idea in the first place. Damn. “Man it really didn't take you long did it Dean?” she tutted to herself, observing as the green eyed menace slipped his tongue down the throat of the third girl of the evening.

Y/N couldn't help but wonder, what had he seen while he was out cold? She'd never had the pleasure of succumbing to Djinn poison herself, so she could only go on Sam's word. They can make you hallucinate? Drop you in dream worlds or something? Knowing Dean he was no doubt surrounded by a multitude of women with spectacular 'assets' getting up to Lord knows how many sinful acts. Hence the apparent horniness. He really was on fire tonight. Something felt off however. Y/N had noticed him averting eye contact with her, not striking up conversations or asking her to be his wing woman.

A loud smacking noise brought Y/N out of her wondering. Seems girl number two of the night had spotted Dean having fun with girl number three. He'd got himself a good slapping. Y/N couldn't help but chuckle slightly, before sighing and rising from her seat to aid him. “You're such a pig!” lady number two wailed.

“Hey, I thought you'd gone home and bailed on me,” Dean slurred with a shrug.

“I was in the bathroom! I was gone for like five minutes you jerk!”

She raised her arm to aim another slap, for it to be hastily halted as Y/N grabbed the swinging hand.

“And I think we're done here,” Y/N smiled, “Get yourself another drink, Sweetheart. This one here is going home.”

“Who are you?” the girl sneered, “Another one of his skanks?”

“Worse,” Y/N sighed, picking up Dean's half full glass of whiskey and launching the brown liquor down her own throat, “I'm his friend.”

She turned to Dean who once again was avoiding eye contact. He slumped on the bar groaning and rubbing his forehead, drinking the bar nearly dry of whiskey in an hour and a half was too much even for him.

“C'mon Casanova,” Y/N sighed, grabbing his arm to pull him to his feet, “Let's get you back eh?”

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

The bar Dean had chosen for the evening was thankfully a short walk away from the motel. He'd drank too much. Far too much. He wanted to curse himself for how his automatic response to dealing with any emotional confusion or turmoil was to battle through to the bottom of a bottle. His head felt heavy and his limbs were disobeying the orders from his brain. His blow out hadn't achieved the desired effect, like always. He mustered up the courage to finally look at the woman plaguing his mind.

There she was, his arm flung around her shoulders whilst she supported his fumbled walking. He could only picture her in that wedding dress. Her precious Y/E/C eyes and delicate smile still visible through that thin white veil. He wanted to kiss her like he did in that dream. The memories of her imagined touch were so prominent and he wanted to know how the real thing would be. But...it's Y/N. She was too good. Far too clever to drop herself to his level. He was a mess. “Y/N...” he mumbled.

“It speaks!” she cheered, giving him a playful elbow. “You're too good to me,” he shifted his arm to try and support himself, only to stagger and find himself leant on a lamp post.

“Oh shush, c'mon I wanna get back.”

“No Y/N, I mean it...Look at you... you're perfect.”

“Yeah you've definitely had too much,” she laughed uncertainly, “Bed for you.”

As she moved to grab his arm again, Dean couldn't hold it in any longer. He crashed into her. As their lips collided forcefully he clenched his eyes closed and ignored his heart trying to burst through his ribcage. Something was wrong though. She felt rigid and her lips hard as she kept them tightly closed. Two hands pushed at his chest as she shoved him back.

“Are you serious!?” She yelled, eyes wide and gasping, “Can't get yourself a leg over so you try your bullshit moves on me!?”

“N-no...” he stuttered in panic, reaching an arm out to her.

“Get away from me!” she squealed, reaching into her pocket and throwing the motel room key at him, “Take yourself back!”

She turned and stormed away, leaving Dean broken and speechless. Idiot...you fucking idiot…

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

The cold leather of the Impala's back seats were oddly comfortable. Y/N had never believed Sam or Dean when they told her how they'd slept quite peacefully in the car's embrace on numerous occasions. Sure she hadn't slept much, but the couple of hours she had accomplished were certainly pleasant. The boys were so much taller and bulkier than her though, how could they stretch out and obtain comfort when she could only just do it?

She rubbed her eyes, wincing at the blaring sun streaming in through the window. The Impala was far from the reason she only managed one or two hours of slumber. It was that big buffoon, Dean. She couldn't help but feel she may have overreacted the night before but, the fucking cheek of it? They'd been friends for so long. The feelings she'd developed aeons ago were now deeply buried in order to preserve that friendship. He'd never looked at her twice, much preferring his bar wenches. Is that how he saw her? Just another potential lay he'd save for later in the event he'd struck out?

Sure, he'd had a rough time of it that day. Lord only knows what he saw in that Djinn dream, but it was enough for him to avoid looking at her, slut it out in the bar and then try to bed her too. Crazy... if this had happened a few years ago she'd have probably taken him up on the offer, but he was more than that to her now. More than a crush, she couldn't ignore the fact she loved him deeply and would protect him to the end of the Earth. She wasn't just gonna be another notch on his bedpost, whether she liked that or not. “Fuck’s sake...” she grumbled, sitting herself up, “Fucking...men!”

She reached into her pocket to see how much money she had left, hopefully enough to grab them all their usual coffees. That would make amends with Dean for sure, no doubt he needed some strong caffeine this particular morning.

Rather than get out and walk around to get into the driver's seat like a sane person, she decided to try climbing over to it. Not being fully awake, she stumbled clumsily, headbutting the horn making her jump and squeal with a start at the sudden loud noise. With a groan and rub of her forehead, she turned the key in the ignition, the car stereo blaring back on from where it left off yesterday on her tape.

I'll spend the night living in denial. Making paper planes just for a while. Crashed into you. Crashed into you. Did you crash in my imagination too?

A tap on the window made her jump again. She turned and saw Dean there, two take-out coffee cups in hand. Reeling at how on Earth it was possible that he woke up before her, she watched as he opened the door. He sat in the passenger's seat and handed her one of the coffees. As the song continued, Y/N couldn't help but notice Dean smirk, nodding and mouthing along to the lyrcis.

I break a leg and you crush my heart. I'm a mess and you're a work of art.

“Since when do you like my music?” she raised an eyebrow. “You have no idea of the relevance,” he shook his head.

She bit her tongue, taking a sip of her coffee rather than acknowledging the statement.

“Last night...” he started.

“Forget it,” she hastily interjected.

“No listen to me-”

“I don't wanna hear your apologies! You were wasted, I get it, okay?”

“No I meant it. You are too good for me. You really are...perfect.”

“I'm surprised you can even remember what you said with how much you drank.”

Dean laughed briefly, shaking his head, “Yeah...I'm an idiot.”

“Yup!” Y/N confirmed.

“But you're still here right?” he smiled, “Always looking out for me and Sammy. I just...don't understand. I can't put it into words. You are...amazing.”

“Dean,” Y/N shook her head, staring at her coffee, “What the hell is going on with you? You've never shown an inkling of interest in me. Why all this now?”

He sighed, clenching his jaw and closing his eyes for a moment, “Like I said, I'm an idiot. Took a goddamn Djinn to make me realise what I wanted has been in front of me all this time.”

“Dean,” she scoffed, eyes still fixated on her perfect coffee, “Forgive me but you seriously think I'm gonna just sit back and accept this after you tried getting off with numerous women last night?”

“Look at my face and tell me I'm lying to you.”

She complied to his request, expecting that Dean bravado. A cocky smirk or something along those lines. Instead she saw nerves. A Dean Winchester she hadn't seen before. His green orbs bearing his soul as they looked back into her own eyes. They were reddened, like he hadn't slept a wink. His lips slightly pursed as he waited for her response with what seemed like worry, or maybe even fear that she didn't believe him.

She wanted to say something, but words wouldn't come to her. They say actions speak louder don't they? As the wall she'd purposefully built around her own heart crumbled away, she leant forward, lips finding his. They softly crashed into each other.

And I fell for you... and I fell for you...

Tags!

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[sachertortes]

Hi! i love Wintershock, BUT i’d love some Clint/Darcy with Mythical Creatures #3 (if you’re really feeling adventurous, how about Clint/Darcy/Bucky).

@huskiesfan-olicity-wintershock YES GOING THE ADVENTUROUS ROUTE WITH CLINT/DARCY/BUCKY ;) i reworked some teensy things from the prompt but the general idea is still there! I hope you like it - Darcy and her sharpshooter boyfriends, aww

Prompt: Mythical Creatures, #3,  “i keep getting into arguments with one of my classmates about things because they keep saying i’m wrong so i finally scream, ‘how would you know?!?’ and they’re like, ‘because i was THERE!’ and that’s how we all find out that there is a centuries-old vampire taking our British history class”

Pairing: Clint x Darcy x Bucky

Rating: M

Note: There’s vampires, descriptions of blood and blood drinking, etc.

The second Clint notices her, he can feel it. His boyfriend sits up just a little straighter, he stops breathing for a second. Clint was in the middle of telling him about “this sweet new arrow” he’d just customized for himself, but he trails off in the middle of his sentence.

He can’t blame him really.

She’s hard to miss when she walks into their British Art History class, with her long, dark hair, pale skin, and lovely red lips.

Their class is a night class, and every night she’s got a huge travel mug of coffee in her hand.

The professor calls on her often, and her answers are often correct and pretty insightful.

They learn her name.

Darcy.

“You think she’s cute,” Clint teases him one night when they stop by a burger place after class.

He sips at his soda. “Hell yeah.” Then, tentatively, “Don’t you?”

“Yeah, man. She’s fuckin’ gorgeous. And smart as hell. Remember what she said about Greek Mythology and that Waterhouse guy?”

“Well now I know you think she’s cute. You were actually listenin’ tonight.”

Clint chucks a French fry at him, which he picks from his shirt and chews on happily.

He shrugs. “S’okay, Clint. I like her too.”

Clint smirks at him from across the formica table.

One Wednesday night, she walks in and her lips are again a deep shade of red. Almost maroon. Her hair is glossy under the fluorescent light. Clint reaches over to place a hand on his knee.

She’s wearing yoga pants.

He’s got Clint pinned to their couch, shirtless and skin soft and warm.

He palms the blond over the front of his jeans, gently grasping at his hard cock through the fabric. Clint gasps and then retaliates by sucking a mark onto the side of his neck.

“You thinkin’ about her?” Clint growls into his ear. “Thinkin’ about what it’d be like to have her with us? Underneath us?”

“I am now,” he rasps. He nimbly undoes the button to Clint’s pants. “I wanna see her suck you off.”

“Fuck.”

“She won’t know how you like it,” he murmurs into the shell of Clint’s ear and smiles when he feels fingers press into his biceps. “So I’ll have to show her. Maybe we can take turns on ya.”

“Fucking hell,” Clint whimpers and presses himself closer.

There’s not much talking after that.

On Friday night, Darcy is already at her seat when they walk in. He flushes, slightly ashamed of how he and Clint used her image the last time they fucked. He looks over to Clint, and he’s seems a little pink too.

Christ, they’re pathetic.

The lecture begins and they’re doing their usual thing of trying to pay attention but not really.

“You there,” the professor says, pointing straight at Clint. “You in the purple sweatshirt.”

Clint’s head jerks up then he looks behind him. Bucky tries to hide his laughter. As if anyone else in this class wears a purple sweatshirt.

“Why do you think so many members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painted their muses as mythical creatures? Nymphs, goddesses, witches?”

Clint shrugs. “Maybe for accuracy? Maybe they were witches,” he says, and their classmates titter.

“They were not witches,” Darcy declares, turning back to glare at them from her seat in the front.

“Well, how would you know?” Clint asks. “You think a lady is just gonna admit that she’s a witch?”

Bucky groans.

“No, but – ”

“Then they could be witches.”

“They’re not!”

“’Cause you knew them personally, right?” Clint snickers.

“I know because I was there!” Darcy yells back.

The class is silent.

Darcy’s mouth is open in shock. She blinks rapidly for a bit then hurriedly begins shoving her papers and books into her bag. She slams the door shut behind her when she leaves.

Even the professor looks shocked.

The class is uncomfortably silent for a bit until someone makes a comment about “stress during midterms” and everyone chuckles, relieved.

“C’mon, we’re apologizin’,” he whispers to Clint as he gathers up their things to go after her. Clint nods. They sit in the back, so they manage to sneak out just fine.

They find her easily in the parking lot. She’s leaning against the hood of her car while sipping from her tumbler.

She rolls her eyes when she spots them.

“What do you want?” she asks, icily.

“To apologize,” Clint answers, fiddling with the strap of his bag. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I shouldn’t have…needled you like that.”

“He thinks he’s funny sometimes,” Bucky supplies giving her what he hopes is a winsome smile. “But he’s not.” Clint elbows him. “What? Sometimes you’re not that funny!”

Darcy smiles a little looking down at the shoes.

“I’m so sorry. I was an ass today and it won’t happen again,” Clint says, reaching for her coffee. “Let us buy you a coffee? Or, wait, if you don’t want coffee, maybe hot chocolate or something.”

“It’s fine,” Darcy insists, trying to get the plastic tumbler away from Clint.

“No, really please let us –”

“Seriously –”

And then Darcy yanks it back from Clint too hard and the container falls to the ground with a thump.

They all stare at the upended tumbler and thanks to the parking lot lights, its dark red contents spilling thickly onto the asphalt.

It takes a moment for his brain to catch up with his eyes, for his brain to form the word, ‘blood’.

“So…I might have meant it when I said that I was there. In 19th century England. I’m kind of a vampire?” she said.

“Kind of?” Bucky says.

“No. Absolutely. I’m absolutely a vampire.” Darcy sighs, tiredly. Bucky tries not to notice the way she’s still staring hungrily at the spilled…stuff…on the ground. Like she’d crouch down and lick it up if she weren’t in front of company.

“What are you gonna do now? Laugh at me? Refer me to university counseling? Try and drive a stake through my heart?”

“Nothing,” Clint says, with a finality in the word.

“…Nothing?” Darcy asks.

“Yeah. You’re a vampire. We’re human. It’s…fine,” Bucky finds himself saying. He means it.

Darcy blinks at the both of them, a pleased look forming on her face. “Okay.”

Clint tilts his head, leans across their table at the campus Starbucks to whisper, “Where do you get your…blood?��

“I have an arrangement with someone. A volunteer,” Darcy answers, picking at but not eating her slice of lemon pound cake. “No worries, my dude, everything’s 100% consensual.”

“Mirrors,” Bucky asks, while flipping through the pages of the textbook they’re supposed to be studying from. He’s curious and also kind of doesn’t want to be caught off guard when they have to walk past one or something.

“No reflection in mirrors, but I show up in pictures and stuff. I don’t know, it’s weird,” Darcy answers. “And Clint, don’t write in that book, it’s mine!”

“What about sunlight?” Clint asks. Darcy’s at their place again, scrolling through their Netflix. She puts a hell of a lot of cooking competitions onto their Watch List for someone who can’t even eat.

“Hm. Not a fan. Hence all the night classes.”

“Dirt,” Bucky says simply one evening when they’re driving.

“Wow. That’s kind of an obscure one. You got that from Bram Stoker, right?”

“Uhh. Not really,” Bucky confesses. “The 90s movie. With Winona Ryder.”

“Nice choice,” Darcy laughs. “But I don’t need to sleep in my native soil. Sounds like a pain in the ass, actually.”

“I thought you were gonna say pain in the neck,” Clint says from the backseat.

Bucky and Darcy groan in unison. “Bucky, stop this car, we’re making him walk home.“

“Soooo…” Clint trails off.

“Yeah?”

“Can you or can you not turn into a swarm of bats and fly away?”

“Oh my god.”

“So…yes?” Bucky asks.

“No!”

“I…kind of have a problem,” Darcy says when they open their apartment door for her. She looks even paler than usual, ashen even, and she seems unsteady on her feet. They usher her inside and she slumps onto their couch before continuing. “The ‘volunteer’ I told you about? Ian moved back to England like two weeks ago. I’ve been holding off and drinking animal blood since then but…I’m not feeling great, to be honest.”

She looks at them and then away, ashamed. “I know we haven’t known each other too long and I never would even presume to ask otherwise –”

“You can drink from me,” Clint says quickly, and Bucky wants nothing more than to smack him upside the head. They were trying to work out a way to ask Darcy to go with them first, to see if she even wanted to, if she even liked humans. This – this is way too much, too soon.

“Clint,” he rumbles, lowly.

“What? Look at her, she doesn’t look good. No offense, sweetheart.”

Darcy shrugs one shoulder.

Bucky bites the inside of his cheek. “Alright. If you want to.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll need to eat after,” Darcy says, perking up a little. “Lots of iron, vitamins, that sort of thing. For the blood loss.”

Bucky’s on his phone in seconds, googling madly and then mentally putting together something from the meager contents of their kitchen.

“I just want to reassure you that um,” Darcy fiddles with the hair tie on her wrist. “Some of the more traditional vampires, especially the older generations intertwine the whole sex and blood drinking thing. Us younger ones,” she continues as if she wasn’t alive when horse-drawn carriages were a thing. “We don’t really do that anymore, so you don’t have to worry about…” she trails off, sliding a significant glance between he and Clint.

Before he can even formulate a response, (his brain is still stuck on the imagery of sex and blood and Darcy), Clint beats him to it.

“That would be alright, though, if you wanted.”

She looks at them, confused. “If I wanted what?”

“Y’know, um. The sex thing. And…more.”

Darcy blinks owlishly. “Oh! But I thought that you two, aren’t you…?”

“Yes, we are,” Clint explains. “But, uh…” He’s getting pink and he rubs a hand over the back of his neck.

“We’d been planning on askin’ you out,” Bucky finishes for him. “Both of us.”

“Both of you,” Darcy repeats.

“Yeah. But I mean, if you don’t want that –“

“No! Oh my god, I mean yes. Yes, I’d want that too!” Darcy shyly looks up at them, smiling a little and he can’t help but grin back, relief shimmering through him.

And with that, they get started. He’s nervous like he was for his first date with Clint.

“Okay, so, I’m going to drink from your neck. It only hurts for like, a second then you should start feeling…really nice. Kind of woozy and sleepy and happy.” She pauses and waits for Clint to acknowledge that he understands. Clint nods and she continues. “Afterwards, I’ll lick your wound to close it and then you should have a little something to eat and drink. Okay?”

Clint nods again.

“Alright. Umm, how about you sit here in front of the sofa. That way I’m behind you and I’m at the right height.” Darcy begins to tie her hair back.

“Should I stay?” Bucky asks, not sure if he’ll be breaching some sort of etiquette.

“Of course. You can stay if you want. Especially if all three of us are – if we’re going to be…”

“Oh.” Bucky smiles gently. “Then I’m staying.”

Then she leans down to Clint’s neck, and places her mouth over him and begins to drink.

Clint is silent and he begins to worry that he’s hiding his pain until Clint moans. It’s the same exact one he draws from him when he’s got his hand wrapped around his cock.

Darcy looks up and stares at him, through her lashes. He’d never seen her like this before, eyes bright and alert, with her cheeks flushed. He supposes it makes sense that she always seemed only pale and placid - she is a vampire. Her pretty lips are still attached to the curve of his boyfriend’s neck where he can see the slight throbbing of a vein as it pumps blood into Darcy’s mouth.

He doesn’t feel jealous. On the contrary, a soft groan is torn from him when he takes in the sight of Clint baring his throat, of Darcy’s slim fingers threaded into his boyfriend’s hair to hold him still.

When she’s done, when she’s laving over Clint’s neck to close the wounds, he’s not surprised to find that his dick is half-hard.

Still, he goes into the kitchen to prepare a glass of orange juice and a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Clint manages to drink and eat without issue, albeit just a little slowly.

Afterwards, they position Clint into a comfortable position on the couch. Darcy even pulls a blanket over him.

“Hmmmmmm,” Clint says, smiling as his eyes drift shut. “S’real good. Thanks, Darcy. Thanks, Buck.”

Darcy giggles, brushes spiky blond hair off of his forehead and says, “Clint will be out of commission for an hour or two at least.”

She walks over to him, then crowds him until he’s on back on the armchair. There’s a carnal gleam in her eyes when she sits on his lap and straddles him.

He swallows against a dry throat. A drop of red is at the corner of her lips. He reaches up with his thumb and pushes it back into her mouth. Her tongue is still slightly warm from the blood and he can’t hold back a noise from the back of his throat when she sucks on finger so hard her cheeks hollow.

She releases his thumb, and murmurs, “Any ideas for what we can do while we wait?”

[allywrites360]

Fanfiction Commentary

I’ve seen some people do this is the past, and I thought I’d give it a shot!! So here’s some context/backstory/analyses of my writing! I’ll only be including pieces written over quarantine; starting on march 29th. A lot of these talk about more ideas to expand one shots, so you can always send me an ask if you wanna hear more!!

Calm in the Storm - Inspired by this beautiful piece of fan art by one of my friends. I wrote it as a surprise while we were talking.

Reunited - This was a piece that was originally intended to be the ending of an entire work made up of letter between Cass and Varian. I’d been wanting to write it since the show’s finale, but since I’ve never done a story outside of the more traditional style, I just stuck with this one shot.

City Sounds - Written just after a thunder storm near where I live; and mostly inspired by that.

In this passage, “His vision finally coming into focus, Race was facing the freshly burnt out candle from the night before, topped by a trail of smoke curling up into the early morning air of the lodgehouse until it disappeared. Laying there in the sky’s soft light, Race couldn't help but smile, despite the lack of sleep from the night before. It wasn't often the newsies talked about nights like those, but he knew they meant as much to him as they did his brothers,” the candle is meant to be a metaphor for these brothers creating light for one another, hope, when there seems to be none.

Weightless - Written when I was in the car outside the grocery store. Proof that writing can take place anywhere, if you’re dedicated to making time for it.

Painted Skies - I let this piece be led entirely by emotion rather than a set outcome. I always compared Sokka and Suki’s relationship to the sun; passionate and filled with light, and this was my representation of that.

There was a cut piece of dialogue from this, which I really loved: “Kyoshi Island is my home,” Suki said softly, “And the South Pole is yours. It isn’t fair for either of us to give that up.” -- Sokka smiled softly in response, “But you’re my home too.”

The Game Begins - One of my friends requested I write Zuko, and another mentioned laser tag, and thus, this fic was born. I typed out most of the outline for this fic on a walk to my friend’s house (and yes, I was late, haha). The end is also inspired by conversations my friends and I have had at arcades in the past; 

Hold Me Too Tight - Not really ‘behind the scenes’ per se, but the title is taken from ‘As Long As You’re Mine’ from Wicked. One of the most endearing things in a relationship for me is when one person knows there’s nothing they can say to make the other person feel better, but they support them anyway. And that’s especially reminded me of Sukka; just look at The Boiling Rock.

Fountains - I’d never written for Jin before, nor do I really ship her with Zuko (they were cute, but honestly, single dad Zuko for the win), but my friend really wanted some content of them, so I obliged. Which meant rewatching Tales of Ba Sing Se, and making a list of Jin’s character traits. It was actually kinda fun.

A Million Miles Away - This is definitely part of a longer fic. I have a whole notebook filled, just with rough outlines and details. I was watching another cheesy royalty movie, and while I love royalty stories, I always hated the conventional ending. Royal doesn't want to be a royal, has an arc, then takes the throne. And I wanted a different ending. What if they’re not right for the throne? What if they just can’t take the pressure? What if they run and never look back? And thus, this fic was born. Super passionate about this one.

Summer Nights - This is the longest fic I’ve written so far!! And wow, was it fun. This started out as an idea for a screenplay, but after a day at the lake with my friends, I couldn’t resist writing it out in full, specifically the opening scene with Suki by the ocean. There were a few things I liked/challenged myself with in this fic; the first being ample foreshadowing for Suki’s big reveal at the end, hopefully without making it too obvious. The other was using less page breaks and adding transitions!! I had a lot of fun with the fluff here.

Quiet Nights - Character studying as a fic. And a bit of angst. After so long spent together, I always imagined it’d be hard for the gaang to be alone again. I really loved delving into Sokka’s emotions here. Also, the writing advice to only put in to the frame of your story what tells us something about a character was actually used here!!

“He looked around the room that he had spent so long away from, every detail of it committed to memory. There was the dresser, crafted from long worn wood, that he had carved Water Tribe symbols into years ago that he could trace easily in his mind. The facepaints his dad had made him lay on top of it, and he could tell without walking over there which container held which colour. There was the place he always threw his coat into the corner, never really bothering to hang it up. So why did it feel so strange… unfamiliar now?” The carving shows Sokka’s creative side (as well as more Indigenous crafts), the face paint is symbolic of Sokka trying to live up to the other warriors, and the thrown aside coat shows his more carefree side.

Secret Moments - Another Jin and Zuko fic. My friend asked for a sequel to Fountains, and she had a bad day, so I typed this out really quickly.

Walking in the Rain - I was listening to ‘Walking in the Rain’ from Beautiful: the Carole King Musical, and I got really inspired to write this. I’ve always loved rain; it’s my favourite weather, and I thought it’d be nice to see more positive descriptions of it in fanfics.

Grounded - Rather than the long, flowery prose I usually prefer, I intentionally used short, choppy sentences to convey the spiralling emotion they were feeling. I also used repetition to hammer home the tension, as that’s something that happens when you’re panicking. The emotions here were amazing to write, though. And I was really proud of the ending.

Falling Snow - I’ve been planning this fic since Christmas, yet I finally decided to write it in August. One thing that I purposely did in this fic was juxtapose Suki’s description of the cafe. at first, it’s too hot, and crowded, but after she settles in a bit, and meets everyone’s favourite sword bender, it’s more cozy.

Unfamiliar - This was my first time doing a character study of Suki, and let me tell you, I love her so much more now. I loved exploring her emotions outside of her relationship as well. And I always imagined her as the type to not ‘waste her time’ on someone who wasn’t her soulmate, hence the sentiment ending the first half of the story.

As for the latter half, entering around Sokka, I had always had the head canon that he kept the Kyoshi Warrior face paint on until sundown, holding on to the last fragment of that place as long as he could. Just added a little soulmate flair to it. And also, the parallel of him and Suki both knowing the pressure of being a leader is always amazing.

I’ll See You Around - I’ve always said Hugo is (one of) my favourite characters of all time, but I only now got around to writing him. And let me tell you, it was a blast. Normally it takes me a while to jump into a character’s body language, but for Hugo, it just flowed naturally. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent so much time reading him.

I’d also listened to ‘My Petersburg’ from Anastasia, which is such a Hugo song, by the way, and I think I was subconsciously inspired by the lyric, “Funny when a city is all you know, how even when you hate it, something in you loves it so.”

Home is Where the Heart Is - I wanted to try a different proposal for Sukka Week 2020, and I always imagined them to get married (or at least engaged) soon after the show, so I typed this up. Their relationship is what true love looks like, and I think they both know that the other is it for them. Why wait? Plus, getting married is one of the only ways for them to be together (paraphrased from an interview with Kara Lindsay).

Partners - I was watching Brooklyn Nine Nine, and made a comment about Sukka being pretty similar to Amy and Jake, and decided to type up a rendition of the ending scene from The Bet, but with these two. The ending doesn’t make total sense logically, but it was exciting/interesting to me, so I decided to just go with it.

Closed Distance - Rather than a serious piece for the prompt, ‘Letters’, I opted for the more comedic route. With an angsty characters study of Suki at the beginning, because I’ve fallen in love with her character all over again.

Always Come Back - (Sorry guys, no link yet. It’ll be up September 3rd for Water Sibling Week!!). After a post talking about the symbolism of Sokka’s weapon being a boomerang; something that always came back, when he was left behind more than once, I decided to set this whole fic around that metaphor, including these passages; 

“The weapon came back, but this time Sokka didn’t catch it. It slammed against the tips of his fingers before slipping through, landing beside him on the small cliff. He drew his wrist back, hissing slightly as he shook it out, impact echoing through his arm.”

“He put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to his side. Katara moved her head to rest against his shoulder. Without saying a word, she picked up his boomerang, setting it back into his hand.”

Symbolic of Sokka allowing someone else to take on the role of ‘protector’, if only for a moment. And someone helping by ‘coming back’, when maybe he couldn't make it all the way himself. (Would’ve loved the ending to involve Suki, but I was writing for the water sibling event week, so this ending’ll do).

[mypoorfaves]

Positivity Post! :D

Okay so this here is a (freaking long) list of blogs and people that I love, both within my community and outside. Although I understand a lot of people in said community want to remain as anonymous as possible so I’m putting all of the more…um…niche blogs…under the cut! Please enjoy my contribution to this spread of positivity brought about by @wiseinnerwhispers!

@12thdoctorwhomst: You are a great friend. To say so is an understatement. You’re actually one of my best friends. Thanks for always being there :)

@berks-dragon-trainer: We don’t talk much but in see you in my notifs a lot. Also wanna say I’m proud of you for working hard and getting into shape! That takes serious dedication and I wish I could do that myself.

@sellsoulstome: Your space aesthetic is…well, aesthetic! Very calming and I love it so much! I’m sorry life sucks sometimes, but your space children always love and support you :)

@katsukipanya: You are one of my favourite blogs that I’ve had the pleasure of discovering! I can’t get over how CUTE of an idea you bakery AU is! It’s so original and I can’t wait until you get super popular because that WILL happen! I can feel it! I eagerly await each new post from you!

@alexadooodle: Your doodles are so freaking amazing and your content is so creative! I’m sorry idiots have to gall to steal your art. I would actually slap them across the face if I could, I stg. I love our talks and wish nothing but the best for you in life. Keep on fighting, I believe in you :)

@iruutciv: Your Victuuri kissing gifs and art are quite possibly one of the most beautiful things to ever bless this fandom! I love fangirling about yoi with you! Also thanks for introducing me to the beauty that is victuuri smut!

@makeroomfornyoom: Thank you for making my icon! I love it! I also love our chats on discord! I still need to get in Final Fantasy so we can fangirl/fanboy about it together!

@joey-wingster: Thanks for sending me asks, and also for posting that fanfic and gifting it to me! And also saying my writing style is cute! Just so much love for you! Thanks so much!

～～～

@feverflushed: My first and best tumblr friend, and also now my pen-pal! Thanks for being the first person to talk to me in this community. You really encouraged me to open up and talk to more people. My blog and life here on tumblr honestly wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for you. So thank you. I love our convos! Also thanks for always being my first set of eyes for all of my fics!

@whoareurl: Your writing is amazing! You are quite possibly my fave yoi sickfic writer. All of your descriptions are so vivid and perfect! So immersive, like you can really feel what the characters are feeling. I love seeing you on my dash!

@kittensnz / @kotyonoksnz: Your art is freaking amazing! We are blessed as a yoi fandom and especially as a sickblr fandom to have your talent among us. Also you’re just such a great person to talk to! I love seeing your art on my dash. I can’t even put it into words how skilled you are. Like it was either your sick Victor or your Yuuritto comics that originally led me to the sickblr community in the first place. So thank you so much for that. This community is honestly the best thing to have happened to me, and I have you to thank for helping me discover it.

@my-so-called-trash-blog: I love your yoi fics! I used to re-read them constantly while I was still a lurker lol. (I still do re-read them a lot now too!) Just amazing stuff!

@nnatto: Another blog I used to lurk on! I may not be into sneeze, but your yoi fics are still amazing! I am still not over You Know I Can’t Let That Happen. Thanks for always doing a great job on the drabble prompts I and everyone else send in, thanks for helping me out with that one sick Victor fic I wrote for sickdays 3.0, and thanks for many fun chats on discord! Also your tags when you reblog my fics always make me super duper happy! I look forward to running our contagion event together!

@graceless-fever: Oh man your prompt for fevered Yuuri crying when Yurio snaps at him in his usual Yurio way; I’m still so in love with that prompt. The fic that came from that scenario is by far my most popular fic so I have you to thank for helping bring the idea into existence. All of your prompts, and your fics, are all so good!

@dont-look-so-good: We don’t talk too much but I see you a lot on my dash. You’re a cool person! I’m sorry you had to deal with that drama and I hope it’s resolved now!

@illnessandinjury: Your blog is great, you’re such a sweet person and also hella cute! My poor bi heart can hardly handle it!

@ya-nurse: Another blog I don’t talk to much, but you draw SUCH CUTE DOODLES OMG! Also thanks for always congratulating me on my milestones!

@like-me-a-little-whump: Ayee you post such great whump stuff! Keep it up!

@hothedgie: Thanks for talking to me that one time forever ago when I couldn’t sleep. It meant (still does mean) the world to me. That aside, your prompts always wind up creating some of my fave fics so thanks for that!

@taylor-tut: Omg there’s so much to say. I’m not super into Voltron tbh but the influence you have on the Voltron whump community is astounding. You take such good care of your space-sewer-beef-lump-yeet children. You write such great fics and I love how you’re always willing to take birthday fics and always reblog people’s fics to boost them. Also I love the stories you share from work. You’re just an adorable and hella cute ball of sunshine and I’m so glad to be your friend!

@feverhalo: My lovely plant friend! One of my first tumblr friends! We bonded over plants and we screamed about yoi after I brought you over to the Gay Side. I’m still unspeakably flattered that me writing a fic managed to convince you to start watching!! It’s such an unbelievable honour and just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that my writing has that kind of influence. I’m so glad we’re friends!

@sitruksista: I love your yoi fics and I love our chats on the yoi whump discord! You’re awesome!

@docjamie: Thanks so much for all of the art you always draw! Especially my requests! Also thanks for talking to me that one time I couldn’t sleep. It means a lot. I enjoy our talks a lot! I’m looking forward to doing that collab-thing (whenever we get around to it lol)!

@fluffyllamas22: Yet another amazing friend who helped keep me sane when I couldn’t sleep. And from there we easily became such good friends! You’re such a ball of happiness and just so easy to talk to. Your writing is great and it keeps getting better, whether it’s yoi or voltron, or your oc’s! You just always seem so positive and I constantly see you in the inboxes of people on my dash (and also in my inbox too)! You’re just an absolute joy to consider a friend! Also I love our chats on discord!

@just-another-sickfic-blog: Another one of my first tumblr friends! Such a joy to talk to! Thanks for always beta-ing my stuff, and also for letting my beta some of your fics too! I know we have fallen a bit out of touch lately but I still consider you one of my closest friends on here and I hope you are doing well!

@the-whump-sidelines: Oh man we clicked instantly! Our talk, well talks, just discussing fevers. Absolutely perfect! You post some freaking amazing prompts and I’m so glad to hear you like my fics even if you haven’t seen yoi. If you ever wanna fanfgirl about fevers, my inbox is always open!

@sneezehq: Bunny you are so amazing! I love your posts about your horses and also just your life in general! I love your fics and I love how you are always in my notifs and always say the nicest things about the stuff you reblog! Keep being awesome!

@fevers-and-flus and flus: You have good prompts/fics and i see you in my notifs a lot, so thanks for that!

@bigbadsnez: Okay I don’t have a sneeze kink but your yoi fics are AMAZING! Like holy moly wow I’m in love!

@whumpapedia: Holy crap bless this blog and this incredible resource! For those of you who don’t know, this blog contains a database of all tv shows, video games, anime, music videos, etc that contain whump! It is far from complete, so if you lovely people have unlisted content, please let the mods know so they can add it!

@blessyoy-2u: Your art is amazing and thank you for the prompt that led to Gold is Cold! It’s one of my personal fave fics that I’ve written! Keep being awesome! Also I see you a lot in my notifs so thanks for that!

@snifflesnuff: YOU are amazing! A truly wonderful human being! I see you in my notifs ALL of the time! And you always scream in the tags when you reblog my stuff and it warms my heart in a way that I could not even begin to put into words, so thank you!!

@tsunderekushami: I love our chats and I love your oc’s! We need to talk more! I promise you won’t be bothering me if you message me! I’m just a mix of busy and forgetful lol.

@emeraldthread: I love talking to you! Your fics are great! And you always seem like such a ball of sunshine and positivity! Thanks for always liking and reblogging my stuff!

@siktornikiforov: Your yoi fics are great and I love your prompts and posts!

@sweetwhump: Okay I know you haven’t really set up your whump blog yet BUT SWEETV YOUR PROMPTS IN THE YOI WHUMP DISCORD END ME EACH AND EVERY TIME! AND I AM STILL NOT OVER YOUR FIC YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS! I look forward to interacting with your blog lots more!

@ambulancemcclain: You are freaking amazing! And I love it when you scream in the tags in response to my stuff. You are probably my most loud screamer lol. Thank you for that!

@wiseinnerwhispers: For the freaking amazing ficlet you submitted *fans self and tries not to faint from remembering* Also this amazing trend of positivity you’re spreading!

@toosicktoocare: We don’t talk but I really enjoy your stuff! Your fics in particular are great! Keep being awesome!

～

The following are people I don’t talk to much, but I see you lot in my inbox and/or notifs and it makes me super happy!

@nightswithoutcontrol, @totallyexhausted, @pie-for-everyone, @qbswhumpsideblog, @sniffleprincess, @seventeen-pennies, @babydollbucky, @katyaton, @thesassygrandmaster, @following-follower, @nightwalker6200, @kaycee003, @damenemo, @beloved-whumpage, @whump-dump, @tippysf

[simplemlmsponsoring]

New Post has been published on https://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/copywriting/i-tried-writing-facebook-ads-even-i-didnt-expect-what-i-found/

I tried writing Facebook ads. Even I didn’t expect what I found.

Let me start with the bad news: with Facebook, images matter more than copy.  

Images are everything in Facebook ads.

Consumer Acquisition found that images are so important, they’re responsible for some 75 to 90% of an ad’s performance. Because of this, Consumer Acquisition recommends that – before you think about optimizing your ad copy – you first test 10 to 15 images, keeping the copy the same across all variations.

In fact, copy is so pitifully unimportant in Facebook ads (compared to how important it is everywhere else, especially in AdWords) that Facebook recommends de-prioritizing copy. Here’s the order of operations they suggest:

Identify your business goal Identify your audience Choose a topic Choose an image Write your copy <– way down at the bottom of the list

To be fair, you should start every marketing initiative – not just Facebook ads – with steps 1 and 2 above. If you write Google ads, you’re probably also used to step 3.

So it’s really only the introduction of step 4 into the mix that makes a Facebook ad a rather different beast. Or does it? Is the seemingly new focus on the image in FB ads any different from every other ad on the planet… except Google ads? Perhaps Google ads are the different beast. Perhaps Facebook ads are rather similar to what we’ve seen for decades in modern advertising.

Consider a pretty typical print ad for shoes:

Now consider an AdWords ad for shoes:

And a Facebook ad for shoes:

Are Facebook ads more like print ads than we give them credit for?

Your eye goes to the image in both a print ad and a Facebook ad. Their general composition is similar, with copy and art present. Both can be used to attract prospects at every stage, from unaware to coupon-shopping. So perhaps we can say that writing Facebook ads is a lot like writing print ads. At least, it may be more like writing a print ad than it is like writing an ad that will show up on the SERPs.

But here’s the thing: In print ads, copy and art work together. If you’ve ever worked in an agency or a creative department – and I’ve paid my dues in both – you know that copy generally leads art, in a harmonious way. That is, to generate ad campaign concepts:

Copywriters and designers get in a room to brainstorm, after which The copywriters head off to flesh out concepts with taglines and higher-level copy, scrapping the weaker ideas as they go. This leads to The copywriters sharing their fleshed-out concepts with art, which then works to bring the concept to life visually.

That’s the basic creative process to create ads like:

On the other hand…

In Facebook ads, the rule of thumb is for marketers to focus on the image. It’s not about copy and design working together. The image is the most important thing. In fact, it would be like pulling teeth to get FB marketers today to imagine even testing an ad that didn’t lead with a big ol’ image.

Compare that to print ads. A print ad does not always require an image. The message drives the ad. If an image isn’t necessary to express that message, then there is no image:

But a Facebook ad is doomed sans image.

Also unlike print ads, Facebook ads:

Live in a social space, where shares, likes and pics of friends pepper each ad Include clickable calls to action Can be commented on Can be tested with great ease, low cost and relatively strong reliability Can be highly targeted

So a Facebook ad isn’t like a print ad.

It isn’t like a Google ad, either.

That’s why we need this beginner’s guide to writing Facebook ads – because the old copywriting rules may not apply in the same way.

Let’s start with a point you may already be very familiar with:

When Writing Facebooks Ads, Place Key Messages on Your Ad Images We want to put the important messages where they’ll be seen.

So if all eyeballs are on your image, then it only makes sense to put key messages on said image, like Merchology does:

This is the sort of thing that might excite many a direct-response copywriter. But before you go loading up your Facebook ad image with copy, know this: Facebook won’t allow you to publish / use an image where copy takes up more than 20% of it. In their own words:

Facebook prefers ad images with little or no text, because images with a lot of text may create a lower-quality experience for people on Facebook.

“Text” includes text you’ve overlaid on an image as well as text-based logos, watermarks and even text in your video’s thumbnail images.

Where you place your copy on the image also matters. That’s because, as of the time of this writing, Facebook uses a grid overlay when approving your image. According to Jon Loomer, if your text falls over the gridlines, Facebook may misread your image as text-packed when in fact it meets the 20% rule. Check out Loomer’s example:

So save yourself some frustration and test your images with this rather handy tool before submitting your ad and angering the approval gods.

To make it easier for busy readers to consume that tiny bit o’ text on your image, Contently’s Content Strategist suggests you feature just one product in the image or use a plain, white or blurred image background. The image itself needs to pass Facebook’s guidelines, which include accurately reflecting the product and – to the great sadness of many a weightloss biz – no before-and-after shots.

Now, what copy actually goes on your ad image?

SEMrush recommends focusing on the one message that is most likely to appeal to readers. But that begs the question: Who are my readers? Facebook’s targeting tools make it easy to go as granular as you’d like with your audience (although these smart folks recommend against going too narrow). But for the purposes of this post, let’s break readers or prospects up into TOFU (top of funnel) and BOFU (bottom of funnel).

A TOFU ad is trying to turn a Facebook user into a lead. This might mean setting a goal of a like, download or click.

A BOFU ad is trying to turn a Facebook user into a paying or returning customer. This might mean setting a goal of an account creation or sale.

So an on-image message that might appeal to TOFU readers will intro the brand or speak to the product’s value prop. Like this:

And BOFU on-image copy should prompt the sale – which scarcity, urgency and incentives are great for. Like this:

What you’ll notice, if you compare the two ads above, is that the on-image copy is reflected in the ad’s body copy. This is by design – it’s a better practice you should follow with your ads.

You might also notice that on-image copy is very succinct. After testing 100,000 Facebook ads, Consumer Acquisition found that on-image copy must be “short and snappy.” They also found that copy tends to perform best when it’s in a horizontal or vertical copy bar, with a background color behind it to increase contrast against the image itself.

Both TOFU and BOFU can benefit from on-image CTAs, which can invite more clicks (because people love clickin’ those bu’ons). Keep in mind that the goal of the button is to drive clicks, so make sure it looks like a big, juicy, click-worthy button. Like so:

My friend Gavin Helm-Smith (a stellar copywriter at Agora in Australia) has written every kind of Facebook ad you can imagine a thousand times over. Here’s what he says about the copy that should go in an image:

So I always integrate my headline into the image because if Facebook users are gonna stop and look at the image first, the copy will get them to click. The headline in the image is usually the same message as the body headline, but it’s longer.

I don’t worry so much about the 20% rule – it’s gone in Australia – but what will happen is if you have too much text in the image, your reach is throttled, even if you’re bidding high. Facebook doesn’t want complete text ads. But they’re giving the advertiser a little more freedom on how much text they have in there. (This is very new.) Even still, try to stick to the 20% rule when adding your headline copy.

Another advantage of putting the headline in the image is you can go above their character limits for body copy. You can write longer headlines than in the power editor.

In my research, I couldn’t find any tested better practices in copy placement, aside from Jon Loomer’s piece about the FB image grid. That most certainly has a lot to do with the fact that Facebook offers a lot of ad types, each with their own image specs. That said, if you’re in the market for a Facebook ad image template you can write on effectively, try Canva’s ad templates and use this guide by AdEspresso to choose the right template for your ad.

BONUS FROM GAVIN: Create your next ad using slides, and tell a story across each of the slides using on-image copy. This lets you better intrigue and convince your prospect without relying too heavily on the body copy.

The Essentials of Writing Facebook Ad Copy In a webinar hosted by Bounce Exchange, this is the visual hierarchy presented by a company that tested millions of impressions and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars: Image Main headline Main copy Secondary copy (top copy) Call to action

As helpful as that list is, it leaves out one critical component of any great ad: the offer. Unless you’re going for brand impressions alone, your offer is going to make or break your ad.

What are you offering your reader? It has to be good. No, it has to be great. No, they have to think it’s f***ing phenomenal. Yes, that’s a lofty goal. Yes, we should set lofty goals for our copy. That’s what separates a good copywriter from one you never wanna let go of. After all, the image may capture attention – but it’s the copy that closes people.

So make your offer outstanding. Use the “3D” approach I talk about here to see and show your offer from the angles your prospect needs you to show ’em

K, so, we’ve already tackled what and how to write copy for the image.

Now let’s get into the part where it’s just you, the FB ad interface and your keyboard.

This is actually the fun part. (In spite of what the decidedly business-y Facebook ads interface would have you believe.)

No matter what type of ad you’re writing, every beginner has basically got these fields to work with:

You can click to expand the Advanced options, which is where you’ll find the copy to write for the Newsfeed:

Each field has a certain character limit or consideration. But these vary and change. So get the most up-to-date guidelines here

Now, where it gets fun is when you actually start filling those fields in and watching the auto-preview change. I challenge any copy geek to find this part boring. The instant gratification is so… instant. And gratifying.

But you can’t actually see your copy preview as an ad until you’ve got an image in place.

So what I like to do is just use a Facebook-provided stock photo as a placeholder. That way I can keep tweaking the copy and seeing how it looks – without worrying about O Great and Mighty Image. This is an early draft of the ad for the checklist I’m giving away with this very post, placeholder in place:

At the same time I’m filling out those fields, I’m imagining my headline on the image and asking myself what I should do differently with the headline once it’s on the image so it works extra-hard.

Which brings us to the most obvious part of writing Facebook ads: better practices for filling those text fields with attention-grabbing and -holding copy. First headlines, then “text”, then link descriptions.

How to Write Your FB Ad Headline: 10 quick tips and 1 advanced one

Let me get these 10 quickies out of the way before we get into the good stuff.

When you’re writing a headline for your Facebook ad:

Write for the click. Your ad headline should be a CTA all of its own. Basically, make the first word the imperative form of a verb. Connect “what” with “why.” State what to do – and then say why. What’s the benefit or outcome of acting? Focus on a single, specific thought. People can’t save time and money. They can save time. Or they can save money. Simplify. Use numerals and special characters. We need to draw the eye. So people won’t save a thousand bucks. They can save $1000. Show empathy. The more you’re in their head, the more you’re in their head. Use “new.” Nothing puts an itch in people like the word “new.” Keep it short. As much as this pains me to write, it’s true: AdEspresso found that a max of 5 words is best for FB ad headlines.

In many cases, you may also want to:

Ask an immediately relevant question. Just be sure to follow these rules Mention the offer, including any incentives. That could be free shipping for BOFU or a downloadable ebook for TOFU. Make a promise. But back it up, either in the ad or on the landing page. Facebook has rules, y’know.

All of the above 10 points can make for killer starter copy. As can the complete list of headline formulas here >

Now let’s make that copy even better.

This is a beginner’s guide, so I’m not gonna go nuts with advanced copywriting tips. But here’s a sweet-a$$ one that can make for really great copy testing…

Test 5-Foot Benefits vs 5-Mile Benefits

Kim Garst, AdEspresso and others recommend stating a benefit in your ad copy.

Every feature, product or service worth writing an ad about has benefits for the end user. To find the benefit of an offer – the core of an ad – copywriters commonly answer this question:

How will my reader’s life be improved by this offer? 

The answers vary and are easily divided into:

5-foot benefits. These benefits are so close, they’re within reach. You’ll realize them almost as soon as you take the offer. 5-mile benefits. These benefits are life-changingly amazing… and, accordingly, they take a while to realize.

Sometimes “save money now” works better than “turn heads at the beach.” Other times, it doesn’t. So test away.

A 5-foot benefit: Connect with an expert

A 5-mile benefit: Profit from real estate

How to Write Your FB Ad “Text” (In 90 characters or fewer)

We call text “copy.” Facebook doesn’t. #sigh

The text area ends up right under your name and pic in the ad. For every ad objective, Facebook recommends you use no more than 90 characters of text; the platform will often truncate text for smaller screens, even if you’ve written fewer than 90 characters. So be sure to use the ad preview when writing. For best results, try to stick to 40 characters – that’s the sweet spot Contently’s identified.

One of the most important principles to keep in mind when writing your Facebook ad body copy is this: give your body copy a single goal, and stick to it.

(I spoke about the One Job Principle here, and I later wrote about it here.)

Your ad’s body copy has to move the prospect to click the CTA. That’s its job.

Sometimes doing that job takes a lot of copy:

Sometimes it takes almost nothing at all:

Writing body copy is the hardest part of writing copy. Period.

Everything about the success of your body copy hinges on a single thing: your hook. To find your hook, you need to know exactly for whom you’re writing the ad… and what they care about. Because the goal of the hook is this: make me care.

Make. Me. Care.

With that in mind, here are some easier ways to find your hook (instead of staring at the screen and wondering how to “make me care”):

Pick a fight. Start your text / body copy by saying the opposite of what people believe to be true. Disrupt expectations by changing a cliche. The hook for ad about a hairstyle tutorial: Drastic times call for drastic bangs. Help them imagine, “What if?” What if you had your competitors’ keywords at your fingertips? Cite a previously unknown study. This hook naturally requires some work – but did you know that 98.4% of all work is worth it? Kill something off. Crop-tops are dead. Revive something. Drop shadows are back. Use a known quote, without “quotes.” Say hello to my little friend: Tamagotchi for iPhone 6. Change a known quote, without “quotes.” It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of good fortune treats herself to a Porsche. Make a confession. You’re not gonna like me for this, but…

Should you happen to know I already care about, say, who you are, your name can also act as a hook:

Once you’ve found your hook, your job becomes moving your prospect from the hook through the path you’re creating en route to the CTA.

That’s the job of every other word you write in the text field.

So if you’re gonna stick to the 40-char or 90-char rule… you haven’t got much room. Which means your hook has to haul ass toward the CTA. Which may only make sense to me. Nonetheless, there’s really no other way to describe it: move your prospect from A: Headline to B: CTA using a strong hook and persuasive, intentional, succinct “text” copy. Hey, nobody said this’d be easy. It’s the hard, non-formulaic stuff that makes copywriting fun, isn’t it?

But maybe right about now you’re thinking, I’ll just write longer copy. Well I happened to pass the same idea by Gavin Helm-Smith, and here’s what he told me:

If you’re gonna send your prospect to a landing page, short copy is a good default. Short. Sell the click honestly. Then do the heavy lifting on the landing page.

But if you want them to convert on the ad, it can help to go longer. I use the 4 Ps formula to tell a bit of a story. I was working with a client selling photography packages on a discount. Short copy sold them okay, but it was far too focused on the offer, not the benefit. When I introduced a story that tapped into nostalgia, that skyrocketed the ad.

How to Write Your FB Ad’s News Feed Link Description

We’ve reached that point in the FB ad copywriting experience where we can address this little oddity:

When you write a Facebook ad, the text copy and the headline copy are split up on the most popular ads: Desktop News Feed ads.

The reason for said oddity surely has plenty to do with Facebook’s ad platform history. I’ve been writing Facebook ads on and off for the last 5 years. If you’ll recall those ancient days of 2011, all Facebook ads happened in the right column. There was no “news feed link description.” …And right-column ads performed abysmally. Gavin Helm-Smith has seen newsfeed ads outperform right-column ads by as much as 9x.

Today, of course, ads appear throughout Facebook news feeds. And when you’re writing ads that are going to appear in a news feed, you need your “News Feed Link description” to work with your headline. That doesn’t mean they have to, like, match each other… But they can actually work together in a very cool way, like so:

In that example, the news feed link description doesn’t need to appear for the ad to work. But when it does appear – like in a news feed instead of the right column – it plays on the headline.

Writing your news feed link description is a lot like writing the “text” copy. So all the same rules about hooks are at play here, too. The greatness of this extra copy space is, of course, that you’ve now got more room to move your prospect from A to B. Sometimes that simply means repeating and expanding on what your “text” copy expressed, like Betabrand does:

As we wrap up this beginner’s guide, it’s worth mentioning: make sure every claim you make in your ad is supported on your landing page.

As Gavin Helm-Smith tells me:

On landing pages, if you make a monetary claim but you don’t support that with proof, you’re in trouble. For example, if you’re writing for “work from home” people, you want to give a specific claim like “Make $700 per month by working from home” and you want your reader to download the book to get the tips for working from home. But Facebook doesn’t want that. Facebook wants you to tell them how on the landing page itself.

The Facebook Ad Copywriting Checklist

I started with the bad news.

Now here’s the good news: I’ve made checklists for you! Use them for your next Facebook ad campaign.

PLUS! There’s even a bonus checklist for optimizing your Facebook ad copy. It’s everything you’ll need to write good Facebook ads and make ’em even better.

Checklist for placing copy on images:

Repeat your headline in the image, but expand on it OR use a very short, appealing message Place copy in a horizontal or vertical bar with a high-contrast background Include a juicy, eye-catching CTA Be careful not to let copy take up more than 20% of your image Put copy on an image “about” 1 thing OR use a plain background Use Facebook’s image tester before submitting an image Repeat on-image copy in the ad’s body copy

Checklist for writing Facebook ad headlines:

Make the headline a CTA Keep it to 5 words Add a benefit to the headline Test 5-mile vs 5-foot benefits Keep it simple – focus on 1 thing Attract eyeballs with appropriate special characters Be empathetic – any pains you’re solving are real pains If it’s new, say so Ask a question that’ll bring in the answer you want Mention the offer (plus incentives!) Make a promise within reason

Checklist for writing Facebook “text” copy:

Open with a strong hook Keep it under 40 characters – max 90 Quickly move the prospect from the headline to the CTA

Checklist for news feed link description:

Make the description work with your headline Repeat, clarify or expand on the offer expressed in other copy

Checklist for optimizing your Facebook ad copy:

Add text to your videos, which autoplay on mute in the newsfeed Use these magic words: You, Free, Because, Instantly Use urgency to nudge the click (which is harder to get than you’d think) Choose “learn more”, “sign up” or “shop now” as your CTA Try short, fragmented sentences that feel like a friend would post Drive to a targeted landing page made just for your ad Make it easier to consume content by varying font sizes in your on-image copy If people know and like your brand, incorporate your brand in on-image copy Keep the same image and headline on your landing page that you used in the ad Take the copy from your landing page and put it in 5 or 6 slides, which FB converts to video (which gets prioritized in the newsfeed)

Big ol’ thanks to Gavin Helm-Smith for all his insights into optimizing Facebook ad copy.

~jo

The post I tried writing Facebook ads. Even I didn’t expect what I found. appeared first on Copywriting for startups and marketers.

Read more: copyhackers.com

[thatvideogamezoo]

Introduction of ThatZooooooooo

I like to repost this at the beginning of every month because I get some new followers with a frequency. It helps new people get to know me a little better. So if you’re interested, click the break below to find out more about me.

(Break for length, click if you want to find out more about me)

I am the one known as ThatZooooooooo across the internets. My blog is named ThatVideoGameZoo because somebody gave me the idea for a catchy blog name and I couldn’t pass it up.

And before we get into it, I will tell you some personal details about myself to help you identify me. I have this all publicly on my profiles on other places, no harm putting them here.

My real name is Douglas Carter, born on August 20, 1993. I currently live on the east coast of the United States of America, in the state of Pennsylvania, in the town of Waynesboro. I am currently a student at The Pennsylvania State University at the Mont Alto campus, working towards a degree in IST.

So yeah, there’s that I guess if you’re interested. Now on to the actual profile.

I like video games and video game accessories, I tell ya what.

You will see me talk about video games a lot, and I have a tendency to post a lot of music from video games, because I just really like listening to them. I also like to link to video game related videos like LPs or Speedruns or other nonsense periodically. I sometimes like to post screenshots of games I’m playing to show my progress and interact with people while I play or something, kinda like a Photo LP in progress I guess.

I like a lot of games, and I’m fine usually playing any game. I’ve probably played it or heard of it at some point; one of my many nicknames is “The Walking FAQ.” I can usually talk about any game at length.

Even though I play a lot of games, you will see me play certain games a lot more so than others. Some of my favorite games include Sonic The Hedgehog, Pokemon, Super Smash Bros, Mega Man, Tetris, Puyo Puyo, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Star Fox, Metal Gear, OutRun, Daytona USA, Fortune Street, Culdcept, Advance Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Perfect Dark, Castlevania, Banjo-Kazooie, and Street Fighter. This is just a short list though, there’s a lot more stuff I wanted to put here, but hopefully this will give a general idea of what I like to play.

My gaming habits also tend towards doing Speedruns or Challenge Runs of games more so than normal playthroughs. I still just play games normally, because that’s still fun, but I like to do weird stuff, like beat the first Resident Evil on Hard with only the Knife or do built in challenge runs like Lv 1 Critical Mode on Kingdom Hearts II. I like being challenged and doing hard things, you will always see me do the hardest difficulty when I play games, even on a normal playthrough, and even on games that I suck at. The way I see it, the best way to “get good” is to challenge yourself to play better.

I also play many games competitively. I’m a highly competitive person when it comes to games, and I have a lot of fun competing with people. I do play in competitive game tournaments, most notably Super Smash Bros, Street Fighter, Pokemon, Puyo Puyo, and Tetris, so you may see me play those games a lot because I need to keep my skills up. And hey, if you wanna throw down, I’ll thrown down with ya and not let up.

Despite my competitive nature, my favorite moments are Cooperative playthroughs. One of my favorite memories is playing through the PS1 port of Diablo in Co-op with a good friend at the time. I also like to do stuff like start playthroughs of single player games at the same time as people and we progress and play through the game together, for example playing through Pokemon together. I enjoy playing games with people, and even if it is a single player experience, I find my own way to share the experience with others.

Along with video games, I also play table top games like Pathfinder/D&D and board games too. You may see me talk about the occasional table top game I play.

I also play Trading Card Games too, mostly the Pokemon TCG. I will talk about the degenerate decks and shenanigans that happen there too.

I also tend to make a lot of Text Posts. I like to ramble on able nearly anything. Once I get started on something it usually takes me a while for it to stop. I usually talk about video games, but I like talking about other stuff a lot too. That’s why I tag text posts #ThatRamblingZoo, so you can blacklist them using xkit if you get tired of my yammering.

You will notice I tend to reblog or post arts/creative works from people too. I don’t know how, but I’ve made a lot of artist friends over the years, and I can barely draw a stick figure well. I like to support people I… well… like. The thing is, you probably won’t see most of them on this blog, because there’s a reason for that. If one of you is reading this, just know I still support you on this blog fully by at least liking and replying to posts, I can only post SFW stuff here.

You may notice my Reblog to “Original” content ratio is heavily in favor of “original” content, you probably won’t see a whole lot of reblogs from me. I tend to Like a lot of things, so you can always check out my Likes Page , but be warned, there is NSFW content in there. Only check those if you are prepared to handle some NSFW content.

Hey, I’m not also called “Captain Loophole” for nothing. Likes aren’t really easily accessible, so long as I don’t physically post sensitive content publicly with no warning, I’m not entirely at fault here. I’m not liable for what you see when you check my Likes, you have been warned before hand.

I also have a NSFW blog for NSFW reblogs if you’re interested. Again, be warned, there is a lot of NSFW content in there, and may contain things you may or may not agree with. This is what most of my artist friends draw, so this is where reblogs of their works go… along with any other interesting art I find. I urge you to read the blog description before you judge me too harshly. But hey, if you like what I post over there, I don’t mind talking about that stuff with ya too.

I also have a separate NSFW Ask blog for NSFW asks and stuff due to few friends wanting to have a place to ask me more NSFW question without the reblogs from my other cluttering them up. And hey, maybe it will also produce more dialogue.

And I have a VGM blog as well. I made it because I love VGM, so if you’re looking for some tunes, feel free to give it a look. It will mostly be songs from games I’ve played, but I just appreciate video game music. It’s special to me.

I’m a big sissy when it comes to talking to people, I’ll admit up front. I probably won’t talk to you a lot, and I’m sorry for that. It takes a while for me to open up and be willing to talk to you first. Even if it seems like I have no problem spouting whatever whenever, I don’t do more intimate interactions well. I’ll probably tend to be quiet and only respond stiffly and minimally when prompted at first, but as you talk to me, I’ll probably be more willing to elaborate or make stupid jokes, or offer to help with more complex tasks.

I do tend to like more of your posts the more I’m comfortable with you though if you want something to go by. I’m the “Passively Friendly” type I guess.

In short, don’t be afraid to talk to me! I’m a big sissy so you don’t have to be! I like talking with people that genuinely want to talk to me. I’m also honestly fine talking about anything you want, I just like hanging out with people. I like listening to you talk, especially if you’re passionate about the subject.

If you want me to see something or start a conversation with me, you can always send me an Ask , a Fanmail, tag me as @ ThatVideoGameZoo in a post, or shoot a post through by Submissions box.

If you want to talk to me elsewhere I’m on Twitter as @ ThatZooooooooo (which I usually prefer as I can send a quick response immediately, as Tumblr’s messaging system isn’t the greatest) and I’m available on Skype or QQ as ThatZooooooooo. I also have a Discord, which you can reach me at ThatZooooooooo#6564. If you want to look for me anywhere else, it’s a safe bet I’m probably ThatZooooooooo.

As for gaming stuff…

Nintendo Network ID: ThatZooooooooo

3DS Friend Code: 0963-4124-8485

Steam: psn_thatzooooooooo (yes, the psn_ part is needed)

Playstation Network: ThatZooooooooo

Xbox Live: ThatZooooooooo (I don’t have Gold, so I’m pretty limited use here)

If you want to add me, tell me so I can add you and not let the request expire.

So… yeah, that’s about all I can think of I guess. If I think of anything else, I’ll extend/alter this post the next time I think I should post it.

Thank you for checking me out, and I hope to have some pleasant interactions!