#weekly one shots

[byoldervine]

Where Two Became Three

Layni set the drinks down on the table as she slipped into the booth, taking her seat next to Connor. She lightly pushed the sweeter drink over to the charcoal-haired woman opposite, who took it and nodded stoically in appreciation

“Gratitude.” The word had a sort of drawl to it; a slightly nasally voice but still rather deep and smooth. Refined, even. Not the kind of voice the pair would expect from a wandering nomad as she claimed to be

“So… Kennedy, was it?” Connor began, mixing the whipped cream and sprinkled cinnamon into the rest of his drink with his straw. Her eyes followed the action for half a moment as she spoke up

“That’s correct. Was there something else you wished to request?”

The siblings shared a glance, unsure how to proceed; while it was true that they had more to ask, they’d planned to probe a little more first, but here she was getting straight to the point

“Uh… at the moment we’d just like to get to know you a little better,” Layni began. “Like where are you from? You look like you’ve been travelling for a while.”

“A good few years now,” Kennedy confirmed. She took a moment to sip her drink, and for a second Layni wondered how anyone could drink something so full of sugar and sweetness. Then again, Connor always did call her weird for wanting something as bitter as a simple black coffee, so maybe she was the outlier here?

“… For the most part, I have stayed within Taverus; hunting in the forests or working odd jobs in exchange for coin or hospitality. Nothing of particular interest.”

“Wow, so you’ve been all over the kingdom?” Connor asked, leaning forward in his seat, his elbows propped against the table. He sipped eagerly on his drink as he listened to Kennedy’s recollections

“Yes.” It seemed he couldn’t get much more out of her, but he wasn’t one to relent

“What else have you got up to, then? Seen much else outside of Taverus?”

“Not recently.”

“No? Then where’re y’ from?”

“I… have moved from place to place for a long time.”

“Then what caused you to start moving?”

She didn’t answer that one. The deadpan expression on her face was enough of a dissuasion, and Connor held up his hands in a show of mock surrender

“I’m a bit nosy, aren’t I?”

“Evidently.”

Connor looked to Layni for help, so she jumped in. “Well how about this, then; I’ve been looking after Connor for years, and I’ve never seen someone handle him losing control so easily.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘easily’,” Kennedy shrugged, the casual action not quite as fitting for someone of her posture. “All I can do is put out the fires after he sets them; I’m not quite able to prevent the issue at hand.”

“It’s still better than what we’ve got.”

“Maybe so. How would you typically handle these… episodes?”

Connor rubbed the back of his neck, a laugh escaping him. “Not well? I’ve tried a few things to keep it from happening, but nothing really seems to stick. It’s mostly been just avoiding things that set me off or trying to distract myself from them or block it out.”

Kennedy considered this for a minute, frowning slightly. “And when it does occur?”

“Usually Layni tries to talk me down from it and then we put the fires out… literally…”

“Hardly a sustainable system,” she noted. “Though it’s hardly unheard of, I suppose.”

“He used to get them more as a kid, but he’s a lot better with it now.”

“Well that’s a relief. Perhaps one day a new solution will come to you; things can never be too easy to manage.”

Connor laughed a little at that. “Gratitude; fingers crossed, am I right?”

“Right.” Kennedy sipped on her drink again. Connor did the same, and so with Layni not wanting to chime in unprompted on a subject such as this, the trio fell into silence for a few moments, with only the noises of the coffee shop around them to break that. The clinking of spoons against china cups, the low buzz of chatter from their fellow patrons and the bustle of the baristas to mix up drinks eased the lull in the conversation to something more accommodating than awkwardness

“… Soooo,” Connor began, setting his drink down once more. “How long are you in town for, princess?”

Layni noticed immediately how Kennedy tensed at the nickname and lightly swatted Connor’s shoulder. “Can you not flirt for literally five seconds?”

“It’s just a nickname!” He defended, raising his hands once more. “I’m not flirting! Yet…”

Layni groaned, facepalming at his antics. “Ignore him, Kennedy; he’s an idiot that thinks he’s funny.”

Kennedy looked between them both for a moment, not really reacting much, but she at least seemed less on alert than before. “Ah. I can see that.”

“Hey!” Connor cried with mock indignation, crossing his arms over his chest with a dramatic huff

“How old is he?” Kennedy asked Layni, to which the older of the two siblings snickered while the younger pouted, as if that helped his case

“He’s sixteen.”

“He could pass for younger.”

“Hey!”

“He doesn’t half play up to it, either,” Layni teased, bumping Connor’s arm with her shoulder. Connor just rolled his eyes at that, glaring out the window. Layni noted that he did seem legitimately annoyed and eased up a tad, if only because they were with company. “But he’s a good kid; literally don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“I can tell,” Kennedy nodded. “Bright for his age, in spite of his immaturity.”

And now he’d gone from annoyed to smug, and Layni immediately regretted her decision to be lenient on him when she saw that smirk on his face. “Yeah?”

“Yes. But also cocky.”

“I’ll take it!”

Layni sighed, but Kennedy chuckled a little. Not much - it was certainly more of a throaty chuff than anything wildly amused - but it spurred Connor on all the same. “So you didn’t answer my question; how long are you sticking around Kettringham?”

“I have no plans.” The woman tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Only to find some work and accommodation for the time being.”

Connor looked to Layni at this. “We could use someone to help with the deliveries tomorrow, right?”

“What? You think we have the space for a third person?” Layni knew as soon as the words left her mouth that they did indeed have the space, but the idea of setting foot in there didn’t appeal to her. From the look on Connor’s face, he was only just catching on to the same thing

“… I mean… the den?”

She nodded at that. “… Right… right, the den… um, Kennedy? We run the carpentry across the street, and we’ve got a big delivery coming in early tomorrow morning; if you’re willing to help us haul everything in, you’re welcome to stay a night or two.”

“Gratitude. I will be more than happy to assist.”

Connor sighed in relief at that, earning a curious glance from Layni. She knew immediately what he was thinking, and in truth she’d been considering the same, but she didn’t say a word; if having someone of Kennedy’s abilities made him feel more secure, she was more than willing to house a guest

Kennedy shared their look, and it seemed they all knew the truth behind Connor’s suggestion to have the tephrakinetic stick around

[dandelion-roots]

[ID: a digital drawing of Riz Gukgak from D20 fantasy high from the waist up. He looks like he's holding onto sanity by a thread and is covered in blood as he attempts to sew a finger back onto Biz's hand and says, ha ha, oopsie! End ID]

Damn man being 14 sure is tough... It's all just pimples this, brutally shooting off a classmate's fingers before figuring out he wasn't the mastermind and then immediately regretting it that...

[mechaseraph]

The first chapter of Kaitou Joker Encore is already out! And you can read it here! In japanese, obviously. It's about 45 pages, the next chapter is stated for 5/15, so I assume this gonna be monthly release (thanks god) This one pays homage to 1st chapter of original, so wonder if following ones will also have/follow some references to that.

[syrupbitee]

their dinamic is messy but caring but idfa about you all at same time it makes me want to explode i want to see more of them siu pls

[cuz-reasons]

Summary: Elesa helps Ingo with something that's been bothering him for a while.

I've got a bunch if stuff at various levels of completion so take this

[ronearoundblindly]

Ro's Monthly Edit

June 3rd - June 30th, 2024

A helpful list of the fics and ficlets posted in the last month!

It's been a bit light here at the start of summer, but thank you all for the well-wishes and support while I get my sleep back on track and reboot my over-tired brain 💕💜😘

--a shipper ask for FRI's Steve Rogers x lab tech!Reader (about apologizing, wounds/sickness, and regrets)

--a shipper ask for Bedrock & Blueprints Ari Levinson x best friend!Reader (about first date, nicknames, and relationship strengths)

Not In Front Of The Fish, part two of Audio/Visual (mature) Jake Jensen x roommate!Reader

He gets real messed up horny one evening when you're out at some fancy event with friends. You leave wearing this dress that practically had him on his knees the way it molded to you and yet draped so smoothly in places. He thinks of his mouth molded to you that closely and his body laying so smoothly over yours. Damn it. He has to do something.

Feed The Fish, part three of Audio/Visual (mature) Jake Jensen x roommate!Reader

“How could I forget?” you exclaim. “You’re ass!” Your hand slaps down to spank him rather harshly, and Jake jolts forward, smothering a shocked laugh in the rolled up fabric of your tank top. “What a gift! I mean, just, what a sight!” Should he… Should he feel objectified?! He kinda likes it though.

--a birthday ask for Steve Rogers x reader (he's tired and won't rest)

The Cinder King, story idea/summary skinny!Steve Rogers x reader in a medieval AU

Young, sickly Steven is the unlikely inheritor of the crown, a crown that grants him a special ability to be seen as the hero he desperately wishes he was...

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[aprilblossomgirl]

-- Happy birthday to my most favorite green flag of a character, Ayan Sukkhaphisit (21 June 2004)!

[compacflt]

wip wednesday: almost done :)

[hugogetspowerbottomed]

should i drop a fic rec list yes or no

[ehnrat]

I wanna either play a ttrpg campaign or run one so bad lately U.U the urge pops up every now and again

[byoldervine]

After a few weeks of this I’m thinking some updates to the process of the weekly one-shots might be in order. Will update properly when more concrete decisions have been made but happy to explain the current thought process if people ask

[shooks-stupid-stuff]

year of the dwagon

[kairithemang0]

I finally have a reason to write Curt and Tatiana as married which makes me so excited bcs I love their friendship and them getting married to please mama mega is one of my favorite headcanons. They don't see each other often, they spend most of their time in separate countries but they do their best to see each other. They're the friends ever guys

[syrupyyyart]

Slowly more and more glad I waited so long to start working on Motley, because it is much much much easier to draw these characters consistently now that I've been doing it for so long lol. Simple artstyle + silly designs = I can bust out 10 panels in, like, 10 minutes, easy peasy.

I was worried about making long chapters time-wise but maybe it'll actually be fine lol

[solipseismic]

how is it that we get a roommate to replace the former roommate whom we had beef with for screaming at their video games and the new roommate does the same exact thing but with a different emotion. like didn't we get you to avoid this exact scenario

[arctic-hands]

I learned what a bullet journal was by watching a few YouTube artists set theirs up and my algorithm spiraled out of control from there so I guess I have all the bujo influencers to thank for getting into it because it has been a godsend so far on my third attempt, but damn if the over emphasis on aesthetic over the actual practical organizational aspect of it doesn't rankle me a bit

[thirty rambling tags later] huh. I didn't know there was a thirty tag limit in all the years I've been on tumblr. Whatevs I can't copy paste the tags onto the main body because I'm on mobile and I don't want to write it out again so I'll just summarize the last bit here:

If you are browsing the bujo tag because you feel bullet journaling will help you but you feel intimated because you don't think you can make it look pretty, or that the bullet journal method could never help you because it looks exhausting or the inspo you see doesn't cover what you need, I am pleading with you to ignore all the pretty inspiration, take the most common and even original Ryder Carroll formats and spreads with a grain of salt and eliminate or change them as needed, and talk to people who have similar needs than you even if they don't bujo and suss out what's important to keep track of. My bujo is eighty percent important medical bullshit, because that's what I need more than a book tracker. You prolly have your own unique needs. And hell, if you want a book tracker then add a booktracker. It's your bujo to format and plan out.

So like if you want to start bullet journaling, go to Michaels and get a seven dollar Artist's Loft dot grid journal. Or a binder you have left over from school years past and print out your own dot grid paper if you have enough ink and paper and printer that can do double sided (Kevin McLeod's site I forget the name of has free adjustable dot and other grids I've used), or buy a pack of 8.5x11 dot grid paper, and grab a crappy hole punch that just barely does the job. Get yourself a nice pen you think looks and feels nice in your hand and on the paper–or if that doesn't matter to you go get pack of Bics or even pencil if that's what you prefer (I use a pencil for things I can't have be permanent, like temporary meds or the dates of yearly vaccines). If you're twitchy about messing up then get the cheapest wite out they have (but don't worry about messing up especially if you're not even showing it off to anybody). A cheap yellow highlighter if you think it'll help. And a ruler if straight lines are important to you. I lost mine so I just wobble my lines now I don't care (and it's marginally easier to get a line adjacent to straight with a dot grid)

Anyway. If you want to bullet journal but don't know where to start or how to make it pretty or how to make it work for your needs, just try it in the cheapest way possible and rearrange the guts of the bujo as you see fit. And don't worry about the optics as long as you can make sense of your methods and writing.

(and for the love of God if you're bipolar don't make an hourly mood tracker yes our moods can and will fluctuate throughout the day but goddamn was that a bitch to log and abandoned a few weeks after inking it out)