#well sort of. i'll probably be on less next week for work reasons but i'll still be here

[iguessitsjustme]

hello friends i am back. just had a mental reset in a weird way but i feel much better now so i'm back to being silly goofy on tumblr

[morallygreyprompts]

…. Uhhh, hi?

Surprise, I still exist. This.. is not what I expected to write at all today but I'm going to go for it because I miss my tumblr days and I do miss this place.

It's been… literal years since I made this tumblr, and a lot has changed since I first started. I grew up, got a job, got ambushed by gender, got engaged, got a black cat (he's called Boo) and I’ve been finding myself more and more as time has gone on. This blog is the reason I have the new legal name that I do- it's how I even met my wonderful fiancée, so yeah, this is something very close to me.

I just never expected MorallyGreyPrompts to get as big as it did and I didn't have enough brain wrinkles or time to keep it going. I burned out after pushing myself to write so much and I admittedly lost the joy of writing as it became less of a hobby and more of a chore as asks and requests came in. Then once work became a thing, I just couldn't keep it going and I can't restart it.

Look, MorallyGreyPrompts, isn't coming back. I know myself well enough to know I won't ever get around to organising it, going through the ask box and committing to writing like I used to. That doesn't mean I've stopped writing though, and one story that was inspired by one of my very first concepts is still kicking, again, very different from the first time I tried, but I think it's going to be better and worth the effort. There's plenty more stories waiting for me to get a wiggle on and actually write them and I certainly plan to.

I work 4 or 5 days a week to try to earn enough money for transitioning, so I don't have as much free time as I used to, but I miss writing, and I’m in the process of making a new tumblr to start again. It's not going to be daily, certainly not til I'm more ready to advertise my stories. But I like writing poems, drabbles, practice pieces, and short stories from time to time for me. Maybe I'll do hero and villain requests, but it's not going to be the same. Maybe I'll do commissions of sorts but it's not something I've looked into or can guarantee I'll do.

So, yeah, I'm poking my head through the door that is tumblr once more and we'll see where it gets me. This will probably be the last post on this Tumblr, and I'll be moving to @amorallygreywriter over the next few days.

I just want to say thank you to everyone that has supported me, commented, followed, and helped me all this time. I won't be deleting this blog or anything like that because I hope it does still bring some inspiration to you all.

Happy writing and maybe I'll see you on my new tumblr.

[tsukimefuku]

Right, wrong and the in-between (Part 1)

Previous chapter | Next chapter

You and Higuruma were assigned to investigate the disappearance of women around Shinjuku. This led to a dicey situation regarding what place Jujutsu sorcerers occupy in this world and what is their role to play when non-sorcerers get involved.

This is part of my "Jujutsu Partners Canon Divergence AU". There is currently a sequence of short stories and random drabbles for a fic I'll eventually write (eventually). To see the ever-growing list of one-shots, please visit my masterlist :)  The "Right, wrong and the in-between" will be a 4 (maybe 3) part short-story set in this AU. This is the first part, I hope you enjoy! The tags below will be applicable to every chapter.

Tags: oc/f!reader, soft/implied Higuruma x reader, soft/implied Nanami x reader, slow burn, mentions of violence and non-con/abuse among side characters, canon typical violence, some angst, some fluff, just characters being themselves driving the plot (and me) insane. Some philosophical debate will be in place.

WC: 1.7k

"Well, this looks like a one-man job." Higuruma said, with his small gavel resting lazily on the side of his forehead. You were both seated at the backseat of a Jujutsu Tech's car, and Ijichi was driving.

"Oh, it sure is," you replied, "but you can't be going on solo missions until further notice. So you're stuck with me for the time being."

"Oh, no. I'm definitely not complaining of 'being stuck' with you." He replied, looking at you. "I just think that there's probably a better way of using such scarce resources, like jujutsu sorcerers. This parole should've been over already, that's my point. I already commited myself with atoning for my crimes and fight alongside Jujutsu High."

"Higuruma, it could be worse. You could've been executed." You said, as you put the side of your forehead on the car's window and closed your eyes. "The higher ups are awful like that, I know it firsthand. I just hope they'll all die or go to hell soon enough."

That caught his attention, and made a small bead of sweat appear in Ijichi's temple as he looked at you through the rearview mirror. "You have told me to have your issues with them, but never clarified what they were. I mean, you don't strike me as the type to do something that would render you at risk of getting a death sentence, or anything of the sort." Higuruma pondered, now curious. "So how would you know?"

"Oh, how would you know that about me, now? We've been working together for only three weeks, smart-ass" you said as you looked at him, scoffed and smiled. "If you behave today and I don't get bedridden for whatever reason, maybe I'll tell you over some drinks at HQ, since you're still on a leash. I will get us some beer, and we'll bash on the established power right under their roof. How's that sound?"

He smiled. "Fine. We have a deal. But I get pretty argumentative when I drink, just a heads-up."

You chuckled. "Wouldn't expect any less from you." Even if you were working alongside Higuruma for a short amount of time, you actually appreciated the guy's company — when he wasn't being a risky maniac on the battlefield —, and could totally get behind his disdain for Jujutsu High. You felt that way about them yourself, and with good reason.

After the bantering, you started to mentally go over the mission you were both assigned. 

Many women were going missing in an area of Shinjuku, Tokyo's red-light district, for the past few weeks. It wouldn't be something to be dealt by Jujutsu High if it weren't for the cursed energy traces left around the places these women were going missing from. The disappearances were undoubtedly due to cursed activity, so Higuruma and you were sent out to investigate.

"Ijichi, is there any indication this could be due to a curse user?" You asked.

"No, Ms. Why do you ask?"

You went over some pictures they had sent to you on your phone. "There is no blood, guts, or anything like that in any of these places. I mean, curses are often related to disappearances, sure, but it's not a very curse-like behavior to kidnap people in so many different places through such a large area."

"So a curse user with criminal intent is the most likely scenario?" Higuruma completed.

"Yes. It would make more sense. And considering the area of Kabukicho, it's possible these women..." Your stomach turned on itself before you could finish your sentence. You were all silent at that moment, for you all knew what that meant.

Higuruma sighed. "Yes, it makes sense."

"Oh. Hey, Ijichi, what is Nanami up to? Haven't seen him in some days." You asked. Since getting promoted to a Grade 1 sorcerer, you stopped going on missions with Nanami and were mostly taking on tasks alone until you were assigned to shepherd Higuruma. 

"He's actually working on another mission around Shinjuku too." Ijichi replied.

"Oh, he is?" The excitement in your voice was clear as day, as you said that with a smile. Higuruma looked at you seemingly a little dissatisfied, but said nothing.

"Yes. But he's on the opposite side of Shinjuku, currently."

"Oh." You deflated a little. "Well, drink night with the sorcerers is almost up the corner. See you both there, Ijichi."

He smiled as his face blushed slightly. "See you there."

You looked at Higuruma. "And I hope you're liberated from your leash soon enough, so you can join us too. I'd be happy to see you there."

He was a little surprised as he looked back at you. "Oh. Okay." Was all he managed to answer.

After 6 minutes, you arrived at your destination. The street was covered with signage and neon lights over the buildings, which were all crammed together, in a tight and claustrophobic pack. Since it was still afternoon, there was not much effervescence, given that this part of Shinjuku would become more lively during nighttime.

"Ijichi, we will go looking around to see if we find anything. When we do, I'll cast a veil myself, okay? Wait for us here." You told him, as you and Higuruma started to make your way down the street.

"So, we're looking for cursed energy traces that could lead us to our culprit?" Higuruma asked you.

"Precisely. Be it a curse or curse user, this was sloppy as hell. They left remains in every scene." You replied. "Shouldn't be so hard to track them down."

"Fine, then. Let's get this over with."

***

After some walking around, you both stood in the front of a building that seemed to have some cursed energy traces over the door. They were very faint, but were definitely there. The club was closed, and would only open after 6PM. 

"Well, do you want to look around while we wait for it?" You asked Higuruma.

"Anything to be out of headquarters. I thought I knew what being arrested felt like, but it's so much worse than I thought. Not having the freedom to come and go to places... It's dreadful." He replied, his body trembling unconsciously.

"Oh, really?" You said. "I thought you’d be used to that. I mean… You were a criminal defense lawyer."

He sighed. "Yes. But then I wasn't. It's a matter of will, you see, fighting a broken system from within." He put his gavel away, deducing you both wouldn't be facing any harm anytime soon. "There is no way to win a game when you're bound by the constraints of the game's unfair rules."

"Was breaking free worth it?" You asked.

***

When you were assigned Higuruma's case, to hunt him down, you were briefed on his situation. A curse user that was a lawyer and had awoken his abilities right after a trial, killing the prosecutor and the judge in the process. After that, he basically remained hidden for a few weeks before Jujutsu High located him. He expanded his domain on you and confiscated your cursed technique, but as you both started brawling, a curse attacked, lured in by the cursed energy you were both emanating. In a split second, you told Higuruma to run, and that you would face the grade 1 curse alone. You just felt, right then, that this man wasn't deserving of death. He had killed two people, of course, but nobody actually knew why that happened or even bothered to investigate it adequately. You wanted to hear what he had to say about it.

"You have no cursed technique anymore!" Higuruma shouted.

"Just fucking go! Run! I'll handle this!" You answered, charging to punch the curse with cursed energy. It had multiple arms, like a spider, and it took only one swing to send you all the way across the place, having you hit concrete and spit blood.

Shit. Higuruma felt it would be unfair to let you tackle this by yourself, with no cursed technique, after he was the one who removed it from you. He'd be indirectly responsible for your death, and this was completely different from fighting you and defeating you himself. This miniscule spark of morals coming back to him felt... Strange.

He took his gavel and proceeded to exorcize the curse as you watched mesmerized at how well this guy could fight in a such short amount of time. You texted Gojo asking for help without Higuruma noticing, because in that state, you wouldn't be much use defeating this man. After Higuruma was done, before he could leave, Gojo appeared, and you shouted for him not to kill the guy. Gojo knocked him out rather quickly, and you proceeded to explain everything that had happened, while also requesting his assistance to suspend Higuruma's sentence.

"He's strong. He exorcized this grade 1 curse without my help, and he awakened his abilities a week ago or so." You said. "I think this guy has potential. I talked to him, and he seems... misguided."

Gojo pondered for a moment with Higuruma over his shoulder. "Are you sure? I mean, he's the one that put you in this situation in the first place."

"I'm sure." You said. "Gojo, you saved me from the claws of the higher ups. They're arbitrary bigots, you know that. Please, trust me. Take this as a request from a friend." You felt indebted for that man, guilty or not, had just saved your life.

Gojo sighed and smiled at you, giving you a thumbs up. "I'll do my best. But you'll owe me another bag of kikufuku."

You smiled back at him. "Of course."

***

"I don't know." He answered earnestly, looking at you. "I'm still deciding while I atone for my crimes. After all, I left one broken system and ended up entangled in another. People seem to be terrible wherever I go."

You laughed. "Well, that's for sure."

"Aren't you going to try to dissuade me from that stance?" Higuruma asked. "That people are terrible?"

You scoffed. "Me? Hell no. We're a duo of cynical people. Can't promise to give you back any sense of ideal or anything of the sort. You'll have to find it for yourself."

He smiled at you. "You think of yourself in a curious way. I wouldn't say you're cynical." He replied.

"Oh, really? What am I, then?" You retorted.

At that moment, you heard two voices in the street around the corner. They were indistinguishable, but sounded female. You both approached quietly, and saw a woman in her late fifties, wearing a velvety crimson robe, guiding a lady — who must've been no more than over twenty-years-old — inside the building through a back door.

"Well, that was suspicious. That woman looked like a pimp" you said.

"You're someone that sees things for what they are" he concluded.

[evermarch]

🍓🛼🥑🍄❄️🏜️🪲☁️🐝🎨

I wasn't given a limit so....

😈😈😈

i hate you. you know i'm procrastinating outlines and you're doing this anyway. suffer.

🍓: how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

centuries ago, in the midst of a recession, the world saw a silver lining when mindless behavior formed. one fateful day in 2010, one direction was born. while the word knew that these events would change the lives of many youths of the era, it did not predict the ways in which that would manifest. it could not have anticipated that two girls taking a middle school mythology class would meet and, armed with the powers of obsession only accessible to tweens wearing abercrombie logo tees, unite to discover the beauty to be found in skinny jeans, bright orbs, and messy buns. together, these girls set off to conquer the world, overcoming obstacles such as the school firewall to reach the promised land of wattpad...

🛼: describe your latest wip with five emojis

🐤🫥🌿🍎🎶

🥑: you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

any other day i'd say you, but since right now you're probably the body i'm gonna go with @justafewberries, namely because i'd need philosophical musings on morality to calm my nerves and also the misfortune of proximity.

🍄: share a head canon for one of your favorite ships or pairings

okay so katniss probably cannot bake very well, but there is going to be SOMETHING that she can make that, for whatever reason, is much better than peeta's version. like, maybe it's chocolate chip cookies, and peeta's always trying to elevate and overcomplicate them or make them technically perfect, but she just always adds a little too much butter and takes them out a minute too early and they come out perfectly. so peeta's pissed every year when, on the toast babies' birthdays, they're BEGGING and CLINGING to katniss for those damn cookies, when he's already melted the sugar for his cake topper sculpture on the multi-layer, three-tier lavender earl grey cake. (the girl is, like, eight at MOST here).

❄️: what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

answered already here and here. DO BETTER. MAKE THIS UP TO ME BY WRITING IT YOURSELF

🏜️: what's your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

long, detailed, musing ones. like, i appreciate conciseness. i do. it's a skill. but i spend my days listening to rambling judges who won't stfu about their special interests. i want to come home to rambling comments who won't stfu about their special interests (ME and MY WRITING). (but also i love any and all comments because i like being the center of attention)

🪲: add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

What, then, was the next course of treatment? Something dear, certainly, or else her mother wouldn’t have been so resistant. The only thing worse than tightening the purse strings was people thinking something was wrong behind closed doors. That sort of gossip spread like fire in District 12, where everything was coated in coal dust. And from her mother’s perspective, it was just as deadly.

☁️: what made you choose your username?

ha. you're so funny. well, it was between this one and a character name, which i may switch to in the future, but interestingly enough it was YOU who voted for evermarch. but it was a good suggestion because i'm obsessed with asterid and burdie <3

🐝: tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

@triassictriserratops isn't that old!

ugh. you planned this out all too well. FINE. i'll do a real one even though i was nice to you as recently as this week. you're very good at making people feel heard and appreciated for the parts of themselves that people don't normally acknowledge, much less cherish.

🎨: link your favorite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

okay this changes like every five mins but currently i haven't be able to stop thinking about this one (warning: it HURTS). but also this one is just too good, especially after sotr.

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 01.23.2024

Me, Oct 24, 2023:

This is the sort of thinking that leads to 100k fanfic. I will try to come up with things to fill the space and then I will have too much stuff. That's just how it is, I guess. Wouldn't it be nice if this could just be, like, 60k, and I could be almost done?

Me, Nov 28, 2023:

I think that once I figure this out it will either be a clear path from now to the end and probably be like 8 or 9 chapters + an epilogue OR it will spiral wildly out of control, some other fucking subplot will sneak in, and it will go 12+ chapters and I will cry a lot.

Me, Jan 9, 2024:

Either that, or I'll just keep writing chapters, like Zeno's fanfic. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen. I will die.

Me, today:

Fuck.

So the good news is that I have finally finished the scene that I have been wrestling with since early December. It's two scenes now, because I wanted to swap narrators halfway thru, but it's really the same scene.

The less good news is that this came out 🎵8721 words🎵 and I still have three more scenes budgeted for this chapter in the outline. I mean, on one hand, at least I produced a significant amount of something for as long as that took. On the other hand, I feel like this dumb thing is now growing faster than I can write it. I've only made it up to roughly 11am on Saturday (the fanfic ends early Monday morning). Maybe it's not as bad as I think. I still haven't decided if Chapter 7 is just going to be super long, or if I am going to bump the other three scenes to the next chapter. I am putting that decision off until I actually write them and probably also most of Chapter 8. Mostly, I am just hoping I don't to add another chapter to the outline (I strongly suspect I am going to have to add another chapter--#11-- to the outline).

None of this will matter when it's done! I don't actually care how long the thing comes out (that's your problem, reader, I simply love big numbers). It's just that I want to be done, and the longer this gets, the further away that feels.

I haven't done a top level word count in a while because I've been working in messy temp documents, but I finally pasted my new scenes back into the main doc. Part B currently stands at 27,724, for a running total of 64,597, which makes it my fifth longest fanfic at roughly 2/3 done. There's kind of a ways to go before it overtakes Between Tides, but I think it might just happen.

Gosh, y'know, it's honestly kind of surprising I got as much writing done this week as I did, considering my kids were home nearly the whole week between snow days and a planned asynchronous day. Am I back on my groove? I sure fucking hope so.

I kept up with my drawing reasonably well, too--it was baked goods week. I did one tutorial, two one-day scribbles, and I drew last week's cake in the style of a GBBO illustration, which took me 3 days, but I'm really happy with the way it came out (so, 6 out of 7 days, I guess). I have another fanart (or possibly two) that I'd like to do in time for Byakuya's birthday, so that's probably what I will focus on this week.

[pbandjesse]

It was a mostly productive day. I did almost everything I was hoping to do. I accomplished almost all the things. It was a pretty nice day overall.

I slept fine. I had stress dreams and I woke up a bunch but I didn't feel to bad when I woke up. I wouldn't get out of bed for a while. But I wasn't really in a rush to do anything so it was fine.

When I did get up I took a quick shower and got dressed. I used dry shampoo because I want to wash my hair tomorrow morning before the event I'm working. I felt pretty cute though and was in a pretty good mood.

James left me breakfast. And I ate that at the kitchen island while I wrote up a little list of things I wanted to pick up today.

My plan was to go to Joann's, then home deport, then the thrift store. I would probably get lunch while I was out.

And I stuck pretty well to the list. I would leave the house after putting Ruby the Roomba upstairs. I was annoyed with myself when I was a few minutes away from home and realized I forgot the wallpaper sample I was trying to color match. But I decided it would be fine and it was I was just annoyed with myself.

I got to Joann's first. I wanted to get yarn to continue on my puff quilt. I thought I got the correct maroon but it ended up being more purple when I got home. Annoying but whatever. I did get grey and some multi grey that will be nice for my next project. I was also there for thread but for some reason there was only one single spool of the quilting thread I like, and barely any black thread at all??? I would get 3 black and 3 white. It was bizarre though.

When I was waiting in line a woman came back in to explain to the manager that she bought something for $6.25. Paid with a $10. But got $6.25 back in change. Oops! It was very honest of her to come back and get it fixed though.

I paid for my stuff and headed out of there. And went over to Home Depot. Which was less productive and that was a little frustrating but is fine. I was able to color match pretty well based off of a picture on my phone. But their Internet was down so they couldn't mix paint?? The whole system was down. Ah well. I'll try the other Home Depot closer to us later this week I guess.

I did get caulk for our bathtub and got a really good deal on batteries. So it wasn't the worst stop.

I went to savers next. I would find a different type of pregnancy pillow that I'm excited to try. And I got the exact same UGG brand moccasins I have been wearing so it was exciting to have a backup pair. Basically brand new and only $7. I would also pick up a couple dresses I can wear for events at the museum. I wanted stuff with sleeves. It was a good haul and I felt good about my choices.

I had a nice time walking around the store but it was weirdly busy. I didn't linger. Instead I left there and went to get lunch at Burger King, which is in the same parking lot.

I got my veggie burger and watched TikToks and half people watched. Seems a lot of truck drivers stop at this Burger King.

I decided to make one more stop at the sort of terrible goodwill. It continued to be terrible but I did get a caulk gun thing. I already have one but it is nice to have a backup. Since I was already going to be recaulking this week so it was on my mind.

I went home after that. I was sort of tired but mostly I just wanted to be in our house.

When I got back here I brought almost everything inside. Tried on my dresses. And started working on some more grey squares for my puff quilt. I got one down before I took a break to go and move the car (to be right in front of our house) so I could organize the car and finish bringing things inside.

It was chilly out today. It is actually feeling like fall. Which is very nice. And it inspired me to go through my closet and put some warmer weather options away and make space to hang some sweaters and sweatshirts up.

I spent an hour or so working on that but I felt to overwhelmed to fold the clothes I wanted to put away so it's just a pile again which makes me upset but it will get done eventually.

I would work on cleaning the fish tank. Nothing is in there except for snails, or at least that's what I thought. I have been thinking about getting a beta again. I don't think my heart can take losing more frogs so I am going to take a break on them after the last couple deaths.

But when I was taking out the decor my loach, kittykitty, wormed out and was going all over the place s d I was so excited! I am so happy to know he's still in there even if I don't see him much, for literally months.

I spent a good amount of time cleaning that though. I rearranged the decor and took a few things out that had a ton of snail eggs. I put those in the dishwasher to try and eradicate those. I will probably vacuum the rocks a few more times but for now it's settling and looking good.

I would also dig Crabcake up. I worry about him so much. I woke up him a wrapped him in a dishtowel and tried to get him to sleep in his metal cup so I could at least see him. But that would only last a few hours. Soon he was going back to his hole and burying himself again. Celia says I need to just let him do it and trust that he is alright. It is just so hard!! I just worry about him so much.

James would get home while I was painting on the ceiling again. They had stopped at the grocery store and go more spring rolls. And would make me two of those for dinner. They would also bring one of the ladder up for me so I could paint outlines on my ceiling flower. It is nice to see the whole thing keep growing. It building up and layering nicely.

James was baking the bread they made yesterday. And would spend a while in there. I would head upstairs and they brought me the spring rolls and they were great.

I would hang out in our room for a long time. James would periodically come and see me. And while their second loof was baking they came and held me and helped push on my lower back that was hurting so much. Thankfully my back hasn't been to bad but sometimes it is just so sharply painful. It sucks and it doesn't seem like there is anything I can do to help it.

While I was hanging out today we found out that My Chemical Romance is going on tour. And me and Jess are going to try and go to the Philly show. I am really anxious about trying to get tickets, and just the Ticketmaster system with dynamic pricing. We have a budget though and I am really hoping we can get them. Even if I am very stressed thinking about it. They go on sale Friday morning, so I have an alarm set so I'll be ready.

Eventually I would take a quick shower. And me and James are hanging out in bed. I am not feeling amazing right now but I am trying to just be comfortable and hopefully I can sleep easy.

Im working an event tomorrow. So I am planning on a quiet morning. I hope it's a fun event though and that everyone is nice. I hope you all have a great night. Be safe. I love you all. Goodnight

[bleachbleachbleach]

9/6 - 9/10/2023

I think my biggest accomplishment this week is definitely regrowing a decent bit of skin on my leg, and in addition to my "omg just write fanfic do not clean the kitchen it's dangerous out there" lesson I mentioned last week, I've now also learned a lot about burn care! Or not the care itself, but burn progression, and what those stages look and feel like. Also learned that Reddit won't let you view "mature content" (burn images) on your phone unless it's through the Reddit app, which is very annoying. I'm never gonna download the Reddit app. Anyway, new skin is thrilling! And while my September plans were supposed to be "work out more," the burn care thing has sort of tabled that for a bit, which has let me commit more to "omg just write fanfic" September.

I spent most of this week working on scenes that do not feel that great. Reasons for this:

My attempts to describe setting and/or stage business keep coming out in the most arcanely described and/or overwritten (or maybe underwritten?? who knows) ways. Why.

It just feels like there's a lot of Things, and why are there so many things. Like *butterfly meme* is this worldbuilding or is this an episode of Hoarders

But by the time I got to the stuff I was writing on Saturday and this morning, *I* at least feel like some of the threads are coming together. I spent a lot of Thursday feeling despair of the "but who's going to read that far" variety, but part of me is also like, well, it's fairly likely no one's going to read this either way, so maybe the concern should be proportional to that.

Right now, I'm about 1000 words into a Renji-Akon conversation that's had all the middle bits written for like, a year and a half. The middle bits were all jokes, lol, but I'm currently feeling pretty excited by the Themes and Motifs that are coming out of the full version of the scene. It's been really interesting learning about how their POVs about the Gotei and their co-workers and the NATURE OF LIFE AND DEATH mesh, or don't. I always think it's interesting thinking about like, people who've worked together(ish) for decades, and what about each other is knowable and old hat--except you're co-workers, not exactly friends, so your dataset of what's very known vs. what you know absolutely nothing about is super skewed.

To finish the chapter, I have the end of the Renji-Akon conversation to write; the end of the subsequent scene to write, which will probably be more involved than it seems because it's kinda-sorta a fight scene; and then revisions to the chapter tag, which I think will mostly be about trying to make this chapter seem less like a grab bag of things that happen to happen in sequence and more like there's some kind of narrative throughline.

I want to say I can finish the chapter by the end of the week, but unfortunately I'm out of town Thurs-Sun for a ~strategy retreat~ and am feeling very upset about having to drive myself to the airport (hell itself) at 2:30AM on Wednesday night, so I'll probably spend most of the first half of the week trying to keep all my shit together and then a lot of next week trying to get everything back together.

I'm going to boldly aim to finish this chapter, my Part 1 read-through, and Chapter 7 (to finish out Part 1) by the end of September! Which was my previously-stated goal for the end of August, lol.

Part 2 starts with Kira's chapter, which I think is the only chapter I've written absolutely none of, and which I have the least notes for (and all of those notes are about Hinamori, not Kira), but Renji and Akon just talked a lot about Kira, and I'm pretty excited for that horizon once I get there!

[duhragonball]

The Punt Trick

I've been kind of inactive lately because I'm doing a writing project this month and I sort of fell behind on it. My morale was kind of low this past week, but I managed to turn things around this weekend by writing 5280 words, which is more than a quarter of the goal. Not too shabby, so I want to capture how I did it.

Historically, I've been able to write a lot more than 5k in a single day, but I can't do it consistently. It really depends on what I'm writing, and if it's something I already have laid out pretty well in my head, the words will flow. The problem I've been having in August 2023 is that my plot is well laid out, but I'm struggling to put down the words. I know what to do but I'm less clear on how to do it. So it's been slow going.

Basically, I made an hourly schedule for the rest of the month, detailing how many words I would write. I've tried stuff like that before, but the trick this time is that I made the wordcount assignments very small. I didn't think it would help very much, but it turned out to make a big difference.

For years, I would write numbers on a calendar, like "Oh, I'll write 2000 words on Tuesday, and then I'll do 2500 words on Thursday!" and then it'll be 11:48pm on Thursday and I'm 4000 words behind schedule for some reason.

I've tried making it more granular, but that would mean doing things like "At 6pm I'll write 1000 words, and then at 8pm I'll write another 1000 words! Easy!" But then it'll be 7:55pm and I won't have the first thousand done, which just demoralizes me further for the next thousand.

This time, I just decided "to hell with it" and assigned myself 500 words per hour. This turns out to be much more realistic. When I'm doing well, I can bang out 500 words in twenty minutes, but when I'm struggling (like this month), 500 words can take me... about an hour. Well, more like thirty minutes, which is great because if I procrasinate for half of the time alotted, I still have time to get the goal met.

And 500 is small enough that it's easy to overshoot. So chances are that I'll clear the goal with a little more than I needed, which makes the next hour easier to tackle, and so on.

And now that I've had this productive weekend, the schedule I've laid out for tomorrow will be even lighter. Monday I'm doing 250 words for each hour, which is probably too lax, but that just means I'll finish ahead of schedule. The important thing is that I'm not just vaguely declaring my intent to write 1500 words after I get home from work. Normally, I can do that pretty easily, but that confidence turns into procrastination, and I'll put it off until 10:30 at night, and then one thing leads to another and I blow it off completely. With this system, I have to start at 6pm, because it's not about getting 1500 by midnight, it's about getting 250 every hour for six hours.

This is something I really, really need to keep in mind for the future, because even when my writing goes well, I'll still run into spells where it doesn't, and this seems like an effective way to break the logjam. And it might also be handy for smaller projects, which I could break down into even smaller chunks, like 100 words, or even less.

I suppose what inspired me to try this was when I kept looking up at my word-counter and expecting to see some big numbers, and ending up with something dinky like "83" or "112". But with what I'm doing now, those are actually pretty good signs of progress. Chain a few of those together, and I can actually get somewhere.

I'm not sure if this would be helpful for others, but it definitely seems to be working for me, so if you're reading this and you find yourself stuck with your writing, give it a try.

[kis-kreatures]

EDIT: It's actually a female! My new daughter! (I have been lied to. Probably.) Which also explains why she's small, but even then she's still somewhat smaller than the average female.

My new son!!!! He's sort of a rescue? It's a whole ass story, I'll type it all below, but TLDR: his terrarium is miserable and i am very aware of that. I'm gonna fix it as soon as I am able to!

I also love him very very much.

Here's the whole story about him:

So i always wanted a tegu, but definitely wasn't planning to get one just yet. Money is one reason but the main reason would be the fact I am studying in a different town than where i live in. I am away for 2 weeks at time, coming home only every 2nd weekend. And my place at the education town doesn't allow animals and hell im coming home on holidays and itd be a pain to drive huge ass terrarium back and forth.

So i just started studying at this school last year and then in december my sister turns up at our house during one of the weekends i was home during. She has a tegu. I fall in love with him on first sight. She asks ME if i want him.

Here's context on how she got him in the 1st place, mind you, i do not have the closest relationship with my sister so i do not know details, anyways: she breeds crested geckos and used to work in a petstore, so she has contacts in the local reptile community. According to my sister's own words: Her friend and owner/worker (i dont actually know) of the petstore said he has a tegu he needs to get rid of (because nobody was buying him and he needed the space, i think? Smth like that), he asked her if she would take him. Well actually he kinda just gave him to her and then asked for money?? He costed less than a tegu would normally cost, so she hesitantly agreed and paid him the money. Cool, now she has a tegu she didnt actually really want? She wanted to resell him herself (like personally i dont think she would have higher chances than the more well known reptile keeper she got him from but ok), but, for some damn reason, she chose to come to me first...

And of course i cannot say no. But i should. Because i have school for the next 2 and half years and i wont be able to take care of him. FUCK. Why she gotta put me in that position.

Anyways i learn he is supposedly around 3 years old and he spend the previous years in petstore. Apparently my sister was walking around him back when she worked there. Quick google tells me that if indeed he is 3 years old, then he is way Way too small. So i assume he probably wasnt kept in a proper enclosure back in the petstore. And he hadnt had any interaction or love either. I feel bad. I want to give him a good home... But the fucking school... But its only 3 years long!

So i ask sister if she couldnt keep him and id get him after school ends? 3 long long years, but id have the boy at the end and my sister should be able to take care of him considering she has many reptiles of her own and contacts to ask things about tegus + the internet is always there. Or so i assumed.

She agrees and takes him home. I end up being very busy with school and my own mental health and dont really get updates on how hes doing. I just know he got his enclosure updated and has grown considerably. Good!

But then i fimnally have time to visit my sister. And i see the state his enclosure is in. I learn she never feeds him any veggies or proper variety of protein. I also explicitly asked her to try and get him conditioned to humans more. To take him out and handle him. She apparently never did that. Its been over half a year at this point. He was sleeping in his cork at that time. I complain about this to my parents. And my dad suddenly says "i didnt know you wanted him. I would have taken care of him when you would be at school." Like excuse me???? Wdym u never knew??? I thought my parents wouldnt want to or be able to take care of him, so i let my sister keep him. Well goddamn.

And so started the time to convince my parents to get him home. All summer holidays long. My sister suddenly greedily wants like 500€ for him. But my dad says he will pay for him. And when i ask him to actually do pay for him, he doesnt. THE WHOLE FUCKING SUMMER i was getting the green light and then the red light and then the green light... Never getting solid fucking answer, it pissed me off. And then at the end of summer i visit again. And learn that my sister claims he is "aggressive". Thats why she never handled him. She was afraid of putting her hand into the terrarium. I reach into the terrarium and he just smells me. I can pet him and hes showing no aggression whatsoever. At that moment im like "no fucking more. Im moving him home!" And FINALLY my parents are about to move his enclosure. But the enclosure is heavy, dad alone cannot carry it, im too weak and mom shouldnt be carrying heavy things because of medical reasons. I stupidly agree that we wait until my sister and her fiance arrive from a vacation to help us carry it. (Oh btw. my sister left a snake in plastic tub with nothing and then left for a week long a vacation... We were tasked to visit and take care of her animals but like??? Hello?????). We should have just fucking dragged it across the floor because what the decision to wait resulted in... Was another half a year. They didnt move the enclosure and holidays ended. I went back to school and have been dying from being ill all the damn time and struggling with mental health again. But ive been determined about getting the tegu for winter holidays. And no bullshit anymore. And my sister has been repeatedly asking if i really want him for the past few months, clearly wanting to get rid of him already. I really do. And he has been moved here last weekend. I was still at school at that time, but arrived home for this 2nd weekend. I will be leaving again on sunday though... But only for a week and then winter holidays! I will have to leave during them ocassionaly for exams, but should be here home long enough to try and get him used to humans so that my parents are not afraid of him and can take proper care of him while im gone. And also to fix his damn miserable enclosure. Really thought my sister would do fucking better job with all the resources she has. And also she asked for more money for him than during summer holidays! Of course she has- and theres like a single stick and barely big enough cork for the boy to fit in and a bowl in the terrarium. I feel so bad thats how he spent the last year. It must have been so boring. And who knows how his enclosure looked like when he was in the petstore... At least this one is big enough (for now).

I wish... I wish this all didnt happen just when i started attending new fucking school so far away. I do feel kind of selfish. Maybe my sister would have actually found somebody to buy him from her and he could have had better home for a while now. And just because I really want a tegu for personal interests, i've been keeping him away from that possibility. But well, present time, I am determined to do my best for him even with my stupid situation. It will be very busy winter holidays...

_______________________________________

Any tips and warnings and really anything regarding tegus is welcome!! I gotta get him to eat his veggies and go potty in 1 spot. Tips how to achieve that would be great. I also wanna make his enclosure bioactive, so if u know of any plants that will withstand a tegu, please let me know!

[bollitolyn20]

Bonus points if later, because the druids have spent years evangelizing everyone about Emrys and Merlin's own… uh, luck quirk, every single one of his future decisions is made, analyzed, and glorified (or overthought) accordingly by his citizens, especially the ones that are just Merlin being a semi-normal human being.

Which gives us situations like:

Merlin chooses a specific kind of tea to drink in the morning (different from the one he usually drinks and made himself). And later that day he ends up giving Arthur some really good foreign policy advice, which solves at least 3 different problems Camelot had with this random kingdom for like 5 years or more, with triple the result and half the usual effort it would take otherwise.

THEN, somehow, everyone (minus Arthur's inner circle because, well, THEY WERE THERE for the entire pre-meeting process) ends up convinced that "that tea WASN'T JUST TEA. That was an absolutely MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE-BOOSTING brew" after which each person has a different reason for what they do and how they do it, and the druids are running around taking meticulous notes of every bit of this tiny, yet wonderful piece of wisdom to pass down to their later generations as a family legacy.

Meanwhile, Merlin is standing around looking very uncomfortable because the so-called "magical wisdom brew" actually contains a massive amount of caffeine (sort of like strong coffee or chocolate). And the whole solution he gave works because he's using the logic of someone who sees the problem for the first time and is external to the conflict, therefore, he has no prior bias of what may or may not work for this specific situation. Aside from, well, his almost manic research in the short time he was given and his own intelligence.

There was probably an accidental miscommunication in between, and Merlin thought it was less time than Arthur actually said because Merlin is still adjusting to the idea of ​​Emrys's grand and glorious destiny. And Arthur is older than Merlin in this one, so he probably thought, as a mature and responsible adult, that the whole thing would be more of a long-term project that they would work on together. As well as being a way to get to know each other better, because this Merlin just smashed Arthur's idealized image of him with a wrecking ball and the poor guy needs time to come to terms with that.

So Arthur watched him dive headfirst into the research and said "Okay, we appreciate the enthusiasm. Let's leave him alone first to see how he goes and if this gets out of hand, I'll send Gaius to you as his mighty Eyebrow of Judgement." Because all these years of beliefs about Emrys and that general sense of trust are already ingrained in him, and he still doesn't know him well enough to feel comfortable taking care of the boy.

So imagine his surprise when, a week later, Merlin gives his basically perfect solution while looking like he just won a war with blood, sweat and tears that he's very proud of. I mean… Don't get him wrong, Arthur IS PROUD of him and his solution. But also his mother hen instincts are screaming like a fire siren in his head because the idea was to take it easy.

And look, at this point the poor kid has all the vibes of a college student who was suddenly asked by his professor to present his thesis, (still unfinished), in front of the ENTIRE FACULTY and potential investors in attendance, in such a way that it convinces everyone that his university is the best and for this task he gave him like… 1 week or so of preparation time beforehand.

Basically, this poor Merlin has slept about 3 hours in the last week and he's just not going to be able to stay upright without massive amounts of caffeine coursing through his system.

Obviously, the whole round table gets a little overprotective of Merlin after that. But the rumors are still crazy and the knights (Gwaine) make bets based on their insider information for the next frankly absurd scenarios that follow.

Version in Spanish whith here:

Puntos extra si después, debido a que los druidas han pasado años evangelizando a todo el mundo sobre Emrys y a la propia... eh, peculiaridad de suerte que suele tener Merlín, cada una de sus decisiones futuras es tomada, analizada y glorificada (o sobre pensada) en consecuencia por sus ciudadanos, en especial aquellas que son solo Merlín siendo un ser humano semi normal.

Lo que nos da situaciones tipo:

Merlín elige un tipo específico de té para tomar en la mañana (diferente al que suele tomar y que se preparó él mismo). Y más tarde ese día termina dándole un muy buen consejo sobre política exterior a Arthur, que resuelve al menos 3 problemas diferentes que Camelot tenía con este reino random desde hacía como 5 años o más, con el triple de resultado y la mitad del esfuerzo usual que les tomaría de otra forma.

ENTONCES, de alguna manera, todo el mundo (menos el círculo interno de Arthur porque, bueno, ESTUVIERON AHÍ durante todo el proceso previo a la reunión) termina convencido de que "ese té NO ERA SOLO TÉ. Eso fue un brebaje absolutamente MÁGICO que POTENCIA EL CONOCIMIENTO" luego de lo cual cada persona tiene una razón distinta de lo que hace y cómo lo hace, y los druidas están por ahí tomando notas minuciosas de cada parte de esta pequeña, pero maravillosa pieza de sabiduría para heredarla a sus generaciones posteriores como un legado familiar.

Mientras tanto, Merlín está por ahí mirando todo de forma muy incómoda porque el denominado "brebaje mágico de la sabiduría", contiene en realidad una cantidad ingente de cafeína (algo así como café o chocolate bien cargado). Y toda la solución que dio funciona porque está usando la lógica de alguien que ve el problema por primera vez y es externo al conflicto, por lo tanto, no tiene un sesgo previo de lo que puede o no funcionar para esta situación en específico. Además de, bueno, su investigación casi maníaca en el poco tiempo que le dieron y su propia inteligencia.

Probablemente, hubo una falta de comunicación accidental en medio, y Merlín pensó que era menos tiempo del que en realidad dijo Arthur porque Merlín todavía se está adaptando a la idea del gran y glorioso destino de Emrys. Y Arthur es mayor que Merlín en este, así que él probablemente pensó, como un adulto maduro y responsable, que todo el asunto sería más bien un proyecto a largo plazo en el que trabajarían juntos. Además de ser una forma de conocerse mejor entre sí, porque este Merlín acaba de romper con una bola de demolición la imagen idealizada que Arthur tenía de él y el pobre hombre necesita tiempo para reconciliarse con eso.

Entonces Arthur lo vio sumergirse de cabeza en la investigación y dijo "Vale, apreciamos el entusiasmo. Dejémoslo solo primero para ver cómo se desenvuelve y, si esto se sale de control, le mando Gaius como su poderosísima Ceja del Juicio". Porque todos estos años de creencias sobre Emrys y esa sensación general de confianza ya están arraigadas en él, y aún no lo conoce lo suficiente como para sentirse cómodo haciéndose cargo del chico.

Así que imagina su sorpresa cuando, una semana después, Merlín da su solución básicamente perfecta mientras luce como si acabara de ganar una guerra con sangre, sudor y lágrimas de la cual está muy orgulloso. Es decir... No lo malinterpreten, Arthur ESTÁ ORGULLOSO por él y por su solución. Pero también sus instintos de mamá gallina están gritando como una sirena de bomberos en su cabeza porque la idea era tomárselo con calma.

Y mira, en este punto el pobre niño tiene todas las vibes de un estudiante universitario al que de repente su profesor le pidió que presentara su tesis, (aun sin terminar), frente a TODA LA FACULTAD y posibles inversionistas asistentes, de tal manera que convenza a todos de que su universidad es la mejor y para esta tarea le dio como... 1 semana o algo de tiempo previo de preparación.

Básicamente, este pobre Merlín ha dormido unas 3 horas en la última semana y simplemente no va a poder mantenerse en pie sin cantidades ingentes de cafeína corriendo por su sistema.

Evidentemente, toda la mesa redonda se vuelve un poco sobreprotectora con Merlín después de eso. Pero los rumores siguen siendo una locura y los caballeros (Gwaine) hacen apuestas con base en su información privilegiada para las siguientes situaciones francamente absurdas que le siguen a eso.

Hello everyone! I'm back with another Merlin au! I hope you all enjoy! :D

In this AU, Merlin is born much, much later than in canon, such that Arthur is already in his late thirties and has been on the throne for over a decade by the time Merlin arrives in Camelot.

In this world, Uther had been assassinated by Morgause, leading to Arthur taking the throne and, at first, continuing the purge as a means to avenge his father. However, after some kind druids help him in finding Morgause after getting lost in the woods during a search party for the witch, Arthur slowly starts to soften his heart towards the druids, allowing them to live undisturbed on Camelot's lands. After all, they kept to themselves and offered assistance whenever a curse befell the land.

After a few years of peace with the druids, some of the druid elders travelled to the city itself, something they had never done before, and requested an audience with Arthur, claiming to have important information regarding a prophecy and Camelot's future. Trusting their word and curious about this prophecy, Arthur welcomes them into the castle and hears what they have to say.

And what they had to say was earth-shattering information for Arthur. They spoke of a prophecy as old as the Old Religion itself, how a king would be born to unite the warring land of Albion and restore peace, bringing the land into a gold age as the gods intended it. They spoke of how this Once and Future King would have a counterpart, the other half of his soul who would complete him and make him the glorious king that he was destined to be.

They told Arthur of Emrys, all-powerful magic made into the form of a man, the son of the Triple Goddess sent to the mortal plane to complete the Once and Future and guide him towards his destiny.

And just like that, Arthur's whole life changed.

The thing you have to understand about this Arthur is that he is very lonely. He has friends, people he trusts, but he's never been able to have a friend that sees Arthur instead of the prince or king. But the prophecy, according to the druids, says that Emrys would see beyond his titles and have a connection to Arthur, not the king. That Emrys would complete him in a way that he'd never fully comprehend.

They also describe Emrys's godly abilities, far beyond anything a mortal sorcerer could ever hope to achieve. He could command the elements of nature, the powers of all the world arose at his call, and time itself bowed to his command.

(And this all sounded very appealing to a repressed Arthur. Soon, Arthur's pleasant dreams started to feature a powerful cloaked figure bringing Arthur to heel, just as he had brought all the powers of magic under his control.)

So, Arthur eagerly awaits Emrys for years, waiting for the day that he meets his other half of the coin and the golden age can finally begin.

The druids, some of whom now stayed permanently in the castle to help Arthur with matters concerning magic until Emrys arrived to take over that role, told Arthur that they could sense when Emrys was nearby, and that they would alert him if they felt Emrys's presence in Camelot.

So, Arthur waits, and waits, and waits, never once giving up hope of meeting his destined other half.

He waits, until one day, the druid elders calmly announce at court that the day has come. Emrys had arrived at the gates of Camelot.

And Arthur's heart nearly leapt out of his chest with excitement. He was here! At long last, his life would be complete and he would become the great king his people deserved!

Arthur rushed to call for the entire court to assemble in the courtyard, ready to welcome Emrys with fanfare, and he sent word to the servants and cooks to prepare a celebratory feast as soon as they could. He needed to make a good first impression on his "other half of the coin" after all!

Arthur, not for the first time, wondered what Emrys would look like when he arrived. The druids didn't have a physical description for him, since his unimaginable powers gave him the ability to change his appearance at will. Perhaps he would look like a druid himself, or would he take on a more noble appearance, befitting of his status? Would he teleport himself into the courtyard with flair, or perhaps he would ride in on the back of a magic beast, like a dragon or unicorn!

Between all of the rush to prepare the castle for Emrys's grand arrival, Arthur forgot all about a skinny peasant boy accidentally bumping into him. The boy had apologized and asked politely where he could find Gaius's chambers. Arthur had looked at him oddly, since that was a rather large breach of decorum to ask the king such a trivial question, but Arthur simply brushed it off and pointed the young man in the right direction.

Finally, after everything was prepared, Arthur stood outside on the steps of the castle with his entire court behind him, straining his eyes at the gate for any sign of movement.

And he waited, and waited, and waited. But there was still no powerful warlock coming through the gates.

Finally, he turned to the druid elder next to him and asked, "Where is he? I thought you said he was in the city!"

The druid responded patiently, "He is, my lord. He might be in a disguise though, as to avoid attention. It is known that Lord Emrys is rather humble."

Arthur grumbled about prophesized warlocks never arriving on time and dismissed his court to attend the feast, hoping that perhaps Emrys would make himself known there, in a less public space.

The feast in its own right was a splendid time, with fresh food, fine wine, and even an famous songstress brought in for entertainment. However, as the night went on and the chair to Arthur's right remained empty, his mood soured. Emrys was supposed to be here, by his side, so where was he?!

Arthur was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed the moment when the singer's voice became threatening, her song became sinister, and an unnatural stillness came over everyone in attendance.

Arthur watched with barely-open eyes as the sorceress unsheathed a dagger and took aim and his chest, a vengeful smile on her face.

He could barely breathe as the dagger flew, his death drawing closer and closer until...

Until the blade stopped in mid-air, frozen by magic. Arthur's breath hitched. Could it be?

Arthur felt himself be pulled out of his chair, and the dagger hit the back of it, right where his chest had been moments before. The sorceress turned to where Arthur and his savior had landed with a furious expression, but before she could even take a step towards them, the chain holding the chandelier above her, which had never shown any signs of rust or damage, snapped, landing directly on top of the witch with a loud crash.

With the witch now dead, her spell was lifted, and Arthur scrambled to his feet the second that his limbs no longer felt like they were made out of solid lead. With his heart hammering in his chest, he turned around to face the sorcerer who had stopped time itself to save him.

This was Emrys, right behind him, and all of a sudden, Arthur wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Arthur turned and gazed down at the man still sprawled out on the floor, his arm outstretched to where the chandelier had been hanging. His eyes flickered wildly over his form, unsure of what details to take in first.

When his mind was finally calm enough to catch up to what his eyes were seeing, his thoughts came to a screeching halt. Because this man was certainly Emrys, and he had certainly been in the castle today. Arthur had seen him after all.

He was the peasant boy, from before. He had indeed snuck into the castle under a disguise to avoid suspicion, and had tested Arthur's heart, just as the druids said that he would. Any other king would have ignored a peasant asking for directions, or would even had them punished for such disrespect towards royalty. But Arthur had stopped to help him, and he must have passed Emrys's test, because he had saved Arthur from the witch's dagger with his own two hands.

Arthur's didn't know how much time passed as he and Emrys looked at each other, both of them staring with wide eyes.

Finally, after what felt like hours of silence, Emrys climbed to his feet and looked around the room with wide eyes, taking in the shocked and awed stares of everyone in the court.

Looking back at everyone with matching shock, Emrys stuttered out "I'll, uh, be going now. I, um, hope you all enjoy the rest of your feast," and ran off before Arthur's mind could come up with some kind of response, weaving in between shocked lords and bowing druids.

After Emrys had left the room, all eyes turned to Arthur, who took a moment to calm his breathing and his racing thoughts.

"It seems that Emrys has truly arrived in Camelot at last! Since this feast was interrupted, let's postpone the festivities to tomorrow, when Emrys can truly be in attendance."

That seemed to bring the court back to reality, and they slowly began to make their way out of the feasting hall, moving slowly so that everyone could talk amongst one another about Emrys's sudden appearance.

As soon as the last of the courtiers had left the hall, Arthur sprinted out of the room, running to his own chambers as fast as his feet would carry him. He only stopped briefly to breathlessly ask one of the druid elders to pass along a message to Emrys, inviting him for a private meeting with a king later that evening.

Racing back to his own rooms, Arthur was beyond glad to find them spotless. His chamber servants would get a raise after this, they had outdone themselves this time. Everything was perfect, his rooms free of any dirt, his desk immaculate, his furniture exactly where it was supposed to be, and his bed made.

Arthur anxiously paced around his own rooms, worrying about what Emrys already thought of him. Had he been too dismissive during their first encounter? Was he disappointed that Arthur could not recognize him, the other half of his soul, through his peasant disguise?

Finally, there was a soft knock at Arthur's door. Taking a deep breath, Arthur called out, "You may enter," in a deceptively steady voice.

The door opened slowly, revealing a now-familiar face in the doorway. Arthur's breathing sped up as Emrys slowly stepped into his rooms and closed the door behind him.

"You- you wanted to see me?"

"Of course! I apologize for not recognizing you when we first met, but I did not expect you to come in such a disguise. Now that we are alone though, you can drop your magical glamour and reveal your true face. You do not need to hide anything form me, I promise."

But Emrys simply looked at him, blinking with confusion.

"I... appreciate that, but what are you talking about? What glamour?"

"The illusion that makes you appear like," Arthur waved his hand at Emrys's peasant garb, "this. You can freely show you true splendor here!"

Again, Emrys looked at him with nothing but confusion.

"But... but this is what I look like. I'm not using any sort illusion right now."

A beat of silence. Then, one dumbfounded word escaped Arthur's mouth.

"What?"

TL;DR:

The sorcerer Arthur thought he was getting:

Vs the sorcerer he actually got:

[ansicred]

BLOG CHECK-IN UPDATE!!

Right so, I've been doing a lot of posting since the last update and I think it's time to have another check-in post. First up: a periodical reminder for people to pay close attention to the ratings and warnings in my one-shots posts and their tags -- they're there for a reason and if you go into a one-shot thinking I won't be graphic or explicit about certain subjects (yes, including the ones that are sex-related), you'd be very wrong and I'm not going to wrap anyone in cotton wool about anything I write.

Second: as you'll no doubt have noticed, I've posted a new character whose name is Neil and he's my third Alan FC werewolf. His universe isn't something that I've necessarily put much thought into but I do wanna do some figuring out with him and post anything I do with him and his universe here -- this blog is a kind of weird writing-based sketchbook for me, after all. His universe is set in late 1969, hence his birthdate being in 1919, and due to the nature of the ideas for it in my head, and what Neil goes through, I'm giving any one-shots featuring him a baseline lowest rating of twelve (12) unless it's something really, really milquetoast and fluffy (eg: anything involving Neil and his youngest daughter, Christine). You can find him here.

Third: I do have plans to finish Jonah (WATD Verse)'s character sheet and he'll be up as soon as I've done that, as well as a one-shot featuring him and Nina I've had in my head for quite some time now (but I can't really write and post it without having first finished Jonah's sheet or I'll break my brain), so look out for those!

Fourth: I've started a newer version of a screenplay/TV script version of the Odd Foxes story that I plan to go into and work on on occasion so if I disappear off this blog for long strings of time, that's probably why. That said, I will continue to write Odd Foxes related one-shots and post them here because I love those silly fox bois and they're fun to write.

Fifth: Damaged Goods will have a slight direction shift, I've decided, wherein Felix and Azz interact more often and their individual stories become one. How I'll write that and in what format, I don't know yet but I'll still be doing one-shots for DG whenever I get the urge to do so.

Sixth: WATD I'm in the sketch-plan phase for a book/novel version of Bleddyn's story, so the one-shots will be more frequent as I figure out exactly what I'm doing with that idea and what sort of vibe I want/need for the book.

Seventh: I'll be making more OC graphics as well at some point, likely when I'm hit by inspiration. Plus, I'll have more mini lore dumps scattered about -- most likely Odd Foxes, WATD, and DG related, but I might also include MRC and Tide Down, depends on how I'm feeling.

Finally: My mam is going to Ireland for a few days next week, so I'll be babysitting my youngest sisters at her house while she's away. I'll be taking my laptop so I can do some one-shots & things, so I won't be away away, but I'll be far less frequent in posting compared to how I've been lately, especially when my sisters get home from school. In the meantime, like I say, I've got some stuff in the pipeline and they'll be up as and when I get to/finish them, so be on the look out!

For now though, you can leave me questions/comments/whathaveyou (including anonymously) in my inbox and I'll get back to you ASAP!

See you at the next update!! 🦊7

[typhin-hoofbun]

A Milestone

I kinda forgot Tumblr existed for a few weeks, so I forgot to post here to celebrate, but on January 16th, I hit a milestone. Two years of writing.

In that two years, I wrote over half a million words. In 73 chapters across three series. It's been a wild ride. My first story is still going, I haven't finished "Princess Tells Her Story" yet. (I probably will with Book 3, I can't think of anything I can really throw at the duo to challenge them after they've defeated a broken, insane god.)

I've had a pretty small following, but a loyal and supportive one, and I am eternally grateful for that. I can't wait to see where I'll be next year, or the year after that, or the year after that, and so on. ^_^

After Princess Book 3 is done, my next project is probably going to be rewriting Princess Book 1 to be better. It's a little bit of a mess, since each chapter, I didn't know if it would be the last thing I ever posted. So I tried to end it in a way that didn't leave active hanging threads, sort of a "We'll be okay" vibe, in case I couldn't continue. That made it very episodic in nature, since I didn't want to end on a cliffhanger, just in case. I also started a lot of threads that I never properly followed up on (looking at you, Brotherhood of Shadows) because I got distracted. I was very much winging it without any plan. Well, a little bit of a plan, there was quite a bit of "laying groundwork for things planned in Book 2" going on... ^_~ But still, I want to do it better, make it more cohesive, strip the "recap" bits, etc. Handle Princess's backstory better, too. Without properly planning it, it just sorta feels rough around the edges. But it'll be a while yet, I'm barely a third of the way through Book 3.

One of those readers sent me a gift for my anniversary. A box of oranges, from an orchard in Florida. They are absolutely delicious and wonderful and I love them. That reader is none other than my own mother, so of course she knows I love oranges. (You just can't get oranges that good elsewhere.) I just wanted to gush because I'm still giddy about it.

I do still kind of want to publish my work some day. It'd be nice to be able to bring in some extra income, but it'd also just be amazing to see my books on store shelves. To know someone is gonna wander those aisles like I did, look through all the covers, and a stack of paper printed with words is gonna be one filled with words I put together. Of course, anyone who picks up my stuff is probably gonna be doing the same thing I did: grabbing anything with a non-human protagonist on the cover, hoping desperately someone can put words to the feeling of "This human body is Not Me" so they feel less like they're going insane. Even if they aren't conscious of it, like I wasn't. While internet publishing like an e-book via Amazon lacks that feeling of awe, I might still do it anyway. (Would have to get together money to commission cover art, though. I'd love to get "Cover Art" stuff for each book anyway, even if I don't publish, because it'd be cool. ^_^ )

Really, I'm happy with anyone who enjoys my stuff, regardless of their reason. It's just the scenario I come up with in my head, Kid Me surrounded by endless books and trying to find one that lets me see someone else Being Different, and lets me feel it. ^_^;;

I should probably try to post on sites other than FurAffinity. I started to post to Royal Road, but I dunno, something about it just kinda grates on me, I guess. Don't know what. If people have suggestions for sites I should post to, I'd love to hear it. It's been a while since I posted a link to my stuff, so in case anyone reading this hasn't taken a look, here you go.

It's always interesting to see how some people will only follow one story, and some people will follow all three. Vayryn gets the most attention, people love yinglets. Princess gets almost as much as Vayryn, people love dragons but there's so many dragons that it's easy to get lost in the flood. Flopsy doesn't get much attention, she doesn't have people that go looking specifically for hoofbuns. I love writing all three, though. (In the latest Vayryn chapter, she attends a convention and runs into Valsalia himself. The real-life Valsalia said I did "a pretty spot-on impression", which I think is awesome. I tried to capture his friendly, approachable vibe, and I'm glad it came across. ^_^ )

Anyway, I'm going to end this here, because it's already insanely long. Love you all, I'm going to bed! (It's 5:19 AM now...)

[ellpimento]

Dec23

What I wanted to kvetch about was how pointless it is to get sick, and how freaking inconvenient it is to be laid out, incapacitated, there’s no reason to be forced to take a time out like this especially at this time of year when you can least afford it. This will be the second time I’ve gotten the vid and I had better not lose my sense of taste, or I’m going to be really really mad. There is nothing more frustrating and saddening than looking at food and not being able to smell or taste it. I'll deal with an extra day, heck, I'll be in pain all week long as long as it means I won't lose my taste buds for the next two months.

Yes, I love eating. My stomach's certainly shrunk during this time, which was probably needed. But this malaise and need to nap around and head inside a fish tank feeling need to go stat.

Yes, there are times where it is convenient to be sick (preferably for a day, two days at the most) when there are people to be shunned, events to be avoided, and there just isn’t really a nicer way to go about it than to (honestly, of course) pronounce yourself stuck under the blankets due to the flu or what have you. But apart from that, being ill for any length of time past two days is just a serious inconvenience and a loss of money. If I could get sick on my vacation over a regular work week, I would always pick on vacation.

Did I mention I hate being sick? It’s been a week now and I was ready for it to be over with 5 days ago.

Other Reflections

We are officially closing upon the end of the year, and what have I really accomplished? A lot, actually, even a tiny bit with the writing. I used to do year-end reviews of accomplishments and whatnot, but I can’t be bothered to think that hard anymore if I don’t have to. Someone asked recently ‘what’s the best thing about getting older’ and I responded with: it gets easier to let things be and carry on with your own life. What sort of Freudian slip that is, I’m not really sure, other than it’s just a nicer way of saying ‘I don’t really give a crap about other people or their perceptions anymore and I’m perfectly happy doing my own thing instead of trying to keep up with the crowd.’ Which is the long and short of everything I’ve been doing these past few years. Giving less a crap and focusing more on restructuring my priorities, letting go of bad habits, and improving upon life in general. Especially this year, I’ll say. There’s been a lot of change this year, there’ll be heck more in the next year, so I’m really trying my best right now to enjoy everything and not fight too hard against the grain.

The hardest part of this whole process of changing for the better and making time for the things that do matter is not beating myself up for not working 24/7, or being unable to work due to being sick. Yes, I was back at work feverishly laboring after 2 days of being ill because if I can get out of bed, I can go to work. Which is a sad reflection of how much of a horrible taskmaster I would be, probably am (that’s just a sniffle, now blow your nose and get back to work), just ask my kids, and that I really need to take a step back and reflect on taking care of myself and others. ‘Take care of yourself first’ comes out of my mouth often, but yet my brain expects them to poo-poo that phrase like I do, ignore the pains and just keep slogging away. And this is all because I really really need to make a dollar and screw everything else including myself, well, I tell people they’re not 20 years old anymore, but at this point, I’d better adjust that to ‘you’re not 30 anymore, take it easy.’

Tl;dr: Will this vid go away already, I don’t have time for it and I can’t afford being sick. I’ve made some improvements this year, but learning to be nice to myself is still a seemingly unachievable feat. I’ve a feeling next year is going to be another hard lesson.

[the-firebird69]

Watch "Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) KILL COUNT" on YouTube

Is kill counts are lame and they show only three out of roughly 30 kills of Jesus and he's going around as a homicidal maniac as governor as people are not following orders and people are not doing any work and his people and it's true and his people got slaughtered here which is another reason and he's not sensitive to that and you can't afford to be this time he's seeking the AI because they're small and there are people in the way and they're obnoxious about it and they're rude and they're crude and they incite people to violence they insight people to say things and to be angry and to be mean and they're clones and they're Max dying and they're old. That's true you're running around with this faggy act and these two and some more on a homicidal binge even the f** next door is just sitting there taking it and I can't stand you people anymore you want him to wreck me and to put me on lower amount of money so you're allowing him to be juiced up and I say is I don't know the math I really don't understand it no I'm being sarcastic so his juiced up I'm going to amp it up after a while you'll probably stop him here and there but until then I'm going to take you out Max and clones foreigners and take all your Intel and all your stuff and your territory and you can laugh all you want because I might take a cut and pay I really proves what you people are up to which is nothing the money if it all it's owned by Mac who cares I handled some money it's not like a big deal we'd like it back it's kind of like an heirloom but if he's not going to use it for code and lots of times they says it's not any more or less is saying it and we don't give a s*** about it we'd rather see you dead you don't have any game then you can step off because we're good with people you have no game we are. It works very well for us come up and you're plowing and blithering like this idiot next door they don't have any game at all employees out then you certainly don't have any games and you don't have any machinations you just have no brain and we use you and people fall when your carcass is saying and by the way your massively annoying Mac you're the fact that it just says all sorts of s*** and you never fall through in anything that you're saying it's really more annoying than these people you want me to go to your stupid laundry man that's your highlight of your week and say stuff and I'm taking over your businesses and there's no fruity or fruit cake than you have wrong telling me I'm wrong and all the stuff and you don't care about your people dying I'll tell you what you don't care about Max starting that much either and we don't care at all we're trying to kill them and it's frustrated because we're not keeping up with a number of people that are stupid as hell and we can get rid of we're catching up and this series and Halloween are long is to do so and you're forcing it morons you freaking idiots

Zues Hera

He says he doesn't care either after the AI and we can give a s*** about the AI we probably have copies of all of them okay PGA we don't care about your AI That's how we steal your robots you stupid idiot you people are so inept it's not even funny

[livingasaghost]

remember in high school and college when i chronically overshared on tumblr about every little thing and then i was like "no no that's too personal i shouldn't share that nobody needs to know that"

well joke's on yall because i am still a chronic oversharer!

so basically you all surmised that i signed for my own solo apartment. i got the keys last tuesday and i was hoping to move in this past weekend with the help of my dad. it was supposed to be a simple thing...and now i am sitting on the couch in my old place with my entire life in boxes and a full-ass covid diagnosis. how did we get here you may ask?

basically the unit i am renting is not the one i toured or signed up for. which shouldn't be the end of the world, i'm flexible, the space is mostly similar....except that it smells like cigarettes and also there have been a million other tiny problems. the appliances aren't as new, the tub needs help, there's just no microwave???, the fridge doesn't really open properly, there was water pooling in the bathroom sink, when i got there the first time the deadbolt lock was wiggly, the ceiling outside the unit is literally falling down??? and also one day when i came to check out the unit there was a notice from the sheriff for the previous resident to vacate the premises. so totally chill!

i kind of had a breakdown about it when i first saw the space but then i reasoned with myself that i was just making a big deal out of nothing, that it could all probably be fixed, and some of it was fixed by maintenance...but after going to the leasing office three days in a row trying to fix all these problems, i still have to deal with the cig smell, NO MICROWAVE?, and the entire thing just feels more and more unsafe. not to mention it wasn't what i thought i was paying for, especially for the price range.

and i think the biggest thing too is that the one person i kept talking to in the office was both incredibly unhelpful and really quite rude. and sure maybe she was having an off day (three days in a row???) like i can be empathetic for sure....but goddamn i am a new resident you should at least tRY to be nice to me! i think i deserve that at the very least!

so anyway dad came to visit and tell me i'm not crazy and we toured my unit again and both agreed that this isn't what i thought i was getting so we gotta talk to someone before i move everything into that godforsaken unit. we try to talk to the office on saturday but the lady (again, rudely) told us that everybody was MIA until tuesday but there were two other units similar to my style/price range so okay maybe i can look at one of those on tuesday

...except sunday i tested positive for covid and so obviously now i am bedridden and i can't speak bc my voice is almost gone and so okay i'll just have dad call the office to sort things out....except when he calls the office they say they'll call him back with someone who can actually deal with this (nobody ever calls back in that office, i know from past experience). so okay maybe i'll send a message in the resident portal! (again, nothing)

now last week i think i spent 3-4 days just stewing in my anxiety, feeling like shit, not eating or sleeping, and the best part of my day was going to work. bc that's how bad i felt about this whole thing. but now i am out of work until next tuesday, i have even less of an idea of what to do, and i'm arguably losing more money the longer i wait but i feel this strange sense of peace. like nothing matters! i will be okay bc i am privileged but i will use this to spite landlords and capitalism and i will continue to be angry! bc what the fuck! literally could have been a chill little thing if they would have just walked through the unit with me like i asked the moment i got my keys but nO she didn't want to do that because i was inconveniencing her!

god the more i think about it the more furious i am for the other people they've inevitably done this to

i'm so so lucky to have incredible parents and friends to support me through this bc it quite frankly sucks ass but what are we doing about the lower class! how are we helping them!! how do we stop this from happening to other people!!!

anyway, now you have context, i'm back to being an emotionless blob watching parks & rec and sniffling on the couch let's all pray that xfinity doesn't realize that they haven't disconnected the wifi yet oops

[captain-aralias]

My Year in Review (but i cut the giant gif)

summary is - my top posts this year are recs, discord links .... and a pregnancy announcement!

I posted 1,105 times in 2022

165 posts created (15%)

940 posts reblogged (85%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@facewithoutheart

@cutestkilla

@artsyunderstudy

@letraspal

@forabeatofadrum

I tagged 908 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#carry on - 700 posts

#carry on fanart - 277 posts

#fic rec - 235 posts

#my content - 177 posts

#unintended - 38 posts

#snowbaz - 36 posts

#restoration ecology - 31 posts

#simon snow series - 22 posts

#doctor who - 16 posts

#sort of - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#the ones i'm disappointed with didn't quite sell the premise or i had to write them too hurriedly or forgot to bring something in

I sent 3 gifts in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

life update

i'm 14-weeks pregnant 🎉

due date: 30th may

bit more info below the cut

i thought about making a lulzy WIP wednesday post (aka, "here is what i'm working on") along these lines a few times, but i didn't want to tag anyone into personal stuff they didn't necessarily want, and also i thought i miscarried almost immediately and that started me down a spiral of anxiety, so now it's not so funny. but anyway - i thought today would be a good day to tell people, since we're out the first trimester.

how:

IVF - worked first time

my partner's egg

donor sperm - man it's weird buying sperm, particularly from america, although i only browsed. i bought from the UK. i do know men i could have asked, but in the end i thought... i dont know anyone well enough i'd want to have a child with them. at all.

happy to answer questions about any of the above, if you're interested. thinking of writing a blog about it in my work persona.

how am i?

fine apart from the anxiety!

my main symptoms have been exhaustion, leading to very little writing, and some nausea but pretty weaksauce compared to some

i've told most people at work, which is a very supportive environment, so all good.

my partner's therapist said (to her) not to make big life decisions so soon after the death of my mum/her dad on the same day about a year ago, but we are both in our mid thirties and at our most financially viable, so - hopefully it's fine.

how is baby?

probably ok! we've seen them on several scans, definitely have two arms, two legs, brain, etc

still haven't managed to do the test that tells you the likiehood of Downs etc, though, as the baby has refused to move into a position where they could get a good measurement. we may know towards the end of december - so that is making me More Anxious, but it's still fine

why am i putting this on the internet?

a few reasons.

firstly - i would've told livejournal. the same thing happened when my mum died - i wanted to tell the online community i'm part of, the same way i've told friends and people from work.

but also - because i've been saying i've been tired and that i'm not writing on here, and i wanted everyone to know... this is why. i'm not sick! i'm just pregnant.

AND ... i don't know what the next six months, and then the next.......... twenty years will be like. i'm hoping to write a few more Carry On things before the baby arrives, assuming the second trimester is less tiring (which seems likely so far), but who knows? and probably less after that. BUT WHO KNOWS.

my partner is also a fandom person. i have nine(ish) months of maternity leave (thanks, britain!) and she'll be around for most of that too, thanks to working from home. so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe i'll be writing a bunch of extremely realistic babyfics or something. probably not, but you never know.

anyway!

that's the news.

it may all still go wrong, obviously. we haven't done all the tests, still six months to go.

i'll update with these same tags, if we lose the baby for whatever reason, and i'll update if we don't!

98 notes - Posted December 4, 2022

#4

Some 'Carry On' Recommendations for your Tuesday

here's some things i've been reading recently that i think other people should read too! thanks for tagging me @messofthejess!

N.B. this list is super long and also only scratching the surface... i should rec more often, anyway - if you see this, please read some of the things as you will really like them, and give the authors some love!

Teen or under

The Plum Tree by @otherpeoplesheartachept-2, under 1k

baz and malcolm talk (without exactly talking) about how baz is a vampire. great characterisation, really nice contained and different piece.

Eight Times Simon Couldn’t Stop Himself by knightinbrightfeathers, RainyForecast, steadfastasthouart (steadfastest) - 12k

just realised this has three authors! really brilliant fic, fangirl-era - but super worth reading, as long as you're ok with simon being smart, and also knowing he's into boys before he kisses baz. (why wouldn't you be?). this is all about simon and baz pranking each other/being generally awful, until they aren't - you see their relationship changing and simon gradually realising what he feels about baz, then there's a telepathy scene! this was recced recently in the discord* so probably lots of people have now read it, but it's seriously good!

Golden Boy by @spockzilla, 9k

magickal mishap, simon turns everything to gold by mistake! this author (also responsible for the fic where simon turns into a frog) is really good at making the silliest things sexy, and sexy things silly - which is a good thing.

end to begin by @tea-brigade, 4k

canon AU, simon and baz are exes, but simon needs baz's help..... really lovely, unusual, interesting and moving fic! i really like how it uses this inciting incident to let baz be kind (that's for me, the most important thing about them being together) and encourage the two of them to have the conversation they should have had a long time ago. works so well.

Trapped by @you-remind-me-of-the-babe based on art by taken_aback_by_Tuesdays,

penny/shepard get together, no snowbaz involved! this fic is criminally unread, because ... it's not snowbaz, but it is BRILLIANT. amazing penny and shepard characterisation, and it's so fun to see them get together a different way... that also involves her saving him.

Explicit

This Will All Go Down In Flames by @facewithoutheart with art by @tea-brigade, 11/17 chapters, 40k, WIP (no sex yet, RIP)

obsessed with this fic right now! band AU where simon and baz briefly bacame friends at school, then became incredibly successful musicians before the band broke up... because simon and baz couldn't communicate about how they fancied each other. it's great! fun, funny, social media stuff, a malcolm trying to be down with the kids, texas references, shepard being a reporter - highly recommend.

Crosse My Heart by @creepyspice with art by @cutestkilla, 5k, brobelove not snowbaz

omg, this fic is so good. seriously - even if you dont think you're into brobelove, you should read this, as i dont believe you could like snowbaz if you don't like the competitive snarky action this fic has in spades, but also if you like brobelove, my god you should read this! such amazing characterisation and super sexy.

Here in the Dark by @artsyunderstudy, 5k

love this middle of the night sex - i'm repeating my comment here, but the whole mood is perfect: confused and dreamlike, you're locked out of baz's POV, entirely in simon's and it works so well for the mood. plus, it's sexy AND there's amazing art to go with it.

Two Heads Are Better Than One by @skeedelvee, 22k

omg, i am obsessed with this fic. it's so deeply strange (simon and baz share the same body, due to - magickal mishap!) AND SO AMAZING AND SEXY. and also romantic and fun. proper enemies to to friends to lovers action, a fantastic scene where simon and baz watch baz's vanilla porn, a bit where they defeat a unicorn together, sex as one person, sex as two people - it's got it all.

*if you're not in this discord, but you'd like to be, this is the link to get in: https://discord.gg/FJ8meVhr

that's enough - i've got more i should rec, but i'll do another post later.

101 notes - Posted August 16, 2022

#3

Thought it was time to bring this back. 

Discord is a chat room. This is a chat room about Carry On, etc.

Not the only one, but one of the biggest (there are 200+ members). The Discord has:

a strong, active moderator team, who make sure this is a safe space (not me, I’m just a helper)

adult-only areas, and a policy that NSFW stuff is not shared outside of these spaces

places to talk about and share fic, art, meta, fan theories, memes, etc

virtual outings, like fic readings

custom emojis

It’s very nice.

This link will get you in: https://discord.gg/8yZvQK7k 

(it expires in 7 days, so 6th May 2022, but feel free to message me if you see this post and the link’s expired)

You will have to introduce yourself before you’re given access to the server proper, although you don’t have to talk after that, if you don’t want to. You can just quietly vibe. Alternately, you can talk a lot and that’s fine too!

You will also have to sign up to the code of conduct.

If you have trouble getting in/speaking once you’re in, it could be because you haven’t verified your Discord account. There’s a clear prompt on desktop, but not on mobile.

I can confirm I checked with the mod team before making this post. It’s kosher.

Please share this post, if you want to.

108 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

#2

AU - Canon Divergence Recs

i couldn't think of a good title for this, but basically there have been a few fics recently where i thought: not only is this a great fic, but also this is something i think we could see more in other fics.

basically, they all do a thing that is a good tool to make new fics with. and they're all good fun. here we go:

Eighth Year AU but with Mage-mission

Shiver (rated E) by @facewithoutheart and, yeah, ok me - but not really

for me, an eighth year fic should be about baz being gone/the coffin, magic sharing (with simon and baz much more likely, therefore to be interested in each other quicker), or the plot events of carry on - this one does that. BUT ALSO the plot is driven by simon going on a quest for the mage, which is a classic seventh year trope. cool! (and not my idea)

Post Watford Get Together with Magickal Mishap

Come As You Are (rated E) by @facewithoutheart who sponsored this video

how genius is this? they've left watford, so they've both moved on but magickal mishap happens to simon and that's the plot instigator. simple, but genius.

Genuine new past for Simon and Baz, makes them the same but different

I Know What You Are (rated T) by @martsonmars

ok, other fics have done this too, but i really like this fic and i think the way it does this thing is perfect. simon's grown up with the mage and lucy as his parents; baz has been raised by natasha and malcolm. as a result, when we meet them in eighth year they have completely different histories. it's not only the way they interact with each other that's different, they're both much more confident, have different friends. they really are different people, but the same.

Carry On universe but no Watford

Pretty in Pink (rated T) by @arca9

i was re-reading this one (fake dating heist, love it!) the other day and thinking - this is pretty unique! baz and simon work for the coven, but only just met each other when they became partners, there's no watford. but they use the magic system - it's just a really fun view on what's necessary for your AU to work.

112 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Top 10 SnowBaz fics

I was talking earlier about how 'What's Left' is one of my top 10, which it is. obviously that made me think.... what are the rest?

i think it's probably instinctively these, these ones that influence me the most/that i've re-read the most/that i most wish i could have written, although i had to delete some real favs to get down to 10, and limited myself to one fic per author. and excluded 'your bloodied mouth' as it ain't finished, but kept 'northern downpour' as i believe it will be.

almost all canon divergence, most have plot and sex.

5 Times They Half-Arsed It by @krisrix

Bound and Determined by @fatalfangirl

Golden Years by @basic-banshee

keep on keeping on by waveydnp

In A Bind by @im-gettingby

Northern Downpour by @scone-lover

Remember the Magic by @sharkmartini

There'll Be Peace When You Are Done by somekindofpath

What's Left by @cutestkilla

When the Bells Ring by @phoxphyre

360 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

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