#( anyways I’m babbling )

[astrobei]

hi i love your fics and I was wondering if you had any byler fic recs

thanks

hello there! in all honesty, i have not had the time to read a lot of byler fic as of late, but it’s been a while since i posted some recs so i’ll drop a few that i’ve enjoyed recently! as always, i do endorse every fic in my bookmarks to the highest possible degree, so always feel free to look through those for new reading as well <3

say it with your hands by pseudologia (@hellfiremike) — will is a new employee at the movie theater mike works at, and mike starts thirsting over will’s hands to a degree that’s downright detrimental to his employment status

GOD. this fic. i gushed in their dms immediately after finishing it because this might be my favorite modern will characterization of all time, and this is coming from someone who has a million and one takes on modern era will byers. this fic just checked all of my boxes — from the summertime romance to mike’s painfully in-character teenage angsting to will being a frequenter of star wars reddit threads and an enjoyer of sufjan stevens. and the TENSION. oh god the tension. i’ve read all their fics probably three times over each, and i also highly recommend like i am home again, a college au set during a halloween party which made me stare at my phone refreshing ao3 hourly until it updated, and can this be a real thing (can it?) wherein mike and will reunite in a gay bar. enough said

landslide by chamb3rs — the party’s senior year of high school

i don’t often reach for chaptered fics since i usually have such limited reading time, but i’m sooo so so happy i stumbled across this one. there have just been very few fics that have touched me like this one did. i blew through this in one sitting a few weekends ago and subsequently experienced the full range of human emotions (and then some) all in the span of a few hours. everything about this was perfect — the will pov, the weird liminality of transitional periods, the party and byhop family dynamics, down to my favorite portrayal of theeeee jennifer hayes in any fic ever. on top of all of that, this fic perfectly captures the heartbreaking euphoria of being in love with your best friend, and all the ups and downs that come with it. i crawled out of the ao3 tab covered in blood and my chest was hurting and i was shaking and i had damn near chewed my own arm off — and then i sent the link to my friend 10 minutes later and watched her experience the same exact thing like a train wreck in slow-mo HAHAHA

what a time to be alive by passerine_in_jade (@newlesbianprideflag) — will disappears and haunts mike from the upside down

i’m forever a total sucker for a good haunting metaphor, so it’s absolutely not a surprise that this fic is appearing on this list. the premise for this was so so so cool and interesting, and it’s another chaptered fic i’m glad i had a little extra time to read. the way the author had me rooting for mike and will the whole time even though half of the pairing was offscreen for a large majority of the fic is a highly commendable feat. mike’s unyielding loyalty to will and will’s constant faith in him felt so true to their canon selves, and there were so many moments that were so quiet and intimate and tender that i really felt like i was intruding on something. good good stuff

that’s what you get for falling in love by harriet_vane — will gets his first boyfriend in college, and mike, ever the ally, has very normal feelings about it

i want to preface this by saying that this fic is rated m, mostly just for mentions/allusions to sex, and one largely non-explicit portion of a scene in the last chapter. if that’s not your cup of tea, it’s easy to tell when it’s coming up and to skip past it without detracting from the plot, but i think it would be a greater detriment to not rec this fic at all, because it has quickly made the list of my favorite byler fics of all time. something about this take on jealous mike especially resonated with me — his inner monologue is simultaneously hilarious and depressing, and his obliviousness regarding his feelings for will feels so true to life without being overdone or cartoonish. you can tell just how much they really care for each other, and the conflict in this actually made me start crying because it felt so visceral and so fundamentally them. you can tell this author really understands their characters, and the love put into this fic is soooo palpable. it’s the kind of fic where you want to bonk their heads together to knock some sense into them, but you are helpless to do anything but hold on as you’re swung along for the ride.

finally, i try not to just rec fics written by my friends, but my recent reading list would be incomplete without these two wonderful additions:

the way you love me by strangeswift (@strangeswift) — byler exes (absolutely heartwrenching edition)

i’ve been hearing abby talk about her ideas for this fic for the better part of a year as she worked on it, and she actually edited and posted the first two chapters while i was visiting her! and by god is this world a better place with her byler exes concept in it, because if you want angst, you’ll never have to look further than her ao3 page. something about the way she writes will in this fic just makes my heart shrivel up and die in my chest — his quiet resignation, the bitterness (always love a good bitter will byers moment) and the Longing that never quite went away. mike’s characterization is also top notch, and you can really feel the chemistry between them during every interaction. at the time of me posting this list, chapter 4 is not yet up, but trust me when i tell you guys it’s going to soooooo be worth it. :-)

the end is here by bookinit (@bookinit02) — a speculative byler-centric season 5

if you’ve been following my blog for any amount of time, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that haven’s canon rewrite series is hands-down my favorite series across any pairing and fandom. her creativity with her season 5 concepts never fails to astound me — from the scripts she’s been working on as an alternative to the episodes she rewrote for s1-4, to her ideas for possible plot lines, and just incredible writing all around. i’ve had the privilege of reading through her scripts before she posts them to her blog (definitely go check them out) but special privilege bias aside, it takes soooo much skill to create such a visually powerful story in a medium that allows for such little narration, and the corresponding chapters just totally pushes it over the edge. pre-s5 required reading for every byler, and 100000% my new canon if the show doesn’t pan out

this definitely is not an exhaustive list because i have a million and one fics on my to-read, and one day i will get around to reading them all, but i hope there is something on this list that strikes your fancy!!

#mutuals specifically there are so many fics i need to catch up on im sorry #once i’m done w school im coming for you all truly #anyways i hope there are some here you guys like! sorry it’s not the longest list and sorry i babbled #actually no i’m not #i have a lot of feelings abt fics i like. #these r all fics that likeeeeee. make me want to Write #which is the highest compliment i can personally bestow #byler #byler fic rec #suni reads

[patron-saint-of-lesbeans]

Very interesting (concerning) that while there’s a general consensus of “of course there’s queer Muslims and Jews and Christians we love them!” But that love is conditional. You can be religious but not too religious. You can be spiritual as long as it’s not actually that important to you. You can be observant of your religion’s dogma and traditions as long as you keep it away from everybody else.

But I don’t want to cut myself into smaller pieces. I don’t want to take a part of my life and culture and being and hide it away behind closed doors. It’s just…hypocritical and disappointing when people, who clamor about their love for the contradictory and self-authentic, hate when they’re confronted with it.

#tower of babble #catholic #lgbt #side b #sorry I saw a very good post pointing out the way queer Jews are often cited with the caveat that they’re not observant Jews #and how there are queer observant Jews but I didn’t want to derail so I made my own post #because fuckin hell how often do you see white queers telling queer Muslim women to stop wearing their hibjabi (unless it’s for ~cultural~ #purposes). it’s disgusting and demeaning to assume queer people don’t have deeply meaningful spiritual lives. #side b Christians 🤝 observant queer Jews 🤝 devout queer Muslims #me. happily trans and gay: I’m so happy and blessed to have this body and life - #homo/transphobes: you’re going to hell you’re evil you’re stupid you’re faking it #me: huh. oh. um. well I’m still blessed because I know you are not speaking with Christ in your heart- #a surprising number of self proclaimed radicals: uhhhh please don’t acknowledge that you’re Christian it makes us. uncomfortable. #me: …being uncomfortable and confused about others is the pride of Pride? the queer community thrives on contradiction and self definition? #anyways. prof put my pronouns down as he/she/they on the syllabus and I am popping the biggest gender affirming bottles tonight #(praying a chaplet and eating rice like the grad student peasant I am)

[lannisterdaddyissues]

i totally forgot how obsessed my dad is with top gun actually lol. it came on tv and he made me sit down next to him for the entirety of the layton rescue while shouting at everyone on-screen and holding onto my arm and then he made me sit down again to watch ice and mav buzz the tower and hug on the carrier while pledging their lives to each other in holy matrimony

also according to him val kilmer is the best-looking man in human history (though tom cruise is close behind)

#this man is totally straight but he was in the air force so he’s got some man-enjoying tendencies i guess #anyway i told him i watched real genius last night and he got SO excited and started rambling about his favorite val kilmer movies to me #we babbled about real genius for a bit (he was SO thrilled i tell you he started waving his hands and quoting his favorite parts) #and then he told me to watch top secret! and tombstone and told me about those #he’s also a huge fan of viper and his mustache which i love #anyway i’m gonna show him top gun: maverick later this week bc he still hasn’t seen it #i cannot fucking WAIT for him to cry his eyes out at the wingman hug and ice’s funeral he’s gonna be so distraught #i just know he’s gonna love all the shit mav gets up to as well

[kkolg]

Look who made their boyfriend a fursonaaaaaaaa

meeeeeeeeee

#holy shit I thought I was cringe before #HOW DOES GETTING A BOYFRIEND MAKE IT WORSE🧎‍♀️ #you guys will be hearing a lot about him I apologize (lie)🚶‍♀️ #Oh the fursonas name is Nathaniel :) #I know you’ll see this gefgrefrerewfew hiiiiiii <3 #I should be writing an essay right now #And you know doing other more productive things #But this is more important <3 #uhm anyways #idk how I’m gonna tag this uhhhhhh #boyfriend babble #Good enough 😌 #uh anyways x2 #regular tag time😊 #k’s rants #kk’s art #art #furry #sfw furry #fursona #digital artist #digital #digital drawing #digital painting #digital art

[xskyll]

Page 15, for the second time! Apologies to those that saw the version I posted last night with the typo. My days lately have been busy, so sometimes I feel a bit brain foggy. A couple of people left comments on either here or Twitter and it killed me to delete everything. ;_;

Prev / Next

First

#skylldraws #i’m still counting this as part of my holiday streak #i posted on Mother’s Day and the day before Memorial Day #then I posted this originally on father’s day only to take it down and post on Juneteenth #The holidays might be part of why I’m feeling so exhausted lately #i end up having to visit family which is draining because i have to be on guard the whole time #but!! #next week i have some days off #hubby and i are going away and I’m hoping I’ll be able to rejuvenate #cause right now my motivation is low #some nights i get to the point where i can finally sit down and relax and all i have the energy to do is stare at the wall lolol #or watch tv #i recently started watching Nana for the first time #anyway I’ve babbled enough #we bought a new mattress and it’s tall so i need to go set up a ramp so my tiny dog can get into bed on his own #happy pride everyone #I watched To Wong Foo for the first time the other week and adored it #also went to a drag show Saturday and it was great #okay I’ll shut up now #here are the obligatory tags #tododeku #tddk #tdiz #todoizu #bnha #bnha comic #tddk comic #tddk fanart #todoroki x midoriya #todoroki x deku

[unknown-echo]

VINCENT 😍😍😍😍

#my art #dead plate #vincent charbonneau #rody lamoree #vincent charbonneau in a DRESS BC FUCK YES #hes so hot #echo babbles #yes i know vincent’s left hand looks weird on the full body #don’t come for me #i didn’t realize until after the piece was done #lmao #i’m a little stupid #anyway hope you enjoy

[blinkpen]

i think it is important as a writer to have a sense of humility about your characters, no matter how cool you want them to come off as, and in fact, you should probably come up with at least one in-character way for how even the most dignified badass who couldn't give less of a fuck could possibly botch an interaction so badly they not only look like a fool, they feel like it too, the narrative framing agrees and that is The End of that instance burned into everyone's memories forever, it's not the end of the world, but there is no cushion At All and no undo button for it

on that note

demersa deathglare is not Immune to "you were told to Abort the bit and you took it as a challenge to Extend and Intensify the bit and now the camera finally moved" syndrome

#sporadic warbling #oc babble #doodles #relic v2 #demersa #cleo #angel cw #suicide mention #she has to actually come off as just a full on jackass now and then or what is the point #Anyway have another pre-pack lunch doodle that is terrible I’m still largely afk/out of town

[swiftmitsu]

holy. moly…..

thank you guys for all your requests ehehe

there’s so many omfg what have i gotten myself into 💀it’s fine though i’m excited to draw them all

i’ll try to do them all, but for now my requests are closed!! eheh<3

#mitsu babbles #art block and burnout is really kicking my ass #i’m surprised there wasn’t any/much repeat ships shkskd #anyway love you guys 💛

[videogame-brainwyrms]

Yui Kimura is just an objectively pretty survivor like she’s beautiful

#dead by daylight #yui kimura #dbd #dbd yui #though it feels like she’s not played as much #it’s crazy #there’s so many pretty survivors and people don’t play em #damn #anyways shoutout to all the yui mains #I’m a haddie main myself but I play yui sometimes #babbling

[twistedappletree]

Look, I can’t explain it but Jin Ling is a Chihuahua, Lan Sizhui is a Great Dane, Lan Jingyi is a Shiba Inu and Ouyang Zizhen is a Golden Retriever

#apple babble 🍎 #to ME anyway #it’s okay if yours our different but #lmaoooo #one thing that’s kinda funny about Jin Ling is that the loves dogs but he has a cat personality ajdhajhdAJDHAJD #mdzs #mdzs juniors #not gonna overtag this since it’s just brain vomit 🧠 #I feel like I’m at least correct with LJY like cmon #????? #of course he’s a meme dog #i was thinking husky too but even tho they’re hyper and dramatic #shibes are the dog version of gremlincore #*ARE NOT OUR #not going back to correct that fml aHAHAHA

[aureutr]

Health update, featuring: DIAGNOSIS

I have been a chronic pain patient for a few years now. It's difficult to fully articulate how much pain changes your life, unless you are someone who has lived it or had a loved one live it.

Pain sucked away my energy and brainpower. I found myself sleeping more and more, first in naps after work then I was regularly calling out half days just to sleep. All the while, I was seeing doctor after doctor in hopes that someone would have an answer.

No one did. At first, it was almost a relief. It wasn't cancer, after all. But then the relief turned into disappointment and quickly into resignation. Labs were fine, X-ray was clear, CT was good. It should have been good news, except I still hurt all of the time and no one could tell me why.

The pain got worse. It peaked in Autumn 2022, when I finally got my first sliver of relief. Gabapentin kept the pain in control enough that I no longer had to regularly sleep half of the day, but it made me foggy. Still, it was easier to manage than the brain fog from pain, so I took it.

I still take it, and I’m on quite the high dose. It’s given me a semblance of a life back, but it’s not the answer or a cure. I still napped, I still hurt too much to even walk around a store for more than an hour or so. And, if I did, it would be my only activity for the day.

I lost my job late last year. I don’t believe it was because of the time I had to take, it was a mass layoff, but I’m certain it did not help. That, at least, ended up fine. I found a job I prefer with far better pay within a few months. And they’re, so far, understanding that I’m working through health problems.

But being unemployed was still a stressor, and I had learned that stress was integral to my pain. When I was stressed, it was worse. When I was calm, it was bearable.

I’ll skip describing another round of tests and hypotheses that went nowhere. In October 2023, my husband and I went to the Mayo Clinic or the Cleveland Clinic or John Hopkins (I am being intentionally vague here). This was our second time visiting, the first gave us absolutely nothing.

A nurse practitioner took a very quick look at me, too quick for our comfort, and declared the issue muscular. She recommended physical therapy. It seemed too simple, really. After all of that, all that money spent and time invested? It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried some exercise, but when moving makes your pain worse and worse pain zaps your energy, that’s difficult to maintain.

Still, I wasn’t going to turn my nose up at anything at this point. And it’s a damn good thing I didn’t.

The physical therapist I ended up seeing told me I had the strongest pelvic floor she’s ever seen. And that’s not a good thing. I have apparently taken literal decades worth of anxiety, depression, self-loathing, and any other negative emotion you can think of, and held them taut there, keeping my pelvic muscles almost constantly tensed.

And when you tense that much for that long, dysfunction arises.

My official diagnosis is Pelvic Floor Disorder. All of my PT has been focused on stretching, no strength training or cardio. I’m retraining my body to relax, to let go.

It has been amazing.

At the time of writing, I’ve been going to sessions for about six weeks. Already, I am eager to walk our dogs every day. I’ve gone out on my own or with friends to move.

The pain is not gone. But it is so much less that my pain clinic doctor is discussing reducing my gabapentin in a couple of months. And with decreased pain comes decreased brain fog.

Decreased brain fog means not only an improvement in my professional work, but space for fandom. I’ve written more than I’ve shared, lots of short private stuff for friends, but I haven’t had enough organized thought to re-approach the stories I put on hold.

I can’t promise anything, of course, but I hope that can change soon. I’ve been dabbling in Distant Echoes again, and it’s fun to be back in that world.

I’m not well. But I’m better. I’m so, so much better.

#real life #tmi #health update #Emotions as pain sounds like a fake Star Wars thing I know #but it’s apparently not #and I have a side of CPTSD to go along with it #I don’t get into that in this post #maybe in another one #this is the What moreso than the Why #though it touches on the Why #anyway I’m babbling #this is where I’ve been #this is where I’d like to be #writing #my writing

[kodaiki]

i love jjk so much but respectfully, fuck this show <3

#i’m catching up on season 2 and i’m on ep 7 #my heart feels so heavy #anyways choso hyper fixation go brrr bc of tiktok #wanna put him in my pocket #𐀔 babbles

[cable-knit-sweater]

someone send me the strength to deal with all the articles on the Thunderbolts that talk about how Bucky “finally atoned for his actions as the winter soldier” because 😤😤😤 he doesn’t have shit to atone for. When will it end ugh.

#maya babbles #I’m trying to ignore all of it but it’s getting on my radar anyway 😭😡 #I’ve seen a couple in recent days that made me want to do something violent ugh #fuck the thunderbolts #anti mcu #anti disney #thunderbolts #bucky barnes

[feathersofvibranium]

//y’all I’ve been HYPED that CATWS’s 10th anniversary is coming up in April like since Jan 1st. You know what I didn’t realize until literally just now? This blog here. Sam’s blog. started the SAME YEAR. This blog is turning 10 YEARS OLD this year 😬🥹😱

#//when I say I’m old I meant this old wow #//how tf has it been TEN WHOLE YEARS now tho #//was I part of the snap holy skajgkshgd #//anyways hi to everyone still around #//:3 #//drop by and say hi if you like and/or wanna rp #//kay have a wonderful day/evening #mun babbles

[bug13underscore]

hey osemanverse fandom (specifically Solitaire fans) it’s important to me that you all know Michael Holden is called a Manic Pixie Dream Boy (specially Tori’s) on TV Tropes

#babble tag #osemanverse #solitaire #michael holden #tori spring #i found this out because at work we’re doing a mystery book swap event thing and i’m gonna bring a copy of solitare #we’re listing tropes genre and a vague description on it too so this is why i was on tv tropes #anyway if you read all my tags and have trope ideas for solitaire hit me up pls

[patrickztump]

just a few things fall out boy can still do to celebrate save rock and roll’s tenth anniversary:

rerelease the album with demos, acoustic versions, unreleased tracks

release clothing similar to that eras merch

release a gag reel from the youngblood chronicles

partner with funko (again) to release a youngblood chronicles version of the band

drop a google drive folder of high res photos from then (srar tour, monumentour, promo photos, etc.)

#anyways happy tenth anniversary to me and just one yesterday specifically #it was the first track i actually downloaded after hearing bits and pieces of srar for a few months #so she’s My first fob song i fell in love with and still goes hard to this day #but yeah anyways i don’t get why srar didn’t get the love and appreciation from they band or management that she deserved this year #and these are things i have been thinking about since oh…march? #anyways yeah i’m just talking bye ✌🏻 #babble post