#may write on it again in the near future to go into more detail

[kleeradragon]

how would you describe your dragonkin identity (appearance, personality)? do you have one or multiple? completely fine if you don’t know, just curious!

So... this is a little complicated. I do know, more or less, but I don't really know what to make of the info I have. Let me explain: years ago I considered myself a spiritual otherkin. A wyvern. I found plenty out about myself between when I awakened and when I joined my first alterhuman community, and unfortunately part of the findings were memories that weren't... great. In addition, when I got into otherkin groups for the first time, they weren't the best, and I ended up bitter and feeling lesser about my wyvern self as a result of all that happened in those spaces. As a result of these I sort of slowly tried to dissociate from it and tell myself the memories were false all along. I have preferred a psychological approach since then... but that's seeminly only out of desire, not experience. Experience still points spiritual. Not to say all the wyvern is gone - the memories still haunt me and the feelings of "rightness" crop up often enough for me to work on a VRChat avatar of it. But the feels and the thoughts are all kinda tangled up in "well maybe's" and it's tough to pull them all apart to figure out what the deal is. To complicate things, after stressful life events had me not feeling my nonhumanity for long enough to think that maybe I was wrong from the get go, trying on a western dragon avatar in VRChat (the ZDragon, for any who are interested!) brought those feels rushing back, complete with a prey drive I never got before. They haven't gone away since. So I wondered, maybe I was supposed to be a western the whole time! But that still doesn't line up fully, cause the past tells me I'm a wyvern, and the present tells me I'm a western. Heck, could very well be both in some weird roundabout way.

That's quite a ramble I just did, thanks for sticking with! You asked about personality... I think I'd have been very animalistic, if we're going by memory. Treading on no matter what. Hard to explain the vibe I get beyond that. In most memories I have, I seemed to be an adolescent or so, so there was a curious nature to me before everything turned sour. I don't know a lot about after that, save for some noemata and one sorta flashbulb memory of an environment.

And you asked about appearance, which is nearly the same on either one save for the number of limbs. This might be a bit weird to explain, but bear with me. Here's an art piece I got of my wyvern back in the day from a dragon called Rhaeloth (western is too recent to have gotten any art):

The description: greenish-blue scales with a sandy-yellow underbelly, green eyes, two brown or grey horns pointing directly back from the back of the head and one curved snout horn (snorn, if you will). 6 digits on each wing - three claws and three for the membrane part of the wings (on western, just the one wingspur and three or four for the wing membrane) - and four claws on each foot, three forward and one back (on western, four claws with no dewclaws, and pawpads). I suspect either my left wing (wyvern) or my left foreleg (western) was permanently injured so I'd likely keep that close to my chest most of the time. If wyvern, I'd have a bipedal posture much like a raptor, as I've mentioned in a previous poll response. If western, I'd have been quadrupedal. And for either one, 6-7 ft tall has always felt right (which has carried over onto my dragon sona, in fact! The one in my icon, kind of a glorified me).

...And that's why I figured it would be weird to explain.

#tldr i would describe it as a bit of a mess #but that's too par the course #thanks a ton for the ask though! #I've been meaning to get writing about this mess of identity for a while #may write on it again in the near future to go into more detail #especially now that i'm back to not knowing what the heck is going on #dragonkin #nonhuman #dragonkind #snorn #kleelore #kleerawr #when i finally get this heckin wyvern model done itll be a much easier way to see the whole form #defo gonna be my weekend project. i need to figure things out more and this is a way to help myself do so

[w0rmm1lk]

May I request the class 1A boys (if u write for multiple in the same fic) reacting to their gn! S/o (who’s normally insanely calm and patient) finally snapping and ends up nearly killing a villain? Like reader snaps during a fight against a villain or smth because the boys (seperate but yk) got hurt and stuff? Sorry if this doesn’t make much sense, I suck at explaining things 😭

hi! i didnt end up doing all the boys but I did the ones I think I would b able to write for best hehe, for future posts probably gonna limit it to 5 characters per post!

characters: Tenya Iida, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Mezou Shoji, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya.

reader: Gn

summary: the very well known 1a student (reader) who is known for being calm and understanding almost fucking kills someone.

warnings: blood mentions, near death experience, swearing, injuries.

other details: 1A!reader, reader quirk not mentioned but they use their bare fists to beat the shit out of the villain, villain is not any specific one.

👓Tenya Iida👓

👓- Iida was fast but damn the villain was faster.

👓- this resulted into iida now basically completely motionless on the ground yet still concious.

👓- usually if it was any of your other friends you would just take a deep breath and anylis whats going on to make sure things are delt with properly.

👓- but that iis not the case this time.

👓- it was almost like something snapped.

👓- nobody could actually figure out how you managed to catch the villain, especially with their speed.

👓- but bystanders were more focused on the fact that you were now repeatedly slamming their face into the sidewalk.

👓- honestly a miracle the villain survives that shit, but they 100% had brain damage afterwards.

👓- normally iida would step in but he could only really stare at you.

👓- partly due to the shoock, but also the fact that he straight up couldn't move from his injuries.

👓- after everything calmed down and iida recovered he gave your ass a huge lecture.

⚡Denki Kaminari⚡

⚡- he was shocked.

⚡- pun intended but also he was just straight up in shock.

⚡- first off, surprising he got these many injuries without short circuting.

⚡- guess his training rlly payed off.

⚡- well at least his quirk training.

⚡- thinks its sick as hell how you just beat the shit out of the villain.

⚡- their face will never be the same again.

⚡- hes kinda into it tbh.

🪨Eijiro Kirishima🪨

🪨- literally just makes the :o face

🪨- this man got one hit that actuqally injured him at you just cut loose.

🪨- he felt like not even he could do that much damage in unbreakable. (he totally could do worse but hes just having a moment leave me alone.)

🪨- aftwards will literally beg you to spar with him.

🪨- unfortunatley never gets to fight you while ur that pissed off.

🪨- honestly when he saw how beat up the villain was he thought that it was bakugos doing for a hot second.

🐙Mezou Shoji🐙

🐙- the way you reacted to him getting hurt lowkey reminded him of dark shadow during the training camp.

🐙- very similar situation tbh.

🐙- it was just one of his extended limbs that got injured, yet you reacted as if he had just been decapitated.

🐙- froze up for a second when he watched you just immediately run up to the villain you have been fighting for at least an hour and just absolutely demolish then within a few minutes.

🐙- had to restrain you a bit to stop you from actually murdering them.

🐙- was a little shocked at the sudden swap oof personality for that short time but was more focused on stopping you from being charged with murder.

❄️Shoto Todoroki🔥

❄️🔥- ^that face.

❄️🔥- like that is just his reaction tbh.

❄️🔥- i mean its not everyday you see the person thats just a slightly more emotionally available version of you almost kill someone.

❄️🔥- especially over a small cut.

❄️🔥- the cut wasnt even caused directly by the villain, it was a broken piece of glass that was flying around with other debri./

❄️🔥- i mean-- at least you caught the villain?

❄️🔥- and almost killed them.

❄️🔥- along with free medical debt.

❄️🔥- or no medical debt?

❄️🔥- idk how that stuff works in japan bruh.

💥Katsuki Bakugo💥

💥- fight me all you want but

💥- he just straight up finds it hot.

💥- like if you look close enough this mf is blushing.

💥- who knew that the one time someone makes bakugo blush is his partner attempting murder.

💥- originally wasnt going to hold you back.

💥- the longer he watched you beat the shit out of this guy he started to genuinley think you were going to kill them.

💥- once everything settles down you started back to you normal calm persona.

💥- bro was just like ????

🥦Izuku Midoryia🥦

🥦- panic.

🥦- like you dont even have to look at him, you just need to be near him and you can basically feel how panicked he is over this.

🥦- lots of panicked words, you can barely even tell whats he's saying through the rage but also the pure speed he's speaking at.

🥦- few words that were mostly intelligable you could tell he was saying you should stop.

🥦- even if you wanted to stop your body wouldnt let you.

🥦- ended up needing to use blackwhip to get you off.

🥦- not that it did much being the villai already had a broken nose and multiple broken ribs.

🥦- probably missing teeth aswell.

🥦- izuku is lowkey terrified to somehow piss you off now.

theyre all a little short but i think I slayed

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #bakugou x reader #bnha x gn!reader #mha x gn!reader #iida x reader #denki x reader #shoji x reader #kirishima x reader #izuku x reader #todoroki x reader #x gn reader

[louroth]

Well, well, well. Would you look at what the cat dragged in. (it's me, Lou!)

The time is here, and oh man, do I have a lot to say! Ever since this post was posted on my personal tumblr, on the fifth of may, I have been working like a machine on all things OUROBOROS. I had originally planned for this to just be a progress report/ announcement on what I will be working on now that I am free of the shackles of work, but, somehow, I managed to finish all bullet points, and more. So, let's get into it!

First off, the title.  Ouroboros becomes all capitalized OUROBOROS. Idk. It's neat. Next!

Art. Whew. I didn't think I could draw like this anymore- drawing has been more of a struggle than writing has been, forever, always- it was something I really strived to become good at, for a time. And I gave up. Only to pick it up again when I started ouro, and ever since I released that pressure, something just clicked and I have been churning out art like never before. I don't know if this is a fluke, a stroke of luck or if all that hard work I once did slaving away with menial art practice… but I'm grateful nonetheless. (A note on official RO art: I lost my ipad pencil somewhere on the lawn, lmao. I haven't been able to get a new one yet, so there is a slight delay here.) I am hoping that I get to make some commissions too, in the near future. Visit the forum to see some works in progress (amongst them, Yor's RO portrait!)

Onto the hellscape that is coding! I have been growing more proficient with CSS and html with the help of the ones that run so that we can walk; I have studied and researched and tested and tinkered until my eyes crossed, finding my way into this medium with the incredible guidance of the giants of whose shoulders I stand on. I will talk about this in detail on a later date. So I think it's finally time to reveal that yes, I am working on a twine version of ouro. I will develop it in tandem with choicescript; the porting over from one to the other isn't the herculean task I thought it would be.

Why am I doing this? Because I need to have a save system. I am continuing to write the whole alpha draft in choicescript in hopes that CoG will announce the ability to have a native save/checkpoint system, but if that doesn’t happen, I can’t publish this story without one. Unfortunately, I am not willing to code in a savesystem in choicescript myself, because this will be a large game, with far too many variables for that to be sustainable. Trust me, no one is more disappointed by that fact than me. If it comes to the point that twine publishing will be what I do, I will set my sights on writing a smaller game for hosted games. 

Now the meatier announcements!

New Socials!

Tumblr: You are looking at it!  This is the new, exclusively OUROBOROS blog where I will share all announcements and sneak-peeks, and future updates. I worked together with the dev of the theme and made it oh, so pretty and functional. Please check out their portfolio here, if you are ever in the market for sprucing up your (desktop version) of tumblr. They were a pleasure to work with. Amongst other things, it has a gorgeous header (again, only if you visit on web and not mobile) where I am showcasing fanart and official art. Go check it out! This month, I am showcasing a truly breathtaking art from KAIRELART, and you can find the full art here, or follow the links in the “FEATURED ARTIST” tab in the top bar.

I hope you enjoy this new haven for OUROBOROS! I will be answering questions once a week (saturday) and ramping up as I adapt to this new schedule, more on that further below.

My old tumblr, honeypeabrain, will revert back to being my personal blog. Feel free to keep following me there, but know that it will be inundated with shitposts, crass humor and the occasional poetry dump and personal post. You’ve been warned!

Discord!

By the good graces, this was ROUGH to set up. Working with discord bots is akin to wrangling code, and it was well and truly, a war. But with the help of many, it is finally all done and ready for anyone to join and talk to me and others about OUROBOROS and anything else between heaven and earth. 

I will also greatly appreciate if any future bugs and feedback are submitted through here, so I can keep easier track of it. Come join us! (18+ ONLY.)

Patreon & Ko-Fi

Yep! Ko-fi is just a place to toss me a coin if you wish to help me towards the goal of new PC parts to make testing easier, or to just show appreciation for those that have it to spare. Patreon however, already has a multitude of posts and will be a hub for exclusive NSFW sidestories that you get to vote on, loredives and extensive sneak peeks, Q&A’s, polls and weekly dev logs. 

Right now, there are only two tiers, but I expect it to grow as my story does. I have many plans, but I am going at a steady pace. 

Amongst tiered content, there is a (free) NSFW story with female MC and Idren to read there right now, if you want to check it out! I am mgoing to post it on tumblr and the adult thread here over the weekend.

NOTE: I stupidly didn't realize that patreon had a review process after I pressed launch, which I did just a few minutes ago. Sigh. I am going to post the short on tumblr and the adult forum thread as soon as I get to it.

It is not mandatory by any means, so if you do choose to support me, you have my eternal gratitude as these places will be the sole source of income for me.

Onto writing:

The best news out of this whole bunch is that I have worked so hard on editing and writing, that in the past month I have all but finished a two chapter update! I have a chunk of about 5-6 thousand words left to write, and I am going to buckle down over the weekend to see it through. I wanted to have it done so badly for today, but I lost three days of writing time last week due to still being weighed down with work. I hope it isn’t too disappointing to have to wait until monday for the demo update! I am going to post a link to an as-I-write updated demo on Patreon and Discord, if you want to see the ugly face of raw wip drafts. Otherwise I will post the demo update here on Monday with a comprehensive post!

And now!  the biggest news is… from now on, I am writing full time!

This is what I have been tossing and turning about every night ever since Easter. It started as a silly idea while talking to some friends and family about how I was looking for a change in career. And then, little by little, that idea whittled down to a plan, carefully carved by my partner and his whispers of a happy future, a finished dream project, and something to be proud of until the day I wither and die. 

Somewhere between then and now, I grasped a tiny sliver of bravery and held on for dear life. 

I quit my job as a teacher, and instead of accepting a cushy office job, I started behaving as if OUROBOROS and writing was my work (for all the moments I could afford). I have researched and tried different methods from week to week, and although I was still tired from work, I felt like I was onto something that could build into a sustainable future. 

I have no doubts that this journey will be bumpy and long, but sometimes all it takes is to take that first step, and do it with determination. It might all crash and burn and fail in a spectacular way, or with a whimper, but then I will know that I have tried. I will know that I gave myself the chance to be who I want to be, work on what means so much to me. 

And that’s it. I think the hardest part of formulating this post (I’ve written about 50 versions of it!) is getting to the point; the kernel of what makes it so special to me. So, in my heart of hearts, what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm gonna give it my all- and while I know the road to having a sustainable career in writing is rough and ever winding, I do know for sure that I am ready for a challenge, to pour my heart and soul into it until the day I rush out of the office screaming IT IS DONE. IT IS DOOOOONE!!! 

If you decide to join me, I will treasure your company like a lantern in the dark. Hand in lovable hand, let’s fucking go.

#OUROBOROS #ouroboros-if #interactive fiction #hosted games #CYOA #twine #dev log #progress update #honeypeabrain #smacking tags on this post like they're skittles im aiming into a beasts mouth #I DIDN'T REALIZE PATREON WAS GOING TO REVIEW MY PAGE (literally cried about it because I planned everything so meticulously) SOB #anyway :') but a small stepping stone on the long journey ahead #I am going to take the dog for a long walk and then upload the demo/spicy short as I say hello to anyone joining the disc #I hope to see you there :>

[99corentine]

Afterword: Will there be a sequel to GHD?

After almost four years, GOL HAH DOV is finally a finished project. 50 chapters, just shy of 375K words (about 4-5 full novels’ worth of writing) and I don’t want to know how many hours of furiously typing, here we are at the finish line. As we started getting near the end a few people asked whether I was going to write a sequel, but the answer was too complex to put in an author’s note, so I thought I’d discuss it in more detail here.

Unfortunately, the short version of this is probably not, but let me explain why.

So, there are many things that could go in a sequel. Off the top of my head, I’ve yet to write about: the events of the Dawnguard DLC. The truth about Chrysanthe’s past. How they contend with Hermaeus Mora, who is still gunning for them. How the civil war unfolds when the First Dragonborn looks at both the Empire and Stormcloaks and says ‘nah, I’ll make my own faction’. How the Thalmor react to this. Miraak’s rise to power when he’s not allowed to use his mind control powers, and Chrysanthe’s general struggle to keep Miraak on a morally good path.

All of this could definitely make for another longfic but what I don’t have is any sort of romantic development. The trouble with writing a soulmates fic is that once the couple have overcome their personal issues, there’s very little further tension. Chrysanthe and Miraak actually got together very early in the fic (about chapter 12 out of 50) and the rest has been about them learning each other, becoming more intertwined… but I’m not really sure how they can get more intertwined, after the events of GHD. There are many external points of tension (politics, Thalmor, daedra) but there’s nothing internal - only Miraak’s dubious morality, but we already know that he’ll change his course for Chrysanthe, so what else is there to add?

Essentially, I can’t see how to further develop the relationship, and to me the romantic tension is what makes a fic worth writing. Without it, I just know that even if I started a GHD sequel, I wouldn’t have the enthusiasm to see it through to the end. Now that may change, and I might think of something new… but for the time being, I’m going to put GHD down and focus on other things.

Those other things are: 1) The Tav/Astarion Baldur’s Gate 3 longfic I’ve started, Tooth for a Tooth, which has all my attention at the minute. It’s darker than GHD but the protagonist has the same steely-stoic paladin vibe, so if you liked Chrysanthe you might like him too 2) A while ago I posted a fic idea in which the Last Dragonborn (Chrysanthe, or a totally new character) ends up in the past with pre-Apocrypha Miraak. Again this is a longfic that I’m not sure I really have the spoons for, but I’d say I’m more likely to write this than a GHD sequel 3) Various other bits and pieces, unfinished oldfics, etc.

I know that might be disappointing for some to read, but I hope my reasons make sense at least! And I hope that you still enjoy GOL HAH DOV as its own piece of work, and come back to read anything else that I might write in the future. Thank you again for coming on this Skyrim adventure with me!

#gol hah dov

[voidnoidoid]

Thoughts on Weak Hero's Ending

Weak Hero ended a few weeks ago, and I took some time to process the ending after I read it. Overall, I think it was a great ending to such a wonderfully written series.

I like how things were mostly wrapped up, but left as an open ending. I appreciate how the Union, although mostly defunct, is being kept somewhat alive by Kingsley, who can't accept that Donald is truly gone and that the Union is over. I might write a more detailed Kingsley analysis, but it's interesting how Kingsley, as Donald's right hand man, never fully understood Donald. He placed him on a pedestal and deified him. He did care about him, the most out of everyone, but it is still sad how he got so caught up in making Donald king that he failed to recognise how Donald's rapid ascension and ceaseless violence was a cry for help.

Jake being the one to recognise Donald's true feelings is rather apt. I haven't thought much about his character (as is not fully analysed) but I think he's much more complex than he lets on. He's in a similar situation to both Ben and Donald I think, that being both Ben and Jake are the leaders of their schools, they just want to hang out with their friends and have fun, both shoulder the burden of being the strongest of their schools alone... It's just that Jake has a darkness within him that led him to join the Union. He has an inner bloodlust, one that he recognises in Gray. Jake is very perceptive of others emotional state, so it's no wonder he could correctly guess how Donald was feeling, given that he's one of Donald's most reliable officers.

I'll have to update my Donald analysis soon, because of the revelation that Donald willingly put himself in danger, running in the road screaming for Gray to fight him again. I think on one hand, Donald wanted that connection he felt with Gray again, as well as desiring gray to defeat him. But also I think he felt like death was the only escape left, hence the panel where he had a resigned and accepting expression as the truck neared him. As if he was waiting for his end.

I'm sure the Union will dissolve soon despite Kingsley's efforts. Wolf and Jake have left, and maybe Forrest and Jimmy too. I also like how Jimmy's character arc closed off, with him admitting that all he wanted was to be acknowledged by Donald.

Now then, let's go over to the Eunjang kids!

Although they lost the fight, they won the war. Losing meant they didn't have to bear the burden of being the strongest. Though they may face some fights in the future due to the resulting power gap left in Donald's wake. But that's a story for another time.

Eugene woke up and is happy and well! I really love how despite Eugene thinking he didn't contribute much to the fight, all his friends comforted him and reassured him of his major role thanks to his light controlling device! Yay Eugene appreciation!

Unfortunately Gray was deeply affected by Donald's death and entered a spiral of self guilt... the scene with his reflection mocking him hurt to read. Thankfully his friends were by his side to ground him. Gray really does have a kind heart after all.

Finally, Stephen and Gray meet again! I like the reintroduction of Jeremy, and that he remains a good friend of Gray by telling him Stephen is okay! His reactions to Gray being the White Mamba was so funny to read. I can't express how happy I was to see that not only was Stephen still alive, also that he's all better and working part time at a cafe! Gray's monologue at the end was so touching, and im glad he was able to greet his most treasured friend with a big smile.

I really wanted a Stephen and gray epilogue where they interact, but I do like the happy open ending. I think Stephen would be so happy for Gray and he'd fit right in with the eunjang kids! I guess that's what fan fiction is for lol. (sorry for the lack of weaktober writing... ill try to write something.)

I kinda wish some side characters had more cameos, like Toby, Lily and Julia, but their arcs were wrapped up relatively well too.

That sums up my overall thoughts on Weak Hero's conclusion!

Thank you to Seopass and Razen for creating a wonderful story!

#weak hero webtoon #gray yeon #ben park #big ben #weak hero #gerard jin #Jake ji #Kingsley kwan #Eugene gale #juntae seo #wolf keum #weak hero jeremy #Donald na #jimmy bae #weak hero stephen

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

please please please talk about your jjk fics

and any other hcs you have

please 🥺

So i did write down some of my jjk fic ideas in this post (though I've come up with more since then. I have. problems) and I do kinda want to sit on a lot of the actual details so they won't be spoiled if I ever end up writing them. that being said, I'm well aware I have nowhere near the time to write most of them and have a lot of ideas that i find delightful that will never otherwise get out there, and I like sharing them. They give me delight and I hope they give you delight as well. So below the cut are a random assortment of details from various fic ideas that may, but probably won’t, see the light of day. Avoid the cut if you want to avoid all potential spoilers from fics that may happen in the future (but again probably won’t).

Megumi and the worlds most inconvenient custody battle au:

There’s more details in the linked post above, but in short, this one involves middle school megumi making a desperate binding vow with Geto suguru to give cult life a whirl in exchange for him sparing the lives of Megumi’s classmates, because Geto had to pick his school to commit domestic terrorism in.

Anyway it’s a huge inconvenience and results in a lot of his now traumatized classmates finding out that Fushiguro Megumi, resident delinquent, was an Actual Boy Wizard all along. As well as a lot of really personal and embarrassing life tragedies (you know minor things like “I was sold in childhood" and "i dont think i'm going to make it to 20" and new smash hits like "What do you mean gojo killed my father" and "what do you MEAN my abusive bio family is obsessed with me because my technique is supposed to be gojo's equal") he was sort of planning to die with that instead came out because Geto suguru does not stop fucking monologuing apparently.

Also the last time they saw him he was being knocked unconscious and carried away by this theatre kid terrorist to ensure their collective continued survival. It’s just. Shits embarrassing. He has to call time of death on that entire situation. Wash his hands of that place. Never look back.

So he does the only rational thing in this situation and simply never goes back to his old middle school.

He ghosts them. Never speaks to anyone from that place ever again. Some days are just so horrifically embarrassing that you just have to keep walking in the opposite direction forever. They can't make him face his problems if he walks quickly enough away from them.

There are two issues with that:

Because he never came back, a lot of them think he Actually Died for them

The Yasohachi bridge incident happens and he does apparently have to go back to that place. Fuck.

They don’t tell him where the mission is until he’s already in the car and attempting to throw himself out of a moving car raises suspicions. So instead it goes:

Nobara: what the hell did you do to these idiots

Megumi, sweating: … I beat them up

Idiot A, crying a little: He SAVED our LIVES

Megumi: *sweating harder*

The issue is that the official cover story was tragic gas leak and explosion but a lot of the survivors of Geto's attack didn't buy that and know what they saw. They just know no one else will ever believe it. some of them tried to say the truth on the internet and it got waved away as gas hallucinations. now, a good deal of them also left that school forever and ever never to look back. But some of them stayed. And they? They remember Fushiguro Megumi, that one delinquent who sacrificed himself for their lives even after stating out loud that he didn’t even like any of them all that much. The principal cries and tries to hug him when he sees him. There’s one of those little memorials that you put up for students who tragically passed for him.

Yuuji's simply aghast. So when Fushiguro lets everyone think he's dead, it's okay and normal but when he, itadori yuuji--

Fushiguro maintains he was alive when they last saw him and never told anyone he died so it’s on them for making assumptions.

more random facts from this universe:

There's a Lot that Gojo never told him that was revealed in the worst way possible when Megumi was in Forcible Cult Time and megumi tries to be like "look it's fine whatever reason you did it you kept me from the zenin so like. whatever. you had political reasons or something. we don't have to pretend this is more than it is we can be honest about it" and this derails immediately because Gojo, who has spent the last month terrified that he lost megumi forever, launches into an emotional speech about how he thinks of megumi as his little boy and how megumi's grown up into a beautiful young man who he’s so so proud of and megumi is like "yeah we don't need to be that honest" but it's Too Late

All of the second years are watching this happen like :o

See even if I wrote this universe one day (unlikely) I probably would stop it after jjk0 so we’d never get to the first years, making this an extra level of “never gonna happen.” That being said, when the first years start, nobara and yuuji are like “why is gojo sensei always hugging you and ruffling your hair and checking in on you after missions” and Megumi’s just sweating because he does NOT want to admit that gojo raised him and their relationship was harpooned when his high school ex kidnapped Megumi for like a month and told him that Gojo apparently killed his fucking dad and now Gojo’s trying to “rebuild” and “be more open and parental” or whatever

The Zenin are even more fucking annoying than ever because Geto was an infuriatingly good teacher and excellent at challenging Megumi’s mindset because he was framing everything as a secret that had been kept from him rather than trying to inspire him to believe in himself so Megumi sort of leveled up a bit in cult life. Also they’re acting like Megumi was finally broken from Gojo’s deceitful hold when really this is more of a “they need family counseling” situation. So they won’t stop showing up and hounding him to take his place with the rest of the clan. This is a non issue because Megumi sort of leveled up a bit in cult life and wow. He can just tell them to fuck off and back that up with his own power now. Huh. So that’s what that feels like.

Tsumiki spends the entire fic just. feral. Losing her mind. She was not at all fucking okay with her baby brother joining a fucking cult (without her) for a month and she's SUPER not okay with a lot of the information that was revealed. When Gojo shows up on scene after megumi gets taken assistants are trying to Physically Carry her into a car and she's straight up biting people. She does not shake this energy for the duration of the fic.

Sea glass gardens:

See I talk about this a lot already and what I don't talk about is because it's probably going to actually be written one day. But if you are interested in something from this universe, here's something that will definitely never happen:

So, whenever I start getting really into one of my little universes, I always have some very self-indulgent parallel storylines that i would never actually write because they're just not the most narratively satisfying direction to take the story, but they're just fun to think about. They are crackish and live only in my head.

I have sort of a time travelish one (not to be confused with the time travel au, which is my favorite JJK story i have and will happen one day hopefully) that's basically based on the idea of sea glass gardens proceeding into canon without change and Yuuta time traveling from the disaster that is canon back to immediately after he fucks up Geto and rushing to fix everything. But the catch is that Uraume also travels back in time and the conflict is whether Yuuta can save everyone before Uraume launches one of sukuna's fingers down Yuuji/Megumi's throat. Why did they both go back in time? I dunno. This is my self-indulgent fun story. I never bothered to figure out how to make it work. i cannot emphasize enough that this fic will never ever happen.

yuuta is. vibrating.

Yuuta does the only rational thing and decides to put everyone he has ever loved into one room where he can keep everyone safe until he can fuck up that little freak of a monk and save his loved ones.

The first thing he does upon waking up in the school's wreckage is to fucking sprint to heal geto, not out of any love for geto, but because his sensei's gay love got them into this and he's not fucking risking it again. geto's going to stay alive, sit down, and shut up so no body hopping whore can take him over and ruin everything. Yuuta's very aggressive about this point. He's going 2-0 with geto and he will make it 3-0. does geto want to lose the other arm? shut the fuck up.

The really difficult thing for him is that he has to go get megumi last.

He knows for a fact that the Zenin have megumi right now. And the last time he saw megumi, Sukuna had taken him over and completely destroyed him. He is absolutely desperate to see Megumi again and keep him safe and whole. And it's torture knowing that Megumi is being actively hurt in a scenario that legitimately devastated him the first time around, that he could go straight there and just stop it, and it wouldn't have had to have happened in the same way.

He also knows that Megumi would never forgive him if he didn't save his sister or his friends first.

Megumi, in a weird sort of way, is the safest out of anyone when Yuuta time travels back. First off, he was legitimately kidnapped from where he was supposed to be, so Uraume's going to have a lot of trouble actually finding him. Secondly, he's currently in the hands of an entire clan of powerful and trained jujutsu sorcerers who are utterly obsessed with him, who have him under constant guard, and who would kill to keep him. Out of everyone, Uraume has the least chance of getting near Megumi.

Yuuji doesn't even know jujutsu sorcery is real right now. Yuuta has to go get him first.

He and Gojo split up to rush around getting everyone before uraume can get to them. Gojo gets Tsumiki and Nobara and the Kyoto crew. Yuuta gets Yuuji and his grandfather. and then fucking books it to the zenin compound.

without dropping them off first.

This has been a very weird day for Yuuji.

It honestly took less explaining than Yuuta thought it would because apparently Yuuji's grandpa has just been sitting on the fact that before yuuji was born his mom died and came back to life one million times more of a fucking freak and was very very obviously possessed and his dad was just. fine. with that. still hit that. he's learning a lot about his parents right now. Whatever. they're on the level.

It also helps that some weird little freak shows up and gets in a fucking duel with Yuuta over Yuuji. Yeah sure. let's go to wizard school for his own safety. what do you mean they need to make a stop to pick up his future best friend (and maybe boyfriend yuuta really was never clear on whether they were like together or together) from the people currently torturing him. what do you mean yuuta needs yuuji to carry him while he fucks up his bio family. what is this.

THE TEAM:

Yuuta. Has. Really had a day and a half. Completely emotionally unstable right now. exuding an Energy. killed naoya and brought him back to life as a warning shot and it wasn't even the most terrifying thing he had done that day.

Tsumiki, was frantic about trying to find her brother, suddenly has him back with the news that in the future he gets possessed and kills her, confused as to why his time traveling upperclassman hugged her for five unbroken minutes and cried a little

Megumi, so fucked up, like SO fucked up. Mostly unconscious right now but very confused when he's awake. Who are ANY of these people. why is this pink haired stranger tenderly holding his hand. where is he. Not so much on the team as the person the team is protecting. he's too unconscious to be on the team. sort of going through it right now.

Yuuji, has had a Long Day, already murderously protective of megumi, who is apparently his future bestie. he's one first meeting deep and it mostly involved manfully cradling megumi in his arms while his future senpai fucked up his blood relations. he knows this will be friendship for the ages. thinks yuuta is great and is not jealous of him in the slightest. why would he be jealous. it's weird that you asked that actually.

Yuuji's grandpa, weirdly on board with everything and firmly advocating to solve problems with violence. Actually may be the most violent one there. suggests a car bomb as a problem solving strategy at one point. he kind of scares yuuta.

Nobara, wasn't really doing anything else today, has a passion for violence and is down to hit people with hammers. also there's a lot of beautiful and violent women in this room. is hoping something lgbtq will happen to her.

Gojo, offended by the continued implications that he cannot handle this solo, also wants to just put his kids in a single room for a while where they can be safe and where no one can possess either of them ever.

Shoko and nanami, constantly reminding him that he cannot handle this solo and to sit down and shut up before they lose megumi to sukuna, because Megumi is physically incapable of protecting himself right now.

Geto, only here because Yuuta has threatened to cut off his fucking head and burn the body if he moves a single fucking inch because yuuta is not dealing with his whore ass getting possessed again. he does word it exactly like that too. geto doesn't know how to feel about being called a whore by this deranged sixteen year old with a sword. he doesn't push back though because there's more than one way to solve this problem and yuuta's an inch from picking the permanent one. also here because apparently his daughters are killed by sukuna and he doesn't want that to happen. constantly bullied by every child in the room.

The Zenin, weirdly, who witnessed Yuuta v. Uraume round two when Yuuta came to save Megumi from them and absolutely refuse to lose the ten shadows to fucking Ryomen Sukuna of all people. Their most treasured technique cannot be tainted by Sukuna's putrid legacy. It would be what Kamo Noritoshi did to the Kamo clan all over again but worse because Sukuna's worse than Noritoshi ever was. They'd never recover as a clan. Anyone seeking to implant sukuna's consciousness in the ten shadow's body must die.

Maki (and the rest of the second years), ride or die, thinks they should use the Zenin as canon fodder. Yuuta agrees with this plan.

The Kyoto crew, does not know why they're here, mostly forced to stay in a different room so they'll be safe but like. not really part of the planning process. sorry. yuuta doesn't know or like them all that well. thanks.

From that point on it's mostly Yuuta & Co going after Kenjaku and Uraume and the rest of the special grade curses like Wile E. Coyote going after roadrunner. At one point he hires the creepy jujutsu sorcerer assassin to bring back Toji Fushiguro to help implement one of his plans. Neither Gojo nor Geto are okay with this idea. Yuuta vetoes them both. Yes he has veto power now okay Gojo and Geto's irredeemable homosexuality for each other left him with dealing with this fucking mess. He's going to kill absolutely everyone in this room and then himself if His Boy is not safe within a week.

Instagram Influencer AU:

Explained in more detail at the linked post above but the concept is that nobara is trying to launch her instagram influencer career and keeps accidentally making everyone else instagram famous except for herself.

Megumi and Maki are a family duo because they're both ridiculously attractive people of indeterminate familial relationship who Nobara posts videos of sword fighting. Megumi wants her to stop doing this. She will not.

When Megumi's not appearing with Maki on Nobara, she's posting candids of him with Yuuji. The entire internet thinks they're dating. He wants her to stop doing this. She will not.

Nanami did not want any of this to happen to him specifically.

Nobara posted a video of Nanami explaining how he thinks that baker should be the highest paid position in society and how work is shit and how he hates capitalist grind culture and the internet became simply obsessed with him. bread companies keep trying to sponsor him which is the only good thing that came from this.

Gojo did want this to happen to him specifically and very purposefully strolled into Nobara's live and flashed his eyes at the camera. Now he won't stop threatening the higher ups with leaving jujutsu sorcery forever to sign with one of the many modeling agencies begging him to join their brand. Yaga wants her to stop doing this. she will not.

Yuuji is an enthusiastic participant who is having a great time. Half of his old school is in the comment section asking what the fuck happened to him because he straight up disappeared one day and now he appears to be a fitness influencer on the internet?? He does not answer them. It fuels quite a bit of internet drama.

Inumaki finds this all hilarious and wants this to happen to him to. She refuses to aid him. This was supposed to happen to her. He aggressively photobombs at every opportunity and she finds exceedingly creative ways to crop him out.

Panda also finds this hilarious and keeps begging Nobara to post glamor shots of him that he and inumaki took on a flip phone camera and she cannot put in strong enough words why she will never ever do that

Nanami/Gojo Fake Fiancees no curses au:

Again, explained in more detail in the linked post above. No curses au where Nanami is Yuuji's adoptive dad and Gojo is Megumi and Tsumiki's adoptive dad and Gojo needs a fake fiancee because his ex just joined the same school district with his twin daughters and Nanami's trying to get through a custody battle with Yuuji's terrible older brother, Sukuna, who just crawled out of whatever abyss he's been in the last decade to challenge his custody.

Nanami was Yuuji and his grandpa's next door neighbor who was completely burned out as a salaryman and whose life revolved around work until a very tiny Yuuji knocked on his door and asked him to help him cut up some fruit because he wasn't allowed to use the knives by himself but his grandpa was sick and needed the fruit to get better. He loved Yuuji like his own from that day forward. Yuuji and his grandpa became his family and he was genuinely devastated when Yuuji's grandpa died. He took in Yuuji without a thought and never looked back.

Gojo was coming off of a bad breakup with his committed boyfriend, Geto, following them falling apart when Gojo's little sister Riko died tragically in front of Geto. Gojo then decided it was his slut era and had the terrible decision to include Toji in that era.

Apparently fucking jacked but amoral men as a purely sexual thing does lead to finding out that he has Entire Children he's left living alone when he gets the phone notification that the power company finally shut off their electricity because toji forgot to turn on autopay. is this a panic attack? this feels like a panic attack.

Toji honestly doesn't know what happened in that relationship because he couldn't have even knocked gojo up but he still somehow saddled gojo with his kids. unmitigated success.

Gojo just sort of freaks out, goes over to Toji's kid's house, takes them home with him so they have a place with electricity, and just... never can bring himself to let them go again. the next time he saw toji, he handed him the papers to transfer guardianship and told him that they'd never need anything from him so please, don't call. He just sort of dove into single fatherhood from then on out and never looked back.

Sukuna's attorney for the custody battle is Mahito.

The jujutsu kaisen world is a manga that Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara are cocreating (with the main trio as some obvious self inserts), with Megumi doing the writing, Yuuji doing the drawing, and Nobara doing the coloring and layout design. Yuuji is very convinced that it will one day make them all famous.

Gojo finds out the most powerful character is based off of him and cries for like three days

Nanami: You mean the most annoying

Gojo, still crying to him on the phone: you can't take this from me

Megumi still has his divine dogs just as actual dogs. they're a pair of "puppies" he found and took in before Gojo adopted him who he loves dearly and refuses to be parted with.

They're not puppies. they're wolves. those are fucking wolves. where did five year old megumi get fucking wolves. what the fuck. gojo is terrified of them.

I have others but this is already kinda long so we're gonna cut this off here

[artheresy]

Zhuming Family headcanons ROUND TWO!!

I have more Zhuming family headcanons! I am ever so happy to provide because I love them so much

A mix of headcanons for each of them individually (Yingxing, Huaiyan, Ardens Regia, and Baiheng) and for them as a group/different dynamics within that little family group

This is actually a headcanon I have been considering for a while especially while trying to write the opening scene for the Yingxing fic, but I think Huaiyan, while he has a lot of experience with different weapons types both from a warrior and a craftsman’s standpoint, primarily fights with a tang dao that he crafted for himself a long time ago.

Huaiyan calls Ardens Regia “salamander” and he’s done it so much for so long that all of their subordinates know who he means when he says that. Flat out refuses to call him by his title, refuses to call him by his name most of the time. It’s just “Salamander” sometimes something insulting in front of it.

Ardens Regia has his own affectionate nickname for Huaiyan! It’s usually some form of “moron” or some other insult

Yingxing in the future ends up taking a bit after Huaiyan with “Lizard” being a nickname he has for Dan Feng that annoys him to no end

Jingliu ends up on the Zhuming, a bit after the Foxian pilots once most of the fighting has died down and communications are happening between the Yaoqing and the Zhuming for future plans. Baiheng ends up being the one who introduces Jingliu to Huaiyan and Ardens Regia as she and Yingxing lead Jingliu there. I don’t know how better to describe Huaiyan and Ardens Regia’s behavior than think of when you have like uncles or aunts who keep giving each other knowing smiles and looks while asking very vague questions… in very teasing voices as if they can 100% see what’s up. It absolutely embarrasses Baiheng while Jingliu and Yingxing have no idea what’s going on

Poor Yingxing will eventually experience that in the future and finally understand

I’ve talked about how I think Ardens Regia gives them all little trickets he makes in his free time. Before Yingxing leaves for the Luofu after he turns 18, Ardens Regia gives him two hairpins. One is more decorative and for special occasions with delicate glass pieces and overall very beautiful as the glass has a mix of colors to match the purples and blues in his eyes. The other is a simple silver hairpin with a flat portion near one of the ends that is engraved. Ardens Regia says it’s evidence that Yingxing is one of his people, one of their (The Zhuming, Huaiyan’s, etc.) people, no matter what anyone in the Luofu may say.

Baiheng takes time she has free over the years to visit the Zhuming for short amount of time before she eventually transfers over the Luofu, and the first time she leaves the Zhuming, Ardens Regia sends her off with a metal pendant with a lot of details, with the primary theme behind it centering around the moon. He sends her off with a few different things that end up more decorative, but her favorite out of everything is the pendant.

Huaiyan has SO many things from Ardens Regia over the centuries. He does get most of the rejects and the first attempts for practicing for projects AR usually ends up giving Yingxing, and Huaiyan makes a big show of complaining and acting all pissed off. But any belief in his anger being genuine fades away when you can see he keeps every single one, even the ugly, the lopsided, and half melted ones, all around his office. Some on his desk, some on his shelves, some in his drawers and on tables. Even a few in his personal quarters.

At some point, Yingxing wants to try glass blowing. And I mean, AR is happy and he believes in Yingxing’s ability to learn well and fast given what the kinds of methods and approaches to new forms of creation he’s been taught. But see… it goes so disastrously bad that Yingxing is afraid to ever try it again and when Huaiyan ends up hearing about what happened, either from AR or as a report because Yingxing’s lesson resulted in some minor property damage, he can’t stop laughing

I have more hcs, but it’s 1 am for me and I’m a bit tired so those will have to wait for another time!! Anyways, I love the Zhuming family they fill my heart with joy I adore them! I hope y’all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it :D

#baby yingxing and his familyyyy #i have a lot in store for them #more zhuming family coming soon when my creative skills finally return #hsr #honkai star rail #hsr blade #yingxing #baiheng #huaiyan #ardens regia #yanting-jun

[vylad-romeaves-autism]

I want to go into a bit more detail about some of the things me and @whorencezvahl have talked about for Vincent in our rewrite because we’ve accidentally made him a semi major supporting character to the main plot of our rewrite. So be prepared for rambling about Vincent that may or may not make complete sense, none of this is going to be in complete timeline order for our rewrite but it’s all some of the more important things. Warning again, this is going to be long rambles about our rewrite Vincent. Also some of this is just going to be brief explanations, so feel free to send an ask if you want to learn more

☆Like mentioned previously, Vincent was previously once Shad’s kind of right hand man and the first person Shad ever turned into a shadow knight. Shadow knights originally in our rewrite was kind of a way that Shad would be able to keep his friends alive/keep them around longer(both of the first two shadow knights he created ended up gaining their immortality, though Vincent is the only one we’ve fleshed out) Vincent at some point has met all of the other Divine Warriors, but doesn’t know them all as personally as he knew Shad.

★Vincent at one point did end up pulling away from Shad (as of writing this we haven’t talked about when or what caused it, we jump around timeline wise a lot so somethings do not have answers right now) and ended up going with his brother, who ended up becoming the first lord of Meteli. Stuff happens and Vincent ends up killing his brother and gaining his immortality, Vincent then chooses to stay in Meteli basically as long as there is a Meteli. He basically vows to always makes sure Meteli is fine and nothing bad happens to it, but he refuses to become a lord.

☆It’s not an entirely well known thing that Vincent is an immortal Shadow Knight, even through he’s been in Meteli since it was founded. He’s kind of in a sense more kept a secret. The current lord will obviously know that he’s an immortal shadow knight, but majority of the village doesn’t know. He has a good bit of say regarding the village, but he’s not fully in charge. He has full veto power regarding who becomes the next lord, so if he doesn’t think the person would be good to be lord then they won’t be. And most lords just know not to argue with him about that.

★Now actually onto stuff that is more relevant to rewrite. Due to him just being concerned about keeping track of possible resurgence of the Divine Warriors, he keeps track of Shad’s descendants (of course to an extent, mainly the ones who could potentially wield Shad’s relic) He doesn’t track the others descendants, mainly because there are not many descendants to keep track of its mainly reincarnations at this point. I’ll make a post later about how relics work in the rewrite.

☆Joh at some point just comes home with like preteen Laurence and Vincent has like one conversation with him and takes away two things. 1) at some point in the near future the Lucan family is going to completely die out and 2)this child is the reincarnation of Shad. Which obviously isn’t a good sign. And unluckily for him this won’t be the last time he meets one of the new divine warriors(labeled later on at least to refer to them by us, the relic holders)

★Last thing(not really this is all I want to write because my brain is going to much) he’s one of the last few shadow knights who can correctly make a shadow knight by Shad’s standards!!

#aphmau #aphblr #vincent mcd #minecraft diaries #mcd #mcd rewrite #amethyst mcd rewrite #if you didnt my last post/reblog prev tag is temporary rewrite tag #half of the start of this was written when I was half awake #I’m an idea person not exactly a writer so it might not make too much sense #hotpockt rewrite talks #hotpockt rambles #I’m only tagging Vincent even though other characters are mentioned #apologies for the longness #expect this for the other characters as well

[giggly-squiggily]

Helloo if req is open may you write a platonic tk fic between rin and sae if it is posible? Thank you so much!

Oh my god YES! :D These two need it, I swear! Okay so; general heads up: I'm exclusively an anime watcher when it comes to Blue Lock- meaning I don't really know how these two's relationship stands or what goes down during/post the whole U-20 arc; I just know they deserve to be happy. I hope you like it! :D

CW: Swearing, angst with a happy ending, sass, possible OOC-ness of the characters (I tried to keep it as close to their canon personalities as possible but yeah), Spoilers for Sae and Rin's backstory- kinda. Not full detailed ones but I'll tag accordingly anyway

Cloud 9 (Taglist):

@myreygn, @cupcake-spice13

“Hey, who allowed you to get so tall?” Sae narrowed his eyes at him.

“Genetics.” Rin shrugged, pushing down the toaster shelf.

If you told Rin Itoshi he’d have a relationship with his brother again in the near future, he would have told you to fuck off. Possibly throw shoes at you too.

Then he’d feel bad for throwing shoes because he was raised better than that, but still.

Things kinda happened in a blur since the U-20 match. A call had come; an invite to dinner. Then he was at Sae’s hotel room, splitting a pizza when the restaurant proved too crowded for either of them. Words were exchanged, a few tears were shed, and by the end of the night, Rin found he could finally breathe again in the presence of Sae.

They’re relationship was still fairly awkward at times; it was impossible to go back to where they were before Sae went to Spain. Still- when Rin called him and mentioned they’d gotten time off from Blue Lock, a room was made up for him at the apartment; clean and prepped with fresh bedding, as if it’d been waiting for him this entire time.

“No mint on the pillow?” He joked upon getting there.

“Please, we already have Shidou. We don’t need anymore pests.” Sae had rolled his eyes, the gesture lacking any real malice upon mentioning the demonic player.

That’s where they were now- getting comfortable in their newfound relationship.

“Tch.” Sae scoffed, shaking his head in mock disapproval as he turned from the coffee maker, mug in hand. “I remember when you barely came up to my elbow. You were so small- running after me on those stubby legs of yours, trying to kick the ball out from beneath my feet.” He shook his head, a rare smile tugging on his lips. “You’d get so worked up about it too. I’d have to buy you a popsicle so you’d stop crying.”

“Shut up, I was six.” Rin rolled his eyes, a blush burning his face at the memory. “Of course I was short. At least I grew since then.” He turned, raising a brow at his brother. “What’s your excuse?”

A look of shock passed his brother’s face, jaw dropped and brows raised. Rin felt a twinge of satisfaction. If the Press could see his usually stoic brother now, they’d probably faint. “I see you gained a mouth along with all that height in these past few years.” He sounded a touch impressed.

“More than you gained, it seems.” Rin couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t even that Sae could be called short; it was just so satisfying to sass him. He deserved it, probably. 

“Tall as you are, you’re still a little shit.” Sae put down his mug, rolling up his sleeves with a dangerous glint. “Seems like I’m gonna have to remind you just who you’re talking to.”

Rin ignored him- mainly due to the toaster popping, presenting his warmed Pop-tart. He should have known Sae didn’t make empty threats.

The moment his poptart touched the plate, hands were latching onto his sides, digging into his ribs with relentless pressure. Rin-much to his embarrassment- let out a loud squawk, the poptart nearly flying out of hand as he doubled over. “Gah! N-No! Dohon’t!”

“All this time later and you’re still ticklish?” Sae sounded deeply amused, a rare smile pulling on his lips as he carried on wiggling his fingers up and down the younger boy’s sides. “Maybe you should have considered that before you started sassing me.”

Rin went to retort with yet another remark, but Sae had found a terrible spot beneath his lower ribs, clogging his throat with growing giggles. “Ngh! N-No! S-Sae!”

“Hm? What, no retort?” The older boy asked, keeping one hand on Rin’s lower ribs while the other came around to his belly, clawing. “Come on- just laugh. You know you want to.”

That did it. Rin let out a wheeze before he doubled over, laughter bubbling over his lips as he tried sinking to the kitchen floor. “Fuuhuhuhuhuhuck! Fuhuuhhuhuck, gahhahahahahahha! Nohoohohoohooho, Sahahahahhahahe you ahahhahahahhahass!”

“Oi, show some respect, you brat.” Sae switched to digging into Rin’s armpits when his hips proved too far to reach, barely fighting down a chuckle at the harsh swear his brother let out, immediately followed by childlike giggles. “Look at you- you can barely say my name, let alone stand. Tell you what- take back what you said about me being short and I’ll let you live.”

“Nehehehhehver, shohoohohort stahhahahahck!” Rin declared without any hesitation. Ever the stubborn one.

Sae tsked, slowing down his tickles and giving the other a chance to breathe. “You really are determined to die today, are you? I’m starting to regret letting you stay here- how the hell am I going to hide your body?” He reached out, squeezing the back of Rin’s neck, earning a yelp as the boy scrunched up. “Maybe I’ll bury you in the backyard and plant a garden over you. Think Shidou would notice?”

“Prohoohbably not.” Rin groaned, and then- because he could. “He’s used to shitty things. That’s why he’s dating you.”

Sae, who was turning back to his coffee, froze, slowly looking back at Rin with scary eyes. Oh, he was DEAD. “And to think I was gonna be merciful this morning.”

Seconds later, Rin was kicked onto his back, Sae pinning him faster than he could react. He wasn’t much of a fighter- neither of the brother’s were- though Rin was faster to throw a punch. He went to do just that before a scream ripped from his throat, laughter returning stronger than ever. “GAHEHHAHAHAH! SHAHAHAHHAE!”

“I tried to be nice, but it’s clear to me that you’re still a little shit all this time later.” Sae scolded as he drilled his thumbs into Rin’s hips, going right for his worst spot. “Now- do you wanna repeat what you just said?”

“AHEHAHHAHA!” Rin was a mess, hands trying to shove off Sae’s vice grip as he thrashed and squirmed against the kitchen floor, feet kicking and scoffing the ground. His face felt like it was on fire, and his hair blinded him, hiding his scrunched up eyes. It was humiliating and stupid and he wanted to rip his skin off as a means of escape.

But also…it was fun. Really fun. He hadn’t felt like this since they were kids, when Sae would tickle him until he was squealing through tears caused by a scraped knee. He could almost see the fond smile his brother wore when he did so. The memory even during all this made his heart ache.

“Do you give up?” Sae asked, bringing him back to reality. Right- his death. A small part of him was tempted to shake his head, declare that he’d never give up just to see what would happen.

What came out of his mouth instead shocked both of them.

“NIHIIHIIHIHIIHI-SAHHAHAN PLEHAHAHAHHASE!” The squeal of mercy was the true end of it all. Sae’s hands stopped almost immediately, pulling away from Rin’s prone body. The younger boy scooted up the floor a few paces arms tossed loosely around his waist as he tried to catch his breath. Well, at least it was over-

Oh god.

Oh GOD.

“Shit…” He groaned, covering his face with his hands, mortified. He didn’t just say that outloud-he didn’t! Across from him, Sae was silent as stone, seeming to be frozen to the floor. Great- there goes any real progress they made at fixing their relationship. Rin readied the speech in his head. I’ll head back to our parent’s house. I’ll be fine. I’ll be gone in the morning-

“Heh, you haven’t called me that in years.” Sae spoke, his voice strangely soft. When Rin dared a peek, he saw it.

 It wasn’t as open as it was years before, but the same fond look was in his eyes, softening his carefully stoic expression immensely. A ghost of a smile was on his brother’s lips, not quite there yet, but it was something.

“Don’t remind me. God, that was- that…Fuck! You suck!” Rin growled, scooting back with a proper glare. Sure his face was still on fire, and his body was still tingling with a cross of tickly residue and nostalgia, but he was adamant on being angry. “What the hell? My Poptart-”

Sae then did the unexpected. He bursted into laughter.

“Pfft- Gehehhahahaa! Good god, aahhhafter all that, and you're worried about a POPTART?” He cackled, falling back on his ass as he held his gut, head thrown back and smile wide. “Good God, Rin! You haven’t changed at all.”

“....Tch, whatever.” Rin rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he fought down his own fit of laughter, the struggle increasing when Sae let out an ungodly pig snort. “Ugh, you’re so annoying.” He kicked his leg gently, too tired to stand. He felt light and breathless and exhausted and just…

“What’s up?” Sae shook his ankle, gaining his attention. “You look sad.”

“I’m not.” Rin ducked his head, hiding his expression. “I’m not. I just…I don’t know- I think part of me…misses this.” He waved between them. “I missed just…laughing with you, I guess. It all feels so far away, still.”

Sae hummed, considering. Then he stood, walking over and offering a hand. “It doesn’t have to be a distant memory anymore.” When Rin looked up, Sae’s face was back to its usual calm, but his eyes were kind. “I’m here. And I don’t plan on leaving again.”

“Promise?” Rin hated how small his voice sounded. He hated it more when he saw something break in Sae’s eyes, dark with remorse.

“I promise.” He sounded a tag hoarse as he ruffled Rin’s hair, breaking the tension. “Come on then, I’ll make breakfast.”

“Please don’t.” Rin cringed as he stood. “You can’t cook.”

“Do you want me to tickle you again?” Sae raised a brow. Rin couldn’t help but grin.

They ended up ordering breakfast instead.

Thanks for reading!

#blue lock #tickle #tickle fic #sae itoshi #rin itoshi #fluff #angst with a happy ending #some angst #tw: swearing #brotherly bonding #fuck canon they've got a good relationship in this one #blue lock spoilers #blue lock anime spoilers #not canon compliant #No one ask me what happened during U-20 I'm going off vague information and my own take on their brotherhood

[3pirouette]

Fic: The Paradox of an Old Man (1/1)

Title: The Paradox of an Old Man

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Spoilers: General MCU through Endgame, No Indy Spoilers

Disclaimer: They're not mine :)

Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Summary: Indiana Jones may be nearly immortal, but one of the perks is that he’s lived long enough to see a few things, including finding a close friend again many times over.

A/N: So, even though I have this as a series, some of these stories DO contradict themselves. Basically, I just love playing with this idea of Indy and Steve and Peggy all knowing one another and I’m not going to go too nuts with the details, because the stories are what they are.

This one plays with the idea of Steve and Indy finding one another in the future more than once, and how that affects them both. There’s a larger story in here, but I seem to have a hard time grasping at it. For now- here’s the lighthearted side.

This if for Steggy Week 2k23 (Day 1: Headcanons and Meta - Thank you @steggyfanevents ) and also for @captainjimothycarter , whose unending love for this ridiculous universe only makes me want to write it more.

~*~

2012

Indiana Jones looked near the same as he had 70 years before, and it stunned Steve to his core.

“You were expecting an old man, weren’t you?” Jones stepped back, opening his door wide and sweeping his arm out. He smiled, just a little, as Steve moved past him into his home. “I guess we both got a surprise here.”

Steve turned, shoving his hands in his pockets, nodding. “When Fury told me you were alive…”

“No one knows why,” he threw his hands up, shrugging, before tipping his head and leading Steve into the living room. It was small and lived in, with books and tiny treasures covering every surface. Jones stacked the papers and folders on the coffee table and shoved them in a drawer next to the well-worn couch. “Though a few SHIELD scientists seem to think it has something to do with this cup I drank from…”

“A cup?” Steve looked up, confused, as he sat.

“Cup, chalice of Christ…” He shrugged and grumbled, moving to the small kitchen and pulling two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. “We couldn’t ever find it again to test it, so…” He rolled his eyes as he handed the Steve the bottle, “They think.”

Steve nodded, pulling the cap off his bottle and tapping his against Indy’s. “To old friends.”

He laughed, short and hearty. “To old friends, who both look like they did in 1945.” He took a long drink, sitting in the arm chair across from Steve. “Fury didn’t tell me what happened, just that you were back.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I know the first half,” he muttered, “how’d you survive?”

Steve smiled. “Well, they think…”

~*~

1954

“People are noticing,” Peggy started, folding her hands in front of her.

The gray in Peggy’s hair slipped simply into her chignon, a small streak of something he’d never known.

His dad had lost his hair young, and he couldn’t remember his father without gray in the hair he had left and in his beard. Indiana Jones hadn’t seen a change in his hair, except for the length, in as long as he could remember.

“Nary a wrinkle in twenty years? Yeah, they should.” Jones sat across from her in her office, shaking his head. “What are we going to do about it?”

Peggy sighed. It wasn’t easy to have to have this talk with him. He was a friend. A confidant. He was one fo the smartest men that consulted for SHIELD and sure as hell one of the few that took her leadership seriously. “The current school of thought includes special effects make-up and prosthetics.”

Indy laughed, standing. He paced the room, wringing his hands. “You’re gonna dye my hair gray?”

“Among other things.” She watched him like a tiger in a cage, heart in her throat. “That keeps you here, with us.” She looked down at her desk, tapping her nails on it gently. “The other options are much more-“

“Much more ‘run and hide’ every ten years?” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. He turned to her, shaking his head. “If it was anyone but you, Peg, telling me this-“

“You’d have laughed your way out the door by now, I know.” She stood, moving to his side. “Please, I need you to understand. Questions have been raised that we can’t ignore anymore.”

“Everyone in SHIELD has seen a lot more weird shit than a guy that doesn’t age.” He paced away from her, needing the distance. “You’re telling me you can hide the Ark of the Covenant in your yearly reports but I’m a problem?”

“You’re not a problem!” Peggy paused and amended herself, shrugging. “Most of the time.” He smiled at that, and she was happy for the moment of levity. “But this is a problem. One we can stave off for a bit but…”

He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have given you a hard time.” He stepped over and sat back in the chair heavily. “Truth is, people outside of here are starting to notice, too.” He looked up. “So maybe we should talk about the options.”

Peggy sat on the edge of her desk, a little calmer, and a little sadder, knowing this meant an ending was coming. “Let’s do it over dinner, shall we?”

Indy smiled slyly.

~*~

2012

Steve sat back on the sofa, beer warming on the table. “It’s good to know she had you,” he muttered. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but-“

Indy cut him off with a nod. “I see her when I can.” He looked down at his hands. “She has more bad days now than good ones.”

Steve sighed, rubbing his suddenly sweaty hands on his thighs. “I’m uh-“ he cleared his throat, hiding his emotion. “I’m just glad she had a good life.”

Jone’s eyebrows rose. “She told ya about it?”

Steve took a long swing of beer, hiding the time he needed to compose himself. “No, uh, not so much.” He sniffed and took another shorter drink. “She told me mostly about her time with the SSR and SHIELD, but she did tell me she had a family- showed me pictures of her kids and grandkids.”

Jones paused, asking when he couldn’t wait anymore. “Her husband?”

Steve shook his head, looking at the floor. “No, no. It was still- is still-“ he stopped and looked up, eyes a little haunted. “She had a lot more time to get over me than I did to get over her.”

“Still not over her,” Jones commented, drinking from his own beer.

Steve just shook his head. “How do you get over a girl like that?”

Indy stood, taking Steve’s nearly empty bottle from his hands. “Well, if you don’t want to know anything about him, I can respect that.” He slipped both bottles into one hand then let his palm sit on Steve’s shoulder for a minute before heading back into the kitchen.

~*~

2023

When the door opened, Steve was confronted with a man who hadn’t aged a day. Indiana Jones looked exactly the same, with the exception of his mouth hanging agape in surprise, as he had for nearly the last hundred years.

Steve smiled, wrinkles shifting around his face, glad he was able to surprise his friend. “You weren’t expecting an old man, were you?”

Indy stepped forward, hugging his friend. “You’re confusing this old man, now, Rogers.”

“You know well enough, Jones,” Steve pulled back, moving past him and into he home where he felt comfortable as he’d been there many, many times in his life. “I couldn’t remember the exact date-“

“Have to get you a date book with the big print now,” Jones joked, closing the door.

Steve pointed at him, only half smiling at the joke. “So I probably waited a little too long.”

“Saw your young self for the first time last week,” Jones said gently, sitting in his armchair. “You drank all my beer.”

Steve smiled, moving into the kitchen and helping himself to a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He held it up but Jones shook his head. “And ate all your food, as I recall.”

“Damn near all of it,” Indy grumbled good natured.

Steve leaned against the counter, fiddling with the water.

Jones waited patiently for the questions to come, he knew there would be questions.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He smiled. “Because you didn’t know. Because I wasn’t sure if that was how time worked. If it was a paradox that would somehow fix itself or, well, I’m sure you can guess. A million reasons, really.” He spread his hands out. “Every culture has myths about time travel, and none of them tell us what to do with the possibility of paradoxes. I didn’t think it was a good idea to mess with it.”

Steve nodded. “Fair.”

“Better be,” he smiled crookedly, “It’s the only answer I got.”

He slipped to the couch, sipping from his water. “You know, for the longest time, I thought you were the one that married Peg.”

Jones did a double take. “What?”

“You never talked about it, neither did she.” Steve shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything on it, anywhere.”

“Because we were hiding you from yourself, buddy.”

“I know that now,” Steve smiled up at him, “but back then- or now- hard to get a grip on tense with this.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I was convinced that you’d married her.”

Jones leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He took a long, slow breath, and then looked Steve in the eye. “To tell you the truth, I thought about asking her out more than once. There was a gap in there before you showed up…”

Steve leaned back, unbothered. “I wouldn’t have blamed either of you.”

“Gorgeous, smart, quick-“ He sighed, shaking his head. “But she was always yours, and I knew I made the right decision to stay her friend when you showed back up.”

The men smiled at each other. “Still, thanks for looking out for her before I got there.”

“Glad to have done it. She’s my friend, too.”

~*~

1954

“Steve!” Peggy called, unlocking the door. “We’ve got one more for dinner!”

Steve appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, apron slung around his hips and toddler upside down in his arms, smiling when he saw Jones move into the house behind Peggy. “Great.” He walked over, depositing his son in Jones’ only slightly surprised arms. “He’s all yours.”

Steve pecked Peggy on the lips before turning back to the kitchen, Jones tickling the toddler as he squirmed in his grasp, giggling. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

“What’s on the menu?” Jones asked, righting the boy in his arms and tossing him nearly to the ceiling to hear him giggle.

“Roasted chicken!” Steve called from the kitchen. “Maybe potatoes. They’re…”

A pot crashed and Peggy, Indy, and the boy paused, looking towards the empty doorway.

Steve peeked around the edge of the doorframe, apron dripping wet. “Uh- no potatoes.”

Indy huffed, passing Peggy her baby boy and pulled his hat off. “How are you one of the greatest soldiers the word has ever seen and yet incompetent int he kitchen?”

“I’m not completely incompetent,” Steve’s voice drifted as the two men disappeared.

“No, Just mostly,” Jones jabbed, moving back through the space Peggy could see to pull an apron from their cupboard and then stack a new set of potatoes in his arms. “How did you mess up boiling potatoes? Aren’t you Irish?”

“”Well, I-“

Indy was zipping through Peggy’s line of sight, and she smiled as she watched Steve trail behind him like a lost puppy. “And you grew up in Brooklyn, in the Great Depression?”

Steve paused, flopping his hands out to the sides. “Like we had money for potatoes.”

“Just… focus on the chicken before you burn the damn thing,” Jones ordered, before leaning out, smiling at Peggy. “There will be potatoes.”

Peggy just laughed, cuddling her boy to her chest.

“Oh, goodness,” she muttered, shaking ehr head, before calling back out. “I’ll be in my office, then. Don’t burn the place down please.”

Their voices, in chorus, answered her as she moved down the hall. “I won’t!” The unspoken part, full of levity, was that neither man could really be sure if the other wouldn’t, though.

Peggy wouldn’t have it any other way.

#Steggyweek23 #Steggy fic #steggyfanevents #3P’s Fic #Indiana Jones crossover

[bold-writing]

The One With Whiskey Eyes || 21 || Weathered but Not Broken

Words: 3400 +

Warnings: None

Previous || Next

~21~

Iris cradled a coffee between her palms as she sat next to Felicia in the waiting area of the police station. The card that Montez had given to Barry the night before was tucked in her pocket, the officer himself momentarily busy. She had expected the wait, but her nerves were still rattled as she looked around at the other people waiting and the posters that lined the walls.

"Are you okay? You're white as snow," Felicia asked in concern, reaching out to gently stroke Iris's cheek. She had gotten some looks on their way to the station, but both women had studiously ignored them as they walked hand-in-hand along the sidewalk. Stopping briefly for coffee, Felicia had gotten a bewildered look from the barista when she gave her two female names to put on the cups.

Dressed in a dark winter pea-coat and dark skinny jeans that were tucked into ankle boots, she didn't look overly feminine to the average person that walked by. Her mannerisms and her voice, however, were distinctly that of a female. Iris had noticed how she'd shied away at times, tucking her head downward awkwardly to make herself less visible. That is when she'd grabbed her hand and had proudly walked down the street with her larger palm cradled in her hand—bare of gloves.

Iris didn't get the chance to respond before a familiar voice called from the front desk. "Miss. Mayfair?"

Iris turned from her soulmate to catch the eyes of Montez, who looked momentarily surprised at her pin-straight hair and eyes surrounded in red-gold colour. Felicia placed a comforting hand on her leg before Iris stood up, her coffee pressed to her chest as she walked over to meet with the officer from the previous night.

"You're looking much better, Miss. Mayfair. It's good to see," he offered kindly, smiling as he spoke.

"Thank you," Iris mumbled back shyly before her eyes fell on the folder that held her statement. He didn't wait a moment more before he opened the folder and placed her written confession on the table. Her writing was messier than usual, a testament to her shock as she attempted to write. "So I just need to sign at the bottom?" she asked quietly as she placed her coffee just to the side, freeing her hands.

"If you want, you can read it over and make changes. If you sign it, that means that this is final," he answered calmly while sliding the paper closer to her. Iris shook her head, knowing that she was careful enough to repeat each detail the night before as carefully as her muddled brain could. Montez placed a pen on the sheet for her to use, before he patiently waited as Iris picked it up with a much steadier hand and scrawled her loopy signature on the bottom.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Ma'am, you're free to go. We may contact you in the near future if we have any more questions. I have your cell number, is it alright to use if I need to speak with you?"

"Yes, I always have it with me," she answered easily, reclaiming her coffee as he recollected the sheets. "Have a good day, Officer Montez," she added on with a small smile, happy to be leaving the station. He smiled back before his eyes shifted to look over her shoulder; Felicia had stood up and was waiting for Iris.

She watched his eyes flick down to her hand, where he had caught the flash of her mark on the back of her hand, before he smiled again and nodded to her. Nodding back, Iris turned and headed over to Felicia with a hand outstretched already. Taking her soulmate's hand, the two women slipped from the station without waiting another moment and turned in the direction of Iris's apartment.

"Anything you want to do while we both have the day off?" Felicia finally asked once they were on their way, glancing down at Iris as they dodged people on the sidewalk.

"Honestly? Not a clue," Iris admitted with a slight laugh in her voice. "But considering how cold it is out here, preferably something that's inside?" Felicia laughed as she nodded in agreement, glad that she had pulled on a warm, dark blue hat before they had left—Iris had complimented the colour as soon as she spotted it, saying that it would bring out her soulmates eyes beautifully.

Pretty soon, the two women had crowded themselves into Iris's small apartment with her little heater cranked up to warm the space. Felicia gushed about how small and cute it was, reading the spines of Iris's book collection, then her tea tins, and finally ended at her miniscule wardrobe. She tutted over the oversized, covering clothing but didn't actually say anything against her choice in style. Iris was almost certain that all of her soulmates, even the ones she had yet to meet, were most likely aware of the scars on her body and why she preferred to remain covered.

"You need to buy some colour!" Felicia commented finally, noticing that mostly everything Iris owned was either black or dark grey. "It's so…blah! And you're already my little Snow White, no need to make you look even paler."

Iris huffed a laugh from where she was sitting on her bed, legs crossed comfortably as she watched Felicia card through her small amount of clothes. "Snow White? That's a new one."

Felicia spun with a grin, one of Iris's oversized sweaters in hand. "Oh, my dear Snow, you're basically a walking Disney character. And you can sing! That's even better!""

Iris snorted a laugh, quickly covering her mouth when the sound registered. "If you start calling me Snow, I'm gunna call you Cinnamon." Remembering her first words to Felicia made her smile; it was something sweet and memorable. She felt that she needed to make up for some of the less than kind or sweet remarks that had been left on her soulmate's body thus far.

Felicia gasped comically as she took in the nickname. "Cinnamon? I love it!"

She bounced up on the bed then, nearly tipping Iris over from the exuberance of the action, but both women simply laughed at the action as Iris quickly caught herself with outstretched palms. "Does my closet pass your approval?" she asked after a moment, nodding her head toward the corner of dark clothing hung up meticulously on cheap hangers.

Felicia made a face while glancing between her soulmate and the closet. "We definitely gotta go shopping once it warms up; you need some colour in your life. But, for now, it'll have to do." Iris laughed again, rocking her body to the side to give Felicia a slight shove.

As silence fell between them, Felicia glanced at Iris as a question sat on the tip of her tongue. Iris had mentioned the light earlier that morning, so she was picking up on things they said when talking about the other alters in Kevin's body, but she wondered just how much Iris understood. She was a smart woman, so Felicia was almost certain she'd done her own research on the subject, but to ask one of them would provide her with the best answer to anything she didn't understand.

"So, Iris," she finally started, deciding that she would at least give her little soulmate the chance to ask. "I understand that the…situation with me and the others—Barry and BT, all that—can be kinda confusing, so I was wondering if there was anything you wanted to ask?" Iris's soft gaze turned to her, eyes widened with surprise. "I know there's some stuff out there that explains D.I.D, but I'd be happy to give you a first-person explanation if you want it."

"Really?" Iris asked after a small pause. "You wouldn't be…offended?"

"Because you don't know everything?" Felicia asked, appalled. "No! Iris, none of us expect you to have full knowledge about us. Even when compared to other people that have multiple personalities, we're a whole other story. No one else in the world has ever had so many alters in one body—at least not that has been recorded. And you're proof that we're all real. Every mark on your body proves that we're not just a…glitch in the brain."

Iris reached out and caught Felicia's hand, the action so fast it was as though she was flinching. "I never thought that," she was quick to assure. "I know you're all as real as me or another other living person. I never doubted that, and it makes me sick to think that other people don't believe you are." Shuffling around so she was facing Felicia, Iris lifted her free hand to stroke her cheek. "Our bond is nothing like another out there, and I love that."

Felicia smiled back, pleased to hear how Iris had fully accepted her bond with them, as strange as it may be.

Iris looked down at Felicia's hand, cradling it between her palms in her lap. "I'm learning, bit by bit, each time I meet a new soulmate. I tried to research D.I.D, but even Dr. Fletcher's research was…biased? It was scientific, not reality. I felt like it was dehumanizing the people that I had met, so I stopped trying to read about it and decided that I would…go with the flow?" she explained carefully, not quite sure how to phrase it.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Felicia offered again, calmly waiting for Iris as she closed her eyes in concentration. It looked like she was trying to decide on which question to ask. "Ask me anything, Iris," Felicia continued, turning her hand over to hold one of Iris's smaller ones. "Anything and everything, if that's what you want."

Opening her eyes to meet Felicia's soft blue gaze, she took a steadying breath before nodding along. "One thing I wondered about was if you are all aware of what happens with whoever is in the light? You mentioned earlier that Barry being in the light made it possible for everyone to feel my fear…"

"We don't see or hear what the other alter experiences when they're in the light," Felicia assured. "I could talk to the others right now; I could tease Barry-"

"Don't you dare!" Iris laughed, seeing the teasing grin that had lit Felicia's expression before she continued.

"I can talk to the others, but they don't experience what I see or hear or whatever. I can show them if I really wanted, but we don't do that very often. Since only some of us have met you, when those people are in the light the sensations from the soulmark are…amplified."

Iris nodded along as she listened to her explanation, her fingers tracing Felicia's hand mindlessly. "Can more than one of you be in the light at the same time?"

This time, Felicia hesitated. "Not exactly at the same time, but there's been times when some of the others have switched who uses the light at a speed that it makes it seem like they're sharing it. Like, they can have conversations aloud with each other. We don't usually do that, though, since we can converse without doing it."

Iris noticed that she had offered the explanation without any names, so she took Felicia's hesitation as being trying to avoid revealing names of soulmates that Iris hadn't met yet. The others didn't seem to care about slipping names into conversation, but that didn't mean everyone else was the same. Felicia probably didn't want to confuse Iris by bringing up people she hadn't met yet.

"Do you guys have a fixed…schedule?" Iris hesitated a bit more this time, worried that the question would come across rude.

Felicia, however, answered it easily and without a care. "Not really. For work there is, but that's just because not everyone can actually do maintenance. I'd probably get us fired, so…"

Iris laughed at Felicia's attempt to cheer her up, feeling the worry she carried steadily ease. Once she'd calmed down, she glanced over toward the kitchen. "So, what do you want for lunch? I can make us some soup, and a fresh coffee?"

"That sounds fantastic," Felicia agreed, glancing over toward the window where Iris's heater was humming away, warming them up. It had begun to snow again shortly after they'd reached her building, the two breathing a sigh of relief to have escaped the sudden return of the storm. Iris shuffled off the bed and slipped into her small kitchenette, pulling out a large pot and some cutting boards. Felicia slid to the edge of the bed as she carefully watched Iris's trained motions.

Living on her own, she'd developed a routine when it came to preparing her meals and was glad that Felicia stayed back and out of her way.

She started the coffee first, before she began the prep work for the soup as the coffee brewed loudly in the corner. Their conversation turned to lighter topics as Iris hustled from side to side of her tiny kitchen to the other, Felicia's eyes followed her avidly as she asked about her soulmates reading habits, preferred music or movies.

At one point, Iris admitted that she'd once cut her hair short in a pixie cut years back—Felicia had eyed her meticulously straightened hair and pursed her lips. The brunette had laughed at her soulmate's expression before she shook her head. "Don't worry, I know it looked terrible on me. I plan on keeping it long from now on."

Felicia sipped her coffee as Iris finished putting everything in the pot and left the soup to cook as she moved over to sit on the edge of her bed, next to Felicia, as she took her own hot coffee back in hand. "So, have you gone to school? Any of you?" Iris asked once she'd gotten comfortable.

Felicia shrugged. "Kinda. I mean, we've taken some courses that would give us some advantages, but we don't have a diploma or a degree. We all have such different hobbies and likes, it would cost a fortune for us to all take something that we wanted. So, we took courses that would give us a leg up for a job. Like a business and management course. You?"

Iris shook her head immediately. "I love to learn, but everything I pick up is self-taught—except for some music lessons I paid for to get my footing. I love reading and I usually pick up whatever I want to know from that. Books are my favourite, but I'll get the odd ebook or online resource if I need to. I was so shocked when my bosses hired me on as a manager. I mean, I'd been there for a while but I'm sure they had more educated people they could've hired."

Felicia smiled in assurance as she bumped her soulmate's leg with her own. "Sometimes experience is better; I mean I'd rather have someone that had already been working for a while than someone straight out of school with no actual experience. It's unfortunate, but true."

Nodding in agreement, Iris tucked the soft strands of her straightened hair back behind her ear. It was so much silkier and easily fell in her face once it was straightened.

"Want me to braid that back?" Felicia offered once she'd spotted Iris do the same thing for a third time. She'd been trying to keep it out of her face desperately while she'd been cooking, but that had been a necessary thing; now, it seemed like it was beginning to bother her. After all, it wasn't something she usually had to deal with.

Iris flushed at being caught. "Oh, no, that's okay! It's just my curls usually stay where I put them-"

Felicia scoffed before she took both of their cups and placed them aside. "Relax, honey, I won't take it personally. Besides, I need some practice with braiding! Turn around, and scoot over here."

Knowing it was futile to argue, Iris turned her back to Felicia and pushed all of her hair over her shoulders. It worked out well, since Felicia was a bit taller than her while they were sitting and enabled her to see the top of Iris's head.

Beginning to section the beginning of the French Braid, Iris found herself once more leaning back into the gentle touches against her scalp. It was blissful and relaxing, causing her skin to prickle with sensitivity. She'd never thought that something as simple as someone stroking their fingers through her hair and along her scalp, a barely-there caress, would cause such a powerful and immediate reaction. Felicia hummed at the soft strands of Iris's hair, never touched with heat or chemicals to make it brittle or unhealthy.

"I love your hair," she sighed wistfully, wishing that she had hair like her soulmates. "You know I'm going to enjoy long hair vicariously through you, hm? If I'm in the light that day, you've gotta let me do your hair."

Iris just hummed in agreement as she leaned her hair back against Felicia's dextrous fingers, getting a giggle in response before she returned her concentration to making the braid even and straight.

The small apartment was beginning to smell strongly of vegetables and broth, a mouth-watering smell that made Felicia realize it had been a while since she'd—they'd—eaten something home-cooked. Patricia would sometimes make nice, fresh meals, but she wasn't in the light often enough for all of them to get the chance to eat the wonderful food.

"I haven't even tried that soup yet and my mouth is already watering," she admitted after a couple quiet minutes of silence, Iris continuing so sigh contentedly as Felicia took longer than necessary to do her hair. She was passed the base of Iris's skull now, meaning that the remainder of the braid didn't give her the excuse to stroke Iris's scalp or run her fingers through the soft strands near the roots.

"We also haven't eaten yet," Iris tried to explain, sounding sleepy.

"That's not why," Felicia argued. "It smells fantastic! I could have just stuffed myself with chocolate and whatever else and I promise you, I'd still be drooling over that smell. And debating whether a bowl would make me pop or not and if it's worth it."

"I need to stir it," Iris mumbled tiredly, her eyes closed as she basked in the sensation of her hair being played with for a second time that day. She had many years depraved of physical contact to catch up on.

Felicia tied off Iris's hair and gently guided her soulmate to lie down. "I'll keep an eye on the soup. Why don't you take a nap?"

Whiskey eyes opened to look up at her, a protest already on her lips, but Felicia gave her a look and lifted a finger to her lips in a gesture of silence. "Uh-uh, rest. Even if you slept well last night, you've got some catching up to do. Sleep!"

Fighting a smile as she nodded in defeat, Iris rolled onto her side, tucking her legs up from where they'd been hanging off the bed. Felicia snatched the throw that was folded up and placed along the middle of the bed, shaking it out, before she draped it over Iris's already-dozing form. The brunette's eyelids barely fluttered at the sensation of the blanket covering her, her relaxed state aiding her in falling asleep that much faster.

Felicia crouched next to the bed's edge as she watched her soulmate's peaceful expression, a blissful smile on her face as she thought over the past several hours since she'd woken with her soulmate in her arms, cradled against her chest. Barry was one lucky bastard to have Iris's love, but Felicia couldn't bring herself to be jealous when she knew that—in their unique way—she was Iris's as well.

The small woman's heart was almost too big, especially for someone who'd been put through so much in her younger years.

Brushing her bangs aside, Felicia leaned in a pressed a ghost of a kiss against Iris's pale forehead before she stood up and went to manage the steaming soup.

Previous || Next

#The One With Whiskey Eyes #Split 2016 #James McAvoy Split #James McAvoy #Felicia Split #Split Fanfiction #Split Romance #Dennis Split #Barry Split #Patricia Split #Hedwig Split #Soulmate AU #Soulmate Fanfiction

[writebackatya]

For the character interactions what about boyd and webby?

Aw, I would I have loved to see these two sweethearts interacting with one another. They’re both adorable and deadly, what a pair they would have made!

BOYD and Webbby in...

Interview with a Definitely Real Boy!

with a small Dewey cameo at the end

It did not take BOYD long at all to find Webby’s room thanks to the instructions his friend Huey had given him. Once the boy had arrived at the door he gave a soft knock.

Before he could even react, the door swung open and was greeted by an eager face.

"Great! You're here! Come on in!"

BOYD went ahead and took Webby's invitation as he stepped inside her room and was quick to notice the family tree the young duck had on her wall.

"Oh where are my manners?" Webby asked herself before holding out her hand, "Hi! I'm Webby!"

"I'm BOYD," BOYD greeted back as he shook her hand, "which stands for Be Only Yourself Dude."

"Really!? I never knew that!" Webby quickly grabbed out her notebook and started writing in it.

BOYD observed the young girl as she scribbled away in her notepad at a very efficient speed. "May I ask what you are writing about and if I may help?"

"Oh, Huey didn't tell you? I'm writing about you!" Webby answered as she motioned to the Family Tree. "Since you and Dr. Gearloose are a family again you are now officially part of Clan McDuck!"

BOYD's eyes went ahead and scanned every inch of the Family Tree on the wall. "I noticed that a lot of these members here are not connected by blood."

"Yeah! That's what's so great about our family! Besides ducks we've got chickens, sabrewings, statue monsters, and robots! We're not really your typical family."

"Cool!" BOYD enthusiastically exclaimed.

"It is cool!" Webby agreed. "Now, if I can get photograph of you sometime in the near future that would be great, then I can add you to my wall."

BOYD went ahead and printed out a photo of himself that Huey took and handed it to Webby.

"Perfect! Now I can just get right to the interview!"

"Perhaps it would be more efficient if I email you all the details of my life."

"Nah, I would prefer to just talk to you!" Webby retorted. "It helps me get know my family members a bit better."

"Okay!" BOYD replied.

"Now, first question. Now that you're back with Gyro, what is going to happen between you and the Drakes?"

"Hmm...Well, things will surely be different. But they're still my family, so perhaps Dr. Gearloose and the Drakes might think of some sort of arrangement so I can spend equal time with my all family."

"Wow," Webby exclaimed as she kept writing in her notebook, "I hope you guys can make this work."

Just then the door swung open thanks to Dewey. "I heard there was a robot in our house!"

"Hi, I'm BOYD." BOYD waved.

"Besides the Drake's adoptive son, he's also the son of Gyro." Webby explained to Dewey.

"WE HAVE A ROBOT IN OUR FAMILY NOW!?!" Dewey realized. "This family keeps getting better and better!"

"You wanna interview him, Dewey?" Webby asked as she readied her pen.

"Yes!" Dewey ran to BOYD. "What kind of robot powers do you have!? Can you fly?! Can you shoot lasers from your eyes?! Can you correctly guess the title of a song by listening to only a few seconds of it?!"

As the day went on, BOYD was able to get know even more members of his ever growing family. And even though they were not connected by blood, they were all definitely really his family to him.

#two characters prompt #ducktales fanfiction #ducktales 2017 #webby vanderquack #ducktales boyd #boyd #boyd gearloose #dewey duck #writebackatya #thestrangecarrotcake

[johnquinnhughes]

The Thing that Should Not Be - Eddie Munson x GN!Reader

!! TECHNICALLY CONTAINS SPOILERS SO YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T READ UNTIL AFTER WATCHING VOL. 2 🧡 !!

A/N: Hi, everyone!! This is my first time posting my writing on tumblr. I have thick skin so I won’t ask you to be kind or go easy on me if thats not your thing, but I would love to hear your feedback, whatever it may be! If ya’ll dig this, I may post more in the future.

Also!! The title comes from the Metallica song, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with the fic, I just thought it was fitting.

WARNINGS: This is sad, there’s no other way to put it. If you’re looking for a comfort fic, this ain't the one. It basically follows Eddie’s partner as they mourn him following the events in 4x09. Doesn’t contain explicit spoilers, per say (aka it doesn't go into detail regarding how he died, etc.) but does include some things from the episode. That being said, if you don’t want to read about death, loss and sadness, please don't read this.

It was nearing 3am when the front door opened, in walking Dustin and Steve. 

“Oh, thank god,” you exclaimed, nearly jumping on the both of them, one arm wrapped around each boy. 

After a moment, you pulled back to look at them. Someone was missing. The most important person, in your biased opinion. 

“Where’s Eddie?” You asked, the same grateful smile still plastered on your lips. 

Dustin and Steve looked at each other, defeated. 

“Dustin? Steve?” You tried again, the smile now slowly falling from your face, “Where’s Eddie?”

With a pained expression, Dustin reached deep into his jacket pocket, pulling out what you immediately recognized as Eddie’s guitar pick necklace. 

“I am so sorry, y/n,” Dustin said, holding the object out to you, his bottom lip trembling. 

It was like you went into shock. Your entire body felt cold, and you couldn’t move. A sob ripped from your lungs, causing Dustin and Steve to wince. 

“No,” you cried, “No, he’s not... he can’t be...” 

Your knees gave out, and you collapsed to the carpeted floor, head in your hands as you wailed. The breathless sobs echoed around the living room, tears soaking your t-shirt and the floor below you. 

Dustin and Steve knelt beside you, each with a hand on your back, rubbing it soothingly. 

“We wanted to save him, y/n,” Steve explained through tears of his own, “But we didn’t get to him in time.”

You looked at them, “Why weren’t you with him?!” You spat.

“I was, initially! But then he just, took off. I tried to go after him, y/n, believe me. I was just too late,” Dustin hung his head in shame. 

“He didn’t die alone, y/n,” Steve continued, “He died in Dustin’s arms. Dustin made sure he knew he was cared for. That he was loved.”

You nodded, listening intently before another round of sobs ravaged your body, causing you to curl up on the floor once again, Steve and Dustin not leaving your side. 

“I should’ve gone,” you whimpered, “If I had gone, he would still be alive.”

“You don’t know that,” Dustin said, “Please, y/n. You can’t blame yourself for this.”

You sniffled, clutching Eddie’s necklace to your chest. “Oh, Eddie,” you cried, “How could you do this to me? What am I supposed to do without you?”

-

Steve and Dustin sat with you for the next few hours as you wept. As the sun began to rise, the two of them helped you to bed, tucking you in and placing a glass of water on your bedside table. They decided to stay with you, Steve sleeping on the couch and Dustin on the floor beside him. You wouldn’t admit it in the moment, but they knew you didn’t want to be alone, plus it was now after 7am and they still hadn’t slept. 

As you lay in bed, you stared at the empty space beside you, a space that would never be filled again, Eddie’s side of the bed. It might as well have had his name stitched into the sheets. 

You lay there, running your fingers over the cool fabric, the coolest it had been in two years. You knew you shouldn’t have done it, because you regretted it immediately, but you picked up Eddie’s pillow and inhaled the remanence of his scent; apple scented shampoo, weed, tobacco, and something you couldn’t describe that was totally and completely Eddie Munson.

Eventually, you did fall asleep, still clutching that damn necklace, and of course, you dreamed of him.

#let me know what y’all think #let me know if it’s ass #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x gn!reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #stranger things s4 #st4 #eddie munson fanfic

[the-pitchfork-kids]

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.

This will be regarding the future of the PFK series. Please read EVERYTHING it is very important.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the direction of the series and being a better writer and such and I've realized that- I really dislike Headless Hummingbirds. I think it's sort of well-known within y'all by now that it was originally a joke. A silly joke for my friends- and it somehow blossomed into this big idea and story that I want to tell through my writing, but because Headless Hummingbirds was originally a joke- and ultimately, that time the group was changing far more than right now, it causes a lot of plot points and characters to be rushed and messed up and it was just all a mess to write.

That plus the fact I never put any real effort into this to being with all led to a product yes, but a product I could have improved. At the time I kept holding myself to deadlines and I forced myself to publish the absolute moment I could, I never through of re-writing and despised the idea of writing a draft so I just published what I had and called it a day.

That was back in September, five months ago- and a girl can change in those months.

Since I've published the book I looked more into actually learning how to write better- because nobody, no matter what you wish; can make a career on pure talent alone. You gotta actually take time to learn stuff- so that I did!

And that learning made me realize that I really dislike the book and I don't want to continue the series with a book starting it off like that. I want this to be good and entertaining- I want this to tell the story right. And what I've made currently is nowhere near how I want to tell the story.

I won't get into nitty, gritty details of what I dislike and what I think is wrong- because I don't want anybody's pity. I just want patience and understanding.

I have decided to re-write Headless Hummingbirds.

So book two will be paused- and actually the few pages of it I already have are going to be deleted. I now know what I want to do with this series unlike before- and I'd like to start with a book in this series that I wrote keeping that in mind. I want to start with a book I put effort in, that I knew was something big I wanted, not a silly joke that I accidentally blew up.

The original idea for Headless Hummingbirds was supposed to be a big, fat, joke. It was supposed to be 50 pages of fun nonsense for us to laugh at- I was actually planning to start writing a different book at the time, but then as I wrote I kept needing more and more pages and adding more and more and eventually- you got Headless Hummingbirds.

But that Headless Hummingbirds can be improved- it can be better and I want it to be. I want to give you guys quality that you'll actually enjoy reading- not something you'll just tolerate for the sake of getting to see what happens to the main gooberish cast.

Now I will say, a re-write does come with some complications that you may or may not like- but I know this is the best decision for my series. I know what I want- and I want to deliver it to you guys in a way that had heart and soul poured into it instead of overused metaphors and brainless ideas.

What does this mean for the audiobook?

This means not that much for the audiobook project actually.

If you don't know, I'm producing a voice-acted audiobook for Headless Hummingbirds- because I'm really extra like that.

In all seriousness, you don't have to worry. The audiobook will still come out- and it won't be paused either! Now it will still take a long while to be published- probably taking till next September or November to release because of re-casting issues and VA's quitting, but the re-write has not effected it at all.

It just means we'll have two Headless Hummingbirds audiobooks!

Speaking of...

What does this mean for the old Headless Hummingbirds book?

Again, it doesn't mean too much- it just means that everything that book says it no longer canon!

As you might have griped- not too long ago I updated saying that the book was the "prologue" to the series, to try and make it seem like a faraway distant to the better books of the franchise I was going to write- but it still didn't feel right.

Now I will still keep it up on the blog! Because it's still a part of the series and should still get it's spot! Though it will be listed as the "Beta Draft," acting sort of as those concept art releases shows will have! This is what we thought of before compared to what you got!

Honestly, that is what it is- I got all the ideas out onto paper- now it just needs re-working and an uncluttered brain to organize them into a proper story- and honestly, I think it's very cool and interesting to look at concept ideas for shows and games- so why shouldn't books have that same thing? Why shouldn't I share the concept and the splatter of messily conceived ideas that brought you the real product?

So don't worry, the book will still be up- it just won't be canon anymore. I know a lot of you probably really liked the original and won't like the fact some of it will have changed, but trust me. The story will be almost identical to the new one I'm writing- just a few character, relationship, setting and event changes is all.

And hey! Who knows, I might make it a thing I do! Share the concept manuscript for the actual installment so you can see where the glory you read came from!

What does this mean for the blog?

Does this mean a restart? Does this mean a deletion? Does this make every single post up to this point incorrect? No No And again, no. Most of the posts I already said aren't canonical don't canonize anything specific I plan on changing from Headless Hummingbirds.

This also does not mean the blog is going to be stopped.

Yes, I have been cheating you out of incorrect quote content- but that due to something entirely different.

Something called school.

(And Hazbin Hotel but I digres.)

But the blog will run smoothly and most everything of recent is 100% canon if I didn't already say it wasn't canon!

In conclusion

I hope you guys wait and stick around to see the re-write of Headless Hummingbirds. I really do, I want to start the series with a book that I wrote knowing what I wanted our of it. I'm a terrible pantser and that is very noticeable in my writing- so this would help me make everything better for you guys! I really want you guys to love this series and I'm going to try my best and write you quality, entertaining things for you to enjoy later down the line!

Thank you for reading

And thank you for your patience :)

I cannot wait to get you the actual HH book!

#writer announcement #announcement #important #importance #this is important #read the whole thing #pitchfork kids #pitchfork kids announcement #important announcement #writer update #update #book update #important update #writer #writer things #author speaks #creative writing #book re-write #story start over

[oreramar]

Florist Talk: daily tasks

I recently made a post with bullet points talking about some of the common aspects of being a florist (caveat: at a mom n pop shop in a small town in the US, not all points apply universally). This time I'm going to narrow down on the normal sorts of everyday, week to week aspects. This is written as though it's a guide for the writing of Florist AU fiction/fanfiction, so occasionally I'll refer to the example Florist as your Florablorb, or, now, Florbo for short.

May this be of use to anyone writing such a story in order to simply ground your character in everyday tasks when plot/characterization needs to happen.

Opening tasks: I'm sure you can imagine. Doors open, lights on, computer/POS logged into and till shift opened, any ambient music turned on. Extra details can be added such as dragging out sandwich board signs or those outdoor flags or maybe even an outside display stand/cart (only in warmer months) or shoveling/salting a walkway (if in a snowy time/place).

Then Florbo goes into the walk-in flower cooler and removes any flower arrangements premade for delivery on this day. Maybe delivery slips are organized now, maybe left for when a delivery will actually be made. Anything that was ordered in day(s) before this one should be delivered on the first run of the day if possible.

If there's a florist website it's possible web orders came in after previous day's closing/before opening this one. They might autoprint and simply need to be collected off the printer. If they exist they get sorted into same-day or put into whatever organization system is used for future orders. The shop I work at has a series of cubbies labeled Monday through Saturday; order sheets are folded in half and put into whatever day it's meant for.

Start working on whatever flower orders came in for this day. If they're done before first delivery time then they can go out with the others. If not, they'll go out later. On a busy day, an unspecified or "designer's choice" arrangement can be chosen from the display cooler for speed. It'll be replaced by a design of similar price when more time is available.

If calls or walk in customers happen during any of this then they're handled in between the rest of it.

Usually in my experience there's minimum two deliveries per day: one mid morning / before noon, and one after lunch breaks are taken / mid-afternoon. Rarely are there fewer runs, and occasionally more orders come in during or after the second run so a third (or fourth, or sometimes, rarely, even a fifth) are needed. This might be very modest given the size of the shop/town I work in; more may be normal (especially with a dedicated driver) in a larger or busier city.

Again, usually I can get any same-day morning orders done either before or just after lunch breaks conclude. Again, this might vary place to place, and definitely varies day to day.

Lunch breaks can be half an hour to a full hour depending on your place and person and how busy it all is. I've got a near-retirement boss who likes to go out to lunch and takes a full hour. I usually only do half an hour unless for some reason I need to run home for lunch in which case I can typically have an hour as well.

If and when same-day orders are finished, Florbo will get into the cubby/other organization and find anything already there for the next day and start working on those orders. Floral arrangements go into the back cooler (not the display one, to avoid confusion/people walking in and wanting to buy things already made for others). Any live plants or gift-type items go on some sort of shelf or counter or other out of the way surface. Confusion can happen if Florbo doesn't pay attention to dates: an order for Monday the first will be in the same cubby as an order for Monday the eighth. Gotta try to stay on top of that but mistakes can happen.

If a same-day order is made while working on next-day orders, it gets priority.

Obvious is obvious but orders that go to schools have to get there comfortably before school lets out. If that is just not feasible because someone up and ordered fifteen minutes before the final bell they'll need to be told that it's gonna be a tomorrow thing now. This usually isn't an issue.

There's usually a same-day delivery time cutoff, usually sometime in the afternoon. How strictly it is followed may vary by the day and store. If someone tries to skirt this cutoff by ordering online they may or may not need to be called and informed that it's not gonna work this day. There will be a separate post on Delivery Protocol later because that gets a bit long.

Make any arrangements needed to refill the display cooler. Every few days or so, recut and rewater any arrangements left in the display cooler to give them more longevity.

Normal cleaning chores might be done during lulls as well. Dusting shelves or watering live plants is occasional, but sweeping the work area and cooler floors is daily. No matter how careful you are in cutting leaves and flower stems stuff will end up on the floor. Some of those stems will ricochet wildly when clipped.

Flower deliveries come about twice a week. They could arrive any time of day, even overnight (warehouse drivers will usually have a key shop to put them inside for you) depending on your suppliers and their routes. Flowers arrive bundled in big, long boxes, and must be trimmed and put into water treated with flower food.

Flower food comes either in big buckets of white powder (mixed into water) or big buckets of liquid concentrate (again, mixed into water, and a handy hose that connects it to the water source through a special nozzle makes this much easier. The nozzle is squeezed like a gas pump and can be used to fill buckets/vases/jugs directly).

Closing bits are just what you'd expect. Sometimes someone calls or walks in five minutes before closing, and Florbo must unfortunately suffer this.

SATURDAY SPECIAL: any and all of the above needed, but this tends to be the slowest day for orders and deliveries, so instead some of the time is filled by removing literally all flowers from the walk in cooler, sweeping and mopping the floor, and recutting/reorganizing/refreshing all the water buckets. This includes emptying a bucket used to collect cooler condensation water via a hose. There's never much in the winter but in the summer this has to be done two or three times a week otherwise it gets too full to lift or carry and your poor Florbo, if they have floppy arms, might be forced to drag it across the floor to tip it outside.

Of course things can vary depending on the day and vary even more if there's some kind of holiday altering the flow of business, but that bit's for a later post. This one's gotten long enough.

So go now, and couch your Florbo's dialogue and narrative in actions such as processing a fresh order of flowers from the wholesaler, or in resorting to dusting shelves for the third time that week because business has been so slow and they've run out of normal things to do and space in the display cooler to make things for. There is much variety to be had beyond writing them arranging yet another dozen roses every time plot rears its head!

#florist talk #daily tasks #long post #flower shop au #writing resource

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), January 2024

Welcome to my first commerce news update of 2024!

Now that we are through the intensity of the holiday rush, I plan on getting a few of these out each month. Please follow me on Bluesky or on LinkedIn if you want more timely updates. (New ways to get updates coming soon!)

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Some Etsy listings now have a link which displays some shop owners' names and home addresses under the seller contact info, which says “Meet your seller”. This may be legally required in some jurisdictions, including within the US if you don’t have a proper location on your shop, but here is how to remove it if you don’t need it. Here’s some of the info on the US INFORM Act which could require disclosure of your information; the EU and UK are other jurisdictions which sometimes may require this info if you sell to them. 

Reminder that UK small sellers may end up having their taxable income reported by the platforms they sell on starting for 2024. “The first deadline for firms to report details of transactions is the end of January 2025 – a year after the rules come into force. Bank account details and the cost of transactions made by sellers with sizable trading activity must be reported.” Etsy reminded shop owners that there is no change in taxes owed in the UK; the changes force platforms to report income so that people can’t evade taxes as easily. 

In case you missed it, many USPS rates, as well as forever stamps, went up again on January 21. Some label services such as eBay may actually offer decreases in certain categories, however.

ETSY NEWS 

Etsy announced 2 (very different) “privacy” changes at the beginning of January: limiting some third-party apps from receiving buyer email addresses, and making the Etsy forum a seller-only site in the near future. Shops will have to log in to read anything other than Announcements and the Technical Issues sections. We are not yet sure if this applies to shops in long-term vacation mode. 

Etsy teased a promotional announcement on Jan. 16, which is likely that the site will be launching Gift Mode [post by me with a link to another post with screenshots]. I’ll write more on that once it is officially released, but here is one of my screenshots from today, with lots of infringement. Also, the site is apparently buying a Super Bowl ad. This year’s ads are expected to cost at least $7 million USD. Etsy forum thread discussing both topics here. 

Etsy chose not to respond to this article about AI art sold as indigenous creations. “Etsy has a policy that prohibits users from selling items falsely listed as being produced by Indigenous peoples — but only in Northern America, and allows “Indigenous-style” products by non-Indigenous people.”

Some shop owners from Turkey claim their shops are being shut down at a high rate, with no explanation. At least some had issues with items that cannot be sold on Etsy, and there appeared to be some with ID or financial anomalies. I am still interested in hearing more, if anyone knows anything. 

EcommerceBytes covered the Etsy problems with the domestic pricing tool charging some international buyers domestic prices, which have been going on since May 2023. While some sellers have managed to get refunds from the company, others report no such luck. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

General

The Indie Sellers Guild is running a virtual convention in April; read the panel ideas here. 

Amazon

Amazon product pages now have a link to get AI-answers to your questions. Expect to see a lot more of this on many types of sites. 

There are several keyword tools that can help you optimize your Amazon products; 5 are discussed here, but note that some may be pricy.

The latest layoffs at Amazon include people working for the “Buy with Prime” department. 

Amazon’s difficult-to-navigate system for suspensions and other punishments has led to entire law firms dedicated to supporting shops that have been closed or have had listings removed. 

BigCommerce

BigCommerce sites can now have a marketplace component, meaning that a single business site can now have other sellers on it. 

eBay

eBay had to pay $3 million over its behaviour in the cyberstalking case against Ina and David Steiner, owners of EcommerceBytes. The Steiners issued a victim impact statement; the civil lawsuit in this matter goes to trial in March 2025. 

eBay’s discounted Tracked Packet rate from Canada Post has been extended to March 31, 2024. 

Buyers and sellers are getting annoyed with long delays in product authentication. 

eBay called a few sellers and pushed them to offer cheaper shipping rates, based on the discounted rates for eBay’s labels. (They seem to have forgotten that they charge fees on those shipping rates.)

Poshmark

Poshmark’s recent policy changes included a class action waiver. Changes are effective February 5. 

All Other Marketplaces

Depop released its first Trends Report, similar to those put out by its parent company, Etsy. 

Bonanza is introducing a combo website builder/inventory integration and accounting platform called Vercado. Price will be $99 a month, so I strongly suggest investigating what - if any - advantages it provides over its competitors. 

Payment Processing

PayPal and Venmo are teasing some big ecommerce plans for this year, to be announced on Jan. 25. It involves use of AI, and the possibility of improving engagement rates. 

Shipping 

There have been numerous reports of major USPS shipping delays, especially in Texas.

#ecommerce #etsy #microbusiness #EtsySellerNews #EtsyNews #ebay #amazon #CindyLouWho2