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oneawkwardwriter · 4 months

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Bedtime Tales

pairing: Wonka!Willy Wonka x literary nerd!gn!reader warnings/tags: Wonka spoilers!, just a lighthearted story, reader being a huge nerd totally not inspired by myself no... summary: reader finds out that not only has Willy never learned how to read, he was also never read to as a child, so they make a deal a/n: I'm lowkey obsessed with the new Wonka film, I can't even learn for major tests without seeing connections wc: 942

"What do you mean you can't read?" You asked in astonishment as you stare at the chocolatier in front of you.

"I just can't..." Willy said rather matter-of-factly, shrugging his shoulders as he took in the shocked expression on your face. "I never needed to, so I never learned it."

"Would've come in handy at zoo," Noodle muttered under her breath, "We nearly got eaten by a tiger."

"Keyword: nearly," Willy emphasised, "I've nearly been eaten by a lot of things, and they only got as much as a nibble."

"Okay, yeah, that's... that's not really comforting," You replied, shaking your head as if to process the thought, "So, you don't how to read... but at least you've been read to when you were a child, right? Right...?"

But Willy only shook his head, making your eyes widen more. "You've never been... right, okay, uhm... right, yes..." You're stumbling over your words, trying to form a coherent sentence and failing miserably. "Right, well... I'm sorry, but how has someone with so much imagination never been read to? Where do your ideas come from if not from stories?"

"I don't know, they just... form in my mind?" Willy answered, not sure how to respond to your questions. "I think you're making this a bigger deal than it has to be."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. the Chocolatier," You reply sarcastically as you look him dead in the eye, "I didn't realise that you were capable of such great things. Why would you even need to read? You already traveled around the world, so there's no need for you to immerge yourself into another."

"Are you sure she's still talking about my non-ability to read?" Willy asked Noodle, still confused but also slightly intrigued by your apparent affinity for reading.

"Hey, you pissed off the literature nerd, not me," Noodle simply answered before going back to her chores.

"Okay, you're exaggerating, I'm not pissed off," You clarify as you shake your head, "I'm just... baffled by the fact that you've never bothered with anything related to reading."

Truth be told, they could've gone around in circles like that forever if it hadn't been for Mrs. Scrubbit checking everyone's attendance and sending them to their separate rooms.

You leaned against the door and sighed, tired from yet another exhausting day at the bleachers. You sat down on your bed and let your head rest in your hands. Having been at the laundromat and bleachers for a few years now and still having several years ahead of you, you had given up on dwelling over your miserable predicament.

So instead, you got out a book from your suitcase, one of your very few possessions. Seeing as the lightbulb above your head kept on flickering and wouldn't provide much light, you moved over to the window, where the moon casted a dim glow over the pages.

After a while, you heard a soft psst coming from the window of the room across from yours. You looked up, only for your eyes to catch the gaze of the brilliant, illiterate young man.

"So, I had a talk with Noodle, and she offered to learn me how to read," Willy said, "She said it would be necessary if this whole chocolate selling operation works through."

"Well, that's a nice offer," You reply, "And I agree with her. You won't always be able to depend on others to do the reading for you."

"Now that you mention it, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing," He comments, "I mean, you seemed to be a advocate for being read to, right?"

You can't help but lightly chuckle. "There's a massive difference between having someone read for you and someone read to you, Mr. Wonka," You say, "One creates a depency, the other provides an escape."

"Well, if that's the case, let's hope that prisoners aren't being read to," Willy joked, lightly grinning when he saw a faint smile creep up your lips. "See, who needs to read when a clever choice of words can make even the most stubborn of people crack a smile?"

"Who are you calling stubborn, Mr 'My near-death experience doesn't mean I should learn how to read'?" You ask rethorically as you raise and eyebrow at him, "Besides, it's often a clever choice of words that makes reading so worthwhile."

"Well, I suppose you'll have to prove that to me in order for me to believe it," He argued, secretly hoping you'd concede.

"Oh, is that how it has to be?" In your mind, you were somewhat thrilled to indulge and with that, be able to share something you were passionate about. But what's the fun in simply saying okay? "Well, I suppose if you asked kindly enough I would think about it..."

"Alright, alright..." Willy said as he stifled a smirk while rolling his eyes. "Would you, please, read to me so I may realise at last what I've been missing out on?"

"Because you asked so politely and totally weren't forced to do so, I will indulge you, Mr. Wonka," You say, fighting back a smile of your own.

And so, you start to read, occasionally looking up only to find fim listening attentively. Right before the story reaches its climax, you shut the book.

Being surprised by the sudden halt, Willy snaps out of his hazy state of drifting off into the story and looks confused.

"Hey, why did you stop?" He asks in astonishment, "How am I supposed to know how the story ends?"

"I guess we'll find out another time," You say, a slight smirk forming on your lips. "Good night, Willy."

#writing prompt #writeblr #writing prompts #willy wonka x reader #willy wonka fic #wonka 2023 #x reader fic #noodle wonka movie #willy wonka is illiterate #just a nerd who loves to read #this doesn't make any sense at all #divider by saradika #oneawkwardwriter fics

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saturnville · 2 months

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torture, major john egan

pairing: major john "bucky" egan + black!fem!oc (amelia egan)s

content: John is interrogated in Germany.

an: y'all...part 6 of mota....tore me up. spoilers ahead. let's talk about this part! comment, reblog, and send asks!

gif: @olympain

tags: to maintain your place on the taglist, you're expected to interact! @turn-thy-paige @neeville @ineedafictionalman @ihe4rtisa @lovebyceleste

“Married?”

Silence. The air was tense. How could it not be? An American soldier had been captured in the swamps of German territory, beaten like a mule, and whipped like a Roman traitor. Just outside of his line of vision, he saw the bodies of soldiers and civilians drug across the gravel lot. An American soldier had been captured in the swamps of German territory and questioned like a federal criminal by a German pilot who grinned like a cashmere cat; evil and conniving. Silence.

The German interrogator, Hausmann, chuckled dryly and hovered his pen over the sheet of paper under his arm.“From what I hear, I assume you are unmar—“

“I have a wife,” he answered gruffly after some time. A lovely wife, at that. Full of love and affection, mercy and kindness. He missed her dearly. He kept a photo of her in his breast pocket but was too fearful of the damage to look at it.

His throat felt thick like maple syrup running down the stump of a tree. His jaw shook as he inhaled the lit cigarette. He pushed the smoke out of his nose.

Hausmann hummed. “Yes, Amelia. Amelia Mae Egan, correct?”

John leaned forward. How the hell did he know that? He clenched his teeth. The tips of his ears reddened.

The interrogator nodded, his eyebrow-raising in amusement at the pilot’s demeanor shift. John saw the wheels turning in the man's head. In frustration, he ashed the cigarette and dropped his hand against the desk with a thud. The blonde interrogator met John's blue eyes.

“Sorry, Major, I had to ask for documentation. She’s a beautiful woman. I didn’t think these kinds of…couplings were common in America. They aren’t here.” Gasket blown.

“I’m sorry, I’m a little confused,” John hissed. His voice raised an octave which caused the interrogator to jump slightly.``You asked if I was married, and I said yes. I don’t see the point you’re trying to make here, but I’m sure it isn't a part of your freakin’ protocol. Keep my wife out of it.”

Hausmann raised his hands in defense and laughed lightly. John failed to find the joke. His patience wore thin. “Easy, Major Egan. I meant no harm. But um, I have to say, you are making this harder than it needs to be. I simply would like to talk to you, so, I’ll ask you again…”

The words went over his head. His mind spiraled out of control. He had never seen this man in his life yet he knew of his personal life? He knew of Amelia. His precious Rose. He knew of his relationship with Buck, and he was holding it in front of him like a treat for an animal. Is that how he was viewed? As a rabid animal who went killing people like it was a sport?

No, that wasn’t the case at all. He was nothing but a soldier trying to defend his country. If there was another way to solve the issue, who would he be to decline the proposition? And this…this was the punishment for it? His dignity, his life, and his purpose were all questioned by a man who was no better than he was. It was torture.

John’s tongue scraped the roof of his mouth as he lifted his eyes from the papers littered across the desk. Planes crashed. Soldiers lost. His wife at home, clueless about what had gone on. She was unaware if he was alive or dead. Hell, he had no clue where his fate lay either. Would there even be an opportunity to hear her voice again? He could only pray.

He blinked away the tears that pooled in his eyes. Once again, he stated, “John Egan. Major…” Torture indeed.

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system-to-the-madness · 4 months

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Setting The Record Straight - Gojō Satoru x Reader

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 236 – set after chapter 236 Pairing: Gojō Satoru x Reader (can be read as any gender, no pronouns used) Genre: hurt/comfort – angst to fluff Word Count: 1 923 Warnings: death, canontypical violence Summary: Following his victory over Sukuna, Gojō comes to comfort you, who thought he had died. A/N: like… two weeks late but whatever. Also: tag for @nnasv (I'm not sure if you wanted to be tagged for this, all the stories or another one; if i made a mistake, please let me know!) And @un-lawliet bc 💕

Masterlist

The moment the screens displayed Gojō Satoru’s death, you turned around and left. You knew the chances that Gojō would make it unharmed had always been slim, but watching the man you loved against better judgment die in front of your eyes, was not something you were prepared for. No matter how much time you’d have to mentally prepare for it, you’d never be able to watch it. So instead, you turned around and left the room, the others in so much shock, they barely noticed how you closed the door behind you. But you made sure to shut two more doors between yourself and them before you allowed the first whimpers to slip past your lips. Your knees buckled under your weight, the world seemed to have lost its balance, as you stumbled forwards, barely managing to hold onto the armrest of a small couch. Staring down at the unnervingly soft fabric underneath your hands, you watched as tears dripped from your cheeks, creating small spots of darkness where they hit the cushion.

You couldn’t believe he was gone. Rationally you knew he was, the slice that took his life having also buried itself deep into your heart, leaving a bleeding wound that would leave ugly scars. And what you thought was almost worse, was that Gojō had expected this to happen, he had known it would happen. Otherwise, why would he have kept everyone at a distance with his infinity when he was bidding his goodbye just a few hours ago? You remembered Yūji’s almost offended expression when he noticed he couldn’t hug his teacher to wish him good luck. Even though you knew it would be futile, you had reached your hand out for Gojō’s anyway, hoping he’d somehow acknowledge these unspoken feelings that had fluttered between you for months now. But your fingertips had met the unyielding barrier of his cursed technique, and he had walked away from you, not sparing you another glance. You knew he had been focusing on the task ahead, but now, now that he was gone, you wondered if maybe you had just imagined him showing the same interest in you that you had developed for him. Either way you wished you could have said a proper goodbye.

Now the pain over having lost Gojō made you topple over, and you let yourself drop to the deep cushions of the couch. It was ridiculous to feel this way, you thought to yourself as you hugged your knees to your chest. You had lost friends before, but it had never hurt this badly. And Gojō was nothing more than a friend, right? No matter how much you had wanted him to be more. There had never been any confessions, agreements or promises. Gojō was your friend, even with the lingering glances and touches, the late-night talks, and his relentless teasing. He was nothing more than a friend. Then why did it hurt so much more than any other time you had lost a friend?

You cried for hours, until you had no more tears left, until your face was red, your eyes bloodshot, your voice hoarse, and your body limp with exhaustion. Whatever was happening outside, whatever havoc Sukuna was causing since Gojō’s deaths, you didn’t know, and a part of you didn’t even care anymore. Tomorrow you could go back to thinking about bringing an end to Sukuna, but not tonight. Tonight, you’d grieve your friend, and come tomorrow morning, you’d think about a way to avenge his death.

By the time the screens in the observation room flickered to black, you were fast asleep, curled against the backrest of the couch you had found in what had to be an old waiting room of sorts. Fast asleep, haunted by nightmares, you were oblivious to the panic of the other sorcerers when they couldn’t follow Sukuna’s battle anymore. You slept through the sound of the door to the building springing open, and the sorcerers jumping to their weapons to defend themselves against whatever evil had invaded the observation room. Not even the shouts of surprise at the realization of who had just dragged themselves back to safety tore you from your sleep, nor did the cries of relief at this unexpected reunion.

When he opened the door to the waiting room, in which he had been told you had hidden away, Gojō Satoru was determined to finally talk to you about all the things he had refused himself to admit ever since he had realized just how deep you had dug yourself into his heart. Since he had met Yūji, he had known that in the end it would come down to a battle between him and Sukuna, and he had refused to give you the hope for a relationship, when he might die so soon. Now that he had died – and refused to stay dead – it was about high time he got to talk to you about his feelings and where he wanted your relationship to head, to find out if you had the same in mind. Standing in the doorway, glancing at your sleeping figure on the sofa across the room, he realized all the talking had probably time until tomorrow morning.

When Inumaki-kun had told him that you had just left and hidden away, he had known that he had to be gentle and give you time, but the way you were resting now, curled in on yourself, shivering from the cool air, made his heart ache worse than he would have expected. Quietly he closed the door, and crossed the room, while shrugging out of his jacket. Your breath was irregular, muscles twitching under your skin as you lay with your back to the room. Carefully Gojō spread the jacket over your body, hoping the material might help you warm up, then he crouched down next to you. It wasn’t hard to guess that you were having a nightmare, and Gojō wondered if he was to blame for whatever your mind replayed to you right now.

Reaching out, he placed a hand on your shoulder, gently shaking you. “Hey, come on, wake up,” he whispered, leaning a little closer to you. “You’re having a nightmare, wake up.”

Even though you didn’t jolt awake, he could tell the exact moment you woke up, from when your breathing changed. Sleepily you turned your head, and Gojō could swear his heart stopped for a moment, when he saw how red your eyes were from crying. He had done that. He was to blame for the pain you had gone through. No matter how exhausted he was, he was ready to kill Sukuna all over again for killing him and making you cry because of it.

“Satoru?”

He froze. You never called him by his given name. But it sounded so sweet and warm, he wanted to beg you to say it all over again. And again. And again.

“Yeah, I’m right here,” he whispered, and reached up, brushing a strand of hair out of your sleepy eyes, only to see them filling with tears.

“This is a good dream then,” you mumbled, reaching out and taking hold of his shirt.

“This is no dream, I promise,” Gojō answered, realizing you had to assume you were still asleep. “I’m right here with you.” Quickly he moved to sit on the edge of the couch beside you, brushing more of your hair out of your face, and adjusting the jacket he had thrown over you.

You stretched out your legs and moved closer to the cushions of the backrest to make room for him at your side. “Stay with me?”

A small smile spread over his face, and he leant down, pressing his lips to your forehead in a gentle kiss. “For as long as you want me to.”

When you tucked at his shirt, he moved to lay down beside you, wrapping his arms around you. Satisfied he found you snuggled closer into his embrace, your back to his chest, and intertwined your hand with one of his. Softly he nudged his nose into your hair, deeply inhaling the tender scent that clung to it.

“I just wish, you’d still be here when I wake up,” you whispered so quietly, Gojō had to strain his ears to even hear you.

“Careful what you wish for,” he chuckled, brushing his lips against the shell of your ear. God, he wanted to kiss you so badly, pepper kisses over your face and neck, press his lips against yours, wanted to find out how sweet they’d taste. But while you were half asleep and had not really realized he was not just a figment of your imagination he could hardly do any of that with good conscious. You’d get enough of a shock tomorrow morning when you woke up anyway.

You didn’t answer any further to his teasing, and a while later your breathing evened out, signaling him you had fallen asleep in his arms. Once he was sure you wouldn’t jolt back awake, he closed his eyes as well. He was tired, so, so tired. When had been the last time he had given into his exhaustion? He couldn’t remember. But now that he felt your warm body so securely pressed to his, that Sukuna was a problem of the past, that Megumi and Yūji were both saved… the temptation to just loose himself in the warmth and comfort of the moment was overwhelming and he closed his eyes. After all this time, wasn’t even he allowed to rest for a little while?

Satoru got brutally startled awake by the sound of the door slamming against the wall. Instinctively he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the bright light that suddenly lit up the room when Megumi’s voice called from the doorway.

“Yūji made breakfast,” he announced, sounding rather annoyed that he had been sent as a messenger.

Satoru turned his head, taking a look at the boy in the door. He was badly beaten up, there was no doubt about that, but the gleam in his eyes told Satoru that he at least had lost none of his spirit.

“The food’s fresh, so if you spend too much time making out, don’t complain when it’s turned cold.”

And with that Megumi was out the room again.

Making out?

Satoru blinked confused, when he suddenly felt something warm brush against his face, and when he turned his head, he found you were already looking at him, brushing his hair out of his forehead.

His breath hitched as he noticed just how close you were laying to him, your face only inches away from his, your eyes soft as you watched him comprehend the situation.

“Surprise,” he mumbled. “Not dead.”

Instead of answering him, you just smiled, your eyes continuing to roam over his face until they stopped on his lips. His breath hitched again. For a few seconds you stared at his lips before your eyes moved up to meet his again. Satoru swore you had to hear his heartbeat echo through the room. And then you leant in, just close enough for there to be a tiny gap left, leaving the decision to Satoru. For a moment he wondered how mad Yūji would be if he’d let the breakfast grow cold, but then he decided he could probably deal with one or two upset teenagers after he had set the record straight with you, and closed the remaining distance to your lips.

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farfromstrange · 1 year

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: ̗̀➛ Blog Navigation

Welcome! My name is Lizzi (she/her), and I’m a professional fangirl, English major, and writer. The following links are supposed to help you with finding your way around my blog. I’ve written a bunch of different works in different fandoms, but I mostly write for Charlie Cox’s characters (with more to be added). Feel free to roam to find whatever your heart desires! And if you ever feel like talking, don’t hesitate to drop an ask into my inbox <3

⤹ LINKS.

-> Tag List Google Form (go ahead and fill it out to be tagged on any future works of mine)

-> All of my works can be found on AO3!

-> I also put together a CARRD with a few resources to inform yourself on what’s currently going on in the world

⤹ TAGS.

#matt murdock x reader || #owen sleater x reader || #michael kinsella x reader -> reader insert fics (mine & others)

#lizzi talks & #lizzi updates -> my thoughts & updates

#fic rec -> fics i highly recommend

#ddba spoilers -> spoilers on Daredevil: Born Again that I post or repost until the show has come out (block it if you don’t want to see it)

⤹ MY WORKS.

Characters I write for include: Matt Murdock, Michael Kinsella, Owen Sleater & sometimes Frank Castle (he can be found in 2 fics, which I currently have linked on my Matt Murdock Masterlist. When I actually start writing for him regularly, I will add a separate list with all of my Frank Castle works, I promise!)

I’m currently not taking any requests! (But that will change again in the future once I’ve worked on all already standing requests)

⤹ MASTERLISTS.

✮⋆˙ Matt Murdock (Daredevil)

✮⋆˙ Michael Kinsella (Kin)

✮⋆˙ Owen Sleater (Boardwalk Empire)

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its-jaytothemee · 1 month

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Stolen Futures

Pairings: Gale x Tav

Word count: 2,533, one shot

Rating: General Audience

Read on AO3

Summary: Gale and Tav journey to Waterdeep to start their new life together, only to be interrupted by a devastating realization.

Tags: Fluff and Angst, Gale's Netherese Orb, Act 3 spoilers

Author's Note: Here's a sad fic that nobody asked for! Just a quick one shot to pour my depression into. Sorry in advance...

Tav opened her eyes to see the magnificent sight of Waterdeep filling the horizon as Gale led her onwards toward her new home. She had never visited the City of Splendors before, which Gale took as a challenge to recite every major detail of during their long journey here. How he was able to talk for days on end without losing his voice was as much a mystery to her as this new city. Tav didn’t mind though, listening to him chat ceaselessly about his home filled her with anticipation for their new life together. The sound of his voice was soothing, he was eager to share his home with her so how could she fault him for sharing every detail of what she could expect?

“…and oh, how could I forget. There’s a small tavern just down the block from my tower that boasts the best roast quipper fish in the city but don’t let that fool you. While it is quite delicious, the honor of the best still goes to my mother.”

Gale had been talking about his mother much more often in their last few days of travel. From the way he spoke, Tav guessed Morena Dekarios must be a goddess in mortal form. She scooted closer to him in the cart and squeezed his arm that she had looped through her own.

“Do you think she’ll like me?” She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Of course! I inherited my judge of character from her after all. Besides, you’ve managed to win over Tara already and she’s much pickier about my choice in company than my mother ever was.” Gale gave her a reassuring kiss on her forehead. Tav smiled softly, listening as the sounds coming from the city gates grew louder every moment.

They passed through the gates with ease, slowly making their way through the bustling streets. After their travels in the past weeks, it was a surreal experience to be in a city that was so intact. While Waterdeep was of course the victim of many kidnappings in the name of the Absolute, the majority of the fighting was restricted to the areas surrounding Baldur’s Gate. The buildings here remained standing and unscorched. Children ran through the streets, laughing and chasing one another without a care in the world. Tav marveled at the vendors calling out their wares, she inhaled deeply taking in the new scents wafting from the various carts and taverns they passed.

“Ah, we’re getting close, my love. Just a few more blocks.” Gale’s smile was plastered to his face. Tav kept herself pressed close to his side, his enthusiasm easily spreading to her as well.

The smell of the harbor was familiar and stronger than she would have thought from their distance, it was almost identical to the smells of the Chionthar outside of Baldur’s Gate. They rode in comfortable silence the rest of the way, Gale practically shaking with excitement. Their small cart slowed to a stop outside of a long stretch of homes. She smiled as Gale hopped off the cart and moved around to help her down. He offered his hand up to her with a slight bow, causing her to giggle. She slung her small pack of personal belongings over her shoulder and stepped down onto the rough stone street.

Gale ushered her towards the door to his tower…their tower. He opened the door and gestured for her to walk in ahead of him. She took a step towards the door when she was suddenly swept off her feet into Gale’s arms, the startling motion elicited a small yelp from her.

“Allow me.” He whispered, his nose just barely touching her own. Tav wrapped her arms around his neck and let out a laugh, content to be carried across the threshold of her new home.

Gale gently carried her through the doorway before setting her down next to the first of several impressive bookshelves. It was dark except for the small stream of light peeking through the curtains that opened to the balcony. He made his way across the room to open the doors behind them and bathe her surroundings in the bright afternoon light. The room before her was exactly as she remembered it from the illusion Gale had conjured for her their first night together. Books, tomes, and scrolls adorned the shelves that covered every bit of the walls. The few pieces of the room that weren’t covered by a bookcase had paintings hanging from them. Despite the fact that each wall was taken up completely by shelves and cubbies, small stacks of books were also decorating every corner of the room and next to each chair as well. Tav smiled fondly at the sight, she knew that Gale was well-read, but she hadn’t quite expected to be living in a full library. She turned around and around, slowly taking everything in. The old, but still beautiful, rosewood desk in the corner had a few scrolls littered across its surface along with quills and an empty wine glass. She ran her fingers across the wood, leaving long marks in the dust that had settled across the items. The fireplace was dark and covered in soot, it had obviously been well used. A piano sat in the corner sporting the same thin layer of dust as the other belongings scattered around the room.

“What do you think?” Gale had appeared at her side once again, gently taking her hands in his before continuing.

“It’s not much, but I suppose it is better than the mud we’ve been sleeping in for the last month or so. This has been my place of solace for so long, even when I had confined myself here, I never truly felt trapped. But now, I can hardly believe that I have someone to share it with.” He was smiling at her, but he seemed nervous all of a sudden. Gale had always spoken wistfully about his tower, obviously missing its comforts. Now, he appeared to be worried that she wouldn’t share his love of his home. Tav smiled back at him and pulled him into a kiss.

“It’s perfect, Gale.” She whispered.

Her words caused him to relax, relieved to see that she wasn’t disappointed. He immediately started pulling her around the tower, excitedly showing off everything in sight. Pointing out his favorite collections of novels and explaining why it was better for the mind to read said novels by the light of a crackling fire. They moved out of the entrance into the kitchen, grimacing at some of the smells coming from the baskets that hadn’t been touched since Gale was abducted. He quickly ushered her out, promising to clean out the spoiled food first thing in the morning. Their tour continued down into his small cellar, still stocked with a lavish variety of wines that had originated anywhere from Cormyr to Neverwinter. He took her back upstairs showing her the small bedroom. The bed was covered with an absurd amount of pillows. Tav couldn’t help herself and immediately ran and flopped into the soft pile, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve touched anything this soft? Gods I’ve missed pillows.” She laughed as Gale came over and collapsed right next to her, burying his face into her neck and hair. They stayed snuggled into the nest of pillows for a few minutes before he stood up and pulled her back to her feet.

“Come on, I haven’t gotten to show you my favorite spot yet.” He kissed her hand lightly as he led her from the room.

Tav felt like she was floating, watching Gale bounce around her like an excited puppy eager to show her his favorite toys filled her with a joy that she hadn’t known in so long. So why was she suddenly feeling so troubled? She had an aching feeling in her chest, and she noticed that she had tears streaking down her cheeks. Gale led her to the balcony, but hesitated when he turned around and saw her tears.

“What is it? Is everything alright, Tav?” His gleeful expression immediately twisted into one of concern.

“I…” She stuttered, she wasn’t sure why she was crying. She was happy, happy to be here with Gale, happy to start a new chapter of her life blessedly free of a mind flayer tadpole.

“Oh, this was all too much, too soon, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, my love. Given all that we’ve endured I suppose I was over eager to start our lives together…” Gale looked away, blushing.

“No, no it’s not that. This is where I want to be, Gale, here with you. I think I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed from the sudden change in our lifestyle.” Tav was desperately trying to make sense of her emotions without alarming him.

“We’ve had a long journey here and I’m probably just tired.” That had to be it, the long days of travel coupled with recovering from their adventure had worn her down more than she thought. Gale seemed content with her answer as he relaxed again.

“Well, let us retire to the balcony then. I find it difficult to dwell on hardship when looking over the harbor from here.” He led her outside, gesturing to the small bench located there.

Tav sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, matching the rhythm of her breathing to his. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, resting his head on top of hers. They sat looking over the sparkling water, watching the small boats bobbing along with the waves. As happy as she felt, safe and content in Gale’s embrace, she couldn’t keep the tears from leaving her eyes. The salty sea breeze and warm sunlight dried them quickly but did nothing to help the horrible pain she felt gripping her chest. Gale must have felt her tense since he squeezed her just a little tighter.

She closed her eyes, trying to push away the bad thoughts. Gale was humming a tune and gently stroking her hand. The smell of him was almost enough to calm her anxiety, she turned her face into his shoulder, desperate to take in every bit of him.

“I love you, Tav. Now and forever.” He whispered, but his voice sounded distant. She didn’t say anything in response, just settled further into his arms.

When Tav opened her eyes again, she was still kneeling on the docks outside of the Upper City. Her eyes were fixed on the sky where the Netherbrain had been looming over Baldur’s Gate. The blast caused by the Netherese orb in Gale’s chest had enough force to almost knock her over, even from this distance. She remembered the searing pain that ripped through her head as the tadpole was destroyed. The realization of her surroundings caused her to wrap her arms tightly around her chest and hang her head low.

It was a lovely fantasy, thinking of their life in Waterdeep, the life Gale had planned and spoken of endlessly over the last few days. The future that was taken from her.

The rest of her companions had joined her at the edge of the dock. Shadowheart and Karlach kneeled on either side of her, arms wrapped tight around her waist and shoulders. Halsin’s hand rested on her left shoulder, while Wyll’s rested on her right. More footsteps sounded behind her; their adventuring party and allies had caught up with them. Withers’ unmistakable quiet steps followed close behind. Soft sniffles and cries moved between them as they realized that Gale was missing from the scene. The encounter with the Netherbrain came rushing back to her.

Tav had barely been given a chance to react, they had entered the brain’s psyche and thought they had it defeated. One last massive wave of psychic energy had knocked their entire party on their backs. The platforms around them started disintegrating, but the Netherbrain kept them all pinned down, unable to move or attack. She remembered lying next to Gale, their outstretched hands just barely out of reach of one another. The moment they regained their movement, Gale grabbed her hand and started an incantation. Just as he finished speaking, he kissed her hand, tears were running down his face.

“Forgive me, Tav.” He had told her, shouting to be heard over the tempest raging around the brain. “Know that I have loved you more in our short time together than I could have loved anyone else in an entire lifetime.”

He said a final few words to his incantation and before she knew it, she was whisked away from him. She tried to scream, but the air had been knocked from her lungs. Suddenly, she was on the docks looking up at the brain just before a massive explosion wiped it from existence.

“Withers,” Tav spoke up quietly, “I don’t suppose you could bring Gale back? One last time?” She was certain she already knew the answer.

“There is some magic even I dare not reverse. The power unleashed here destroyed all mortal traces of Gale Dekarios.” Withers spoke in his usual slow, deliberate tone. Tav could only nod in response.

For a moment, she allowed herself to drift back to her fantasy. The thoughts and hopes of their life together formed a knot in her stomach. Closing her eyes, she saw their wedding, their families and friends gathered in one place celebrating their love. The comforting feeling of lazy evenings in their home, the two of them curled up reading together, washed over her. She could still feel his gentle hands idly brushing away loose hairs from her face and tucking them behind her ear. As her eyes opened once again to her cold reality, the memory of their last night together caused tears to well up in her eyes. He had held her tightly against him until the morning, swearing to her that it would not be the last time he did so. They had been given so little time together and yet that was all it took for Tav to fall completely in love with the charming wizard.

Slowly, she allowed her friends to pull her to her feet. They all gathered around her, pulling her into a large group hug. Everyone exchanged kind words about Gale, promising to never let his legacy be forgotten. They tried to offer her words of comfort, assuring her that his feelings for her were clear as day.

Tav decided that there would be time for her to mourn later, for now she would be grateful to have her mind as her own again. She would be glad to be surrounded by friends, new and old. She would honor the sacrifice he made rather than wallowing in her own grief. Her life with Gale may have been stolen, but thousands of others now had lives of their own thanks to him. Tav followed her companions back into the city, still smoldering from the attack, waiting to be rebuilt, just like the future ahead of her.

#bg3 fanfiction #bg3 gale #gale x tav #gale dekarios #gale fanfic #bg3 angst #bg3 brainrot #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #gale of waterdeep

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ruinconstellation · 4 months

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Fic recs for The Hands of the Emperor

@rattyjol @wingedscribe @savrenim @far-sector @ariaste, and if you know an author’s tumblr handle and I haven’t yet tagged them, please do pass this along!

SPOIILERS AHEAD. Most of these contain spoilers for Artorin Damara's secret name, and some have other spoilers.

Trial by Fire by astrocryptographer. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 4,040 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: Kip/HR.

Cliopher sayo Mdang trials as the Sun-on-Earth’s personal secretary. Incidentally, they learn that the taboo against eye contact has lifted, and that the one against touch has not.

Refraction by astrocryptographer. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 9,249 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: Kip/HR.

“If each of my two natures, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable.” -The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde In a lonely tower, a young man without a name mixes a potion out of an old alchemy book, and in the mirror Fitzroy Angursell looks back.

Hold on Forever by SunInGlory. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 16,959 words, 2/2 chapters. Relationship: Kip/HR.

Kip hated the sense of desolation in the man's voice, the despair, the resignation at the foundering of the ship that was his ke'ea. No one should have to give up— “You could always stay here,” he offered. “No one would ever know.” The man’s head popped up in astonishment—and, for the first time since coming in through Saya Dorn's pantry, he looked right at Kip, directly into Kip's eyes. (in which the newly crowned Emperor keeps tumbling through to Saya Dorn’s house.)

In the Office of Friendship by astrocryptographer. Rating: General Audiences. No warnings. 3,079 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: The Imperial Household.

First Commander Omo suggested that his Radiancy retire, and that was bad enough, but then he just. Kept talking. Imperial Guardsman Elish was going to need a second vacation. If he survived this conversation.

Protocol One by astrocryptographer. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. Warning: Major Character Death. 18,836 words, 4/4 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR.

Protocol One: The Unexpected Death of the Lord Magus of Zunidh (the Last Emperor, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Sun-on-Earth, all ten thousand of his titles, his Radiancy, Cliopher’s dear friend)—how it is followed, and how it is not, and how the world somehow continues to turn.

Bloodstained Threnodies by astrocryptographer. Rating: Mature. Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings. 2,113 words, 1/1 chapters. Character: HR.

The Emperor of Astandalas died so that the Empire could live. The Empire in return sustained the Emperor with blood: a perfect, vicious symmetry which stabilized the magic of five worlds. We were never certain when precisely in our reign it could be said that we died. (The Emperor is a vampire.)

Arrest by astrocryptographer, complete series, 72,212 words, 2 works. The Arrest of Cliopher Mdang, rating: Teen and Up Audiences, no warnings, 69,381 words, 13/13 chapters. Acquittal, rating: General Audiences, 2,831 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR, the Imperial Household.

When the Last Emperor and Lord Magus of Zunidh declares Cliopher an enemy of the world, a threat to peace and prosperity, a Terror to rival those of the fallen Empire, what else can he do but live up to the legends? (or: the Moon Lady sets a curse on His Radiancy, causing him to hate Cliopher in an inverse of the love he bears. How can Cliopher break the curse?)

with a winged heart by celebros. Rating: Explicit. No warnings. 33,064 words, 6/6 chapters. Relationship: Kip/HR.

"Cliopher. Cliopher. Cliopher." I blink. It's Conju, standing with his hands on my shoulders, and I go to answer him and realize that I am already speaking, babbling, and Franzel is behind him, wringing his hands and looking near tears. I try to focus on what I'm saying, but it's like a stream, light and splashing past me, too quick to hold, not enough to catch, somehow, somehow – (A few weeks before the start of the viceroyship ceremonies, Kip finds himself the unwitting recipient of a truth serum.)

Inner Guard by rattyjol. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 903 words, 1/1 chapters. Character: Ludvic Omo.

His grandfather had liked to say that every piece of wood had something beautiful inside it, calm and quiescent like a wingfinger on a cold morning. It took a sharp knife and steady hands to bring it forth, but it took a carver’s eyes to show it the sun and let it fly.

Friday Keeps Coming Next by rattyjol, complete series, 44,495 words, 2 works. Friday Keeps Coming Next, rating: Teen and Up Audiences, no major warnings (temporary character death), 38,198 words, 10/10 chapters. Thursday Won't Ever End, rating: Teen and Up Audiences, no major warnings (again, temporary character death), 6,297 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR.

On Cliopher's first day as imperial secretary, breaking the taboo of eye contact causes a perpetual time loop for Cliopher and His Radiancy. What could go wrong?

The Virtue of Being True by electropeach. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 15,685 words, 3/3 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR, the Imperial Household.

"You're under an enchantment, Cliopher. The good news is that the protections his Radiancy has placed on you have shielded you; the bad news is that the protections that block the spell are also reflecting it, meaning that instead of you it affects everyone who comes near you. You may have noticed an unusual propensity for candor in your vicinity today?" (A reverse truth serum plot leads to Cliopher having a very strange day.)

The Ones We Call by Name by ketchupblood. Rating: General Audiences. No warnings. 7,222 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: the Imperial Household.

He was the Emperor, the Sun-on-Earth, and the Lord of Ten Thousand Titles. For just a moment, he let himself hope that someone might dare to call him by name. Or: his Radiancy realizes that his personal secretary and the groom of his chamber are... friends.

Dispatches from the Junior Secretariat by wingedScribe. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 62,321 words, 8/14 chapters (no cliffhangers). Relationship: the junior secretaries (Gaudy, Tully, Zaoul, Eldo, Iro, Iri), Kip & HR.

Gaudy Vawen is leaving home to follow his uncle. Eldo Vardes is doing the same to defy his father. Zaoul wants to find the answers to questions only he is asking, and Tully wants to find problems only she can sort out. They collide in Solaara, where they find the Imperial Bureaucratic Service poised to aid the greatest transition in government since the Fall. And also, where they find themselves the somewhat-captive but very intrigued peanut gallery to the lives of both Cliopher Mdang and His Radiancy the Emperor. A retelling of parts of Hands of the Emperor through the the sometimes-comprehending, often-bemused, always-intrigued eyes of Gaudy, Tully, Zaoul, and Eldo as they grow and advance in the Service.

Epithalamion by oliviacirce. Rating: Explicit. No Warnings. 10,611 words, 1/1 chapters. Relationship: Kip/HR.

"Right," Zemius said. "So—when Dora asked His Serene and Radiant Holiness the Last Emperor if the regency ceremony was a wedding, it reminded me of something, and well, Kip, I don't think you're going to want to hear this, but the thing is—it was a wedding." (in which the Viceroyship ceremony was accidentally a wedding)

a buried and a burning flame by savrenim. Rating: Mature. No warnings. 16,538 words, 1/15 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR.

Cliopher Mdang's hands were stained gold years before he came into the Emperor's service. (Or: the one where Kip went home after the Fall accompanied by Tor, a ghostly man, and returned to Solaara with golden soulmate marks on his arms.)

flies far, far home by nsmorig. Rating: General Audiences. No warnings. 5,576 words, 2/13 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR.

In Astandalas in the years before the Fall, far from home and desperately lonely, Kip makes a friend. If the Emperor can be a man without a soul then, logically, Kip can be friends with a soul without its associated man. (daemon au, albatross style)

Not a fic. A Fancy-Man and Foreign: A Case Study of Cliopher Mdang by Ariaste. Nonfiction meta, an analysis of the cultural byplay in The Hands of the Emperor. 9,909 words.

soon, they said, if not today by Ariaste. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No warnings. 44,417 words, 4/4 chapters. Relationship: Kip & HR.

Cliopher passes the Imperial exams on the first try. It changes everything. (In which Cliopher Mdang meets the Emperor two years after his reign begins.)

one for sorrow, two for joy by Ariaste. Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. No major warnings (warning: imprisonment). 35,528 words, 4/4 chapters.

The Emperors of Astandalas did not have daemons. Cliopher knew this could not, technically, be true. Thinking this thought, even in the quietest whisper in his deepest heart of hearts, was undeniably treason, but…. facts were facts: The Emperors of Astandalas, though worshipped as gods on earth, were each of them born a human being before they were apotheosized by the crown and by law and custom. Every human being had a soul; therefore, every human being had a daemon. So the Emperors of Astandalas must have had daemons. But by tradition and ritual and magic and taboo: The Emperors of Astandalas did not have daemons. (daemon au, manatura style)

hélouzithe, hélouzanth by nsmorig. Rating: Explicit. No warnings. 7,546 words, 1/1 chapters.

In court’s long sleeves, the Astandalan greeting, gripping the forearms, might not involve any actual contact of skin, and Cliopher’s hands are holding his sleeves, but Cliopher is not in court’s long sleeves, and his fingertips spread across the curve of skin before the elbow.

Works containing At the Feet of the Sun spoilers that I haven't read yet but these authors are definitely skilled:

dream only of stars and songs by electropeach, 70k words, 3 works, rating: T.

when every no turns into maybe by Ariaste, 30k words, 5/5 chapters, rating: T.

Lastly: if you have any fic recs for HOTE, please add them to this post!

#long post #op #ruinconstellation recs #fic rec list #wow i haven't done these in a long while #the hands of the emperor #nine worlds #thote fanfic #hote fanfic

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starliteonearth · 4 months

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With all due respect I'mma need some of the Percy Jackson book fandom to kindly close y'all mouths and to consider, just for one second, that there are people out there who have never read the series before (I know, crazy thought but it's true) and to please stop SPOILING MAJOR PLOTS POINTS with every goddamn breath.

*SPOILERS FOR NON-BOOK READERS AHEAD*

Because why the hell do I, being only on episode 2 and knowing absolutely nothing else about Percy Jackson, already know that Luke is going to betray Percy? Including down to what season it's going to happen in, to what Annabeth is going to say to him, and to how Percy is going to empathize with him??? It's only been two episodes for me!! And y'all aren't even tagging spoilers, you're just blurting this stuff if someone even just MENTIONS Luke.

I understand that y'all are super excited to see your childhood come to life and you want to talk about it. I get it, I do. And it's really not that serious for me truly but still, I would like some things to be a surprise at the very least like please 🙏

#i had to mute this one account on twt #bc they keep writing out the whole goddamn story #and it's all over my timeline #i don't even follow them #it's the same on tiktok too #someone makes an edit of luke #and y'all are up in their comments #spoiling shit for someone who clearly hasn't read the books #it's obnoxious af #this is some manga readers vs anime onlys type behavior fr #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #pjo #pjo series #percy jackson spoilers

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tiannasfanfic · 2 years

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Check-In for the Recently Deceased: Part 1

Eddie Munson x Reader (Angst)

| Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: Eddie Munson never knew what to expect after he died. However, a waiting room certainly wasn't his first guess of what was waiting for him in the great beyond.

Rating: Mature

Author Note: Gender neutral reader, they/them pronouns if any. Pat 1 of ?. Here's the start of another story for Spooky Season, this time featuring ghost!Eddie. 👻 I couldn’t find Eddie’s official birthdate anywhere, so I went with Joseph Quinn’s month and day.

CW: Major ST4 Spoilers; a lot of talk about death; mentions of ways to die (no details); mentions of wounds (left as vague as possible); mention of bloody clothes; angst (people reacting to the news they've died); hurt/comfort; dark humor.

Word Count: 3,746

Tag List: (I tagged everyone that commented on my original post, but please let me know if you want to be taken off. 😊) @tommiruewrites @munsonsmullet @who-let-me-write-this @lunr-flwr @hellfirefiend @bxtch-bou @jadeylovesmarvelxo @sataniquepanique @reincarnationoftheparty @corrodcd @iamnotagarden @idkidknemore

A long time ago, mankind developed spoken language and began conversing with one another.

Since then, one topic above all other has dominated conversations. This topic is ultimately what led to the invention of debates and, inevitably, the invention of arguments. It is a topic that has ruined friendships, torn apart families, and started many a long and bloody war.

Is there life after death?

Most religions of the world certainly seem to think so. They all have different names for it. Heaven, Valhalla, Zion, Elysium, and so on, but they all mean the same thing. Eternal paradise where your soul can be at rest.

Granted, not everyone believed in that sort of thing. While Agnostics don’t quite know where they are going, they are quite confident that they are going somewhere. Atheists, as far as they know, just wink out of existence at their time of death, but they are perfectly fine with that.

However, no matter which theory or religion you believe in, absolutely no faith in the history of mankind has ever described the afterlife as a brightly lit waiting room.

That was why when Eddie Munson found himself passing through a revolving gate into aforementioned brightly lit waiting room, he blinked a few times in surprise.

Last thing he knew, he was badly hurt and laying on the ground, looking up at Dustin and giving him instructions to take over Hellfire. He remembered being certain he was about to die, but then he was here. Eddie had no memory of getting from there to here.

The revolving gate whacked him in the back then, pushing him a few steps further into the room. He turned around to see what was outside but couldn’t see anything beyond the gate except for darkness and fog. Above the door was a lit sign that stated, No Exit. Indeed, there was no way to get back through the revolving tines of the gate. It was one way only.

Turning back to the main room, he finally took in his surroundings.

A few feet ahead of him was a small sign on top of a pole. It said Administration with an arrow pointing to the left, and Waiting Room just under that with an arrow pointing right.

Looking to his right, the waiting area reminded him of an ER. There were multiple rows of empty chairs, a few end tables and coffee tables stacked with magazines. and a coffee service cart in the corner, which made the room vaguely smell like coffee.

Looking to his left, on the other hand, reminded him of the DMV. The counter serving as the desk area was behind privacy glass and had five sliding windows. Eddie could just make out a shadow behind each window, indicating someone was at the desk behind it. Ropes attached to stanchions turned the open floor area into a little rope maze leading to the desk, which encouraged orderly queuing. A little ticket dispenser stood on a little pole at the back of the line, encouraging people to take a number before getting in line.

And, just like DMV and ER waiting rooms, soft elevator muzak was playing through the overhead speakers.

While the room was perfectly normal, with items and furniture typical for all waiting rooms, it all seemed distorted somehow. Eddie couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but everything was slightly warped, like it was just a step to the side of what it should look like.

A handwritten sign was taped to the pole underneath the printed one. Eddie stepped closer to read it.

Please check-in with Admitting first upon arrival. We cannot be held responsible if you go to Waiting first and end up sitting there for 27 and 9/18ths of a year. - Management

While being in a waiting room is never fun, that seemed like an oddly precise exaggeration. Eddie passed it off as someone in the office having a bad day from being on the receiving end of one too many ass chewings.

As directed, Eddie went to the Admissions area, taking a ticket from the small machine before following the path laid out with the ropes. He thought about hopping them since he was literally the only person in here, but stopped himself. He still didn’t know where he was or how he got here, so being cautious seemed like a good idea, especially after everything else he had just gone through.

Once he got to the head of the line, Eddie finally looked at the ticket he was holding.

4, the print on the ticket said.

Eddie looked up from the ticket to a glowing red sign above the counter.

Now Serving: 3, it said.

A few minutes passed, then there was a ding from the sign as the number changed from 3 to 4 and one of the windows slid open with a sudden bang that made Eddie jump.

“Next!” a loud voice called from it.

Eddie started to hurry over to the window but came to a sudden stop when he looked at the woman sitting behind the desk and his brain processed what he was seeing.

She was missing half of her face and part of her head.

Eddie stared at her, horrified. He felt a scream starting to rise up in his throat, an icy feeling of fear gripping him.

But then the woman did something so unexpected, it surprised him out of his fear.

She rolled her remaining eye with a loud huff and waved Eddie over impatiently.

“Come on, come on,” she said, her voice bored sounding. “I haven’t got all day.”

Eddie blinked, then slowly stepped up in front of the desk. Despite how she looked, he was able to understand the woman clearly. There was no lisp, gargle or anything of that nature when she spoke, just a hint of a Jersey accent. On top of that, she seemed perfectly at ease, not in any sort of pain.

Regardless of how realistic it looked; Eddie decided it had to be makeup. Really, really fucking good makeup, but makeup nonetheless. It was the only thing that made sense.

“Name?” the woman asked, turning her attention to what looked like a typewriter hooked up to a small TV.

“Um,” Eddie said, eyes darting from the weird piece of equipment. “Eddie Munson.”

“Just Eddie, Edward or something else?”

“Edward.”

The woman started typing then on the strange device. Eddie watched curiously as green lines of text appeared on the black screen as she typed. This must be one of those new computer things he’d heard about. He hadn’t seen one before since Hawkins High’s newest technology was still ancient as all hell.

“Birthday?” she asked.

“May 15, 1966,” Eddie answered.

The woman typed some more.

“Place of origin?”

“Hawkins, Indiana.”

The woman typed again and then began staring at the computer like she was waiting on something. Eddie glanced at the computer and saw the screen was dark now except for a blinking green cursor. A second later, some text appeared.

No records found.

The woman sighed.

“I swear, why do they give us all this new technology if they don’t have all of our information in it yet? Easier, they said. Pfft.”

The woman pushed her chair back, yanked open a filing cabinet under the desk and started rifling through the files in it.

Eddie got a better look at her then. Whatever costume party they were having up here, she had clearly gone all out for it. She was dressed as a dead homecoming queen, complete with long, frilly pink dress, pink heels, an elaborate crown over a partially fallen up-do, and a banner across her chest that stated OCHS Homecoming ‘71.

It was very creative, though he couldn’t tell how she was supposed to have died. Some sort of head injury, for sure, but that’s as far as he could guess.

“Ah, here we go,” she pulled a file out of the cabinet, closed it and scooted back up to the desk. “Here are today’s scheduled departures. Give me just a moment to find you.”

Eddie waited as she began to skim the papers in the file one by one. There were quite a few to go through, and it took a while to look over each one. At a glance, every page contained a rather comprehensive list of names, dates and locations.

Finally, after looking over the last page, the woman looked at Eddie with a furrow in the middle of her forehead.

“And you’re sure you are Edward Munson, May 15, 1966, Hawkins, Indiana?”

“Yeah, I think I know who I am,” he said, laughing a little.

However, the Homecoming Queen didn’t seem to find it quite so amusing. She raised an eyebrow at him with a stoic expression.

“This it can be an extremely traumatic experience for some,” she scolded Eddie, and his smile faded. “Depending on your reason for being here, you may not quite remember who you are at first.” Then she gestured to the ruined side of her head. “Took me over a week to get my bearings.”

Eddie mumbled an apology, even though he didn’t know what he was apologizing for. The woman’s face relaxed and she flipped the folder closed.

“I don’t have you in today’s file, so you may be in one of our Potentially Early files,” she said, then looked him up and down. “I can already tell I don’t need to check the Terminal Cases file. I’m going to assume the Unexpected Animal Attack file then?”

Eddie quirked his head at her in confusion, and the Homecoming Queen gestured at all of him. He looked down at himself and staggered backwards a few steps in shock.

This was the first time he had actually paid attention to himself. His Hellfire shirt was all torn to shreds through the torso and bloody. The wounds underneath it were still open, though they had completely stopped bleeding. He reached up in a near panic to feel both sides of his neck. His fingers were met with similar feeling wounds, and he quickly jerked them away. Oddly, none of them hurt despite the extent of the damage. They just kind of felt numb and a bit tingly, sort of like when his leg would fall asleep. Not exactly painful, but not exactly pleasant either.

Eddie looked back up to the woman and slowly nodded in answer to her questions. Technically, the Demobats were animals.

She nodded in acknowledgement, then swapped the file she had with a different one in the cabinet and started going through it the same way.

As she did that, Eddie’s head was reeling.

His last memories of Dustin, suddenly being here, the way Homecoming Queen looked, the way he looked…it all spun together in his mind to form the beginnings of a conclusion.

“Am I dead?” Eddie asked suddenly.

Homecoming Queen slowly lifted her gaze back to him, fixing him with a weird look before she slowly nodded her head. Then she turned her attention back to the file.

While Eddie had expected to die soon while he said goodbye to Dustin, the confirmation felt like a punch to the stomach.

And also, somehow, severely underwhelming.

After hearing this very topic debated virtually his entire life, Eddie never was sure what to believe in as far as god or the afterlife was concerned. But it always seemed to him like if there was something afterwards, there would be something big to let you know of the change. Kind of like puberty or getting old. One minute you’re fine, the next you’re a mess. It seemed like death would be the same way. Not just…one second, you’re dying, then next you’re in a waiting room. Was this really the afterlife?

“Hmm,” Homecoming Queen said, startling Eddie out of his thoughts.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re not in Unexpected Animal Attacks either,” she said, putting the file back in its proper order. “That must mean you’re really early.”

“Early?” he asked, blinking.

She nodded, replacing the file back into the cabinet.

“It happens sometimes,” she said. “As they say, shit happens. The sisters can only predict so much with so many fates in their hands. I’ll need to have the Librarians pull your Book of Life and check the date of your scheduled departure. Once I know when you were actually supposed to be here, I can go from there and see about getting you a placement.”

Eddie continued to stare at her, confusion passing over his features.

“Placement?” he asked. “Scheduled departure? Librarians? This all sounds way more like office work than I would have expected.”

Homecoming Queen chuckled, a bit of a smile her half face. There was a bit of a glimmer in her eye that gave away she saw a level of humor in his words that he didn’t quite get.

“Tell me about it,” she said, then shook her head a bit. “Luckily, you have your whole future in death ahead of you. Me? I’m permanently assigned right here to this very desk.”

“An afterlife behind a desk?” Eddie said, wrinkling his nose. “That sounds more like hell to me.”

The Homecoming Queen smiled at Eddie again, this time with a wizened look before she slightly nodding her head in agreement.

“If I knew then what I know now…” she said, letting her voice trail off, before shaking her head. “Anyhow. Please have a seat. It may take some time to find and pull your Book, but I’ll call you back up here once they’ve sent up the information I need. But, in the meantime.”

She pushed her chair away from her desk over to a shelf holding several a stacks of books. She took one and scooted back over to the window, where she slid the book across the counter to Eddie. He looked down, reading the name on the cover.

Handbook for the Recently Deceased.

“Now is a good time to start reading up,” she said, then tapped the cover with one finger. “Start from the beginning. Don’t skim it like some people do. Trust me, it’ll answer most of your questions, teach you about your new reality, and it will give some starting pointers.”

Eddie nodded and thanked her. As he was turning away from the counter, Homecoming Queen turned to the phone on her desk, hit a button on it, then picked up the receiver.

“Hey, it’s Diana from Admin,” he heard her saying into the phone as he was walking away. “I need the Book for Edward Munson, May 15, 1966, Hawkins, Indiana pulled for departure verification. He’s early, possibly very early, so he should still be categorized under-“

Eddie didn’t catch the rest of it as his attention was caught by two people coming in through the revolving gate. He did a double take, then quickly averted his eyes. They were in worse states than both him and the Homecoming Queen combined. He figured at this point it was impolite to stare at the other dead people. He kept his head down and made for a chair on the farthest end of the waiting room. A quick glance up showed them reading the signs and then heading for Admitting.

And so, the wait began.

A few more people trickled into the waiting room through the gate. Eddie couldn’t help but people watch as they all went to get checked in. Each new person that walked in sent a small jolt of shock through his system. Every single one looked like they had been through a horrific accident. It got easier to look at them without wanting to stare as time went on.

But then the trickle of dead souls soon turned into a steady stream as more and more people began coming through the gate.

It didn’t really dawn on Eddie that this might be an odd occurrence, even when he started recognizing people from around town. It wasn’t anyone he knew personally, mainly just those he largely saw in passing, such as the night clerk from the only 24-hour gas station in Hawkins and the waitress from Benny’s that Eddie usually flirted with. They were both young, in their late teens at minimum, so it was strange seeing them in the afterlife. Both looked like they had been through major accidents. Then again, everyone that came in looked like that to varying degrees, as if a lot of people in Hawkins had suddenly become a fatal level of accident prone.

He was starting to wonder about it when more people came in that he recognized. These weren’t just service workers he encountered in day-to-day life; these were people he knew on various levels. There were a few of his fellow students, two of his teachers and random people he had seen at The Hideout, among others. At one point, Eddie thought he heard Max calling for Lucas, but when he went to look for her to keep her company, he couldn’t find her.

A wheelchair came through the gate just then, one of those old-fashioned ones from the early 20th century. This wasn’t a strange sight as several people had come through in wheelchairs when their injuries were too severe to let them move about on their own. Even though the chairs were manual, they seemed to have a mind of their own at first. They self-propelled themselves and their passenger through the gate, then would wheel themselves off to the side out of the way. This is where they would stay unless they wheeled themselves somewhere else or someone helped them.

While he hadn’t recognized any of the others who came through in a chair, this particular wheelchair contained none other than Eddie’s tormentor, Jason Carver.

At first, Eddie couldn’t help but feel a little smug. If he had to be here, it seemed somehow fitting that Jason would be too. He had no plans to go rub it in his face though, the knowledge that Jason got his was more than-

Then the wheelchair re positioned itself and he forgot all about his spiteful thoughts when he saw the state Jason was in. Saying he had been cut in half was putting it mildly. It looked like he had been melted through around his middle. The top half of Jason’s body was sitting in his own lap.

Eddie was still trying to process this when Jason looked down and saw for himself the condition, he was in.

Everyone who passed through the waiting room had a different reaction to the revelation they were dead. Some took it well and seemed unbothered, while others openly sobbed or sat in shocked silence. But Jason was the first to openly scream in abject terror. He started screaming in terror and panic. He started to trash in his chair in his panic. That was when he discovered all of his limbs still worked just fine despite being separated. This seemed to freak him out even more, and his screams took a higher pitched, frantic tone.

The other people in the waiting room were not pleased with this.

“Pipe down!” one person yelled.

“Be glad you still have legs!” someone in a different wheelchair cried.

“We’re all dead! You ain’t special!” another person scolded.

If Jason heard them, he didn’t acknowledge them, too lost in his own panic attack to pay attention to anything else.

It was at that particular moment that Eddie realized something.

Despite everything that had happened, despite everything he had been put through at Jason’s hands, from the bullying when he was growing up to recent events, Eddie couldn’t just sit there and do nothing when the man desperately needed help. Jason Carver was an asshole, yes, but not even assholes deserve to go through something so traumatic like this alone.

Before he could think about it more, Eddie was on his feet, quickly making his way through the now crowded waiting room over to the Captain of the basketball team.

“Hey man, hey hey,” Eddie said with a gentle tone once he’d reached Jason, hesitating briefly before putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, everything’s gonna be fine, you just have to breathe through it. It’s shocking, I know, but try to breathe.”

It seemed ironic telling a dead person to breathe, but that was a train of thought for another time.

Jason’s head snapped up, eyes widening even more when he saw who was talking to him.

“Y-you!” Jason said, sputtering angrily. “Why, of all the-“

Then he stopped, his glare meeting Eddie’s sympathetic gaze. His face went blank for a few seconds before a look of dawning realization came over it.

“I-it wasn’t you…was it?”

Eddie slowly shook his head. Jason stared at him for a moment before a look of horror came over his face.

Death has a way of bringing someone clarity. They see what should have been obvious in life. It was one of those little twists the universe likes to throw at you when it’s too late to change anything or make it right.

“I-I,” Jason stuttered, a look of deep shame coming to his face.

It was at that moment Eddie found himself understanding Jason, too. Their pain and fear in life really hadn’t been much different from each other’s, but they were worlds apart socially and never would have seen that on their own. So, they hated each other instead.

Eddie waved off whatever apology Jason was trying to give.

“Water under the bridge,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter now anyway.” Eddie looked around at all the people occupying the large space and then gestured to all of them. “Henry Creel made sure of that.”

Jason looked at Eddie for a moment, then let his gaze sweep around the room. It was the first time he had really paid attention to the other people in the waiting room. His jaw dropped. Then he turned back to Eddie and got a really good look at him. He slowly looked him over, then back down at himself, before meeting Eddie’s gaze again.

“We didn’t survive the earthquake,” Jason said quietly. “Did we?”

Eddie shook his head, then went around to the back of the chair to start pushing Jason over to Admitting.

“Let’s get you in line for check in,” Eddie said, slowly navigating the chair through the crowded waiting room. “And I’ll fill you in as best I can.”

#eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fanfiction #ghost eddie #ghost!eddie #ghost eddie munson #fanfic crossovers

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uu-bookclub · 5 hours

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Welcome to Undead Unluck Book Club!!

This is a project I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I'm wicked excited to finally be here!

In UU Book Club, I'm going to be reading one chapter at a time, posting screens and talking about the story and my theories as I go. My goal is to point out small details and foreshadowing for long-term fans while keeping things spoiler-safe for first time readers who want to follow along with me!

Before we start, a few things:

I'll be using the official Shonen Jump translation for my read through. We'll be sticking with their localization choices!

I might mention the anime occasionally, but I think it's best as a companion to the manga, rather than your main experience. It's a fun watch, rough pacing and all, but there are differences here and there that might change how you see the story.

I want to keep my posts safe for first time readers, so any spoilers will be clearly labelled and placed behind a read more.

I'll try to tag things appropriately, but there's some content in UU that's so ubiquitous that it's impossible to avoid. There may be untagged blood, gore, dismemberment, suicidal action, or body horror on this blog. If you struggle with this content, I suggest treading lightly until you know how you handle the way UU presents it. Prioritize your comfort and mental health!

Speaking of content warnings: early in the story, there are two moments where Andy gropes Fuuko and two instances where she voluntarily presses her chest against someone to fight. After the second major arc, the element is dropped entirely. I understand that this is a deal-breaker for many readers, so I wanted to warn about it ahead of time and make it clear that it is not a continuing theme in Undead Unluck. I found I could handle this content in context and it hasn't impacted my enjoyment of the series as a whole, but everyone has different limits and I want you to be well-informed if you decide to give it a try.

With all that said, if you're ready to join me... let's get reading!

#undead unluck #undead unluck reread #udul #if you're seeing this in the tags and don't want to see me again: good time to blacklist my name!

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s0lar-ch3ri · 3 months

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hey new draft making

i keep putting this off, but it today arrives! a ramble about ryan selucreh to fill tghe tag for once

(spoilers for mythborne ahead BUT ITS BEEN OUT FOR A WHILE FOR FREE NO PATREON REQUIRED PLEASDE CHECK IT OUT I NEED MORE MYTHBORNE FRIENDS IN MY JRWI MUTUAL CIRCLE)

so who even is ryan selucreh? well, hes a football jock and a big oaf, the stereotypical strong dumb athlete kid. however, theres more to ryan that we're diving into, years after the oneshot ended!

one thing to note on ryan is how his powers were gotten in a mix of ways aster and connor did. aster was born with them (assumed cause goddess mother), connor got them from a book (recieved from searching, wasnt born with it), ryan got his powers from squats. silly, sure, but like i said, its like the inbetween of the two. he has the power himself and doesnt need a book for them or anything, but he wasnt born with them either. i also wanna note how asters powers are like life (plants and the sun, both can symbolize life) and connors powers are like death (decay and disintegrating, both are related back to death), but ryans powers cant be "like" anything. its not something super showy, hes just super strong (strong enough to rip a mountainin half im pretty sure was confirmed).

lwts get into those comments ryan made, and how its reflected across the 3 episodes. yeah, the comments on faking his personality around people and how he doesnt know who he is anymore.

first showing of this is with the j crew. charlie gave a good idea (he was nicknamed jyan), but condi says he told them that. granted, it was probably to be funny, but theres other options to that. ryan missaid his name out of nervousness, the j crew misheard him, he wrote his name really wrong, so many different options that also are pretty comedic. yet, ryan told them he was jyan to join their team.

on the floatball jersey he wears, they didnt even have a 10 for him, simply a jersey with a 1 and a "poorly painted 0". did someone else use the 10? why didnt they have one? another way ryan changed for people symbolically, wearing one number but being another.

ryan joins in with the omnious curse speech despite it not being planned. an attempt to keep fitting in with his group there.

hell, ryan even was an ass to connor before when he was with the j crew, yet wasnt when he was with connor and aster alone.

he even goes out of his way to try and save asters dad, an act of carrying for her and her father. hes such a friendly and caring dude that hes trying to fit in with them all to keep up their friendships.

thats what makes the whole "i dont have a real personality" line mean so much. because he really doesnt. all that can be seen as his personality is simply to appeal to another person.

HELL IM FUCKING CONNECTING IN THE FACT THAR RYAN WAS A HISTORY MAJOR TO THIS! WHO EXPECTS THE JOCK TO LIKE HISTORY? NOT ME, I THOUGHT THAT WAS CONNOR, AND THATS WHY ITS SO INTERESTING, CAUSS NOTHING LEADS YOU TO BELIEVE RYANS INTERESTED IN THAT SHIT!!! ryan barely talks about his past or anything, minus the memory (but that was only to save professor aeliana), BUT HE DIDNT FUCKING BRING IT UP. kinda ironic, the character whos past is pretty unknown is in classes learning about our past.

oh yeah did i ever mention his parents are dead? cause they are (confirmed by condi a while back)

maybe thats why he tries to be so appealing to everyone, to make up for that missing link. i mean, its not like that event wouldnt have some impact on you (also no jrwi pc has gone to therapy from what i know so safe to assume he has no coping skills PLUS ITS A CONDI PC YPU THINK HES MENTALLY STABLE??).

another thing i learned: ryans last name is a backwards hercules. fun call back to the name, yeah, but the actual story may have some weight here...

the screenshot doesnt give the full story, of course, so i will. the picture leaves out how the reason he went through hardships was because he was driven to madness. according to research, hera was mad at hercules being born (for he was the product of zeus and a mortal woman), so she made him go crazy and slaughter his family. to make up for it, he was given 12 impossible tasks to do.

am i saying the full story applys? hell fucking no! i dont think ryan killed his parents or anything, but i think the jist can apply. a man trying to be forgiven by people for wrongdoings that wouldnt have happened if said people didnt make those wrongdoings happen. ryan trying to get the validation of his friends and acquaintances by pretending to be someone hes not, which wouldnt be needed if he could see friends accept people as themselves. given impossible missions (be someone else) to appease those who he looks to (whether its to the side or up to).

another thing to note is theres no episode cover with only ryan on it. cover 1 has all 3, cover 2 has background faceless frat members and connor, and cover 3 has only aster.

it could be from how there was only 3 episodes of mythborne, yet this could be solved by having all 3 in a cover at once. while it would have been a lot, they had all 3 in the first and a total of 4 characyers in thr second cover. this of course was a purposeful choice, and it shows in a way who the focus is meant to be on in that ep (all of them, connor, aster).

so why coupdnt ryan have been focused on in episode 1? yeah he was directly related to the chaos (j crew being first vicitms and shit), yet that clearly had a more general showing. its because ryan isnt a character who can be focused on. he crutches to his friends like a team relys to eachother, thats how he has purpose, thats how hes even a person.

i woulsnt even doubt the stupid bit being an act! to play in a sport, you actually do need good grades (in my school experience, above a C+ in all classes), and ryans been on this team since he started college (infered from dialoge with j crew member), probably since kindergarten even (has known j cre since kindergarten). he learnt it from them, and found it to be a possibly appealing trait of himself to others, everyone likes the lovable idiot! sure, what he does to play an act can be extreme, but if this is really thr coping mechanism i think it is, its not too much for him (also wanna note how of all characters ryan is the biggest stereotype caharacyer).

the 3rd episode btw seemed a lot from the cover and namr and all like the whole world was a fake (for me atleast), and isnt it fitting that ryan was the first to fall off the stage? the man, who had an identity crisis outloud for once after it seemed like one friendgroupd was about to learn his secrets, the first to exit stage down (stage direction jokes). hes been playong a play himself for what feels like his whole life by now, he doesnt need a script.

i came in here to talk about ryan, put him under a microscope, see who he is. really, ryans a shell of a person, a muscle soulless being pretending to be a person someone can love and care about. maybe he too thinks about how connor had changed inside to save him. whatever it is, i think ive not learnt from this who ryan selucreh is, and maybe if he gets aomething like this, he can learn himself who ryan selucreh is.

#chilling in solar lights #jrwi #jrwi podcast #jrwishow #jrwi show #jrwi spoilers #jrwi mythborne #jrwi ryan #ryan selucreh #the rambler.#this took a turn for sure #oh well we gottaa #just roll with it #sorry #jerwee supreme

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mysticstarlightduck · 3 months

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Last Line Tag!

I was tagged by @clairelsonao3 for this one, here!

I was writing a chapter that is way ahead of where I currently am in the story of Enchanted Illusions, because it is a core scene that came to me rather vividly and I wanted to enjoy the inspiration. So warning, this line is a major spoiler, but it's also not fully in context and I want to share it because ✨angst✨

You get to guess who this character (villain) is talking about and which pairing this scene will affect tho! It'll be fun/cool to see if you guys can guess it right! (Spoilers below the cut)

"What did you do?" “He's the one who made a pact of blood to me all those years ago. I gave him power, I gave him security, I gave him immortality, when he was nothing more than another rat on these streets" The Patron spoke, inhuman voice unnervingly echoing around the duo, as they tilted their head, unnaturally "And he foolishly repaid me by breaking his oath, all over your worthless human soul. " The strange being smiled - if that horrifying sight could ever be called a smile. It looked more like a threat than that, but it was clear this turn of events had satisfied them greatly. "Now his soul belongs to me, and he is cursed until the end of his life and afterlife." There was a condescending lilt to their voice as the creature continued, like many voices overlapping to be as if to be as irritating as possible. Like nails on a chalkboard. "But hey, if you can call this a bright side - no harm will come to you, after all, if I could I would’ve destroyed your soul already -.... but a deal is a deal, and even I can’t break some rules. Enjoy this ‘happy’ ending, it won’t last for long.”

Tagging (gently, absolutely no pressure): @lassiesandiego @oh-no-another-idea, @writernopal, @tabswrites, @unstablewifiaccess @rickie-the-storyteller, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs, @gummybugg @little-peril-stories, @clairelsonao3, @jasperygrace, @jay-avian, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @aziz-reads, @doublegoblin, @gummybugg, @autumnalwalker, @olivescales3, @junypr-camus, @ashen-crest, @dreaminggoblin and @memento-morri-writes

#wip: enchanted illusions #last line tag #character writing #writers on tumblr #my characters #my writing #my wips #writerblr #writers #writeblr #writing

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familyabolisher · 1 year

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have you ever talked about the 'spoiler' in fiction and your thoughts about it? i remember you wrote something in connection to nabokov's 'you can only reread a novel' but I fear i may be mistaken (if so, please ignore. have a great day!)

I know the post you mean but I can't find it :( Tumblr's search function stays winning, I guess. To do a brief rundown on my position on 'spoilers' and specifically their relationship to critical work:

I don't have an especially strong position on like, avoiding vs not avoiding spoilers and how conscientious we should be about it in the sorts of environments where avoidance is possible. I try to tag for spoilers when I think it's appropriate; I'm personally not that bothered by spoilers, but like, I'm not mad at people who are. Whilst I think that knowing the 'twists' in a narrative ahead of time can be a fun way of noticing how they're set up (I love to google the plots of things I'm reading/watching so I can pay more attention to narrative construction and less to actually following the plot lmfao), I don't think you can just dismiss out of pocket the value of the emotional reaction that first meeting with a 'twist' can bring + how a reliance on that response can sometimes carry a narrative in ways that aren't necessarily weak or floundering. Some genres rely more on a lack of 'spoilers' than others; a narrative which relies heavily on hermeneutic codes, such as the murder mystery narrative, locates success in a particular balance of concealing and revealing information to the end of audience satisfaction that 'spoilers' can tamper with, sometimes unfairly. That said, when I'm writing critical essays on an external platform (ie. like, writing a Substack essay rather than doing a longform post on here) where a reader's access to it is wholly at their own discretion, I'm not going to be playing the 'writing about this work without giving away a spoiler' game, and I think doing so (even in reviews…..tbh……) is critically lazy; or, more charitably, at least inefficient.

What I mean to express is my frustration with how this excoriation of the "spoiler" (and specifically the placing of an onus on the audience to not "spoil" a work for others) places severe limitations on the scope and capability of the pop critical sphere. A lot of pieces on popular culture will try to posit a critical reading of a work without delving into "spoiler" territory; as such, they'll severely limit the terrain they can actually work on. (A Substack essay I wrote on Severance a while back responded to a Severance piece that suffered from this issue; the piece was bad for lots of reasons lol but one of them was that it couldn't actually delve into its topic with any depth or nuance because the writer couldn't write about any major plot beats not established in the premise or like, the first episode.)

Like, a text isn’t a linear body where any point that you might choose to talk about is solely accountable to the narrative events that have come before it and bears no relation to those that will come after; a text is more like a set of moving parts which all work in relation to one another to construct a cohesive whole. The very process of constructing a narrative relies on 1. the existence of an audience who only hold knowledge of the events that have happened so far up to and including whatever point they’re at in the text, and 2. the notion of all parts of the narrative exerting a force on all other parts of the narrative, of the ‘early’ sections of a narrative being, in a sense, ‘aware’ of their later sections; of the later events shaping the earlier just as much as the earlier shape the later. Obviously it’s possible and valuable to talk in-depth about an unfinished text; cf. for example, ongoing book series, TV series, similar such serialisations where the critic does not have a closed, completed narrative in front of them; but a) often those serialised works will be broken down into smaller units with internal narrative cohesion (one series of a TV show, one book in a series) wherein the criticism emerges from balancing out the tension between negotiating that internal cohesion and speculating on where the open-ended questions posed by the unit might lead, and b) this is fundamentally a different process to just … pointing to the vague opening ‘themes’ of a piece and failing to elaborate in any way because to do so would be ‘spoilers.’

The issue I’m articulating is mostly one wherein this particular form of pop criticism begins to perform the function of advertising before it engages its readership enough to start an actual process of interrogation and evaluation around the work in question. The attempt to talk about something whilst only making reference to the bare bones of its plot + avoiding the major narrative 'twists' severely constricts what you can talk about; it's just not good criticism, and I think this overfocus on never 'spoiling' something for others rather than expecting people to develop some discretion about what secondary material they read creates this impetus to essentially sell something to your audience rather than just … talk about it as a holistic piece. It does a disservice to the work in question and it does a disservice to your own critical faculties, lol?

I don't know how much this matters in the grand scheme of things, when critical practice is becoming a little more dispersed; like, I'm thinking of a phenomenon specific to The Thinkpiece hosted by The (Relatively) Prestigious Platform, but criticism is happening on like, Substack and Goodreads and Tumblr and everywhere else, such that it's easily possible to seek out this actually penetrative analysis should you want to. I am mostly just like, having an old man yells at cloud moment about it.

Also to be clear I'm not like positing a Radical New Position on critical practice here or claiming that other forms of critical practice (such as like, a lit paper) are free of their own problematic aspects; it's really just explaining a personal irritation lmao

#ask

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sinful-lanterns · 4 months

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Just a heads up for all my ptn fans!

This blog is not spoiler free, I play on global but I follow the new Sinners that are launched on China servers. China servers are 3 months ahead of global, which means that there will be discussions on Sinners we haven’t even seen in the game yet. (Assuming the majority of you play on global)

Ofc, I’ll always tag my posts if they have spoilers and new content in them, but just know this blog will talk about any of the new sinners that drop from China!

Thank you! 💕

#⛓️ inmate confessions

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iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia · 10 months

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ok its me again hi AAAHHHH this is so nice i feel so warm im lying on my bed kickin my lil legs i cant believe this thank you for being nice omgggg now im on a roll im gonna say things about julian hkdhjgdgjf

only one song really that i scanned the whole tag looking for to see if anyone said it before and i was so surprised that i didnt find it and i went to check the official playlists on spotify cause maybe its on there already and thERE ISNT ONE WHAT???? i had the muriel one liked on here and id never checked any other ones out lmao but like i swear there had to be one?? like maybe they made it first and its somewhere separately??? julian is like the most popular one how the hell does he not get a spotify list is that how this tag was created?? *gasp* am i discovering the ~fandom lore~

(just gonna say you dont actually need to answer any of that in detail dont waste your time gksgkydgjf im just screaming into the void cause i was so flabbergasted after those 3 whole minutes of research i put into this)

ANYWAY the actual song would be House of Wolves by our lord and saviour MCR! its so good for him with his whole Woe is Me drama king vibe lol and the plaguey thematicssss mmmm delicious TELL ME im a BAD BAD BAD BAAD MAAAAN aight you lil masochist i see u and the "you better run like the devil cause they never gonna leave you alone" you get it caUSE HES A FUGITIVE DO YOU GET THE DEEP UNRAVELABLE METAPHORS DO YOU GET IT DO YOU G aight shut up hkhfjtdy anyway

ok i lied jystfhte heres another one i just remembered i really wanted to put here its not new but just in case somebody hasnt seen it yet lmao its such a masterpiece ill do anything to give it its due here ya go

https://youtu.be/61HltPN_k3g

and the other thing im really glad to have seen people mention here is musical songs cause thats one of the things i love about him the most like yass we love a thespian king slay grl so then anytime im binging a musical there always come the intrusive thoughts of "aw hed love this one" and "oh hed be great for this role" like i went to see f-ing swan lake with my f-ing grandpa and one of the major takeaways i got from the experience was (UH IM GONNA PUT A SPOILER WARNING HERE? I GUESS? IN CASE ANYONE CARES HELLO JULIAN BAD ENDING SPOILERS AHEAD DO MOVE ALONG NOW IF YOU DONT LIKE THAT AVERT YOUR GAZE CITIZENS LMAO LIKE YOU HAVENT SEEN FANARTS N ADS ALREADY ALRIGHT ALRIGHT) "omg jules would be so perfect as that bird guy villain IN HIS BIRD GUY SHAPE TOO OMG WITH THE WINGS ON STAGE THIS IS AWESOME WHY CANT I DRAW GOOD GODDA-"

anyway hed love hadestown (hed at least try to cast muriel as hades cause hes perfectly intimidating for it but theres way too many lines which okay Maybe but AND he has to sing???? nah hes out bkgdhkdt) i dont know what hed think of pierre natasha & the great comet cause its maybe a little eccentric i suppose but i think hed appreciate the cultural roots of the vibe with him being fantasy ruso-slav-ukrainian-whatnot heritage i reckon and hed definitely have a blast at a live performance and hed ABsolutely join in with the actors in between the rows at some point and theyd ABSOlutely let him cause hes that good and game recognize game cmon hes gonna show you amateurs what a real kazotski looks like

i can also see him enjoying sweeney todd, for its delightful edgyness, maybe even some themes relatable for him, and his sappy ass would SO memorise Pretty women to whip it out at an opportune serenading moment khgdturshc im so cringe and loving it

well i cant think of any more shows to throw him together with so thus ends my soliloquy wow i cant believe thats how you spell that anyway i hope anybody who knew what the hell im talking about enjoyed all that jgfztits see you in another 20 minutes when i come back like "AND ANOTHER thing-

Yay, it's the character song essays anon!! :D

I'm glad to see you back, and I will once again be re-linking the song you shared below and adding your suggestions to the tag ^.^

And frankly, I'm 76% certain that one of Julian's love languages is theatre, especially musical theatre. That could be tickets, that could memorizing the lines from one of this favorite scenes and reciting it back to him, it could be showing up to every single performance he's involved in :)

I'm glad to see you back in my inbox, friend, feel free to message me if you ever want to obsess over the characters together! Cheers -

brainrot

youtube

#ask arcana brainrot #arcana brainrot playlist #the arcana #julian the arcana #julian devorak #the arcana headcanons #the arcana hc #the arcana game

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themswritinwords · 7 months

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Songs and Ships

Tagged by @athenswrites (many thanks!) and tagging @stesierra, @silvertalonwritblr, and @arigalefantasynovels (if you want, no pressure)

rules: write two to five songs that represent a ship between your ocs (it can be platonic or romantic or a secret third thing). then add a quote from said wip (if possible!) underneath it.

I know you shouldn't play favorites with your (brain)children, but I'm going with my all-time favs, Evan and Rowan, from The Rockbridge Experiment.

I Guess I'm In Love by Clinton Kane

I mean, the title says it all. He fell first, she fell harder, a little obliviously mutual pining (and everyone around them rolling their eyes) later, they're the embodiment of "this might as well happen." But make it romance.

Have Rowan's "oops! Feelings!" moment.

If she’d been anyone else, he might have just done it. Acted on impulse and kissed her right then, two-weeks-acquaintance be damned. But if there was a way to ruin everything, that would have been it. You didn’t just accept having a crush on your brand new coworker, let alone act on it. Is that why he was so hung up on her? He saw a pretty girl, but she was automatically off limits, so his brain threw a fit and refused to let the idea go without closure. That was then misinterpreted as attraction. Desire. Whatever this was. Was that really it? The thought gave him a peculiar, distasteful feeling in the pit of his stomach and he frowned to himself, turning another corner. He… didn’t want it to be just some fleeting attraction. And it wasn’t, was it? Yeah, sure, that came with it, but… Oh gods, he liked her. As in, ‘I want to kiss you because I really like you,’ not ‘I like you because I really want to kiss you.’ He stopped midstep, heart pounding with both joy and terror at the realization that this wasn’t a cut and dry case of having the hots for his coworker. “Well,” he said, putting his hands on his hips, “shit.” What did he do now?

Pas Peur by L.E.J.

Is it cheating if it's in a different language? Not if the character speaks said language. A song for the spicy Cajun girl who built a huge chunk of her identity on being Not Scared Of Anything, but is deeply terrified of the fact that she's crushing on someone for the first time in her life. (Bonus points because she literally didn't realize it for 3/4 of the manuscript. I'm not getting over that.)

Have the Terror of Realization.

She glanced surreptitiously to the side, scanning Rowan for any hint of how he was interpreting it. He had his hair down, running his fingers through the ends as he watched the alley ahead of them with a residual smile. Evan’s stomach did that weird twisting thing again, and a tiny jolt went through her as something shifted into place in her mind. Something totally foreign to her, a murky, terrifying unknown slowly fading into focus as her eyes traced the angles of his face.

Falling, by Florence + the Machine

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the scared-of-vulnerability and helpless-descent-into-madness vibes. This one applies to both of them. They're both terrified in different ways and for different reasons-- Rowan because he's usually the smooth talking player who dates around and is always chill, and now he's totally off his game with the facade stripped away. Evan because she's never actually cared for anyone like this, and she also doesn't know how to be the vulnerable, needy one.

Alas, there's not a ton of other quotes I could draw from because Major Spoilers, but have a snippet of a lil heart-to-heart that was particularly fun to write.

“You know,” she said after a moment, “a while back you told me that if the detective thing didn’t work out, I had a future as a therapist.” She looked up with a smirk. “I didn’t realize you were projecting.” “Side effect of your mom having a doctorate in psychology,” Rowan said with a smile. “The analysis, anyway. The awkwardly saying it out loud uncalled for is all me, unfortunately.” “Hey now, you don’t get to give a speech like that and then go calling yourself unfortunate.” With no witty comeback to be had, he just chuckled quietly. “Thank you,” Evan said, quickly and quietly. “I… I think I kind of needed that.” “I meant it,” Rowan said. “You really are incredible.” Their eyes met and lingered in a warm, fragile silence. “I don’t know why this feels like the time to say it,” Evan said after a moment, “but for all the insanity and general screwed-up-ness of this whole situation… if nothing else, I’m glad it means I got to know you.” “The feeling’s mutual,” Rowan said quietly.

Maybe it's time to get back to focusing on rewrites and shortening this one. I forgot how much fun I had writing these kids.

#the rockbridge experiment #original writing #original character #rockbridge #tag games #writeblr #writing #writers of tumblr #urban fantasy

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