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cuubism · 6 months

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a very silly story for you. johanna, dreamling's weird baby, and an accidental kidnapping (and subsequent rescue)

Johanna’s seen a lot of weird shit in her time. It comes with the territory. Magical shit also tends to be horrible shit which also tends to be weird shit. But even she is finding herself flummoxed by this one.

She’d broken into this flat prepared to perform an exorcism. Amateur occultist, planning to summon a demon? That’s what she’d heard, and yeah, that wasn’t going to go well. And it hadn’t—the guy was on fire when she arrived, so on fire that there was no way she could put it out or help him, though she had throne a blanket over him in a meager attempt. It was too late, though. He was charcoal in seconds.

That, while horrible, wasn’t even the weird part. The weird part was that there wasn’t even a demon, but there was a baby.

Sitting in the middle of the room, in a bird cage.

Johanna stares at it now, barely noticing the acrid smoke she’s still breathing in. Why the actual fuck is there a baby in a birdcage?

It doesn’t seem to be hurt at all. It’s just sitting there on a blanket at the bottom of the cage, clutching a little cat stuffed toy in its chubby fingers. But it’s in a birdcage. A bird cage.

Johanna goes to open the cage, of course she does—

And the moment she touches the latch she jumps back, shaking out her hand from the spark. Holy hell, that thing is warded to high heaven. That cage could probably keep a demon contained. Why is a baby warded like that? It’s just a human—

It.

It looks like a human baby.

Johanna circles the cage, more wary now. She should know better, should know that an occultist like that wouldn’t be carrying around a regular baby in a cage. Even if you’re a real sicko, you don’t need a cage to keep hold of a baby. It can’t even walk.

So it’s not a regular baby. Sure looks like one, though. Makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up, that does.

As Johanna looks more closely at the wards, the baby watches her with wide eyes, sucking on its thumb. It’s actually pretty cute. It’s even wearing a star-print onesie. The wards are hardcore, though. Nothing’s getting in, and certainly nothing is getting out.

“Either you’re some fucked up thing disguised as a baby,” she muses out loud, “or you’re an actual little baby fucked up thing, which means your fucked up nightmare mummy is going to come looking for you.”

The baby blurbles in agreement.

Either way, she can’t exactly take it to the authorities. Which means she’s going to have to take the baby home, at least for now.

“Fuck me,” Johanna says, and picks up the cage.

The baby is silent on the drive home—buckled awkwardly into the back seat of the car—and remains so as Johanna puts the cage down on the floor of her living room. It watches her with big eyes, sucking its thumb. It doesn’t seem particularly afraid, though Johanna can’t imagine being in a cage is very pleasant, even for a baby that probably doesn’t understand what’s going on anyway.

Or who knows, maybe it does. Jo doesn’t really know much about babies’ development trajectories.

“Right,” she says, looking at it with hands on her hips. “I’m not really looking to become a mum, so we’ll have to get you out of there and back where you belong. Fuck if I know where that is.”

The baby makes a gurgling sound that could be agreement or just gassiness.

Johanna gets out some chalk and starts to draw a containment array around the cage. “Sorry about this, little chap,” she says, “but I still don’t know what you are. Better safe than sorry, eh?”

The baby is silent, watching her.

Johanna finishes the containment circle, binding it off with a final rune. It’s not so mean of a ward as the cage had. Just enough to keep the baby from exploding with power once she does break the cage open. If that’s something it can even do.

She studies the ward. “Think I can pick this lock,” she says to herself. “Take me a sec, though. Don’t suppose you want a beer while you wait?” This to the baby. “I haven’t got any formula. Or are you old enough for baby food?”

The baby just sucks on its thumb. It really does seem quite sweet. Shame about secretly being a monstrosity in a cage, and all.

Johanna works on the ward, occasionally chatting out loud to the baby. It doesn’t reply, obviously, but it listens. Johanna is feeling more invested in getting it back to its parents the longer she sits with it. Even if it is some gross creature, it doesn’t deserve to be in a birdcage. It’s just a baby.

“Good trick we met each other, my friend,” she says as she finally unravels the last bit of the warding. “Doubt that guy had good plans for his captured baby.”

She clicks open the ward.

As soon as she does, the formerly placid baby starts screaming. And Johanna realizes that part of the ward’s function had been to stop it from crying for help.

“Mama!” the baby wails, tears pooling in its eyes, little fists scrunched tight around its plushy’s legs. “MammaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

Its voice warbles outside the normal sound range and straight into her brain, ringing like a bell. She covers her ears, but it doesn’t help. Great, now the thing’s mother is going to show up and eat her. This is what she gets for trying not to be a total asshole for once. Should’ve opened the cage in the street and fled.

“Shhhhhh,” she tries to soothe the baby, “it’s okay—” But it’s too late. And Johanna isn’t a very soothing person anyway. It probably wouldn’t have worked, even if the room hadn’t been plunged into sudden darkness.

Johanna stumbles back, though she can see nothing. Thunder and static ripple through the air, cold wind tangles her hair. Jo claps her hands over her ears as the air pressure increases and increases and—

The baby squeals, and it sounds happy now, rather than afraid. “Mama!!”

A voice scraped from the utter depths of mental torment booms through her flat.

C O N S T A N T I N E

Ah, fuck.

“Morpheus,” she tries, because she does recognize that voice, unfortunately, “listen—”

A wall of sand knocks her backwards.

As it does, some light returns to the flat, and she can see Morpheus, looking markedly less pathetic than when she’d last encountered him, standing in the center of the living room, looking down at the baby. His eyes flash with otherworldly light. His sand rushes around him, scrapes through the binding circle she’d drawn like it’s nothing but chalk, dissolves the birdcage to nothing, plays with the baby’s curls and pools in the crevices of its onesie. Meanwhile, it flattens Johanna against the wall, wraps in winding strands of wind around her chest and squeezes.

The baby reaches for Morpheus, who kneels and picks it up. He says something to the baby, the words low and solemn but inaudible over the rushing sand, then holds it close to his chest.

Then his gaze turns to Johanna.He looks murderous. Johanna had thought he’d been pissed off about his sand. She hadn’t seen even a tenth of it.

“I guess you’re mama?” she says, past the sand squeezing around her chest. This really is just the kind of stupid thing that would happen to her.

Morpheus’s eyes are like black holes in his pale face. “Constantine,” he growls, with much of the same danger as before, though at lower volume. “I thought we had parted on neutral terms. More fool I. What grudge do you still hold against me?” The sand squeezes her tighter. “Speak quickly, for your time is limited.”

“There’s no grudge, I have nothing to—”

“Ransom, then?” says Morpheus, seeming, if possible, more angry. “You would compel favors from me by threatening a child?” He clutches the baby to his chest. It’s started chewing on the lapel of his coat. The whole picture would be kind of hilariously adorable if she weren’t on the verge of being torn apart by nightmares.

“I’m not responsible for this!” Johanna insists. “Consult your stalker encyclopedia of all minds if you have to. You really think I’m going around kidnapping infants?”

“I think,” says Morpheus, each syllable a new threat, “that you must explain why you had my daughter in a cage. NOW. And count yourself fortunate I have granted you the mercy of an explanation.”

“I literally just found her!” Johanna says. Doesn’t she deserve even a little bit of good faith? She did help with the sand and all. Morpheus’s eyes narrow as if he does not believe her. “Look. Caught wind of this amateur guy messing around with occult stuff. Thought he’d summoned a demon so I went to exorcise it. Found this baby instead.”

“And what of this man?” says Morpheus in a tone that suggests exactly what will soon become of him.

“He was practically dead by the time I got there. Burned alive.” She shudders. She still hasn’t figured out exactly what was going on there, if he’d meant to summon Morpheus’s baby in the first place—ill-advised choice, that—or if it was a spell gone wrong. “‘Fraid you’re too late to torment him.”

“Hmm,” rumbles Morpheus, with evident displeasure, but the sand finally releases Johanna and she sways, standing on her own feet again. Morpheus doesn’t apologize for throwing her against the wall. “You will show me where you found her.”

“Sure, mate,” Johanna says, sucking in a wheezing breath. “Might want to get your baby home first, though.”

Morpheus doesn’t get a chance to respond. Behind Johanna, the front door bursts open— bursts off its fucking hinges, goddammit, now she’ll have to get that fixed— and a man runs through. A very ordinary man, except that he’s carrying a sword. An actual, medieval-looking sword. And in a way that suggests he knows how to use it, too.

He looks almost as murderous as Morpheus, except that no one can quite match Morpheus’s shadows-and-cataclysm level of murder. Evidently, Johanna found the most radioactive baby in all the occult world. But at least it has people that care about it. That’s nice, she supposes.

As soon as he sees Morpheus with the baby across the room, he relaxes, sheathing the sword in a scabbard strapped to his back. “Ah, love. You found her.”

“Dadaaaaaa!!!!” yells the baby with its piercing voice, reaching for him. And the man smiles, striding past Johanna and taking the baby from Morpheus, leaning in to kiss Morpheus on the cheek as he does.

“Hob,” says Morpheus, with a little smile that finally breaks his stormy countenance. “Yes. She called for me when she was able.”

“Good lass,” says Hob, kissing the baby on the forehead, then looks warily at Johanna.

“Ms. Constantine is not responsible,” says Morpheus, and ‘Hob’—his partner? Coparent? Johanna’s not sure she even wants to know—relaxes further.

“Great. Glad we’ve established that. How the hell did you find my flat.” This she demands of Hob.

Hob reaches into the back of the baby’s onesie and plucks a small disc off the collar; he shows it to her with a little wave, then slips it in his pocket.

“Is that an AirTag?”

“We aren’t all plugged into the whole collective unconscious.” He taps the baby on the nose fondly, and she giggles, grabbing at his finger. “And you’re Dada’s little flight risk, aren’t you?”

Johanna sighs, finally flopping down on the couch now that it seems she’s unlikely to get swept away to nightmare-land. She definitely needs a beer after this. “You have a baby?” she says to Morpheus.

“Evidently,” he says flatly. So much for getting answers on that.

“Have we gone after the person who was responsible?” asks Hob. Johanna thinks he means it to come out mildly but it doesn’t, really.

“Already got set on fire, mate,” Jo tells him. “Found him like that.”

“Set on fire?” says Hob with a frown. “Was the rest of the room on fire?”

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t. Which is strange.

Silently, she shakes her head, and Hob turns back to the baby. Now he’s grinning. “Did the bad man wish for power?” he says, in a baby-talk voice, bouncing the baby in his arms. “Did he? And did my little Sparkle take that literally and turn him into a lightbulb?” As a conspiratorial aside to Johanna, he says, “She loves electricity.”

“Sparkle?” she says. “She’s a baby, not a My Little Pony.”

“That is a nickname,” says Morpheus, with a sideways glance at Hob that suggests he finds it questionable at best. “She is Wish.” He says this in the same way he might say I am Dream, rather than my name is Dream.

A moment later, Johanna learns where the nickname came from, as Wish giggles and taps at Hob’s face, sparks dancing around her fingertips. Sparkle. Jesus.

“She does not yet have a firm grasp on her abilities,” says Morpheus.

Wish. Half-Endless baby. Kidnapper set on fire. Jo thinks she gets it now. She shivers.

“You have sworn to show me where you found her,” Morpheus reminds her. Sworn. Does he have to be so dramatic?

Jo sighs, but heaves herself up from the couch. “Yep. Alright. So long as you promise to keep better track of that monkey’s paw baby of yours.”

Morpheus bristles, but Hob just chuckles. “This is the easy part. Wait ’til she gets better at flying.”

He doesn’t appear to be joking. “Don’t envy you,” Johanna says. Then grudgingly admits, “She is cute, though.”

Hob beams.

Morpheus is still fixated on her. Johanna can read the demand without him having to voice it. “What, you’re gonna bring the baby along on the revenge mission?” she asks.

They both just look at her. Neither moves to take Wish home.

“Figures,” Johanna says, with a sigh. This is what she gets for not choosing a more normal profession. She opens the front door and gestures them on. “Fine, then. Let’s go.”

#a silly nano project #my writing #the sandman #johanna constantine #dreamling #dream of the endless #hob gadling

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dahldahlbills · 6 months

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nano day 6

total count: 2756; 2212!!! towards main wip, 544 towards fic

finished scene 4!!! Wasn’t expecting that esp bc I was extremely reluctant to write it. It started off strong, then got away from me for a bit, but I think I wrapped it up okay ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’m just happy I broke 2k today, it feels extremely rewarding B-)

was hoping to get more fic writing done today but alas… maybe tomorrow

#if I ever break 5k in a day I would be SO happy #maybe this weekend #but I’d def try to do it throughout the day and not just one sitting #I would lose focus so bad #currently drowning out the self doubt that accompanies this current fic with the adrenaline of completing a scene from cryptids wip 👍#man my mc is so fuckin dramatic he was straight up having a mental breakdown while eating chicken and waffles #will this stay will this get deleted??? who knows!!#what a mess lol #but we’re on to scene 5!!!!#if I’m remembering my outline right this scene is v cozy but also starts hinting at the horror aspects of the story #SUPER EXCITED #I have no idea how I’m gonna write it but that’s tomorrow’s problem #also I love just saying things abt this project without giving any context #no one knows what I’m working on i feel so silly and mysterious #giving everyone who reads this the Worst and most confusing impression of this story lol #but don’t ask me what it’s about bc like. I know what it’s abt but I couldn’t tell you #(I’m still workshopping the pitch)#anyway #dahl does nano 23

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renren-writes · 10 months

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Was rereading all your orv fics recently because I was in a reading slump, and THOSE managed to get me out of it, so thank you for it as there are not many numbers of fanfic for orv fans to enjoy that is also well written.

Something though stuck out to me (not in a bad way I assure you) in the free dinner fic. The mention of the original Eunbyeol was pretty interesting. Are you gonna expand on that storyline anytime soon? Because that would be a pretty amazing to read.

Also I was just reading the webcomic version of the novel and came across Nirvana, and boy do I love that arc. How do you think will that scenario go with the addition of our beloved pink gremlin? Especially considering that it also released the top 10 strongest incarnations in the Seoul dome. Just asking about your thoughts even if you haven't thought that ahead into the fic?

Or have you? If, you know Eunbyeol survives that long(please let her survive, because I don't know if I can handle if she regresses again)

oh!! thank you so much!! i'm so glad my disaster children's stuff helped with a slump (´｡• ω •｡`) ♡ you spoil me with such praise!!

and there are plans to explore original byeol! i had to work out the kinks with shio but i have the whole backstory primed and ready and it's so depressing and so fun!! i want to have byeol move through a little further in this regression's timeline before exploring it, but we do get hints to it in main scenario 5 (or leading up to it) and the necklace item she has gets used in a way to explore it!

we also worked out the nirvana part!! it's a little hilarious actually, and while it's pretty basic, the whole deal with nirvana was also considered for an important part of the story revolving around byeol (not the reincarnation track, but the giving up stories part!) and it gives more of a hint to who byeol's sponsor is! i won't state outright who it is yet, but i can say that among her potential sponsors, most come from the same nebula owo

dw i'll make sure she survives, shio would kill me if i let her die for realsies kdfjgndf

#ren speaks #cant wait!!!#my nano project cant be finished soon enough!!!#plus once i hit that point i can do my silly goofy moments again #scenario five is........ man #sits down #man...#BUT YALL GET A MEME WHEN I WRITE IT SO THATS GREAT

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ace-malarky · 2 years

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hehe oh FUCK yeah I got a plan for Dichotomy f i n a l l y

is very rough

and I will maybe bulletpoint it tomorrow and make it make a little more sense

but jfc I am glad to actually know who the antagonists are now lmaoooo

#I'm planning for it to be my nano project but also. I will be writing bits before then y'know.#talkin' malarky #dichotomy #also that is a working title and should probably change but FUCK if I know what to #unless it's something very silly like ''the soul of the party'' which would actually delight me for various reasons #anyway I'm gonna have lunch now. maybe play some games. mostly eat.

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conkers-thecosy · 6 months

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Hullo!

So, this might be long, but I wanted to write a proper wee writing update. I have my fingers in a few pies and as October is coming to an end, and thus "Bagginshield-tober" with it, I thought it might be nice to let folks know what my plans are as far as projects go!

I've got three chapters left to write for "Stealing Moments, Moments Away" - I've decided not to do the prompt for Sunday, so this weekend I'm going to park my butt in my desk chair and write those last few chapters. I'm out on Tuesday (my friend is doing a drag show, so I'll be at work all day, then going out for dinner and drinks right after) so I won't have time to update the final chapter on Tuesday. I'm thinking of updating Monday's chapter on Sunday, and Tuesday's on Monday, but we'll see!

Once that's done, I'm going to take a few days off! I wouldn't usually, but I've had such a busy month and I got a bit burned out there for a bit, so I think I need to start scheduling breaks for myself. Next weekend I'll get cracking on "Backs to the Wall" and hopefully get back to weekly chapter updates with that once again!

Now, I know folks were waiting for me to start "King" in November (because that was the original plan!) but if October has taught me anything, it's that I can't work on multiple projects, haha 😅 I had meant to do NaNoWriMo and work on it for that, but honestly? I got so stressed when I was writing "Poet" for Camp NaNo and it's actually the fic I'm least proud of in my whole collection. I've worked so hard on the series, I really want to do the finale justice!

I do feel bad because I know folks are waiting for this one, but I'm going to focus on "Backs to the Wall" first, then write the smutty one-shot set directly after "Poet" and then work on "King". I really hope no one is too disappointed, as it's likely that I won't make a start on it until the new year now - please forgive me! 🙏

After that I have another canon-verse one-shot that I've been toying with since day dot, and then I might branch out into some AU ideas. But that's a ways off yet!

I know this is a bit of a long post, and honestly I don't know how much anyone will be interested in any of this, but I just wanted to document it somewhere for anyone who might be wondering what I'm up to! I wouldn't want to leave anyone hanging, especially after changing plans with regards to what I'm working on in November.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and supporting and showing any kind of interest in my little fics! I mean to keep scribbling out my silly bagginshield nonsense for a good while yet, so your enthusiasm keeps me going!

Ily guys! 💛

#conkers corner #writing update #soldier poet king series #backs to the wall #bttw #bagginshieldtober #bagginshield-tober #stealing moments moments away #oh dear.... now I have to decide if I tag this as bagginshield?#I don't usually... I don't want to be annoying?#I'm sure anyone who's interested is already following me. so?#sorry for waffling on #I hope this isn't too boring haha

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teriwrites · 3 months

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about me: a writeblr re-re-re-introduction

Hello! My old pinned post is officially over a year old and makes me cringe whenever I'm on my blog, so it's time to freshen things up again!

I'm Teri, I'm smack dab in the middle of my 20s and figuring out life. My writing is pretty exclusively original stuff, a lot of novels and a lot of fantasy, but I play around with various genres in short stories. Sort of a jack-of-all-trades in regards to hobbies - aside from writing, there's anything from baking to drawing with my ancient art tablet to cross-stitch to playing music to rambling around the patch of woods near my house to watching long-form D&D let's plays.

my goals

I recognize that every time I post something like this, it's with the intention of finally becoming as active on writeblr as I was during the pandemic. I also recognize I've never quite managed that.

So here are some more general goals to get me through 2024:

Finish my 2nd draft of Beyond Alder Creek

Write as cringey and brutally honest as I never allowed myself to as a teenager.

Speaking of, a large reading/writing goal of mine is to go back through every NaNo draft I've ever written (I've participated since 2011). So aside from just reading that and likely turning it into a whole spectacle on here for people's amusement, generally just survive reading through the writing from 8th grade. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks lol

Finally, I have a general goal every year of reaching 100K words, between writing and editing and the like, but I'd happily be a little looser with that goal if it meant getting through others.

And now, without further ado:

my writing

Before I get specifically into WIPs, a general overview of the kind of writing you can expect from me:

As I said, I'm a fantasy nerd. I love worldbuilding, both on a large scale (nations and cultures and political relationships) and a small scale (a magic shop in an otherwise contemporary setting).

There's not a lot of romance in my writing, but there Are a lot of transformational relationships and codependency. Friendships, siblings, guardians, general ride-or-dies.

Thought experiments. I've been trying to catch and indulge more in my 'wait, what if?' ideas. Sometimes, that's fun little snippets of silly ideas, sometimes it's a majorly emotionally heavy scene for a story I'll never write. Sometimes, it's coming up with ideas to 'combine genres'. It's all about expanding the range.

wips*

Beyond Alder Creek /// draft 2 /// tag: bac

Winnie Pewitt has never believed in the fae. That is, until her little brother disappears, and she stumbles upon a faerie ring on the edge of town. Inside, a man seemingly carved from gold suggests that he knows who took the boy. With everyone else around their hometown accepting her brother's fate as certainty, Winnie takes it upon herself to craft the perfect deal and enter the realm of the fae with her new companion in tow.

The Lies in the Legend /// draft 1 /// tag: litl

The fictional autobiography of an elven noblewoman who rose rapidly in station and influence from an unremarkable youth to a diplomatic powerhouse. Spanning centuries during the prime of her life, Lady Ghislaine Agassi charts the course of her career and reputation, and highlights the dangers of making myths out of our idols.

*Though these are my primary WIPs, I have a page that covers various other WIPs and projects that I've brought up over the past few years.

I think that about covers everything! As always, I can't make any promises about how the year will wind up and where it takes us. But I will say, I've actually been writing recently, and yk I'm just gonna ride that high.

And for fun, here's some random facts about me:

fun facts

I have degrees in psychology and music!

I've lived across three continents, but currently live in upstate New York for whatever reason lol

The animals I've ridden on the back of include: horse, pony, elephant, and ostrich. The horse was my least favorite. By far.

I got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a couple months after Covid landed stateside (in May 2020) and am Always ready to talk someone's ear off about it.

The first story I ever wrote was on PowerPoint and was about war breaking out between humans and aliens that had taken refuge on Earth after their planet was destroyed. I was 8. There was a Lot of Clipart involved.

I've never been published, but I once secretly planned out, wrote, edited, and self-printed a couple copies of a novel about my best friends and our college apartment. They received it for Christmas last year and loved it (or at least were kind enough to tell me they did)!

#writeblr introduction #writeblr #writeblr intro #writers on tumblr #writing #hello once again friends #here is my annual promise to be different this year and actually talk about writing #we'll see how long it lasts this go round!#teritalks

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bettsfic · 6 months

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Hi Betts,

I really want to do nano this year but I’m not sure I have the skills to write a novel yet. I’ve been thinking about just practicing on short stories throughout nano instead of working on a novel but at the same time I feel like I’m missing out on the real nano experience.

i think nanowrimo exists to be generative, so any way you can generate work is valid. sometimes you have to make things as accessible to yourself as you possibly can, even if you feel it may undercut the challenge, and allow yourself whatever you need to participate meaningfully in the things that are important to you.

here's a little flowchart i devised whenever assessing some kind of self-accommodation:

if i don't allow myself this accommodation, will i still complete the task?

if no, make the accommodation. if yes, will i struggle to complete it and have less fun doing it?

if yes, make the accommodation. if no, try to complete the task as is.

this may sound silly, but i devised this litmus test for stardew valley when deciding which mods to use. i felt like i was missing out on the real stardew experience by playing using cheat mods. but if i played totally vanilla, i wouldn't be able to reach perfection (endgame) because i don't like combat. and therefore i'd stop playing entirely. so the options then became "play with combat cheat mod" or "don't play at all." and so, i choose the former.

in your situation, if you feel you don't have the skills to write a novel yet but short stories are within your reach, then you should write short stories. personally, i've done nanowrimo half a dozen times or so but i never stick to one project. i tally up word counts on multiple projects because if i force myself to stick to one, i'm going to get bored and stop writing entirely.

and if that doesn't convince you, if you change the word "novel" to "manuscript," you can say you're working on a short story collection. so you're still technically writing a book.

#writing advice #nanowrimo

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tracingpatternswrites · 4 months

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The Patchwork of Us

My darlings, this story is now finally complete and what started as a crazy NaNo project turned into this. I had no idea this silly little Muggle AU about Wolfstar being forced to co-parent Teddy against their wills would turn into such a massive story, but it's truly been a fun journey.

Thank you to everyone who has been following this story from the start and who have been encouraging me with kudos and comments. You are the best and I appreciate you all so much!

Title: The Patchwork of Us Pairing: Sirius/Remus Rating: E WC: 77.3k Tags: Muggle AU, Slow burn, Enemies to Lovers Warnings: Referenced child abuse, PTSD, panic attacks Summary: Remus had never wanted to be a father, and when Tonks told him she was pregnant he walked away. Sirius didn't have a child of his own, but he considered Teddy to be his son in all but blood and when Tonks fell ill, he never hesitated to open his home to them to help her with the boy. When Tonks passes away, Remus is faced with a choice: step up and be a father or stay out of Teddy’s life.

However, reappearing in Teddy's life is not easy. Sirius has trouble forgiving Remus for walking out on Teddy, and Remus thinks Sirius is a stuck-up, posh, know-it-all who believes he is better than everyone else. Now they’re supposed to co-parent a child while also navigating their own complicated feelings about the situation, and each other.

Read on AO3.

Teaser below the cut:

Remus turned his collar up against the wind as he stepped out of the station and onto Church Road. Arriving at Richmond Station always made him a bit disoriented, there were always too many people bustling around and he had to push his way through the crowd and towards the opposite entrance to where everyone else was going.

There was a vicious wind today, a damp sort of coldness in the air and heavy grey skies as if it could start raining any moment (which it probably could, this was London in October after all). It was early, too early, and Remus shivered as he set off at a brisk pace, clutching a once-hot cup of coffee in his hand. He fiddled around against the wind a little before he managed to light a cigarette, his nerves settling slightly at the first drag.

He walked the now-familiar route towards his destination, a nervous sort of flutter in his chest. He wondered how long those nerves were going to be there for, if he would ever just get used to this. It didn’t feel like he ever would.

Too soon he turned onto the right street, unable not to pull a face at the sight of the giant houses lining the streets as he flicked away his cigarette butt. He felt misplaced in his too-thin jacket and cheap clothes. Not that anything he wore was ever dirty or torn, but in this neighbourhood he was simply wrong .

Everything about him was wrong; the fact that his boots were worn down, his coat second-hand, the scarf around his neck hand-knitted, his hair too long and not in a stylish way but more a haven’t-been-to-the-barber-in-a-while way. His limp was wrong. At least it was a good day and he had chosen to leave his cane at home, despite the walk, just because he hated how awkward people got around him when he used it.

He made his way up the driveway to the correct house, his fingers brushing over the giant door knocker in the shape of a dog, which looked more like a wolf, before he used it to knock.

It took unusually long before the door swung open, and to Remus' surprise he found himself standing face to face with none other than Sirius Black. Usually, the other man kept out of the way in the mornings, but apparently not this time.

Sirius somehow didn’t seem out of place in this posh street, even though Remus thought he should with his long hair and tattoos and his motorbike. He didn’t though, Sirius Black looked as if he was born to live on a street like this, in a house like this, and Remus figured he probably was.

“We’re running a bit late,” he grouched, barely even acknowledging Remus with a look before he turned around to make his way further into the house. “You better come in.”

Remus hovered a little awkwardly in the doorway before he did as he was told, pulling the heavy door closed behind him as he followed Sirius inside.

If Remus felt out of place on the street outside, it was nothing compared to how he felt inside Sirius’ house. It was massive, ridiculously large considering it was only two people living there. Remus knew nothing about art or decorating but he had a feeling most of the stuff on the walls, and the furniture, were expensive.

Sirius led him through the initial hallway, further along into the large kitchen at the back of the house. Even though Remus disliked almost everything else about this house, he did love the kitchen. It was light and airy, modern, and the wall facing the back garden was almost completely made out of glass with doors that easily slid open during the summer.

Remus would love to cook in here one day, all the appliances were state of the art and the surfaces shiny and spacious. It was a far cry from his own tiny kitchen in his tiny flat. Remus had picked up cooking a couple of years ago, and he frequently dreamed about moving to something bigger, somewhere he could really test his wings.

“Here,” Sirius said, shoving a mug into Remus’ hands as soon as he entered the kitchen. “You better sit down and wait.”

Remus did as he was told, ignoring the way the palms of his hands burnt as he breathed across the hot liquid. Milk but no honey, Remus noted as he took a sip from the tea. He could feel Sirius watching him from where he was leaning casually against the kitchen counter, his arms folded across his chest, and it took Remus everything not to squirm underneath his gaze.

The silence was heavy around them, and Remus felt an urge to do something about it. To speak, even though he had no idea what he was supposed to say. He swallowed thickly, distracting himself by drinking the scalding liquid too quickly, and he was grateful as Sirius pushed off the counter with a sigh.

He strode back into the hallway, and Remus could hear him as he leaned against the banister of the staircase leading upstairs.

“Edward, don’t make me come up there! Remus is here, you need to go, or you’ll be late.”

“I’m coming ,” sounded an annoyed voice from upstairs. “I can’t find my bag.”

“It’s already down here,” Sirius replied and Remus thought he heard a little strain in his voice. “I’m counting to ten.”

Sirius returned to the kitchen, his eyes snagging on Remus for a moment but he didn’t say anything, and moments later there was the thundering noise of footsteps on the stairs before Teddy appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in his school uniform, smart white shirt and dark trousers together with his blazer and tie, both dark blue with light blue stripes.

The boy’s hair was the same sandy shade as Remus’ had been at that age, his chin and nose a little pointy, eyes a dark brown. Remus never quite got used to seeing hints of himself as a boy peeking through as he looked at Teddy. He stood quickly to distract himself.

“I’m here ,” Teddy said, a sullen look on his face. “Headmistress McGonagall said she’d give me detention if I was late for assembly one more time this week.”

“You better hurry up then if you’re going to have time for your breakfast,” Sirius replied, unphased, as he handed him his bag. “Remember, I’m picking you up and then we’re going to Harry’s tonight for dinner.”

Teddy accepted the bag with a sulk, “Whatever.”

“Attitude,” Sirius warned, a sharp eyebrow raised as he held onto the bag until the boy flicked his gaze up to Sirius’ face, and Remus could see something passing between them before Teddy’s shoulders slumped.

“Sorry,” he muttered, allowing Sirius to pull him into a hug, and Remus saw his arms sneaking around Sirius’ waist.

“That’s alright,” Sirius promised him, gently nudging him to stand straight, brushing an affectionate hand through his hair. “Love you, sprog.”

“Love you too,” Teddy muttered, and Remus felt something needle in his chest, something he didn’t have the words for as the boy turned around to look at him. “We need to hurry.”

“Right,” Remus said, a little awkwardly as he set down his mostly empty mug. “Let’s go then.”

Teddy disappeared into the hallway without another word and Remus cleared his throat, glancing down at the mug.

“Thanks,” he said, then added, “for the tea.”

“Sure,” Sirius said, following Remus as he went after Teddy. “You probably should hurry; McGonagall isn’t joking when she threatens with detention and Teddy really needs to get some food into him before school.”

Remus bristled at the tone, the same tone Sirius always used when he talked to Remus about Teddy. As if Remus couldn’t figure out that an eight-year-old needed to eat breakfast in the morning. Remus wanted to tell him that, wanted to give a scathing comment about exactly how he felt about Sirius’ superior attitude, but he swallowed what was on the tip of his tongue.

“Right,” he said instead as he adjusted the scarf around his neck. “Better be off then.”

Continue on AO3.

#the patchwork of us #wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #teddy lupin #muggle au #hp fanfic #my writing #enemies to lovers #co-parenting wolfstar #sirius raising teddy #remus raising teddy

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dallonwrites · 6 months

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must a nano project be a "novel"?? can it not simply be 50k words of a silly apocalypse au with your favourite ocs

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thelivingdeceased · 29 days

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WIP INTRO — The Living Morgue

Genre: Horror (with a little dystopian)

Setting: An underground city called the Catacombs and a giant tunnel system (The Morgue), 2044

Synopsis: A tunnel filled with bodies has been opened in the Catacombs and Basira Windell is set on finding out what’s really going on down there. With the lie of trying to escape hanging over her new found acquaintanceship with The Graverobber, she explores the labyrinth of the Morgue and finds much more than she would like.

Vibes!: Circuses, dusty books, those weird neon word signs in clubs, chandeliers, long hallways, the st. louis children’s museum

Characters:

Basira Windell (narrator, 19) - gunslinger for the circus, not an explorer

The Graverobber (??) - who knows!

Excerpt:

A scalpel is thrown and misses my head by inches. I scream and jump back, hand teleporting to my gun. Bodies move and fall until only one actually looks alive.

The living man creeps toward me with an air of caution and I freeze. He gets his scalpel before he looks at me and when he does he doesn’t look me in the eyes. Which is silly, because that’s how I recongise him.

“You’re the girl who looked death in the face.” He whispers. “The girl who dripped blood.”

camp nano project woohoo !! :33

#watching hannibal while making this #they get awfully creative with the murders #like so creative it’s a little nauseating at points #i love hannibal #anyway #writing #writeblr #writeblr community #nanowrimo

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cuubism · 6 months

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It's my favorite/least favorite writing month now, so here's an overly-ambitious list of things I would love to complete during nano :) last year I reached a true feral state of dissociated insanity by the end of November and I do hope to achieve that again!

Happenstance, final chapter. this was on my list and I just finished/posted it :) [COMPLETED]

the follow-up fic to Trade Secrets, the Knight Hob/Prince Dream PWP. more unmitigated smut in this one.

New installment of In Search of Nightingales [bookstore cryptid Dream] -- this one is about Dream moving in with Hob. [COMPLETED]

A Death/Johanna fic that was supposed to be for the femslash event but evidently... was not 😂

The sheltered rich boy Dream & feral child Hob (though it's really not much about that anymore) fic that I've occasionally posted snippets of. This one has gotten... long.

"Ooh, Kinky", a fic about how Dream really likes when Hob does sweet things for him. [COMPLETED]

a very long, post-2022 slowburn getting together fic that I literally started last fall, and has 17k words but isn't finished -- I would really like to finally finally finish that.

At LEAST one of the non-dreamling ideas people sent me way back. I have so many and I ended up writing like... none of them. Oops.

chapter 3 of the melting press of the sun, a fic that wasn't supposed to be longer than one chapter. Hob helps Dream with his post-fishbowl dissociative episodes through the power of Friendship and Really Shitty Reality Television

the Shibari fic that I teased a month ago, wrote half of in one day, and then barely touched since 😂

chapter 3 of the better to see you with, my dear [the Spy Hob AU] which I've left on the back burner for a while now.

A mostly-completed segment of Silly Rabbit AU about various tales and connections Dream is spinning.

In Waking Dreams chapter 7, which is already partially complete.

There's also one or two projects that live at kind of the intersection of fanfic and original fic that have been bouncing around my head so those may come up as well ☺️

And new as of November 1 (goddammit):

A very silly crack fic about Johanna accidentally kidnapping Dream and Hob's weird magical baby (goes about how you'd expect) [COMPLETED]

idea I got stuck in my head last night about Dream making sex Hob's reward for rescuing him as an intricate ritual to let Dream have some intimacy without having to admit that he wants it.

BONUS: prequel to dreamling's magical baby fic [COMPLETE]

BONUS: a little drabble about winter [COMPLETE]

And I've learned better than to promise progress on any outstanding Malec projects.

If any of you are also doing Nano 🫡 Godspeed.

#post that will create accountability or just jinx me #watch i won't finish any of these and will just write 10 new things instead #started nano off horribly ive been in such a weakened and sickly state nevertheless we persist #my fics #nanowrimo #spy hob #spy au #bookstore cryptid dream #in waking dreams #silly rabbit au

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tsaritsa · 5 months

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Congratulations on winning Nano!!! Any hot takes or unconventional tips on how to achieve a huuuge milestone like that in so little time?

Also, if you'd like to share, I'd love to hear more about the piece(s) you worked on during this year's event! Big yay if you want to tease us with a sneak peek as well. 🙂

Congratsss again!!!

ty!!!! i am afraid my tips might seem kind of obvious and not that much of a hot take but here's what worked for me:

writing sprints. do 10 min. do 17 min. do 30 min. whatever it is, just get words down on the page. after each sprint was finished i'd look at what i wrote, fix up the most glaring mistakes (espe if the words looked terrible. i've learned to live with a lot of spelling errors bc otherwise u waste too much time. during nano each day i'd prolly manage between 2-3 sprints -- usually enough to net me between 1000-1500 words each day. i wouldn't stop if i hit the daily total, i'd stop when i could feel the motivation waning. my lowest day was under 300 words, my biggest was just over 4000.

get a community. writing sucks alone. i feel very grateful that i've made some friends on here who were also trying to write regularly, so now there's 5 of us in a little discord i've made. we do sprints with each other and share lots of snippets, memes, pretty pictures etc. it keeps us excited about our own projects, but also allows us to cheerlead each other on.

get used to placeholders. i use TK. anytime there's a word i need but it's not on the tip of my tongue? TK my beloved. sometimes i'd write like she sighed in a TK kind of way, or like harry opens his mouth to argue about TK TK some work thing he's doing TK TK. it just keeps u in the pace of writing ur in, but allows for a few words to be spent writing down a piece that needs further expansion.

establish habits and goals. for me, it's stuff like trying to write the bulk of my writing with a nice candle lit, but also the silly stuff like putting on lippy so I feel like. Ready to do shit. have a few drinks avail. one to hydrate (ice cold) one to caffeinate (also ice cold). play music or sounds that will help u get into the zone without overly distracting. now that i've won it i'm gonna treat myself to some silly purchases as well bc i should reward myself for such hard work and dedication. i'm thinking a v comfy hoodie.

overall if i didn't have the community i had this month i think my external motivation would've been lost quickly, so find friends to yell at about ur project. watch yt videos about ppl doing writing! make posts and don't give a flying fuck about being cringe or not suiting ut 'aesthetic'. this is u. do it for U.

in terms of this project: the short version is hermione goes back to hogwarts post book 7 and has to slowly begin to recover from/learn to live with the PTSD she's gained. alas, draco is also back and she's gotta learn to make peace with the fact that he's allowed to want to change and that he's making small steps to become a better person than who he was. they're gonna kiss and be disgusting with each other. ultimately this is a story about hermione's journey, as the whole thing is written from her perspective, so although the dhr aspect is there, there are also other important relationships i want to focus on -- especially her and harry.

i'm ignoring/expanding on a lot of canon, and using some details from the movies i prefer over the books (namely her mudblood scar bc mmmmm parallels). i don't really know if anybody is in character but i don't care! this is my story and i'll do it how i see fit haha.

the following excerpt comes from late sept in the current draft. at this point dhr has been forced together a few times already. draco has surreptitiously managed to drug slughorn with a potion of his (slughorn's) own making during their potions class bc the potions professor was spending an entire lesson just showing off instead of. u know. teaching.

#ask #live by the cringe die by the cringe #i'm seriously thinking about starting a little vlog journey for this so i can just keep myself even more motivated haha #ty for the ask!!!! basically u just gotta write. doesn't matter how bad it is. it counts!

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thedamnlesbian · 11 months

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Stupid Valorant pronoun/sexuality hcs that nobody asked for :D

These are headcanons, you don’t have to agree ^^!

(Warning, This is me getting used to the whole layout thing + I hc almost the entire cast as Polyamorous)

Brimstone - He/they - I have no clue what his sexuality would be - This man is a he/they in a “I use he/him but people can use they/them on me” sort of way

Omen - Any pronouns(including neos/xenos) - Polyamorous queer - I feel like Omen wouldn’t really care about what people call them, she has her likes and dislikes, but isn’t really concerned about his gender

Viper - She/it/they - Polyamorous Aroflux Lesbian - Librafeminine - Okay. This might be purely projections but I’m a firm believer that Chamber and Viper are more queer platonic partners than romantic partners, again, I might be projecting as I am aroflux myself but let me have this

Raze - She/they/art/ze/boom - Lesbian - RAZE IS A LESBIAN. NANOBOMB LESBIANS REA

Cypher - He/it - Polyamorous Bisexual - Trans man - This man is a bisexual. There’s no denying it. (+BONUS!!! Nora - She/they - Trans woman - Bisexual - I NEED MORE NORA HCS. AMIR AND NORA T4T FR!!)

Sage - She/they - Polyamorous Lesbian - Sage doesn’t look like a man liker I’m sorry(also might just be me projecting)

Sova - He/it/hush/owl - Polyamorous Gay - Trans man - Right so the neo pronouns are most definitely projections AHA . I love Sova so much he’s such a silly guy (I ship him with almost the entire masc valorant cast I shit you not)

Phoenix - He/they - Polyamorous Bisexual - I. I have no explanation for this. There is no way Phoenix is straight .

Jett - She/they - Polyamorous Pansexual - I ALSO HAVE NO EXPLANATION FOR THIS The entire valorant thing is gay as hell

Breach - He/it/flair - Queer - Trans masc - This guy’s gender is screaming.

Reyna - It/she/eye - Polyamorous Lesbian - REYNA IS A WOMAN LIKER !!!!!! SHE KISSES WOMAN !!!! I’M SAGE I WOULD KNOW !!!!!!!

Killjoy - they/It/xe/ze/she/bot/bit/robo/robot/nano/sys/com/tech/pix/pixel/exe/dot - Lesbian - Pangender - I’m so getting yelled at for this one . LISTEN. THERE IS NO WAY THE TECH LESBIAN IS CIS. IM SORRY BUT IM NOT SORRY . KJ’S GENDER IS ROBOTS.

Skye - She/they - Ambiamorous either Bi or Pansexual - Skye is so silly, idk if she’s bi or pan, but she swings both ways

Yoru - He/they/it - Polyamorous Bisexual - When I was first learning the game and didn’t know the names of the characters I called Yoru ‘the bisexual’, and that has been so ingrained into my mind that whenever I panic and can’t speak properly I go “AH THERE’S A BISEXUAL-”

Astra - They/she/star - Lesbian - Listen I know that Galaxsea is great but I love Astra, Skye and Harbour as a gay/bi/lesbian trio, also because I love to think of their dynamic as a siblings

KAY/O - He/It/They/Bot/Toaster - no romance - I feel like he wouldn’t describe himself as aro/ace? Mainly because he doesn’t care. The neo pronouns were given to it by KJ as a joke, but the neos ended up sticking

Chamber - He/it/gold - Polyamorous Pansexual - They guy is so desperate he will try anyone. Honestly the guy just wants to be loved but at the same time is terrified of commitment

Neon - She/they/shock - Pansexual - Neon likes everyone, I don’t make the rules(but I do)

Fade - She/they/dae - Ambiamorous Lesbian(or omni fem lean idk) - Fade kisses Viper all the time fr(Fearbite real)

Harbor - He/it - Polyamorous Gay - HE KISSES MEN !!!!!!! You cannot look at this man and tell me he doesn’t kiss men on a daily basis

Gekko - He/him - Bisexual - This dude swings both ways !! He’s definitely screamed to Reyna about his crushes :3

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jackwolfes · 6 months

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congratulations on finishing kinktober!!! and for starting nanowrimo too???? you're crazy (and very amazing)

thank you!!!! im genuinely very very proud of myself because like. my whole thing over summer was a dire frustration at not being able to finish anything and be satisfied with it, so being able to let go and just enjoy the process of writing short, silly lil drabbles (and allow for things to grow like that stupid 7k merlin fic) was really good for me! 😊

im starting on nano tomorrow but in a very very lowkey way because being harsh on myself for nano has never worked! i think im going to just try and do daily writing for my original project and see how far i get rather than "do nano properly" but!!! here's hoping!!!

#im feeling better about nano this year than i have in previous years so im hoping itll go a bit more smoothly #anon #asks

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havocmadden · 5 months

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"if i'm having fun it's good and if i'm not having fun it's bad" you're so so so real for this!! anyway sorry i disappeared for like a week so i'm going to ask more questions to make up for it: 1) i know i'm late to the spotify wrapped party but who were your favorite artists this year? are there any songs in particular that stood out to you? this can be either for disney artists or not it's up to you 2) how are you feeling about rise of red coming out next year? i know the plot looks too crazy even for descendants standards, and it helps that it's a brand new creative team, but is there anything specific you're hoping to see from the expanded world? 3) i need to hear your thoughts on zombies 4 because i know there's no way addison will have yet another identity crisis - gcwca secret santa

hi !!!! i hope u had a good week when you disappeared and not like, a terrible one!

to answer your questions, my fave artists were mostly non disney channel :( i think the only disney channel who made it into my top 100 was some sabrina songs :( but! my top five were:

noah kahan (so real)

fall out boy (they counted november this year which i know bc they would NOT have been in my top 5 otherwise. they were my nano soundtrack. tho tbh i think this nano project made me an actual for real fall out boy fan)

taylor swift

dessa

xana

if we could add some i feel like chappell roan should've been in my top five but alas :( also i saw two out of my top five in concert this year :) if we count tickets i bought for next year's concerts i am seeing 4/5 of my top five!! (i also saw chappell roan and she was SOOOOOO good in person). this year turned me into a genuine Concert Girlie (gender neutral) so that's been fun. or it would be, if i didn't have to drive 2 1/2 hours at best to get to one bc i live in the middle of fucking nowhere and no one comes here :(

as for the rise of red: honestly, i'm pretty excited! i'm not allowing myself to feel Bad about it until we get more information. plus, it's giving me the thing i always wanted out of the descendants franchise (qoh kid) so honestly this like, really works for me. like maybe when i watch it later it will be bad? and i'll be upset and disappointed? but. in the meantime, i'm having a great time! still living on the qoh kid high! like, the plot seems wild but personally i'm like. "descendants as a franchise never made sense and i'm getting what i personally wanted out of this franchise from it so i'm having a good time until proven otherwise"

i think a lot of people have strong feelings about it bc of cam, which is totally valid and is their right, but my personal feelings are since the core four aren't coming back, i'm okay with it. disney was never going to let their biggest franchise since hsm lie, yknow? i think this is the best it could've been in that sense of it? idk.

as for zombies 4. truly i have NO idea. honestly the most fun i have ever had with the zombies franchise was watching all three of them with two of my friends whilst we were all stoned, and personally i hope rupaul comes back because i thought it was funny. i'm so sorry if you're a zombies stan but they are not high art to me. they are fun little movies to watch while i get high and then i do not think about them until i want to show someone a silly little dcom franchise and jumpscare them with the presence of rupaul. personally i hope zombies 4 introduces addison's cousin from the human side of the family named allison who is now the one who gets to have identity criseses who is also played by meg donnelly. i hope coach has a new job. i hope his legal name is coach. i hope ej caswell finally gets to leave this discord. i hope they make a reference to the winchesters.

#the other best time i had had watching zombies was when the discord watched z3 right around the time it came out #my hopes for zombies 4 is they make it as specifically funny as possible to me a 23 year old adult who is doing weed #sorry i wrote u an essay anon :(#gcwca secret santa #drugs //

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