Look, I finished revisions on a whole entire book last night. A book I've loved for years and sometimes despised because it's so hard to keep myself focused on a project this long. I've spent the last literal year of any free writing time on revising. I spent my vacation from work getting this done. And I don't know how to scream on the internet about this but I need! To tell! Everyone!

It's 100 collected 500-word flash fics about The Hopeful Wanderer, a character I created for my blog series four or five years ago and based off Ginko from Mushishi. It's far future science fantasy with sub tones of soft apocalypse and climate change. The stories are gentle and creepy and whimsical and kind and hopeful. And the last ten stories tell the tale of the Wanderer and what's happening to the world and the stars.

It just has to go to beta reading now, then the final copy edit. Somewhere in there, I'll hire a book cover designer or figure out how to make my own. So if you wanna beta read or you are or know a really cool book cover designer, let me know. I'll send the content warning list in dms if you beta read so you're not surprised.

Anyway, I'm both buzzed and relieved to have reached this point. This monster of a project is getting done. Holy schmoly, it's gonna happen.

It's me!! It's Ghost Nonny!!!! And holy schmoly, I am so in love with the nickname cuz I live nicknames so incredibly much, you nearly made me cry (might also be cuz I'm overly emotional these past few weeks but well). ANYWAYS!!! Your blog literally made my day quite a few times these past months and I just love scrolling through it. I enjoy whatever you post but those past days of you posting snippets?? My heart just about exploded. Please take care of yourself, you precious, precious person!!

Oh GOD Angel Face!!! Sugar Pop baby!!! You are so fucking cute and so fucking kind to your core!!! Honestly I’m emotional as fuck lately as well, and that’s on us being messy, but hot. We are hot messes and we should love that for ourselves!!!

I wish I gave you a cuter nick name than ghost nonny but look, please understand every time I say it I’m tapping your nose with my finger and holding your hand!!! I adore you to pieces all right!!! And tbh I can’t help but offer up another snippet just for you even though you didn’t add a rose because I love you so much and for some Go forsaken reason you like my writing and it’s justo many emotions for me to handle!!!

So I’m brandishing at you some of the incredibly convoluted Age of Innocence AU I’ve been toying with when I feel romantic and I’m also crying a lil because I don’t want you to hate it!!!

ALL THE KISSES AND HUGS BEING THROWN AT YOU MY HONEY PIE!!!!

.-

The Rosier brunch is an extravagant affair that occurs every first Tuesday of the month, in the Grimmauld hotel that is nearly as old and illustrious as the Black family themselves, who were the epitome of affluence in London of yore and whom moved to the colonies to ensure their illustrious name is forever the echelon of the Western hemisphere .

It’s regality is etched into every nook and crevasse of it’s formidable frame, made all the more evident by the glittering, hand crafted chandeliers built into each ballroom and the way the sunlight spilling through the wide partitions refracts against the glass and onto the throng of folks who have been bread and manicured for events just as this— clad in white suits and gowns as they chat amiably about their Tuscan get aways and their stocks building in the market, and how lovely it is to only work as a pastime because of course only the sort with generational wealth could be permitted into these hallow walls.

Sirius observes them all from his perch on the balcony, a derisive sneer half way formed on his lips as he compares them unfavorably to a collection of paper dolls— lifeless and feeble and living in this artifice of affluence, composed of soulless touches and pasted smiles that never reach their eyes. And sometimes it makes him sick— absolutely nauseous— that he’s been told since birth that he is a king amongst these nobleman and the commoners that serve them. That he is the heir to the eldest and most revered family line. That he holds the honor of the Black name on his broad shoulders that suddenly feel too weak to play Atlas, suddenly craving a quiet story, one never written in the books but filled with love and joy and laughter that doesn’t leave his throat shred to ribbons.

Though before the dread sets in completely, he spots James’s unruly hair in a cluster with Mr Potter and a few other older gentlemen that Sirius has known since birth, and they’re all clapping him on the back and shaking his hand hardily and nudging him with sly winks on their faces. The image makes Sirius smile softly. James is the greatest man he’s ever known and he’s so damn elated over the news that he and Lily had only told Sirius a fortnight ago— even before their own parents.

Absentmindedly, he finds Lily on the opposite end of the room, flocked by Alice and Emmeline as the group of girls are laughing and quietly squealing with one another— one of Emmeline’s small hands on each of the pair’s flat stomachs as if she could feel a thing so early on.

The trio are truly a beautiful set of belles, Sirius thinks, Lily especially if not only because she’s carrying his future God child. Her red hair is plaited into a fashion inspired by the Europeans, pinned up with the yellow peonies that matched the sort in her wedding to James only three short months ago, and her smile is something dazzling and lively. She and James will make marvelous parents, there’s absolutely no doubt in Sirius’s mind, and he adores Frank and Alice as true friends. He’s thankful the pair of couples will have one another, to relate to each other and depend on one another in a way Sirius can’t give them.

Perhaps a little guiltily, he watches as Emmeline’s pretty green eyes flicker to the banister, and he knows she’s trying to spot him. He knows that she, Lily, and Alice had once planned on being wed and pregnant all together just like how they’ve always conducted themselves since girlhood. And he knows that unlike James and Frank, he himself has always been a disappointment and has always fallen short. And he’s still sorry for how he began to stray from Emmeline’s affections at the start of the summer. It surely doesn’t make any sense even to him. Emmeline is downright perfect. Emmeline who’s radiant and gorgeous beyond words and who has the soft humor and charming panache that the majority of coquettes in her year envy with pure contempt. Emmeline who is the eldest daughter of the formidable Vance fortune and who would’ve made his parents actually proud.

None of it makes sense, Sirius knows…But it is Autumn now, and there lives have transformed along with the weather’s creeping frost once the chill began to trickle into the New York streets. So by rote, Sirius’s storm cloud eyes slide off of Emmeline and land on the image of Count Remus John Lupin standing loyally besides his sharp eyed grandmother only a few feet away. And he’s everything resplendent and everything golden from his hair to the undertones of his skin, even his damn eyes. He looks nothing short of the picture of God’s favorite angel— An echo of Ganymede that the Romance Era artists would’ve weeped to paint, and it’s like an emotion Sirius has never known pulsing through him.

Remus Lupin is all bright affability, and cutting words on the right edge of sardonic. He speaks with all of his body, and laughs the same way too. He’s so beautiful that Sirius’s heart kind of aches. And that’s probably more worrisome than anything else, because Sirius has had more lovers that he couldn’t even fathom recalling their names—just breathy moans smothered by sweat soaked sheets, and slick skin rubbing against slick skin, nothing truly tangible or worth remembering—But Sirius has never felt his hands go clammy when around any of those suitors. Never had his tongue tied, or his chest throb during any of those short winded dalliances. For fucks sake, Sirius is infamous for blasé hookups in the back of whatever parlor is the talk of the town for that week. Sirius has always been content in playing in his well practiced tableau—being a pretty face who enticed folks to him like moths to a flame, even if those very same people were burned by the end of whatever they shared.

Sirius had never cared enough to ever get hurt, and he’d liked that. Liked the independence coursing through his veins, the noncommittal nature that painted the outlook of his life. It was all so easy—numb, and cripplingly lonely some nights—but easy.

Count Lupin is the antithesis of that. Count Lupin is nothing but complications and contradiction and coy remarks that leave Sirius half frenzied.

Watchtower Woes

Week 1 Day 4 of Maribat March

Special thanks to @little-kitty-kanny , @ethelphantom and @the-navistar-carol  for beta-ing for me

It was a normal day at the Watchtower, well as normal as a space station for superheroes could be. The Watchtower looked down upon their home planet, making it seem so big yet so small amongst the sea of stars surrounding them. Today it was just Wonder Woman, Black Bat and Ladybug on monitor duty.

“Sister.” 

Ladybug, otherwise known as Marinette Drake nee Dupain-Cheng (the 23-year old designer behind the Lady Luck designs by MDC company), turned to see Wonder Woman looking at her with concern. She and Diana were rather close as the Amazonian princess had practically taken her as blood sisters when she learned of a new Ladybug; seeing as her mother had once worn the mantle as well.  Diana had also been her business partner when her company first began to take off.

“Are you feeling alright? You seem to be under the weather”

“She’s right,” Cassandra Cain-Wayne added in “Your center is off, you seem uncomfortable.”

“I’m fine. It's been a little stressful with the upcoming line with Wayne Enterprises,” Ladybug sighed, finding herself massaging her temple, feeling a headache already developing. “That and the team has been acting strange lately, I’ve been trying to investigate the cause, but the Miracle Book isn’t saying much, and I can’t exactly ask Master Fu anymore”

“How so, Ladybug?” Diana asked, taking a seat next to her while Cass took charge of looking through the security footage for them, still focused on the conversation.

“Well, most of them have gotten dangerously overprotective of me. Just yesterday Roi Singe took a hit for me against Hawkmoth 2.0’s latest creation. I asked him about it afterwards, and he just said that nothing could harm me? It was rather strange, especially seeing as Ryuuko and Abeille got more ruthless afterward. Chat was also hissing at people who approached me,” she explained with a troubled look.

“Even as civilians, Viperion, Monarch, and Paon were coddling me: Mari are you warm enough? Have you eaten today? No, Mari, let me get you a natural juice instead of coffee. It’s been so frustrating having to deal with their constant  babying.”

“It’s honorable for your team to care for your well being” Diana commented, heavens knew  how the JL got  whenever one of their members was  ill or was unable to perform their duties. Ladybug’s eyes just seemed to water at the implication, wiping the tears before they even fell.

“B-But that could just mean they don’t trust my abilities… what if they think I’m not worthy of being leader or even worse… of being Ladybug?” 

Diana did her best to console the younger woman while Cass looked at her skeptically.

She had seen the sudden change in emotion Ladybug had gone through like whiplash, from tired to content to worried to saddened. As Diana combed through Marinette’s pixie cut, Cass continued to think of the things happening these past few weeks.

Tim had once asked Barbara if there was anything that could help with back pains, stating that Marinette had been experiencing some rather hard period symptoms.

She recalled Adrien purring along with Alfred the Cat when they had gone to Wayne Manor last week along with Tim and Conner. Even Ace and Titus were acting like her personal bodyguards, not too different from normal, though Damian admitted that it was a bit more overkill.

Just last month for the Wayne Charity Gala, during the ladies’ final fitting, she had complained to Steph that her own dress felt a little tighter than she expected... though not unbearably so, so she had just decided to leave her own dress as is.

Had it really been so obvious?

She needed to recheck whether Tim deserved the title of Detective after this. Cass stepped out of the room momentarily to make what was potentially a life changing call.

“Robin and Superboy, do you read?” she knew her baby brother, almost eighteen years old, would be hanging out at the Titans Tower in the east coast with Superboy, now sixteen, but seeing as it was a quiet day and the other Titans: Green Lantern (Milagro Reyes), Nightstar (Mar’i Grayson), Scarlet Flash and Kid Speed (Dawn and Don Allen), and Speedy(Lian Harper) would be on standby.

“Is something the matter Black Bat?” Damian responded almost immediately.

All Bats were rather keen on making sure their comms were on in case of emergencies, even when silenced, they’d have the notifications on to see who was trying to contact them.

“Do you mind coming to the Watchtower with Superboy, there’s something concerning Ladybug𑁋”

“Is she alright?” she almost giggled at how concerned her brother was before keeping her cool and responding.

“I believe she’s alright but perhaps not aware of her condition”

“We’ll be there in a minute”

Not even a full minute after stepping back in with a much calmer Ladybug, did she hear the announcement of Robin and Superboy’s arrival before the two skid into the communications room with the three heroines.

“Robin and Superboy? I wasn’t aware you boys would be passing by today,” Diana asked curiously as Damian just puffed up.

“Black Bat called about checking Ladybug’s condition” he said eyeing the scarlet hero to see if anything was amiss; other than her red rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks he found nothing unusual.

“My condition? Cass what are you talking about?” Ladybug asked confused and a bit protective.

“Superboy,” Jon perked at his name before turning to Cass “Can you hear the heartbeats in this room?”

“Uh sure…” to say he was confused was an understatement. He was rather familiar with their heartbeats, having known them for years at this point. He could hear Diana and Damian’s rather war drum like beat, Cass’ steady and rhythmic beats, Marinette’s calm and slightly faster than usual heart and then there was𑁋

Wait, what?

“That’s weird” he whispered to himself before focusing again. Sure enough it was still there a soft echoe of duhn-duhn… duhn-dun as the fifth heartbeat. But he had never heard it before… and it was coming from…

Oh duh!

“Holy schmoly! Congrats Ladybug.” He flew up to her and gave her a huge hug, conscious of his strength now more than ever. Ladybug seemed confused while Cass smiled at her.

“You’re expecting!”

Suddenly everything made more sense, Marinette thought in that moment of realization, as she felt Diana give her her own congratulations along with Damian, who wished to both brag and inform the rest of the family.

This was really happening.

“Can— can we see Doctor Mid-Nite or Doctor Thompkins, please?” she heard herself whisper. The group looked at each other, Diana contacting the Watchtower’s doctor while Damian called for Tim and the rest of the Bat Family to come as soon as they could; was that overkill? Perhaps, but no one that was even associated with the Bats could be anything less than dramatic. Jon was the one who called Conner who called Adrien to go meet them at the Watchtower as well.

Half an hour passed and Ladybug found herself lying on one of the Med Bay beds with Doctor Thompkins, the woman having to be pulled until they mentioned Marinette requesting her assistance, making the last few configurations to the ultrasound machine.

“Are you ready, dear?” the kind doctor asked.

 Ladybug lifted her uniform, which she learned she could do at that moment, nearly squirming at the cold gel spreading at her softening abdomen.

“As ready as I’ll ever be” she laughed nervously before taking a deep breath. She couldn’t help but close her eyes, unsure if she wanted it to be true or not, before hearing the curtain open. Tim looked disheveled, most likely having come out of a W.E business meeting he had mentioned yesterday evening.

“Mari, what’s wrong!?”

Duhn-duhn…. Duhn-duhn… duhn-duhn

Marinette had never heard such a life-altering sound, feeling the tears swell in her eyes as her husband looked dumbfounded.

“Is— is that?” Marinette could only nod before being enveloped in a hug by him. He whispered sweet nothings and reassurances to her as the beautiful sound echoed in their heads.

“God, we’re going to be parents, sunshine”

“So it would seem, moonlight”

“M’Lady what’s—!” Chat Noir had sprinted from the zeta entrance having heard the far too soft heartbeat coming from the monitor, the Bats not far behind him. Suffice to say that the Watchtowers usual quiet was interrupted for the rest of that evening as cheers and congratulations went around the Med-Bay.

They would later learn that she had been nearly three months pregnant by the time they found out, explaining her team’s odd behavior due to the animal characteristics of the Miraculous. However, the worst news was to come a week later on one faithful morning.

“Oh kwami, get that away from me!” Marinette exclaimed as soon as she came out of their room in their studio apartment in Gotham. The scarlet hero having to rely on Pegasus for travel to and from Paris for the time being. Not that her team even wanted her on the field in the first place at the time but she was anything if not stubborn, a necessity for the Wayne family.

That was how the coffee obsessed duo discovered that Marinette and baby were disgusted by the mere smell of coffee. Truly, it was the hardest part of the pregnancy.

Six months later, when Thomas Louis Drake-D.C was born, his aunts and uncle would continuously call him the ‘Second Coming of Christ’ for doing the impossible and getting his parents to cut off their caffeine addiction, much to their annoyance. 

For now they were just a family of three, looking at the infinite stars of their baby’s eyes.

My AO3

Ko-Fi

I’m at it again!

Anyone else waiting for me to read too much into yet another RWBY moment?

No?

Well, strap in anyways, because for the 603rd time this week here we go!

So, everyone remembers this scene, right:

A lot of stuff happens in this scene. We learn Qrow didn’t know what a skirt was. Tai’s got a morbid sense of humor. Pete’s scared of mice.

But there is one tiny moment, one I never really paid much attention to because all those previous examples really stood out before – but now that I spotted it, I can’t stop thinking about it.

So it goes like this:

Pete asks Yang why she hasn’t tried on her new arm yet.

In response, Yang admits she’s scared and that she’s trying to get used to her new sense of “normal” without her arm.

Taiyang intervenes and tells her “normal is what you make of it”.

This fires Yang up a bit (haha, get it?), and says: “What is that supposed to mean? Do you want me to just pretend like nothing happened? I lost a part of me! A piece of me is gone. And it’s never coming back.”

And Tai answers like this (screenshots, because holy schmoly I can’t gif to save my life):

And that… that is a solid three second pause between those two sentences.

Not only that, look at the expression shifts: from solemn and melancholy as he first speaks, to thoughtful as he looks away from her after he says it, seeming to stare off as if distracted by something. As if, maybe, he’s thinking of something else, someone, that’s “not coming back”. Finally, when he refocuses on his daughter, it’s with determination and encouragement.

Likewise, when Yang says “I lost a part of me” this could have been a trigger to darker memories; because, while she means it literally, sometimes this is what a widower might say or feel like shortly after the death of their partner, feeling the loss on a spiritual and emotional level instead.

Equally, the first sentence Tai says is also a dialogue parallel to what Qrow ‘says’ to Tai several episodes later while lost in a poison-induced hallucination:

While the last word “back” is left unsaid, it seems fairly obvious to be where that sentence was going. I never put it together before, because though this scene was easy to notice, Tai’s was so subtle it’s a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ kind of thing. 

I’ll admit that it’s stretching it a bit, yet the fact that both these scenes happen in the same volume and Qrow’s is being given a special amount of attention to be included at all, makes it a bit more believable that there was some intentional correspondence going on. And while in the past I’ve teetered and tottered on who exactly the ‘she’ was, if these two moments were indeed meant to correlate one another, then I’m now positive it’s Summer. 

So, now I have to wonder: is Tai parroting more than just one sentence? Is everything he’s saying to try and encourage Yang something Qrow told him, more or less, long ago when Tai was much like his daughter, struggling to move on in life when he felt so lost and heartbroken?

Because, I gotta say, while Tai has been shown to be blunt he’s also more sensitive, but “When you’re ready to stop moping” has a harsher ring to it… and definitely sounds more like Qrow than anyone else I can think of.

And that’s it for this week’s episode of I need to stop watching RWBY every ten seconds of my life.

Next up: Probably a dissertation of Taiyang’s actually kinda messed up love life. Maybe.

ARC REVIEW INCOMING!!!

"TRUTH OR DARE" (DARE TO TRY 3)

BY: ELLA FRANK AND BROOKE BLAINE

AVAILABLE 09.27.2021 ON KINDLE UNLIMITED AND IN PAPERBACK!!!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars!!!

I have a small, tiny confession to make: I pre-ordered this book as soon as I found out I could. I don't even know when that was, but I was so excited to read the third book in this trilogy after loving "Dare Me" and "Dare You" so much that I thought I was going to explode with anticipation before "Truth or Dare" came out... and then I got the wonderful opportunity to review it in ARC format. So that meant I was getting the extreme privilege of reading and reviewing this book days before it would end up on my Kindle for me to own, honor, and cherish.

I was delayed somewhat in reading the ARC because of difficulties in getting it to me (a miscommunication and nothing anyone is ever going to hear about) or else you guys would've been seeing this review a few days ago, for sure. I truly would've liked to have gotten it out there sooner because if there was a mm romantic trilogy that has ever stolen my heart and swept me away, it's the Dare to Try trilogy.

Now, onto the brass tax: I expected to like this book a touch more than I did. That's why I rated it 4.5 stars instead of the 5 stars the two previous books merited from me. It had nothing to do with any of the characters, or with the plot. It had everything to do with the pacing of the book and the ending. The pacing of the book felt uneven to me. It's didn't make the book wholly enjoyable, but it was enough to jar me a little as we moved back and forth between Chicago and South Haven throughout the book. And I have to say... the ending disappointed me. It felt rushed and so anticlimactic I just kind of sat there and stared out into the distance for a moment after the book ended, going, "That's it? That's all we get?" I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't something so... placid.

Now, as for the spice: Holy schmoly, Miss Razzle Dazzle! I was definitely not disappointed on that score! With Kieran and Bash both fully on board in this book, navigating each other and testing the waters of each other's home bases as they try to figure out how they're going to make their lives work together, neither of our boys are holding back on what makes the other feel good or look good and I AM HERE FOR IT. Let's just say that Bash sure knows how to pick perfect couple's costumes. *fans self*

All in all, it was a sexy, sweet, and sincere ending to one of the best mm romance trilogies I've ever read. I've read them all on my Kindle, but you can be sure when I get some more money in my pocket these puppies will be physically present on my bookshelves as well.

Gin Rummy Is A Fun And Exciting Card Game

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