Confused and Concerned

she/they | writer | original fiction blog: Crisis-in-Progress Kofi | Ao3

[concernedbrownbread]

Hi! I write fanfiction and post fandom stuff, mainly related to Avatar the Last Airbender. I also write original fiction @crisis-progress

✒️ Currently working on:

Lily White, Poppy Red (atla roleswap AU)

This Unbearable Tragedy (TUAS4 fix-it)

various one-shots

No work is abandoned!

Ask box & DMs open if you want to talk!

[mbkieran]

spin the wheel and make a story!

asterisk (*) = optional

the main character's: gender species/race occupation*

the setting: primary secondary*

the genre: primary secondary*

and finally: the main conflict

[crisis-progress]

MC: Other/none/all, animal (wild), security guard

Setting: Castle, Neptune [this threw me for a loop]

Genre: Horror/Thriller, Fantasy

Conflict: Loved one missing or murdered

NOTHING IS OPTIONAL

Curled around weathered stone, watching with eyes like fire, was the dragon of Morsin. It was guided in its duty by an ancient pact with the witches of this citadel.

It did not know, yet, that it was guarding an empty castle.

For inside was carnage, the bodies of the witches twisted beyond recognision. Their spells stolen from the breath and their wands taken to be burned in the pyre that would summon a primordial evil.

And, at the shores of city, where the stone touched the domain of the god Neptune, a ship was boarding with the gagged, bound, last witch of Morsin.

[crisis-progress]

"Oh Murph said he doesn't want to dm on camera" "oh it's Brennan's hand in the video" SHUT UP. Shut the fuck up. Let me cope, Murph is going to be dm for the new season and Brennan is gonna be Avery.

[semi-inspired-prompts]

"Only a true loves kiss can save you --"

"That's pretty vague. What is true love? What kind of kiss? My mom kisses me all the time. You gotta be more specific, man."

The fae creature threw down his wand. "Look, do you want my job? Do you think cursing people is easy?"

[crisis-progress]

"Hey, no, I'm sorry," I said quickly, picking up his wand -- which thrummed with a power that kind of tickled, "Here. Curse away."

The fae cleared his throat, many throats perhaps by the sound of it, and adjusted its tie. Why a many-limbed, many-eyes creature of myth and legend chose to dress like a business man was anybody's guess.

"Very well. I curse your bloodline!"

"Nice!" I said. I didn't intend on having kids, but I didn't tell the poor fae that. He was trying so very hard.

He must've heard my tone, because he glowered. "And," he said pointedly, "I curse you to never feel the touch of a man."

I sighed. "Do you take notes?"

"Notes?" he crossed his arms and was sullen. Then, he grabbed a notebook and pen, "Yes, go on then."

"Well, your curses are very good," I began, because I'd been in feedback circled before, "But there're a little dated. Sure, a maiden in the mediavel times --"

"Good times," he muttered angrily, "People got cursed and were grateful for it!"

"-- might find these curses terrifying. But for modern people well ... they're a bit ... well, all the normatives."

"Normatives?"

I figured that getting into explaining all the buzz words might be a bit much. "What I mean is, you are assuming too much. I don't want kids and I don't want to kiss boys. People are more open about being different now."

"So I'm supposed to tailor my curse to the individual? That's too much work!" he threw up his notebook, which fell onto the counter.

I rang it up, "That's ten dollars."

"For a notebook?"

"Times have changed."

"Ugh! I curse you to work retail!"

We paused. Stared around the 7-11, empty now at midnight. I smiled at him ruefully. "That's a good one, but I think I'm already living it."

"I guess I can still curse people to be poor," he sniffed.

"Well ..." I consider telling him about the current economic crisis. Decide against it. "Sure."

"I take all my curses back. You don't deserve them," he grumbled. He gathered up the notebook and pen.

"No, come on," I said, feeling really bad for him, "We'll find a curse that sticks. Don't give up yet! There are plenty of universal experiences. You could ..." I scoured my brain, "Give me cancer."

"I curse you ... ugh, it's not fun if you suggest it." He hopped up on the counter, his man legs swinging, "It used to be so easy, you know. Find a newborn and ruin its life. Find a girl and make her a hag. Find a guy and give him a small dick. So easy. Things have changed. I can't curse anyone anymore without it being ... you know," he lowered his voice, "Political."

"Oh, come now," I scolded, "Curses have always been political."

"Sure, I suppose," he lamented, "I guess people have just gotten so complicated."

"Maybe you just need a subgroup that's easy to curse," I suggested, "People who are all similar enough and afraid enough?"

"Like Evangelicals?" he asked dully, "They're no fun."

"Well, look. I don't know how to help you," I said, getting a little frustrated, "You can't just keep complaining. You have to --"

There was a little jingle of the door opening and someone walking in, head bent over their phone and earbuds on. I beamed at my fae friend, "Look there! Curse them, go on."

"Yes. Good," he cleared his many throats, fluttering up. At the light reflecting off the shelves, the person finally looked up. Their eyes went wide with fear, which made the fae grin with rows of teeth. "You! I curse you ... to be woman!"

"Shit, really?" the person looked down suddenly as the spell took hold. Then, she broke into a grin, "Jesus, thanks! You know how much bottom surgery costs? This is great! How can I ever repay you?"

"That'll be ten dollars!" I called, gesturing the snacks in her hands.

"Shit, yeah, totally," she slid over a twenty, "Keep the change! Oh my god, thank you, wow."

I waved the woman goodbye and looked around for the light of my fae friend. I did not see it, but I followed the string of magic too the baking isle, where he was on the floor eating raw cookie dough.

"Hey, buddy," I said gently, "You did good, you know?"

"I cannot bless anyone! I'm not that kind of fae," he whined through a mouthful of chocolate chip, "I'm supposed to curse people! Make them miserable."

"Oh trust me, women still have it miserable. But ... you did a good thing. I great thing, even. I don't see why you're upset."

He shrugged. "I've never made people happy before with curses. It's called a curse for a reason."

"One man's curse is another woman's treasure," I tried. Read that on tumblr once.

He looked at me with many variously shaped wide eyes. "By the First Fae, you are wise, human. One man's curse ... another's treasure ... I could do this for a living!"

"Do ... what?"

"Curse people into the bodies they want," his wings fluttered, "And feed off of joy instead of misery! After I cursed that woman to be a woman, I'd never felt such a rush of pure emotion before, you know. And it tasted better too, but I was so startled I ... well, I admit," he looked about as bashful as a fae creature could, "I got a little scared."

"Scared by her happiness?"

"I'm a cursing fae, not a blessing fae. This is not my ballpark."

"But it could be."

"It could be!"

I looked at the twenty in my hands. Pressed it into his, "If you're going to stay on Earth you'll need money to buy more notebooks. Don't charge them when you change them, you can just come to me if you need it ... do you need to eat?"

"I'm going to eat joy from now on," he said happily, waving his wand, "Oh, all the people I'll turn!"

I smiled, shaking my head. "It's closing time, so you'd better get going. Anything else I can help you with?"

He looked at me with many wide eyes, tears gathering in them.

"O' wise human, by the power of the First Fae, I curse thee to never have to work retail again."

My phone buzzed. A message from my bank. I nearly stumbled when I opened it. Yeah, I'd never have to work retail again. Shit, I'd never had to work again.

"That's a good one," I said, tears in my eyes.

"I finally made you cry!" the fae exclaimed, "Yes! I still have it!"

[concernedbrownbread]

How's everyone doing with the ccod withdrawals this week?

[crisis-progress]

Damn sometimes I randomly think of the I'm Just Your Problem in the door episode of Adventure Time. They really snuck in 1000-year-old toxic yuri divorce arc into a 2 mins song of a 10 mins cartoon ep AND it wasn't even the most emotional song in the episode.

[crokka-smile-deactivated2022041]

I love Shakespeare

[junefrombug]

[junk-food-for-thought]

[Image description: text of the play Macbeth, that reads

Servant: There is ten thousand--

Macbeth: Geese, villain?

Servant: Soldiers, sir. /end ID]

[Image description: screencap of Zac Oyama on Make Some Noise, kneeling, with captions reading: "But enough about that." /end ID]

[frogpropaganda]

When Katara says "I'm just glad we finally have another girl in the group because you two [Aa.ng and Sokka] are disgusting," and then Toph immediately joins them in being disgusting, I wish there had been a parallel moment where after Zuko joins he's like "You three [Aa.ng, Sokka, Toph] are disgusting. How is Katara the only one here who knows what hygiene means? The rest of you act like you were raised in the jungle." And Katara is still mad at him but begrudgingly appreciates that finally there's someone in the group who washes his fucking hands and who she doesn't need to clean up after.

[crisis-progress]

No cap but it you're sleep deprived enough while you write, you will understand why the Prophets thought God spoke through them

And then you wake up and read the shit you wrote, bleh

[semi-inspired-prompts]

"Your application for Death has been rejected."

[crisis-progress]

"What? Why?"

A bony arm stretched from the abyss and tapped the paper.

"Invalid reason," the voice spoke, sounding like the voices of a thousand administration workers overlapping in a grinding machine.

"Invalid?!"

"Valid reasons include: Sick, Depressed, Giving up. Invalid reasons include: Cawabanga. You may re-apply next year."

"Aw come on, I wanted to die this year!"

"Re-applications re-open annually on October 31."

"And that's on you. No one wants to die during Halloween. You should change it to Valentine's."

"Invalid request."

[ge-nde-rr-env-y]

zac going "hey let me know if this is too weird and out there and ill do something else" about a pretty reasonable stretch of the male gymnastics ability truly 5 minutes after ally pulled that fuckin bullshit with the clown bit is. god thats so me. zac buddy. youre fine.

[honeygordo]

just got jumpscared at work today

[writingpromptaday]

The doctor held the gun with shaky hands. The soldier stood nearby to talk them down. “Doc, I've been trying to get you to kill people for years. But you haven't. So go ahead. Ruin your winning streak.”

[crisis-progress]

My hands trembled, finger curled weakly around the trigger. I could not feel the metal on my skin, can barely feel the floor beneath me -- blood was rushing to my head, blackening my vision.

"Just let me go," I said, "Or I'll -- I'll --"

"Doc, I've been trying to get you to kill people for years," General Anderson shook out the cigarette packet, "But you haven't. So go ahead. Ruin your winning streak.”

She didn't even look at me, putting a cigarette between her teeth and lighting it. Out of the corner of my vision, I could see other soldiers, guns steadily trained on me, but they had been told to stand down.

"I won't do this anymore," I burst out. "I won't -- there are children we're hurting -- I can't --"

"Don't tell me you've grown a conscience now. You knew what you were signing."

"I didn't know we'd be doing this."

My mind, far as it may be gone, zoned in to the steady drip behind me. The pooling blood on the sheets, spilling over onto the floor. I thought, hysterically, maybe the soldiers will slip if I run. I knew I could not run.

I never meant -- I didn't kill them -- I had been instructed not to, and I simple couldn't do it even if I hadn't been. I never killed them and -- and god, was that even a mercy? How could I keep them alive to suffer. I -- I shook my head. No more.

"Alright Doc, are we done here?" Anderson asked, approaching me with her hands raised in a mockery of surrender.

"Yes," I said, "Yes, yes, yes. We're done now. We're done."

I turned the gun on myself.

[crisis-progress]

y'all ever have headcanons about your own canon and then be like hang on. i can just do that.

[heart-full-notebook-empty]

Writing clichés that should definitely be brought back:

Old men in lighthouses

Sad painters

Hidden messages using the first letter of each line

Circus lion POVs

A writer crumbling each page as it comes out of the typewriter

A lone figure walking down an empty road (bonus points if the road diverges)

A mystery character standing under a lamppost (rain optional)

Waitress at a shoddy diner POV

Lone flower POV

[crisis-progress]

I'm sorry, rain for mystery character at lamppost is NOT optional

[semi-inspired-prompts]

A shadow passed over you. When you looked up, you realized it wasn't a cloud blocking out the sun.

[concernedbrownbread]

At first, you're sure it's a cloud. A massive ball of white streaking across the sky. But clouds don't move that fast.

You are the descendant of Sages, before the Sages died with the Fire Nation's expansion here. Still, you had been raised on the stories of Air Nomads, one of their temples just a stretch North of here.

You knew an air bison when you saw one.

But you'd only ever seen them in drawings. Their extinction a footnote in the tragedy of the Hundred Year War, and the genocide of the Air Nomads. But you had been so fascinated by all the little creatures lost to time. And the Air Bison in particular had held your imagination.

Later, you'll find out the Avatar is back. Later, when the war ends, you will learn the story.

But today you watch the skies for a different legend.

[eunnieboo]

pink in the night

[sourcherrymagiks]

If there is a time I don’t reblog this it will be because the apocalypse got me

[kingjinxii]

also the creator confirmed the brunette girl is trans!!