Tell no lie: it's impossible to lie to your soulmate? :3
Soulmate Prompts
Sentence Starters
(Send one from either/a combo from each!)
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To be honest, by his forties, Barry had stopped looking for his soulmate. He's got a steady job as a professor in one of Neverwinter's premier universities. He's happy in his apartment a few miles away from school, with the coffee shop nearby, and less noise than other places he's lived. He's got nice neighbors and a nice life. He's secretly becoming a lich using all the available tech he has in the college's lab, but that's not really anything to worry about.
So yeah, he's stopped looking for his soulmate. If fate wanted them to meet, they would.
By happenstance, fate did want them to meet.
Barry didn't even know it, at first. He doesn't run into his coworkers very often unless stepping into the staff room for lunch. But even then, he tends to sit by himself. Not a lot of professors eat in there and if they do, they equally do not want to be bothered. It works out fine.
Until Lup came.
Lup was their new evocation professor. Barry's heard a decent amount about her from college gossip- mostly from his students if he's being honest. She's an elf, three hundred or so, with passion for her job and pretty good charisma.
And she's attractive, is the thing. From Barry's perspective, at least. She comes into the staff room quietly, listening to something with Fantasy Airpods, and holding her lunch. Their eyes met and she offers a smile grin before sitting down across from him. Barry doesn't find himself annoyed, for once.
She pops out one of her earbuds and cracks open her container of pasta. It smells amazing.
"Sup," she says. She's got burn scars over her arms and Barry tries not to let himself stare too much. "I'm Lup, I teach the evocation course, still kinda new. You?"
"Barry," he manages. And then, "Magical theory. It's- it's nice to meet you."
Lup nods and smiles, and puts her airpod back in, ending the conversation. Barry looks down at his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and feels a little embarrassed.
They don't talk very much but it becomes kind of a thing, after that. Barry arrives in the staff room to eat his pathetic lunch, Lup comes in fifteen minutes later with something that smells delicious. They sit and eat until Barry has to go back to class, and Lup occasionally smiles at him.
The third week of them doing this marks the beginning of winter break. Barry's silently mourning the fact that Lup will be gone for three whole weeks, but also silently rejoicing the fact that he'll have the lab to himself for his lich work. He's just stood up when Lup speaks, for the first time since their first day in here together.
"Hey- Barry, right?"
"Yeah," Barry says, trying not to show how ecstatic he was that she remembered his name. "What's up?"
"You doing anything over the break?"
He thinks the words "not really", he really does, but what leaves his mouth is instead,
"Uh, some necromancy and shit, why?"
It takes him a moment to process what he's said and he only really does because of the look on Lup's face. Barry practically tumbles over himself to backtrack.
"I mean- it's- I'm just trying to become a lich, it's not like- fuck, I'm gonna stop talking."
His heart's hammering away, having jumped halfway up his throat in the process. Lup is staring at him and he just grabs his trash and hurries out of the room. He deposits the trash in a trashcan down the hall.
Fuck. Is she going to report him? Necromancy to that degree is illegal, at least in the way it's usually done. Barry had figured out how to become a lich without, y'know, killing anyone, but Lup doesn't know that. Is he going to lose his job? Is he going to go to jail, is the more pressing question, but all he can think about is who he can get to water his house plants-
Lup's in front of him again. She came down without him even realizing, because he was too caught up in what his neighbors would think if he got arrested. She still looks stunned, but recovering amiably.
"Barry-" she says. His legs won't move. "Two questions. First question, very important, I got a theory to prove, uh- ask me something. Like something simple, like how my day was, or what my brother looks like-"
"You have a brother?" Barry asks, momentarily distracted from his panic by the ridiculousness of her question.
Lup opens her mouth to speak, but closes it, looking contemplative, which was weirder than any answer Barry could have predicted. After a moment, she forces out the word,
"Yes?"
And then looks absolutely elated. Before he can question her, she presses on.
"Second- second question! Have you ever- Or, I mean- Okay, there's no nice way to say this, have you ever killed anyone? Or like- ar you planning too? For the lich thing, or. Or y'know, for anything else. Ever kill someone?"
"No!" Barry says quickly. "I'd never, I- I changed the theory- the process of lichdom. It's very, uh. Clean. No murder."
Lup looks like she doesn't know how to feel about that, but she's not running to call the authorities on him, either. She takes a step back and looks at him, really, properly, before nodding.
"Alright," she says, just like that.
"You believe me?" he asks desperately. "Just like that? You're not gonna tell anyone?"
"I'm not gonna snitch on my soulmate, babe, keep up."
Barry blinks at her. She's grinning at him.
"Oh," he says. "I- You must be very glad I'm not a murdered, huh?"
Okay all the talk about kravitz using antiquated words is fine but: a very oblivious kravitz doesn't realise they're on a date so Taako's like. "Krav I'm gay." And Kravitz is like. "oh I'm glad you're having a good time"
HAHAHA yes
on the other hand i also kind of love the idea that since taako's not from this planar system, kravitz is privy to all kinds of slang that taako has just not been exposed to. it's not like he was out there socializing before he joined the bureau of balance!!!
kravitz: - and the warlock had just polymorphed himself into a rat, of all things, but with the lair on fire that was a whole 'nother bucket of beans in a business suit that we didn't have time to deal with -
taako: excuse me??? what? what are you saying to me right now???
kravitz: oh, well, it's not like we were there to reap him, it was really just the portal to hell we had to close - not my clown, not my clowncar, you know?
taako: not your what
or like
angus: wow, sir, that's so cool! totally drippin'!
taako: ??? lmao
kravitz: aw, well thank you, angus! i think you're just a bowl full of soup yourself.
Big nerd sang Grease karaoke so hard he knocked his dang glasses crooked
This drawing is straight out of @sgrumby’s very good story, Labor of Love, and very very good Grease karaoke bit that absolutely knocked me out. Now my thoughts are haunted by TAZ/Grease ideas, but I’m a better man for it.
ID: [A pale human man and tan elven woman stand close to each other on a small stage, backlit by a screen. Her hand is on his chest and she gazes lovingly at him, while he blushes and looks surprised, dropping the microphone he’s holding. He wears a leather jacket, blue jeans, and black shoes, with a pair of black glasses that are knocked askew. The woman wears a short, fitted long-sleeve red dress, red heels, multiple gold earrings, and has her hair styled in a blonde curly bob. They stand on a stage in a dark karaoke room, with speakers and pink tv screen behind them, and a monitor pedestal on the stage in front of them. In the foreground, there’s a small table covered in drinking glasses, with the remnants of multicolored drinks in them. The screen behind the couple reads “Are what I need... Oh yes indeed...” in a round, italic font, white text with pink shadows. The scene is drawn in shades of navy, purple, and electric blue.] END ID
“Yes uh, I’m Lehman Kessler, that’s definitely me,” Barry said, and he was trying to remember why he had decided to volunteer for this position again. He was terrible at lying. Well, because it was either him or Davenport, and when it came down to picking Davenport had just stared him down until he cracked and volunteered. Which was usually the way he got out of doing anything unpleasant.
“And I’m Lela Kessler!” Lup added excitedly, and the engineer raised an eyebrow at that. Barry already couldn’t remember his name, and he was pretty sure he just said it.
“Your last name is also Kessler?” the engineer asked, and Barry could already feel this plan falling apart.
“Yes, uh, I’m-” Lup said, and he could see her glance over at him. Sister definitely wouldn’t be believed, a more distant relative might be passable, cousin or something. That wasn’t what Barry cut in with though.
“My wife. She’s uh, wife,” he said, immediately feeling like he wanted to die.
“Yeah! Honeymooning it up in Neverwinter!” Lup jumped in, and she sounded excited. She was always excited though, Barry was pretty sure she was the only one who was actually looking forward to these deadly missions. The engineer nodded, turning towards Davenport next.
“And you are?”
“Diddly. I’m their chauffeur,” he said, as straight faced as possible. Barry almost cracked, only his internal panic from the previous lie keeping him from laughing.
“A chauffeur... on a train?” the engineer asked, and Davenport nodded.
“I have off until we get to Neverwinter,” he said, the engineer nodding at that.
“Well then, Mrs. and Mr. Kessler, Diddly, welcome to the Rockport limited,” he said, and Barry felt more and more terrified as they got onto the train, giving up all their weapons on the way. Lup at least got to keep her umbrella, but he wasn’t feeling great going into this without his sword. Not that he was even that good with it.
“Sorry, about that,” Barry whispered as they made their way into the main part of the train. To his surprise Lup suddenly wrapped herself around his arm, giving widely at him, and he could feel his face heating up.
“Don’t even worry about it. This is gonna be fun, my dear husband,” she said, and as they went into the main chamber he could see the other people on this train. There weren’t a lot, some fancy looking kid, a really fucking beefy dwarf woman, and a human wizard. There was also the elf attendant, who had starting coming this way at the sight of them.
Well, at least only a few people would be around to watch him die.
“I’ll pick you up at the airport.” That’s what Lup had told Barry. It was before he confessed his feelings for her to who he thought was Taako, of course, but it’s what she told him.
She had picked up Taako’s phone to inform Barry that he was asleep, try again later. But Barry wasn’t listening, just going on about how I think I’m, like, actually in love with her and there’s no way she feels the same.
He sounded a little tipsy, a lot honest, and when he said, “What am I supposed to say? Uh yeah, ‘Hey, Lup, I’ve been head over heels for the past three years?’ No way,” Lup didn’t know how to respond. He realized it was her, hung up, and they haven’t spoken since. They haven’t even texted.
I’ll pick you up at the airport. She made a promise, and she doesn’t break promises.
Now Lup is waiting at the gate, looking at every face she can see, trying to spot his thick frame glasses and wavy black hair. None of the be-denimed guys she’s found are her guy.
She’s at his gate, waiting as the people filter out. Ironically, she’s next to another woman waiting for a reunion, and Lup watches her run up to and embrace a halfling who pulls her into a kiss. It’s a fairytale moment with a perfect airport ending, and Lup hopes that those two didn’t suck up all the romantic luck in this building.
And then… there he is. Jet-lagged and suffocating in the crowd, but he’s here. They make eye contact and the breath is sucked right out of Lup’s chest. Barry freezes, unable to look away, until he’s being shoved by other passengers trying to leave. Sheepishly, he gets out of the crowd and he’s standing in front of her.
“…Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Um. Thanks for picking me up,” Barry says, as if Lup isn’t in love with him.
“Of course,” Lup says, because of course she’s in love with him.
He looks down, awkwardly, and Lup thinks of the two women she just saw. She thinks farther back, of the last three years. Of how sure Barry sounded when he said there’s no way she feels the same.
“About the call—”
Barry can’t finish, because Lup’s hands are cradling his face and her lips are on his. He kisses back, immediately, fingers tangling in her hair. He tastes like sleep and stress and relief, and Lup guesses she tastes the same.
When they pull away Barry looks positively starstruck. “I—”
“I’ve loved you since the day we met,” Lup says, “I called you a nerd and you spilt coffee all over your shirt and I told Taako I would kiss you and here I am.”
Barry looks like he’s processing a lot at once. Lup doesn’t blame him. “…I love you too.”
Lup laughs before she really thinks about it. “I got that,” she says, pulling him back in for another kiss.
I don't know if there are any emojis you haven't answered, so author's choice!! You pick one :3
i feel like i've touched on a Lot of these so I'm trying to find ones that are not things I've already mentioned sldkfsd
🦋what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?
Usually the length, tbh? Like i know i shouldn't be judging my own chapter length, but it's vv hard sometimes, especially as someone who enjoys reading longer chapters. i try to make sure it's not too rambly or needlessly long but i also don't want it to be super short? But literally no one cares about it that much, i don't think sldkfsd. im trying to let myself be okay with writing shorter things.
🪄what is your post-writing/sharing aftercare? How do you take care of yourself or celebrate yourself when you've finished a fic?
usually, i just do things i neglected to do while writing, like drinking water or eating sldkfsd. i Do treat myself with various chocolates if i feel like it. mayhaps a cookie. or several.
🧿what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to?
surround myself w ppl who will tolerate it even if it isn't their cup of tea, tbh sldksdf.
i am trying to steer myself away from "aw no one liked this D:!" especially if the liked-ness of it is based on reblogs. I'm also trying to put myself first more and post things bc i like it, not bc i think other ppl will like it. i get vv bad at needing everything to be Loved and Cherished even tho i know the reality is that not everyone will always enjoy what i do.
i have also recently gotten a vv dramatic shift in how i view these kinds of things, mainly from the song Nine People's Favorite Thing. which is just like! yeah! i would be so much happier making nine people's favorite thing, than if i were making something that's 100 ppl's ninth favorite thing. there will always be someone out there who loves it, even if they come in small numbers.
