#Because there's a lot of Fairy Lights in that scene that are really bright like the Kart headlights

[emile-hides]

Upon rewatch of the Mario Movie, I really gotta wonder how long the Mario Bros were in the Mushroom Kingdom for. 

They get sucked through the pipe past sundown Brooklyn time, which depending on the season is like 8-9 o’clock, Mario arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom in the day time, maybe late afternoon, and spends the rest of the day through the night into the morning on Peach’s Mario Maker level, travels all the next day, sleeps in a Fire Flower field for the night, arrives at the Kong Kingdom mid the next day, leaves the Kong Kingdom on Karts around sunset, which turns to night as they are ambushed, leading to Mario and DK spending the entire night inside an eel only breaking out early the next morning, just to make it barely in time to Peach and Bowser’s wedding sometime around noon, and go back through the pipe to have it be early morning in Brooklyn with the rest of the Mario family carrying on with breakfast as usual.

So they spend 3 Days in the Mushroom Kingdom, but only like 12 hours of Brooklyn time seems to have passed.

[sorcerersseestars]

LIMERENCE IV

Gojo Satoru x gn!reader

series masterlist

chapter summary: You have a much needed heart to heart with the strongest.

warnings: mentions of death and injury, mention of major character death, slightly suggestive content (16+)

content: hurt/comfort, reverse hurt/comfort, fluff, slight cringe?

word count: 9k

I recommend rereading the previous chapter(s) because even I forgot some details...1000000% my bad for not finishing this up sooner. (More on this in notes at the end).

Okay I'd say the romantic scenes are like...16+? just to give it a rating. But lowkey some YA novels I read in middle/early high school were a lot more 'racey' than this hahah.

It’s dark, darker than the back of your eyelids. It’s silent. You can’t even hear the buzz of your thoughts—as if your mind is reflecting the emptiness in front of it. The blackness before you—the void, you suppose—is all you can see, hear, touch. Or maybe it’s that there is the absence of these senses—there is only darkness, only nothingness.

You can’t think, only observe, so when a bright light inundates your senses, sears itself into the back of your brain, you don’t gasp or feel fear. There is nothing to do but to take in the light, to be drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and accept whatever it brings you.

Memories pour over you as you are blinded by the light, dripping into crevices of your mind that you forgot existed. It’s almost painful, this influx of distant memories and feelings, rhythmic waves which crash into you over and over again.

All you can pick out of these memories as they spill into your brain all at once is a pair of luminescent eyes—they burn brighter than you ever realized. They follow your form more than you remember. Even behind shades, you can feel the intensity of them on your body. You sneak glances at them at every turn and get lost in them even when he isn’t facing you. You never knew how obvious you both were.

You never realized how much emotion he held in his gaze. He knew all the time, and yet you were clueless about your own feelings until just months ago. How ironic, how cruel...

Your eyes fly open. Reality slowly fills your senses. There's a gentle brush of wind from the open window; you scrunch your nose as strands of your hair tickle your face. When you look down, your gaze is drawn to the wash of orange and peach on the comforter cast from the dying sun. You're warm—cozy, even. You feel comfortable and safe—safer than you’ve felt in a long time, a feeling that blankets you with warmth and coaxes a smile out of you.

You blink blearily, sleep sticking to your eyes despite your attempt to rub the crud away. The ceiling finally comes into focus, and you vaguely recognize that it doesn't look like your own.

"Finally awake, sweets?"

For a second, you're startled by the inrush of sound and words, but then your brain catches up. The voice carries that familiar teasing lilt, that smirk that even comes through in his voice, the words rounded with softness just for you, it must be—

Your eyes go wide as you scramble up. "Satoru!"

"So I really didn't have to kiss you for you to wake up? Boooo! All those fairy tales are a real drag, lying to me like that."

Your gaze goes straight to him, taking in his appearance with a quiet desperation. Many dormant thoughts from right before you lost consciousness surge back into your mind: he had been harmed while trying to escape with you? Was he distressed by what happened? Was it all too much for him?

But, to your observation, he looks as he always does. There's no sign of injury or emotional distress. You should've known, really; with everything he's gone through in his life, he isn't easily affected. Or at least, not outwardly. His little smirk, his tousled hair, his lax demeanor—from a quick glance, he's the same as always. He doesn't appear worried or stressed with his easy expression—you don't know if you should be relieved or unnerved by that. Is what you see the truth or just a façade?

He has a chair pulled up to your bedside—taken from the desk on the other side of the room, you note—and he sits relaxed in it. He sinks into the chair lazily and he has one leg crossed over the other.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” He sing-songs. “Or should I say good evening?”

He shifts slightly, now resting his jaw in one open hand, which outlines his sharp jawline. His head is tilted to the side, making him appear almost coy. It must be a ruse, of course—when did Gojo Satoru ever feel shy?

Seeing as it's only him and you're in no danger, you huff out in relief, "You startled me!"

"Did I? Sorry." He chuckles, even though he doesn't sound particularly sorry. It's then that you notice he's wearing his bandages again. The white strips conceal his expressive eyes and all the emotions they could possibly contain. A hazy flash of his eyes spilling with tears crosses your mind, leaving you to wonder if that was reality or just your imagination. Your memories are fuzzy, lacking clarity that would reveal the truth.

Observing him now, it almost seems impossible that he could have cried like that for you. He appears so normal that it's almost frightening. With his practiced and controlled body language, you're only able to wonder at what he's feeling.

You want to ask him so many questions, but they all feel trapped inside your chest. There's so much that you don't know—there are so many things that could have happened after you lost consciousness. With how deceptively easy his smile is, you hesitate. Or maybe it's because, deep down, you don't want to know the answers.

But you should. You should know. No, you need to know, if the monstrous, looming question needling your brain and heart means anything. If you don't get this question out, the hurt and uncertainty will only fester.

"What happened with Suguru?"

His smile evens out slowly, expression morphing into something solemn and unreadable.

"Always asking the difficult questions first..." He says, tone ambiguous and revealing close to nothing. "You just woke up. Why don't we... talk about something else? I promise we'll get to everything later. Just give it some time—Shoko said you should try to take it easy when you first wake up."

There's a painful lump in your throat. You want to argue that can't possibly be what she meant, but when the room starts to spin, blurring in your peripherals, you find he might have a point. Besides, there's the reality that it's easier not to know, that you don't want to know.

"How do you feel?" He asks, as if sensing your inner turmoil, but you don't know if he's referring to your physical or mental state.

Without the answer to your question, you're okay. It's strange, but you don't feel scared despite what happened. If anything, you feel lighter and happier than you have in a long time. He's here, after all. And so you relent easily, with little resistance. You'll play in the world of pretend for a bit if it means he'll smile, if it means you'll feel okay.

"I'm fine," You say honestly, with a small smile. "Just a bit sore, if anything."

When you're met with silence, you glance over at him, noticing that his serious look has not faded. Maybe you weren't so convincing. You quickly redirect your attention to your surroundings, not wanting to be caught in your thoughts.

“Isn’t this…” You take in the room, ignoring how sore and tired your eyes are. “Your place?”

Now that you're sat up, you recognize it immediately, even with its less than distinct features. His room is plain, plainer than most would anticipate. For someone so loaded, his bedroom screams basic minimalist—white with black accents, just a few pieces of furniture, and muted decor. It’s nice, because of course it is with his budget, but not over the top like his personality would suggest.

“Hah, you noticed, huh? Perceptive as always, angel,” He says with a hint of playful sarcasm, and you’re surprised when the teasing quality disappears and his tone turns meek. “You haven’t been here in a while, wasn’t sure if…”

He trails off, laughing oddly, some real emotion leaking out. He almost seems nervous.

“If I’d remember? What, do you think I’m a goldfish or something?” You roll your eyes playfully. “Satoru, I’ve been here many times. Even though I haven’t been here in a while, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t remember.”

“Don't get your panties in a twist! Of course I knew you'd remember! I was just kidding," He claims, but he seems relieved.

"Hmm, sure," You say with narrowed eyes. "By the way, why am I here? Not that I mind or anything, but..."

"Ah. You mean instead of your apartment?"

"Or the infirmary," You add.

"Well, you were in the infirmary. Then you got better and Shoko needed an extra bed, so she kicked us out. And as for your apartment...it isn't in any condition to be lived in for now."

You frown and whine, "Hey! I'm not that messy!"

He hangs his head and sighs, "Angel, that's really not what I meant. There are other things that need to be cleaned up there."

"Oh," You say, finally remembering the gruesome scene you must have left.

"Yeah. 'Oh'," He mimics back.

He almost seems annoyed—at what, you can't be sure. The fact that you forgot or the fact that it happened? Or was it that you kept it all a secret for so long?

You shake your head slightly as if to rid yourself of these unpleasant thoughts. Then you process some of his words from earlier, displacing the negative thoughts.

"Wait, wait. What do you mean Shoko kicked 'us' out?"

He scratches his head sheepishly. "Did I say that? I meant you. Haha..."

You chuckle and slap your leg, thoroughly amused by the scenario you're picturing. "I see what happened here! Shoko got annoyed that you were hanging around all day today and needed some way to get rid of you. She literally sent you home, didn't she?

There's a pause. He looks down at his hands and lets out a small, breathy laugh. There's something sharp about it, bitter perhaps. His fingers are twitching. His reaction jars you slightly, veering from the upbeat, nonchalant character he's kept up so far.

"Today, huh?" He murmurs under his breath, too soft for you to pick up. Then he speaks loud enough for you to hear, "Something like that."

His words aren't too far off what they usually are, but his smile and light tone have been washed away.

"Did I say something wrong?" You ask carefully. "Is everything okay?"

He barks out a laugh right away. It's a harsher sound than it usually would be, full of disbelief as if he couldn't believe you just asked him that.

"After everything you just went through, you're asking me if everything's okay?"

You hesitate but persist. "...Yes? Can I not ask?"

He exhales loudly, his frustration and concern boiling over. His expression is neutral, but you don't miss the hard set in his jaw or the way he twitches from the tension of steeling his expression. His face hardens as if he's trying to hold back, but it doesn't last much long. As you closely watch his expression, you see the hairline fractures in his mask begin to spiderweb into something irreparable, to reveal a part of himself he can't take back. His heart is on his sleeve, and you greedily take it all in.

"You can, but— you seem fine and it's confusing me. I'm supposed to be strong for you and just get over it, but I can't see past the fact that I still don't understand what the fuck is going on. Everyone except Shoko was acting like everything was fine and normal before but now it— it's like they're not even surprised. How is it that I'm the most shocked? Even you, who this happened to..."

As he speaks, his words get more agitated and emotion seeps into his voice. He trails off at the end, leaving you to wonder what exactly he thinks of your reaction.

"You...feel that way?" You ask honestly, surprised by his admission. Based on his appearance and how he carries himself, most would be shocked. And even though you suspected something was brewing underneath his carefully crafted mask, even you didn't anticipate this.

"Yes! I just...this is strange, everything is. And even though it all happened to you, you're acting so okay and have been since I first saw you again. Do you know how much I—"

He takes a sharp breath as his emotions boil his insides. His throat tightens and the next words don't come out, won't come out, even though he wants to articulate how he's been driven mad with worry for you, that he's been falling apart while your life hung in the balance of fate. And yet he can't; the words won't come.

You dip your head in shame. It's not difficult to fill in the words he might have said, but you don't attempt to.

"Well, I guess it's like...I've been living like this for a while. But you only just learned of my Hanahaki disease and had to deal with it right away," You explain quietly. "I've had a while to process it, y'know? But for you, of course it would be hard to believe..."

While you speak, his face twitches as he reacts to your words, hardening and then grimacing. He sets his mouth in a firm line before he speaks.

"It's not just that. You've been sitting on so many secrets and I had absolutely no idea about any of them. And hell, based on my actions it seems like I didn't care to know, and I hate that. I can't be upset with you, and I'm not, but- just the entire situation...I can't stop feeling so...frustrated."

"...I understand," You say softly. "It wasn't right of me to hide it for so long...and if it had ended any differently, you'd be burdened with guilt even though it wouldn't have been your fault. Obviously, I was not in the right state of mind, but that doesn't make it right."

"That's not what I mean. You had every right to do what you did. I don't blame you," He says, then sighs. "Honestly, I've...been thinking. A lot."

Your heart drops. His tone is different than you've ever heard before. There's some mysterious emotion you detect but can't identify, and your mind starts to run wild to diagnose it. Is it irritation? Doubt? Regret?

"Thinking?" You echo back nervously. "That's dangerous for you."

Your joke falls flat; it doesn't so much as coax a smile or even an acknowledgement from him. That only makes you more nervous.

"I've been thinking about how this all happened, how fucked up it is that it was able to happen. I never imagined this situation, not in a million years. I've spent so long running from my feelings that I never imagined we’d reach this point. But how it happened..."

His meaning sinks in, even though he only alludes to your shared confession, as if it would burn him to speak those words again. You understand what he means: right now, you should both be happy. You both confessed after years of misunderstanding and yearning. But when you look to him, scouring his face for answers, all you can notice are the down-turned corners of his mouth. He doesn't look happy.

You think back to previous disagreements you’ve had. No matter what was said, it always ended up the same: his back facing you, his form receding into the distance. You were always able to eventually pull him back to you, but the image of his back has never left your mind. Is this the time where you lose your grip on your tie to him, the time where he finally disappears into the horizon?

Your thoughts bleed into your mouth without permission.

“Are you walking away?” You ask quietly before you can stop yourself.

“What?”

The word is pushed out of his lungs with so much speed and air that he has to take a breath immediately after. It has a sharp edge of something akin to anger, which you did not expect.

Suddenly, you feel very silly. You realize you just jumped to massive conclusions, because of course you have. You know this, you know you're not being rational, and yet your doubt persists.

You stutter, scrambling for words that seem to vanish just as you think them.

“You seem– I mean, what you just said...I’m sorry, I don’t know, it's just…you seem so hesitant and conflicted. It should have been a moment happy, right? But it was all fucked up and was forced on you...if you didn't do what you did, I would have–agh, fuck. I know I’m probably being stupid, but…if you’ve changed your mind, I-I can live with that—actually, no, that’s a lie, this whole situation proved I can’t—”

A choked laugh escapes between the fingers you’ve thrown to your mouth. It’s ridiculous how you’re laughing about your mortality—your life that was hanging on by a thread, a thread that was somehow woven back into existence.

“I mean I can’t change how you feel, obviously, and if you want to walk away then I can’t stop you, I’ll leave you with a nice bouquet at least—”

You hesitantly move your gaze over to him. He’s pale and his hands grip the sides of the chair tightly.

“Sorry.” You whisper out once you see his expression.

You thought he might find some humor in it—after all, he is practically the king of levity. Almost any situation that should be taken seriously and treated carefully and with respect is disregarded by him. And yet there is not a hint of a smile on his face now; you were sorely wrong in your assumption.

“No more of those," He shakes his head as he speaks, as if that will wipe away the images of your near lifeless body from his mind. "Please no more. To be honest…it really destroyed me, to see you like that.”

His words shake you to your core, alarm vibrating through your body. It destroyed him?

Your brain begins to connect dots you don't want to connect: the purpose of inducing your illness...the purpose of using you as bait. If seeing you like that almost broke him, was that the purpose?

You brush away these horrifying thoughts as best as you can, trying to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. You don't want to know, you don't want to know. You're suddenly grateful that Gojo didn't answer your question earlier.

So you sit silently as your features scrunch with guilt. To hear him practically beg you tugs at your heart painfully.

"You really think I want to walk away?" He asks quietly, vulnerably.

Your mouth opens and closes as you consider what to say, which words to pick out. None of them sit right on your tongue.

"No, I mean...I don't know. I forced this on you, so–"

"You didn't," He raises his head towards you, and you can imagine his gaze falling on you. "I don't want you thinking that. You didn't, okay? You should have never gotten sick in the first place. If only I came to terms with my feelings sooner...It didn't have to happen like this, and I'm so sorry that it did."

The tension in your body begins to dissolve as it dawns on you that he doesn't regret his actions, only the situation that induced them. And yet, it still rubs you the wrong way that he blames himself.

"It still feels wrong..." You frown. "Like it was some shitty last resort. Either you reciprocate my feelings or I die. Like, how manipulative is that?"

"Manipulative? You're seriously worried about that? Some people might call that romantic," Gojo scoffs playfully.

"I'm being serious!" You pout.

Irritatingly, he smiles sweetly. "So am I!"

"Nuh-uh, I don't believe you. What do you really think?"

He falls quiet, but his smiles stays. That persistent smile, or really smirk, that stretches across his face no matter the situation. It's just part of his show, of his ever-present façade. And yet...

"Hah... You're the only one who ever cares to know."

You roll your eyes at his dramatics. "That can't be true."

He raises his eyebrows slightly, and you feel his piercing gaze without even needing to see his eyes. His tone is light again, but his insinuation isn't.

"Do you think Yaga and the higher-ups really care about what I think? They only listen to me because they're scared of me. And when it comes to my...feelings...do you really think anyone thinks of that? It's like I don't have any."

You shake your head stubbornly. "Not to me."

He laughs softly, "Yeah, I know sweets. I've never had anyone challenge me about them the way you do."

"Well, how else am I to know?" You ask meekly, slightly embarrassed. "I know you have them, you just...don't speak on them unless I wrangle them out of you!"

He chuckles, "Sure."

"It's true! You still haven't really told me what you honestly think about... everything. There's got to be more."

He sighs, but you can tell he's amused at your insistence. "You really want to know?"

You nod earnestly.

"It's probably pretty pathetic."

"Then be pathetic," You say, perfectly serious. "You think I'll judge? After I pitied myself terribly for weeks for—I guess now—no reason?"

Your gaze is sharp and features hardened with determination, and yet all Gojo can think is how soft you are. Your eyes are bright, full of affection and hope and something else he doesn't dare put a name to, even though you already confessed it to him. He feels so fucking pathetic for the way he doesn't allow himself to feel your love even when it's sitting right in front of him. He feels so pathetic for the way he's been avoiding saying those three words again, for how the words get stuck in his throat and don't let his true emotions pass through.

He steels himself, trying not to ignore how the words echo through his mind like have they have been this entire conversation.

"I've always thought that l-...lo..." He swallows, his face burning red with shame that he can't even utter that word. "Love is a curse. Because isn't it? It almost... it almost killed you. You were closer to ...death then, than I'd ever seen you. And yet, in some fucking twisted way, maybe I needed that push. If that didn't happen...would I have ever told you?"

Each time he references your near-death state, his face crumples as if he's trying to hold back tears. It's then you realize that he doesn't allow himself to cry in front of you, or maybe in front of anyone.

"It's like the universe forced me to finally confess, after all these years. And still...still it's so hard to-" He sighs, brow furrowing in frustration. "To say what I mean. To say what I really want to say. It's kind of pathetic, isn't it?"

You smile softly and turn the hand closest to him so that your palm faces the ceiling. It skates over the sheets until it reaches over in his direction, enough so that he notices but not so far that he would feel obligated—it's for him to take or leave.

In another moment, you would burst out laughing at how absurdly fast he rushes forward to take it. But in this moment in time, you let your heart sing and your body feel warm everywhere.

For Satoru, this physical connection to you has significantly lowered his barriers. His mask slips even more, his persona waning in a way that makes him feel so exposed. Feeling you again makes him keenly aware of everything he almost lost.

"Actions speak louder than words. Didn't you come for me?"

"I was almost too late," He insists, voice cracking. "You were almost too far gone."

"But you came, and I'm here with you now. Everyone has their struggles, Satoru. Everyone. And it's not like I was brave enough to tell you, either."

He sighs, a shuddering sound you're not familiar with coming from him. "I don't feel like I'm supposed to have weaknesses like this."

"You're human," You say softly. "At the end of the day, we're all just human. You, me, and everyone else."

His face softens and his thumb absently traces the back of your hand.

"But I want to. I want to tell you everything, everything that...everything that I feel about you. I've always felt so much for you. There's so much I want to tell you, but..." He swallows. "It all gets stuck."

Your stomach flutters at his words. Now you feel so silly for asking him if he was going to walk away, because you feel all of his words so deeply. He's so sincere that it makes your heart skip a beat, knowing he thinks and has thought of you like this for a long time. You even feel giddy at his words, despite the situation.

"And that's okay. Do you think I can't feel that from you by now?" You reassure. "You don't even need to say anything. You never have."

Satoru shakes his head with some amusement, a small smile forming on his lips. He sighs and regards you with a disbelieving expression, as if he can’t believe your words. "God, the bar is in hell."

You can't help but erupt into laughter. "Satoru! Hey! You're ruining the momeeent!"

"Sorry," He smiles, and then his tone dips into something that has your insides stirring. "Am I really? Should I make it up to you, then?”

He leans over the edge of the bed more, and you're suddenly aware of how close he is to you. His elbows rest on the top of the mattress, near your thigh, and his head rests in his hands. He's looking up at you—you can just tell—and you feel jittery under his invisible yet ever-present gaze.

There's electricity in the air: the underlying tension has heightened, and even the brush of his hand against yours has your breath hitching. Your eyes fall to his lips—they look so soft, and such a pretty pale pink, and look so inviting—

Your eyes snap back to the rest of his face once you realize what you were doing. Your face is burning and you hope you weren't caught, but unfortunately it seems that may have been the case.

He rises from his seat slowly, with control, and sits on the edge of the bed. Wanting to be closer, you instinctively start to sit up fully, but you surprise at a gentle push at your shoulders, reducing you to resting on your elbows.

"Eager, are we?" He grins. "Did you forget that you're supposed to be resting?"

"Ugh! You– ! Shut up! I wasn't trying to do anything!" You say indignantly.

"Mmm, doesn't mean I can't though, right?" He says. "Like you said, actions speak louder than words..."

He pauses a few inches from your face. One of his hands gently brushes against your jaw and cheek while the other slides down your neck, causing you to tremble under his touch. He's clearly enjoying every second of this.

"Your face is warm, sweets."

"Shut up! No it's not!" You groan and cover your face with your hands, not able to bear the embarrassment. In the process, you brush his roaming hands away.

"Aww, don't do that," He coos, but isn't able to keep the laughter out of his voice. "Who said it was a bad thing?"

"Don't tease me," You whine, but slowly release your hands from your face.

"But I've missed it so muchhh," He sighs dramatically. "I've been deprived."

You deadpan. "That's your own doing."

"Harsh, sweetheart!" He winces. "But it's the truth, isn't it? I intend to make it up to you...make up for lost time."

The distance between you shrinks further. Your proximity is dizzying, unfamiliar and heart-racing and daunting and yet also so safe. A safe space carved out of nothing, comfort from the cold and unforgiving world you live in.

His fingers are on your face again, gently framing your jaw and chin, as if steadying you, as if he's going to...

"This is what I most regret not doing that day," He admits quietly.

"What do you mean?" You ask dumbly, thoughts muddled by this heat between you, as if you don't know exactly what he's doing.

"Before you fell unconscious," He says. "While you were...'in limbo', as Shoko put it, I wondered if I would ever be able to..."

Your heart beats quickly in your chest, making your breathing shallow. He leans in, fingers ghosting over your features and causing your eyes to flutter shut. You feel butterflies flitting around in your stomach; you're full of nerves, but also brimming with desire and yearning.

You gasp softly when his lips meet yours. Your hands immediately get lost his hair, fingers tugging gently on his soft strands. He kisses you deeply, so passionately that you fall back completely in surprise. It brings him down with you, but one of his arms frames your head and is the only thing that kept his body from collapsing onto yours.

"...to kiss you like this." He finishes breathlessly.

You thought he might make a joke about you falling for him, or about you wanting to be under him, but he allows the moment to be what it is. Intimate, close, vulnerable.

You circle your arms around his neck, pulling him down while you rise you, you closing the gap this time. Feelings that laid undisturbed for years now pour out all at once and you can't seem to catch your breath—or maybe that's because you don't want to let go of this moment.

You pull away slowly, hesitantly, your eyes never leaving his face. But something is missing.

You wordlessly reach for his bandages with tentative fingers. You tug at them gently, allowing time for him to protest, but he doesn't. He lets you take away the last protection he has, to peel away the last barrier to his emotions.

Your eyes begin to sting once the bandages fall away. A surge of emotions run through you, and you can't suppress your smile at the sight of his eyes at last. You have often compared them to the gems aquamarine and sapphire, but they shine brighter and more brilliantly than any jewel. You want to cry just looking at them—his glittering eyes that are consumed by emotion, full of affection and warmth and love, so much love.

"I love you." You whisper, reflecting what you see, overcome with emotion.

You're not expecting anything back, and truthfully you don't need any words to know his feelings. The emotion shimmering in his kaleidoscopic eyes is enough. You've never observed them this closely before, or for so long, and with each passing second their beauty intensifies.

He lowers himself a few inches lower yet, so close you can practically feel the warmth radiating from him.

It's soft and watery, but you hear it clear as day. "And I love you."

You can't contain yourself. You shoot up, tackling him into a hug, so enthusiastic and so unlike yourself that you can't help but giggle. This is something he might do, is what crosses your mind. Only he can make you act on your feelings like this. You embrace him tightly and unintentionally bear your whole weight onto him. You even end up audibly squishing the breath out of him.

"Mmph! For someone who just woke up from a coma, you're pretty...energetic," He says, voice slightly strained from your actions, but he's laughing. "Always full of surprises. You're adorable, y'know that?"

"Nope, so I guess you'll have to tell me again, then!" You stick out your tongue. You untangle yourself and sit up, and he follows ensuite. You begin to splutter out a protest when you lifts you and drags you to the headboard, propping you up against it so that you're not straining yourself. He murmurs something about 'how you shouldn't even be sitting up'. You feel warm at how easily he handles your weight.

"I have a lot of things to tell you," He says sincerely, arms still around you as he settles you against the back of the bed. "But I guess I can start with that. You're adorable, sweets."

You sigh, ruminating on his words even though you know he didn't mean them to be serious.

"Hah...I'm having too much fun, aren't I? For all of the things I still don't know."

"You can have as much fun as you like," He counters. "After everything...it feels important, doesn't it?"

You chuckle. "Okay, Mr. Sap. Next you're going to tell me to 'make memories, not excuses' and 'live, laugh, love' or some shit."

He playfully glares at you. "I was being serious! And I don't sound like that! All I meant was...you deserve to be happy. That's all."

He turns his head to look away, cheeks reddening as if expecting you to poke fun at him again.

Feeling bad for laughing now, you gently grasp his chin and turn him back towards you. "Thank you, Satoru. I didn't mean to laugh, and I meant what I said...I am happy, but I'm also ignorant. Is that really true happiness?"

Your words hang in the air, lingering on your conscience longer than you'd like to admit. You need to know.

"That's pretty philosophical," He says after a few moments, clearly caught off guard by your sudden seriousness.

"Maybe. But it's also true. I want to know everything..." You sigh. "Well, I do and I don't. I've been dreading it all since I woke up."

"We have time," He protests, eyes searching your expression. It almost sounds like a plead, and you realize the truth will be just as difficult for him to address, if not moreso. "We have so much time, sweets. All the time in the world."

"Not when I feel like this," You frown.

You see a flash of panic in his eyes. "Like what? Are you in pain anywhere?"

You wince at the misunderstanding. "No, no! I'm fine. Sorry, bad wording, that's not what I meant. I just meant that I'm going to feel unsettled until I know. It's like... I feel the truth in my bones, but I don't actually know it yet. I don't know if I even want to know, but I don't think it'll go away until you tell me...until you confirm it....does that make sense?"

He comes closer, as if sensing your need for touch. You lean into him, your head nestling into his chest.

"I know. It does."

"I don't really want to know...but I should. I should know."

He sighs, and it's tinged with exhaustion. "I know, sweets."

"You know what I want to know, don't you?" You ask, but it feels unnecessary. "What I asked you earlier..."

He doesn't answer, not needing to. He knows you'll ask, knows that you'll put the words out into the world.

"Satoru...he's gone, isn't he?"

You're met with a suffocating silence. You can barely breathe; it feels like time has stopped, it feels like those few words used up all the air in the room. The pressure hangs in the air like a spell waiting to be broken, crushing your lungs. In this moment, you feel like you'll never breathe the same way again.

The truth is uttered quietly in a weak voice. "Yes, he is."

Time resumes. Air enters your lungs, proving you wrong.

At the confirmation, the truth you felt in your gut now feels like a rock, sinking down and down and down, the truth making your dread coming to a height but also grounding you. And then suddenly everything clicks, synapses that long laid dormant now sparking and flooding your brain with information. Your eyes widen, focus going in and out.

You came to him. You made a deal unlike any other before it. You sealed your own death in stone, trading it with both of theirs.

This surge of understanding has disturbed your reality. You are stricken with shock: you remember. You remember everything. How you sought Geto out knowing that only one could remain in this world, believing Gojo could never go through with it. Geto's painfully innocent smile as he threatened and manipulated you, the sympathy he expressed that made you believe in Satoru's apparent indifference, planting a seed for your disease; everything.

There's only one reason you would be able to remember. Your head feels like it could explode, even though you knew it all along. Everything you tried to prevent still happened anyway; the curse fulfilled itself despite all your efforts. Everything was for naught.

Gojo watches your reaction closely, bracing you against him as if you're going to fall apart if he doesn't. You think there might be some truth to that.

"You remember now, don't you?" Gojo asks quietly, as if he can read your mind. "The Binding Vow..."

"Why?" You cry out, even though you know why, your voice sounding all too loud compared to Satoru's. "After everything...Fuck, that's all I ever wanted to avoid! That's why I did everything I did. That's why..."

You hike your knees into your chest, trying not to let out the tears that begin to form. You feel his touch immediately, you feel the guilt that radiates through his hands that try to soothe you.

"Fuck. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't meant to...I tried to stop it...Nobody was supposed to die..."

"You know that's not true," He pulls back to look at you directly, blue eyes burning into yours. "I don't know exactly what deal you made, but I know that's not true. You can't just say that, not when it almost cost you your life. Do you really hold no value to your life?"

His words hit you like a punch to the gut, and you're vaguely aware that he's angry. Angry that you risked your life for him, even though you know he'd do the same for you. But more than his anger, you sense the root of it: his unadulterated fear that you feel in his trembling grasp on you, see in his wide eyes.

"Do you really think that would have solved everything? That he would have kept his word?"

Guilt curdles in your stomach, but you also feel a rush of defensiveness. It's not like the choice you made was for fun; all you thought of was protecting him.

"It was a Binding Vow, Satoru. You kind of have to keep your word." You argue snarkily, but it sounds stupid even to your ears.

"Only about what is actually discussed. Unless you laid down conditions about every little thing...there are ways around everything."

Well, you can't argue with that. The vow was hastily taken when you were younger and more naive. You were desperate and blind to all of the holes in your plan.

You slowly raise your head, cogs still turning. "Satoru...how do you even know about the vow? Even I forgot. I couldn't have told anyone."

He chuckles darkly, "Geto wasn't exactly trying to keep it a secret. Yaga heard about it, and I'm pretty sure the higher-ups knew too. Ever wondered why you kept going on so many misinformed missions? They were trying to get rid of you, thinking you made some heinous deal with Geto. And of course Geto knew that would happen. I never- I never thought Suguru would go so far...I should have finished him off a long time ago."

"Satoru!" You're truly shocked by his words. Is this really the same man who bawled into your shoulder after Yaga and the higher-ups ordered him to carry out Suguru's execution? There's a reason you made the dire choice you did; he was incapable of carrying it out, and you feared for the worst.

Your eyes search his for the truth, and you find it. The dark glint in his eyes overshadows any past affection he had for his former friend. But there's more to it: the protective grip he has on you, the way his hands run up and down your sides as if reassuring himself that you're really there...

"He was fucking evil at the end. What he did to you..." His voice is weak. "I couldn't look past that. After all our years together, I can't believe he would go so far for his own agenda."

"But-" I didn't want him to die. I didn't want you to kill him.

He sees the doubt in your eyes. "Angel, there's no way. No way I couldn't have done what I did. You have no idea what you looked like...What he put you through..."

You glance down at yourself, frowning. Your brows crease in confusion. Sure, you had felt pretty bad, but you still survived. It's not like he actually did anything to you, just let the disease run its course. Okay, so you were maybe the closest to death you've ever been before, but you'd seen other sorcerers in worse condition who had made a full recovery after. And you woke up after all, didn't you?

"I mean, I know Shoko presumably fixed me up, but I don't feel too bad now."

Gojo sighs. "Do you know what day it is?"

You hesitate, thinking. It was Wednesday night when you were kidnapped. "Uh, it should be Thursday, right?"

"It's Monday."

He watches the realization sink in as you grow unusually quiet and withdrawn. Your mortality feels so fragile suddenly. His reaction makes sense.

"I've been holding my breath this whole weekend just hoping you'd pull through. Shoko didn't even know if you'd wake up at all. You almost died, and Suguru was banking on it. You almost fucking died, angel. You were on the brink, and...I couldn't handle it."

You look down at yourself again. Now that you look closer, you look sickly—horrible, really. Your skin has lost the luster it used to have and your nails are brittle and cracked. Your hair is thinner than it used to be, too, and its usual shine has been diminished into something dull and lifeless. You were almost lifeless.

"Bet I still look like shit, huh?" You chuckle weakly.

Gojo goes still, expression turning stony. Although he doesn’t say anything, it’s all over his face that he’s holding back strong words at your half-assed, dismissive response.

You sigh, “Sorry. I shouldn’t just…brush it off. I know I was in deep shit. But at the same time, I had already accepted it. It sounds bad, but…I was expecting it from the first flower. Deep down I truly thought I was going to die.”

"You almost did."

You wince, guilt flooding you.

You slowly grab his hands and look up into his eyes, trying not to shy away from his probing gaze. "I know, but I didn't. I got myself into such a mess, and somehow you were able to get me out of it. Somehow, you saved me from it all, Satoru."

There's a pause, and then...

"Well, I am the strongest for a reason."

And there he goes, turning your serious conversation into something rather unserious.

"Would you stop with that?!" You pout, holding up a pillow and miming hitting him with it.

He laughs and wraps his arm around you, easily giving him the leverage he needs to pull the pillow from your grasp.

"I'm so sorry, angel, please forgive me!" He shouts desperately, making you giggle. "But you shouldn't be trying to hit your knight in shining armor, should you?"

He shakes you a bit to emphasize his 'desperation' and frowns like a kicked puppy. You huff, trying to seem annoyed, but his behavior pulls a smile from you. You can't possibly stay mad at him while he's pouting like this.

A long moment of peaceful silence stretches out, a piece of bliss that is soon stolen away.

“Do you hate him?”

You look up into his crystal eyes, searching them. You didn't expect him to ask you that, and so suddenly at that. “Suguru?”

He nods.

“…I don’t know. He tried to use me as a pawn, to sacrifice my life to try to get you to break. To force you to be on his side. Considering that, he didn’t have any regard for our well-being anymore…I never wished any bad on him, and yet it seems that’s all he had planned for us. Bad things, cruel things. I was his pawn, you were his queen he wanted to capture.”

“...Queen?”

You laugh, spluttering in embarrassment, “W-well, the queen really has all the power in chess! I was just thinking the queen is the one who can actually do things and stuff, I don’t know, just leave me alone! I’m bedridden and you’re interrogating me on my terminology! Maybe you’re the cruel one, Satoru.”

"No, no," He half-smiles, and it's bittersweet. "He definitely was. To take you away from me—no, to take away your life—that's really the only way I can imagine myself breaking. I didn't know it for a while, but Suguru was truly cunning and calculating.”

He pauses for a moment, and as you look into his eyes you can see his conflicting emotions swirling in them. Deep down, he still cared for Suguru. That’s why it hurt.

He chuckles, shaking his head, “It's funny—that's who I thought I was. Everyone always thought Suguru was an angel with a perfect moral compass who could do no wrong...or at least I did. But it turns out that you're the only angel here. My angel."

“Har har,” You roll your eyes. “And next you’re going to tell me I made a deal with the devil.”

“You practically did,” He grimaces. “That’s really not too far off.”

“Maybe, but…” You sigh. “Somehow, it’s still hard to hate him. He used to be so kind, and his smile was so gentle. Maybe in another life, he stays that way.”

There’s a lot of things he could say, a lot of ways he could respond. Your hope for Geto to change, your faith that he could change in another life, may fall on deaf ears. Is that what you would want to hear after finally executing your best friend after a decade of refusal to, a decade of asking yourself the same questions?

You turn to him, eyes searching his face. But it turns out you don’t need to worry.

“Maybe,” Gojo smiles, and that’s good enough for you. “And maybe in another life, I would have confessed to you a long, long time ago.”

“Really? When?” You laugh.

“Hm…how about the first time I saw you?”

He tucks a stray strand of your hair behind your ear. Your breath halts at the absolutely love-struck expression on his face.

You want to ask him what he means, how that’s even possible, for every detail and moment he realized, but…

“You’re full of shit!” is what you say instead.

He continues on with a sweet smile, as if he hadn’t heard you, “You walked in holding a huge stack of books to your chest and got so nervous to introduce yourself in front of the class that you forgot to put them down and dropped them when you bowed.”

“Ahh! No I didn’t!”

“Mmhmm. And you were so shy that you refused to talk to me for three weeks, even though you talked to Suguru and Shoko.”

“Y-you were hard to look at!” You defend yourself, cheeks warming. “And how could I talk to you when I could barely look at you? You’re so…perfect, y’know? It was hard to talk to you when you’re so talented and pretty and charming…”

“Ooo? You really think so?” He wears a shit-eating grin.

“Okay, that’s enough!" You pout, crossing you arms.

"Awww, don't be mad at me sweets!" He chuckles and wraps himself around you. "I'm only telling the truth. You made me nervous too, y'know?"

"As if," You frown. "It didn't seem like it."

"Maybe I was just better at hiding it," He says, his smile now seeming misplaced. Each stirring feeling conjured a mask so convincing that it remained unquestioned for years, not until each of your blinding smiles formed cracks in his fake persona, breaking him down to his barest bones. Then he was a blushing mess around you, as Geto and Shoko often reminded him.

"Actually, I think you just weren't observant enough," He sighs and puts a hand over his heart as if offended. "Did you not pay any attention to me, sweets?!"

"I did! I just thought you hated me at first," You admit. "You wouldn't even look at me for so long, I just thought you looked down on me. I mean, you've always been so famous in our world, y'know? It made sense why you wouldn't pay me any attention. Well, I thought as much until we became friends, at least."

He moves in closer, his large fingers framing your cheek and rubbing gently your cheekbone. He's flushed, pink spreading across his cheeks and nose. "Hate you? I really messed up there, huh? Look at my face, sweets. I was just worried this would happen. You've always had this effect on me...I was scared that it was obvious even without speaking to you. Or looking at you."

You roll your eyes playfully. "How could that be obvious, Satoru? Only you could think that."

"Hmm, but everyone else still seemed to know."

"What exactly do you mean by 'everyone'?"

He chuckles. "It's a long list, sweets."

It's then you have the realization that you're still in the dark about a lot, not just this 'long list' of everyone who supposedly was aware of Gojo's affections. What exactly has transpired in the past weeks, or even months?

"There's still a lot you haven't told me yet. What exactly has been going on?"

He smiles. "That should be my line. There's a lot you haven't told me yet."

He's right. Annoyingly right. There was more to the vow, more to Geto and his family, than you've relayed. And everything about your illness...

It dawns on you that there are things you aren't ready to share yet. That you and Gojo have your work cut out for you when it comes to the past, when it comes to your relationship. You have love for each other, but there's more than that to a relationship.

"I know..." You frown, dreading the prospect already.

"Hey," He thumbs at your down-turned lips. "We'll get to it—we'll get to everything. We have all the time in the world now. We can talk about all the millions of things you're thinking about whenever you're ready...but for now, let's just have today. Today is for us. There's always a tomorrow, yeah?"

Hope blooms in your chest. That's right. One step at a time.

"'Today is for us'...I like that."

You smile easily, an invisible weight lifting from your chest. You feel lighter than you have in months—and it seems like Gojo is faring similarly, with his relaxed expression and gentle smile. But a flicker of uncertainty, given away by his eyes that he's not used to having on display, interrupts his otherwise peaceful expression.

Your smile drops. "What? Is something wrong?"

His narrows his eyes. "Can you read my thoughts or something? I was thinking for legitimately three seconds and you start hounding me..."

"Like I said before, thinking is dangerous from you!" You giggle.

"I really can't hide anything from you, can I?" He chuckles, shaking his head. "It's just that...I have a feeling that things are only going to get more complicated from here on out."

His words are cryptic, but you understand what he means. He's always been sensitive to changes in cursed energy, born with this innate instinct. He almost always senses major events in the sorcerer world before they happen.

"You've sensed something?" You ask, now alert.

You see something like regret flash across his features, as if he wants to eat his words. You're the type who is constantly overthinking and fearing worst case scenarios, as he well knows. You should be worried, with a million thoughts running through your head. But right now?

"Whatever," You shrug, truthfully unbothered. "As long as you're here, it doesn't matter. Even if the world is supposed to go up in flames, we have today. And you protect our tomorrow."

"Just me? Aren't you a sorcerer too? Don't discredit yourself, sweets," He smiles, but the look he gives you is firm. "We protect our tomorrow."

Embarrassment fills your features; you have always doubted your abilities, which has never been hard with Satoru around, much to his distaste.

"If you insist," You say, barely acknowledging yourself, but it's better than nothing. You look away from him, squirming uncomfortably in embarrassment.

"Mhm, I do," He hums. "It's always a we now, sweets."

But just as soon as you've seen his soft and sincere side, it's gone.

"But enough of all this boooring talk! Now that I have you, I think we have lots of lost time to make up for."

You raise your eyebrows. "What's wrong with talking, hm?"

He's so close again, and your eyes can't help but flick down to his pale pink lips.

"I don't need words to say what I want to," He says, lips brushing the skin on your neck where your pulse thrums.

"Is that right?" You try to ask, but soon your lips are occupied, your words muffled as he kisses you deeply.

"Mmhmm, and I have so much to tell you," He murmurs. "I've been needing this for so many years, angel. Been needing you."

You feel like you can't think, like you can't breathe.

"I want to do— I mean, talk about more things with you."

You don't miss the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and the way he pulls you closer and presses your body against his, your skin brushing against his. You feel heat, you feel electricity; you feel him.

He's all you want.

"Freudian slip, Satoru? Well, talk all you want. I'm all yours."

TAGLIST: @certainduckanchor @kawaiivillainess98 @arehzhera @starrylibras @mandysfanfics @rain-and-a-nice-nap @csillana @sup-hoes-its-me @llliissuu @hawkdaddy1111 @dcvilxswish @angel-kyo @eliz-lovesgojo @5268r @wooasecret @timetobegone @ceronnica @torusblindfold @mo0nforme @crookedlyaddictedtodark-blog @soapysofi @sadmonke @shartnart1 @dummyf @adoraspace @allie-jay @notgoodforlife @spin-garden @astrokatsuki @reiluvr @kinny-away @turtl3-warr1or @slyhersophia

notes: not me foreshadowing Sukuna and his long long list of consequences...especially that one :( also sorry for offscreening Suguru 💀

Guys I'm finally done!!! I think I need to ban myself from doing multiple chapter works because I really just make you guys wait for waaaay too long... Either that or I have to finish writing the series first before posting any of it LOL. Like do you want to know something embarrassing? I had to reread my own writing because I forgot what I wrote...which is crazy!!!

Also I rewrote this like 3 times AGHHH and I had the hardest time with the ending...I hope it's not too awkward or sudden? I tried my best with it ;-;

Thank you so so so much for reading and commenting!!! <3 And again, sorry to keep you waiting for so long!!

[lovingjingyuan]

Sweet Jing Yuan Headcanon pt 1

I love Jing Yuan so much I had to write about him. I never really enjoyed writing but for him yes! I love this man to death and he's the sweetest and the kindest man! Also gentleman!!! He would be an amazing supporting husband for sure!

Warning: None!

I'm gonna write an NSFW version when I have time.

-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-

Jing Yuan who is general and never experienced love til he met you♡

-Jing Yuan is a busy man and most of the time he's never in his office yet he always makes time for his beloved. Need help with anything? Somebody is already on their way. It's either him or someone else capable of handling the situation.

-A busy man needs motivation and you are his motivation. Jing Yuan is perfect in almost every aspect til his new title "Dozing General" for his overly laid-back demeanor and "laziness" til they see the pile of paperwork and overfilled schedule. One kiss on the cheek and he's suddenly energetic and back to work flying through the paperwork.

-Doing work, especially reading through hundreds of files is no fun but draining. The only time he really takes pleasure in it is when you are by his side. He made sure to give you a few kisses even subconsciously. For example, your forehead, cheeks, lips, and anywhere at random in the middle of work.

-I feel like this man is actually clingy. Lion cubs depend a lot on their mother and his mood depends on you. When you're sad he tries to figure out the problem and cheer you up, when you're upset or mad he might chuckle and try to make it better by overstimulating you with kisses or buying your favorite food. Yet in return, he wants kisses and cuddles.

-Like a lion needing to sleep by their mother's side at night he holds you close to his chest as you both sleep peacefully. If you're anxious at night he'll put up fairy or night lights up for you.

-Although his schedule is flooded with meetings and having to attend them. He always finds a way to add in dates with you in his schedule because to him you and him both need personal quality time together. Each date is extraordinary. It can be a trip to another planet like Penacony or a fancy dinner in the Luofu or another Xianzhou ship, even staying in his room cuddling and kissing all night while watching films!

-Jing Yuan who will support you in any goals you wish! He'll help you as much as he can just reward him with some kisses and cuddles. He loves you so much it's hard to say no sometimes to you.

-Jing Yuan who will put you in place if needed. Remember that one scene with Yanqing where he wanted to continue fighting I think, but Jing Yuan told him enough? Jing Yuan knows it will hurt your heart if he tells you to stop or no, but he will for your safety if it's too reckless because he wants to protect you. He only does it when it's mandatory and will get serious when needed but he'll never do anything to harm you.

-Jing Yuan plans and thinks carefully about the future with you and him. There is not a single thing he wouldn't do for you to keep you and his future bright. He understands the consequences very well in everything and will do his best to ensure the safety of the people he loves that is you.

-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-

I wrote this when I was supposed to be studying for my political exam. Oh well, I'm gonna fail but worth it for Jing Yuan <3 I also love this man so much and his character and design! His charming personality and how he gets serious when needed. i love that one part where he was giving Luocha a trial and when he got complimented he joked around and was soft a bit before getting back into serious mode.

His character is everything to meeee! I don't wanna mess up his character too much for Yandere Jing Yuan so gotta write this! Hopefully, it's in character 😭 cause I know Jing Yuan is a sweet gentleman.

I don't need a man like Jing Yuan I need Jing Yuan.

[eightfish]

Hello! I’m very curious of your use of colors and how you go about choosing them for a piece? They all have such a nice vibe and are a treat to the eyes!! I’m also surprised you’re a med student!! How do you juggle making art with your studies?? (from the few things (very very few) I know about medical studies it just seems like a LOT of studying goes on, so I’m very curious!)

Sometimes artists make things look so easy! I want to talk about my artistic process honestly, so I’m going to show you some pieces I struggled on, with my reasoning and references, and also my mistakes and where I asked for help. I’m glad you like my colors, they’re sometimes what I end up spending the most time on.

So hello and welcome to a somewhat long write up.

First I want to show this piece, “A friendship between an escort and an eel man,” that I love the finished colors of but was a pain while I was making it:

I start off with two ideas I wanted to combine for the color scheme: 

The two halves, the human half and the eel tank half, should be distinct. I thought human side red, eel tank blue. 

2. For additional contrast, I wanted human half dark and eel tank bright.

Wasn't entirely clicking, but I decided to just start slapping down colors and adjust later.

A note on shadows and lighting- shift not just the values (light/dark of the color) but the hue as well (the.. color of the color) to give a piece a richer tone. Here I’m making the shadows more red and the lighting more yellow (though in the end the lighting is blue instead). 

(Of course, changing value only is a choice used in many color schemes as well. Maybe if you want a piece to look dingy, or monochromatic. You can do anything if you do it intentionally.)

Here I liked the warm human half, but I didn’t like the blue tank so much.

Tried some warm colors. Still wasn’t working. Though bringing the yellow into the tank made the piece more cohesive, having the whole thing be similar colors was not my initial goal. It looked boring, and the eel tank was not separate enough. The yellows and browns on the aquarium side did not look like water, even when I tried suggesting the top of the tank.

I asked a friend (@veritasgloriamart) for help and she sent me this reference: 

I adjusted the tank colors to the reference, and added a blue glow instead of yellow to help connect the two sides. It was still not looking cohesive enough to me.

A blue overlay layer added to the human side to make the colors even more aligned with the tank side worked! Overlay layers are magic. They can really help make colors come together. Here the purple on the human side still works to separate it from the tank, but the blue shadows bring them together. It was looking really good now! 

Contrast is important, so eel man became darker. Him and the escort are the subjects, so they get to be dark against a light background. Contrast and focal points are important.

After some cleaning up, here is the final piece again! I put some pink in the tank to bring some of human side into the tank side too.

Here is a second piece I struggled with:

Again I start off with some ideas: the scene should  look warm and comfortable. I thought I should use a lot of colors, to make the meal look like a colorful feast. But I wasn’t paying enough attention to lighting and contrast, so it was looking flat and disorganized.

I decided I wanted the colors to look more intentional. Let's do purple and yellow, warm and complementary colors. Green and red because food needs those colors. But the contrast was still not good enough. The piece still lacked clarity and focus. 

One thing to do when struggling with contrast and clarity: switch to thinking with values. Working in black and white, I made the figure of the fairy on the left darker against a lighter background to make her stand out, and I made the unimportant edges of the piece darker, but it didn’t feel like enough.

My friend (thanks @deoidesign) gave me critique to make the lighting bolder on the hair and table, making the silhouette of the fairy much more clear. After following the advice, it was really working for me now!

I used the gradient map tool to rough out a similar yellow and purple color scheme as my initial idea:

After adding the gradient map it’s pretty much done. Gradient maps are magic.

I lost the idea I started with, making the food colorful, but the food worked better being all yellow instead. Making the food all one color made the lighting more clear, deemphasized it, and let the characters stand out. Things don't always have to be colored the color they actually are.

Minor details added, final piece.

"Eating faerie food gives them power over you, but if fae eat human food, it works the other way around too. These three don’t mind either way."

Final example, a piece that wasn’t a struggle: A necromancer and kitty’s latest conquest. 

Sometimes, coloring is just vibes. 

The starting idea for this one: muted blue and purple/red.

I took some inspiration from this piece by an artist whos work I love love love (the green one under 2021): 

That piece inspired me to add the beige, green, and pink from the color scheme. I also nudged the reds more into purple to make them softer.

The plants got to be green, as did the walls. Blue and purple, the cooler colors, for the shadows and darker plants. Pink as a bright color, used sparingly to add warmth. Beige used wherever it fits, to calm everything down. The colors for this piece came naturally so I don’t have a lot of progress shots. 

Some things I was considering here: I was blending the colors into each other and reusing them throughout the piece. Nearby colors bleed into each other, unifying them. Things are not held to the colors they would be in the real world, but rather what looks good. 

Only very minor changes were made after the color sketch. Final piece:

When I’m not feeling like experimenting so much, sometimes I just fall back on color schemes I’m used to. I know red, green, and yellow look cozy and warm together so a lot of my pieces use that.

On learning colors: 

For me, learning means paying attention to the colors in the world around me and to the colors in other people’s art. I note the general idea of color palettes (example: yellow highlights, blue shadows is one I see a lot) and the impressions they give off. I’m slowly building up a library in my head of palettes. 

Tips summary:

Having some idea of the mood of the piece or a general palette can be a good starting point

Ask for help

Take inspiration and use references 

Value is more important for clarity than colors are. If the colors are not working, it could be because the values are not working

You don’t need to color things the color they actually are. Color them how they look or what looks best for the piece. White things are not necessarily white, skin is not necessarily a shade of brown. The lighting of an environment changes the colors you see.

Iterate on ideas. Critique yourself. 

Thinking of a piece as a whole helps the colors look cohesive. Think of palates while considering the whole piece. Intentionally reuse colors throughout.

Consider bleeding nearby colors into each other. In real life, bounce light can give this effect. In art, it’s not necessarily always realistic but can add texture and cohesiveness.

Practice practice practice

The end. I hope it’s useful! 

[eirist]

All Wrapped Up

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T (Just a lit-tle suggestive)

Note: This was supposed to be an entry for the ZoNa Holiday Events at Tumblr and a holiday fic (would have checked Prompt #1 – Christmas Party and #8 – Red Lipstick) but it didn’t make it. Still, I want to get this out there even though it’s 2024 already and January’s about to end.

Also this is a companion fic to The Cat Burglar and As It Was one-shots. Set in the same AU. Because I adore that AU. First ZoNa fic for 2024 so enjoy the craziness!

Summary: His answer was a simple yes. And gave her that smile that never fails to steal her breath away.

Sparkling.

Everything and everywhere is freaking sparkling.

From the snowflakes and ornaments hanging from above, the wiry white branches lining the hallway, the garlands wound around the stairs, the Christmas wreaths peppering the walls, the table centerpieces and candles… and of course, the huge Christmas tree in the middle of the room where the party is held.

Everything she set her eyes on is absolutely glittering…

…and white. Did she mention white? Freaking pristine white.

It was like the place was snowed in overnight. And that snow settled in a kind of aesthetic way that it made the place look enchanting just like inside a fantasy winter palace.

“So…” a voice suddenly spoke up beside her, pulling Nami out of her entrancement. “Is this what it feels like to be inside a snow globe?” Usopp remarked as he observed the scene before him with a grimace, handing Nami a tall glass of—yes, no surprises with that— sparkling wine.

“Thanks,” Nami smiled as she took it from him. “You know, I actually thought I died and gone to heaven when I walked in,” she muttered as her eyes followed a heavily-jewelled matron who strode past them. “Everything is just fucking white and sparkling.”

A snort of laughter escaped Usopp. “You? In heaven?”

She narrowed her eyes at him knowing where his comment is heading.

“I highly doubt that that’s where you’ll go,” Usopp teased. “You’re too evil.”

“Shut up.” Nami smacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t you have to play nice or you won’t get any gifts from the fat, red man?”

“His name is Santa Claus! Don’t be ignorant!” Usopp countered, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder. “And compared to you, I am absolutely nice! I’ll definitely get a gift from him.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. It amazes her that even as an adult Usopp still believes in fairy tales and some guy who—for the life of her, she doesn’t really understand how—slides inside chimneys while everyone else is sleeping to leave gifts under the Christmas trees for nice children.

He really should stop hanging around their genius yet childish doctor.

“Speaking of gifts,” she decided to change the subject, sending a bright smile to his direction. “Where’s mine?” She held out her hand as Usopp frowned at her crassness.

“I left it in Chopper’s office,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not gonna mingle around tonight with it in my pocket you know.”

Nami squealed in delight and Usopp cringed when he realized his tongue slipped and gave her an idea on what his present is.

It was no secret that the orange-haired woman absolutely loves gifts. She made that fact pretty clear a lot of times.

Especially if said gifts were as sparkly and shiny as the lights decorating the entire manor right now.

Usopp was watching her with a dour expression on his face.

She patted his shoulder in an appeasing manner. “Oh don’t worry. I also got you a gift.” She winked at him as his face lit up with excitement.

“Really?!” This time it was his turn to squeal in delight.

Nami looked smug as she took a sip of her drink. “I’m fair after all. Plus in the spirit of Christmas, I decided to be more generous this year.”

“Wooow!” Usopp was looking at her disbelievingly. “I guess miracles do happen! I honestly thought you’d just cut-off a small percentage of my so-called debt to you just like you did last year.”

“Don’t make me change my mind Usopp. I can still do that.”

“Oh come on! Don’t be stingy! Everyone knows you got a big, fat bonus from that stealing stint last time!”

Nami pointed a finger at him. “Hey! You also got the same big, fat bonus! We’re in that stint together!”

Two months ago the two of them (along with Robin, Franky and Brook), pulled off a rather daring heist in an underground auction hosted by the one and only Buggy the Clown—the weird owner and head of Buggy’s Delivery; an organization that prides itself in acquiring hard to find artifacts and treasures of the old from different parts of the world to sell it to the highest bidder in a hush-hush, private event.

Robin was able to secure an invitation to the clown’s auction, following a tip that Buggy recently obtained some priceless items which belonged to Gol D. Roger himself.

They knew they needed to get their hands on those treasures as soon as possible.

And get their hands on it they did.

Nami can still recall that feeling of elation as they drove away from Buggy’s circus-inspired villa with all the priceless auction items in tow—much to the consternation and shock of Buggy himself. He wasn’t able to chase them as they had a good head start before he and his minions realized what had happened.

Thus they all got a damn big bonus for a job well-done. Not everyone can pull off a feat like that. But with a brilliant team like theirs… it was a walk in the park.

It was really a damn great decision to join them. Not only was she living lavishly now, but she was also enjoying her stealing assignments so much more than before.

A few years ago, Nami had stolen a relic in the Mugiwara estate from right under Usopp’s nose. Back then, she was working alone and Usopp was in charge of the whole estate’s security.

He and his team was no match for her. Nami was able to breach their safeguards and easily sneak into the estate and get her hands on the priceless item. It was almost like stealing candies from babies, she can’t even call it a challenge.

Then Straw Hat Luffy—the head of the Mugiwara Family—sent Roronoa Zoro, one of his top men, to track her down.

Nami honestly thought that that was the end for her when she saw him sitting on one of the booths of her then empty bar, silently and patiently biding his time.

But Zoro’s orders that night, was just find her…

…and apparently take her back with him to the estate.

Thank her lucky stars he wasn’t there to maim her. She definitely knows she’s no match for him. Still, Nami did not make it easy for Zoro to do his job. She made him chase after her for a good half an hour all around the town until he finally lost his patience and showed her first-hand just why he was Mugiwara no Luffy’s right-hand man.

To say he hauled her back with him like he was just carrying a sack of potatoes was an understatement.

Her addition to Luffy’s elite circle was unexpected—as unexpected as his invitation to her to join his group. It wasn’t a calculated decision on his part (like he’s actually capable of that). Luffy just felt that it was right to invite her. Plus her skills are really awesome (he said it with eyes lighting up in excitement while laughing at Usopp’s expense) and he was really impressed with how she was able to sneak into the estate and steal something.

It may have been an arbitrary whim on Luffy’s part, but it was Nico Robin who pointed out to everyone that it would benefit them so much more if Nami is with them instead of an adversary that they had to deal with every now and then.

“Her thieving skills are unmatched. Her moniker, true to its words. Also she is not just a cat burglar,” Robin had explained with a rather fascinated smile on her face. “Nami is also an exceptional cartographer and an excellent navigator. Very useful when it comes to treasure hunting, don’t you all think?” She posed the question to everyone present, her blue eyes almost sparkling with mirth. “She’ll make a fine addition to our group.”

Nami was stunned at tall and elegant woman’s knowledge about her and her skills. She later found out that Robin is an archaeologist and a treasure trove of information. She actually has an archive of who’s who in the criminal world—be it a big or small name. And Nami’s name was already included in it. Robin also makes it her business to know every person and organization who is interested in anything and everything related to Gol D. Roger and his treasures.

Zoro and Usopp are the only ones who were adamantly opposed to her joining. The former because he doesn’t trust her and claims that she would be nothing but trouble. The latter because his pride took a battering when she had stolen the priceless relic he was ordered to guard with his life.

But they had to relent when Luffy put his foot down.

And Nami had no choice but to concede too, because she knows she would not fare well as their enemy… especially if they sent out Roronoa Zoro after her. 

Her thoughts suddenly shifted to the grouchy, green-haired man and her eyes automatically roamed the expanse of the party and the guests. She hadn’t seen him ever since she arrived.

He’s probably lost again. She thought wryly. Or going around in circles on the estate grounds.

Zoro might be exceptional when it comes to fighting, but definitely hopeless when it comes to directions. He would get lost in a straight line and will confuse north and south and left and right. It was completely frustrating.

Nami felt Usopp nudged her with his shoulder to get her attention. She gave him a glance and saw that he was pointing at one of the guests who were clad with so much sparkling jewelries she almost put the Christmas tree lights to shame.

Usopp was wiggling his eyebrows at her, issuing a silent dare to Nami that she should be able to nick some of those by the end of the night.

She smirked haughtily, raising her glass slightly to take his challenge.

It had been easy to win Usopp over when she finally accepted Luffy’s offer. They had a lot in common and Nami realized they almost, always have the same wave length. It didn’t take long for them to get close, all previous transgression forgotten.

Most of the time, it was the two of them who works out the security and possible breaches of the estate along with Franky—if Nami wasn’t on a stealing stint or nose-buried into antique maps and charting.   

As much as Usopp had been an easy win. Zoro was the complete opposite.

He was harder to get close to. Harder to thaw. He was like a thick block of ice. Not to mention he has an inherent distrust to almost all the people he meets. That combination was enough to make him formidable.

He was quiet and calm; silently listening and observing and in most cases, he’s just… asleep.

Nami was astounded on how easily he could just nod off while they were having a meeting or going over the plans for a heist or an attack or even when they’re just randomly lounging about the manor. He just sits there, with arms crossed over that delectable chest of his then falls asleep, snoring like there was no tomorrow.

But what really surprised her was that even if he zoned out easily or looks like he’s not even paying attention… he was ever-alert and his reflexes are out of this world.

Once, she stealthily tried sneak up on him to pull at his ear for dozing off while she was in the middle of giving him the rundown of the plan for their current mission. He had been grating on her nerves ever since they arrive at the island of Dressrosa—no, scratch that—from the moment they started traveling to be exact, and a retaliation was definitely overdue.

The next thing she knew, he had her pinned down on the carpeted floor of the hotel room. She was looking up at him with wide eyes while he stared down at her with one eyebrow arrogantly cocked.

He drawled something about… she didn’t quite catch it because at that moment, the wind was knocked out of her and her heart was thumping madly against her chest, its thudding sound echoing loudly in her ears.

And all her brain could register is how good Zoro feels above her.

From that moment on, Nami wanted more of him.

They stared at each other for a good few seconds as Nami swallowed the lump that somehow formed at her throat as his steely grey eye regarded her intensely. 

Though what happened next was far from charming. Bastard didn’t even bother helping her stand up. Zoro just pushed himself up and away from her with a scoff and casually walked towards the door to exit the room as Nami scrambled to get back on her feet. Out of frustration, she threw her red stiletto heel at his head.

Looking back, she honestly thinks that that was what chipped the ice. Because when Zoro swiveled around after her shoe hit his head and marched back towards her direction, a vein was visibly popping in his forehead and he was looking mad as hell. It was the first time she had seen that expression on him.

She should’ve been afraid at that moment. But in a mixture of infuriation and embarrassment (from being pinned down the floor or from her improper thoughts about the green-haired man or both)—Nami folded her arms across her chest and met his flaring temper head on.

Their shouting match in that room was one for the books. Not to mention, they almost blew their supposed mission that day because they can’t stop arguing.

That was the start of the never-ending quarrels and quips between the two of them that drove everyone around them crazy. It was an unspoken rule to everyone in the estate that when Zoro and Nami start firing words at each other, it’s better to high-tail it out of there than get caught in the crossfire. 

It was around that time that Nami realized that Zoro wasn’t really all cold and aloof like she first thought. Most of the time he appeared like he doesn’t give a damn because he was just too freaking lazy to care.

His usually reserved countenance was most likely because he was the kind of person to assess the situation first before reacting. He prefers to see the whole picture before efficiently dealing with whatever it is that comes one by one. He kept a cool head in most circumstances yet can still easily lose his temper especially when she one ups him (or if Sanji-kun was deliberately pissing him off).

It had become a bad habit of Nami to rile him up as much as she can. Because in a weird and twisted way, she loves how expressive his face can be when he is fighting with her.

The longer Nami stayed at Luffy’s group, the more she came to know Zoro deeper. 

Their enemies feared him. Everyone in their group and their members have high respect for him. He was actually one of the very few people that can rein their boss in because Luffy actually listens to him. 

As much as he was known to be ruthless and emotionless by the other mob families, he is quite the opposite when it comes to his friends and other selected associates.

She saw how he was with Luffy, Usopp and Chopper. Sometimes when he deals with them, his lone grey eye would go soft and there was this air of fondness and this certain amused smile on his face that she never thought he was capable of doing.

It stole her breath away. And made her see him in another light.

She’d do anything to be at the receiving end of that smile.  

“A pricey jewelry for your thoughts?” Usopp’s playful tone suddenly permeated her thoughts.

“Huh?” Nami snapped back to reality at the sound of her long-nosed friend’s voice.

Usopp peered at her face. “Are you alright? You just like zoned out.” His gaze traced the path where Nami was blankly looking. “Find something interesting out there?”

Nami shook her head. “Nah, just thinking.”

“You better be thinking on how you’ll steal some of those sparkly jewelries from that woman and that woman,” Usopp sniggered, tilting his head toward the direction of the bejewelled women he was pertaining too.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you underestimating me?”

“Of course not!” Usopp said as he downed the last of his drink. “Actually… hmm… there is a betting pool.” He said muttered while pretending to scratch his chin.

“What do you mean there is a betting pool?”

Usopp took a step back from her realizing his mistake. He shouldn’t have said that.

Before he can take another step back, Nami suddenly grabbed his tie to the point of choking him.

“What’s the bet?” Nami growled. She was quick to grasp the meaning of what he was saying. She was quite familiar that the some of the lower ranked members usually indulges themselves with betting pools for their own entertainment. It was an easy way to win money after all. Sometimes even higher officials like her, Usopp, Franky or Brook would join.

But she wasn’t aware that there is an ongoing bet tonight.

Nami shook the curly-haired lad to urge him to give an answer.

“Come on Usopp don’t make this hard. What’s the bet?”

“Uuuhmm…. how much you’ll be able to steal tonight?”

Nami scowled and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Tell me more!”

“Eeep! That’s just it! I shouldn’t have told you! It’s not even my idea—” He struggled to explain and get out of her grasp at the same time. “I mean we can split!”

“Split?” Nami’s face darkened at that.

“Yeah!” Usopp nodded vigorously. “The pot is high!”

“How high?!”

“Ara… here you both are.”

Nami and Usopp whipped their heads toward the direction of the voice. Robin was approaching them looking all elegant in a shimmery white gown. Her long black hair was arranged in a sophisticated coiffure behind her head and she was holding a wine glass half-filled with one of the vintage reds from the manor’s cellar that she adores.

“Robin!” Nami exclaimed, completely forgetting about Usopp and releasing him from her clutches. She bounded happily towards the tall woman and enveloped her in a hug. “You’re back!”

“Ro-bin!” Usopp also greeted as he cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “Good to see you here! Thought you wouldn’t make it tonight?”

Robin, Franky and Brook had an important errand in the island of Baldimore. They went there to finalize a deal with one of their important associates before the year ends. As the place was quite far, everyone was thinking the trio wouldn’t make it back in for the party.

But apparently they did.

“Fufufu…” Robin laughed softly. “Well Franky and Brook were adamant to make it back. They don’t want to miss this party.” She motioned to the far corner of the room below where a tall, lanky figure with afro hair was already sitting behind the grand piano, playing Christmas tunes. “It’s a must-attend event after all.”

“I thought the New Year party is the must-attend event?” Usopp’s brows furrowed.

“Both are,” Robin said with a smile. “You know how the three brothers are always in a high festive mood whenever the holidays approach.”

Both Nami and Usopp nodded in understanding. With both of Luffy’s brothers, Ace and Sabo, spending the season at Mugiwara estate, the celebration had been all out. Spare no expense was Luffy’s exact words. Well actually the three brothers’ exact words. Because Ace and Luffy absolutely love throwing parties and Sabo… well it’s two against one, he had no choice but to agree.

And this was only the Christmas Party. Another party will be held on New Year’s Eve and Nami can’t wait to see how extravagant that one’s going to be.

Not to mention how many glittering stuff she’ll be able to filch from their filthy rich guests by the turn of the year.

“Well,” Usopp let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s gonna be a lot of work from here on.”

Robin nodded. “I’m surprised you are even out here. I thought you’d be personally manning the security tonight?”

Usopp looked crestfallen. “Aaw, gimme a break Robin. Our security team’s the best! With Franky and I’s newly updated surveillance equipment, not even a fly would get past the fence!”

The archaeologist gave Nami a side glance which Usopp caught.

“Hey! We personally asked Nami to do practice runs to check the system’s efficiency.” Usopp explained, folding his arms across his chest, looking smug and proud.

Nami laughed. “That they did.”

Robin chuckled. “So how was it?” She directed the question towards the orange-haired woman.

“Quite a challenge actually,” Nami admitted, pursing her lips. “But give me some time to figure out something and I’ll be able to sneak past all that, get inside here and steal anything from right under Usopp’s nose. Again.”

“Hey!” Usopp lightly slapped her arm. “I thought we’re friends now!”

Nami blinked innocently at him. “Yes we are. But you’ll never know how effective that surveillance system is until we give it a serious try right?”

“Well, she does have a point Usopp,” Robin agreed. “Maybe a surprise break-in one of these days?” She suggested, her tone light with amusement. “Franky will surely love that challenge.”

“I won’t...” Usopp mumbled.

Nami rolled her eyes at him. “I’m pretty sure that’ll give you and Franky the opportunity to request for new tech stuff again.”

Usopp straightened up at that. “Well that idea I definitely love!”

“So all set,” Nami flashed him a smile. “Once the holidays are over, expect something will happen. I’m already giving you a handicap.”

Usopp knitted his brows at her. “What handicap?”

“Once the holidays are over,” Nami repeated. A Cheshire cat-like grin appeared on her face. “Come on, that’s enough clue right? It’s a surprise break-in after all.”

Now Usopp was looking at her with eyes narrowed. Then he turned to Robin. “I’m blaming this on you.”

Robin just gave him a mysterious smile. “It’s settled then. I’m looking forward to the chaos it’ll bring.”

“Wait hold up!” Usopp raised his hand. “Are we not telling everyone about it?”

“Where’s the fun in that if you do?” Nami asked in a bored tone.

“But…”

“We’ll inform Luffy and the others.” Robin took a sip of her wine before continuing. “Only our team will know. It’ll be the perfect incident response exercise for the rest don’t you think?”

Usopp was looking at her with mouth agape. “Where do you even get these ideas?” He paused for a moment and huffed. “Oh right… Franky.”

The corners of Robin’s eyes crinkled in amusement.

“Anyway, Luffy did call for a meeting before the party starts right?” Robin signalled to one of the meandering servers who‘s balancing a tray of beverages on his hand. She took the empty glass from Nami’s hand and replaced it with a champagne flute. The she got another, this time

low ball glass with a really expensive whiskey inside and placed it in Nami’s free hand.

Nami stared quizzically at the drinks.

Robin thanked the server politely as he moved away from them. “I think it’s time to head up now,” she proposed.

Usopp glanced at his watch. “Well, we better…”

“Can you go find Zoro, Nami?” The raven-haired woman requested.

“Me?” Nami blinked up at her. Then, she looked back at the glasses she was holding. Oh fuck that. That was why Robin handed her the whiskey. She frowned at her and Robin just smiled.

“You’re the only one who can easily drag him to these meetings. And he really needs to be there.” Robin’s tone had shifted and Nami noted that there must be something important to discuss if Zoro’s presence at the meeting is imperative.

But still she groaned her complaint. “Do I really have too?”

“Yes. Please.”

“Why not Usopp?” “Why me?” Usopp retorted. “Zoro will just threaten me into leaving him alone and you know I will always cave in. You on the other hand, don’t. So carry on!” He made a shooing gesture with his hand.

Nami childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

“Last I saw him he was heading towards the west wing.” Robin offered. “He’s probably still there.”

“Believe me he’s not going anywhere once he’s in that area,” Nami muttered under her breath. The manor’s west wing had like a dozen rooms. It was Zoro’s favourite hiding place whenever there is a party and he wants some peace and quiet. Plus that area is off limits to party guests, there are even assigned guards at its entryway.

“Fine.” She conceded albeit sulkily, glancing at the drinks in her hand. “I’m gonna drag his ass upstairs.”

“Thank you.” Robin murmured as Nami sullenly shuffled away to do what she was asked. She was still within earshot when she heard Usopp say to Robin,  

“Hey about the betting pool…”

“I heard that!” Nami snapped as she spun around and marched back towards them. “And I demand to know what the hell that is! Don’t you dare think I forgot about that Usopp!”

Robin curiously raised an eyebrow at her before looking back at Usopp.

Said man stiffened under her gaze.

“Sorry!” Usopp sheepishly apologized to Robin with a nervous laugh. “It just slipped. I must’ve told her something.”

“What’s that all about?!” Nami inquired, her eyes shifting back and forth between the two of them. “You said something about it earlier Usopp!”

Robin just shrugged nonchalantly. “Everyone just makes bets.”

“Wait, everyone?” Nami repeated. “Like everyone bets and the winner takes all? How come I didn’t know of this! Are in this too Robin?”

Robin just replied with a chuckle. “Well you’d most likely try to rig the game so you can split the win.” She explained not confirming the answer to Nami’s question if she was involved in it too.

Nami’s eyes widened when she realized that she is. “I can’t believe you Robin! But yeah you’re right I’d definitely rig the game! Wait,” she diverted her attention to Usopp. “So that’s why you brought it up Usopp! You’re planning to strike a deal with me!” She announced in a sickeningly sweet, sugary voice.

“That’s cheating.” Robin commented coolly.

“Hey no! It just slipped out of my mouth alright?”

“You said something about splitting the win,” Nami pointed out.

Both women are looking at him unconvincingly. Usopp was known for having a flair for lying, which is surprisingly effective to most people outside their circle.

“Only because you were gripping my tie to the point of throttling me!” Usopp retorted. “Besides like you’d really agree to split fifty-fifty  Nami. It’s gonna be more like fifty-none!”

“That is definitely correct.” Robin agreed with a soft laugh

“Of course!” Nami stated haughtily. “Why would I split evenly? How long has this been going on anyway?”

“Uhh… around mid-year last year…” Usopp replied.

“What?! That long?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m pretty sure a lot of you are like a thousand belis richer now because of me?” Nami was looking pure evil right now. She tossed back the champagne she was still holding in one go and casually placed it on the tray of a passing server.  “I’m definitely taking percentages!”

“Oh hey I always lost!” Usopp held up his hands in mock surrender. “So no thank you. You will not be taking any money from me.”

“I haven’t really won,” Robin said with a smile. “Sorry. I’m up against those with uncanny luck in gambling.”

Nami blew at her bangs exasperatedly. “Okay then. Who do I have to extort?”

Robin and Usopp glanced at each other and without waiting for a beat they both answered.

“Zoro.”

“That idiot!” Nami growled. So he was on it too! She can’t believe it! And he was getting richer from making bets about her and he did not even have the gall to tell her? She was gripping the remaining glass on her hand a little too tightly.

“Whoa easy!” Usopp tried to pacify her, seeing that cracks were about to form on the glass. “But yeah if you are gonna extort someone, it’s him. He like won almost every betting pool. That’s roughly about a hundred thousand belis now.”

Robin just arched her perfectly shaped eyebrows when Usopp threw Zoro under the mercy of a rather livid Nami. Money matters are in no way handled peacefully in the orange-haired woman’s books. She was willing to do almost anything for it. Robin had seen her break another man’s arm who idiotically tried to scam her before… accidentally though… or so Nami claims.

She swirled her wine slightly, watching it with slight fascination. But even more fascinating is what’s going to happen in the next few hours now that Nami finally found out about the betting pool that Brook, Franky and Usopp had actually started.

“Oooh that lazy, idiot moss-head. I swear I’m going to get every single beli he won from that stupid betting pool! With interest!”

Robin lifted her head up just in time to see Nami stomping away from them in purposeful strides, her high heels making an ominous clacking sound against the marbled floor as she made her way towards where Zoro possibly was. Usopp was waving his hand at her and cheering her on.

“Well this is definitely going to be a fun night,” Robin remarked, the corners of her eyes crinkling with mirth, before taking another sip of her wine. ------------------------

Unlike the other areas which were decorated with glittering lights and Christmas adornments, the manor’s west wing was totally devoid of anything festive. Only the warm chandelier lights lining the high curving ceiling illuminated the whole area.

The noise of the party grew faint the further Nami went forward and when she turned around the corner, everything fell silent. No music or party guests chatter or clinking glasses.  Not even the clacking sound of her heels can be heard as she continued along the now carpeted floor.

She grimaced at the task Robin cheekily sent her to do. She could swear the raven-haired women had something up her sleeve for she had seen a particular twinkle in her eyes like she knew something that was supposed to be a secret.

Nami stopped walking and took a deep breath. She kind of… have an inkling to what it was that Robin knew.

But first things, first…

She tapped her foot while pondering. It irked her a bit that the soft fabric underneath her shoes prevented her from hearing the sound her foot should be making.

If everything was silent in this area then definitely the drifting moss head had gone into hiding in one of these many rooms.

Nami did a double take when she realized she was still holding the glass Robin handed her earlier. With a shrug of her shoulders, she lifted the glass to her lips to taste the deep gold liquid. It would be a waste not to drink it.

She needs it much more than Zoro do.

Mmmm… that hits the spot. Nami mused, nodding her approval as she felt the familiar sensation of the liquor warming up her throat and cheeks. Licking her lips, she studied the red lipstick mark she left on the glass.

She made a mental note to grab more of these once she gets back to the party.

After she finds Zoro.

And where could he be? She is not really looking forward to searching all the rooms of the floor for him.

Nami strained her ears to listen if there was any sound of thunderous snoring coming from one of the rooms. Hearing nothing, she strolled forward, glancing left and right.

“He better be in here somewhere,” she muttered to herself. Because there is no way in hell that she’d try to look for him outside the estate grounds on this cold night. They could do without him in the meeting. They have too. Someone can just fill him in with whatever he was going to miss.

“What are you doing skulking around here like a thief?”

Nami whirled around instantly at that. She wasn’t surprised to see the person she was looking for, casually leaning against the now open doorway of one of the rooms she already passed. Zoro’s arms were folded across his chest, one eyebrow raised in inquiry as he regarded at her.

She just snorted at his accusation and fought the urge to remind him that she was indeed a thief… in case his stupid, sexy ass had forgotten about it.

But she just let it slide, and took another sip from the glass in her hand before approaching him.

“I’m skulking around because I’m looking for you. Robin told me to bring you upstairs, your presence is required at the meeting oh snarky one.”

Zoro just scoffed and pushed himself away from the doorway. Without another word, he went back inside the totally dark room where he was obviously ‘stealthily lounging’.

Nami followed suit. So he had holed himself up in one of the many rooms that served as an office library. From the looks of this one, no Mugiwara was using it because the place was still tidy. No books, open and unopened, were occupying the antique writing desk. No papers strewn everywhere, crumpled or not. No pens or mugs and glasses half-filled with coffee, tea, water or any alcoholic beverage. There are no missing books in the shelves. No diagrams, floor plans or maps posted and hanging on the walls, windows or on any available flat surface.

There was none of the signature chaos that takes over the room once someone from their team uses it.

Well, unless of course Zoro had already staked his claim on this room and was using it as his personal sleeping quarter-slash-hideout.

“What are you doing in here alone in the dark Zoro?” Nami asked, using the exact same tone he used when he questioned her earlier as she closed the door. “Hiding from someone? Or from everyone?”

“Hmph.”

“Or are you waiting for someone?” Nami sing-songed as she approached him. Zoro was now leaning against the desk with his arms crossed over his chest again in an imposing manner. She deliberately brushed against him to reach out and switched the pricey vintage desk lamp beside him to illuminate the room.

His grey eye was following her movements. Watching. Waiting.

“I brought you a drink.” She handed him the liquor glass she still have on her hand.

She smirked when his face scrunched into a frown as he took it from her, scrutinizing the alcohol inside. “Sorry I had to take a taste.” She grinned cheekily at him.

Zoro stared at the glass. Her lipstick mark was still on the glass rim, the red smear a stark contrast against the gold liquid… same color as that on her devilishly smiling lips.

“I don’t mind,” he said lowly. He lifted the glass and deliberately drank right at the area where her lipstick mark was.

Nami did not fight the urge to bite her lower lip.

Well fuck. Isn’t that hot?

“You didn’t bring more?” Zoro asked with a smirk after he downed all the remaining whiskey in one go.

Nami laughed teasingly. “Oh you have to come out of your hiding place if you want more of that.”

The green-haired man chuckled, setting the glass on the desk.

“Guess I’ll settle with this for now.”

His hand instantly reached out and grabbed her by the nape, pushing her forward to him and capturing her lips with his.

Nami pressed herself against him straightaway. It was like her body had a mind of its own. It knew exactly what to do the moment Zoro’s lips settled on hers. Her arms automatically went around his neck, her head tilted to give him more access to her mouth, to deepen their kiss so he could taste more of her and she could taste more of him.

She melted in his arms when his tongue traced her lower lip slowly before teasingly giving it a soft bite. She practically purred in delight at his action. She likes it when he does that. It always sent shivers running down her spine and she can feel the heat from that playful nip spreading from her lips to every damn part of her. 

She clung to him when she felt his fingers trailing down the bare skin of her back, her body quivering deliciously against the sensation. Zoro’s hold on her nape tightened. She felt him inhaled sharply before almost devouring her in their kiss, his mouth dominating hers in a way that made Nami heady, hot and needy all at the same time.

Zoro in turn completely caged her to him by wrapping one arm around her waist. His hand on her nape slowly moved to tangle with her unbound tresses and Nami realized from the slight movements his body was making that he plans to…

She pulled away almost immediately. Zoro’s face scrunched into a displeased frown.

“What?” He asked gruffly, looking peeved that she stopped their kiss.

Nami gave him a sassy grin. “We need to go upstairs for the meeting,” she reminded him, tapping his cheek lightly. Because good Kami if she didn’t stop him now, they won’t make it up there.

“Tch!”

“We have responsibilities tonight. Plus you also ruined my lipstick,” she chastised him softly even as she gave him a quick peck before proceeding to rub off the red smear on his lips with her thumb. “Didn’t I tell you that the lips are off limits when I’m all dolled up like this?” 

Nami tilted her head down to gesture at her sparkling champagne gown.

She smiled softly when his frown deepened. Zoro absolutely looked like a spoiled brat who didn’t get his way.

Adorable.

Nami traced his mouth softly with her thumb before kissing him again.

“Do we have to be there?” Zoro grudgingly asked when she pulled away again and resumed wiping of traces of her lipstick on him. They weren’t exactly letting anyone know about them. Heck, even they themselves don’t know what the real score between them is. They haven’t really discussed it. But somehow they had both come to an agreement that whatever they’re doing are exclusively just between them and third parties are not welcome. 

Robin probably (with her intelligence) knows a thing or two about them based on the way she was looking at Nami when she asked her to search for the green-haired man. And to be honest, Nami suspects that they are being whispered behind closed doors. Most of those in the low ranks are gossips after all.

They better be not in those idiots betting pool! She swore there will be hell to pay.

In the dim light of the room, she did her best to erase the remnants of red on his lips as Zoro watched her.

“Sorry, but boss’s orders.”

He grunted and straightened up, giving Nami a nod that they better go. He had a ‘let’s get this over with’ expression on his face and she chuckled.

Nami tugged at his dinner jacket. “We need to stop by my office first.”

“Huh? Why?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You made a mess of my make-up. I have to retouch.”

“Tch!”

“Don’t tch me! I absolutely refuse to walk into the meeting room without fixing myself first!” Nami glowered at him. “They’d get ideas.”

“No they won’t.”

“Yes they will. Robin is not an idiot.”

“Fine,” Zoro relented begrudgingly. Nami does have a point. He’s not looking forward being subjected to the others teasing or insinuations. “Lead the way woman.”

Nami flashed him a victorious smile. “Plus I also have to leave this there.”

She raised her hand and waved a small box in front his face.

Zoro’s brows furrowed when he realized what she was holding. “Damn it Nami!” He growled.

“Aaaw Zoro don’t be mad,” Nami pinched his cheek. “Is this for me?”

“I’m actually tempted to say no.”

“Ah, so this is mine!”

He was looking at her with a deadpan expression on his face. Nami just pressed a kiss on his cheek before mouthing ‘thank you’.

“I can’t believe you filched that, you’re unbelievable.” Zoro groused.

“Yup. Right in while you were busy shoving your tongue inside my mouth.” Nami brazenly declared as she observed the small yet pretty gift box. A sparkling ribbon was tied around it and she shook it lightly, her eyes widening at the sound coming from inside it. 

Zoro looked smug. “Don’t think you one upped me witch. I just didn’t stop you.”

But Nami was too happy and too distracted with her gift to pay any attention to what he was saying.

“Oooh! Did you get me something shiny and sparkly?” She probed, her tone enthusiastic. “I sure don’t mind getting something to pair with them.” She tilted her head slightly to show him the earrings she was wearing. The diamonds set on them came from Jozu Island and very hard to acquire. When Zoro said he’ll get her those, she had treated it as a joke at first. But when he handed her a black velvet box containing the said stones in their raw beauty, she realized he was dead serious in with his word.

Nami had some of them set into different jewelries. And once they were done, she wore them to show Zoro just how absolutely stunning they looked, especially against her naked skin. 

He just snorted at her. “Why don’t you open it?”

She excitedly tugged at the box’s ribbon, letting it fall down the floor. She lifted the top cover up and peered inside.

“Uh… wow.” She slowly nodded her head hoping it would give her time to wrap this one around her brain and figure out why she is looking at…

“Keys?” Nami looked up at Zoro in surprise.

Zoro smirked. “What? Are you expecting something else?”

Nami recovered quickly. “Nope. Not really.” She forced out a laugh. “I mean, I was actually expecting not to get anything from you at all after those diamonds.” She stared at the content of the box again. It wasn’t even a key for a car. She thought, a bit dumbfounded. So what the hell is…

She lifted her head and realized that Zoro was now looking at her amusedly. He had this certain expression on his handsome face that tells her he is up to something.

“What?” Nami queried, cocking an eyebrow at him. “I don’t like the expression on your face right now.”

He just shrugged his shoulders and continued looking at her with amusement dancing behind his grey eye.

“Merry Christmas Nami.” He greeted in that deep, lazy voice of his. “That should stop you from nicking my own set.”

Nami’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when she finally realized what those keys are for.

Stupid Zoro just gave her her own set of keys for his house.

Her very own set.

She glanced down at it again.

Does he have any idea on how serious the implication of his gift was?

She lifted her eyes up to gaze at his face. And she knew instantaneously that he had thought this one through. After all, Zoro rarely decides things on a whim.

Without another word she threw herself at him, glomping him with enough force to almost push him back against the writing desk.

She buried her face on his neck. She could feel the rumble of laughter on his chest at her reaction.

“I take it that you like it?” Zoro laughingly asked.

Nami looked up at him and replied with a dazzling smile. “Definitely.”

“Better than the diamonds?”

“That is a hard question Zoro.” She mock-pouted. “I like them both very much.”

Zoro responded with a chuckle.  

She studied his face for a moment, unsure on how she would ask the question that’s weighing on her mind for months now.

“Zoro…”

“Hnn?”

Nami took a deep breath. “You know that this… you know that this means…” she trailed off and instead pointed a finger at him and then at herself. “Are we making this official?” She just blurted out not knowing how to proceed anymore.

His answer was a simple yes. And gave her that smile that never fails to steal her breath away. That one smile she always, always coveted to see directed at her.

And there was no really better response to that but to press her lips on his in the softest of kisses that he eagerly returned.

She was giggling when she pulled away. “I’m so going to put that bathroom of yours into good use.” She murmured while running her fingers through his hair.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she affirmed. “And you will definitely have a lot of sleepless nights from here on.” She grinned naughtily at him.

“Looking forward to it.” He whispered before Nami kissed him again.

“And also, now that we are official,” Nami murmured in between kisses. “I will collect my percentages from all your betting pool wins.”

Zoro jerked back at that and was now staring at her incredulously.

She smiled mischievously at him. “Oh. Usopp tattled.”

“Usopp?” Zoro repeated. “That idiot. Pretty sure he wants to split the wins tonight with you.”

“Definitely. And the tattler also told me you’re in it too. So want to counter-offer?”

Zoro looked like he was pondering for a moment. “No way that’s gonna be fifty-fifty. You’re too much of a witch to be fair.”

Nami threw her head back and laugh.

“Sixty-forty,” she offered impishly.

“I knew it.” Zoro huffed with a roll of his eyes.

Nami tapped his chest. “Sixty on you… and you take me out on a really fancy date.”

Zoro grinned. “Eighty-twenty.”

Nami’s eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs.

“I’ll take you out on a fancy date and not on that place where dartboard brows goes.”

“Go on…” Nami still looked unconvinced.

Zoro bent down slightly so his lips were now touching her ear. “Then I’ll take you home. And we’ll spend all three days before the New Year party in bed.”

The corners of Nami’s lips quirked at that.

“You better not be talking about just sleeping there Zoro.”

“Of course I’m not.”

“Then you got yourself a deal.”

[tigermousse]

Rewritten

genres: dating simulator, otome, comedy, romance

Did you ever wanted your favorite book character become alive? Of course, you did. So in this game MC has a chance to meet characters from books and even fall in love with one of them (or with every one of them). Because they came out of their books to help MC open her aunt's bookstore in time. You will have a lot of work, but also plenty of time to spend it with your bookish bachelors. You can talk to them, found a place in our world that they would like to visit for a date, and even read into their story - literally - and find more about them.

This game is pretty short, cute, funny and colorful. It is lighthearted and heartwarming, with a tiny bit of drama. The art style is unique, because it differs for every character.

Because a novel is so short, romance feels too rushed, of course. Characters confess love after two days knowing each other. Ok, let's call it love on the first sight.

(yeah, on the first day it is too soon, let's talk about love in two days)

The other problem is that each route alone lacks a conclusion. I think that a little scene in the end would be nice. But after all, if you finish all the routes, you will have a conclusion and some bonus pictures.

MC (Nameable)

MC got a degree in English literature, but now she has a writer's block and in the meanwhile decided to come and help her aunt with the bookstore-opening project and maybe gather some inspiration for writing in the future. Hopefully romance with a book character will help with it.

She is funny, sassy and independent, but kind. I would say that her personality more or less depends on the character she is pursuing

My rating 4/5

Love Interests (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD):

Klaus

Klaus is literally the strong silent type. He is the knight from a fantasy novel and he doesn't talk a lot, but when he does, it is appropriate and to the point. He's really so cute, especially after first date. How can you not love a man, who loves all the creatures, big and small? And also cooks! Definitely a keeper.

My rating 5/5

Dr. Vincent Asimov Nightshade

Nightshade is a [mad] biology scientist from a sci-fi novel. He has seven PhD in botany - and other kinds of fantastic botany. A typical tsundere, and I love tsunderes, scientists and men in glasses. He's a bit of a narcissist, he likes talking about himself. He's sassy, clever but in fact you will find it east to embarrass him, because deep in his soul he's bashful and afraid of his own feelings. So he's confused, but it is a good thing that he will have MC at his side to help him sort the thing out.

My rating 4,5/5

Rosamel

Rosamel is the opposite of Nightshade. He's a poet from a fairy tale and he's in love with love. Sweet-talking, tender and romantic. Prepare yourself for a full-time love bombarding from him.

He seems giddy and airy, but I really loved how bittersweet his backstory turned out. You'll find out why despite his appearance his favorite color is blue and not pink.

My rating 5/5

Amos

Amos is a PI from a mystery detective series that MC liked as a kid. He's working with a bright young detective girl and speaks very fondly of her. So he's the only one whom MC really knew before. He's funny, smart and has got a bubbly personality and a zest for life. There's so many things that will light his interest. And he won't stop talking about them.

For me his story and character were a bit bland, not my cup of tea, but he is a nice guy anyway.

My rating 4/5

Morgan MacAllister (Mac)

Mac is a sea captain from a classic adventure novel which MC has heard about, but hasn't read, because she was intimidated by the seriousness of it. Probably it is a reference to a Moby Dick, though the plot of Mac's book ші different.

He's looking pretty much intimidating and not very talkative. Definitely not a romantic. But if MC chooses to know him better, she'll find out that he has a kind heart and a crude sense of humor. In the past he was harsh to his crew and did thing that he regrets now. But nevertheless now he's caring about MC and tries hard to help her and make her feel comfortable.

My rating 3,5/5

Overall:

Visual: 5/5

Story: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Romance: 3/5

Originality: 3/5

My Rating: 4/5

The game is free! You can get it on itch.io

[animehouse-moe]

Ranking of Kings Season 2 Episode 9: Miranjo and The Demon | The Prince And His Treasures

I need to get my soap box and megaphone out so I can tell the world about how much I love this season. Maybe it's because I knew what we were in for before it came here, or maybe it's because Wit has been working animation magic these last few years. But this season of side stories for Ousama Ranking has been so amazing. Absolutely zero shortage of heartwarming and important and creative moments.

Starting with Miranjo's story as a child, where she finds the wish granting demon child in the forest. I think it's a really incredible story about duality. She finds herself lost in a deeper part of the forest after hitching a ride on some deer, only to spot the young demon feasting on a wild animal of some sort.

Right away, that dichotomy appears as Miranjo is peaceful and accepted by the wildlife, while the demon boy is shunned by it. You can say that they're also hostile and violent towards it, but that's a complete misinterpretation of the scene. They have to eat to survive, so they're unable to create that peaceful bond like Miranjo has, which I think is a rather impactful statement. And those comparisons and differences continue, with Miranjo always being in light and the demon boy remaining in the shadows.

But, the story turns on its head pretty quickly, as the demon child flees from Miranjo, and she chases after him before leaving him alone, and huffing and puffing on her way home before she gets lost. I think it's a really great pairing of pieces, as the foliage covers overhead of Miranjo in both scenes, dulling them in comparison to when the demon boy helps Miranjo find her way back home. It's incredibly cute because the light that Miranjo brought into the forest is the same light that the boy returns to her to help her home. The cramped forest that appeared around the demon boy, and that Miranjo poked through, is the same forest that the boy returns to so that they can find Miranjo. It's a circular story, reciprocative, as Miranjo brings happiness and light into the boy's life, and he returns the favor and in turn begins their friendship.

It's just so wonderful. The colors are amazing, the art style is incredibly precious, the direction is perfectly fitting for a fairy tale style, and I love how they use the forest to frame the various scenes. Using trees and foliage to create a suffocating and encroaching feeling before opening it up to allow for freedom and brightness later on. Such a wonderful story of how Miranjo and the demon boy came to be friends.

And quick side note, I really like that little backstory we got for the boy. Not cause it shows there's a whole town or whatever of demons, but how the story views adults and those seeking power as inherently evil and repulsive.

Anyways, on to part 2!

What a cute and endearing second half. Far less a cohesive story as it is the culmination of memories and experiences as Bojji runs all around the castle to deliver his treasures to the people whom they were discovered with. A lot of similar stuff, so I just want to highlight the importance/significance of the items.

First, we've got Bebin with the snake skin from a young Matsumata. Of course, it can signify his growth and the changes he underwent to get to where he is, but I'd also like to think it's a testament to how caring Bebin is inside that outer shell.

Next up, we've got Apeas (who was sporting some really awesome combat animation in his training), to whom he gives what looks like a piece of obsidian in the shape of a spear. I think it's an equally rewarding gift that commends Apea's honing of his abilities, and is in a way, Bojji recognizing the strength and power of Apeas, whom struggled greatly with that concept through the end of the first season.

Following Apeas, we have a double feature with Domas and Hokuro, who share the same gift of the shell of a cicada. I think this is a really precious one that does great at symbolizing how both of these characters have broken out of their shells and grown. Plus, over-emotional Domas is incredibly fun and endearing.

We've got another duo after this pair, with Hiling and Dorshe. Hiling sports a feather from some sort of bird, while Dorshe is given a fang. You'll have to forgive me, but I can't think of any symbolism or prior event for Bojji to give Hiling a feather for. Dorshe on the other hand? His gift of a fang makes perfect sense as a reward and treasure for how fiercely he defended Bojji's mother.

And last but not least is Daida's acorn. I think it's a really cute one that's equal parts innocuous and important. There's the whole idea of growth and strength associated with it, but more than that I feel its importance stems from the shared memory that Daida wants to cultivate with Bojji, by turning the acorn into a tree within the castle.

Now, there's a bit more to cover before I get to the end, so I just wanted to share some of the outstanding layouts from this episode. The use space and slightly warped perspectives through most of them is really creative and gives a refreshing twist on what can sometimes be typical layouts for "good" series.

This scene with Bojji giving Miranjo a crystal ball though has to be the best of the episode. Such a creative idea with incredible execution.

And then we get to the end, where they use the song from the first OP for the anime. Need I say much more? Incredibly endearing and precious, it's the perfect way to approach the end of such a nostalgic and memorable episode.

[imhereforscm]

Which is your favorite Barbie movie? (　＾▽＾)

I recently watched Barbie as princess and pauper and fell in love with King Dominic again 🫠

Can you write a fluffy story where MC is cleaning her childhood room and finds a old barbie movie ( your choice ) and decides to watch it with Louie? Pretty please ( ＾ω＾ )

"Childhood memories"

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: YES!! KING DOMINIC✨✨🔥🔥😩😩 And also prince Antonioᕙ⁠(⁠ ͡⁠◉⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠◉⁠)⁠ᕗ🔥🔥🔥 Barbie is amazing!!🥺🌹🌹 I love a lot of Barbie movies, such as The Twelve Dancing Princesses (fun fact: I burnt that DVD from watching it too much), Barbie In The Three Musketeers, Princess Charm School. I actually couldn't pick a favourite until I actually sat down to write this fic. And now I can proudly say... It's BARBIE IN THE NUTCRACKER🥺💖🌹💕🥺🥺🥺🌹🌹🌹

It started as a chore, it really did. But with every box you'd open, new memories would jump out at you.

Clothes and shoes that were too small for your current self, showing you a totally different person from the one you were today, as you cleaned away the dust.

Drawings of vivid childlike dreams shoved messily into shelves and all around your desk.

Those, along with your toys, brought a smile of sentimentality to your face, feeling as if every childhood bliss unfolded before your eyes like a film tape that was buried in the past covered in dust, yet not forgotten.

Soon, your mind had drifted away from cleaning your childhood room. A happiness so energetic and thirsty chased all those thoughts away from your mind, as you dug deeper between your toys and some sparkly hair clips with butterflies and flowers attached to them.

Your fingers made contact with a broad surface and peering into the box, you couldn't identify what it was, due to it being in the very dark bottom.

You began pulling out one toy at a time, equivalents of memories. Of how you first got them on Christmas or on your birthday or on an ordinary Wednesday evening. You turned some toys on. Some made sounds rather loud and not so coherent, because of how the batteries had began to run out. Some didn't turn on at all. Some toys had glue on them and you giggled as you remembered the way you'd accidentally break them, yet how happy you were to see the pieces sticking back together again and the fun continuing.

And finally, you reached the object of your interest. You pulled it out and your mouth opened into a huge grin, your eyebrows rising. You laughed happily, the mere sight of this movie in its colorful case bringing you so much nostalgia and happiness you swore your heart would burst and your eyes would fill with tears.

You still loved this movie and a bright idea made your eyes light up. You would combine the two things you loved dearly.

"So what's this movie about?" Tauxolouve asked, his face illuminated only by the light of your laptop. He spread his right arm, welcoming you gently into his embrace, as you joined him on the bed, two bags of chips in your arms, which you dropped on your lap to get comfortable.

"It's a movie I loved as a child, Barbie in the nutcracker. It's like... A sweet adventure, with ballet, classical music and it's got that fairy tale glow." Even talking about it made you smile, love filling your ribcage to the brim.

You put on the movie and cuddled close to Tauxolouve, resting your head against his chest and pulling the blanket up to your chin.

The movie started and the familiarity of it, combined with Tauxolouve's warmth made you feel at peace.

You watched as Clara slept and how the fairy dust danced around the room, enchanting the nutcracker awake and the magic of that scene didn't fail to take your breath away even now.

Tauxolouve watched silently, a pleasant smile on his face, until the point when the owl gave Clara the golden locket and he saw your eyes practically shine at its sight. "Do you like her locket?"

"Yep! It's so pretty!" You giggling, your cheeks a little rosy from the happiness. "I remember wanting it so badly when I was little."

Tauxolouve pressed a kiss to your temple, his heart flattering when you chuckled softly at his heartfelt move, before falling silent again.

You two watched on as Clara and the Nutcracker took off for their adventure and landed into a pile of pure white snow.

"What a cute fairy." Tauxolouve commented lightheartedly as the little snow fairy approached the two heroes. "But he's right, she should've said thank you to Clara for fixing her wing."

You chuckled at his commentary, but agreed.

His eyes squinted kindly as more fairies came out and started dancing. "The music is lovely."

Clara walked forward and the flowers growing from the places where she previously stepped, made the cozy fairy tale elements of this movie shine even more.

"Huh," You began, upon seeing the broad scenery. "I remember that being much more detailed. I still love it though."

"That's what matters most. For a movie or a painting or a poem to never stop conveying the same feelings each time you watch it, even if it is after years."

"That's a beautiful way to put it." You agreed, smiling and nuzzled more into his chest, breathing into his caramel scent, which fit perfectly with the feelings of this movie.

Warmth, fairytales and caramel. This is it. This is a feeling you knew you'd never get tired of.

"I just realized..." Tauxolouve muttered.

"What?"

"This mouse or rat king or whatever he is..." He stared aside, his eyebrows forming downturns. "He reminds me of the king. He's got the same tyrannical look."

You snorted. "I can see that, yes."

More of the movie passed you by, your attention focused there and your heart pounding with pure happiness and tranquility as more and more familiar figures came upon the screen.

Until the scene where the Nutcracker and Clara talking beneath the moonlight appeared within the screen of your laptop. "Oh my god, that scene...!" You breathed, more happiness and nostalgia gushing forth from your lungs. "I completely forgot about that scene..." You watched on, transfixed into this movie that seemed like a dream which you could only explain by feelings and sensations the next morning. "It's such a sweet scene..."

"Indeed. It's very heartfelt." Tauxolouve nodded. "The lesson of this scene is seeing who someone is within and believing in them. That even if they once failed, they can always try again, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's exactly it." You nodded, proud at this movie for being a part of your childhood and loving Tauxolouve even more for being able to see the magic in it, which many would mock for not having flashy enough graphics. "It's the type of thing that as a child you admire and when you're older, you understand it. But in both cases, it's precious and irreplaceable."

"I hope you know I want a hug after this too." Tauxolouve whispered into your hair as Clara hugged the Nutcracker, after breaking the cell, which the mouse king had turned invisible.

You laughed. "You can have one after the movie."

"Alright. I'm gonna remember, just so you know."

The movie came to the point where the Nutcracker turned back to prince Eric, by Clara's kiss and you gripped Tauxolouve's shirt, feeling the exact same giddy feeling you'd always experience as a child in this part. The emotions overtook you and you turned to Tauxolouve, placing a kiss to his cheek.

Tauxolouve chuckled teasingly. "We're gonna need to replay that part if it means you're gonna kiss me every time."

"I still owe you a hug!" You laid back on his chest, with Tauxolouve's arm still warped around you, continuing the movie.

Your eyes, ears and heart were glued onto the screen, until the colours faded to black and you sat up, your body feeling light. "That movie is still so beautiful." You said, your brain clouded with the childlike sweetness that never actually left you and you had merely discovered it again. "You think they married?" You asked, turning around and accidentally pushing the unopened bags of chips off the bed. It was a clumsy move, yet it brought you back to those times when you'd ask everyone around you if the characters were going to marry and be together forever, not caring if you stepped on something, as you were so caught up in your excitement.

Tauxolouve smiled sweetly at you, patting you on the head. "I believe it is as possible for them to get married as it is for us."

Your eyes widened at his words, your lips parting a little. Blood rushed to your cheeks, warming up your face and melting your surprised expression into one of affection for this man.

"You like that idea for us or them more?"

"Both." You honestly replied. "One day... Clara loves her Nutcracker just as much as I love you, after all."

Tauxolouve took your hand in his, bringing it to his lips and leaving a gentlemanly kiss there, before staring at you with a charming smile. "Now where's my hug?"

You laughed and threw your arms around him, squeezing him tightly into a hug similar to that in the movie. "Satisfied?"

"Very." He said and then he snapped his fingers.

"What did you do?" You asked, pulling away a little to look at him, irises filled with curiosity.

"Take a look in the mirror."

A little nervous, you got off the bed and went to stand in front of your mirror. "Lou!" You exclaimed, delighted. Resting on your collarbones was a golden locket in the shape of a heart. "It's like that from the movie!"

Tauxolouve approaches you, his reflection coming to stand behind your own as he pulled you into his arms from behind.

"Thank you so much." As you stared into the mirror at your entangled forms and the golden chain clasped arouses your neck, you knew Tauxolouve would make sure each and every fairy tale you harbour in your heart would come to life.

[henrike-does-writing-sometimes]

air, beasts, mundane, rot <3

REN !! KING !!

AIR - What is your WIP's first sentence ?

Because I’ve already posted the first chapter of To The End, here’s the first sentence (plus the main prism attack) of the Divine. Featuring the previous Wielders !

“Light of Cosmia!” "Regal," "Prisma," "Chorus!" Pure aetherium exploded around them, turned the world pitch white and screamed in their ears.

BEASTS - Who is your favourite OC ?

Cruel of you to make me chose :<

Though characters that just, stick with me even when I’m not actively working on the wip they’re from are Epsilon, Kit, Ruben, and Vega.

Epsilon y’all already know, they go through such a character arc and they mean a lot to me. I love how they in a way represents parents who’ve fucked up and hurt their kid, intentional or not, but still love them and would die for them. And make that clear without crossing boundaries. Like “When and if you're ready, I’ll be here for you. That day may never come, and that is fine.”

Kit is such an angel (heheh), and this perfect mix of a kid having fun and being a kid, and being a whole tragedy. Scrutanized, and even demonized, ever since birth, slowly dying as a result of being an anomaly to a sacred prophecy. Kit has every fucking right to be mad and lash out and cause trouble, but they said “Nah. I’m going to live the best life I can.” and I love that for them.

Ruben wakes up every day and chooses wonder. Belle in the original fairy tale is written as a very kind and humble person, and I wanted to sorta emulate that with Ruben. He’s the kind of person who looks at the world and goes “I get to live here? I get to exist here? Awesome!” Yes, he’s handsome, yes, he’s cute, but what makes Ruben the beauty in this story is how he views and interacts with the world. Which, also is what makes him peculiar and weird to other people (weak of them)

Vega is one of the first main characters that I have killed off. And she is such a wonderful character. She’s the embodiment of stars; bright and exciting, but you never know first glance if the star you’re looking up at is dead or alive. Vega just, is phenomenal. And it was such a journey writing her, and her death scene actually made me cry, and her relationship with her dad means so much to me and their final scene broke my heart. I love her a lot

MUNDANE - Would you survive in the shoes of your main character ?

Nope :D 

There’s really nothing else to it, I simply would not survive all the bullshit I put my characters through

ROT - Which of your OCs is the best villain ?

Well starting off, you already know, Madereine. I love her so much it’s unreal. Like, she’s so effortlessly threatening; elegant, calculating, manipulative, vicious, and absolutely cruel. The scenes with her and André are so fun to write because they’re such sharp contrasts to scenes with André and Catalina. It’s the “I am your mother, I made you.” vs. “I’m your mom, and I love you no matter what.”

Like take the vivisection scene. Madereine may act like she cares about André, and in one way she does. But it’s not about him as a person, it’s not about his well-being. It’s strictly what he symbolizes. Catalina loves and cares about André because that’s her kid who she’d do anything for. Madereine loves and cares about André because that’s her weapon.

“Be careful with him,” Madereine said. “We only have one.” // "I created you, my Phoenix, you're alive because of me. I'm the only real family you have."

In other words, Madereine makes me insane.

But I’m also going to give a shout-out to the Locksmith, aka Arahmen. Because while he isn’t as big-scale as Madereine or other Divine villains, he’s still great. The perfect first villain. Like he doesn’t have some diabolical plan to conquer the world, but he poses enough of a threat as it is. And his motives are reasonable, why should mortals get the powers of gods ? But his methods ? The fact that he goes against another God who specifically gives out these powers to prevent catastrophe ? The fact that his actions could’ve led to a much worse outcome for when the Divine Entity enters the chat ??

It’s also how he stays on the sidelines for most of the season. Giving away tools for other Celestials to summon monsters and cause chaos. Silently observing before the time comes. And his first time in active battle is just- AAAAAA

The man ignored Nico’s remark, and without looking up from his book he spoke, “I’m looking for a Nico Morales. Do you know him?” Nico felt an unease take root. The man was unfamiliar, a total stranger. And even if his life was filled with weird monsters, he knew when to play it safe.  “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who that is.” That made the man close his book. He held it still in his hand, looking off to the opposing wall. As if pondering Nico’s answer. “Why are you lying?” he ask once the silence bordered on unbearable.  “I’m really not,” Nico said. “Sir, again, we’re closing so if you could please-” “Nico Ángel Morales,” the man looked at him, and Nico froze under the sharp and knowing gaze. “Junior at West Grove high, correct? You work long shifts here because you don’t like being home, plan on moving out as soon as you can.” “L-Look,” Nico said, doing his best to hide the shake in his voice. “I don’t know who you’re talking about-” he was cut off when the man's hand shot out. Wrapping around his throat and pulling him closer to the counter.  “Wielder of Aurora.” he spat his words, almost out of disgust. 

And then the whole situation where he kidnaps Andie and just-

"You… You're going to kill me?" Andie spoke cautiously, as if their question would spark any ideas in the Locksmith. Arahmen looked them up and down. Calculating, considering.  "No," he finally said. "I’m going to keep you here until they find us. Then I’ll watch them try to decide what to do. Leave you like this, unable to fight and with a ticking bomb growing inside you. Or forge a new key, and risk your life now instead. Thinking back on it, I should have done this to begin with. Pluck you one by one, and dangle you over the Sanctuary's heads."

Yeah, the Locksmith is great lol

[swinginexpertskeletonmoney]

The Christmas

Khanzaadi: (on call) “Abhishek, you are coming over tonight, right?”

Abhishek: (with a smirk) “Do I have a choice?”

Khanzaadi: “Nope! It’s Christmas, and you know how much I love it. Be here by 7. And wear something festive!”

Abhishek: “Festive? Khanzaadi, I’m not wearing one of those ugly Christmas sweaters!”

Khanzaadi: (mock sternly) “Fine, no sweater. But you better show some Christmas spirit!”

Abhishek: (chuckling) “I’ll be there. But don’t make me regret this.”

The house was a winter wonderland. Fairy lights adorned every corner, and the Christmas tree sparkled with ornaments. Khanzaadi hummed as she adjusted the stockings by the fireplace.

When Abhishek arrived, he paused at the door, taking in the scene.

Abhishek: “Are we hosting Santa’s workshop here? This is...a lot.”

Khanzaadi: (grinning) “Oh, stop grumbling and come in! You’re late!”

Abhishek: (raising an eyebrow) “It’s 7:05. You’re worse than a timekeeper.”

Khanzaadi handed him a Santa hat and a candy cane.

Abhishek: (looking at the items) “What’s this?”

Khanzaadi: “Step one of your transformation. Tonight, you’re my Christmas elf!”

Abhishek: (groaning) “Do I really have to do this?”

Khanzaadi: (glaring playfully) “Yes, you do. Now put the hat on, or I’ll make you wear reindeer antlers instead.”

Khanzaadi had a long list of Christmas activities lined up, much to Abhishek’s dismay.

Activity 1: Decorating Cookies

Khanzaadi: “Here’s your icing. Let’s see who can make the cutest cookies!”

Abhishek: (muttering) “Cute isn’t really my thing, Shehzaadi.”

Khanzaadi: “It is tonight. Now, get decorating!”

Abhishek’s cookies were a disaster—one had a lopsided Santa face, and another looked like a blob.

Khanzaadi: (laughing hysterically) “Abhishek, what is that? Is Santa melting?”

Abhishek: (defensive) “It’s abstract art! You wouldn’t understand.”

Khanzaadi: (teasing) “I think it’s more of a ‘should have stayed in the kitchen’ kind of art.”

Activity 2: Christmas Carol Karaoke

Khanzaadi: (handing him a mic) “Your turn! Sing!”

Abhishek: (horrified) “No way. I don’t sing.”

Khanzaadi: “Come on, it’s just us. Don’t be such a Scrooge!”

Abhishek reluctantly sang “Jingle Bells,” cringing internally.

Khanzaadi: (clapping) “See? That wasn’t so bad!”

Abhishek: (rolling his eyes) “I’m never doing that again.” “Do people really do this for fun?

Khanzaadi: (ignoring him) “Perfect. Now, sit here. We’re taking selfies.”

She pulled him toward the couch before he could protest.

Abhishek: (groaning) “Do we really have to do this?”

Khanzaadi: (glaring) “Yes. And stop looking like you’ve been forced to babysit a hyperactive elf. Smile!”

She held up her phone and began snapping pictures.

Khanzaadi: “Ugh, no! Why are you making that face? You look like you’ve smelled something awful.”

Abhishek: (deadpan) “Maybe I have. Is that pine-scented candle?”

Khanzaadi: (rolling her eyes) “Oh, shut up. Hold still. Let me take these properly.”

She turned to check the pictures, frowning.

Khanzaadi: “You’re impossible. You didn’t even smile in any of these.”

Abhishek: (shrugging) “I told you, I’m not into this stuff.”

Khanzaadi: “Not into Christmas selfies or not into Christmas?”

Abhishek: “Both.”

After a few clicks, she sighed in frustration.

Khanzaadi: “You didn’t let me post those pictures from the Delhi event either.”

Abhishek: (smirking) “Yes, because you looked way too beautiful, and I looked like someone ready for his marriage. No thanks.”

Khanzaadi: (giggling) “You really need to fire your stylist. Or hire me. I’d fix that wardrobe in no time.”

He turned to glare at her.

Abhishek: “Excuse me?

Khanzaadi stood up suddenly, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

Khanzaadi: “Wait here. I have an idea!”

Abhishek: (groaning) “Why do I feel like I’m going to regret this?”

She returned with a bright red Santa hat and a pair of antler headbands.

Khanzaadi: (holding them up) “Pick one.”

Abhishek: (staring at her) “You’re joking.”

Khanzaadi: “Nope. Santa hat or antlers? Your choice.”

Abhishek: (crossing his arms) “Neither.”

Khanzaadi: “Fine, I’ll choose for you.”

Before he could protest, she plopped the antlers on his head.

Abhishek: (incredulous) “Shehzaadi, take these off.”

Khanzaadi: (snapping pictures) “Nope. You look adorable.”

Abhishek: “I do not look adorable.”

Khanzaadi: “Says the guy wearing reindeer antlers. Oh, this is going on my story.”

As she fiddled with her phone, he snatched it from her hands.

Abhishek: “You’re not posting this.”

Khanzaadi: “Hey! Give it back!”

Abhishek: (holding it out of reach) “Only if you promise to delete these pictures.”

Khanzaadi: (pouting) “You’re no fun. What’s the point of taking them if I can’t share them?”

Abhishek: “The point is your entertainment, apparently.”

She jumped to grab her phone, but he kept it just out of reach, laughing at her attempts.

Khanzaadi: “Abhishek! Stop being mean.”

Abhishek: “Stop being so annoying.”

Khanzaadi: (mock offended) “You’re ruining Christmas.”

Abhishek: (grinning) “Good. That was the plan.”

She finally managed to wrestle the phone back and stuck her tongue out at him.

She smacked his arm lightly and pulled him closer, this time holding his chin.

Khanzaadi: “Fine. If you won’t smile, I’ll make you look good myself.”

Abhishek: “Good luck with that.”

Before he could react, she kissed him on the cheek, turning him into a tomato with an adorable smile.

Khanzaadi: That's PERFECT!, she exclaimed finally taking the selfie. This goes to my personal collection!

Abhishek looked at the photo and exclaimed, Hmm it's not bad!.

Khanzaadi: (grinning mischievously) “You know, you could at least try to show some excitement. It’s Christmas!”

Abhishek: (leaning back) “Excitement? Like what? Dancing around the tree?”

Khanzaadi: “Or maybe singing carols! Oh, we could do a duet—”

Abhishek: (cutting her off, smirking) “Or we could skip all this and try a more... private celebration.” ) “I could be your naughty Santa, and you could be the one trying to tame me.”

Khanzaadi: (gasping, her face turning red) “Abhishek! You can’t seriously be suggesting that right now!”

Abhishek: “Well, you did ask for excitement.”

Khanzaadi: Shut up! And don't ruin Santa for me please!!

Abhishek groaned: Ahhh Christmas is no fun, I HATE CHRISTMAS!

[thebluestbluewords]

I am in love with this art, it's so gorgeous! As an angst lover and a die hard believer that Jay falls hard and fast for his friends the second he has the beginnings of a crush, I am thinking SO hard about this concept.

I've read one variation on hanahaki that I absolutely loved and want to think about here, where instead of the disease happening because of unrequited feelings of love, it happens because the affected person won't acknowledge/say anything about their feelings. As much as I enjoy the angst potential of unrequited jaylos (and I do think this idea could still play out that way, just bear with me), I also really enjoy the variation where hanahaki disease doesn't require reciprocation or death. 

I'm thinking about Jay as the protector of the group. As the cool one, who's there for the others but doesn't have the first clue how to talk about his own feelings. Thinking back to the D2 "girl talk" scene, Jay is a great guy and a loyal friend, but he's not super....emotionally intelligent. It feels very true to how I'm reading his character for him to develop feelings, and then just never talk about them or mentally acknowledge them, because he doesn't have the time or brain space for feelings! He's busy! He's got swords to swing and classes to take and Chads to bother! 

And okay, maybe he's staying busy because he doesn't know how to deal with these feelings that keep popping up whenever he looks at Carlos and sees him happy, laughing, thriving now that they're off the isle, but whatever. He's a friend, and Jay has a lot of feelings about all of his friends. He's just a great friend kinda guy. 

(Jay does not have these feelings about all of his friends) 

And like, maybe his chest hurts a little more than it should, but that's fine. He's probably just tired. He'll sleep it off. 

(spoiler alert: he does not sleep it off) 

It's a surprise when the first flower petals start. Jay isn't expecting to start hacking out a lung after practice, and he really isn't expecting it when instead of a blob of gross chest mucus, he coughs up a handful of bright yellow flower petals. He's seen a lot of Weird Shit happen, but flowers coming out of his body isn't normal, and reeks of magic bullshittery, so he goes to the best magic person he knows, which is Mal. 

Mal is in the middle of a mental breakdown, because I'm imagining this set in a vague time slightly before the second movie, where she's always one bad day away from snapping and murdering everyone around her and then herself, but she's grateful for a magical distraction. A magical mystery to throw herself into is as good an excuse as any to get out of her ongoing obligations! 

Except...there's nothing about throwing up flowers in her mother's spellbook. 

There's nothing in the library either. There's a restricted collection of magical textbooks and histories in Fairy Godmother's office, but they don't have any way of breaking in there, and they're committed to the whole goodness thing now. No more breaking and entering, even if it is for research. They'll just order the books themselves, off the dark web! It's much more morally defensible to engage in the illegal magical objects trade than it is to break into a teacher's personal book collections. 

Unfortunately, the dark web isn't known for speedy shipping, and Jay's flower petals are starting to come up spotted with blood. He's pretty sure it's because they're tearing his throat on the way up, but the chest pain is a little scary, and he's sick and tired of waking up to the feeling of vines clogging his throat. (this is also where I would put a claustrophobia moment, if I was writing this for real and not just in bullet points). Jay's dad didn't exactly lock him in the closet as a kid, but Jay's been stuck in too many small, dark spaces  while hiding from villains who caught him stealing from them to be fond of the feeling. The flowers don't cut off his light, but they clog his throat, and when he moves too quickly he'd swear that he can feel them ripping free of his lungs. It feels like he's drowning on dry land, and if there's one thing Jay does have an irrational fear of, it's drowning. 

Nobody dies on the isle, but if you drown, the spell will bring you back over and over, and it'll hurt every single time. 

Jay's the protector of the group. The loyal friend who looks out for everybody. But he can't look out for them if he can't breathe, and online shippers don't respond well to Mal's threats of violence and dragonfire on everything they love, so with a full bloody flower in hand, they break into Fairy Godmother's office. 

It's a tense break-in, but they're careful and quiet (one bloody flower coughing fit notwithstanding) and the information they need is coincidentally in the first book they find. (Mal uses a searching spell to find the topic, but she's got her magic under control, and it's fine. It's not like Fairy Godmother would put magical shields on her office that are set to trigger a silent alarm if she senses magic being cast around her collections....no. She'd never do that). 

Hanahaki. It's a magical disease, Mal reads out, that affects those who are in unrequited love. It's characterized by flowers in the lungs, and can be easily resolved by.....oh, okay, maybe she can just cast a localized fire spell to burn the flowers out? A little weed killer shot? They could make Jay laugh in the middle to make sure he aspirates it into his lungs. She's just spitballing here. 

Jay is not amused by these suggestions. He would wrestle her for the book and read it himself, but he can't fucking breathe right now, and the next flower that comes up is whole, and there's more blood than petal visible. 

Okay, Mal says. Okay. You just need to confess your feelings to the person you're in love with, and the flowers will die on their own once you acknowledge that you're in love. 

Ah, says Jay. Yeah. Okay. I'll just die then. 

(and then Carlos and Evie run in because hey, Fairy Godmother is on her way back, and she's moving pretty fast, and does anyone else hear an alarm??) 

They can't run fast enough. Before they're even out the door, Fairy Godmother is there, and her phone is BLARING the magical alert sound, and she's not exactly pleased to see four students ransacking her personal magical reference library, but oh, dear, that's a lot of blood-- 

Jay maybe, possibly can't breathe. And like. The lecture they're getting is cool and all, but he's just gonna cough until he passes out, if that's cool with everyone? Great. Perfect. 

He wakes up in the school nurse's quarters, because they didn't know where else to drag him. The nurse can't do shit, and the others are literally begging him to confess, but Jay Cannot Talk About This, not in front of everyone, and....look, he'll deal with it in the morning. Just one night to sleep it off and gather himself, and then he'll do it. Just. Give him space. 

The girls leave. Carlos can't abandon his roommate to a night alone in the nurse's office, so he's reluctant, and this is it, this is the moment. 

Jay literally has to tell him. 

Or else he's going to die. 

(and maybe it's unrequited, but the confession is the important part, and before Carlos can give him an answer, Jay starts coughing again, and the next flowers that come up are still bloody, but they're not bright and fresh anymore, and the stabbing pain of the vines in his lungs are already fading, and that's it, the answer doesn't matter, because the flowers are dead now and all that's left to do is pass the remaining plant matter and they can both get on with their lives and never talk about it again)

(but they maybe do talk about it again) 

Because maybe they don’t love each other the same way, but they’re still friends, and Jay’s still in love, and they have to make sure the flowers don’t come back— because they can’t come back. There’s no way he’d get the same disease twice. They can just be friends, and Jay can be in love, and it’ll be fine.

They’ll be fine.

(if I want to get REALLY angsty with this, the magical hanahaki is progressive, and the first time it only requires a confession, but if it comes back it requires the feelings to be required, and oh, it’s going to come back.)

One sided Jaylos lives in my head rent free 

[k00286723]

secondary research:

Annihilation

(2018 film)

in this film (no spoilers pls watch it) it shows a growth of nature, a combination of human life with the natural world around it. its an exploration of a strange alien landscape in a growing bubble in the states. the explorers are a group of scientists and experts and are all stunned by the unique traits of this ecosystem. in my watches I was never really able to see it as a take over of the world because it seemed so beautiful. everything combining . I went through and took screenshots of my favourite frames to really illustrate my point.

The Plant Life

The plants are my favourite thing in this movie. it creates such a beautiful , calm feeling. the first scene we get with lots of botanical beauty is the scene beside the lake. all the characters were entranced with the gentle colours and the irregularities in form. none of them looked like the same species yet came from the same stem. strange plant hybrids were everywhere. one of the characters even said "it feels like someone's gonna get married." this atmosphere shed them of their defences for a short period because of its stunning beauty and led to one of them being very caught of guard by the sudden ugly danger that lay close.

the colours are so beautiful, light and bright . the textures are equally as soft , lots of moss , curved edges and bendy shapes . the mould is so fluffy and soft , the colours making some thing gross and dangerous look like candy floss. the multicoloured lilies in the water almost feel like decorations after a party, plastic frills blown into nature by the wind.

these moments are from quite a short scene , but another example of the effervescent calmness is an unknown landscape. you should be scared watching but looking at this spongy, scattered mossy branches it feels more like a fairy forest than a place of danger.

Unsettling beauty

the. movie is full of subversions of what is scary and what is beautiful. imagine the difference in this shot if it was just a normal bog standard dead body. the addition of soft colours and textures really turns it from morbidity to a beautiful creation made by nature .

the textures in this scene are so gorgeous . there's the cottony fluff around the head , very airy fairy. the wiry reaching structures and pretty too , they remind me of shooters from a plant, like the way strawberries spread. the layering and colour choice , im just obsessed with this . there's so much imagery in art using skulls , but. this doesn't feel overdone it feels new, whimsical and so organic. its amazing how the detail doesn't look intentional , or man made.

this beauty paired with the grimy environment of the dingy abandoned swimming pool is a really cool juxtaposition. gets me thinking about my piece in places other than studio 2 or a clean photography studio.

this area of the body mould is this section that to me really looks like braiding.

these creeping vines / lighting bolt feeling structures are beautiful . the stark colour scheme , the emptiness of the room, the scarcity and then close knit layering the closer u get to the hole, all of it is so visually interesting.

Metamorphisis/ Shape

there's a big theme of fractals and cell division in this movie and the visuals really capture this alien, growing spread of the entity ( whatever it is that's creating the strange landscape their in). the abstract shapes , the constant movement really makes me think of those backgrounds that used to show on my dads old computer when we listened to music. (ive now searched extensively for that online and can't find it for a visual )

Overall

Ive been really inspired by the forms and colour in this movie. aside from just the visuals its made me think about creating a safe , touchable , soft structure and pairing it with a harsher surounding

[sanctus-ingenium]

another one of these posts lol... sketches vs final. not much changed for these ones, i kind of went into them with a very solid mental image already in my head. all of these were done start to finish in procreate

thoughts below the cut

horse fight .... this is based off a really really beautiful sky i saw while driving home one evening. i'm really proud of getting the colours i saw exactly right, this kind of greenish yellow fading to dark blue and with grey clouds low over it that looked very dark against the yellow by the horizon, but very pale against the dark blue.

i thought it would be a cool backdrop to draw a scene i've been thinking about for a while. The little cartoony horses are there to provide some tonal whiplash but also because these are two immortal shapeshifters who can fight violently without it being a huge deal. the little horses represent the actual gravity of the fight (that is, kind of a slap fight between two drama queens) which contrasts with the visuals of two animals brutally tearing at eachother. also i got the two horses at the bottom mixed up, Pascal is the one with the skinny plumed tail and Macha has a more traditional horse tail and i put them on the wrong sides.

i had a LOT of trouble shading this. i didn't want the horses to be too shiny but that meant a much lower contrast in shading and even with my screen brightness turned up i could barely see what i was doing. but i wanted it to read as realistic. mixed results i think. if i did it again i might try a different shading style because this one didn't really do it for me

--

spooky van!!! the post i deleted by accident (rip. i will repost it soon). this is a picture of the barrow (the field) taking a different shape - in this case a cool van. the van contains every single thing the field does (including the human victims that get lost in there...) but compressed down into a manageable shape. the void is Pascal because the field is inside him. he did this for his human bf to provide novel way to travel through the Otherworld. don't ask how this works like, spatially, because the answer is: i don't do hard magic systems in this setting

i loooove shading things with pencil hatching and i really like contrasting it with smooth colours/shading so that's mainly what i did here. it was simple enough. the van is of course heavily referenced and i wish i had been able to stylise it a little more.. maybe next time. i want to draw a kind of cutaway illustration of the van showing exterior and interior (like an old blueprint schematic), which i might use as a cover for the book/comic/whatever but that will require a very intimidating level of precision so i think i'll work up to that.

--

RUA magazine. this is my third time doing a rua magazine cover (first time posting tho). this is an in-universe magazine distributed throughout the Otherworld to an audience of fairies. in the sketch, the illustation was originally the King of Pentacles tarot card (the pentacle being the disco ball). but i decided to make a different King of Pentacles card for him instead, since I try hard to move away from symmetrical composition for the tarot cards (it's boring). so i repurposed this one into another magazine cover. like i said Pascal is a self-absorbed attention whore and has a habit of giving bullshit interviews just so that he can be on the cover as much as possible. he dresses like this all the time (the year is 2017)

the disco ball took 15 years off my life and it's not even the first disco ball i've drawn! i finished my actual king of pentacles card before i finished the rua cover sketch, so i can show u this

which is much better even if i did reference so heavily that it isn't exactly stylised. but this card needs some serious revision before i even think about posting it. i'm just not happy with his face.

original intent was for it be mysterious with emphasis on the neon lights but it ended up far more suggestive than i expected. that's life!

[tomwaterbabies]

ok. here's a list of things. im trying not to go too in-depth with my ranting here. firstly because i would literally just much rather gush about the og than spend MORE time on this trash, and secondly because my friends and i are already ranting about it lol

(keep in mind this is still VERY LONG. my actual full thoughts would be pages long if you could believe that)

but here we go. spoilers for the disney live-action pinocchio if that matters

the cgi is bad. as expected. immediately you see a lack of warmth and coziness in geppetto's workshop. and in place of the whimsical and creative clocks of the original, geppetto's workshop not only is a bad cgi set but contains 2 (TWO) scenes of... disney references... the clocks are a bunch of disney character references..................

weirdly emphasizes his love for his clocks. this is hammered throughout the film (i will come back to this)

geppetto has a previous dead son.

the fairy shoots a beam of light that bounces off the dead son's picture frame and into pinocchio. i think the implication here is that he has some of the son's spirit. this is never addressed further

the scene of him coming to life is the most awkward fucking imagery ever. they play up the comedy and the sense of wonder is just... lost (might have to go in-depth with this scene later when i compare some scenes from the og and this one)

she sings when you wish upon a star for some reason

the pacing, in general, is so terrible

there is a montage of pinocchio and geppetto living together. it's badly paced and awkward and i think they did it because of the cinema-sins level nitpicking that people do where they ask why geppetto sent him off to school on his first day of being alive

he has some weird super speed ability of being able to move his arms and legs super fast? this is used multiple times and i really dont understand why they made him like that

he does end up going to school but quickly gets kicked out for being a puppet. i dont really think this scene adds anything. there's a shot where he's on the ground super sad and upset while the teacher yells at him for being a puppet or whatever and the kids laugh... which i would definitely be into in a better movie. this will not be the first time a good concept is in this bad movie

he is less naive but they don't really do anything to fill out his personality. it feels like pinocchio is missing something. which he is

his voice acting is weird. not a bad voice but the actual line delivery is just... not always... good. kind of awkward. same with geppetto. most of the characters actually

btw jiminy is definitely more helpful here, but it isnt worth it

ive got no strings was such an insulting segment of trash and uninspired disrespect my brother and i started crying (another scene i would just have to breakdown)

this is where the love interest comes in. shes a little girl who controls a ballerina puppet. there isnt much to say. she doesnt do anything but give a lot of pointless dialogue. they dont get together at the end (she goes off to run her own puppet show after she gets stromboli arrested). im serious this added nothing

multiple new songs btw. they are not good

ok let me break down pleasure island in a few points

him going back to his house and then scooped up into pleasure island nonsense is quite literally a blink-and-you'll-miss-it transition

pleasure island is now more akin to a SUPER extravagant theme park. massive buildings, bright lights, and high-tech systems. and none of the original bite

no drinking, no smoking. this is not inherently bad if you have him experience something equally as terrible. but they dont. he drinks root beer (lmao???) and that's about it

so lampwick... a character representation of pleasure island as a whole tbh. he is not nearly as impactful as the og and is just. kind of There. less bite, more stupid dialogue to tell us what the characters are doing

The Donkey Scene. completely hollow. the visceral and harrowing experience of the original is completely gone. shots like lampwick's hands turning into hooves as he desperately claws at pinocchio is just Not There. laughable

the faceless dudes working at pleasure island are now vapor monsters. i think they did this to avoid the controversy of racism but holy shit what the fuck is this. just make them dudes...

not a big deal but he also gets wooden donkey ears and tail?? im not sure why they did that other than "haha he's made of wood" and it kind of goes against what i think helps the story when it's flesh/fur ears/tail like the rest of the human boys

ok moving on from pleasure island

so they find the empty house of geppetto. they learn that he sold all his clocks that he loved oh so much in order to buy a boat and look for pinocchio. this scene is so stupid. it's just characters going on and on about how much geppetto cares about pinocchio instead of just like... showing us that? why do they NEED to emphasize to pinocchio that geppetto loves him this much like just SHOW ME THROUGH ACTIONS

monstro looks stupid as hell lol

remember the original monstro? the gorgeous painting-like animation? thats nice. its not like that btw

the reunion with his father contains TWO SEPERATE MOMENTS of a possible tender moment but they trade BOTH out for comedy. there is no heartwarming reunion there's no profound forgiveness of geppetto it's just HaHa Funny!!! Funny Look!!! geppetto does mention he forgives him im just saying it was NOT done in a profound or emotional way

THE ENDING SCENE.

where to fucking begin with this. i suppose breaking it down works

so pinocchio Does Not Die. they escape monstro and instead geppetto is the one knocked out (i dont THINK hes dead like pinocchio was but im unsure). this is a stupid change because it is pinocchio's own sacrifice that makes it so profound

pinocchio... starts sadly humming/singing a tearful when you wish upon a star????????????????????? and this pissed me off because it dared try to use it for an emotional moment when they didnt do shit with the song in the first place. the message of this song is NONEXISTENT in this movie so having it here just feels so hollow and therefore insulting lol

and finally. finally. finally. we get to what is the best (worst?) example of "great concept in a bad movie" ive seen in all these pinocchio adaptions

pinocchio remains a wooden boy.

ah... You Are Mother Fucker. not only this but the scene... the dialogue... the message... the acting/animations/actions throughout it (even small gestures) are all things i so genuinely desire in a GOOD MOVIE

geppetto accidentally tells pinocchio in a moment of pride that a "real boy" couldnt do what he did. pinocchio's expression falls and geppetto immediately realizes what he said. he apologizes and tells him that if he made it seem like he wanted something more than him in the beginning that it wasnt like that at all. he tells him how much he loves him and that no matter what, he will always be his real boy.

the movie ends not at geppetto's home, but pinocchio and geppetto walking away from the sea. jiminy's narration comes on and he tells us that pinocchio may have been transformed physically, that it's up to interpretation, but that it doesnt really matter. because who he is inside is what counts, THAT is what makes him real.

(im summing it up and missing a few dialogue/acting moments but yeah)

screaming. crying. trashing around. i need to make it CLEAR that the only reason this whole ending is like this and is here is that they are taking what was presented in the og movie and expanding on it. i would LOVE this in the original movie yes, because i truly think that's where it belongs. but this fucking movie does nothing to be anything remotely as passionate and full of love as the original movie. it is heartbreaking to see this here

IN CONCLUSION:

disney remakes at the end of the day are about greed first. some will be worst than others. there are common trends that appear in various remakes, though not all trends appear in every single one. this movie has every single one of those trends. truthfully the worst ive seen and ive watched a remake that blatantly wrote a mental disorder that i have in the most offensive depiction ive seen of it (personally)

there is just no passion here. no love. the most i can say is that it does have sweet/good moments- specifically with small pieces of character acting and animation. but i cannot stress enough how minimal that is. it has a few good concepts but poorly utilizes them

it feels like it was relying on these moments to carry them through. but small moments like a genuinely sad/happy/loving pinocchio, as touching as that can be, will not actually mean anything or work when the story itself just isnt good. when so much of this movie is badly put together in every aspect. from writing to editing to animation to music to All Of It... terrible. disney doesnt care. not even about the history and art THEY made

tbh it's up to other people to keep the art alive. currently im working on my animated short (traditionally animated) and even enjoy my OWN work with pinocchio. including a sequel/continuation story idea that expands on the original's themes without being a piece of shit movie. if disney wont do it, we will just do it ourselves and/or find the people who still have the deep love and passion and All Of That for this piece of Art and Magic

[erwinsvow]

𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 | 𝐚𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬

a/n: hey everyone! hope you enjoy these college headcanons! part two can be found here! warning for nsfw in jean's, and mentions of alcohol/partying throughout!

jean kirstein

jean shows up to college thinking it’s gonna be high school part two, and quickly gets put in his place

his old antics (for both school and girls) won’t fly anymore, so he tries his hardest at both

i personally see jean as not the smartest, most gifted kid (in college!) but definitely one of the hardest workers

this man comes in pre-law and changes to sports management real quick

he definitely plays some kind of club sport, lacrosse or basketball or maybe even both and he is way too into it

like club lacrosse is his life.

he 100% has eyes for cheerleaders, because he loves idea of someone rooting for him, and if you are one, then it’s instantaneous

he notices you at one of his games, giving a shove to conny and asking if he knew who you were

which is met with “what do i look like, a phone book?”

he builds up the courage to ask you out eventually, to which of course you agree, and it’s pretty much a happy ending after that

makes for a lot of sweaty, post-match sex, with him still in his jersey and you in your uniform hiked up

reiner braun

frat bro reiner is a business major with a focus on finance

reiner is the guy who dedicates 100% of his time to school during the weekdays, and the weekends are for the bros

he’s the first in the library, last to leave lecture because he stayed behind to get clarifications, and pretty much aces everything

halloweekend, he decides to drag annie and bertholdt to a party, because they are in desperate need of letting loose

probably dressed up as something mildly douche-y that didn’t require a lot of thought: a foot ball player jersey with eye black improvised by annie

he is a heavy-weight if you’ve ever seen one, probably on his fifth cup of cheap beer and not even slightly buzzed

annie and bertholdt are sloshed, so he keeps one eye on them to make sure they’re alright

you, on the other hand, are serving as designated-driver for the night and sipping on soda

i think any kind of sweet, innocent costume (angel, fairy, woodland creature) would get his attention immediately

he goes over to you to try to make conversation, and finds himself stumbling over his words even though he just swore he wasn’t tipsy yet

but you find it cute, and given how you have seen him before around campus, studying all the damn time, you’re pleasantly surprised to find a sweet, interesting guy making conversation with you at a halloween party

eventually, your friends take off with their hook-ups, and reiner is left behind alone too after making sure everyone had a safe ride home

with no one left besides you two and his passed out friends, you offer him and his roommates a ride back to his dorm

after dropping annie off, you arrive at the dorm and help lug a blacked-out bertholdt to their room

you say goodnight and as you leave, feeling bold, you leave your number on the whiteboard hanging on their door

so that then turns into coffee-and-studying dates, and eventually a relationship before too long

armin arlert

i think we all know what armin is like in college: marine biology major and history minor

this is an effortless genius, so unlike reiner, he doesn’t have to spend all his time studying

i think armin would be the kind of guy who has school and life figured out, and he slowly realizes a healthy relationship is the one thing missing from his life

there’s honestly plenty of people who want to date him, if he had ever cared to return any of their gazes

i honestly see him being oblivious, so when a fellow classmate asks if he wants to study together, he goes “oh, sorry, i wasn’t really planning on studying, but maybe eren wants a study-buddy, i’ll let him know for you!” instead of realizing that was someone flirting

so it’s the same for you

you’re taking the marine sci class as a last resort, everything else was completely filled up, and you just had to get out of that physics class

but all this talk about oceans and sea-creatures is even worse, somehow. to put it short, you’re struggling, and armin is the kid who raises his hand at every question without so much as jotting down a note during lecture

you know mikasa through a friend-of-a-friend type situation, and ask her if armin would be willing to tutor you sometime

doesn’t matter that part of the reason you’re doing so poorly is because you’re staring at the back of his head most of class

armin and you get together to study on a saturday evening, and what began as a recap on the history of the ocean quickly turns into laughing, talking, and then “you wanna go grab something to eat?”

for someone so smart, he’s really dense

he thinks you’re being friendly and doesn’t want to assume you’re thinking this is a ‘date’ even though you’re internally screaming

it takes you leaning in for a kiss after he’s walked you back to your dorm for it to click

needless to say, he wasn’t quite so oblivious after that

eren yeager

eren was determined to get into the same college as armin and mikasa

my man is undecided, and then sociology after he’s forced to pick

not exactly a fuckboy, not exactly a stoner, just somewhere in between

procrastinates doing work and submits every thing a day late, even though he probably would have gotten full marks if it was on time

him and mikasa decide to take a marine bio class with armin, and he ends up falling asleep during lecture

i don’t see him going for a goody-two shoes type that wants to reform him, because he just wouldn’t want to deal with that

it’s not a toxic relationship, but pretty close to one

on again, off again ever since the two of you met in a dingy frat basement, absolutely hammered, and hooked up

this boy does not want to admit that he’s caught feelings, but eventually it comes to that because he is very much the jealous type

catches you engaging in polite conversation with reiner and he is seeing white in seconds

he realizes he has to make you his

marco bott

the most wholesome nursing major with a minor in english because he is a sucker for lit

i don’t think there is any shortage of girls who want to be with marco, just given how sweet and genuine he is

that being said, i feel like the few time he’s wanted to pursue a relationship with someone, they haven’t reciprocated/just saw him as a friend

which isn’t the easiest thing to deal with, but because he’s a mature angel, he doesn’t hold that against anyone

instead, he kind of succumbs to this false idea that people want to be his friend, and not his girlfriend, which he’s a little insecure about

that’s why i think you and marco would have idiot best friends to lovers, featuring everyone around you knowing how head over heels you both are except the two of you

you two meet in a particularly challenging class, and not recognizing anyone, you both turn to the friendliest face in the room to make study-buddies with

over a whole semester of late-night cramming (and talking), scribbling smiley faces on flashcards, and good luck texts before the exam, you realize how much you’re gonna miss constantly hanging out with marco

and on his end, he’s complaining to jean about how after the final, you two won’t have any reason to keep talking

“so ask her out then, you idiot”

“she probably doesn’t think of me like that…”

“are you blind?” jean says, with a roll of his eyes

after the class has ended and you’re both headed back home for winter break, you work up the nerve to text marco one last time

“let me know if you ever need help studying for another class :)”

you have no idea that he’s over the moon, and that finally brings an end to your friendship, and starts your relationship

bertholdt hoover

mister bertholdt is structural design and architecture major

there’s basically six of those total in your entire college, so he definitely gets a bit isolated/lonely sometimes

he basically came to college with reiner & annie, and figured he didn’t really need more friends than that

so when they’re busy, he’s just by himself

annie definitely makes fun of him for not spreading his wings and flying out of the metaphorical nest, but he’s comfortable with how it is

not a huge fan of the party scene, and prefers a quiet night of studying

i feel like you and him would be the last two studying in the library most nights, and sometimes walk out together after the librarian reminds you both the building is closing

so, when reiner and annie drag him to a party one weekend, he’s shocked to see you there too with outgoing friends of your own

he’s used to seeing you in the bright fluorescent lighting of the library, so this dim, hazy room after the shots have already gone to his head is hard to take in

you two eventually end up talking after your friends push you towards him

“funny seeing you here.” “i could say the same to you.”

he already has a crush (you do too, but he doesn’t want to accept that) so the alcohol inhibits his usual caution

a little bit of dancing, a lot of sitting on the pavement outside while looking at the moon, stars, and each other, topped off with a first-kiss starts your relationship

levi ackerman

teaching assistant levi is a staple of your college

almost infamous, really

you count your lucky blessings that he’s still a year or so away from graduating with his ph.d. in molecular biology and that he’s ta’ing this microbiology class

you’ve definitely heard all sorts of rumors, but you really don’t know what’s truth and fiction

he definitely hasn’t slept with a third of his students (right?) but the lingering way he looks at you isn’t helping quell your thoughts

technically speaking, teaching assistants and students are not allowed to date, interact, etc

until the semester in which you are their student is completed, at least

it doesn’t take long after that for you two to constantly run into each other

“how’re your new classes going? any hot ta’s?” he asks, sipping his tea from the bookstore cafe. you choke on your hot chocolate.

all this being said, you’re an upperclassmen about to graduate, possibly start a ph.d. or masters program yourself. i see him teaching upper-level courses exclusively.

it’s not long after that you admit your feelings to each other, since after all, there’s no time to waste

erwin smith

you’re a second year masters program in the history department. your specialization is military history, so of course professor smith is assigned as your thesis advisor.

i mean, he’s only written several textbooks on the subject

on first sight, you can’t believe he’s a professor. because certainly, this is a some cruel twist of fate. he’s closer to your age than some of his colleagues.

you both try to keep it strictly professional

at first least. this gets gradually harder and harder

there’s a certain chemistry there neither of you can deny.

having a mutual interest in the same subjects doesn’t help too much either. suddenly, you guys are spending hours pouring over topics for his next textbook and your thesis.

the conversation continues over chinese food in his office, long after the rest of the building has cleared out for their friday evenings

“well, i won’t keep you any longer. i’m sure you have much better plans on a friday night than talking military policy with me.”

“there is no where else i’d rather be.”

hope you all liked it! :)

[authorofdragons]

you know what? lifes shit. come make something with me

So for context, these are my comfort dolls I crocheted over a year ago: Bonehill and Zerako.

theyre also the main characters of my webcomic Skull & Pyro but you dont gotta worry about that rn all you gotta know is that theyre husbands. (if you wanna worry about it its ok go check out my pinned post)

So I love making them minature things and I'm a horrible little christmas goblin so I wanna make them a mini christmas tree (and a whole scene to boot but lets start with a tree).

Here you can see the leaves fighting against their creator as I bring them into this wretched world (aka my loops kept falling off my hook). I went off of The Lazy Hobbyhopper's pattern here. Base of the tree is made with bulky green yarn I found in a bin and then worsted weight white yarn to make the leaves look smaller to make sure the green would be seen underneath. I Also skipped every other row when making the leaves to further achieve this.

Next I need a sturdy interior so the tree is firm for decorating. There could be better materials for this but my brain will use any and everything I have on hand before it'll buy new materials so my grubby lil hands grabbed some cardstock and made it a cone

Next for the trunk I used the left over cardstock to make a tube and then grabbed a old CVS paper bag to give it trunk texture and color. The final touches are with crayola marker because thats just the crisis situation we're dealing with here.

Now the base of the tree is made, rad, cool, looks neat.

Ignore the fact that my camera decided my walker is the star of the photo this is what happens when I screenshot my videos.

We need a topper and I refuse to make a normal star bc my boys are agents of chaos so I asked my mom what it should be and she suggested a mushroom gnome. She knows me well.

I make a lot of these little guys purely bc my brain eel has decided they are The Shit right now. This is my own pattern that is minimal sewing because I Hate Sewing Extra Shit it just makes more steps in my mind which makes the brain eel angery. So I bullshit stitches and run with it. If I can learn to translate the horrors that are my patterns into words, maybe one day Ill share it. Unfortunately the horrors are winning

Now for ornaments and lights. I could crochet those but brain eel doesn't want to so Target it is.

Now on with the lights, these fairy lights were bright as fuck and with the white leaves I felt assaulted with color ASDFJFLGK like listen I love color but Im used to green trees and didn't realize the frosted leaves would just Become The Entire Light Spectrum

they are entranced.

So I just swapped the fairy lights with my taco lights that were on my own mini tree and honestly, that fits better in every way given Zerako notoriously loves tacos and its much less stimulating. And the fairy lights look great on my tree.

Of course I need cheesy couples photos of them putting the tree up because it Is their tree, they deserve this moment.

you're doing great boys (they are not doing anything)

NOW for ordaments. Percieve them putting on the ordaments.

Now pretend you never perceived them (for I am doing the rest).

All together it looks great!! The colorful ordaments really help balance the plain yellow/white lights.

I adore how this turned out. Life is still shit but my boys have their own tree so I'll live with it 💚 I got more christmas crafts planned for these two so follow me for more mild serotnin inducers.

Hope life's a little less shit for you today 💙