#Could not decide on some of her colours there tho

[fairytail-rewritten]

Didn't end up working on Pisces Star Dress, but I did nail down a "redesign" for Yukino (she barely changed) and started on some Angel concepts :PPPPPPP enjoy!!!

Edit: IK their surname is Aguria I just forgot in the moment^///^;;;;;

[sysig]

Getting closer, getting really close now I swear (Patreon)

[insomniadreamzz]

G!p Jinx popping the cherry? 🤭🤭

I love that idea 👀👀

——

Distraction

G!P Jinx x Fem!Reader (Dom!Jinx)

TW// G!P, NSFW

Ever since you came into her life, Jinx had a reason to fight for. Not trying to blow herself up anymore every time it looked like she would lose.

In you, she saw a woman that loved her just the way she is and who didn’t judge her. Of course you had your moments where you would fight when she got a bit too crazy about some things, deep down you only wanted to protect her from harming herself accidentally.

The more time passed, the more possessive she got over you. Wanting to blow everyone up who just looked at you a little too much. Her being very clingy towards you wasn’t a big secret in Zaun tho. One wrong move or look and she will show them that you are hers.

Today was one of those days. Jinx being all exhausted at the end of the day but she still didn’t stop tinkering on some new weapons. You sat there on her couch, looking at her working for hours now.

„Don’t you want to rest already? You seem very tired.“ You told her but she didn’t pay attention at all as usual.

„Jinx?“ You call again but nothing.

You didn’t like when she was working without a pause because you know how tired she actually was. So you got up with a huff, walking towards her and sitting on her lap without caring what she was working on now.

„Ugh…really Toots??“ She said with a frown, dropping the tools in her hands on the table. „You didn’t listen to me so I need to get your attention in that way.“ You explained yourself, your hands wrapped around her shoulders.

„You need to relax, you can work on that tomorrow okay?“

Jinx responded with a sigh to your words, her hands now resting on your waist as she looked at you. „Mh…how can I focus on my work when you straddle my lap like that??“ Her voice changed to a more husky one, you knew she liked that way of distraction the most, making you smile as your attempt worked, getting her whole attention now.

„Thats the plan. I want you to relax and focus on me now.“ You whispered into her ear, exactly knowing that it turned her on when she felt your warm breath against her skin.

„Come on, you know the teasing is my part.“ She said with a little chuckle, sounding innocent but she wasn’t innocent at all.

You leaned back again so you could look at her, noticing in her look that she desperately needed you to continue your distraction so you did, leaning in for a kiss. The kiss quickly turned into a more passionate one as her tongue quickly found her was into your mouth, gaining soft hums from you. Jinx was more the rough kisser and you didn’t mind it at all, letting her bite and pull on your lower lip, sometimes she even bit a little too hard to make your lip bleed.

You both got more and more excited during the kiss, your hips moving automatically to grind against her crotch, soon feeling the bulge in her pants grow bigger.

„Mn…fuck…“ She cursed between the kiss, her hands traveling down to your ass, her nails digging into you.

You both pulled back to catch your breath, looking at each other lustfully, her beautiful pink eyes shimmering. You were always amazed by the beautiful colour they got because of the shimmer in her.

„You know…maybe it is okay to leave my work for now, I have to do my girl now.“ She said in between her soft panting and with that you both decided to continue it on her couch to be more comfortable.

On the way Jinx took off her pants, letting her already hard member free before sitting down, you follow her actions, also taking off your clothes and wanting to get closer to sit on her again but she stopped you in your tracks.

„No…you don’t get what you want that quicky. You need to deserve it. I want you on your knees for me.“ She commanded and you got the message, getting on your knees, your hand wrapping around her shaft.

You didn’t need more words, knowing already what she wanted and so you did, leaning forward to drag your tongue over the tip while your hand was gently moving up and down her shaft, noticing her body tensing up a little at your actions. Patience wasn’t one of the things that Jinx mastered well so you didn’t plan on letting her wait any longer, wrapping your lips around her and letting her cock slide down your throat.

„Fuck…yes keep sucking my cock baby…“ She moaned out, her hand tangling into your hair, making you hum softly.

You didn’t stop bobbing your head, getting faster and gaining soft moans from your lover, signaling you doing a good job.

All of this was making you throbbing wet. You used your free hand to touch yourself, running your fingers through your wet folds.

„Ah..what are you doing here?? No touching, that will be my job.“ Jinx pulled on your hair, signaling you should stop touching yourself, making you whine at the feeling. You stopped, resting your hands on her thighs as she thrusted her hips up into you, using your mouth just like she wanted.

„A-Ah…fuck! Your mouth feels so good! I am gonna-…ngh!“ With a grunt she came into your mouth, making you swallow everything of her cum before letting go of your hair, letting you pull away.

„That’s my good girl…“ She panted softly, calming down from her high but her eyes were still filled with passion as she made you get up on your feet and pushing you down on the couch, now she was on top of you, her still hard member all wet from your spit.

„Now…it’s your turn. You deserve it.“ She spoke with a lustful voice, rubbing her tip against your entrance, painfully slow. „P-Please…“ You whimpered underneath her, wanting her so bad. „Please what?? I want to hear it. Use your words.“ She was teasing you so much you couldn’t wait for any longer. „Please Jinx. Please fuck me.“ You begged, making her groan in response at you being so desperate for her, how could she deny you.

Actually Jinx couldn’t wait either, being glad you were such a good girl for her and begged so she moved inside of you easily since you were already so wet, you both letting out a moan at the feeling. You felt like losing control of your own body as she thrusted into you, filling her hideout with sweet wet sounds of your bodies and your moaning. „Fuck…so wet for me. You feel so good Toots!“

Jinx leaned down, kissing you hungrily as she thrusted into you before traveling down your neck and leaving hickeys there, her teeth feeling so good on your skin. „Ah! Fuck! Yes please harder!“ You whimpered in between your moans, driving Jinx crazy, making her move her hips harder, hitting your womb with her cock with each thrust.

„Hnn…I want to cum inside my pretty little girl…I want you to take all of it.“ She said as her hand wrapped around your neck, squeezing it lightly. You had a hard time looking at her, the pleasure being too much but you still tried your best, wanting to look at her. The way her lustful gaze drove you even more crazy, the sight of her body crashing against yours, her beautiful sweaty body, you just couldn’t hold it for any longer anymore.

„Ah! Yes please. Please cum inside me.“ You begged again, letting her do whatever she wanted in that moment and so she did. A few more thrusts and Jinx finally came, together with you. As soon as you felt her cock twitch inside of you, releasing her warm cum, you reached your orgasm as well, legs shaking because of how intense it was, eyes rolling back into your head.

Her thrusts became slower until she stopped, pulling out of you and letting herself fall down beside you. You both were still breathing heavily. Jinx pulled you into a tight hug, making you smile happily. You loved how sweet she was after sex, her habd caressing you so gently as you nuzzled into her, slowly coming to realisation. „Did we just-…“ You started, earning a giggle from her. „Yeah…we did. And I don’t regret it at all.“ Jinx coos softly, knowing what you meant but she didn’t care about the consequences.

„I love you.“ You mentioned, making her grab your cheeks and kissing you. This time the kiss was soft and loving. „I love you too.“

[iheartmapi]

A fluffy surprise

Mapi Leon x reader

Summary: After finishing work you want to enjoy some fresh air before coming home, while on a walk you notice a poor stray kitten, you take it in but how will Mapi react?

Fluff.

TW: kitten in a bad situation, mentions of death (very brief ones tho),

Word summary: 1,565

At last, your shift was approaching its end, you stared tiredly at your computers screen, yawning you finally turned it off. It was time for you to get back home, you were dreaming of a warm bath to ease the tension in your muscles and bones from sitting at your desk all day.

As you stood up from your seat you stretched awkwardly, hearing a couple of crunches here and there, your eyes scanned over your almost empty desk, it was kind of a sad sight to be honest..save for the framed picture of you and your girlfriend together, Mapi was looking at the camera whilst you kissed her cheek affectionately, you smiled at the photo before taking your bag along with your employee ID.

You made your way to the elevator, going down onto the ground floor, at the bottom you said goodbye to a couple of work colleagues before finally leaving.

Mapi would be still busy at this point at time..you hadn’t got much to do at home all alone, so you decided to visit your beloved cafe, some time has passed since the last time you went there, after all you were busy with your work as well as Mapi with hers.

You walked down the lively streets, the chatter of cars and reinventions in the distance ringing in your ears..with purpose you neared the desired street, a couple of shops down you could see the shield of your cafe already.

Finally you grasped the cafe’s glass doors handel and came inside, looking around the comfy and boho-inspired cafe memories of your time spent here alone, outings with friends and dates with Mapi came back to you, you smiled as you reminisced, making your way over to the counter with a smile on your face, there clearly weren’t a lot of clients today so the barista came up to take your order immediately. During your walk here you had decided on getting yourself a take out Latte.

After a very short period of waiting you got handed your hot cup.

As you stood in front of the cafe’s entrance again you looked down at the forest green disposable cup in your hand, your name written with a black sharpie and an extra heart next to it clear on it.

What better way to drink it than whilst on a walk at the picturesque park close to the cafe? And so, in a not hurried manner you strolled towards the park.

Your eyes moved along the greenery around you, for a change you were now surrounded with the sounds of birds singing and leaves rustling, it was very different from the city’s music filled with drunken shouting and cars honking.

You approached a tiny garden space in the middle filled with beautiful and vibrant-coloured flowers, you read the confusing labels they had next to them..sadly you did not understand the Latin terminology at all, but well, you enjoyed them anyway…then you were sure you heard something a bit weird, like a quiet weep? You turned away from the flowers, perhaps someone’s kid just fell from their bike or something..but there were practically no people around, as you were then sure that you probably just mistook something it was heard again, this time more clearly.

It wasn’t a kid weeping, it rather sounded like an animal, a cat to be precise, it was very high pitched though…so a kitten then.

You took a couple of steps towards where you think the sounds were coming from…and there it was, your eyes widened, but the surprise quickly turned into a look of pure sadness at what you saw. A little kitten was barely holding itself up, your heart broke into little pieces, what happend to this poor thing? It was skinny, dirty and disheveled, looking like a painting of pure melancholy and pain.

You crouched down carefully, not wanting to scare the kitten away, though by one glance you were sure the little animal didn’t even have enough strength to run away from you, so you slowly inched towards it…

You managed to take hold of the kitten, holding it with extreme precision, you didn’t want to put it in any more pain, the kitty was so poor, it’s big eyes glassy, it’s thinness telling you how starved it must be.

You stood back up, kitten cradled in your arms.

“You poor thing…” you murmured to yourself, the kitten only mewed in response.

So here you were now. Back at your flat, your main concern was getting the kitty back in a healthy shape. The first thing on your list was washing it, it must’ve gone through hell trying to survive in the city, that’s the story it’s dirty fur told you. So you got some lukewarm water in your sink (not too much) a soft sponge and shampoo which’s ingredient list proved to be safe for the animal…you gently washed it’s fur, later carefully drying it…you were a bit stressed about literally everything, the last thing you wanted was to hurt the poor pet.

Then the next obvious step was feeding it, you brought it into the kitchen, giving it some canned cat food (you and Mapi already had a cat so that’s why you had it in the first place) surely the kitty ate it with vigour, you couldn’t blame it, if you were starving you’d eat everything that got into your hands first as fast as you could to quench the cruel hunger…

You made sure to take care of the kitten, doing everything with precise and carefulness. After it ate and drank it feel asleep in your lap, you sat still like a marble statue, assuring it to get its much needed sleep.

Now came the hard part…what would Mapi think? You literally just took some random kitten off the street to help it..and besides you already had a cat, sure maybe cats weren’t human children but they still were a responsibility for the two of you. But what were you supposed to do? You couldn’t just leave it to surely die on the streets sooner or later. You couldn’t save every poor cat but at least you could help this one out..

An hour later…you heard the front door lock turning, yep, it was Mapi…and time to explain the situation to your girlfriend.

“I’m back!” You heard Mapi yell from the hallway. “Uh…Hey love, can you come here?” You couldn’t get up to greet her, the kitten was still asleep in your lap. Then you heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to the living room, Mapi appeared in the doorframe “What’s up, nena?” Mapi asked as she threw her bag from training onto the floor, “Um, I actually don’t really know how to tell you this-“ you started, stumbling over your words, your girlfriend came closer to the armchair you were sitting on, confusion appeared on her features, after a while she spoke up “Did something happen, Y/n?” She raised an eyebrow, you wanted to find words to explain but you just sighed and pointed down onto your lap.

This confused Mapi even more but sure enough she saw the tiny animal sleeping on your lap. She didn’t say anything for a good while neither did you.

“Y/n?”

“Listen Mapi I was in the park and I just saw it- you don’t even know how starved and dirty it was before!” You had to explain it to her somehow, she didn’t look mad but clearly a bit confused and mixed. “I..I guess I understand but I don’t know Y/n…we already have a cat, you know how it is” she answered, like a calm parent trying to explain to their child why they couldn’t just keep a stray dog or random frog they found.

You were about to say something back but then felt something stirring on your lap, it was the kitten, stretching its small limbs..it seemed as though it was waking up finally.

As Mapi saw that you had focused on something else she looked down at the kitty as well.

The small animal started meowing at you, it seemed although it has gained some strength thanks to you. You delicately cradled it in your arms, standing up and movie closer to your girlfriend.

“Listen Mapi I don’t want to sound like some annoying kid- but look at it!” You refuted, she looked at the kitty, she seemed to be debating something inside her head now.

“Y/n…oh I just don’t know” she faltered, bringing her pointer finger towards the kitten, it curiously wrapped its tiny paws around it, licking her digit. Mapi chuckled.

“Yeah it’s pretty cute, can’t lie” you smiled observing the interaction “I knew you’d warm up to her, come on I’m sure our cat won’t mind a new sibling…this little one would’ve died out there I’m sure” you kept on begging her.

Mapi looked back up at you, after a moment she sighed and answered. “Fine…we can keep her..or him…” she said.

“Are you ready though?” Mapi started petting the kitten cautiously “It’s a kitten..a baby, it’ll be even more work”

“I’m sure my supervisor will grant me some maternal leave” you joked

Mapi chuckled “that was a good one…you know I’m used to me being the one begging you for things like a child most of the time” she added

“There’s always time for changes”

[bronz3y]

alessia russo x reader - first time

a/n - hiya guyss, ive finally gotten some notivation to write (about fucking time) , ill be doing a couple of asks ive had for a few weeks too, so hopefully writing becomes more frequent from now on

no promises tho :,)

anyways enjoy this smutty alessia fic lol x

summary : r and alessia have been dating for 2 months, and neither of them have been brave enough to iniciate anything more than a steamy makeout, untill a needy alessia decides otherwise.

warnings: a lotta fluffy smut

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You and alessia had been officially together for 2 months now, you'd both met through Leah, since your Leah's cousin, you had been invited to her birthday party, you had both exchanged numbers and from that night onwards, you'd texted every day, and eventually you asked her on a coffee date and she responded “took your time, and yes, i'd love too x”

After 4 weeks of going on dates and getting to know each other, a very red Alessia asked you to be her girlfriend while walking on the beach, a gorgeous sunset colouring the sky with oranges, yellows and blues, Alessia's freckled face glowing from the shine of the slowly falling sun, her smile growing as you immediately say yes and wrap your arms around her, her warmness enveloping you.

You felt warm

 you felt safe 

You felt loved

Now 2 months later, you are at Alessia's apartment, you both took turns inviting each other over, one week at Alessia’s, one week at yours, you preferred to stay at Alessia's apartment more, her cosy decor made it feel more homey than yours, and truthfully, you also wanted cuddles from her gorgeous grey cat. You also loved the sweet smell of alessia covering every room, it made you warm inside, her familiar vanilla scent made your heart flutter.

“ pebble!, don't smack me” alessia huffed as her cat swatted her cheek while she walked past her on the sofa, the two of you covered in warm fluffy blankets, your head on her shoulder as you watched some random romcom you found on netflix.

“Maybe she smacked you because you took away her favourite toy” you argued laughing, alessia rolled her eyes at you.

“Baby that toy makes so much noise, we couldn't hear the film” she whined, you laughed and cuddled your face into her neck, pecking it softly, as your lips made contact with the soft skin of her neck a second time, alessia sighed shakily, moving her head back, giving you more space to work with. 

You and Alessia, unlike other couples in a two month relatioship, hadnt had sex yet, sure you both had very intense make outs, but once you both reached a point you just stopped and didn't take it further, it's not that you didn't want to do it with her,you definitely did, it's just you were scared, scared of messing up or embarrassing yourself, youd had your fair share of one night stands, but it had been a while since you had fucked a girl, so naturally youd start to overthink if things got too far and quickly stopped it.

“ y/n..that feels so nice–fuck” Alessia swore as you bit down softly, leaving a red mark on her neck, you soothed it with your warm tongue, leaving shiny residue behind, you leaned back a bit, looking at the cute mark you had left on Alessias pale skin, her hands then found your hips and guided you to sit on her lap, her thumbs stroking the exposed skin from your slightly risen shirt, her head slightly turned away from you, looking at her hands on your waist.

“Lessi?” you said softly, looking at the overwhelmed expression on her face, her eyes avoiding you.

“Baby, talk to me” you tried again, reaching your hand to her jaw, softly pushing it so she would look at you.

“y/n.” she said, finally meeting your eyes, she leaned forward, your faces inches apart, so close that you could smell her minty breath.

“Less?” you whispered, not used to the way she was looking at you, it was something that you'd only seen a couple of times when the kissing got intense.

 Alessia looked hungry.

Alessia then gently grabbed your wrist and moved your hand onto her chest, your eyes widened and you felt a shiver run up your back.

“Touch me, please” alessia whispered, her hooded eyes staring into yours.

You took in a small breath and gave her a small nod, you dragged your shaky hand slowly down her body, from the middle of her chest to where you could feel her pretty abbs under her white shirt, her hard nipples noticeable through the thin fabric.Alessia leaned slightly forward, starting to kiss your exposed shoulder, you collarbone and up you neck, you slightly lifted alessia's shirt, slipping your hand underneath, your cold hands touching her warm skin, you felt her shiver at your touch, smiling to yourself, you moved your hands up once again, placing them under the curve of her breast.

“Fuck, y/n hurry” alessia breathed out, you smirked at her neediness.

“Maybe if you ask nicely” you teased, you heard her let out a huff at your words.

“Please baby i need you, please just touch me” alessia whined, you'd seen alessia needy before, a few times, but this was new, and you loved it.You smiled at her and began lifting her top up slowly.

“Can i?” you whispered, alessia nodded at your words.

“Words baby” you said softly

“Yes, please just take it off” she whined, that was all the confirmation you needed, you started lifting her top up and over her head, tossing it on the floor somewhere. You stared at her chest, her perfect round breasts and perky nipples now exposed to you, sure it's not like you hadn't seen her topless, but having her like this, small puffs of hair leaving her parted lips and her blonde hair a mess, you had never seen something so gorgeous.

You shifted your body slightly lower so your face was in front of her chest, you then planted a kiss on the side of her left breast, Alessia's hand found the back of your head, nudging you slightly forward. You then finally wrapped your lips around her nipple, sucking and licking softly, alessia's back arched, pushing her chest further into your face.

“Oh god” alessia moaned out softly, the hand that wasn't at the back of your head grabbed the pillow behind her.

You disconnected your lips with a pop, you then looked at alessia who was already looking at you, you leaned up and claimed her lips, she tasted like coconut chapstick, like she always did,  alessia then bit down at your lip softly and you let out a small moan, she used that to slide in her tongue, pushing it against yours for dominance over the kiss.

“Lessi, let's move to the bed” you said in between kisses, alessia nodded, you then grabbed the back of her thighs and picked her up, alessia immediately connected your lips again, you smiled against her lips at her eagerness. You easily found your way to your bedroom without looking, you then placed Alessia on the bed and she shuffled backwards, her blue eyes now dark, you followed her and placed yourself on top of her, your legs tangled together.

“I want to see you” alessia whispered, you nodded and took your own top off along with your sports bra, alessia then started scanning your chest.

“You're so beautiful,” she said, lifting a hand up to softly squeeze your right breast, you let out a breathy moan at her warm touch.You then kiss down her body, first her neck, her chest down to her stomach until you get to the waistband of her joggers, you look up at her, softly tugging on it.

“Take it off” she said nodding, you wasted no time, you grab the sides of her bottoms and pull them down her long legs, leaving her in her pretty blue lacey underwear that matched her eyes, you immediately notice the dark damp patch and smirk 

“All this for me?” you say, she whimpers in embarrassment but nods.

You then place a small kiss on where her clit is, Alessia's hands once again grab the back of your head.

“Baby, are you sure you want this?” you said looking up at her.

“Yes, fuck yes, i just need you y/n” she moaned, and with that, you tugged her underwear down, exposing her perfect pussy, neatly shaved, you moaned at the sight of her, you could now see how wet she really was.

“Your pussy is so fucking beautiful” you groaned, slightly opening her legs, her wetness glistening, slowly dripping down the curve of her ass, “can i taste you?” you asked her, looking into her eyes from between her thighs.

“Please” alessia whimpers impatiently, you then glide your tongue over her folds, your eyes connected with hers, taking a slow long lick, savouring her taste.

“You taste so fucking good” you groaned against her, the vibrations causing alessia to moan, you start moving your tongue faster against her, her moans get louder as you increase the speed, your tongue tries dipping inside of her, slightly pushing.

“Fuck baby just like that” alessia moans out, pushing your head further into her.

“y/n, i need more-– fuckkk” you cut her words short as you rub her clit and move your tongue against her entrance.

Alessia lets out a while as you stop your movements, you climb up the bed to meet her beautiful face.

“Wanna taste yourself pretty girl?” you whisper, your face glistening with Alessia's juices and your own saliva, she nodded and you connected your lips, she moaned at the taste of herself.

“I need your fingers” Alessia whispered, her fingers playing with the baby hairs at the back of your neck, you smirk at her boldness and slowly slide your hand between your bodies, you slide two fingers between her folds, moving them up and down, Alessia's head fell back onto the pillow as she felt your long fingers tease her hole.

“Baby, inside, please” alessia whimpered, you then finally slowly pushed in your middle and ring finger, Alessia's nails scratching your back as they slid in with ease, when fully in, you keep them still and look at alessia.

“Are you doing ok love?” you ask, your hand that's not inside her comes up and touches her cheek softly.

“Yeah, just give me a minute” she says, slowly getting used to the feeling of being filled by your fingers for the first time.after a minute she gave you a small nod and you began slowly thrusting your fingers in and out of her, every time your fingers would re enter her she winced, but after a few minutes, her face relaxed, and her mouth parted, letting out pretty noises.

“Fuck y/n, feels so good” alessia whispered, you smiled and bit her earlobe softly.

“Is this what you wanted, baby?, my fingers filling you up?” you teased, adding your thumb onto her clit, rubbing it while still pumping your fingers in and out of her, you then felt her walls start to tighten around your fingers. “Look at you, doing so well for me” you encouraged her.

“Fuck baby, im close” Alessia’s legs wrapped around your waist pulling you closer to her.

“Yeah?, you gonna cum for me?” you replied, pressing harder on her clit, your mouth latched onto her neck.

“Fuck, Faster baby, im so close” alessia whined, you do as she says and move your fingers at a quicker pace, curling them so they would hit her most sensitive spots.

“Right there,right there, don't stop baby '' Alessia shouts, your neighbours won't be too happy with all the noise she's making, but you love it, the way she screams and whimpers for you has you soaked through your joggers. You then feel Alessia’s walls clench around you, she then bites onto your shoulder to contain her moans as she breaks apart on your fingers, you watch her as she flops her head back onto the pillow, her chest heaving and you help her ride out the orgasm.

“Mm baby im sensitive” Alessia whined, you slowly pull out of her and she whimpers at the loss of being filled up. you move yourself from on top of her onto your beck next to her.

“You did so well love, you were amazing” you say, kissing her all over her face, her cheeks flush and she hides her face in the crook of your neck.

Alessia then notices the wet patch on your joggers from the corner of her eye, you then feel her head move slightly forward.

“Baby?, what's all this?”, she teases looking between your legs.

“Not my fault you're so sexy” you groaned and looked away embarrassed

You then feel Alessia move from her spot beside you, she moves her body on top of yours and pins you down on your bed, she moves her knee between your legs and applies pressure.

“I think i should return the favour pretty girl”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

hope u enjoyed this lil cutie petuti fic xxxxx

rember yall, asks are open so pls feel free to make some requests :)

[velnna]

The more I learn about your comic... The more I fall in love with it. Especially your bugs! Like can you explain more about them? I'm really curious about them (from the full bugs to the hybrids and anything else that comes to mind).

Anyway your art is wonderful and I adore seeing it on my dash. And you can info-dump too. If you want ofc.

Thank you!

The worldbuilding is a work in progress (as it always is, but the first chunk of the comic itself is pretty self-contained so we've been slowly tinkering at the rest of the world and creatures as we go without affecting it much), so we mostly have loose rules and ideas for the bugs as a species. Or anything in between for that matter.

For all intended purposes, bug people are all the same species and can usually cross-breed within mechanical constraints, as well as mix with the elves we threw into the mix. Genetics? Don't know her. We operate on Sims logic here.

A full bug has roughly a human lifespan, with some variation depending on the type of bug it's closer to and some type-specific quirks. The one we've explorer the most, as it pertains to Ashton and the latest batch out of the oven, is the ability that some types might have to undergo metamorphosis, usually at the expense of lifespan. This is Ashton btw

And this is Ashton pre-metamorphosis:

Something like this isn't super common tho! So despite me drawing a bunch of butterfly or moth people they generally don't get to that point and stay looking more like funky lizards with many arms

Bugs can have many arms or legs or eyes, funky colours, exoskeletal bits, antennae, or look pretty close to your average human/elf with hidden bug features. Dahlia for instance is a vaguely spidery bug but can easily hide a bunch of her eyes and secretes venom thru hidden glandes so you could mistake her for an elf

Meanwhile it'd be very hard to mistake someone like this guy for anything other than a horned bug

If u catch my drift.

Some bugs are small! Some are huge. Some are out there committing atrocities

Some dont look like bugs at all

They're generally not as physically strong as the average elf but more resilient in a cockroach kinda way. They can have a chaotic range of circulatory systems and internal organs that sometimes just make them really hard to kill and its also pretty hard to keep track of every variation of the species and their quirks.

That being said in a lot of places they're super common and coexist with elves just fine, mix up and it's also not super uncommon to have half breeds like our man Staeve (the ThUG edition). The closer you get to elf the longer you live and less "non human" traits you have. There's also a bunch of different types of regular ass elf and it all falls under the elf category unless we decide to name them something else down the line.

Then you've got a smaller category of super elves that have been isolated for so long they never blended with anything else, are more attuned to magic and in general have a sort of mythical status amongst everyone else. They also have the longest lifespan at around 250 ish years.

That's sort of the TL;DR for now! Ollie and I have started to put all the info we've got into a single repository and do want to start sharing it (probably as patreon posts for now) because comics are slow and the scope might not encompass that much of what we want to explore of this world. And the chaotic idea machine never stops

Here's a metamorphosis meme for ya

[muikitoo]

Hi,Ummm,good morning/night

Can I request something regarding the Rottmnt boys,I want them their love at first sight with a female reader in a school ay(More like a mix between the Yokai/mutant/human society

(No rush,It's ok if you don't want to do it and stuff,It's totally fine to take your time☺️,Have a nice day/night)

Love at first sight

Aged up! Rottmnt x fem! Reader

(somewhere around their 20s)

Warnings:

None

A/N: this was so hard to do for me for some reason (especially Mikey and Raph), i had to think for a few days for certain scenarios and this might come late bc i rlly want it to be good. Im sorry if it isnt what u expected 🙏

You were an English teacher who recently started working at a new school. Youre quite nervous, but exciting at the thought of what awaits you with this sudden change.

Donnie

- Donnie was one of those strict science teachers that nobody dared to underestimate.

- At first, he didnt seem too interested when he heard of a new teacher who started working there.

- hes never even been a romantic type, he honestly didnt care and let fate decide if he gets a partner or not.

- When he saw you for the first time though, he thought he might be hallucinating.

- "Oh sweet Galileo help me.."

- you probably immediately checked his "cute but mean" type without even saying a single word

- He became more interested in you, talking to you more often, even at times asking u to meet up during the break.

- "Hey, uhm.. Could i maybe interest u in some coffee during the break?"

- he thought all of this "romantic feeling" thing wasnt real, but he seriously cant help but fall for you.

Leo

- Leo is obviously the laid-back cool Spanish teacher.

- Almost every student liked him, he was chill and even jokes around

- (he once drew donnie on the board with a huge forehead and wrote "megamind" next to it)(no, donnie did not take that well)

- He was quite interested when he heard of a new teacher, hell he was probably the first one to interact with you out of his brothers

- The second he saw you, this mf fell straight face down in love with you

- "oh mi gosh thats the new teacher?! Shes gorgeous! Do you see her Donnie?! You see her?! Oh i so need to get her number!!"

- tries to act sly and flirt with you

- and fails miserably

- "Hey there hermosa, how do you feel about a date? Ya know, just you and me? *Wink wink* *leans on wall, trips and falls miserably*"

- (A/N: i cried writing that)

Mikey

- Mikey is the sweet art teacher and students enjoy being around him, but yet again they probably wont dare to underestimate his "Dr. Delicate touch" side

- He was quite excited when he heard about a new teacher.

- When he saw you, he suddenly felt nervous and flustered. And he knew why.

- at this point, everyone but you knew abt how he admires you, a little more than in the friendly way.

- He couldnt get the courage to go and talk to you, which put Dr. Feelings to shame

- When you actually started talking tho, you got quite close.

- Youd be with him almost every break

- You would often stay in his classroom/art studio and watch him paint during the lunch break

- and during those times he even asks u to pick his colours

- "Hey Y/n, which colour do you think would suit the ladies dress more? Red or blue?"

- Sometimes you even jokingly ask to be his model, but in all honesty he doesn't mind at all

- you guys were an inseparable duo, and he caught himself falling more and more for you

Raph

- He's the PE teacher, hes fun but strict when he needs to be.

- He doesnt mind that theres a new teacher, hes quite excited abt it actually - he would gladly want to meet you.

- First thing that catches his eye is that he thinks youre really pretty.

- He's most likely stuttering during ur first convo now😭

- Hes super sweet, bringing you coffee and/or lunch, helping u out with random teacher stuff, checking up of u, ect

- "Hey! How you feeling? I brought you some coffee.. if youd like."

- Hes so shy, but he cant help but feel his heart flutter every time you thank him or show appreciation towards him

A/N: Raph was so hard and i know it's not accurate at all. Ive literally been beating my ass up bc of him cuz i didnt have any ideas😭😭 this took super long and I'm really sorry about that, i hope it turned out the way u wanted🙏 anyways its 1AM so im js posting this cuz i have nothing else to do😔

[toa-archive]

Skrael Design Path

Rolling onward to the second of these Arcane Order closer looks and this time it's Skrael at the helm! As ever with these it is far from impossible something else will belatedly turn up. Should this occur, wherever it is added will have a [/edit xx/xx/xxxx] which includes a date marker. Just makes it easier to find the “new” thing :)

Given Skrael is often written by many fic writers as He/They, suppose we got some more non-binary wrongs going on. All for a good cause tho, right?

Skrael is unusual of the three in that his design, from what work is public, was cemented pretty early on. Still, Francisco Ruiz Velasco did have his own stab at a bunch of wizards which are nigh impossible to pin down if it was for any of the Arcane Trio specifically or not. This one will very understandably appear in all three as there could well be a Skrael potential here.

Source goes to Linkedin so may require an account.

According to Yingjue Chen who drew the below Ice Wizard designs, Sean Murray did a sketch which the most Skrael looking one is based. It's a pretty low chance of said sketch ever turning up but you never know.

Source

A coloured version of this very Skrael looking Skrael is also shown in the Art of Wizards panel on the height comparison chart too.

From there comes his final design plus quite literal gesture sketches. These are again by Yingjue Chen!

Source

Skrael next pops up in the hands of Betsy Bauer for his paint and turn around which much like Bellroc is a reference goldmine. He is no longer on her website but you can check out other things she did for ToA here.

Decided to add a trio of bonuses just for fun. You might have noticed the Order pops up in the Wizards credits sequence though unlike Trollhunters and 3Below, it is not Headless Studios. They were drawn in a similar way though! They are by Alison Donato.

Source

This is also a great excuse to yet again break out Francisco Ruiz Velasco's Order band poster again! In part due to him only appearing in colour keys for RotT otherwise.

Source goes to Linkedin so may require an account.

Of all the Order for some reason there's a lot of detail for Skrael's staff. Starting off we have the painted concepts by Yingjue Chen which we lack for Bellroc at this time.

Source

And from theeeere we have a whole bunch from Alison Donato including callouts! The small and texture free Skrael model resized for height comparison purposes will have been made at Leo Sanchez Studios.

Source

Source

Source

On the more magical front there is a tiny screenshot from the Art of Wizards panel which shows the magic effects for Skrael. It is unknown who the other images including what could be the ice bridge belong to however -

We do have a bigger version of the left image which we know is by Yingjue Chen! Aren’t effects neat?

Source

[/Edit 13/02/2025] The following was missed due to no obvious note of what it is on the original tweet this version is from and it's being added in now. This is the spell effect combining Bellroc, Skrael and the Green Knight's power into a single shot! It is by Isaac Orloff.

Source

Poking Rise of the Titans a moment, thanks to Andy Murray we have the glow up eye effect for Skrael. This has been cropped from a larger image for fitting this post reasons only.

Source

And for fun since we also have it, this is the Arcane Circle for Skrael which is shown on the Ice Titan. The Genesis Seal marker is on the same row as Bellroc so is not shown here. As above it has been cropped for fitting this post reasons only. This time they are by Sean Wang.

Source

Much like Nari, we do actually know what Skrael's development name: Thule! They're not in the most easy to spot place mind and likely why many have missed it over the years. One of them is in Alison Donato's file names on her website like so:

The other location is on one of the Felix Yang sequences that hasn't been converted from nyoom status yet. In this case, yeah you have to be very lucky to spot it:

It can can be found Here.

When all three posts are up there will be a link here to the other two members. For now it is a half completed placeholder:

Bellroc - Nari - Skrael

[ramen8008]

Imagine one day Inej ends up mentioning that Kaz's birthday is coming up soon (because if anyone knows his birthday it's her) to Nina and Nina being Nina decides they HAVE to throw a surprise party even though it would be almost impossible to surprise Kaz.

So all of them plan a surprise birthday party and Kaz is freaking out over why is everyone acting so suspicious because Kaz being Kaz could never suspect a surprise birthday party for him. Hell even he forgot his own birthday.

And then the surprise birthday freaks him out and breaks his facade (only for like 3 seconds) where he is so confused as to what the hell is this and why is everything so colourful and why is everyone smiling and singing? And Nina should really stop singing.

--------------------------------------

Everyone: SURPRISE!!

Kaz: *shook*

Kaz: what the hell is going on?!?

Nina: jeez Kaz could you show some enthusiasm we threw a party for you, be a little grateful.

Kaz: a party?!?

Jesper: it's the thing where people get together and celebrate for something you know like fun-

Kaz: I know what a party is

Wylan: we just thought since it's your birthday we could throw you a surprise party

Kaz: My...what

Inej: It's your birthday. You know? The day you were born? When you came into this world? When the saints for some reason thought that the world needed you so you were born.

Kaz: I know what a birthday is. I ju-

Kaz: ...why

Nina: for food and also wanted to see how you would react to something fun....mostly food tho

Jesper: I mean it's a party I just needed an excuse to party

Wylan: I mean it would be nice to let loose a little and party after everything we went through we never threw a victory party and your birthday just happened to be around.

Inej: We all thought it would be fun to celebrate together. We also wanted to throw you a party to maybe get you to do something fun that doesn't involve crime and hopefully you let yourself relax a little.

Kaz: ...

Wylan: Kaz you good?

Jesper: OMG! He is frozen in shock

Nina: No he isn't. This is Kaz Brekker he isn't startled much less frozen by anything

Inej: *shakes Kaz* Kaz, say something!

Kaz: I am just confused

Wylan: what do you mean?

Jesper: You party like you have never partied before

Nina: I swear to God if we have to explain to you what a birthday party is

Kaz *composes himself*: no I just... Don't know what happens in a party much less a birthday party

Everyone: WHAT!?!

Wylan: have you NEVER had a birthday party?!!? Even I have had one when my father thought I could read

Kaz: I've had a birthday par-

Nina: ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOT! You are SO having the party of your life

Jesper *grabs Kaz and pulls him towards the food*: HELL YEAH YOU ARE GOING TO PARTY AND YOU ARE GOING TO MEAN IT.

Inej just stares and smiles as they all take Kaz.

Nina: INEJ WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE COME JOIN US!

----------------------------------------------

Before the heist when only Inej knew about his birthday. Cause like I said if anyone knew his birthday it would be her. She remembered even though Kaz forgot (obviously). And since she knew Kaz would never want a birthday party or gift she decided to do something he would like.

The night of his birthday she crawls up to his rooms and sits on his window sill. Like always they sit in comfortable silence until.

Kaz *lifts his gaze and looks at her*: whatever you want to say just say it

Inej: well there is this one really expensive jewel being auctioned tomorrow...

Kaz: *raises an eyebrow for her to continue*

Inej: I mean what I am trying to say is pretty obvious. I just thought since you weren't exactly busy we could go grab the jewel, it would look good on your table.

Kaz: What value will it have since we won't be able to sell it.

Inej: jeez Kaz not everything is about the money I just thought it'll be a fun adrenaline rush for both of us since there haven't been any challenging jobs lately

Inej: you know what since you don't want to go I'll go by myself.

Kaz: wait-

Kaz: let me grab my cane.

After successful jewel heist.

They are out of breath and finally back in Kaz's room where Inej sits on the window sill and Kaz on his desk.

Inej: here *throws him a cupcake*

Kaz *confused*: what's this?

Inej: I grabbed it from a nearby stall. *takes a bite from her own cupcake*

Kaz: ...

Inej: just eat it it's not like I'll try to poison you.

Kaz: you wouldn't bother trying to kill me with poison since you know it won't work *looks at the cupcakes skeptically"

Inej: *motions him to eat*

Kaz: *rolls his eyes but takes a bite*

They both eat in nice comfortable silence

Inej: oh and Kaz?

Kaz: *looks at Inej* hmm

Inej: Happy Birthday *disappears out the window*

They don't mention it afterwards but it ends up becoming a tradition and now every year for Kaz's birthday they steal something expensive and secure just for the fun of it and then enjoy a cupcake in silence.

(The DeKappel being one of the stolen items from Kaz's birthday tradition.)

[kessellluvr]

˗ˏˋ once in a lifetime ´ˎ˗ nsfw!

pairing: professor!lottie x spouse!reader (i might write more for this ‘series’) wordcount: 1k

warnings: smut, vibrator use, age gap, mommy kink, fingering, dirty texing, teasing

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ taglist: @glrlsriot @chig78 @nogenderblender9358 @mayasaurusss @jadeisnothere5

You and lottie have been married for about 5 years now, she was the perfect partner for you. The day you first saw her in that café, oh damn, you fell in love with her.. that long black braid, the layered strands that framed her face so perfectly, defining her high cheekbones and that beautiful jawline. You repeatedly went to that café, praying to see her again - and well, somehow you ended up marrying that goddess.

Lottie worked alot, but she was passionate about her job - helping people to get further education to success in life. Of course, it was hard only seeing her on weekend and in the evenings, but you managed. Lottie teaches psychology and maths (sorry not sorry), you didnt have a clue about either of them so you werent really a big help. You and Lottie text alot when shes at work, just talking and when you realise she wasnt in a good mood, you decided to lighten it up a little..

“Hey Lots, i miss you..” you sent, still laying in bed even tho it was 11:30am already. Lottie could never, she’s always been an early bird.

“I miss you too.” she texted you back and oh that was dry, wasnt it? She usually uses pet names in her texts, trying to get you worked up. “You okay?” you asked her, sighing to yourself as you put the phone aside, throwing the blanket off yourself and sitting up. Your phone vibrated on the bedside table and you went to check what she replied.

“Im fine, really.” you read, raising your eyebrow and scoffing. “No Lots, youre not, talk to me. I can tell youre pissed.” you werent gonna give up that fast. As she read your message and didnt reply, you felt a little sting in your heart. Leaving you on seen? Really? Anyway, you went to get out of bed, leaving your phone on the bedside table and making your way into the bathroom. You stared at yourself for a good minute before splashing some water in your face, drying it off with a towel before going to brush your teeth.

As you finished getting ready, slipping into some pj’s and a shirt, you went to check your phone again. Still, no answer. You sighed and decided to try something else - lifting your shirt and taking a quick picture of your tummy, the soft curve of your boobs peaking from beneath your shirt. You hit the sent button and added another message “Answer me..” Fuck. That sounded desperate.

Meanwhile, Lottie saw your message - raising a brow and opening the picture, her eyes going wide as she looked at it for a while, trying not to show how much it affected her since she was literally in a room full of colleagues right now. “Jesus.. im just a little pissed off cause we got our new schedule in, i have to work full eight hours on friday.”

Your eyes lit up as you finally saw her respond, reading her message before typing “Awh that sucks.. but youll get home earlier on other days then, right?” you asked and she replied with a “yes”, you smiled - finally you could get to see her more throughout the week. I mean, that one day of working full wasnt gonna hurt, right?

“So, are you teaching right now or are ya on break?”

“just started my lecture.” you smiled at your phone, deciding to tease her a little. “mhm, im feeling horny right now.. mommy what do i do?”

“jeez, you know what to do.” you just knew she was trying so hard not to show a reaction infront of her students.

“no, tell me what to do mommy..”

“get the bullet vibrator we got you.” lottie texted back, you smiled brightly at your phone and rushed into the bedroom to get the vibrator. it was rather small, a bullet-like shape but a little bigger. it was a hot pink colour, even had tons of diffrent levels.

“hm i got it..”

“take off your boxers, turn it on lowest level and press it against ur pretty little clit.” and you did as she said, pulling down your sweatpants along with your boxers and turning the toy on lowest level, spreading your legs and pressing it lightly onto your clit - gasping as it made contact. “done” you typed out - hands shaky.

lottie left your message on seen, you didnt really notice - getting lost in yourself. the bedroom door swung open and revealed lottie, you gasped once again and lottie just chuckled. “fucking hell, you werent gonna cum without me telling you to, were you?” she teased as she walked towards the bed, undoing the buttons of her blouse and throwing it to the floor carelessly. “n-no lottie..” you stammered out, the vibrator was turned off and laid to the bedside table. “d-dont you have some lectures to do?”

“fuck that. i said i wasnt feeling well.” lottie said while going to straddle your hips, pushing your upper body down to the bed. you bit your lip, looking up at her with needy eyes. lottie smirked down at you, leaning down to press a kiss on your lips, her tounge slowly pushing in and meeting the tip of yours. her hand slipped between you both, her finger grazing over your swollen, wet clit. you moaned into the kiss, feeling her applying more pressure to your sensitive bud, slowly circling it while not breaking the kiss. she pulled her lips off of yours, gasping for air while going to press her fingers against your entrance- slowly pushing in and curling up, making you throw your head back. she started pumping her fingers faster, making you gasp and moan, you felt yourself so close to cumming already - lottie just knew where to touch you to make you come quck. your moans got louder, more desperate for release. “cum for mommy..” and you did, letting yourself get consumed by the orgasmic pleasure as you cried out her name, your thighs clenching together. lottie kept fingering you through your orgasm - until she finally pulled out and looked at you with a satisfied smile. “now, let me take a shower and we’ll continue..”

“can i join..?” you asked, still catching your breath as you looked at her with those cute eyes. “cmon then.”

━。゜AN: i know its not much, but i hope you enjoyed >_<

[trashclangen]

What do their cat sprites look like? Curious to compare them with the refs!!!

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!! Now I have an excuse to talk about My Design Process!! (Also take their game-given names as an added bonus bc idk when else this would come up lol)

In general, my design philosophy for Trashclan is "find the closest morph I can and then take liberty with the markings". Thankfully this is pretty easy because as long-time domestic animals... pigeons come in lots of colours!!

Orangesky:

I thought her sprite looked super striking so I tried very very hard to match it to a pigeon as close as I could!! Translating the hearts was easy (keeping them consistently shaped is another story, but I'm willing to suffer for her <3), 90% of the work was in me digging around searching for the closest brown pigeon morph I could manage... and some weird recessive dilute situation came through for me!! I'm honestly surprised I managed to find something with both the browns and the grey lmao

Her name I was also pretty attached to by the time I put the run of the game down, but orioles uh... do not exist in this country c': I briefly considered changing it to "Blackbird" or "Thrush" because those are birds in the same family, but pretty much immediately settled on "Orange" because it just kinda looked similar enough for me to be really happy with it! I always knew I was gonna ditch the whole "star" suffix thing for worldbuilding reasons, shoutout to Pav who suggested "sky" bc it 100% keeps the energy of her game-given name and is in general just a rlly good name fhbefr

Ermineleaf:

Ermineleaf was a no-brainer, I took one look at their sprite and went "oh, that's a standard blue bar pigeon" lmao I think I briefly debated changing their prefix to "stoat" because while we have those there (invasive), idk if they moult into their white winter coat and officially earn ermine status... but it was another name I was pretty attached to so I decided to let it slide lol

Bitternfleck:

Straight up, he's just based on my real life pigeon but old and droopifed lmao. My pigeon has pearl eyes, aka she looks haunted by the knowledge of the wilds at all times and I thought that was a perfect translation for the bright cyan

Buttercupfledge:

This design was also a pretty easy 1:1 translation! The majority of the decisions here were just simplifying the pied spotting, aka something I would have done even if she was a cat lol. I also made the call to give her no wing-barring even tho her sprite is striped, also for simplifying reasons.

Settling on "fledge" as the suffix for apprentices was also a no-brainer bc it's... simply the age at which they're fledging! Easy!

Bonus Fringeclaw bc yes he was a real character in the game that I real killed in the first moon:

Fringeclaw is a perfect example of a totally standard cat name that I changed to be bird-applicable! Pigeons don't have teeth but they do have claws, easy swap!

His design is the furthest I departed from the sprite, I genuinely don't think I looked at it when I coloured him in the moon he's in, I just knew he was brown and I wanted him to share colours with Orangesky lmao

[sanccharine]

the way everyday goes | ty

christmas au

pairing: tzuyu x gn!reader

genre: fluff

word count: 7k

warning: again so sweet it'll rot your teeth ;-;

summary: your bank account may be crying, but that doesn't matter when you spend money on the people you love most

a/n: this year (last years rip) christmas fic, would anyone believe me if i said everything was ready to be posted ?? i just got lazy, i'm sorry HAFGDHSKFH thanks to @eternallyghosting my human spelling and grammar check but ngl tho, i wrote this fic very weirdly, so expect some things to not add up, but yeah !! happy new year !!

When Tzuyu opened the door to her studio, she seemed the furthest thing from happy to see you. Though that was often the expression she wore when dealing with the likes of you. 

You, on the other hand, wore a wide grin, shaking a large bag of chips in one hand and a bottle of iced coffee in the other. 

She was dressed in her usual garb. The one she wore when she locked herself in her room for an ungodly amount of days. An extra large sweatshirt that fell to her thighs with matching sweatpants in black colour. The only indicator of her tension is the frayed hem of one corner, no doubt picked at the seam while she reads all of her essays and articles and textbooks.

Tzuyu was unamused, but you were used to that. No harm done. Scoffing at her deadpan look, you shoved your way into her small house. When she didn’t step to the side, your back clipped the door frame, while all she did was watch you with her owlish eyes. 

“Good morning,” you said, throwing another grin at her over your shoulder as you made your way straight to her study desk. Tzuyu had barely moved, holding the door open and just watching you run around her home as if it were your own. “Come on, why do you look like that? Catch!”

And you threw the chips packet at her. 

Your smile only widened as Tzuyu watched the packet fly across the distance between you and let it fall to her feet. She looked at the packet and then at you and then back at the packet. With a sigh, she closed the door behind her. 

You expected as much from her and shrugged. “Have fun with your crumbs,” you said, observing her study desk. 

“Oh, I will,” she mumbled and bent down to pick up the fallen treat.

Exams are over. Results were coming out soon for the semester. And best of all, your holidays have started. The campus is closed for a whole week until New Year’s, truly there was nothing to frown at. Yet, there you stood scrutinising Tzuyu’s desk. 

Her laptop is open on some unit site, codes and words that meant nothing to you. Her notebooks were strewn open with loose sheets, all highlighted and annotated with multicoloured pens. Sticky notes infiltrated every part of your vision. It overwhelmed you. Though, you supposed a student like Tzuyu could only function as such. 

“What—What is all…” you gestured loosely at her table, “this?”

Tzuyu, still at her place in front of the door, tilted her head to the left as she opened the chips packet. Her blank stare was just a touch away from a glare as she decided not to grace you with a response. 

You were used to her tricks. Same as she was to your taunts. 

“You know the semester is over right, like, you can rest now,” you say, but Tzuyu scoffed.

She made her way towards you and headed to the cupboard behind. But not before offering you some of her chips, you tipped the crumbs into your mouth.

“I have to prepare for postgrad,” she said, “you know that.”

“Oh, what postgrad?” you asked, feigning cluelessness but Tzuyu just sent a scathing glare over her shoulder. “Do you mean the postgrad that starts in September of next year?”

“Second week of October,” she said, as she pushed hangers out of the way as if they’d personally offended her. 

“Oh, even worse,” you sighed dramatically, throwing your arm over your forehead though she didn’t turn having seen this routine so many times. “That’s what? Only like a year’s worth of time—”

“It’s only ten months.”

“Oh sorry, only ten months, that’s truly so little time,” you said, purposely standing in her way when she turned to lay out her pick on the bed. Tzuyu liked to visualize her clothes. 

“That time will pass in a flash—get! Get out of my way!” she shoved you to the side and walked to her bed before continuing. “Before you know it, the semester will start and you’ll be wondering how you’re already behind on assignments.”

That was such a fatalistic belief that only a student like Tzuyu can hold. Even when she, herself, has disproved such thinking. 

“Yeah, but you did promise to take a break for a while,” you said, a bit of seriousness slipping in but you caught yourself. Shrugging exaggeratedly for effect and took a moment to consider. After a pause, you clapped your hands together. “Like how we said we’d go out and celebrate today! Remember that?” 

“Can’t say I do. Is that why you’re up so early today?” she said as she moved back and forth pulling out pieces to complete her outfit. Tzuyu then returned to her cupboard, shuffling something around in there. You’d say that she was trying to figure out how to complete her look, but knowing her, she’d probably planned her outfit for the day. 

You looked at your wrist, there was no watch. “Yeah, getting up before twelve was a real struggle,” you said and you moved right by her as she finally picked out a manuka winter coat. She ignored the way you clung to her side, though you didn’t miss the small smile she wore. Donning a smile of your own, you continued. “But you know those are the sacrifices I make for our relationship.” 

“Oh, is that right?” Tzuyu asked, following along with your playacting. 

“Oh yeah, I’ve been waiting all week for this day. All month even, you could say. Just for this, this very special, oh-so-jolly day. All only to get some time to spend with you, my—” You had just opened your arms to cage Tzuyu from moving around but she’d stopped you with a hand to chest. 

“It’s not that serious,” her words were clipped but she was smiling. “Calm down, now.”

“Now, why would I do that?” you asked, arms still outstretched, you jutted your chin at them, waiting for your hug. 

Tzuyu rolled her eyes but still relented. 

She giggled when your arms closed around like how a claw machine would around a toy. And similarly—

“Don’t—” her words ended in a squeal as you lifted her up and spun her around, a little wobbly on your feet just to mess with her. 

You dragged her down to her bed, crumpling her perfectly set up clothes on the way, and burst into giggles. All the while Tzuyu grumbled her distaste at being lifted up while struggling to get away from your hold. 

“Stop laughing!” she shrieked, pushing herself away as giggles escaped her lips as well. “Seriously, seriously! I’ll go get ready, let me go now!” 

You just hummed and rolled away as she hurriedly got off the bed. She straightened herself up before tugging at her clothes from beneath you. All you did was watch her, a cold sensation climbed up your arms. 

“You’re unbelievable,” she was flushed when she said it, but grinning ear to ear as she made her way to her bathroom.

By the time the pair of you had reached the bus station, you had finished both the packet of chips and your bottle of iced coffee. Swiping her card quickly, Tzuyu made her way to the back of the bus and picked a two-seater. This early in the morning and this far out of the city, there was barely anyone on the bus. She shuffled herself next to the window just as you took a seat next to her. 

The bus had already moved from the station when Tzuyu pulled out her phone and earphones from her pockets. Without even looking at you, she handed you the left earphone after putting the right one on. When you accepted, she pressed play and leaned back with her eyes closed. 

You watched her for a second, a reprieve from when she wasn’t studying you back. You heard a chime somewhere in your vicinity, but you didn’t turn away, your stop wasn’t up until a while.

Tzuyu often looked perfect. 

Of course, that was simple to say because she was beautiful. There was no doubt about it. 

But it wasn’t so surface-level. It bled into how she carried herself and practically built her facade. 

She’d said it herself. 

“Repetition leads to routine, and practice leads to perfection. It’s monotonous but it brings order. They set a standard,” she paused. “And that’s something I can’t afford to give up.” 

Granted, when she had uttered those words you’d found her in the same awful set of lockdown-sweats. A manic look in her eyes and her hair was frizzy from having a hand run through it so many times. She’d stayed up all night writing her draft of an essay that was worth nearly fifty percent of her grade. She’d barely eaten, surviving on instant black coffee and cereal bars. 

In those types of moments, she reminded herself of those words. She repeated them when her motivation dipped beyond recognition and staring at her screen made her eyes dry up. She had a sticky note of the same words written in a hasty scrawl in her line of sight, just above where her laptop sat, so it was always on her mind. She’d apologise because she was not one to bite her tongue, but she’d tell you the same words. And sometimes it motivated you, seeing her excel, you wanted that for yourself too. But most of the time, the weight of working so hard crushed you straight into the ground. 

It was worrying but she never really let herself stay down. And maybe, that’s where you came in. 

When she’d tired herself out, you’d bought her dinner to make sure she had a proper meal before she slept for a whole day. You provided the snacks when you both holed yourselves in the library. You dragged her out by planning days such as this. You were her reprieve. 

And by that time, you’d figured her out. 

You saw her past the perfection she so delicately manufactured. Past the painted nails. Past the crisply ironed dress shirts. Past the curious gaze. 

It wasn’t as if she completely removed her imperfections. If you knew where to look, you could find it. The fraying insides of her cuffs from picking at the threads. The flimsy collar barely holding its shape after being pulled at for so long. The flyaway strands that came undone when she played with her hair. They were always there, always humanizing her. You just needed to look at her long enough to know they existed. 

When you saw the muscle in her cheek twitch, you were brought back to the sensation of the moving bus, rumbling beneath you. She knew you were watching, but decided against confronting you about it. The thought brought a smile of your own as you picked up your phone to check when you needed to stop the bus. 

That was your duty. Your role in this relationship. One you took with pride. 

Tzuyu was comfortable enough to let herself take a step back and allow you to drag her wherever you’d planned, no questions asked. The entire day was scheduled on your phone, even allowing for late buses and trains. You’ve travelled enough on public transportation to account for this sort of thing. 

So that's how the trip to the central business district went. From bus to subway, from station to station, and one line to another—Tzuyu stuck by you. 

Her earphones, still connecting you. Your hand, always holding hers. 

You knew this city like the back of your hand. That happens when you spend nearly four years travelling back and forth, finding part-time jobs, going out, and attending events. 

Yet you were still noticing new things from time to time. 

As soon as your train stopped in the main district, you headed straight for the restaurants to load up on snacks. You still had time to kill before you needed to go where you needed to be. So you let Tzuyu drag you around, gawking at books she wants to read, playing around with fabrics of sweatshirts she already owned, but most importantly, you bought her almost everything she asked for when it came to food. 

Though she did threaten to leave when you first proclaimed loudly at the counter. “Don’t worry, anything for my pretty princess.” 

That was how you ended up holding two special collectable bubble tea cups, a take-away bag filled with free samples, and an inviting half-eaten honey cake which the pair of you left for later since it was too sweet. 

From time to time, you pestered Tzuyu to take photos of you. Although she whined about it, once the camera was up, she was striking a pose. Her, always so prim and proper, and you, always with your arm above her or around her or holding her. Always gazing at her.

“Tell me you didn’t,” though you weren’t facing her, you could imagine her gawking. 

“Well, I kinda did,” you shrugged, before throwing the clerk a smile as he went in to grab your shoes. 

“How much was this—”

“I told you, money is not a problem! Anything for my sweet little schnookums—oi! That actually really hurt!” you leaned on the counter, a groan escaping you as you held the bicep that was harassed. “Unbelievable, unbelievable!”

Tzuyu just stuck her tongue out before grabbing her own shoes and heading in. 

“Real mature,” you grumbled with a smile as you grabbed your pair of shoes and followed after her. 

You’d dumped all your belongings except your phone into a locker and took a seat by Tzuyu to put on the ice skating shoes. For some reason, the fit was never perfect. Sometimes it felt like it was biting into your toes, or placing pressure on your ankle, but then it felt too loose when you tried to stand. While you were doing and undoing the laces, you missed the way Tzuyu just watched you with a smile.

With a groan, you tried again, hoping to get it down this time. “Honestly,” you looked up for a second at the rink. “I didn’t expect it to be this packed.” 

“Oh, you’re telling me you didn’t expect one of the biggest ice rinks… in the city… to be busy… on Christmas Eve?” Tzuyu asked, her voice dripping with more derision with every statement. 

“Okay but is it really Christmas Eve if it is, like, eleven in the morning?” you asked with a sigh as you finally finished tying your shoes. 

“The whole day is the Eve,” she sent you a look as she stood, not wobbling at all on her blades. “And it’s almost two.”

“Is it?!” you asked, pulling out your phone. She was right!

Not according to schedule, but you expected as much. You could work with this. 

“That’s fine,” you said and pocketed your phone before trying to get up. Tzuyu’s hand was already in your vision, and without hesitation, you took it. “Thanks.”

When you were stable, she let go. 

“Okay, you can do it,” and with that, she took two steps and was on the rink already merging with the moving crowd that circled the border. 

“Chou Tzuyu, are you serious?” you screamed, even getting some looks, but you weren’t bothered. 

Even with the crowd, and the blaring Christmas tunes, you could hear her laugh once you spotted her. Tzuyu had her head thrown back, eyes crinkled close, and her right hand gripping the railing so she didn't double over and eat ice shavings. If she wasn’t having so much fun, you’d have been mad at her for laughing at your expense. 

Tzuyu moved along but slowed down a bit so that you could catch up. It’s not as if you’ve never skated before, you have. After all, you were the one to book this outing. You just hoped you would be a little bit more graceful. Of course, after a few rounds, the lack of practice and confidence will disappear, but for the moment, you longingly stared at the children gleefully making circles in the middle of the rink with their penguins. 

“Oh, come on, let go of the railing,” Tzuyu taunted, skating smoothly by your side, while you were hunched over the railing, basically walking on ice. “Come on!”

“Yeah, I don’t have a death wish,” a child giggled as she passed around you with a penguin aid. You’re sticking next to the railing too, kid!

“Why did you book this if you’re not even going to skate properly?” Tzuyu had the gall to pout. 

“Because it’s in theme! Winter, holidays, snow, Christmas—!” you let out an ugly squeal as the blades slipped from underneath you. For a moment, you flailed. You imagined you looked like those cartoon characters just as they teetered off a cliff, hands winding around like a propeller to stop themselves from plummeting. Thankfully, the railing was your shining knight in armour and your wayward legs had stopped fighting you.  

Tzuyu had stopped skating. But once you looked back at her, both elbows over the railing while huffing and puffing, she just broke out laughing. Maybe you’d admire how free she looked when she laughed like that if you weren’t glaring at her. While she did that, you pulled yourself into a standing position. 

“I’m fine,” you huffed out as you were standing and facing the rink again. “Thanks for worrying, by the way.” 

Still chuckling, Tzuyu came closer to the railing. And then she did something insane. 

Pushing herself with one foot, she spun around and came to a stop in front of you. 

When did she have the time to learn all of that?

“No need to show off.” Tzuyu rolled her eyes as she extended her arms. 

“And no need to be killjoy,” she retaliated before jutting her chin at her hands. “Come on, take it.” 

You made quite the show of how much you did not want this, though it was hard to suppress your smile. She shared the expression when you took her help. With a nod, she pushed off and moved backwards, pulling you with her. 

When she tugged you close, you let out another yelp, and she had to press her lips thin to not burst out laughing again. She moved slowly, helping you find your footing on the ice while you navigated her away from bumping into people. Maybe if you weren’t so busy with maintaining your balance, you may have taken your chance to press a kiss on her nose, only to watch her scrunch her eyes shut and blush to her ears. 

Once you’d done a round like that, Tzuyu decided to be brave and pushed herself back to your side. Although she was still holding one of your hands, leaning down, she picked up pace and so you followed her. Before you knew it, you were skating again. Like you used to, the few times you visit. Right by her side, competitions and bets came up, but at the end of the rounds, you were just finding ways to hold Tzuyu’s hand again. 

When you realized that the rink’s Christmas playlist had looped, you decided it was time for a break. For you, at least. Stopping at a corner near the entrance to the rink, you leaned on the railing as you watched Tzuyu make easy rounds around the rink, even daring to skate between people. Like any other person, you picked out your phone and started filming her fly across the rink. 

There was one particular move where she skated backwards and manoeuvred into a slow spin that made her laugh when she executed it perfectly. However, she’d almost run over a child who barely reached her knee in the process. Instantly, she was on her knees on the ice, even though the kid kept shaking her head to convey that she was fine. That was how you had another video of Tzuyu, skating hand in hand with a little girl as she taught her how to do a little circle. 

You were on the seats with your shoes already in your hands when Tzuyu plopped herself down next to you. 

“Happy?” you asked, tilting your head to watch her. 

The grand clock chimed to mark the start of a new hour. 

She nodded, eyes scrunched close again as she grinned. “Very.”

By the time you’d collected your things and finished up the rest of your leftover snacks, it was already time for dinner. You made your reservation just in time. When you entered the restaurant, the first thing the maitre d’ did was judge you. Well, you couldn’t be sure of what was going through his head, though you're sure he wasn’t supposed to stare at you for so long. 

Granted, you and Tzuyu had sprinted the last few steps because it started snowing hard, and were huffing and puffing like some steam engine. 

“Welcome,” his voice pitched high before he corrected himself and tried again. Instead of bursting out laughing, you and Tzuyu just shared an amused look before following him. 

He guided you through the main lounge of the restaurant and to the private rooms you’d booked. Most places had flashing lights, a horrifying mixture of green and red covering every surface to get in the spirit. However, you loved how this restaurant had decorated the places. The whole place was dimmed, so only the fairy lights by the curling and candles on the tables twinkled. Each table had its own bouquet with flowers you couldn’t name, some adorned with miniature ornaments and some with paper-crafted reindeers and bells. Dinner plates, champagne glasses, and table mats had little accents of red and green, nothing too daring. 

You supposed such simple elegance was expected of a high-end restaurant, but that also meant their clientele was of a different calibre too. Most of those at the tables were couples in expensive clothes and greying hair. Some seemed younger, but even they held an air of authority that you doubted you held as you trudged your way through the place. 

Not that it mattered though. The waiter introduced the pair of you to your room and informed you how you could ring for help before closing the door behind him. With just you and Tzuyu in the room, you made yourselves comfortable. 

Tzuyu pulled up the menu while you shrugged off your coat and hung it over your chair. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” she asked before turning the menu and showing off the price of the dishes. 

“Well, seeing as my name was on their list and they haven’t kicked us out. I think, yes,” you replied and picked up a menu for yourself. “Order anything. Whatever you want.”

You said a bit more genuinely than the last few times you did. 

“Are you sure?” Tzuyu asked, still scrutinizing the prices. 

“Of course,” you nodded, scanning for a dish that was worth the price. “My treat, remember.”

Tzuyu’s (and your own, really) inhibitions about the price had disappeared once you had your first bite. The food was absolutely divine. The pair of you had ordered two different dishes and then swapped halfway through, and then ordered one more dish and a dessert to end it with. 

Tzuyu was scraping the bottom of her bowl when you asked her. “What do you think about marriage?”

The scraping stopped. 

You’d have laughed at the little smudge of chocolate by her lip if her eyes weren’t so wide. 

“Like, you mean, us?” she asked slowly. 

A small chuckle escaped you as you moved the ice cream around in your own bowl. “No, like, in general.” 

“Is this about Sana?”

That was the name of the second person in Tzuyu’s ginormous friend group who had gotten married over the summer. You never really knew the woman personally, or any of her friends really, but you’d heard enough about them and visited two weddings to know what they were like. And especially how much they mattered to Tzuyu. 

“Sure, I guess,” you shrugged and Tzuyu returned to her dessert, although much slower this time around. “I don’t know, it just feels so daunting, you know?”

Tzuyu waited in silence. 

With a sigh, you continued. “They’re so young and they got married,” you admitted. 

It wasn’t just Tzuyu’s friends. You’ve heard stories within your own lectures, of people discussing marriage plans and getting engaged and dream weddings. And if not that, they were settling down, in relationships that seemed to promise security more than momentary pleasure. You’re not one to give that sort of thing too much thought, but you’d be a liar if you said you’ve never thought about it. 

Tzuyu studied her bowl, apparently, there was still quite a bit of dessert left. “They know what they want…” 

That was a simple enough answer. 

Did you know what you want?

Your hand stopped spinning your spoon around as you studied Tzuyu. 

Bells. That’s what you heard when you looked at her. Not like the deafening sirens you set as your morning alarm or the jingles you’ve been hearing all day. A soft melody filled with dulcet notes, building as your heart rate increased. It must be a sound you’ve heard before if your mind can come up with it… right? But you just couldn’t place the sound, it didn’t sound like any song you’d heard and if it was, you wouldn't recognize it. 

You heard it every time you glanced at her, it arose in the strangest of moments. The pair of you had just pulled an all-nighter, the sky was losing darkness and turning into a dreamy blue, and when you turned to Tzuyu, you found her face pressed onto her textbook. She was out cold, the right side of her face completely smashed and her mouth hanging open as she slept. You had to clasp a hand over your mouth from laughing at yourself and waking her up. 

And then you heard it when she first made instant noodles her way for you and added a concerning amount of cheeses. Then, it was when she suggested visiting a new cafe in the city and you’d agreed without question. Or when she’d bought you a random trinket from a street vendor solely because it had reminded her of you. So many trivial moments, filled with a soundtrack of your own making for your very own love story. 

Because it was one. There were no two ways about it. 

People often say falling in love is magical, perhaps that holds some truth to it. The fluttering in your stomach that you couldn’t differentiate from nervousness, the beating of your heart hammering away as if it were to burst, the shiver that runs up your neck, that same sense of suffocation you feel when you’re out of breath. How gooseflesh rises on your skin, but you feel so warm inside. And when you look at her, it's a sensation of relief that you feel. The tinge of positivity when she looks back at you, a twinkle in her eyes to let you know you weren’t the only one feeling this way. 

You wanted to ask her and you have asked her.

Were you supposed to do something right now? In the moment? What would happen if we didn’t address it? How could we plan anything? How many times could we tell each other that it’s not fear? That we’re not scared? You’re not scared? But you are, you really are. It was overwhelming. 

Are we falling behind?

She’d always denied it. 

And she was right, of course. 

But it didn’t always feel like it. 

There were only a handful of people you considered true friends from your university. Not because they’d done anything to you or whatever, some people just click and stick with you forever and some don’t. It was simple. It was normal. And the former was true of Tzuyu. 

It was so true, sometimes it brought tears to your eyes when you thought about it in the middle of the night. It really is so overwhelming just how much you felt for her. Perhaps this was love, or it was something else, you’ve never felt at this intensity before. You really couldn’t name it. And that might sound strange but it was true, nothing could really encompass what you felt, or heard even, when you looked at her. 

“What are you looking at?” Tzuyu’s voice broke you from your reverie. 

Your mouth made the shape to enunciate the word. 

“And don’t say, you,” Tzuyu groaned as she pushed her bowl away, she’d finished her treat. 

She knew your tricks all too well. You’ll need to change it up. 

“Don’t freak, but there’s a bug on your—”

“What?” Tzuyu freaked out. “Where? Where is it? Tell me!”

Freezing up, all she could do was glare when you just chuckled. “I was wondering if I should just slap you to hit it,” Tzuyu’s eyes widened and you couldn’t help your laughter. “Or just leave you at its mercy and run, I didn’t want its attention on me–”

“Just get it off!” 

“–but you know, sudden movements and things. I can’t die, I have too much to live for—” she shrieked your name, pleading as her hands gripped the table. “Okay, okay, come here.”

Gesturing for her to move forward, you leaned over the table to wipe away the smudge of ice cream by the corner of her lips. The smudge was long gone, so she should have guessed so was the 'bug' but you just held her chin. You, watching her. And her, watching you. 

Having lingered long enough, you pulled your hand back with a smile. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled after clearing her throat. 

You just nodded before showing her your bowl of melted ice cream. “Do you want to finish this off too?”

“Yes, please,” she said, “but I also have something for you.”

You tilted your head in confusion, every single plate on her side of the table had been wiped clean. What did she have to give you? 

You were just about to voice those words when she pulled out a small package from underneath the table. A gasp had barely left your lips when she spoke.

“It’s not a ring.”

“I’m heartbroken.”

“I’m sure you are,” Tzuyu placed the package next to your bowl and took the ice cream. “Open it.”

Following orders, you opened the package and you started second-guessing her claim of this not being a marriage proposal. Of course, you knew it wouldn’t be, you’d talked about as much. But you guessed somewhere you’d like to hear such news. 

You sent her a glance when you felt the velvet inning of the box, though she just shook her head. 

What was in there, when you opened the box, was a necklace. 

A loud snort escaped you that you had to clasp a hand over your mouth. 

When you looked up, Tzuyu was shovelling ice cream into her mouth but still grinning. She was doing anything to avoid looking at you. 

The necklace barely matched its packaging. The first thing that caught your attention was an amulet, it was discolored and its design eroded, by wear that you could barely make out what it used to be. But you knew. And you remembered.

Four years ago, during some university-wide event, the amulet had caught your attention on some stall. But at the same time you’d reached for it, so had Tzuyu. The bells. That’s where you could track them back to. Some busking artist that had been performing at the time, providing a melody that you’d come to associate with Tzuyu herself and the love you have for her. 

Tzuyu had been very adamant about having the amulet, and you, well you couldn’t care less. So you’d said the opposite and asked her to buy you the very expensive, very sugary, glazed doughnuts from the foodtruck down the line. And she’s just said yes. 

And then you talked. You exchanged your numbers. And the rest well, was history. 

Tzuyu never came around to wearing the amulet, and one night she admitted that she only bought it for its aesthetics, but could never find a moment to properly wear it. And if she did, she found herself wrapping it around her wrist so she could play with it when class was boring. The same night you admitted you just used the necklace to get yourself free doughnuts. From then on, she made it very obvious to wear it whenever you were around.

And now, it has returned to you. Having lost all of its aesthetic appeal. 

“Oh this, this is priceless,” you said, giggling and tugging it from the box, already putting it on. “Thank you.” 

“I thought you’d like it,” she said, finishing the last of your ice cream. “Now, where’s my present?” 

You know she was asking to be cheeky, but you still entertained her. “Oh, like the whole day I planned and spent with my hard-earned money wasn’t a present?”

The train ride back was longer than you’d expected, but it gave Tzuyu some time to nap. Once again, you were connected by your hands and her earphones, as she lay her head on your shoulder. 

Seeing as how late it was, buses would take longer to make their last rounds. Which is why you left Tzuyu at the bus stop, so you could quickly rush to the general store behind it and get some more snacks. Hot chocolate seemed like the right choice at a time like this, the perfect ending to the day. The scene would be magical, being seated together at a bus stop, illuminated by a warm lamppost, surrounded by flecks of snow as you sipped on hot chocolate. But also, you were craving more ice cream. Dealing with a cold will be your future you’s problem. 

So you grabbed two cones and a hand warmer and swiped your card. 

The streets seemed empty, even though it wasn’t even that late. Well… by a student’s standard, it wasn’t that late, seeing as it was nearing eleven in the evening, perhaps it was late. 

“I got our snacks,” you said, holding up a cone in each hand. Tzuyu just chuckled as she took one from your hand. She struggled for a moment to peel off the wrapping with her gloved hands, but when she did, she bit a large chunk of the ice cream, and you just gawked in awe. 

The bus had arrived by the time you finished the cones. Just as your stop arrived, Tzuyu’s music stopped. Someone was calling her. 

“What time is it?” she asked, pulling out her phone, you missed the caller’s name. 

“Like, almost midnight,” you said, getting up and guiding her out as she answered the call. 

“They’re an hour early—”

“Tzuyu-ah!” Sana’s voice shrieked into your earphones, you had to pull it out. You thanked the bus driver and wished him a good night, ignoring the way he squinted at you. 

“Do you still want to go—” Tzuyu just threw a thumbs up as she matched Sana’s voice in greeting. 

Letting her catch up with her friend, you guided her to the park you often visited, usually near midnight like tonight, and always at the children’s playground to the small swing set. 

When you helped Tzuyu into her seat, so engrossed in the call, she started taking the seat as soon as the swing hit the back of her legs, she'd have landed flat on her back had you not helped her into the seat. 

“It’s nice to see you again,” you looked up to see Sana’s son wave at you. 

“Oh, oh, hey, kid,” Tzuyu sent you a look over her shoulder as you made sure she was not going to slip off the seat. “It’s good to see you again! How’re you doing, kid?” 

“I’m good, how are you?” he asked, and you parrotted the same answer, a little breathy from slouching over. 

“Sit down, will you?” Tzuyu pretended to groan, pushing your face away from her shoulder. 

The seat was made for children, so it was very very low to the ground and tiny. You had to balance yourself on your things to not flip over the seat, a moment's distraction and you could be swinging from your knees. Holding on to the chains, you pushed yourself close to Tzuyu so your face was on camera again. 

“No, seriously, how are you?” you asked again to get past the surface-level answers. “What have you been up to?”

With a wide grin, he started speaking about a recipe he had just mastered and while he did more of Tzuyu’s friends joined. Most of which you were familiar with now, having met them at two weddings and conversed with some over calls. Though you were most glad to see Sana’s son again. You’d only met him face to face once. It was at Sana's wedding during the summer. Both you and Tzuyu had been taken with him when you first met him last Christmas. Tzuyu had taken you back home with her last year, and you finally got to meet her beloved dogs, and so had Sana’s son. He’d remembered to even ask about Tzuyu’s dogs during the wedding, you spent the better part of the event showing him the videos you had. 

Ever since you’d gotten him a gift, he’d grown quite fond of you both. Now usually, it was tradition to get gifts mostly for those to be wed, but you and Tzuyu had instead decided to gift their son. You’d heard how much he loved the Percy Jackson books much like you had, so you decided to buy him the Kane Chronicles. thankfully he hadn’t read or gotten them yet. Besides, seeing as both you and Tzuyu were neck deep in student debt and as broke as they come, you weren’t really in a place to buy the newlyweds a washing machine. 

Tzuyu waved to others, while you kept him talking. “Have you read the Kane Chronicles yet?” 

The boy had an affinity to reread the same book over and over again, even if he wasn’t completed with a series. At the wedding, he’d been attached at the hip to the Son of Neptune, which was understandable. But also, the next two books are easily the best of the series. 

“I did start them!” he said, eagerly leaning away from the camera before bringing the second book in with him. “I really like it,” he said, flipping through some pages and turning the book to show it. You didn’t have the heart to tell him it was too blurry to see anything but a blank white page. “But it’s not as fun as you said it would be, I still like Percy Jackson better than this series.” 

Oh.

Now, you’re at a stage in your life where you didn’t go around picking fights with children, though you will say it was a difficult urge to ignore. But something about appreciating children having different opinions from you or whatever. 

“Um, yeah, no, I—”

“Please, don’t pick a fight with a child,” Tzuyu said with a groan and the call erupted with a cacophony of laughter. You’d missed when everyone had joined. You had been hogging the call. 

“I wasn’t going to! The kid had the right to his own opinions,” you said, looking scandalized but then mumbled under your breath. “Even if it’s wrong.”

Tzuyu shoved you with a smile and you let the swing take its original spot. With a smile of your own, you let Tzuyu catch up with her friends, only waving and greeting people when she turned the phone to face you. After some wishes of Merry Christmas and farewells, the phone call had been cut. With every passing year, it was harder to meet, even during holidays when everyone was supposed to be free. In-person meetings seemed like a faraway dream, and planning a call seemed just as hectic, but somehow Tzuyu’s friends found a way. But you know Tzuyu ached to meet her friends again, some time where it wasn't a life-changing event that brought them together or where disaster didn’t strike. Just to be with them for a moment. 

You hadn’t even realized you were pushing yourself towards her, let alone kissing her on the cheek. Only when your swing recoiled back to her place and Tzuyu let out a small noise in question, did you realize what you’d done. 

“What was that for?” Tzuyu asked, her hand caressing the place where you’d kissed her. 

“I don’t know actually,” you said wistfully. “Just because.” 

Tzuyu hummed in acknowledgement as blush coloured her cheeks. You thought maybe she’d chastise you, even as a joke. But then, she did something shocking. 

Her hand pulled on your swing chain and pulled you close. 

It wasn’t the smoothest kiss. Your noses bumped into each other and the angle was wrong, but none of it really mattered because soon both your hands went to hold her as close as possible. She giggled into the kiss, no doubt, shyness creeping in as she comprehended what she’d just done. 

If it were up to you, maybe you would’ve stayed there until sunrise. 

Unfortunately, your leg, which was strained to hold you in place, slipped just as Tzuyu gently pushed you away. While you swung sideways, Tzuyu hid her face in her hands. 

A giggle from her earned from you. And before you knew it, the pair of you were laughing, hunched over and swinging lightly. 

Many things are changing, but your days will be all the same. Especially with Tzuyu by your side. And she wasn’t leaving your side any time soon.

any feedback is much appreciated.

a/n: people really need to read kane chronicles, its literally perfect but yeah, hope you enjoyed this ! again happy new year !!

tagging: @someone-who-likes-broccoli

[isthischopper]

hi thereee, i see ur requests are open and i’d like to request…!!!!

a (if you don’t feel comfortable doing fem, g/n is fine too!) fem!s/o who ate a devil fruit that makes her a long, curly-haired lion! it also gives her a tail and ears in human-beast, beast, or normal form! and it also gives her human form hair similar to killers (long, curly-ish? luscious, you get it)

but could i request that with shanks, or zoro? possibly both if you’d like! i’m fine with either tho<3 thank you and u have amazing works!

hi! i actually love this request, and while i’ve been pretty inactive, it keeps coming back into my mind!

i’ve written a choppy little story, broken into 4 small parts. i hope you enjoy!

⁀➷ Lone Pirate

⋆ Roronoa Zoro x fem!Reader

You frequent this bar, for better or worse, a beer. Simple, effective, tasty. The bar gets quiet when you're there, the other frequents knowing not to screw around with you. You use it to your advantage, but it is a little annoying; nobody ever talks to you other than the bartender.

To be fair, you're not so talkative either.

Most pirates are the creepy-kind. Weirdos with even weirder beards and less guts than their own beer belly. Meaning... why even give them a chance?

Only a few minutes pass after your arrival, and the bar's filling up. Groups of pirates, you assume, pile in, gnarling their order and sitting at a vacant wooden table.

A younger, more colourful, group sits adjacent to you.

You paid no mind, until some burly old man tried to pick a fight. He yelled in their faces, before smashing his beer on the bar, and, successfully covering you in the foamy-sticky substance. Truly, some people have no consideration for the innocent bystander.

"Can I help you??" you snap, shooting up from your bar stool.

"Are you with them?" he spits back, bending his neck just so you could smell his rotten breath.

…them?

Before you could reconsider, you're slamming him head-first on the hard wooden bar counter, knocking him out. The other pirates looked taken off guard; presumably not expecting that reaction out of you, the rest of the patrons silent.

You decide leaving now is your best option, before someone shows up to find their friend on the floor.

***

Months later, you find yourself in the Land of Wano.

You’d heard of Kaidou’s plans for New Onigashima while searching for another island to explore. Sure, you were considered a pirate, but you weren’t in it for fame or fortune; craving the experience of it all instead. You’d explored the country, familiarized yourself with the history and culture, and joined the side of the Straw Hats— the colourful group at the bar, you came to learn.

Now: buildings are flaming, fights are raging everywhere, and the sounds of explosions are ringing in the distance constantly.

You were running the flaming halls, searching rooms for anyone injured or caught in the fire. Somehow, wrapped up in the sounds of destruction all around you, a group of men working under Kaidou slipped your ears. They’d been following you, waiting for the perfect moment to group up and take you all at once.

Who you did notice, however, was a man sprinting in your direction from down the hall. Your hair nearly stood up on end, your body screaming at you to perform some type of defence. He was looking right through you (so you thought), swords drawn, teeth bared. He looked quite intimidating; save for the green hair.

Just before he reached you, his sword swiped against another just two inches shy of your left ear. The clash slicing some of your white-blonde hair clean off. But— you had already figured it out before a single curl hit the floor.

You couldn’t help to be glad he wasn’t aiming for your neck (because he most certainly would have had it).

You had ducked under the swords upon their impact, revolving on your heel to face the group of goons. The green-haired Straw Hat already had the first three handled, so you planted your foot and pounced on the next.

It was quick work, between the two of you.

“You broke his nose.”

You hadn’t even remembered touching a nose, to be honest. You frowned, looking at the pile of defeated men on the floor.

“Which one?”

He chuckles briefly in response to your question, sliding his swords back into their respective encasing. His arms flexing effortlessly (or, maybe on purpose).

“No, at the bar that day.” he pauses “That was you, right?”

“…Depends who’s asking.” you wink.

Deciding that standing around isn’t too beneficial to the current situation, he offers you to follow. You had clicked well, bantering between brawls and fighting together like how a puzzle piece fits.

His swords and your claws working in unison.

***

Later, when the crew is celebrating the defeat of Kaidou over a drink, you’re sitting alone and taking in the view. The green haired pirate joins you, his scent alerting you of his presence before he’d sat down next to you.

“We’ll be leaving soon, It would be a shame to not have your name.” he speaks quietly, sounding much different compared to the adrenaline-fed, raspy voice you heard earlier.

Of course you knew his name, thanks to the word of Wano. People were talking about the Straw Hats everywhere, it was hard to not hear. You hadn’t considered he’d want yours.

“Y/n. Leaving me here after all we’ve been through?” you chuckle.

Kicking back, he rests his back against a rock and tucks his arms behind his head. His eyes are closed, breathing steady, but alert and conscious.

“Things to do, places to be, Luffy says.” he jokes, letting a sigh out and stretching his sore neck.

You lounge back next to him, shoulders touching. Eyes closed, the atmosphere taking over your senses. It’s serene, almost, if you tune out the hollering and music of the celebration.

His body was warm, where it met yours. You could smell the smoke and blood remaining on his skin. You really would miss him, it’s a different type of feeling to have someone you work so well with.

Fighting together, you cleared paths easily. Bonnie and Clyde, almost. What you couldn’t catch Zoro did, and you had his back in the same way. You mutually agreed on a plan every time, without any communication; it came naturally— a rare occurrence.

“Do you have a crew?” he asks.

“Mmm-mm,” you hum “Just me.”

You weren’t sure of the real meaning of this question, but soon after his fingers found their way to discreetly brush on your thigh.

***

“Who’s Zoro with over there?” Jinbe quizzes to chopper, who works to bandage a few surface scrapes.

“She’s a lone pirate!” he deduces. “A Zoan user, really strong…” he trails off, concentrating on the task at hand.

Jinbe chuckles to himself, studying the girl. It seems Chopper is right; she has the ears and tail of a lion, not to mention her mane of curly hair. He heard she had retractable claws, too. He wonders her origin.

Though, things are too joyful to be so inquisitive. He trusts Zoro’s judgment.

“A lone pirate, you say?”

“Mm, yes,” chopper confirms, stepping back to admire his work and placing his hands on his hips.

“Why do you ask?”

Jinbe chuckles again, nodding his head in the direction of Zoro and the girl. He noticed their friendliness when Zoro had first joined her, something that wasn’t too easy to come by with the green haired fire-cracker.

Jinbe leans down to match Choppers height, a mischievous grin on his face.

“I’m not sure I have seen Zoro do that before.” he states.

The click of Chopper’s feet as he turns, and then the full body shock that elopes him is enough to have Jinbe holding back a hysterical cackle. Obviously Chopper hadn’t seen it happen either.

The two of you were met for a kiss when his eyes landed on you. Slow and sensual, causing the innocent little deer to blush a deep shade of red.

Zoro’s hand held your hip just above the ruffles on your shorts, and your palm bared his chest. You were still in the same relaxed position against the rock with your bodies rotated slightly to reach, eyes closed again.

“Zoro!!??? Whaa-!!!” squeals Chopper, gaining the attention of the others.

You blush pink, but Zoro’s smug smile says it all.

What an interesting match, Jinbe thinks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[smilingangel582]

Hii it's been long ik... im so sorry! But I actually decided to start writing after some time.

I waited too long for genshin impact new lantern rite... yet not a single lee!Ga ming?? I'm so sad

So I took the initiative to write, tho im not so good at it... hehe enjoy...

Ps. Ga ming seems adorable as hell! One of those fun and secret 5 stars!

Warning spoilers for genshin impact 4.4!

Punishment for payment

"Ga ming! Stop paying all the time!"

The wushoe dancers shrugs playfully, chuckling softly "But Paimon enjoys them a lot... I mean what sort of friend would I be if I didn't treat u guys to a regular dim sum?"

Aether groans, folding his arms as he looks at the young man with a wary expression. He casually turns to Paimon who has dozed off on the table like a white lump. His expression softens as he takes the final bite of the shrimp "You really are some thing..."

Ga ming gives a breif giggle, his tongue sticking out "Well I suppose you are giving in? Don't worry... I love to treat my friends to a regular breakfast"

Later that day, Aether and Ga ming left the restaurant... Paimon had insisted they could watch the Liyue vicinity in peace.

"Honestly you guys should visit more..." Ga ming states after observing the silence. Aether turns to him, leaning by the bridge as he smiles "We only went to fontaine for a few weeks you know"

Giving a childish whine Ga ming gestures "Still... its cool to hang out with you guys"

Paimon has gone earshot following a butterfly, and Aether gives him a pat on the arm "Well next time, let's go to Fontaine, and I will treat u to some cuisines"

The young wushoe dancer's eyes glistened like stars "deal! It will be dope to hang out with u Aether!" He adds frivolously "Also don't worry about paying... im gonna have to aid on the funds since your treating me"

Aghast, Aether gives him a playful shove "There you go being generous... stop it"

"What I mean I can't let the esteemed traveler pay for my starving needs" he winks and Aether pokes his side "Then allow me to split the bill at least"

With a giggly jolt he gently pushes Aether's hand away "Hehe but..."

Another poke as Aether smirks, "Now now, who was it that helped u with your family conflict?

Ga ming realises where Aether is going wjth this charade, he giggles more when the gentle playful prodding became precise, he squirms away "hehe you... its yoohou"

Aether Pauses for a moment, mischievous "Are you ticklish?"

Silence.

Ga ming notices Aether suddenly preparing and he stretches his hands front defensively, giggling in anticipation "H-hey uh what are you...?"

Aether grins wiggling his fingers "I'm gonna be paying the next Dim sum meal and you won't pay a single mora"

Ga ming bursts into titters the moment Aether tickled his ribs "ahh hehe hey! Haha come ohohon Aehehether"

Rolling his eyes Aether didn't stop "What did I say? No more tabs for you"

"Hahaha buhuhut"

Determined to get Ga ming, Aether playfully pressures his hips, a sensitive spot no doubt and sends cackles through him, high pitched and bubbly.

"Cute laughter you got there... I dont want to stop"

"EEK! OK OK WAHAHAIT" Ga ming shrieked as Aether pinches his hips.

"Oh? What is it?" Smirking. Aether traces patterns around his hips keeping him giggly and in anticipation.

"Ihihi uhuhu wehehell..." Ga ming squirms now in a mess of tumbling shrilled giggles. So cute.

Aether rubs his thumbs by the waist now "Ga ming~ what did u want to say?"

He bucks and then lets out "Ah ah! Hehehe uhum yohohou can tahahake the tab next time"

Satisfied, Aether backs off "OK so next dim sum will be my problem"

Flushed cheeks now finally returning to colour. He gasps "Haa... you sure are a merciless traveler... jeez the last time I was tickled to death was when my mom tried to punish me for pranking her"

"Oh so you were a rascal?"

Laughing Ga ming nudged Aether "Obviously... so, tomorrow's dim sum will be on me... byee!"

"Yeah, sure -no wait! Argh! Come here, you menace!"

Laughter spreads without haste... and soon Paimon joins forces with Aether to tackle him once more. The two playfully chase without cease. Ga ming will never meet a companion as great as the traveler, and the traveller will never encounter someone as delightful as the young dancer.

Liyue must be visited more often.

[canmom]

So the Tie Fighter guy, Paul 'OtaKing' Johnson, dropped his latest magnum opus: this time, Alien in the same 80s-anime inspired style! Six years to make, which I can well believe looking at every frame of this.

I have mixed feelings about it as a film, but it's definitely worth a watch before you read my words below.

As ever, it's a retro pastiche fan film - this time a tribute to Alien. The animation is, as before, largely 2D-on-3D with a bit of 3D-roto assistance here and there - there's a process video from a couple years back here.

How do I even comment on something like this? The man is a shape rotator nonpareil, drawing complex perspective shots with an ease that makes me envious. At the same time... do you notice how the movement is just... kinda off throughout this film? So many shots feel too evenly spaced, lacking weight, or with odd unmotivated choices in the character acting. It seems churlish to make such a criticism when this guy is singlehandedly drawing animation at a level of detail that would be out of reach for most full-fledged studios, but it feels like the same problem as Umetsu's animation in Megazone 23 Part 2, where they pursued such a level of detail that nothing moved naturally. It's like this guy is some kinda animation minmax build.

Like Tie Fighter, it's a side story that leans heavily on the visual language of the original. It's not as heavily referential of anime shots this time - no Itano Circus or that one shot where the camera flies over the decks of a ship up to the bridge (where did that come from, Yamato?). But it's still got a lot of flashy rotating camerawork and unusual angles and complex character rotations.

Despite this technical complexity, though, there is little of the tension that suffused the original film. Here the alien is in plain sight throughout, somehow feeling more like a guy in a rubber suit than it did in the original movie. This is, I think, largely down to how it moves, and how much the camera wants you to see everything.

It's a tricky balance: on the one hand, the whole thrust of this short is to wow you with its drawings, so it really needs to show you just how shiny the alien is in Johnson's style. But Alien was very much a 'never fully show the monster' kind of movie, letting the alien blend into the dark mechanical environments of the Nostromo as a constant 'could be anywhere' menace. Here everything is brightly lit, the better to show off those delightful anime highlights, so you'll never miss the alien walking down a corridor.

It was also a much slower movie, with waves of 'worse shit happening' washing over you - the escalating ladder of tension and brief relief before the alien does something more fucked up. Here there's no mystery, we know the alien's life cycle already. So in the end this feels like something of a speedrun of the original's beats, to its detriment - when the MC decides to scuttle her ship, you don't get the same sense of a desperate last resort against a relentless enemy, such that destroying the ship is the only option. (In fact it seems rather like she could have escaped the alien once it was floating around in space near the ship...)

Creating a fan film like this, much like franchise media, is a pretty tricky problem! Devotion to the original is kind of its whole raison d'être, so it can't do anything that would really extend or contradict the canon, or really touch the canon characters. But it still wants to hit the images that people associate with Alien! So not!Ripley on the not!Nostromo confronts an alien, as if this is something of a regular occurrence. But the alien must not escape, or it would undercut the original movie. So it's like an echo; it can't mix up the formula.

I don't want to complain too much tho. It's not every day you get something like this drop. More just that I want to learn from it... that 80s shading style still has that power, flat colours and strong shapes beat all the gradients in the world. But if you neglect those animation principles... it won't save you!

[the-roo-too]

free fall -> spiderwoman! mo jihye

-the biggest downside of working as a reporter is definitely the field work

warnings: injuries

genre: sprinkle of angst?; it’s mostly fluff tho

notes: spiderwoman danielle would be so 🫶🫶 this was kinda made in honour of spider!jimin fic getting 150 notes 💪

˚₊𖠌༺ 🕷️༻𖠌₊˚

when you first became a reporter for the local newspaper, you had very light tasks to do. take a picture of the school’s swimming team, see the christmas lights, do some photos on the fair. then, the villains appeared. your peaceful job suddenly turned into the most dangerous one, albeit very interesting. now, you always had to be there with the villains, so you could have material before other reporters.

just like now, someone evil attacked the main street, so you of course had to be there. it was some green guy, green goblin if you remembered the last article correctly.

click!

you sighed as you took the photo of the villain. it came out a bit blurry, but it was still a good shot. as you looked up from your hide (so technically you leaned over some café’s menu sign), you noticed a familiar red and blue blur.

spiderwoman. always on the spot.

“they should pay me more for the heroes.” you grumbled under your breath, reading the camera to take a shot of the mysterious superhero. just as you did that, something exploded near you. the force of the explosion made you fly away from your safe spot and as you hit your head on the floor, you heard the sound of glass breaking and everything went dark.

˚₊𖠌༺ 🕷️༻𖠌₊˚

you slipped in and out of consciousness, seeing the colourful blurs zoom past you. it felt like you couldn’t move, so you just laid there, trying to make out the shapes around you. a small thought lingered in the back of your mind.

is this the end?

then, by some miracle, the gods decided to spare you. just as your eyes were closing, you felt strong arms slowly lift you up bridal style.

you let out a groan of pain and your saviour hummed quietly.

“it’s okay… you’re safe with me..”

˚₊𖠌༺ 🕷️༻𖠌₊˚

a chain of curses woke you up. for a short second, you couldn’t remember anything, till the memories flooded your mind again.

you quickly opened your eyes, frowning when you noticed you were suddenly home. that ceiling was definitely yours, you’d recognise that stupid stickers anywhere.

then, the pain hit you like a truck. you winced, bringing your hand up to touch your wounded head. just then, a figure walked into your room.

“who hides their first aid kit so hard-“ the voice stopped as the figure noticed you’re awake. you immediately recognised the suit, but your eyes widened when you saw the superhero wasn’t wearing her mask.

her face was also enveloped in shock, as you could only blur out one thing.

“..danielle?”

˚₊𖠌༺ 🕷️༻𖠌₊˚

“sorry..” she muttered as you winced, feeling the cotton pad press against your wound. “there’s usually no civilians… i should’ve been more careful.”

“don’t worry, danielle..” it felt weird, looking at one of the most famous heroes now and seeing your neighbour’s face. “it’s my job, you couldn’t know anyone would be stupid enough to come so close.”

with a deflated sigh, danielle lowered the hand that was holding the cotton pad. “you’re a reporter… are you gonna tell, uhm..” she awkwardly gestured to herself and the spiderwoman’s mask lying on your nightstand.

“no, of course not.”

“really?”you nodded your head softly, making her smile.

“i would’ve never though that my neighbour would be the famous spiderwoman…” you chuckled slightly. “guess you’re really ‘friendly neighbourhood spiderwoman’ huh?”

she laughed a bit. “yeah, guess you could say that.” danielle then cleared her throat. “so um… do you maybe wanna get a coffee after this? maybe tomorrow, my treat?”

“me?”

“well, i think you’re very pretty! and i kinda owe you for that camera you broke…”

“no, no you don’t owe- MY CAMERA BROKE?!”

˚₊𖠌༺ 🕷️༻𖠌₊˚