#Gotta try and get back into the habit of it

[iloveacaibowls111]

Old Habits Die Hard

synopsis: life with toji is hard, especially because he just can’t seem to let go of his bad habits

A/N: Finally finished exam, it was so hard.

As you turn the handle of your apartment door, a sigh escapes you, filled with frustration and disappointment. The living room was a mess—clothes scattered across the couch, empty takeout boxes on the coffee table, and a faint smell of smoke lingering in the air.

“Toji?” You call out, hoping he was just napping or in the shower. Silence meets you. You check each room, but there’s no sign of him. With a heavy sigh, you let your grocery bags drop to the floor and reach for your phone. You find his name and press call, listening to the ringing with a knot forming in your stomach.

“Hey, doll. What’s up?” Toji’s voice greets you, casual and warm, but in the background, you catch the unmistakable sounds of slot machines and loud voices.

“Hey, where are you?” You try to keep your voice steady, but it’s hard. After a long pause, you mutter, “Please tell me those sounds I’m hearing aren’t from a casino.”

There’s a brief silence, and then he mutters, “Wait, hang on. Lemme just get somewhere quieter.” You hear him shuffle around, the sounds of the casino fading a little. “Look, doll, it’s not what you think.”

“Oh, really?” you reply, unable to keep the sarcasm out of your voice. “Because it sounds exactly like what I think.”

He sighs. “I know, I know… but you gotta trust me. I’m just here for a quick thing. You know it’s not easy quitting everything cold turkey.”

“Toji, you promised.” The words come out softer than you intended, laced with hurt. "You said you’d stop gambling, stop... all of this, to be here with me. I can’t keep doing this if you’re not really trying.”

He falls silent, and for a moment, you wonder if he’s even listening. Finally, he says, “I’ll be home in a bit, okay?”

You hang up, feeling the weight of disappointment settle in deeper. You want to believe him—believe that he’ll change, that he’ll leave his vices behind for good. But as you look around the messy apartment, you wonder how much longer you can keep hoping.

The silence after the call feels heavier than the empty apartment around you. You set down your phone, numb, and look at the mess he left behind. It's not just the clothes and empty takeout containers scattered across the room; it’s the broken promises, the nights he said he’d be here and wasn’t. It’s feeling like you’re holding onto something that’s slowly slipping through your fingers, no matter how tightly you cling.

You sit on the couch, arms wrapped around yourself, wondering if he’ll even come home tonight. Dinner sits untouched on the table, the hours stretch on, and you lose track of time until, sometime after midnight, you hear the door click open.

Toji steps inside, looking rougher than usual. He closes the door quietly, his gaze scanning the room before finally landing on you. For a moment, neither of you says anything.

“Hey…” he murmurs, voice barely above a whisper. He scratches the back of his neck, the weariness in his eyes mirroring the ache in your own.

You let the silence hang, too tired to make it easy for him this time. He shifts uncomfortably, like he knows it too.

“I messed up,” he says eventually, sinking down onto the couch next to you. He lets out a sigh, rubbing his hands over his face before looking at you. “I keep saying I’ll stop, that I’ll change, and then… I don’t. I know it’s not fair to you.”

Your chest tightens, a mix of hurt and anger bubbling up. “Toji… do you even know what it’s like for me?” Your voice cracks a little, but you press on. “Waiting here, wondering if you’ll come home… if you even want to be here? I’m trying to hold on to something, but I don’t even know if you’re reaching back.”

His face softens, the casual front finally falling away. He reaches out slowly, hesitating before resting his hand over yours. “I do want this. I want us,” he says quietly, his voice rough with regret. “I just… I keep screwing it up. You don’t deserve that, and I hate myself for it.”

The confession hangs between you, raw and unpolished, and it stirs something in you. You swallow, letting out a shaky breath. “Then stop hating yourself and just… be here,” you say, your voice barely a whisper. “I don’t need perfect. I just need you.”

He pulls you into his arms, holding you close, and for the first time in a long time, you feel him really holding onto you, as if he’s as afraid to lose you as you’ve been of losing him.

“I’ll make this right,” he murmurs into your hair, his arms tightening around you. “I know I’ve said it before, but… I mean it this time. I’m done making promises. I’ll just… show you.”

In his arms, you let yourself exhale, feeling some of the hurt ease, replaced with the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, this time will be different.

[sysig]

2023 Art Purge

Fanart edition! Second verse, same as the first, onto the walls of text!

Started the year with a huggy Squirtle! How can you get better than that <3

A solemnly dancing Spamton haha - this one still makes me laugh, what could possible have him so jovially serious

Only one leftover Sarah doodle from this year, inspired by a song that reminded me so much of her and Jocasta - Right Here Waiting is such a beautiful pining song! And since they're separated for such a while, not to mention the angst

Comfort Birdos <3 She's so pretty, I’m love her ♥

I just had to pick some of the most feral-designed Pokemon as my favourite, someday I'll know how to draw Vulpix and Ninetales! Cutest lads, someday someday

It’s actually pretty funny - the first page of this notebook ended up having some Handplates doodles, apropos of nothing, just wanted to draw them out of the blue, and then ended up being on the last pages as I finished it off! Goes to show how long they've been on my mind this year I guess haha

I ended up doing some Eris studies from my favourite scenes from Sinbad, her hair is literally the coolest - so pretty, the movement is incredible! Her proportions are all over the place depending on her size and shape, she's so cool and chaotic

Also had a couple tiny leftover Souichi studies! Cutest lad <3

And his eyes specifically - I'm pretty sure the two small ones around the big one were studied from the same face haha, that's not how his face is shaped!

Scottyiscringe's absolutely incredible After Dark meme was so inspirational to me earlier this year - I'm pretty sure the Yanderapy boys were like 85% inspired by The Vibes, such a beautifully dark and uncomfortable video gosh <3 Greasy main was a real treat to study from as well

The Stanley Parable bunnies! Just a silly idea of what Stanley - specifically Sinister, you can see his burned paw! And arrow-marked ears hehe - and the Narrator would look like as rabbits haha

Smol and I did a few teeny-tiny art trades this year, and for her first two she asked for her Bleach faves, Szayelaporro Grant and Quilge Opie. All I really know about them is they're both bad news bears, which is cool by me 👍

Weegie! I doodled some he and Bowser concepts fairly early on but none made it to final :P He's still a cute lad tho!

The original scratch-sketch for @farouchestray's birthday Raichu and birb! Can you tell I'm not that practiced with drawing birds or Raichu lol

Another leftover Sinister, silly goofy handsome lad

The beginnings of the WOY spam! What would eventually become Sleepy Sunshine Wander, it was definitely an interesting experiment to hold back my sketches until after the digital version was done! :0 It's a habit I've gotten out of

There was decidedly not enough Skeleton Dance this year lol, allow me to at least partially make up for it

Another idea I intended to finish digitally first but wasn't able to swing it! The double edged blade of sitting on doodles unfortunately, I'm not sure if I ever will :( But at least it's here now - a Fist Fighter signing his love to Peepers and Peepers not quite catching his meaning haha ♪

This one made it to digital! And was very silly-fun the whole way haha

Another I wanted to digitize! Heck!! I started thinking about the Animal Crossing/Mii hand style in conjunction with Fist Fighters and

He'll be fine. Probably ouo;

The Little Guys original sketch :D They're so tiny!

A mirror close-up of Peepers in a binder, frustrating to be Not Quite There yet

I read a fic at one point with Peepers described in a very silly-sounding outfit and decided to give an attempt at it haha. He has worn drag in the show, I forgot about how his helmet stuck out until rewatching tho haha

Those red-painted lips, goofy

A continuation of Peepers being left behind with the main duo! Those unpredictable two, and with how much he's put them through, what would they do to him...?

Obviously they'd be nice, trying to pull another Westley with him, but this is Peepers we're talking about! As soon as he knows he's not in danger, acting in animosity is right back on the table haha

Poor Wander just wants to be friends! I don't think he'd actually be all that surprised, just sad that even with how long they've known each other that they still can't break through to him haha

A follow-up to Wander catching Peepers and Sylvia sleeping snuggled up together haha, Peepers does not appreciate being called cute (even if he is)

A WOY-inspired chess set! :D With the villains as the Black Team and heroes as the White Team! Why is Peepers the Queen to Hater's King and not Dominator? It is obvious :) I'm still not sure what to do for the White Team's pawns though, they don't exactly have just a single type of little guy haha

Mad Wander! Look out!

A silly idea I had of Wander trying to corral these rambunctious villains he's thrown in with this time around lol - could also be read as him taking care of babified Hater and Dominator but I feel like he'd just coo over them the entire time haha

A gooey heart-eyed Peepers :) I guess he's stressed, it's a good look on him hehe

Sylvia headshot <3 She's so cool and pretty

More Skeleton Dance! Closer to on-model version of this high-stylized drawing of them :D Lookin' up at him with his big ol' eyes haha

Some kind of situation of Hater having found (more?) Watchdogs and wanting to bring them home by hiding them in his cloak lol idk, I just wanted to draw their big funny heads under his clothes. It's so inconspicuous, Peepers will never know!

Doug Plush!! With removable cloak! :D The cutest squishiest little demon <3 Very good to hug

Ozzy dress concept doodles as prelims to this post, it was really hard to decide what style would suit him! Went through quite a few and still not completely happy with what I ended up with which is a shame 'cause it was such a strong feeling in my head! I know he can rock a dress, just a matter of what style hmm

More of the same, wanted to at least get the composition of the Very Big Thought down before Oz's dress completely frustrated my attempts haha

Thrax was a really fun study, his eyes are beautiful! The way his lids are darkened as part of his design to make him look heavily-lidded under his brows and with dark eye bags is brilliant :)

Couple'a Helix doodles before I looked at references again lol, the impulse hits randomly - maybe Dex got a bad haircut haha

Chibis and angst! My favourite <3 Max is very selfish hehe ♥

You may find me occasionally traipsing through the Landel's Damned gallery lol, I feel very normal and rational and fine about it (lying)

A Rule 63'd Max :D Inspired by drawing him lying on Dex with his shirt open - Max boobs lol

The shot of ZEX looking at his hands </3 I actually drew this one on the context of Max and Dex running away together and Dex returning to their house and still finding ZEX in Max's place :'0 Looking at his new calluses!

Princess ZEX concept art! :D My first pass at his dress and jewelry, I was not satisfied, he is not pretty enough!

Some simple VUX mannequins for alternate outfits - you can see the pieces that eventually formed into the final version :D I am still rather a fan of the split Empress style in the middle there, cute <3

Cleaning up the tiara/jewelry designs, and the sleeve puffs hehe ♪ I think the second tiara looks goofy, like little double mouse ears haha

Closing in on the design! He really does deserve some goofy silly harmless fluffy fun :)

Couple comparisons on shushing VUX vs humans, inspired by Out, where DAX wraps his arm around ZEX's trunk :0 Seemed very drastic to me, but there are instances where humans completely cover other humans' mouths! From there, thinking about what a single finger shush might look like, maybe bumping an arm tip against their "mouth"? Stoppering haha

GLaDOS <3 <3 A spare doodle that I ran out of room for unfortunately but there she is! Love her <3 <3

And a random Core, the nonchalant eye always reminds me of DAX so sure, DAX Core, programmed to barely put up with your nonsense haha

Tried style-matching Florette and Luke from some screenshots, the Humongous Entertainment style is honestly really cute :D Very cartoony! Big thick lines and simple shapes, I'm a fan :D

More smol art trades lol, she got very into Punch Out late in the year :) She picked the characters, I picked the outfits lol, we've got Super Macho Man in a Hawaiian shirt (and bikini underneath) and Don Flamenco in a ?? mesh brazier-corset and biker gloves I guess?? I dunno lol, funsies

The Handplates return!! In the form of Fellplates - I was maybe a mite overdramatically disappointed in looking at Gaster's wing references and that they were only decorative lol, I just love animated wings! Expressive! Cute! Fluffy!! The little sketch on the left is him trying out attaching strings between his sleeves and the wings to have them "flap" with his arms haha

More of the wings motif in his shawl, this time from behind :) I think it'd just be shaped like wings and couldn't actually open :0

Make him cry >:3c

Eyes eyes eyes, every time. Sans' eyes are very pretty, I like how many shapes he can make - expressive! Makes up for how inexpressive the rest of his face can be haha

Anyone remember Gaster's keyhole chibi? I haven't made one in ages but hmmmm hmmmmmmmm

The dangers of off-ramping from Portal into Undertale lol

Did some little scratches of Endogeny 'cause the Amalgamates are lovely and I love them!! Would pet the goop dog 10/10

A scratchy digital warmup Handplates!Sans - I’ve become really enamoured with the look of the screws on their palms, macabre as they are, so making a piece that centered them was double fun :)

Still thinking about them, especially if they happen to fall apart :0 Their second and fifth metacarpals would always be connected somehow huh, not quite Gaster's fused hands but hmm

Bonus version of the Stream-doodle Sans without Papyrus’ text! He turned out really cute haha <3 Squishy lad ♪

[coridallasmultipass]

Halloween costume hint:

(The stitch marker and the word that describes this colour-pattern of yarn [or fabric] are 2 more hints.)

[muirmarie]

these are from different stories, but can I just say how nice it feels to have the words coming - not easy, per se, but definitely easier than they have the last couple of years?? i am definitely having more fun, put it that way. i think i get too in my head sometimes re: trying to make something good, and forget to just personally have fun with the process without worrying about the result. and the worst is that i'm actually confident in my writing! so it's not that i'm worried about creating something not good, tbh, just. not perfect. oof it's the perfection thing again isn't it. of course it is. ughhhh.

ANYWAY. these (again from different stories) made me giggle:

“Wooing? No, no, Mr. Spock, I don't believe Dr. McCoy would take too well to being wooed. That's why I intend to trick him into a relationship with us.”

“I did try to evacuate the ship, Captain. They...” Scotty winces, “they may have committed a wee mutiny. Although as I was already committing a wee mutiny, I suspect the two might actually cancel out.”

[zincbot]

christ alive this can't be it dog

[phagodyke]

sorry for not posting much on tumblr lately I've been trying this thing called "having a life" have any of u guys heard of it idk it's kind of niche....

[dreamlogic]

quietly getting more & more annoyed at my housemate & her bf as the evening goes on. thought they were at his house this weekend but they showed up unexpectedly to have loud sex here, left for a little bit, came back in the middle of a fight, and are now watching tv really loudly in between continuing to totally-not-fight-everything's-FINE.

[koilarist]

What do you see?

Christopher belongs to myself. Locke belongs to @krokaxe

[dutybcrne]

Big fan of the idea that Diluc adamantly tries to never curse bc he is a Nobleman and bc Addie raised him better, always keeping his speech formal, even if stiff when it comes down to it.

And then there are The Fatui and Kaeya, who can make him swear like a goddamn sailor within minutes of dealing with him.

[todayisafridaynight]

I know you feel like your fics aren’t good enough but i genuinely love your works so much!!!

thank you !! i haven't posted anything in forever, so i'm happy to hear you enjoyed my stuff 🤧🤧

[ask-kyoya-hibari-and-kyo-kun]

Prologue Part 1

KHR TYL!Timeline & Consequences

This all started with a short-sighted act of revenge, like so many other parts of Vongola's bloodsoaked history.

After Byakuran's death, and the death or capture of the Six Funeral Wreaths, Millefiore's downfall was basically ensured, meaning the misplaced teenagers were finally allowed to go home! There were quick, but heartfelt goodbyes and then, one by one, the time travelers stepped through the large, round machine to finally, finally return home.

Accompanying them for a two-way trip, of course, were this time period's Arcobalenos. Just to seal the Past's Mare Rings, to prevent any further heartache. To hopefully change all parallel worlds in which Byakuran succeeded with his hostile takeover.

The machine could only handle one or two people passing through it at once, so sending the teens back became almost ceremonial. Not to mention that there was a brief overlap when some of the teens encountered Vongola's actual Boss. Adult Tsuna instantly grew flustered and uncomfortable with the amazement and praise he was receiving and retreated to the back of the room.

A naive mistake...

Either way, inevitably the young Hibari Kyoya stepped up to the portal. He'd be the last to pass through, right after their Skull, whom this teen unceremoniously kicked through ahead of himself.

Tiny Kyoya waited for the machine to fall silent, signaling that it was fine to pass through, only to turn slightly, now facing the room. That angry, sharp whistle immediately got everyone's attention and the teen gave them an absolutely withering glare. "This was by far the worst week of my life."

Confusion instantly silenced all conversations, several people now alert and worried, but the teen continued easily. His smirk was definitely cloudy and sadistic when he pulled something out of his pocket. "I'm taking these as compensation."

And there, comfortably clasped between the teenager's fingers, wrapped in Mammon's chains, were the missing Sun and Lightning Mare Rings. Every other ring has been accounted for, only those two were presumed lost or destroyed, because they didn't show up on any radar when the scientists checked.

Instantly, everyone lunged for tiny Kyoya, but even as a teen, he'd always been unnaturally quick. At the very least quick enough to pocket some rings and take a step, before any of them managed to grab hold of him. Not even Dino's whip snapped that fast. Tsuna might've stood a chance, but with how far away he was from the machine, he didn't have a clear path.

And just like that, the machine whirred and Teen Kyoya disappeared in a flash of light.

Chaos immediately ensued.

For a moment nobody knew what to do and even then, most of the adult guardians did not have any kind of reason to trust Irie when he urged them to follow the teen to retrieve the rings. And no, Adult Kyoya could not be put back in the machine to force the teen to reappear.

Mostly because he was experiencing advanced symptoms of blood loss. Afterall, he'd been bleeding from countless wounds he suffered at Genkishi's blades for all the days he'd spend in the machine. Tsuna forced first aid onto him immediately, but it was still too late.

Because when the Arcobalenos returned, which they did within minutes, they did so all at once. And that promptly melted through the round machine's core processor and fried most of the attached computers' motherboards. In summary, they are stuck until everything would be repaired, at which point, who knows what that teenaged menace would've done with those rings!?

At least, even with several chunks of their Tri-ni-sette unaccounted for, Time, Space and Reality didn't rip apart at the seams...

... Right?

[capricioussun]

🎨👻🚓 for Void?

The man the myth the it girl herself <3

[🎨] is your muse artistic? do they want to be?

Yes! I’ve always loved the headcanon that Papyrus is a very skilled artist, and that’s bled into the others in its own way. Void is a painter primarily, or he sketches in charcoal when opting for something quicker and more casual. Very similar to Edge in that respect, with the primary difference being that Void draws more from emotion as time goes on, and branches out from loose realism/slight impressionism into impressionism/surrealism. As far as wanting to be, it was honestly never something he’s put much thought into, just something he does when he wants to unwind. He likely wouldn’t consider himself artistic.

[👻] if your muse were a fantasy creature, what kind would they be? why?

Oooh this is a good one. If he were to choose, probably something like a guardian spirit, something mostly peaceful that looks after others and has the ability to keep them safe. Why? He has so much unresolved guilt trauma. As for me though as much as I’d love to give a more in depth answer, I’m honestly not too well versed in specific fantasy creatures, at least not enough to kin assign one to Void! Just going off aesthetics though I’d probably make him some sort of fae or shadow entity, or maybe some sort of dragon. Mostly just because I like those things. He’d make a very cute dragon <3

[🚓] would your muse break the law?

Absolutely, and I’m sure he does all the time lol. He’s got his own code, and if it means helping or protecting others, or otherwise doing something he sees as needing done, he doesn’t really care what anyone else has to say on the matter. That being said he leans morally good so that’s not really a bad thing…usually.

Prompt

[dadbots]

cold as shit & freezing my ass off in this winter (But at least we made it to December.)

[louiswilliamtomlinsons]

.

[realboutfatalfury]

it might just be bc it's late and i get sad sometimes when it's late but i'm sad i like feeel soooo bad about several things and i feel like i want to cry but i can't ughh idk...

[therosevest]

first day of classes ⛄️