#I like to think he’s also green instead of blue in the edgy au

[justgoji]

So uh… Edgy Timmy design

[good-rwbyaus]

For of all this Em Batfam thing is so good. Second I got a idea for anther superhero au involeing anther character too good for Cinder. AU, where instead of Cinder the person who finds Mercury is....*Dramtic pause*.. DEADPOOL!

This one I needed time to write ~ Green

The air was filled with the ragged breathing of a young man who had fought the hardest battle of his young life. Before him laid the corpse of the man he’d been forced to call his dad, but Marcus Black was anything but that. Fathers were supposed to love their sons, teach them about life, and prepare them for manhood…

All Marcus had ever taught his son, Mercury, was how to take a punch, where to strike ro disable someone, how to kill, poison, lie, cheat, and gods know what else that had been locked inside his brain. Now Mercury had struck back against the man who’d made his life a living hell, and all it cost him was his own life; that seemed like a fair trade off.

Just as Mercury was about to start walking towards the burning cabin that had been his home all his life, he heard clapping. This caused him to turn,and got in a half heartened fighting stance.

‘So this is how it all ends…figures.’ Mercury thought as his burning muscles tried to keep him in the stance.

“Who’s there?!” Mercury shouted as his eyes tried to pinpoint the source of the clapping.

“That was beautiful kid, you got a real talent for fucking up shitheels.” A man’s voice called out, as a figure emerged from the brush. It was a guy in some weird red suit, with katanas on his back.

Mercury stood there, continuing to hold his stance “The hell are you?”

“First of all drop the stance kid, we both know you’re tapped out. Second of all I’m just a merc who came for the open contract on Marcus Black’s head, but it seems some kid beat me to it.” The red suit man explained as he walked past Mercury so casually, as if he’d been nothing.

Mercury turned around to see the man in red examine Marcus’ corpse. He wanted to say something, but there was something about the man…something he couldn’t wrap his mind around.

The man in red was still casually observing Marcus’ corpse, his back turned to Mercury leaving him open to an attack. “Oof, you really did a number on him, kid. What was this your first big contract, so you decided to make a message out of it? Get your name out there as one of the big boys?”

Mercury finally spoke for the first time in what felt like hours, but was probably just barely a couple minutes. “I didn’t even realize there was a contract on him.”

This revelation had really caught the man in red’s attention, causing him to look back at Mercury. “So you willingly just picked a fight with Remnant’s top assassin?”

“He had it coming, he took everything from me.” Mercury spat as he felt some form of adrenaline pumping through him again.

“He killed your family, or something?” The man stood, facing Mercury so he could size him up.

The question caused Mercury to snort, as if he knew something the man in red would never fathom. “I think he may have killed my mom at this point, but no that’s not the reason I wanted to kill him. He took my semblance, my life, and hell for good measure my legs.”

The man in red was shocked to see Mercury lift his pants leg to reveal a prosthetic leg was hidden underneath it. Why the hell would Marcus do all this to some kid.

“Who are you?” The man in red had finally asked the million lien question it seems, because Mercury just gave him a look. “Oh should I already know you then?”

Mercury just snorted before crossing his arms. “Not really, but to answer your question, the name is Mercury…Mercury Black.”

The second Mercury uttered his name, things began to click for the man in red. So the son murdered the father because, for lack of better terms, the father was a true blue asshole. He’d always known Marcus was a real piece of shit, in their line of work you heard these things, but doing this to his own son…if hell was real, then Marcus was probably burning in his own private lava pit.

“Geez kid, I thought my old man was a piece of work, but yours really took the cake.” The man in red started to approach Mercury.

“Yeah, and now he’s gone. So you can piss off whoever the hell you are, claim the kill as your own, I don’t care.” Mercury still had some steam left, but it was all too clear that he was barely standing.

“Well ain’t that cute, but sorry cupcake I do care. Your life has clearly been a toilet, and you could use some guidance.” He placed a hand on Mercury’s shoulder, looking him in the eyes.

Mercury scoffer, skeptical to whatever the hell this man meant. “And what exactly do I get out of this?”

The man didn’t budge as he kept his eyes locked on Mercury’s. The mini staring match didn’t last much longer as the man in red started to chuckle. “I’ll tell you kid, even when you’re clearly a foot in the grave you got stones. Tell you what, a better life than what your father could give you is what’s in it for you, especially since you can prove the bastard wrong. All the fighting you can handle, lots of money that you’ll probably never spend in your lifetime, adventure, and my personal chimichanga recipe.”

It all sounded too good to be true, really what else was there for him. His only plans had been to either way for his aura to come back so he’d heal, or just let nature take its course. Really meeting some guy who was trying to kill his dad, and taking him in…it all seemed too good to be true. Then again without many options left, maybe this was destiny….

“Fine whatever, not like I have anything better to do, Red.” Mercury still had some edge to his voice, the kind only youth could provide.

The man in red was amused by this, well as amused as a masked man could be. “Trust me kid, I’m going to change your whole fucking life. Also, the name is Wade, Wade Wilson, but professionally I’m known as Deadpool.”

This earned another snort from Mercury, Deadpool had to be the dumbest codename he’d heard in his life. Then again his father’s ego didn’t let him get a chance to believe in codenames.

“Ok Deadpool, why take me with you?” Mercury still wasn’t seeing the full angle with this guy.

“That’s really simple kid.” Wase said before lifting the mask on his head to reveal his face. To say his face was one of the freakiest things Mercury had ever seen in his life would have been an understatement, whatever happened to this guy he really didn’t want to know.

Deadpool just smirked, as if he could hear Mercury’s thoughts before lowering his mask. “I’ve had some real shit days too, enough to know when someone needs help. Let’s call it my superpower.”

For some reason, a small part of Mercury had needed to hear that. It felt almost like he had someone who understood his pain….not that he’d ever admit it.

Wade started to walk away, and motioned for Mercury to follow. Mercury did, after giving his father’s corpse one last look, following Wade into the forest.

As they started to cross the brush that would take them to the main roads, Wase spoke up again. “Sides kid, another reason is even simpler. No one needs another boring cliche story where I take in and train some blonde kid with a rabbit hoodie to be the opposite of who he’s supposed to be narratively. No one needs more of that edginess.”

Mercury decided to not respond to that, the statement sounded too…metatextual was the word that was coming to his mind for some reason…

[bangtansbun]

Fireball || Ruined

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre: angst (sowwy)

word count: 1,556

warnings: possible infidelity

a/n: should be read as part 15 of the yoongi Fireball sm au. i love yoongi and y/n so much, this part hurt my heart to write out. i’m  sorry, but also not because this is the plot. lol

masterlist

You arrive at Moon’s apartment, which technically used to be yours too, right at 5pm just as you had planned. Your train ride from Busan to Seoul was painless and actually a bit relaxing. Something you kind of needed because even though you and Yoongi had been dating for over a year, you still felt nervous about seeing him in person for the first time since you moved. Butterflies flitting about in your stomach the whole morning as you got ready and packed.

Moon instantly ran into your arms, squishing you into a big hug. Your best friend loves you so much, and it’s evident in that she acts as if she didn’t see you just a week ago. “Yayyy! You’re here! Now, I know you’re not staying here tonight, but I’m going to need you to unpack everything so I can help you get ready to see him. Please tell me you brought multiple outfits.” She says all of this as she grabs you by the wrist and rushes you into her bedroom.

“Wait, hold on a second! I need to see how Jimin changed my room.” Moon looks at you quizzically, “we sleep in the same room, silly! We put his bed in there so that you’d have something to sleep on when you visit, but it’s mainly just an office for us now.” You felt dumb to think that Jimin would have his own bedroom when the pair were dating. “Oh, duh,” you laugh at yourself, “I like the space, though! It feels a little weird standing here and it not really being my room, but I think it’s nice!” Although you’d never admit it out loud, you were kind of happy that Jimin hadn’t just completely taken over your old room. You knew you were being greedy, though.

You step out of the office space and back into Moon’s room which looks almost the same except for a mismatched pillow, Jimin’s you assume, and an extra dresser. You put your bags up on her bed and let her rip them open to rummage through your belongings. Although your style is very different from hers now, she’s always done a great job when helping you pick out the best outfit to go with your hair or skin tone.

Over the past year or so, your style has changed. You used to dress more goth-like, mainly black, fishnet stockings, and chunky boots. Very similar to how Moon dresses, something the two of you used to bond over. However, now you’ve sort of blended that edgy feel with softer tones and a bit of color. It feels much more you now. It also didn’t hurt that Yoongi loves when you wear soft blues, pinks, and greens. He thinks you look like an angel.

Moon helps you decide on your outfit, a peachy pink corduroy skirt, black and white striped turtleneck, and white graphic sweatshirt tucked into your skirt. Of course, your outfit wouldn’t be complete without some thigh-high tights and black boots. You opt for your hair being pulled up into a short, sleek ponytail and delicate makeup. Your outfit is the perfect combination of cozy (as it’ll be colder once you get to the bar), cute, and edgy.

By the time you’re both ready, it’s nearly 8pm which is when you’d agreed to surprise your boyfriends at the bar. You’d seen on the bar’s social media page that they’re doing a tap takeover so there’d actually be a lot of people there. If you had to guess, the bar’s other bartender Jungkook would probably be working as well.

You guys decide to drive instead of walking the mile and a half since it had started to get a bit chilly. Songs ranging from Paramore to Mamamoo to Natasha Bedingfield as you drove. Both of you singing at the top of your lungs and car dancing along to all of the songs. God, it feels just like old times, no worrying about completing work deadlines or being so far away from everyone. You would definitely miss this in two days' time when you’d have to go back to Busan.

As you arrive at the bar, people are spilling out of the entrance. If it were any other bar it would be hard to even get in. Luckily, you both are friendly with the bartenders. As you walk up to the entryway, you both end up having to push past people, effectively being smushed by bigger men here and there. Once you finally make it through and closer to the bar, the two of you hang back watching for two bar stools to open up so you can get front row seats to your hot boyfriends doing their thing.

It’s hard to see the boys from where you’re standing with all of the people around, but you guys are able to spot Jimin and catch his eye long enough to earn a wide grin and wave from him. Just as the two of you break eye contact, you notice three girls getting up from their seats, looking like they’re leaving. You both break for the seats before anyone else can grab them.

Jimin strides up to the two of you, his brown hair tousled back. You and Moon had picked some good ones. “What can I get for you two to drink?” he asks as he expertly wields a shaker to finish off someone else’s drink order. You opt for a hard cider that’s part of the tap takeover, earning you a custom glass. You wanted to be able to bring something back from this weekend, something to help make your new place feel like home in Seoul.

Just as you’re about to take your first sip you spot Yoongi over in the corner part of the bar. He can’t see you from where you’re currently seated, but you watch him as he goes from customer to customer, making sure everyone is happy with their drinks.

You want to get his attention so you ask Moon to save your seat for you so you can walk around to him. As you turn the corner, you notice he’s pouring a shot of Fireball for a blonde at the bar. She beams at him and downs the shot quickly, pulling out bills to pay, and flipping her hair as she does. You give a hard eye-roll at her efforts, clearly she doesn’t know Yoongi is in a long-term relationship and that her efforts are useless.

That is, until you notice her writing on the back of her receipt. Surely he got girls’ numbers all the time, he’s a good looking guy. But then you notice him pulling out more receipt paper to write something down on it as well. There’s no way you’re seeing this right, you think to yourself, did Yoongi just give his number to some random girl at the bar? You turn around and catch Moon staring at you with a concerned look on her face, her teeth worrying her bottom lip and her eyes darting back and forth between you and your boyfriend.

You turn back around and see Jimin tap on his shoulder, pointing over to you. He must know what this scene looks like to you because he’s instantly forgotten about the girl and is making his way over to you with distress on his face. You don’t give him the chance to reach you though, spinning on your heels faster than that girl swallowed back her shot. Moon gives an apologetic look to Jimin as she rushes out behind you, yelling for you to wait up.

The second you’re in the car, you let the floodgates open. This was your worst nightmare. This was what you were worried about all along, but you had faith that your boyfriend would never do something like this. Did he think that it would be okay since you can’t pop by the bar anymore? Has he always done this? Giving girls his numbers on nights he knew you wouldn’t be able to visit the bar?

Moon interrupts your horrific thoughts by jumping into the car and slamming her door shut. “What the fuck was that?” she spits out. She’s angry. Obviously not at you, but she detests cheaters and douchebag boyfriends. Not that you had actually caught him cheating, but giving his phone number to another girl was close enough.

“I don’t know, I- I just saw her give her number to him and then he did the same for her and I j-just had to get out of there,” you manage to choke out. Moon rubs your back in soothing circles and starts the car. You spot Yoongi trying to make his way out of the packed bar, but look away, not wanting to see his face right now. “I talked to him about this, I t-told him this was my worry!” Moon glances over at you quickly, her expression softening at her heartbroken best friend. “I hate him right now, but- but maybe it’s not what we think! Let’s just get you back to the apartment and we’ll figure this out, okay?” You wipe the tears from your eyes and cheeks with the back of your sleeve, sniffles escaping from you as you try to contain the waterworks. “It’s ruined, he ruined it.”

[alarriefantasy]

It seems that the author NoShitSherlock has deleted their account and fics. Here are all the fics they had! If anyone has any of these, I’d be very very grateful if you could share! Thank you so much! :)

Like You’ve Been Gay All Along

by NoShitSherlock

Harry is Louis’ very straight boss, the person who Louis’ got a crush on.

It’s in Louis’ nature to wind Harry up until he can’t keep his hands off him, straight or not.

P.S. Don’t Drop the Soap

by NoShitSherlock

“Thank you,” Louis mumbles, returning Harry’s smile with a small one. “And please stop acting like I’m a disease that will infect you. It’s hurtful.”

“Listen, it’s not that you’re a disease. It’s just that I don’t want to be obliged to help you just because your family is linked to mine. Whatever shit you got yourself into, the aftermath of prison shouldn’t be free food and a decent bed when you haven’t got a penny to live off. You don’t deserve free food and a decent bed when there are homeless people out there more deserving who haven’t just spent five years in prison. Don’t you get it? You’re being excused because you’re pregnant and because of some stupid oath and I just don’t think those are good enough excuses to welcome a criminal into my life. Why couldn’t you go to another homeless shelter? Why here?”

The blue eyed boy blinks, eyes wide, unable to say anything.

∞

Or a prison AU where Criminology student Harry, who runs a homeless shelter with his dad Robin, has no choice but to let fresh-out-of-prison Louis into his life, and a newborn baby.

As Sweet As You Are

by Larriegal, NoShitSherlock

“Do you not have something more expensive?”

The alpha gives him a weird look, resting his hands on the table.

“Definitely not something the cost of that shade of blue that are your eyes,” he responds effortlessly.

“Why is a male omega on his own out in the middle of the woods at this time of night?” Harry speaks, staring intensely at the prince, smirk lingering on his face. “Your kind is rather rare. You should be more careful. There are a lot of rogue alphas around that won’t blink until they’ve knotted and bred you up.”

The blue eyed omega swallows, shuffling in his seat awkwardly and looking anywhere but the alpha before him.

“I ran away from home,” Louis admits, occupying himself by taking a sip of the lager instead of thinking about the fact that the alpha hasn’t yet taken his eyes off him. “My parents want me to marry someone I do not want to marry, so I ran.”

•

Louis is a runaway omega prince unaware of the dangerous alphas outside of the castle walls. Harry is the rogue alpha he meets at the 17Black tavern, but Louis doesn’t know that. Not when he appears so sweet.

Sweet Cheeks

by NoShitSherlock

Louis is an innocent, pretty in glasses, flustered mess of a high school sex-ed teacher who gets far too many dirty compliments and taps on the ass from his students. Harry, the lacrosse senior star and bad boy of Rowan High, gets transferred to Mr. Tomlinson’s sex-ed class after humiliating his previous teacher. It’s just what he likes to do.

Harry becomes set on humiliating his sex-ed teacher who just so happens to be his next door neighbour, but it backfires when sexual comments get made. There’s one thing about Harry Styles: he don’t do teachers.

MASE.

by NoShitSherlock

Louis Tomlinson is the father to a two year old he doesn’t want. Mason’s mother has disappeared into thin air and a witty comment from Louis’ best friend Niall has left Mason calling Louis, “mama,” only to call Harry, “daddy,” instead.

Harry Styles is the heavily tattooed student with piercings at Trinity College in Boston. Bullied for his looks, he is offered a change in dorm room. He meets Louis, who isn’t psyched about sharing his and his son’s dorm room with him.

Since Mason, Louis hasn’t been with anyone nor has he been attached to anyone and definitely not a man. He isn’t gay. However, a high end boat party in Amsterdam reveals that Louis isn’t just attached to his secretive roommate.

He is attached to a criminal, and so is his son.

Whitewater

by NoShitSherlock

“What would your boyfriend say if he found out his precious baby had the cock of his rival stuffed up his ass?”

“You mean what would he do? He’d rip me off you and fuck me ten times harder, make me scream daddy, carve into my brain that I’m his and make me beg him to ram into me. Then he’d kill you.”

“How much do you want to bet he won’t lift a finger when I do fuck you?”

“My asshole.”

“Done.”

•

Whitewater High is known for Harry Styles. His hair, his tattoos, his emerald green eyes and his holy body leaving the ladies leaking in the bleachers as he aces down the field in Lacrosse. Captain, legendary fuckboy and now senior.

Ridgeview High, Whitewater’s competition, spits out Louis Tomlinson, a spoilt crossdresser with a kink for pink. He’s the new cheerleader at Whitewater and the boyfriend of Harry’s rival, Julian.

Or, Carolina is home to Lacrosse captain Harry who’s set on spending his senior year hosting slutty parties and smoking weed and gets Louis fresh off a motorbike at Whitewater’s entrance and all Harry wants to do is show his rival fucking Julian that a Styles always wins.

I Don’t Come Back

by NoShitSherlock

“Why’d you save me?”

“I have a soldier kink…?”

THE DUNKIRK/MERMAN AU ONE SHOT THAT NO ONE ASKED FOR BUT EVERYONE IS GETTING.

Forfeit

by NoShitSherlock

Harry Styles, known for his illustrious low-toned, rough voice, his raw edgy side and tattoos, his habit of smoking and his dominance - the host.

And for every game host, you need a player.

SULK

by NoShitSherlock

“And… action!”

“Cut!”

“Harry! What the fuck?!”

“Do I have to kiss this son of a-”

“Styles, don’t you fucking-”

“That’s it! Take five!”

Harry and Louis are actors. They hate each other. Everyone knows it.

They also hate the fact they’re having a baby together.

Are You Deranged, Like Me? (I Can’t Contain This Anymore)

by NoShitSherlock

“And you know what the most deranged thing about me is? That I could simply place a court order for the 100k back, but I’d rather fill your ass up with my juice and watch it leak out slowly than fuck it with my eyes from the other side of a court room.”

Or where ordinary little Louis gets fucked to hell by famous Harry.

Raw

by NoShitSherlock

“Put the damn dildo down before my mum walks in and sees a fucking dick floating in mid air, Harry.”

Ghost!Harry Ordinary!Louis AU

And yes.

Yes they can touch each other.

Whisper In Small Words (So I Won’t Forget)

by NoShitSherlock

“I bet you anything that he’s been fucked before yet his hole is still as tight as a virgin’s, no wonder why his head is still wedged far up his arse and is stuck there.”

Or the one where Harry and Louis both hate each other but that doesn’t stop Harry from wrecking the tiny, blue eyed lad.

[yvixtrae]

A Teeny Tiny Tad Bit of a Re-Write of the Bad-Boy AU I Wrote for Park Jisung About a Year Ago or Something

Oh boi—

A bad-boy AU with Jisung??

Let’s set this boi somewhere in highschool then

Because why not though lmao

Mayhaps a sophomore or junior, per say

Honestly, bad isn’t the proper word for it

I guess it’s more like… He’s a tad bit rough around the edges??

Like I dunno bro but he’s just not that bad

Mainly keeps to himself and stays really quiet

Just skips classes a lot

And sometimes skips school altogether

But like...

He just usually spends time on the rooftop or something like that instead

Somewhere peaceful to have his earbuds in and be alone to just like, vibe

Y’know??

Because nothing really beats listening to things like i prevail, starset, hollywood undead, and even black veil brides or all time low--unless maybe you wanna listen to things like chillstep, melodic dubstep, and electronic which is valid too

And despite listening to both, he also has spare room in his music taste for things like a fair amount of neffex and random songs from either troye sivan or older get scared songs

You might find him roaming the halls too, if he for some odd reason isn’t tucked away on the rooftop or something

Nonetheless, always has headphones in, with his music playing quietly

Never really pays attention to the school uniform dress code, so you’ll find him in something like…

Either hella casual or a bit more on the edgy side

Maybe something like a dark but faded baggy blood red zip-up hoodie or red and black flannel over some sort of band or general fandom t-shirt or something paired with plain black skinny jeans and converse

Or maybe you’ll find him in something along the lines of...

Maybe something like a slightly oversized seemingly almost pastel galaxy-colored sort of hoodie with a strip of simple black and white checkering down the sides of the sleeves paired with ripped light or dark grey skinny jeans and heeled gothic boots

No matter what though--he’s typically wearing something with long sleeves just to wear one as a sweaterpaw and roll the other one up to his elbow

Almost always has accessories of some sort like a simple and delicate choker or super pretty but dangling celestial earrings or even a bit of chaining for his jeans

Sometimes he puts on a teeny tiny bit of eye-liner on because why not

There are times where the teachers try to say something about his apparel but he just can never find it in him to care and listen

But since it’s not too big of a deal in general, he hardly ever gets in actual trouble over it

Has gotten into a few fights before due to things like standing up for the few people he associates with when they’re being picked on and whatnot 

But this is where you come in

He’s had his eye on you for a while

You’re not really someone who entirely fits what’s expected of you--at school at least

If that makes sense??

Like, you’re kinda just the artsy-fartsy day-dreamy wallflower that not many people really pay attention to and you’re always doodling/sketching or writing in your extra notebook that you take everywhere 

And you can be found most of the time listening to music through one earbud while attending class and things like that

What’s cool though is that you actually share almost the exact same music tastes as precious mochi boii

The teacher’s aren’t thrilled at your lack of undivided attention in class but like

It’s whatever since you still make insanely good grades in most of your courses

Overall though, you’re quiet too--at least when you’re in school unless you’re chilling with you friends at lunch or after school

You’re pretty smart, and generally sweet—when you aren’t riled up

Someone was picking on your friend, and you stepped in to try and get them to leave your friend alone

But as soon as the person went to lay a hand on you for intervening, Jisung was already there to take care of it

Literally came out of nowhere, but you didn’t question it

To be fair though he happened to be roaming the halls for once and saw what was going on

Anyways—from then on out

He’s just tagged alongside you and your friend through the halls in between classes

And again, you don’t question it

You just sometimes make small talk with him

Like saying how the day went for both of you

Or maybe if something new happened at home

You learn some of the little things

Like how he doesn’t like cockroaches and how his favorite colors are green and black

Your friend gets along with him just fine too

Every few days actually, you all hang out after school for a few hours or so

Y’all just kinda vibe and walk around town or something and maybe talk either a little or a lot there’s just no in between

At some point, he even starts showing up to class more often

You actually share all of your core classes

Granted, even though he shows up, he falls asleep most of the time

He just somehow still manages to keep pretty good grades though

But he particularly struggles a little bit with science

His sleeping through class doesn’t help with this

But the notes you take for him do

It would be a few months before you turn out to really develop feelings for him

His feelings were there from the start of the year before and one-sided since he just kept to himself

It’s just one day that you’re running late to school for the first time in a while

Late enough to where you’ve missed first period and only have a little over half of second period left

But to be fair you just didn’t go to bed until like 4 or 5 in the morning because you were hyperfixated on sketching a few things and actually inking and coloring them in

And thus you slept through your alarms and then had to rush with chugging your coffee and slipping into your uniform and just haul ass to school

You find yourself pacing the halls, but mainly keeping to the wing that your third period is in

But passing an empty room, you see through the cracked door that Jisung’s there

He’s there and dancing

To what?? You dunno

But you’re gonna guess it’s to something along the lines of general electronic because even though there’s no music audible to you, you see that he’s got earbuds in as per usual

You’re surprised since you’ve never seen him dance but like

Here it is now and you watch him, thinking that despite not knowing what he’s listening to, he’s really good at it nonetheless

After a solid few minutes, he stops and pulls out his earbuds, turning to the door

And he sees you

He kinda just stands there for a sec

Just kinda shocked since no one’s really like, crept up on him and was able to do so without him knowing before

But then he greets you with a small smile and a wave, moving to exit the room and walk with you to find your friend and talk as you walk in between classes

Before you make it to third period though, you casually compliment his dancing from earlier and miss how his cheeks flare red

Like, how does one handle one of their favorite people taking the time to compliment them on one of their favorite things to do?????

With a simple thanks and a blushy smile

That’s the way he does

But with turning his head to make sure you miss his blush, of course

The day continues as per usual

And so does a few months more into the school year, actually

Yes, you consider the days that he shows up to school with messy and vibrant blue hues in his hair as usual when it happens

You actually love the sight of the color on him

Because it just makes him look even cuter somehow--if that’s possible??

It’s how the habit of ruffling his hair suddenly pops up

Like, it was kind of a thing beforehand since his hair is fluffy

But now it’s even more of a thing since his hair is blue

Y’know?? lmao

It’s only towards the end of the school year that he decides to try to ask you out

Spending so much time with you, he finally had the opportunity to get to know you and like, feel as if he had great reasons to list on why he liked you so much

How you always smile whenever you see him and how it always lights up his day and makes his heart do all kinds of flips in his ribcage

How nice your voice sounds to him and how cute he thinks your laugh is

How he finds you to be both pretty and cute

Heheh--he thinks you’re “pretty cute”!! *ba-dum-tss!!*

Sorry, just had to say it like that lmao

He also thinks that you’re pretty funny at times

And that it’s super duper cool that you’re so smart and know random fun facts and have the ability to do crafts so well

All that good stuff

The list goes on though, just know that, okay?? lmao

Anyways—onwards to how this bean asks you out

It’s honestly super casual and simple

Just during a hangout after school

Walking around a nearby park

The stereotypical, “Will you go out with me??”

But what makes it so cute is that he’s struggling to even start to say it

And he stutters a bit

Literally takes him a solid minute to ask

Your friend who’s with you both is now slinking off to give you two some time alone

You’re pretty grateful for that but at the same time ready to thwack them upside the head for how they’re barely containing their laughter at Jisung’s struggle to speak

But it’s all aight when they make their way to elsewhere

As soon as the words have fell from his tongue though

You’re smiling to yourself for a few moments to just bask in the joy that sparked through your system at this, your heart just screaming for you to say yes

So you do

And you don’t think his smile’s ever been so bright

You’re shocked when he suddenly picks you up in a hug and twirls you around with an ecstatic laugh

But anyways

Dates with him are very simplistic

Random as well

Like, he’ll show up in the middle of the night and climb through your window to just chill

Just clad in something like a plain hoodie and sweatpants

Sometimes you’ll go out to eat fast food

Or maybe a small corner café to just simply vibe and chug caffeine

You sometimes watch him play games or vice-versa

Maybe you guys even chill on a rooftop and share earbuds to vibe while staring up at the sky in a verbal silence

Y’know

Sweet little clichés

But you love it all

When dates end, it’s always him walking you home if you’re not already chillin’ there in your room

Always gives you a forehead kiss or something before he leaves

Honestly, even your parents have come to know him as a regular visit at your house

But they don’t mind

At least, not too much since he’s made a very good impression on them

As the relationship progresses, he’s bold enough to give you fleeting pecks in public alongside holding your hand or something along those lines

But staying in to just cuddle and look at memes has become a big thing now as well

You two take turns being big spoon lmao

He loves laying his head in his lap and how you always comb your fingers through his hair during those times

And

There’s also sometimes munching on mochi together, actually

Melon mochi, specifically

But also

Since he’s babie

You like to boop his nose

And sometimes bro

He just scrunches in response with a shy little smile and giggle

And it’s so precious that you almost cry lmao

Plus

He swears up and down at some point that he loves you

But to himself of course

Until one day the words spill a year later

And you return them, making him the happiest boi on the face of the planet

Oh god, he’s such a soft bean for you

Or in general, but specifically for you

Just please love and protect this baby lmao

[illegiblewords]

Notes under the cut!

Having made a lady WoL collection, I decided to do a dude one too. As before I have more, but not all are leveled and I have some I’m more attached to than others.

I do want to push for more range honestly--I’m not sure how I wound up with three midlander dudes and a highlander lol. I should really follow through with a male au ra, hrothgar, and lalafell. I did an odd green/brown hair hybrid that I suppose could qualify for brunette, but otherwise my tendencies toward black and blonde hair came through real strong. Mysteriously absent are redheads. I may also want to experiment more with color palettes and cultural influences a bit.

For the guys, there are spots where I played into job expectations and spots where I defied them. I wanted to try designing some characters in ways I hadn’t seen so much in-game, as well as designing characters who would immediately evoke a specific tone! There are also definitely jobs where I deliberately tried to show some traditional masculinity where it’s less expected, which was fun.

Cenric/Black Mage Midlander: People have criticized hyurs before by calling them “too vanilla”, since they’re the human stand-ins. I figure though, they’re hyurs. Hyurs are imaginary and don’t need to follow real world biology. Play with color palettes and features so you get a more definite fantasy look if you want to. With Cenric, I specifically tried to go super dark and de-saturated to evoke a walking silhouette (sort of like drow) and gave him the palest eyes possible with strategic face paint so they’d look like they glow. This was all in the name of making a character who evoked Final Fantasy’s classic black mage, just going in a more adult and extra spooky-goth direction.

Maerec/Dark Knight Midlander: Maerec, I designed specifically to both be a step off of the default midlander from commercials and to embody the Dark Knight questline as best I could. Giving him some edge visually while still feeling reasonably natural was fun to balance! To this end, I knew dark eyes would be important to helping the black hair fit in. Going with a very dark red I figure it almost seems like he could have brown eyes until you look closely. Making him feel very Ishgardian was also fun, with the horned helmet and Fray-esque glamour. I also designed him to both parallel and contrast with Lahabrea given their stories are intertwined. If there’s scattered angel/demon imagery between them that works even more.

Sublime Tiger/Samurai Hellsguard: I know that my natural inclinations go toward bishonens lmao, so figuring out the angle I wanted to work with the SUPER BEEFY male roegadyns was wild! One thing that gave me inspiration at the time was realizing that, with their black noses, Hellsguard roegadyns can 100% evoke big cats--among other animals. I usually prefer designing Sea Wolves for lacking the black noses because my impulse is for it either to be visually unified with the rest of the face/body or go without--so I often feel a bit more limited with what kind of designs I’ll do for Hellsguard. With Sublime Tiger, originally he had both orange and black striped hair (one of the styles available works it) as well as the black face paint evoking tiger stripes. I found the hair more limiting with helms though so made it pure black instead. Deciding what glamour would look good and play well with proportions was also a process--wanted him to feel like he’s from Othard since there is a big Hellsguard population there, so samurai made some sense to me in building that. After experimenting though, I wound up going with a look that took a bit of inspiration from One Thousand And One Nights. I have additional ideas for what I might try going forward though.

J’mor/Red Mage Miqo’te: This was a combination of a lot of ideas! One was wanting to embrace the physicality of red mage as a job, and explore it as a worldly kind of caster who works well with ease of movement and does a lot of darting around the battlefield. Mages in-general are often seen as kind of ivory tower sorts, and by shedding the usual frills I wanted to show that it’s possible to have a caster’s knowledge while being very connected to the world at large. Also give a strong sense of SWASHBUCKLER where the magic kind of slaps you in the face with additional power. I also noticed I hadn’t seen as many black male miqo’te in-general, along with fandom stereotypes about catboys as soft. So I decided to design J’mor with that in mind--playing him as a very shonen kind of hero while the beard brings an extra bit of hardness to his features.

Asah’zi/White Mage Miqo’te: Asah’zi is another case where I wanted to challenge the idea of male miqo’te as soft, and I added to that challenge by making him a white mage when that is often filled by lady characters. I was also interested, lore-wise, in the tension between Keeper of the Moon tribes and Gridania (where white magic has very strong ties). That Keepers of the Moon are also very matriarchal gave added interest for me making a more rough and traditionally masculine-feeling white mage sort, especially since Keepers often build a lot of their lives around hunting through the Twelveswood. I also wanted to bring some sense of druid into white mage as a job, given the nature ties. With Asah’zi, using skydruid skins, claws, a wooden cane, and on all contributed toward the vibe I wanted to build for him. Using emotes that show off his fangs helps bring a bit of cockiness to him too, which is fun. And stealing Thancred’s hair lets him have a bit of a roguish vibe lol.

Amir/Dancer Highlander: Like I said, I tend to go for bishonen-sorts in designs a lot. HOWEVER! I do love this highlander face type specifically a ton, and think guy highlander proportions are well-balanced overall while being beefy. I knew for a while that I had a specific design I liked a lot for male highlander with Amir, and I definitely wanted to do something with him. The choice to make him a dancer specifically came from a conversation I saw just after the job’s release. An IRL male hip hop dancer mentioned feeling a bit bummed out because a lot of the animations felt like they played more to softness/grace and traditional femininity, and he’d been hoping for the option of a little edge with battle dancing because that’s what he does. Some players said he should just play monk, others were kind of mean to him and acted like what he wanted was somehow shitty. I felt for the dude to be honest since he was coming from a place of feeling frustrated by stereotyping, so I decided to look at the animations and see how much they could be integrated into a design that felt more traditionally masculine. I saw a lot of bright greens (especially with the peacock feathers) so I tried to unify that with a green glamour. The mask reminds me of rave aesthetics a bit, and I’ve seen dudes wear shorts similar to the Nezha ones before. I’m a big fan of the idea that fashion can be a way to create what you want tonally, and I tried to explore that in this design.

Navarre/Paladin Midlander: At some point it hit me that I have been avoiding traditional knight-in-shining-armor looks like the plagues in my tanks lol. This made me think a fair bit. What struck me was that if the only thing a glamour has to say for itself is “this is a knight”, that doesn’t feel so interesting to me. If it’s supposed to be a knight in shining armor specifically though, bringing an almost angelic, elemental feeling to the look is something I’m 500% there for. And weirdly, people don’t seem to do this as much. I’m less used to paladins compared to dark knights, warriors, or even gunbreakers--and since paladins are so associated with that holy knight-vibe I figured it made sense to go that direction. While I was looking into glamours, one thing I found was that a lot of them dyed with unchanging patches of black, had edgy red woven in, or otherwise came across as having been designed with dark knight or warrior in-mind. I decided part of what I’d do in this instance was really make a Warrior of Light who immediately screamed “yes I am the Warrior of Light” when you looked at him, and took inspiration from Cecil Harvey from Final Fantasy IV toward that end too. Every piece in this glamour was carefully picked not just for whether it worked as a silhouette, but also how it would dye.

Cesaire/Dragoon Elezen: Cesaire has gone through a lot of design phases. Initially he was a red elezen, because it’s a direction I don’t see used a lot but has a very doable fantasy feel I think is fun. Then he was a champagne/cream color all over as inspired by a particular breed of horses. Now, having put a lot of thought in, he is deep gold with blue eyes. The underlying concept for him was that I wanted to make a golden dragoon who looks like he should be terribly heroic, but then in practice he’s a kind of blood knight WoL who is about as close to Zenos as a Warrior can get without going outright evil. I played into gold and more general adventuring gear for the reason that I think Cesaire has absolutely left Ishgard behind him, and strongly prefers to be someone defined by what they do rather than where they’re from. Given elezens’ wide shoulders I also had to think about what combinations would work for balancing proportions, and I wanted Cesaire to visually hold his own visual niche within my overall Famfrit lineup so a lot was chosen with that in mind.

[envish]

hey boy, you make me want to write a song

Also available on ao3

-

It’s been literally six years since I posted a fanfic, and I've always wanted to be writer so we might as well START.

DISCLAIMER!!: The song that Derek “writes” in his head is actually a Thomas Rhett song that I modified the pronouns on bc I was too lazy to write an original song plz don’t hate me or sue me Mr. Rhett. In this AU Thomas Rhett doesn’t exist lmao.

-

He doesn’t want to be here. After an eight hour work day at the pool Derek is tired, still grimy even after a hasty shower, and just wants to sleep until he has to work again tomorrow. But, after bailing on their previous outing, his friends had successfully guilted him into coming out to what looks like an impromptu bonfire beach party.

He scoops up his grocery bag (case of cider, a three-quarters full bottle of vodka, a bag of chips), and pumps himself up for at least a few hours of social interaction before exiting his car. 

“Derek!” Shielding his eyes against the glare of the setting sun, just starting to dip below the lake’s horizon, Derek spots Erica waving frantically at him. He heads in the direction of the fire and scattered blankets, sand already between his toes and under his heels. “You came!” As soon as he’s within distance, Erica flings her arms around him.

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolls his eyes good naturally, but hugs her back. His friends are pushy in just the right ways, and Derek loves them all fiercely. “Don’t chirp me about it or I’m leaving.”

“I’ll hug your legs if you try,” she threatens. “Try me, loser.”

Isaac comes up behind him, ducking under Erica’s reaching arms to take the bag from Derek. “Hey Der, nice to see you - Erica, watch it - lemme put these in the cooler.” After Erica has finished thoroughly annoying him, Derek extricates himself, grinning despite himself, and wanders over to where Boyd is lounging on a frayed serape blanket

“Hey man.” Boyd presses a wet can into his hand. “Still alive, I see.”

“Despite Erica’s attempts at smothering me.” He pops the can open, chugging the cheap, bitter beer. He grimaces, wishing he had had the forethought to refrigerate his cider beforehand.

“You love me.” Erica plops down into Boyd’s laugh and he wraps one arm around her waist while keeping his beer from spilling. He blows a raspberry into the back of her neck and she giggles, squirming away from him.

His chest swells with a bloom of affection as he watches the two of them tussel, expertly moving his beer around their flailing limbs. He takes another sip of beer and holds back a gag. “Ugh. Isaac, can you pass me a cider? You can have the rest of my beer.”

Isaac snorts. “Sure, man. The cider’s still room temperature though.”

“Anything is better than this. I’m literally begging you.”

Isaac snickers, but fetches a can out of the cooler. “Here, you big baby.” The cider is barely anything colder than when he brought it from home, but at least he won’t gag after every sip. Beer is nasty and no one will ever convince him otherwise. “Scott just texted me. They’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”

 Derek is well into his second can of cider, loose limbed enough that he is slumped comfortably into Boyd’s side, when Scott and the others show up in a beat-up blue jeep and an old red convertible. They spill out, laughing and waving at them from the parking lot. It’s almost too dark to distinguish their figures from the darkness of the night settling around them.

As they approach, Derek recognizes almost everyone in the group, except for one broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped lanky boy with amber eyes, a ski-tipped nose, and a smattering of beauty marks. Although there is something vaguely familiar about his eyes, Derek is sure he hasn’t met him before. He would have remembered.

Feeling suddenly too warm and too big for his skin, Derek stumbles to his feet. It’s nearing the end of August, so the air is still heavy and thick as it settles around him. Derek rolls his shoulders, the fabric sticking slightly to his back.

The group of them finally reach the bonfire, and Derek waits for the introductions, stupidly. They’re a bunch of teenagers and twenty-somethings - no one does introductions, you either know someone or you fumble your way into knowing someone. The amber-eyed boy meets his gaze for a short moment before his eyes skitter away. Derek swallows, hard.

“-erek. Derek?” His head snaps up guiltily. Kira is wiggling her fingers in front of his face.

“Yes? Sorry, I zoned out for a second.” He has to physically stop his head from turning to follow the figure walking at the peripheral of his vision. 

Kira narrows her eyes, considering. “Hm. Distracted by something?”

He dangles his can of cider in front of her. “I am drunk ma’am.” He tilts the can up, frowning when nothing comes out. “And I am out of alcohol. Please excuse me.” He attempts to bow, and judging from her giggle, looks ridiculous for it. 

Also, the boy is by the cooler and Derek desperately needs to know his name. He tosses his can into the garbage bag, pinned into the sand with several large rocks, and heads toward the cooler. Scott is there, one tanned arm slung around the boy as they stand directly in his way. Derek would be annoyed if he wasn’t so smitten. 

“Hey.” Does his voice sound normal? Oh, God, he hopes he sounds cool. “Uh, could I get in there -?” He gestures to the two of them, hoping for the boy to slip in his name.

“Oh!” The amber-eyed boy jumps a little, shuffling away from Scott guiltily. “Sorry about that!”

Derek flashes a smile. “No worries.” He waits for a few beats, then turns to rifle through the mess of half melted ice. When he turns around with a wet can in his hand, the amber-eyed boy is digging his elbow into Scott’s stomach.

“Derek, this is Stiles!” Scott exclaims, suddenly and a bit too loudly. The other boy, Stiles, elbows him again, but turns to face Derek. “Uh, I realize you probably hadn’t met him. And, uh. Yeah.”

Pulse racing, Derek nods at Stiles in a hopefully-cool way. “Cool. Yeah, I don’t think we’ve met before? I’m Derek.”

Stiles smiles, a bit shyly. “I’m just here for the summer. Scott and I have been friends forever so he’s showing me around.” His fingers, wrapped around the neck of a brown bottle, are distracting. 

“Oh?” He shuffles closer, belatedly realizing that Scott is heading away from the two of them. “Where are you from?”

“Not far from here - I live over in the next county, but I lived here in Beacon Hills until I was, uh, ten. And then we moved.” He scratches the back of his neck, his face tight with what looks like discomfort. “But Scott and I stayed really good friends.”

Derek has a sudden, vivid flashback of a thin, waif-like child wearing a hoodie down to his knees with a bandaid across the bridge of his nose. Sitting in a hospital waiting room across from him. “I -  I think I remember you?” Stiles’ eyes widen. “Did you have a Mets sweatshirt when you were a kid?”

“I didn’t think you’d remember me,” Stiles says quietly.

Dirty white sneakers, knobby knees, a packet of - “- Reese cups?” When Stiles smiles, his eyes crinkle. “I hadn’t thought about it in years. I think I forgot about it because - well.” Derek cuts himself off before he can put a complete damper on the conversation. “I just forgot, I guess.”

Stiles smiles, a little bit sadly and a lot in understanding. “You seemed so cool to ten year old me. I think you had a walkman and I was so jealous of you.”

Derek snorts, grasping at the new conversation thread in relief. “I was probably listening to Green Day or something equally ‘edgy’.”

“Definitely cooler than me, then.”

They’re interrupted by someone yelling “Derek!” He sighs, turning to see who’s yelling at him this time. It’s Isaac, brandishing - his guitar? Derek had left it in the backseat of his car, but clearly he had forgotten to lock it. “Come play some tunes, man!” Everyone by the fire turns to look at him, expectant.

Stiles makes a noise beside him. “You can play guitar?” Stiles asks. Then, under his breath, “of course you do.”

Derek shrugs, the back of his neck prickling with the sudden attention. “I’m alright, I guess. You coming?” He jerks his head over to the fire and Stiles nods frantically.

“Abso-lutely.”

He settles once he’s sitting down with the guitar under his hands, fingers lazily sweeping over the strings as he tunes the old thing. The guitar is old, gifted to him by his mother, but it’s well-made and will last Derek many, many more years.

“Any requests?” Derek asks, strumming a few chords. He starts to play Wonderwall with a shit-eating grin, Isaac flips him off, and Boyd gets up and starts dramatically walking away from the fire.

Kira snickers and offers “Van Morrison?”

“Brown-eyed girl it is,” he confirms, strumming a G chord, and then they’re in it. Derek might hate being the center of attention, but it’s different when he’s playing like this. With the flow of music under his fingertips, the singing voices cresting on either side of him, he feels a part of something. He’d never ever perform, but this? This warmth, sitting in a circle of familiar and not-yet-familiar faces, all of them suspended in this moment, together? He could do this forever.

Derek cycles through the usual fireside songs - Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, John Denver, Eagles, Tracy Chapman, Howie Day, Gavin DeGraw. Somewhere in the midst of it all, Derek catches Stiles’ gaze across the flames, his eyes luminous with the reflection of fire in them, and very nearly forgets to keep playing. And then Derek has to fight against the urge to start strumming an entirely different song, one about whiskey and smoke and stars and falling to his knees.

His fingers fumble on the fret and he hastily looks away, focusing on something safe - the fire, which reminds him of how it had looked reflected in Stiles’ eyes, so he looks at the sand instead. Dark blue in the shadow of the night sky, except for where the fire cuts across it in swaths of glowing orange.

After what feels like hours of playing, the energy of the circle has dipped and levelled out to something mellow and relaxed. Derek’s playing has mostly become background music to a number of side conversations, and at least one makeout session, so he starts strumming Closing Time before he puts his guitar away.

Someone snickers from beside him; Stiles has moved from across the fire to beside him. He was concentrating so hard on not staring at him that he somehow missed Stiles moving from his spot. “Very subtle,” Stiles says.

Derek grins over at him. Stiles is staring at his fretboard, his lashes dark against his cheek. “I’m glad someone appreciates my very subtle song choices.” Derek carefully packs his guitar up, considers leaving it on one of the unoccupied blankets, but decides to keep it on him. 

The night is so clear that the moon’s path is reflected on the rippling surface of the lake. The sky is dripping in stars and Derek desperately wants to walk along the shore of this moonlit lake, wants to hold Stiles hand while he does it because he is, apparently, the world’s sappiest twenty year old guy.

“You want to go for a walk?” Stiles asks. He’s already slipping out of his flip flops, chucking them carelessly over to the side, so he misses Derek’s (probably besotted) look in his direction.

“You read my mind.” Derek digs his toes past the warm sand into the cooler layer underneath. Stiles whoops and races for the shoreline, splashing into ankle-deep water. He is bathed in silver, splashing liquid moonlight everywhere. He looks like some kind of carefree, fae-like god, frolicking along the edges of a sea of stars.

Derek needs to stop writing song lyrics in his head and actually talk to the boy.

Guitar in tow, Derek follows suit and wades into the cold water. “Shit,” he swears, darting back out of the water. “It’s fucking freezing.” Stiles laughs at him as he sticks one toe back in the water.

“Didn’t you grow up here? Shouldn’t you be used to this?”

“I am a warm-blooded creature, thank you very much.” Derek gestures down the stretch of empty beach. “C’mon, I want to show you something.”

“Ooh, are you leading me to a secret hideout?” Stiles asks, excitedly.

“Well - no. But, it’s a close second.” This answer does nothing to deter Stiles’ enthusiasm as they splash along the quiet shore. After a few minutes, they come across Derek’s something - a small, hidden rocky cove out of sight of the rest of the beach. Most of the boulders here are wide and flat, perfect for lounging or sitting on. Derek leads them to a collection of rocks a little ways down, carefully setting his guitar case down and hopping up onto the rock next to it.

“Wow,” Stiles breathes, settling down next to him. “This is gorgeous, Derek.”

Derek is a cliche because he very nearly sighs out “yes,” in response while blatantly staring at Stiles. Instead, he forces himself to look at the scenery, which pales in comparison to the way the moonlight turns Stiles’ skin luminous and otherworldly. His skin is like the inverse of the sky stretched out above them; a pale, glowing canvas pricked with dark constellations.

“What song is that? I haven’t heard it before.”

Derek pauses mid-hum; he hadn’t realized he was humming anything. And then he realizes he’s humming the song that ‘s been writing itself in his head ever since he laid eyes on Stiles. Shit. “It’s original.”

Stiles raises his brows in appreciation. “You a songwriter as well?”

Derek shrugs, but can’t help the pleased grin that sneaks out. “I guess. It’s kinda unavoidable for me. Sometimes I just see someone - something, I mean - and I start mentally writing lyrics.”

Stiles hums, leaning back onto his hands. His legs, constant pendulums, keep shifting so that their knees knock together. Stiles pauses, letting his leg rest against Derek’s. “Will you sing me one?”

His guitar is in his lap before he’s even said the word “yes” out loud. He places his fingers against the fretboard, imagines places his fingers the same way against a set of ribs, a white throat, and begins to sing. He keeps his voice as low as possible, quiet and husky in the fragile not-quite-silence on this secluded strip of beach,

Hey boy, you make me wanna write a song

Sit you down, sing it to you all night long

I've had a melody in my head since you walked in here and knocked me dead

Yeah boy, you make me wanna write a song

And it goes like ooh, what I wouldn't do

To write my name on your heart, get you wrapped in my arms baby all around you

And it goes like hey, boy I'm blown away

Yeah it starts with a smile and it ends with an all night long slow kiss

Yeah it goes like this

Stiles’ eyes have gone a dark, molten amber; either due to being away from the campfire or something else, Derek doesn’t know. His hands are remarkably steady as he plays, despite his heart beating so hard it feels like it’s trying to leap out of his chest, directly into Stiles’ hands. Stiles has nice hands - long-fingered and strong-boned - and Derek thinks tt wouldn’t be so bad, probably, if that were to happen.

His thigh is burning through denim where Stiles is pressed close, no longer subtly brushing their knees together. When he’s finished strumming the last notes of the song, letting them fade into the sound of rolling waves, he decides it’s now or never. Gently setting the guitar aside, Derek leans forward to almost-whisper into Stiles’ ear.

“Hey, Stiles,” Derek whispers.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you now?”

Stiles’ scrunches his nose up into a shy smile and he nods, swaying toward Derek.

Derek catches him behind the neck, thumb in front of one blushing ear, and rushes to meet him halfway in a bruising kiss. He’s just drunk enough that he feels loose and floaty, but not clumsy and sloppy. He’s clear-headed enough to feel the nerves and butterflies inside him roll into a low buzz of excitement as he leans into the kiss.

Stiles runs his tongue over Derek’s bottom lip, one hand sliding up into Derek’s hair and the other is warm on Derek’s thigh. He tugs gently, pulling Derek closer, and he moves into it. Kissing Stiles is like the waves sliding up on the shore, tugged by the moon’s gravity, except Derek is the water and Stiles is his moon.

When they separate to breathe and calm their racing hearts down, Derek keeps Stiles close with an arm settled around his waist. He looks breathtaking in the moonlight, with his hair unruly and his lips reddened, so Derek tells him. Stiles flushes, squirming a little, but beams at him. “Derek Hale, are you a romantic?” he teases.

“Only around you,” Derek replies honestly.

“Oh, you’re so unfair.” Stiles ducks his head down so blow a raspberry against Dereks’ throat in apparent retaliation. He kisses the same spot right after and Derek shivers.

“What?” Derek’s lost the thread of the conversation somehow.

“S’not fair that you’re hot and romantic and ernest about it,” Stiles explains. “You’re going to kill me.”

Oh. Derek smiles at him helplessly, shrugging his shoulders. He can’t think of anything funny to say back; his mind is writing lyrics again and he can’t focus on anything else. But before he let’s it run rampant, he has something very important to ask Stiles. He takes Stiles hand in his.

“Stiles, will you go out with me?”

That seems to startle a laugh out of Stiles, who appeases Derek’s offended look immediately. “Wait, wait, I’m not laughing at you, I just. You had your tongue down my throat five minutes ago and now you’re asking me out like a gentleman.”

“Well, I wanted to be clear that I, y’know, like you. Like in a date-you way not just in a this”, Derek motions between them, “way.” He sighs, his shoulders slumping a bit. He always messes things up somehow. “Nevermind, it’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not!” Stiles holds their clasped hands up to his chest, speaking fiercely. “It’s really sweet, Derek. No one’s ever said that to me before, I was just caught off guard.” Any trace of the earlier teasing is gone, replaced by a very serious looking Stiles. “That was - you’re something else, Derek Hale. I mean that in the best way possible.”

“Oh.” Derek doesn’t know what else to do, so he just sits there while his cheeks heat up.

“And yes, by the way. I would love to go on a date with you.” Stiles smiles at him so softly that Derek wants to sing about sunlight and spring buds and early mornings. He doesn’t realize he’s started humming again, until Stiles asks him if he’s writing another song in his head. 

“Dammit,” he swears. “I can’t seem to help myself around you.”

Stiles looks impossibly fond and just kisses the corner of his mouth, asking, “will you play me another song?”

And Derek says, “always,” and he means it.

[artificialqueens]

A Long December (Shalaska) - jazz

Summary: A story about how Sharon and Alaska (probably) met, inspired by this old quote from Alaska:

“We met almost four years ago. We were both drag queens and knew each other from Myspace. We’d comment on each other’s pictures and check each other out that way, but it wasn’t until I came back [to Pittsburgh] from L.A. to visit for Christmas that I met him out of drag. I was just like, “This person is so fun and so funny… and he has a really nice ass.” That was it. So I went back to L.A. to close up all my affairs and I moved into his house in Pittsburgh and never left.”

A/N: So, this is pretty canon. Getting back to my roots with 4.k words of some non-AU Shalaska! Many thanks to Rosie for reassuring me that I did their meeting story justice <3

The thing Alaska loved most about the holidays was the Christmas lights.

He loved the sheer abundance of them: loved them when they sparkled, loved how they illuminated his neighbors’ front yards, loved even the ones that were so hideously ugly they hurt his eyeballs.

It reminded him of home, of dragging the worn cardboard box up from the basement as a child and attempting for hours to untangle the mess of rainbow string lights that’d been collecting dust for nearly a year. He’d cry when one of the little bulbs went out, as if there weren’t hundreds of other twinkling bulbs to make up for it.

He used to drive around aimlessly for hours just to look at them, not that there was much else to do in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Los Angeles winters – less glittery, distinctly lonelier, and a hell of a lot more chintzy – just didn’t have the same appeal. So, with Christmas quickly approaching, Alaska packed his bags and hopped on a connecting flight back home to Erie, away from the blown auditions and the callbacks that never came, the late rent checks and the overpriced headshots that he couldn’t reallyafford.

But Alaska wasn’t about to worry about any of that tonight. Tonight, he’d made the short two-hour drive from Erie to Pittsburgh. He had some old friends that lived in the city, and they’d gotten him an invite to a house party that a certain someone was rumored to attend.

Alaska smiled in spite of himself. Sharon Needles.

He kept a mental catalogue of all the things he knew about Sharon so far.

He did drag, first of all, something that he and Sharon had bonded over almost instantly. Sharon’s drag was edgy and hideous and horrifying and beautiful, and Alaska was in awe of it. He thought that Sharon might be the smartest person he knew, probably.

He was from middle-of-nowhere, meth-addled Iowa. Alaska had never been to the Midwest, but he’d heard that there was a lot of corn there. Alaska shook his head. Yeah, no, don’t talk about corn tonight, he chided himself.

Besides, Sharon was a total Pittsburgher now, adopting the city’s strange dialect and practically bleeding its colors, black and gold. It suited him well, Alaska thought.

He knew that Sharon had blue eyes – sky blue, he could make out from his profile photos and their select Skype conversations – and a tattoo of Tammy Faye Baker on his upper arm, and that he was perfect, potentially.

Alaska knew better than to get his hopes up, though. Sharon might not even be interested. They’d been exchanging messages online for a few weeks now, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Alaska cringed at the possibility.

It meant something on his end, at least.

Alaska trudged on down the sidewalk, a thin layer of packed snow crunching satisfyingly underneath his feet. He was getting ahead of himself. First, he’d have to show up to the party – a half hour late, obviously, so he didn’t seem over-eager. He’d have a drink – or two or three – to calm his nerves a bit.

Then, he’d ask around for Sharon, all buzzed and aloof, and they’d embrace, and it’d be magical. Or something like that.

He clutched onto the brown-paper-bagged bottle of whiskey he’d decided to buy last-minute.  Bringing a gift felt like the polite thing to do, but now he just felt clumsy and awkward as he approached the small house, alcohol in one hand and a dumb Santa hat in the other.

Alaska wiped his boots on the doormat, mentally preparing himself for the night ahead, before letting himself in.

The place smelled strongly of burnt sugar cookies and hard liquor, and he didn’t recognize many faces. Someone was singing along to a Mariah Carey cover in the other room, and Alaska found himself wishing he were already a little tipsy.

He made his way through the throngs of guests, all clad in varying shades of red and green, and tossed his winter jacket onto a nearby armchair. His heart sank at the possibility that maybe Sharon had decided to skip the party altogether.

Alaska was about to question why Sharon’s attendance even mattered to him at all when he spotted him from across the room, in an oversized Christmas sweater that had definitely seen better days, cigarette burns garnishing the sleeves he’d cuffed twice around his wrists.

Suddenly, Alaska couldn’t have cared less about his surroundings.

His chest expanded as Sharon’s eyes locked with his own, an expression of pleasant surprise washing over his features, before striding over to Alaska purposefully. Alaska watched him approach in slow motion, his vision tunneling in to focus only on Sharon.

“For me? You shouldn’t have, Alaska.” Sharon smiled, his dimple on full display, as he grabbed the bottle of whiskey from Alaska’s hand and took an emphatic swig.

Alaska’s jaw dropped, his breath catching at the way Sharon said his name, how it rolled off his tongue with ease. “I, uh… you’re welcome, I guess?”

It was hardly the reception Alaska had envisioned for their first meeting. He racked his brain for a proper conversation-starter, something that said, I can be super fun and flirty, but also interesting and smart, and I think you’re really great, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he found himself staring at Sharon’s ass, forgetting why he’d cared so much about talking in the first place.

Sharon turned on his heel to walk away then, a signal that, to Alaska, meant their interaction was over. He frowned, until Sharon looked back and extended his free hand.

“You coming, or not?” he asked, lips pursed. “Let’s get you a beverage.”

Alaska placed his hand in Sharon’s without thinking, felt his universe crumbling and rebuilding itself in that instant.

He let Sharon lead him into the kitchen, too-small and dark, bumping his hip awkwardly against the counter in the process. His fingers were tingling and Sharon’s hand was cool against his own and he hoped Sharon wouldn’t let go any time soon.  

“Oh, by the way,” Sharon said flatly, “don’t drink the eggnog.” He made a face over his shoulder.

“Noted,” Alaska laughed.

Sharon disappeared into the refrigerator for a moment, allowing Alaska just enough time to try to compose himself, unsuccessfully. If Sharon backed up a few inches, he’d be pressed right against him, and Alaska felt dizzy at the thought. He hopped up to sit on the counter behind him for something to do, shimmying backwards so that his legs didn’t touch the ground.

“Here.” Sharon turned and handed Alaska a plastic cup half-full of red liquid, eyes wandering over Alaska as he inspected the concoction. “I’m not gonna poison you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“How romantic,” Alaska deadpanned, the corners of his mouth curling upwards.

“I can be.”

Sharon lowered his voice, taking a step closer toward Alaska and parking himself in between his legs. His tone was playful, but Alaska couldn’t be sure – not when he could practically feel Sharon’s body heat radiating off of him in waves, sending the butterflies in his stomach into a frenzy. Alaska brought the cup to his lips in an effort to distract himself.

“So you’re liking Pittsburgh?” Alaska asked abruptly, hating how his first instinct was to make small talk, and how Sharon’s eyes glinted at it, like he thrived on Alaska’s jitters and nervous energy.

“America’s filthiest-kept secret,” Sharon said with a flourish of his hand. “You’re out in L.A., yeah?”

“Yeah, but…” Alaska trailed off. “I dunno, it’s not really working out for me there.”

He was conscious of Sharon’s middle finger tracing the rim of his cup that he held in his lap, his eyes flicking up to meet Alaska’s when he noticed him watching.

“Noted,” Sharon repeated, smiling slightly.

“What?” Alaska drawled, blushing. “What’s that face for?”

“You’re cuter in person, is all.”

Alaska grinned into his drink.

Guests filtered in and out of the kitchen as they chatted, and Alaska hardly noticed any of them, too caught up in how easy it was to talk to Sharon. He told Alaska that he’d been following his drag career out in California for a while now, that Alaska’s style of drag impressed him and reminded him a bit of his own, and when it got too crowded for their liking, Sharon pulled Alaska outside onto the patio that connected to the kitchen.

Sharon lowered himself onto a bench and grabbed a cigarette from his pocket, let it hang from his lips as he brought a lighter to the butt end. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked.

“Oh, no – not at all,” Alaska sputtered.

“Some people don’t like the smell of it,” Sharon said, taking a long, contemplative drag. “But not me.”

Alaska stared at him, watched the smoke leave his lips and dance above his head, forming a carbon monoxide halo around his mop of bleached blonde hair, sticking up in every which direction. His nose was pink from the cold and Alaska wanted to kiss it, just once.

“Addiction’s a funny thing, y’know,” Sharon mused.

Alaska nodded solemnly. He had a feeling he’d agree to just about anything that came out of Sharon’s mouth, if he were being honest.

“What’re you addicted to, Alaska?”

The question hung in the air, cool and heavy.

You, his heart was screaming, threatening to burst right out of his chest. I’m addicted to you.

Alaska gulped down the rest of his drink to avoid Sharon’s intense gaze, felt the liquid travel through his body and warm his limbs almost instantly.  

“Should we head back in soon, see what everyone else is up to?” Alaska tried. “It’s getting kinda cold out here.”

“Sit with me, then.” Sharon patted the cushioned spot next to him on the bench, and Alaska’s pulse quickened. He didn’t know how much longer he could handle being that close to Sharon without doing something dumb and impulsive, breathing in his smell and scanning his face and hearing his voice – not behind a computer screen, but right here, close enough to touch.

And Alaska wanted to touch him, badly.Sharon was so real that it hurt, and Alaska’s bones ached from it.

He thought that, maybe, Sharon was the realest thing he’d ever known in his life. When Sharon looked at him, it was inquisitive and sharp, and Alaska felt fully seen, like Sharon had him all figured out without saying a word. Alaska didn’t know what to do with that, wasn’t used to feeling so exposed.

He gravitated toward Sharon, settling into the space under the arm that he’d draped casually over the top of the bench. They sat there like that, in comfortable silence, for what felt like minutes.

“I like you, Alaska,” Sharon said, matter-of-fact, snubbing his cigarette out on an ashtray. “A lot, actually.”

His boldness caught Alaska off guard, and he half-considered that maybe the nicotine, or the alcohol, or some combination of the two, had damaged Sharon’s better judgment.

“You’re special, I think,” he continued.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Alaska drawled. He hiccupped, likely from chugging the remains of his drink too quickly, and giggled nervously at the possibility that Sharon really meant it.

—–

Over the course of the night, Alaska learned that Sharon was nothing like he’d expected – but somehow, even better than he’d hoped.

He was fun, and he was hilarious, and, when Alaska caught himself staring at him for far too long as Sharon danced to a pop remix of “Last Christmas” on top of an old couch, mouthing all the words at Alaska like he was singing it just for him, Alaska knew he needed a moment to collect his racing thoughts.

He shot Sharon an apologetic smile as he ducked away and disappeared into the sea of partygoers, darting toward the staircase in hopes that it might be a little quieter upstairs, that he could freshen up and maybe get it together.

He wandered into the room at the end of the carpeted hallway, expecting a bathroom but instead finding a spare bedroom. He sighed, dragging his hands over his face. Alaska was in too deep, he could feel it, didn’t know whether he wanted to be sick or if he wanted to run straight into Sharon’s arms.

It’s just a crush, Alaska told himself, unconvincingly. He pictured the way Sharon’s lips had closed around his bottle of whiskey, how delicate his hands had looked as he balanced a cigarette between his fingers, and wondered how those same lips and hands might feel running over his own body tonight, and tomorrow, and maybe the next day after that.

“What, I didn’t scare you away down there, did I?” Sharon asked.

Alaska jumped, spinning around at hearing Sharon’s voice from behind him. He looked almost sheepish, arms hanging at his sides, and Alaska could see his veins from where he’d pushed up his sleeves.

“Oh, no, this is just… a lot,” Alaska tried, licking his lips absentmindedly. “It’s a lot.”

Somehow, Sharon seemed to understand. He closed the door, traveled the rest of the distance between them and took Alaska’s hands in his own. “Look at me,” he said.

Alaska hesitantly locked eyes with him, fully aware of how close they were standing now, how alone they were, and his heartbeat thudded in his ears.

Sharon reached up and tucked a finger underneath Alaska’s chin, made sure he couldn’t look away. “You feel this, too, right?” Sharon asked, quietly.

Alaska wasn’t breathing. He thought he gave a small nod, but his knees were shaking and he knew that if he leaned in, right now, he’d be done.

Luckily for him, Sharon was the first to fall.

He shoved Alaska against the dresser, hands cradling his face as he kissed him, hard and impatient. Alaska was putty underneath Sharon’s grip, and it took a moment for his brain to catch up with his body.

Sharon was kissing him.

Sharon was kissing him firmly like he’d been starving, and Alaska was his remedy – and maybe he was, as Alaska instinctively wrapped his own hands around Sharon’s thin wrists, willed with his tongue for Sharon to understand that he felt it, too.

It wasn’t long before kissing wasn’t enough. Sharon had a thigh rutted between Alaska’s bowed legs and he pressed down on it greedily. Alaska moved his fingers to coil in Sharon’s blonde hair, and when he tugged gently, he felt Sharon audibly whimper into his mouth, the sound shooting straight to his abdomen.  

Alaska had been with plenty of guys before, but not like this – Sharon was clinging to him like he was afraid Alaska might slip through his fingers otherwise.

“Sharon, I…” Alaska began, and then trailed off, lips ghosting over Sharon’s cheek, his nose. He realized all at once that he didn’t have the words to articulate what exactly was taking place, just that it felt distinctly important.

“Yeah,” Sharon breathed, in between kisses. “Me too.”

Alaska sunk to his knees at that, shoving Sharon’s jeans down to his ankles as he went. Sharon’s pupils were blown out black as he watched Alaska, who was palming Sharon’s already-hard cock over the fabric of his underwear. Alaska didn’t think about what he was doing, not really – didn’t dwell on the fact that he wanted to please Sharon more than he’d wanted to please anybody, or that he’d been semi-hard, seeing stars as soon as Sharon’s lips touched his.

He just hollowed his cheeks, tried to take as much of Sharon as he possibly could into his mouth.

Sharon clutched onto the edge of the dresser for support, lips parted. Alaska developed a steady rhythm, used one hand to move in tandem with his tongue as he bobbed his head to suck at Sharon’s hardness.

When Alaska moaned, so did Sharon.

Alaska flattened his tongue against the underside of Sharon’s length, hummed around him. Sharon began to rock his hips forward, hitting the back of Alaska’s throat with each thrust, before abruptly pulling out.

He tugged Alaska back to his feet, smattering kisses along the curve of his neck. “Wanna make this last,” Sharon explained hoarsely.

Alaska could tell that Sharon was leaving marks, and was glad for it: he wanted to wake up tomorrow and remember where Sharon had been, see and feel where he’d paid special attention.

And then Sharon was spinning him around and maneuvering him towards the bed, yanking Alaska’s shirt up and over his head impatiently as Alaska kicked off his own pants, a clumsy dance of flying fabric and tangled limbs. Alaska’s hands flew to Sharon’s bare shoulder blades, his chest, warm and soft underneath his fingertips.  

It felt surreal, that they were doing this – and yet, it didn’t surprise Alaska in the slightest. He felt surprisingly comfortable, safe, even as Sharon pushed him backward onto the bed, pinning him underneath his body.

Sharon hovered over Alaska for a few moments, scanning him with those eyes again, before Alaska pulled him down by the back of the neck, cocks rutting together as Alaska’s tongue traced the shell of Sharon’s ear.

“Please,” Alaska begged, breathless. “Sharon, fuck – I need you. I really, really need you.”

Sharon closed his eyes and let out a huge breath, like the sound of Alaska’s voice, whiny and broken, did things to him. Alaska looked up at him, his hair falling into his face, tried to scoot his hips closer towards Sharon’s lap.

Sharon didn’t need much more encouragement than that.

He flipped Alaska onto his stomach, and Alaska wiggled his ass out for Sharon, who soothed his hands over the smooth skin. He felt delirious, how badly he wanted Sharon to fill him up, make him muffle his screams into the pillow.

And he knew that Sharon would be good to him – he could tell from the way Sharon made sure to kiss every notch on his spine, open-mouthed and careful. Alaska frantically reached over to the bedside table, ransacking two separate drawers before finding a small bottle of lube and a box of condoms, and he said a silent prayer.

Sharon’s hands were trembling as he slicked up his fingers, uttering a hoarse, “You sure, Lasky?”

Alaska had never been more sure of anything, nodding feverishly at the headboard, trying to remember how to breathe.

He didn’t know what any of this might mean moving forward for him and Sharon – if there even was such a thing as a “him and Sharon” – but he refused to worry about that now, not when Sharon eased one finger into him and then two, reducing Alaska to a moaning mess as he arched his back at the contact.

Sharon bowed his head and pressed his lips to Alaska’s shoulder blade, and when he finally entered him, it was with a slow roll of his hips, breath still dancing on Alaska’s back.

Alaska’s jaw went slack, his mouth falling open in a silent scream.

Then Sharon began to move: small and shallow thrusts at first, clearly restraining himself. “Oh, shit, Lasky, you feel so… so good.”

“Sharon, I need… move, Shar, please…”

“W-wait, hold on,” Sharon said, pulling out of Alaska decidedly. Alaska whined at the loss, until Sharon turned him over, scanned his face. “I wanna see you.”

Sharon appraised Alaska’s features: his cheeks, flushed pink, and his kiss-swollen lips, which Sharon leaned down to kiss again, quick and sloppy. Alaska drew his knees up, reaching down to guide Sharon back inside him.

Alaska watched as Sharon’s forehead crinkled, lips parted to let out a breathy exhale. Alaska couldn’t keep from staring, from committing his facial expression to memory – until Sharon shifted his hips the tiniest bit, reminding Alaska of his own throbbing cock, the desire welling up in the pit of his stomach.

He tilted his head back and moaned, exposing his throat for Sharon to nip at as he slammed into him, skin slapping against skin.

Alaska fell apart beneath him, grabbing Sharon’s ass to urge him on, lifting his legs so Sharon could go deeper, harder – a frenzy of clawing hands and salty kisses, more lips brushing against lips than anything else. When Sharon reached for Alaska’s neglected cock, stroking it in time with his thrusts, Alaska spilled into his hand, sobbing Sharon’s name almost incoherently, over and over again, the only word that mattered.

Sharon followed suit, shuddering into Alaska before letting his head drop to Alaska’s collarbone.

“God,” was all he murmured, and it was as good as I love you.

“I know,” Alaska breathed.

Alaska slid out of bed on shaky legs after Sharon cleaned them both up, bent down to grab the first article of clothing he could find on the floor – Sharon’s Christmas sweater. He tugged it over his head, smiling at the feeling of Sharon’s eyes glued to him, his body.

“You’re so pretty, baby.”

Alaska giggled, crawling back into bed with Sharon eagerly, nuzzling against him like they’d done this countless times before. In some ways, it felt like they had.

“Tell me how much you like me again,” Alaska purred.

“More than I know what to do with,” Sharon replied, and the honesty in his voice was jarring. “Probably too much.”

Alaska stared at the adjacent wall in silence, considering the full weight of Sharon’s words, realizing all at once that he felt the same way – and remembering suddenly that they lived on opposite sides of the country. It hit him like a punch in the gut.

“I don’t think I can do long-distance right now,” Alaska choked out. “I just can’t.”

Sharon rolled onto his side to face Alaska, propping his head up with his hand. “I wasn’t expecting you to, Lasky,” he said, his voice quiet.

Alaska squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel himself ruining the moment, and wished he could’ve just left good enough alone. Sharon probably thought that he was clingy beyond belief, and embarrassment burned hot in his cheeks.

“So what now, then?” Alaska asked, bracing himself for what was sure to be a letdown.

There was a pregnant pause before Sharon replied.

“So, move in with me.”

“What?” Alaska stammered, rolling over hurriedly and getting tangled in the sheets. He searched Sharon’s face, looked for any sign that he might be kidding, but instead only found a set of blue eyes, locked with his own.

“It could be like this, all the time,” Sharon said softly.

“You… you hardly know me.”

“I know enough.”

Alaska swallowed the lump in his throat, fought the urge to smatter kisses all over Sharon’s dumb face, which was sporting a small, hopeful smile now.

Alaska wanted it – he wanted all of it. He wanted to share a closet and take up too much space in the bathroom, wanted to wake up on Christmas morning next to Sharon and watch Bette Davis documentaries in bed. He wanted to feel Sharon pressed against him when he fell asleep at night, wouldn’t even care if Sharon ran hot or snored lightly into his neck. He’d let Sharon show him around town, too; they’d go out and make fools of themselves on stage and Sharon would take Alaska home at the end of their gigs, fuck him hard into the mattress and kiss him on the lips afterward.

Alaska knew he’d say yes before the words were even out of his mouth. This was right. This felt right.

He threw his body on top of Sharon’s, bare legs straddling his torso, and repeated yes against his lips until he was forced to come up for air, Sharon’s eyes twinkling like the Christmas lights lining the snow-covered street outside.

[undertale-imagine-that-the-2nd]

Anon Asked: Ah, hello! It's nice to see a new imagines blog! If you would mind, maybe you could do fluffy UF Pap and UT Grillby headcanons? <3

Anon Asked:  Heya~ You're super talented! Keep up the awesomeness! I wanted to ask if you could do some fluffy relationship headcanon for Mobtale and Underfell Sans, if you don't mind? (Mobtale rocks there's not enough of this wonderful AU) Thanks for your time!  

Anon Asked: Can I have SF bros fluffy relationship headcanons? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I decided to combine the four asks I got about fluffy relationship headcanons into one post to save myself and everyone else the trouble!

UF!Pap: -Before him and his s/o got together they were simply referred to as "Lackey #2". (while sans was #1. but only because he'd technically been there first.) Like, he won't even acknowledge that they have an actual name at all but don't be fooled. It's not because he's some edgy jerk (tho he is lol) but he really only started calling you Lackey #2 because he would blush whenever he said your real name. And he could not have anyone see him give THAT kind of reaction. So Lackey #2 it is! -Pyrus likes to make his s/o meals. He says it's to make sure they stay in tip top shape like him, and that he can't have them eating trash because it reflects poorly on him. That's actually partly true but really it's he does it because he likes the praises you give him while you enjoy everything. Hearing you gush over what he cooks makes him smirk in pride. -This boy is such a tsundere, it's ridiculous. He really wants to hug, cuddle, kiss, and pretty much shower his s/o in love and affection. But he will never admit it or even attempt it because lord knows he has a Emo Lord image to upkeep. But if his s/o initiates affection first he's put on a show of sighing or huffing in annoyance but will 100% return any affection tenfold. UT!Grillby: -Grillby is very much the kind of gent that if he sees his s/o has fallen asleep on the couch he'll totally go over and just pick them up (fire bae is strong) and carry them to bed before tucking them in. He could just throw a blanket over them and be done but he doesn't want them getting a sore back or a crick in their neck. <3 -If you're dating Grillby then know he's definitely going to create a new drink for his bar with you in mind. The flavor will depend on your personality. It could be a spicy sweetness if you're sassy, or mellow with a hint of citrus if you're especially kind, maybe even tart but fruity if you are more headstrong. But whatever it ends up tasting like he'll let you taste test the first one ever. -He loves relaxing at home on the couch with his s/o after a long day manning the bar. You could be watching tv/movie, reading together, or even just talking softly. But he treasures those moments with you very much. Especially if you're both feeling cuddly. Because this man loves to snuggle at home with his s/o. MT!Sans: -He's very into calling his s/o by cute/sweet pet names. There are a bunch he uses but the most common are Bellissimo, Tesoro, and My Angel~ He loves the reaction his s/o gives when he first starts using pet names on them. The cute surprise, then the shyness that brought flushed cheeks, and finally the timid smile of happiness. He never wants to forget sweet moments like that. -He can be smooth as hell and he knows it. He's not afraid to start romancing his s/o if it means he gets to see them get all flustered. He'll pull out chairs for them, hold open doors, and hold their umbrella while they walk together. And he's got a silver tongue that could convince a nun to rob her church blind just for him. But thankfully when he uses it on you all he ever ends up wanting is you closer. ;3 -But if his s/o turns the tables on him then his smooth operator exterior starts cracking and they'll see him start to sweat and turn blue~ Ol' 'Don' here literally cannot handle genuine loving affection from his s/o. Give him tender kisses and heartfelt words of adoration and he'll turn into a puddle of embarrassed happiness. XD UF!Sans: -This lazy edge lord is a secret cuddle bug. There's nothing on this green earth he loves doing more than just snuggling with his s/o in bed. He's the big spoon and will lock his s/o in his embrace, and nothing short of a damn crowbar will be able to pry them from his arms. And if they try to wiggle away he'll just roll them both over so then they're trapped between him and the wall. Pretty sure it'll take telling him that they really have to pee before he'll relent and let them up. -Red is kinda shit at handling emotional stuff. It's not his fault, it's just a byproduct of the environment he was born and raised in. Almost all of the Fell monsters are terrible with that stuff. But he's honestly trying. He wants to be able to just TELL you how he feels! It's all pretty clear in his head. How much he loves you. How damn happy you make him every day! All the little things you do for him that just make his soul want to burst from his rib cage in joy! But the minute he opens his mouth to try to articulate his feelings it all goes to hell and he starts stumbling over words and UGH. -So since he's painfully aware of his inability to make his mind and mouth work on the same page he'll just settle with physical reassurance. He'll hug you when you're down and kiss you when you tell him you love him. He'll do his best to make sure you're aware of how very precious you are to him. And you can feel it. In how he touches you and treats you so gently. He loves you~ SF!Sans: -This sassy berry is surprisingly fine with shows of romance and affection. Granted his shows are rather...aggressive, but he's trying. He's never ashamed to loudly tell you exactly how much he cared for you, but also how grateful you should feel. Almost all of his romantic speeches typically end with him just telling you how lucky you are he deigned to enter a relationship with you. -But he really does you love you. Even if he's kind of an ass while trying to show it. Though like his brother, he absolutely loves to spoil his s/o rotten. For him it's a 'look what i got you! aren't i the best?!' type situation. He wants to show he's the best lover available by being the ultimate provider. Things in Underswapfell were rough for just about everyone. So the monsters that could afford luxuries were also the most fearsome. So getting to show off that he can get his s/o anything they want really strokes his ego. -Sass Berry needs a lot of emotional support. Despite his boisterous bravado he's actually pretty self conscious of quite a few things. When his s/o takes the time to stop and let him vent about things it shows him that they do love him. And he appreciates it so much more than he lets on. Things were very lonely for him in Underswapfell. He didn't have any close friends since to him they'd eventually betray him, and he got turned down a lot romantically which hurt his confidence more than he let on. So finally having someone love him and treat him well is so surreal but breathtakingly wonderful for him. So let the sassy berry bitch about stuff and kiss you. SF!Pap: -He's going to spoil his s/o rotten if they let him. He wants to buy you anything your pretty heart desires. He'll take you to shops and boutiques and anything you even have a passing interest in is suddenly all yours. Half of why he does this is because on some level he thinks it's possible to buy affection (or at least peace and quiet in his bro's case lol). He spoiled his brother in a similar way but he just wants the ones he loves to know he loves them and wants them happy. What better way to do this than buy them things they like? -If you tell him that the only thing you really need is him he'll just shut down. SwApPaP.exe is experiencing issues and is forcing a restart. His whole skull will very slowly start to flush a cute color, which will make his s/o laugh lightly. That snaps him back and he is trying very hard to play it cool but you're so sweet and perfect he doesn't think he deserves you but he also doesn't ever wanna let go. He's extra cuddly after that. He still buys you things but not as frequently. Instead he'll just smother his s/o with affection. -Pap finds incredible delight in flustering his s/o whenever he can. When he gets close and their cheeks heat up that cute rosy pink he just can't help but smirk. They're so cute he just wants to devour them. He's a big fan of caging them in against a wall so all their attention is on him. The looks he shoots them says everything. And if the way his s/o is getting redder then they can definitely read his face and know what he's thinking. Time to play~

[illegiblewords]

Explanation of design approach and some personality info under the cut.

Essentially, the way I’ve been approaching this I wanted to make each world feel like a self-contained and cohesive team. Nivienne is actually from Lamia and so isn’t designed to mesh with the others, but I use her a lot and have a design strategy for her so she’s included. For team Famfrit as a whole, I wanted to make sure that each personality and design would feel distinct and that the main color for each character would stand out. Most are also pretty obvious lol--black mage is black, red made is red, white mage is white. Areas I went different are gold dragoon (or aurum dragoon if we’re being fancy), purple scholar, green bard, orange ninja, blue warrior.

CENRIC ASHER

My main and a hyur midlander black mage. With him I wanted to push against the concept that hyurs are inherently vanilla or “boring”. Imo there is nothing wrong with designs that look like they could occur in nature, but with him I wanted to do an edgy personal spin in the classic Final Fantasy black mage look where the character is a dark silhouette with glowing eyes, a high collar, and a broad hat. Sometimes he wears other things too but the overall concept ties to that particular look. In personality Cenric is a pretty angsty guy due to having been a con artist who got a lot of people killed with medical fraud. He lies a lot out of fear of the reaction he’d get if his background was known. Possibly a little nuts, thinks he is the son of Nald’Thal and bound to spread death and destruction wherever he goes--striking enemies and allies alike, regardless of his own wishes. Probably actually just has Duskwight heritage. Has pretty hardcore imposter syndrome about being Warrior of Light, but in partial response to having been destitute and outcast for a long time he tries to play into the persona of a powerful, luxurious, mysterious black mage brimming with forbidden knowledge. In reality he is intimidated by most children, can’t whistle, and is a bit of a smartass when he’s not panicking his way through conversations.

J’MOR TIA

My red mage alt, I wanted to do a few experiments with him! One was that Red Mages usually read very sophisticated and swashbuckle-y to me, and I wanted to play more into the rapier as an almost roguish weapon. Very physical. He’s somebody who you initially would not assume is a magic user but who is just as versed and capable on that front as the ivory tower casters haha. I also wanted to make him a combination of ethnically black (contrasting Cenric who is ethnically Arab but weird) and a male miqo’te because I have never seen that combination before. I wanted him to feel very charming and like he has kind of rugged good looks. Just a bit too scruffy for pretty boy. Personality he is probably the most shonen hero of my alts lol. He has stuff he struggles with (he and his sister both wanted to be adventurers but she opted out after taking things way too far in a fight and getting scared of her own power) but doesn’t get stuck in his head nearly as much as some other characters do.

CESAIRE DELAROUX

I futzed with this guy for a while—main inspiration comes from a particular kind of horse called the Akhal-teke.

Also because I have seen some really cool and pretty elezen that specifically worked to play up gold as a color scheme, and in this case I wanted to evoke a kind of warm, soft golden light. Originally I was going to make him a contrast to Cenric and make him much paler, but I wound up going that route more with Asklona instead with drawing loose inspiration from certain forms of albinism. I went more gold to make sure Cesaire would stand out visually from Asklona. Another reason for this route is because I want to make a character who looks very light and pure, but in practice has hardcore bloodlust. XD Wanted one case for playing into that possible WoL element haha. I also thought it might be neat to make a character who could serve as a kind of foil to Zenos in many ways and might credibly say yes when invited to be besties. Cesaire is still a mostly heroic guy but I figure he’s a bit like Dexter if that makes sense.

KIYO SHIROGANE

An auri white mage from Hingashi! To me it felt a little odd that the Ruby Princess of Sui-no-Sato has more of a magenta color scheme than red. I wanted to tie Kiyo to Kugane specifically in part because I think the parallels between geomancy and white magic (land, sea, sky) are super cool imo, there are a fair number or Raen au ra in Kugane with less lore exploration, and I wanted to make a character whose past trailed behind her in a clear and interesting way while she travels. So for Kiyo I kind of took inspiration from the idea of a red pearl (pearls often being white as per the horns and scales but then she has vivid red hair) and from the idea of blood tied to injury and medicine. Plus ya know, white magic. I also took light inspiration from candles conceptually. I totally forgot that Shirogane is the housing district also lol so now she has backstory lore that her family had been heavily involved in establishing the area. Kiyo comes from a large and noble family with a ton of political and economic influence, being herself somewhat sheltered and naïve. She is very sincere, playful, outgoing, and does her best to be kind. Very animated!

OSK YASKARET

For Osk, I was essentially going (ʘ_ʘ;;) because I knew that I hadn’t used ANY brown hair so far and it was making so uncomfortable lol. So I thought about what combination would be appropriate, distinct, and striking enough to fit within the cast while also being distinct. Gray and brown feel like chinchilla colors to me and I think are nice in a way that wouldn’t be out of place with rabbits/viera. I wanted dark eyes since again, I hadn’t yet for this group... so dark purple wound up being her main color. Since I was going scholar, I also wanted to keep the sense of intellect and feeling like a healer without being mistakable for astrologian or white mage. I still want to build into her look, but another aspect I wanted to incorporate--saw a lot of people arguing about the inherent sensuality of Viera, so I figured for her I wanted to make her look elegant and sophisticated but more conservative in glamours. I didn’t want her to instantly read like she hopped out of the woods either. Figure she’d have had time to adapt since.

I’m still very much debating backstory and personality or her but am leaning toward her being the offspring of a viera who left the woods while pregnant. I like the idea of Osk wanting to connect with her heritage but feeling somewhat adrift. I also want to incorporate Nym lore because omg I want more Nym in-general. Personality I do think Osk is probably a little bit of a smug bunny but things remain super tenuous.

ASKLONA WANNEYNWYN

Asklona I literally wanted to make a super soft feeling, hyper feminine lady roegadyn because most interpretations I’ve seen have been either harder feminine or tomboyish. Still fun imo, but given the grief some fans heap on femroes I really wanted to show that this kind of look is doable. I usually try to incorporate the black noses on Hellsguard designs (tiger roooooes) while with Seawolves I tend to push either fully into something natural or fully into something unnatural. So ex. the most desaturated option or else just run with blues and greens. Asklona is specifically a bard because it is pretty and fancy imo and I haven’t seen a lot of roegadyn bards in-general. Asklona I mentioned before is modeled off of certain kinds of albinism, but by that I want to make the disclaimer that pink eyes don’t generally occur in people (pale blue or violet is more likely) and that normally there are some eyesight problems that come with the condition as well as ease of getting sunburn. I don’t necessary play into that with Asklona/am going artistic license because I mean final fantasy we can lift swords bigger than we are. I know these things get overlooked a lot though so it seemed worth specifying. My choice to go this route was because I wanted to make myself use more pastels lol and I figured this would be a fun spot to contrast Cenric. I think in backstory Asklona’s father lost his mind to a siren, and Asklona pursuing adventuring as a bard is partly to take revenge and partly in the hopes that she can call her father back with song. Her involvement becomes more complicated over time but I think that’s the general direction. I picked green for her color scheme because it’s a color that feels like it evokes both the woods of Gridania and the sea itself... and because pink is a shade of red and with green being complementary, I figured it would make the pinks stand out a lot. Asklona is tied to Limsa Lominsa and besides looking for outfits that will flatter her body type I am trying to evoke the ocean in her designs. Pirates, sailors, the works. Personality I am still figuring out a bit but I think Asklona is definitely a shameless flirt, can read as insensitive and self-centered at times as she indulges in what makes her happy. She plays herself off as much more shallow than she is and in-general focuses on pursuing pleasure as a way of avoiding heavier issues.

KOKONO KONO

The scrappy daughter of a Doman fox auspice and a Thavnairian lalafell, Kokono saw her mother waste away with homesickness after fleeing the Garlean occupation. She has two brothers, one who returned to Doma while the other remains in Thavnair witht her father. Kokono hates the idea of loving a place so much you would die over it and decided to travel Hydaelyn, causing mischief while indulging a deep-rooted curiosity and love for discovering new places. Has severe commitment issues. Can be prone to swearing and being insensitive because the shocked reactions amuse her a lot, but her heart is ultimately in the right place. I designed her literally to make a lalafell fox because with the dark nose option + werewolf ears it is SO EASY to make tiny canines and I don’t understand why more people don’t do this. Like I could make an elegant white fox lalafell or a yorkshire terrier lalafell or any number of things. We can have itty bitty dogs! And like Kiyo I wanted some background to be evident in her clothes too. I designed her before I picked her backstory and mainly went for rule-of-cute/what would most evoke the red coat of a fox.

SVATOMIR AZORYA

Last of team Famfrit, he’s a Warrior Hrothgar. Very conceptually rough, I’m interested in playing him much more reserved and traditionally masculine in a lot of ways. I think a character in that vein will help balance out against the other Warriors of Light I made for that world. Design goal here was to make him look as wolf-like as possible haha. I think we have plenty of cat people already with Miqo’te.

NIVIENNE LECLAIR

From Lamia, I’ve talked a bit about her before so copypasting that in.

Basically, when I decided to try doing the whole WoL/Emet-Selch fic writing misadventure it was just a personal challenge for funsies. I’d seen other people do some really interesting and impressive stuff using unnamed lady WoLs. Hadn’t really tried something like that myself so I decided to go full improv with it.

Except my instincts tend toward specificity lol, so I scattered details according to what would make for fun scenarios or cute details. I wanted the lady to be a certain level of tall so I went with elezen. I needed to describe a readily portable weapon that would mesh with that sweet, sweet Amaurotine lore, so I made her a summoner. So on and so forth. Very seat-of-the-pants.

Particularly since the fic I have coming up is gonna be bigger, I’m thinking name is okay now lol.

Cenric as my black mage main is a dark, broody guy who doesn’t quite realize he’s nicer and sillier that he gives himself credit. So I decided Nivienne should be much more socially adept (read: not a lameass poser), very mischievous, confident… but lowkey has some heavy shit going on. Girl can be ruthlessly manipulative. Other WoLs of mine have different personalities.

As I was going through fic stuff, I decided I wanted to visually tie to and contrast with Emet-Selch since shipping. He’s got gold eyes and accents on his regalia? She’ll go silver, but her skin will have a more golden tone. He’s got dark hair with a white streak? She’ll have light gray hair, tie into the ruff of his coat. So on and so forth.

Name-wise, I actually fucked up initially by going too on-the-nose. Nivienne is another (more elezen-French) name for Nimue. Given how that story goes I figured it would be fitting here.

As a couple of other notes--color scheme being gray was experimenting to try for a different-but-distinct summoner aesthetic. I wanted to play up horns/third eye concepts (not strictly in the Garlean sense) and create a vibe that wouldn’t feel like white mage, or red mage, or black mage, etc. I also saw people arguing that female casters all end up looking like magical girls, so I wanted to really make sure that she had a different look from that while still being very feminine.