#I need to draw him more. like seriously I had a lot of fun figuring out how I wanted to draw him.

[7-andahalf-rats]

specimen 12 mayhaps

I put off drawing him for so long because idk how to draw people but I actually like this doodle a lot tbh. my first time drawing him evar teehee

some HCs I have on him below because I love him so much and. I know you also suffer from The Disease

played HD reno with my mom and she named him Freddy. so I just call him that now. Idk if he has an actual name but in my mind he will always be Freddy

probably a resident evil nerd. he also just likes fps and horror games in general, like half-life and doom. his favorites were always RE though (he is very salty about the bad remakes). prefers console to PC but he doesn't mind too much

can't cook. can't bake. do NOT let him cook

got into vlogging through his love of games. probably went into a bunch of haunted/rundown buildings during his career, and I like to think he'd make stupid references in his vlog posts (like "wow! what a mansion!"). I picture his vlogging medium to be a mix of Ted the Caver (but the spooky parts are instead cheesy references for laughs) and those urban exploration channels on YouTube

probably freaks S14 out when he makes a gaming reference like they genuinely cannot picture that senior citizen picking up a controller and not spontaneously combusting

speaking of S14, he kind of bullies them in the older brother way. like he doesn't really mean it. at first when S14 became a specimen though, he DEFINITELY did. I think their dynamic is either "older brother & sibling 15 years younger" or "long lost father you met at a Walmart buying soggy cabbage that treats you more like a friend than a child" to be honest

I think he has serious anger issues and possessive tendencies from S12, but at his core he's just kind of a rugged nerd. not a very social person but can hold himself in a conversation

probably gives good hugs and falls asleep drooling in his leather recliner like SNNNORRRRRKKKKkk. exhale SNNNOOORRRKKK. exhale

[btnclmrttn]

Imagine:

Nsfw alphabet with saitama

I know is a lot but is up to you, hope you are alright these days!

NSFW ALPHABET(+18) - Saitama

[Kicking ass, hon! Thank you for your patience with this. I hope it satisfies your request!]

A = Aftercare

His go-to is taking a bath with you. Cleaning up the mess he made of you (and on you) and cuddling until the water isn’t so warm anymore. He doesn’t notice how clingy he is, as he doesn’t want anything less than his arms wrapped around you for the most part. 

B = Body part

On him, his hands. Shit, he's strong, and his hands have something to show for it. They’re so gentle with you and adore having your waist fill them. He loves your waist area. Holding it and letting his thumbs run along your back or drawing circles around your stomach.

C = Cum

Loves fucking you until cum starts trailing down your thighs or slopping against him. A visual reassurance he’s making you feel good. Also likes pulling out and cumming on your hole, smearing it on you with his tip before sliding himself back in and going for a second round right there. He likes doing that almost as much as just cumming inside you.

D = Dirty Secret

Would so love to walk in on you masturbating one day. He’s thought about it so many times. He wants it entirely unexpected, so he doesn’t ever bring it up, but he has his hopes.

E = Experience

Well, he's got the gist of it. He never had the best luck with dating and didn't like it casually, but he's read and watched about plenty enough not to be ignorant about how the general of it goes.

His attitude is that he would rather have a connection with someone and learn about them thoroughly versus quick satisfaction, so whatever needs to be hands-on to learn, he's ready and willing.

F = Favorite Position

Being able to see your face is what he wants most. So ASIDE from somn basic, he likes holding you up either against a wall or with your legs wrapped around him. He isn’t so bummed about being so strong anymore since he can do that to you.

G = Goofy

So fucking goofy. He was so shy and nervous the first time you two did it he had to be a bit goofy to relax. Now, it's just his thing. He loves hearing you laugh, too, while you're having your fun. It makes it more intimate for him

It's also pretty hot to him how your laughter blends with your moans.

H = Hair

Well...uh...

I = Intimacy

Aside from being goofy he is a total cornball, too. Absolute goober. Holding you close and whispering all the sweet things, taking his time, looking you in the eye, and occasional random kisses on your forehead. Lots of non-verbal cornball shit

J = Jack Off

He doesn’t do it as much now that he’s in a relationship. Did it a lot when living alone and being so bored all the time. These days, it only happens when he’s been away from you for too long.

K = Kink

OVERSTIMULATION

I will die on this hill. He started liking it more and more when he figured out it wasn't hard for him to do it by accident—being overstimulated himself, though? Loves it. He wants to see how much he can push himself and take it. He'll whine and grip the sheets so hard he could tear them, fumbling over his words

"I can take it. I can take it."

L = Location

Perfectly content with keeping it in just the bedroom. He wouldn't feel that comfortable doing it outside unless there was certainty no one would be able to stumble on it (i.e., on the roof of a tall building or a middle of nowhere ass location). That and also some of the annoying inconveniences of what you could run into kill the mood for him

M = Motivation

It isn’t difficult at all to get him going. Oh, and especially if you make him something really good. Seriously, if you ever make him something that he likes a whole lot, it’s damn near some foreplay. Quickest route to getting fucked good.

N = NO

Not into any pain play of any kind. No biting or manhandling. He's too strong and would hurt you, which is the last thing he wants to do. Also doesn't want to be mean. Degrading is a no-no. 

O = Oral

Loves recieving for sure he ain’t quiet about that. When giving, he enjoys you thoroughly. He eats you up like he’s savoring his last meal and is in no rush at all. Not stopping just because you came either. 

P = Pace

Overall prefers to be slow and sensual. Making love like he's just stupid drunk off you. It's the intimacy of it that he favors. You might get surprised sometimes though; when you're getting closer and closer that's when he starts being rough and just has a massive grin on his face as he messes with you that way. You know he's plotting overkill when he's cheesing more than usual.

Q = Quickie

Absolutely! He could make it quick if need be. It’s not something he would do often intentionally, its more of a last option to you both being busy and a little sexually frustrated. He’d still prefer to “make it up to you” whether a quickie was resorted to or not.

R = Risk

For sure would try about anything at least once within your guys boundaries. Why not? It’s not often he has a suggustion, but when he does you gotta wonder what’s running through his head when he’s quiet. He don’t even know some shit he says can be considered kinda freaky and is so nonchalant about it. 

S = Stamina

Strongest guy in the known universe. No need to guess! It's great that he doesn't tire out until he doesn't and you are whipped. You're in control of when you two stop. He could go all day, and would. He'd be so down for just a day of nothing but nasty.

T = Toys

They are so damn expensive and that irks him. However! Dude will use anything you already have. Once he realized how much of a friend these devices were, it became a weapon. Straight-up murder. His overstimulation kink would go berserk. That being said, any toys that use batteries are his enemy. Batteries get expensive with a kink like that.

U = Unfair

Quite a bit but he's still a bit goofy. "You sure? Absolutely sure? Positive?"He does it mostly for laughs, or because you thought you could do the same and he's giving it back. As much as he likes to just take his time touching you it messes with you eventually. Oh but if he's in the middle of just tearing you up and he's got you all a noisy mess, he's looking to push your buttons.

V = Volume

Mostly it's his heavy, trembling breathing that makes the most noise. He's more vocal when he's getting closer Cursing under his breath and moaning your name. If you want a crybaby, though, you can get one if you play into that overstimulation kink. Just don’t get another noise complaint on you guys 

W = Wild Card

Mutual masterbation would be so enjoyable for him. You get a whole full view of how he looks at you and how hard you make him, and watch how he tries so badly to let you finish by yourself instead of swoop in and make you come himself. It drives him NUTS.

X = X-Ray

Considering how average he presents himself, it would fit that he's also average in the pants. Not huge, not small, not super girthed up or anything. 5 and some odd inches is the average.  Throwing in though he has the most excellent Adonis belt you could feast your eyes on because of all that training he did.

Y = Yearning

Higher than you’d assume. As chill as he seems it’s just a bit surprising. He’ll jump from his chill state to horny. Being as quiet as he is though it’s just hard to catch on to when naughty thoughts start cycling until they finally get to him. 

Z = ZZZ

It makes him relaxed enough to fall asleep not to long after, but he can hold out until he knows you’re properly taken care of. That sleep is about to be deep as hell, though

[doppel-doodles]

Since everyone is making their own little version of the characters I thought I would join the fun for my Fallen crown Au! These were supposed to be quick little sketches just to get some ideas down but they still took me the whole day:'D will probably change as I draw them but I wanted at least something down on for the time being and I do like how most turned out!

Single versions plus some info and ramblings about each under cut for those interested:

My lamb was mainly based on both, yes the actual player character but also the vibes of my own plathrough which were very "oh god who let this child be in charge?-" while I'll still mostly just call them Lamb I figured they should still have a proper name so I went with my friends @/tamaruaart suggestion as it suits them rather nicely! And most note worthy detail is honestly just the fact that they carry something from each bishops realm on their person now, I like to think they treat those items like little trophies:>

Narinder is probably my weakest I feel like, he definitely needs something to give him some extra "ompf!". I basically made his undertaker fit a sorta reverse or at least loosely inspired by his white robes in game. I imagine he is very boney or a straight up skeleton underneath so he covers it all up beneath heavy fabrics, but because I lack subtly I still covered him in bones regardless-

And yea I kept the veil cause 1. It's a look and 2. It coviently covers up his now sewn shut third eye.

There wasn't much reason behind making him an undertaker, I simply thought it suited him, when your the former god of death you aren't exactly squeamish around corpses. Lastly the dark blues are there to contrast the other followers warm tones, as they kinda seen him as an outcast which is just fine for narinder he isnt exactly thrilled to be here.

I'll put Leshy and Heket together as they were sorta designed as a set.Since they are both youngest among the bishops I sorta latched onto the headcanon that they get along pretty well and just stick together after getting into the cult so they just share a lot of their duties. So I gave them some matching elements like the puffy shorts but also stuff that contrasts like Leshy having looser clothing and Hekets being more tight. Or Heket getting working gloves with a little belt to hold tools plus a hat for the sun, meanwhile Leshy will happily dig through the dirt bare clawed in the sun for hours-

I debated on giving Heket an apron but honestly I think she would only wear one while cooking or tending the farm plots there is no reason for her to wear it casually, the gloves though stay for I reason I utterly love because its PETTY-

Literally the only reason she keeps them on almost constantly is because when the lamb asks she can be like "ew, I'm not touching you with my bare hands." Yes, my humour is broken moving on-

I also gave Leshy a cane just so he actually has something to feel around with when he is areas he isn't too familiar with so he isn't running into crap- on that note, Heket can speak a bit but not exactly loud or for a very long time without seriously hurting her throat, once I properly learn it I definitely wanna draw her using sign language.

Lastly bodies, Leshy was based off a previous drawing I made of him in bishop form, I simply made it less monsterous but he is in charge of chaos so he had to remain a creature- Heket is more straight forward, she is a frog and she is large and in charge.

There was one reason why I made Shamura a tailor and that was the mental image of them sewing the bishops clothes when they were younger and dressing them up all cute.

I went for more pink colors mainly because I thought it better suited the purple and would make their red eyes pop! Honestly I really love their colors they remind me of a Berry! I've drawn shamura before but honestly the only things that stuck were the colors,face and then also the hand markings I did tweak their eyes a bit I wanted something more stern feeling.

For clothing I kept everything nice and loose, while they are the tailor I also love the idea that in their spare time they either teach the youths in the cult or are like the champion of the fighting pit because war is also their domain and they can be- so I wanted them dressed pretty comfy to deal with whatever may come! But still keep everything pretty mature and mildly fancy maybe in the future I'll do some fancy gold and silver embroidery to the pants because of that.

As for body type I wanted them to be pretty thin but unlike Narinder who is twink material under his cloak they have a bit more bulk on top to show that they can choose violence if they so wish-

I adore me some pathetic but still serving men, honestly except for the cross on his belt I completely ignored the fact I made him a medic- If he needs to treat something gross he can throw something over to protect his clothes but just like Heket there is no reason for him to wear that while not working.

Otherwise my main goal was simply to make Kalamar look pretty and fancy. I debated on either short or long bottoms until I realized I'd have to figure out his tentacle situation, then realized I don't hate myself THAT MUCH so bro got put into a floor length gown, work smarter not harder kids.

If I have an excuse to give a character a shawl I will take it so fast.

His body type I mainly wanted to flesh out the roster so I tried making him very squishy and huggable looking, I debated on thinner so he looked more dangly and stretchy but that made him kinda to similar to Narinders build for my liking.

[martybaker]

Only Fools Rush In

So the setup for this is that Hob and Dream are professors in their forties at the same university, they’re friends who are very much pining for each other. They’re not oblivious, just taking things slow. Unfortunately, some meddling students and staff didn’t get the memo 😅

There will be more parts to this fic - as the word count kept running away from me I just decided to split it up and post the parts separately, however, I cannot promise when the next part will be completed.

——

Part 1

“Seriously? Where are your gloves? Hat? Scarf? Literally anything to keep you warm??”

Dream scoffs at getting scolded upon sight, taking the few more steps necessary to join Hob at the entrance to the outdoor ice skating rink.

“I’m warm enough,” he argues, earning a disbelieving look from Hob, who takes off his own gloves and grabs Dream’s hand, finding it cold, as expected. Dream snatches his hand away with a petulant pout.

Hob laughs at him. “You’re freezing! And you’re ridiculous! Having a fashion style to uphold is all fine and dandy, but dressed like this you’re just asking to catch a cold!”

“I thought I was here to try ice-skating, not to get a lecture on the way I dress,” Dream grumbles. “Besides, won’t I warm up by the activity? All this fuss is unnecessary.”

He makes for the door of the building where ice skates can be rented, with a ‘the sooner to get this over with, the better’ attitude.

Hob follows, raising an eyebrow at him: “Oh, Mr. Confident thinks he’ll be skating circles around me in no time? We’ll see how you’ll feel about the lack of gloves and padded clothing when you’ll end up on your arse, time and time again!”

Dream rolls his eyes. “I’m sure that was your exact intention when picking this activity, making a fool of me, all for your amusement.”

“Hey, I won the bet fair and square! Didn’t you have a blast when you won the last one, making me shave my stubble clean and draw a fake beard on? The students weren’t able to look at me in class without bursting into laughter!”

Dream cannot help but grin at the memory. “You were able to captivate them with the material nonetheless.”

“Yeah, but I had to work twice as hard to shift their attention away from the beard!”

—

They keep bickering as they rent a pair of skates each, finding a spot on the bench to change into them. Hob demonstrates how to properly tie the skates.

After Dream’s finished, he checks Dream’s work, grabbing onto the skates and testing the wiggle room.

“It needs to be tighter. Tied loosely and your ankles would move about, unsupported. You could get hurt.”

Dream nods, listening carefully. Hob is the expert here, or at least the one with lots of experience to draw from.

“Here, let me help you,” Hob slips from the bench down to his knees, Dream’s foot held in between them, and reties his laces, pulling them tight. Dream blinks rapidly, surprised by the action.

“There, that’s better,” Hob says, looking up and laughing at whatever expression it is that he finds on Dream’s face. “What? No one has ever tied your shoes for you before?”

Dream huffs. “Of course not,” he says, cheeks a little rosier than before, and lowers his gaze down, as if to inspect Hob’s work.

Luckily, Hob doesn’t tease more, he slowly stands up and then offers Dream an inviting hand. “Ready to rock and roll?”

Dream sighs. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” and takes Hob’s hand.

—

The ice rink isn’t too crowded, which is good. Firstly because they have room to move slowly on the ice, with Hob skating backwards and helping Dream learn the ropes without the danger of being run over by someone. And secondly, it means there are less witnesses to Dream’s mortifying struggles.

“Why, again, is this considered fun?” He grumbles, letting Hob pull him forward slowly, feeling extremely embarrassed as he can’t figure out how to move forward on his own without turning it into awkward stumbling rather than skating.

Hob laughs, squeezing Dream’s hands tighter.

“It is fun, it just takes some time to get into it. You’ve gotta lean forward a little, you’re too stiff and upright,” he advises.

Hob explains and demonstrates the right motions to him, over and over with great patience. Dream tries his best to follow the advice, and after a while, it does get better. Hob praises him and asks if he wants to try on his own for a bit, but Dream gives him an anxious look.

“Hmm, maybe you could try with the skating aid?” Hob suggests.

Dream grimaces. “Over my dead body,” he says, prompting Hob to burst into laughter again.

“Okay, got it. No skating aid for grown-up Dream. How about you skate near the boards and I'll be on your other side, so you could have something to grab on when you feel unstable?”

Dream nods.

Hob moves into position on his left side. Dream skates forward a few feet, wobbles and immediately grabs onto Hob’s arm with both hands, holding on for dear life.

Hob chuckles. “That’s alright, you’re doing great! Mistakes and falls are an inevitable part of the learning process!”

Dream glares at him. “Thanks for the tip, professor Gadling.”

Hob grins. “I’m no professor here, just an ice-skating teacher.”

“Whatever. Hold my hand,” Dream commands, and Hob happily obliges.

They do a few rounds like that, and it’s…actually not bad. Dream is getting used to the mechanics of the movement and he’s not that anxious with a steady support by his side.

He tries speeding up, and it works. He maybe even starts to feel a little bit of that excitement that attracts people to practice this activity regularly.

“You’re doing amazing!” Hob says, and Dream cannot help but preen.

He raises an eyebrow at Hob: “What were you saying earlier, about me landing on my arse again and again?”

Hob laughs. “Clearly, you have a good teacher!”

Dream snorts. “Clearly, I am a good student.”

“That you are,” Hob says with a smile, and pulls Dream to skate faster.

And faster.

And Dream stumbles on uneven ice, falling backwards and taking Hob with him.

They both land on their arses.

Hob, of course, reacts to this with laughter. Dream really doesn’t know where that man takes all that optimism from.

“Sorry, my bad, I went too fast!”

“Yes, you do that,” Dream mutters under his nose.

“Pardon?” Hob asks, brows furrowed as he picks himself up from the ice and holds out a hand for Dream.

Dream looks at the outstretched hand but doesn’t take it. “You’ll have to have patience with me, Hob. I don’t have the guts for barrelling into things headfirst anymore.”

“It’s generally recommended to avoid barrelling into anything while you’re ice skating,” Hob jokes. Dream gives him a look and this time Hob does catch on that Dream’s not talking about ice-skating anymore.

His gaze softens. “You can take all the time you need, Dream, I’m not in a rush.”

He plops down onto the ice next to Dream, back against the boards. “Wanna just chill here for a while?”

Dream gives him an unimpressed look. “We can’t sit here, we’re in people’s way.”

“Eh, they’ll make do for a minute.”

Dream shakes his head and pulls them both up to stand again. “I should get back on the horse, shouldn’t I?”

Hob grins. “I think that’s a different sport, love.”

Dream rolls his eyes. “It’s called an idiom, you twit.”

Dream dusts off his gloved hands and picks up the hat that he was wearing. Hob actually forced his own gloves and hat on him before they started and Dream has to admit to himself that he’s glad for them now. Of course, he’s not about to voice that and give Hob the satisfaction. The pompom on top of the hat is silly, but it does keep Dream’s ears warm, so he’s willing to commit this small fashion crime in the name of comfort.

To top it all off, Hob’s knitted Doctor Who scarf is now also in Dream’s possession. He has no objections to that one, though it does look better on Hob.

He would feel guilty for leaving Hob to freeze but the man’s actually wearing a big puffer jacket, zipped up to his chin. And his cheeks are endearingly rosy when he smiles at Dream, which is also, uhm, something.

“Shall we?” Hob asks, and Dream reaches for his hand again. This time, Hob doesn’t pull, but matches Dream’s own tempo.

[ch4osm4ster]

I have been asked how to draw Murfy so here is a terrible totorial I've cooked up for gang 😎

(Take it with a grain of salt, I myself don't always follow these rules and go more with the flow of my hand, but it's something I guess XD)

Ignore the fact some pages were left white, by the time I realized it was too late to fix it

Let's start with the head:

I always try to imagine him as a 3d model in my head, tho that does give him a more realistic look. For a more cartoonish/fun look I try not to think about things too hard and just draw my lines as quick as possible.

His head is an interesting shape, compact, especially with the mouth, so I think about his movements as if it were in an animation. This means I make his headshape move with his mouth. I didn't add this in the drawings, but his eye shape also changes with his expression! (Squish and squash) ex: You can either give him eyelids to make him squint, or you can make the eyeshape squished as if he were squinting, etc.

Also a lot of the small details like lips, freckles, eyelids etc are definitely optional. His design had been seen in 3 rayman games and in each of them he had different designs. I just tried to combine it all in my own way :)

Let's talk body:

Shapes shapes shapes. He's a small fellow, so I try to draw him with as little as details as possible (shapewise, bodywise) as if he were right in front of me. Like ants, we do not see all their details because they're so far away from our eyes (small). While Murfy definitely isn't ant-sized, his body is small and so details are harder to see, like dents in his arms, biceps, etc.

Now this isn't also the case with his head, as it's much larger. Normal sized I think? So I add more details to that area since it'll be easier to see.

I drew everything in sections so it's easier to see, but when I actually draw him I don't think about them much. Again, I try to draw the lines as fast as possible, in one smooth move (or as little moves as I can). Offcourse if I don't like it there's always the undo button XD

You can make him as realistic of cartoonish as you feel like, I myself keep changing between what I want. It also depends on the vibe of my art whether realism fits more or not.

In Legends for example, his clothes never really look realistic, there's barely any perspective and it's not as flowy, it's almost stiff. For that effect I noticed it's better to first draw the clothes and then the body, although to help me out a liiitle bit I still add his torso to keep the right proportions.

I personally like him in his dress cloak? Idk what it is rn. But in Rayman 3 he didn't wear it so idk how to properly mix that body with that piece of cloth. But I am trying lol. But yea that means I don't really know how to explain the way it lays on him in that style. All I can do is draw the body first and hope for the best.

Remember, experimenting here is crucial! It took me many many tries to get him to look the way he does and I'm still not fully done figuring him out. So best I can say is experiment and see what you like most, this is only a base and idea :D

So yea, don't take this too seriously, it's only how he works in my brain when I try to draw him. I hope this post helped someone out there, don't forget to be yourself in your art and that you never have to draw like someone else. The only person who needs to be impressed is you <3

Again, I have no idea what I'm doing lol my art of him is inconsistent as hell too

ENJOY!!

[partyofwords]

making out with ramuda pls pls (feel free to ignore if you want)

Summary: Ramuda is working hard and you're feeling lonely. He needs to take a break with you.

Pairing: Amemura Ramuda X G/N!Reader

Genre: Fluffy Drabble

Word Count: 818

Warning: Making out

Masterlist

A/N: Thank you so much for requesting! I had a lot of fun writing this! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Ramuda had to taste like candy. You were sure of it. Every time you saw him, he was eating some kind of candy, so you were certain if you kissed him, he would taste exactly like sugary candy. Of course, you never told him of your suspicions. But you were determined to figure it out, some way, somehow.

Currently, you were sitting across the room from him in his studio. He was hunched over his drawing board, trying to come up with the next piece in his collection. He always looked so handsome when he was seriously designing like this. You couldn't help but feel attracted to him. And that is exactly why you wanted to put your hypothesis to the experimental test.

"Ramuda?"

He hummed in response, his eyes still stuck on the page before him as he sketched more.

"Can you take a five minute break? Please?"

This time he looked at you, his neon pink bangs brushing over his furrowed brows. "A break? Why? Am I boring you? That's a very mean thing for you to say!"

You shook your head. "Not exactly. If anything, I'm trying to look out for you. I mean that hunched position you're in cannot be comfortable!"

He chuckled and stretched. "I suppose you're right. I guess I can take a little break."

Smiling, you beckoned for him to join you on the couch you were sitting on. Ramuda happily skipped over and threw his arms around you, cuddling close to your side. You giggled and pressed your cheek to the top of his head.

"This is nice. You're warm." He told you, glancing up at you with sparkling eyes.

"Thank you." You nod before biting your lip. How does one go about asking someone they weren't dating that you wanted to kiss them just so you could see if they really did taste like candy?

He noticed your hesitation and frowned. "What's wrong? You have frown lines and a pretty face like yours should not be marred with lines."

You ease your face into a neutral expression before shrugging. "I have a favor to ask of you but I'm afraid you're going to think I'm crazy for asking it."

Ramuda shook his head frantically, sitting up straight. "We're all crazy, sweets. I don't think any favor you ask of me could be so wild that I would judge you for it."

"Can I kiss you?"

You were afraid he'd laugh right in your face, especially since a smile quickly overcame. However, he adjusted how he was sitting on the couch and put his hands on your face. 

"Yep, definitely not crazy."

And with that, he pressed his lips to yours. It was a sweet little peck, but it wasn't enough to tell if he tasted like candy. As he pulled away, you frowned and chased his lips. It was your turn to take control of the kiss. As you deepened it, he let out a squeak of surprise against your lips. You simply smiled. It wasn't often someone caught the great Ramuda Amemura off-guard, and you were glad you could.

But you were more pleased with the kiss. Yep, he definitely tasted like candy. It was sweet and sticky, like tootsie pop. He tasted like fruit and chocolate all at once. The more you kissed, the more you could feel yourself slip into a sugar rush. What started as something sweet and slow, turned frenzied and eager. You were hungry for the candy on his lips. And he was more than happy to oblige.

You didn't realize it at the moment, but Ramuda had gently pulled you on top of him as he laid down on the couch. His hands tangled themselves in your hair, while yours held yourself up on either side of his face. Every so often, his eyes would open to see yours still tightly closed as you kissed and he would smile before letting them slip close once more.

It was your turn to be caught off-guard when you felt his mouth open and his tongue coaxed itself into yours. You didn't stop him and he didn't stop you. If anything, you were even more excited because he tasted even more like candy. It was intoxicating and you couldn't get enough. You just wanted more and more and more...

Of course, your back was telling you otherwise as it began to ache from the hunched over position you were in to make out with him. You had to pull away. You were breathless and your lips were sore, but you knew at that moment that you were addicted. You would kiss him again, though you weren't sure when. And by the look in Ramuda's eye, you knew he would kiss you again too.

"Well." He breathed, a cocky grin on his bruised and wet lips. "I think that was more than a five minute break."

[meglyfer]

Do you have any info about your Lux variant? :O Her design is literally so gorgeous; I'd love to know more about her!

OKAY, SIT DOWN BECAUSE I HAVE MORE TO SAY ABOUT HER THAN I ORIGINALLY THOUGHT (I've been here for like an hour or more)

Her design was made by both me and my friend @xommed, and more than a variant we think of her as our interpretation of the character, which may or may not be very different from the original Lux because the only thing we have from he is fro when she was a kid, so we kinda made up all about her lol

She lives in the Omega Timeline with her parents Dream and Cross, and her half brother Palette. Her best friends are Shino (one of the afterdeath kids) and Drew/Sasha (Mine and Xomma's horrordust fankid), though she is friend with a whole lot of other characters and fankids (The Death kids, Gradient, Blue Print, PJ, etc)

Lux doesn't have a defined age, as sometimes we may draw her older or younger depending on the situation, but most of the time we draw her as a teen or young adult. If I had to be a bit more specific regarding her age, I'd say she's about a year older than Shino and Drew

She is a calm and kind person who won't hesitate to help people, but she's not afraid to say things just how they are or kick someone's ass for being an asshole. Her world view is similar to Dream's but a bit more realistic; she belives that anyone can be a good person if they try, but she knows that not everyone really wants to try to be good

In her friend group she is the voice of reason, but just because she's usually the smart one it doesn't mean that she doesn't have her stupid moments either. She can be very silly, but knows when to get serious. Lux usually likes going along with whatever dumb thing Sasha and Shino have going on, sometimes even she herself initiating said dumbery, but knows where the line lies for things

Regarding school, Lux is a decent enough student. She is a smart girl, but school is just so boring! She does just the bare minimum to pass, leaving homework undone and projects half baked. She may be the "voice of reason" in most occations, but that doesn't mean she follows her own advice when it comes to responsability

As noted in the previous paragraph, Lux can be a bit "rebelious". She doesn't take certain laws, rules and regulations seriously, either because she thinks they're dumb or can't make any sense of them (Example: doing grafities in the Omega Timeline, eating in class, elbows on the table while eating, etc). There has also been ocations in which she has skipped classess she finds easy (like English class to give an example) out of boredom or gotten out of her house when she wasn't allowed to (She always notifies Palette though, so at least someone knows where she is + she knows her brother is not gonna snitch, because she does the same for him)

Lux has a very good relationship with her family, but her parents can sometimes be a bit too overbearing for her, specially when they talk about responsability. With Palette everything is all good all the time. They constantly tease each other about certain things, but they know there's no intent to hurt behind their words. The siblings are always there for each other when they need them

Some fun facts about her: · She can change her "hair" however she wants. Most of the time she has it like how you see in my art, but if she wanted to she could change it so it lookes more like canon Lux, or make it longer, make it defy grabity, etc. The only thing she can't change about it is the colour · She's very intuitive when it comes to figuring out people's feelings and what to do about them. However, she has a bit of a rougher time when it comes to figuring out her own feelings · She is a self sacrificing type of person. She'd do and give anything, and I mean, ANYTHING for the people she loves · She's a lesbian (of course she is) · Her design was subconciously inspired by Hatsune Miku (we didn't realise how similar they were until later on)

Lastly, I'd like to share some sketches me and Xomma did while trying to figure out her design because, WHY NOT? (All pencil drawings were made by Xomma)

(Thank god we didn't go with this one ↓)

[braveclementine]

Chapter 32

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own a few OCs like Elizabeth, Katherine, Stacy, and Jessie. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Are you sure?" You asked Elizabeth. You, Elizabeth, Jessie, Katherine, Stacy, Y/S/N, and Wanda were all sitting together in the living room. You guys had a sort of tea party vibe going on with the cups and the small sandwiches and cookies.

"Yeah, I mean, I feel ready." Elizabeth said with a shrug. "Vis and Wanda are already married. Hogun's been waiting for a thousand years give or take, and Pietro is ready as well. Besides, I want to make sure I have enough children for this stupid thing, you know? Of course, we'll probably have more than three, I've always wanted a lot of kids."

You nodded, "How soon?"

"Next month." Katherine said with a shrug. "We figured something small. Just family and friends. Nothing like your guys, you know?" She winked at you.

"How'd ya'll get the Avengers?" Stacy grumbled. "Seriously!?"

You laughed. "Luck of the draw."

"How are things between you and Jackson?" Katherine asked.

"Fine." Stacy said and then a shy smile slid over her face, "We're expecting a baby in six months."

"Wait, seriously?" Jessie asked. "What! You waited four months to tell us?"

"Well, I didn't even realize I was pregnant till I went to the doctors." Stacy shrugged.

"That's fantastic." Y/S/N said, genially.

"But I don't understand." Stacy said, frowning and turning the conversation around, looking at Wanda, "Do they expect you to have a child as well? With, well, you know, a robot as your husband?"

"I don't know." Wanda said, shrugging. "Tony is going to talk to Ross and we'll see how things play out from there. Same goes for Natasha."

You nodded. "I don't know how they expect the widows to have any children. They should've put exceptions in the clause."

"I suppose they could move to other countries." Jessie said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but it's not as simple as it sounds." Y/S/N said. "Kind've hard to uproot your life and move to another house or state. Probably a lot harder to move whole countries."

"That's fair." Stacy nodded.

"Whose Ross?" Katherine asked.

You rolled your eyes. "Someone I really hate. Haven't even met him, but I already don't like him. He's one of the federal agents. Military general I think?"

"Everett Ross or Thaddeus Ross?" Wanda asked.

"Um Thaddeus." You answered. "The one that had Bruce hunted down and then later was the one who came up with the accords."

Wanda's face hardened, "Great."

"Tsk someone should've set fire to those accords a long time ago." Stacy declared. "Stupidest thing I'd ever heard of."

"I agree." You admitted. "The Government should never be allowed to run a group of strong people who have powers."

Elizabeth looked rather thoughtful, "But the idea behind the papers was a slightly good one. There does need to be some sort of order I think. Not necessarily controlled order, but just something so that it doesn't seem. . . to out of control, you know what I mean? Balance."

"Anyways, weddings." Katherine declared.

You checked your watch, "I hate to leave so soon, but I have a date with Rhodey so I will be seeing you guys later."

"Have fun." Wanda smirked at you.

You rolled your eyes, grabbing your purse to sling over your shoulder before you made your way to the front of the house.

"Hey." James said, kissing you on the lips. "Ready to go?"

"Yep." You said, slipping your hand into his before the two of you left the house.

***

"Okay, that one is pretty cute." Rhodey admitted as the two of you were shopping puppies. Steve absolutely loved dogs and puppies. He tolerated the kittens because of Bucky, and he did really adore the rabbits, but he absolutely loved Ginny.

The way that Bucky was with kittens was the way that Steve was with puppies. When he was around them, he lost all sight of what was really important. 'Who cares' was often the words that left his lips.

So you and Rhodey were now searching for the right dog for Steve's upcoming birthday.

"He'll want a dog that he can adore and play with now, but when it grows up can join him on runs." Rhodey said, so the two of you moved rather reluctantly from the white puffballs dogs.

"Maybe a husky then?" You questioned, "Or a golden or black lab. Maybe a German Shepherd?"

"Labs are pretty good dogs." Rhodey said. "What breed of a lab do you think he'd like best? Chocolate, black, or golden?"

"Gosh, I don't know, they're all so cute, look at them." You said and then an idea popped into your head, "I know! He's called America's golden boy! So let's get him a golden boy!"

"Excellent idea." Rhodey grinned at you.

The two of you took turns with the puppies, seeing which ones seemed the most energetic and receptive to people and you both finally decided on a good sized puppy that the shop keepers let you know was a boy.

Rhodey laughed as the two of you left the pet store, "You know what's funny?"

"What's that?" You questioned, letting the puppy leap around on its leash.

"I have just realized that each animal pair we have is one male and one female." Rhodey finished with a grin.

"Oh, that's true." You said, surprised you hadn't realized it till this point. "Mini Loki doesn't really seem to like Alpine though."

"Nope, Mini Loki is exactly like his owner. In front of everyone, he acts like he hates Alpine. But Clint was sneaking through the vents and caught the two kittens curled up together. Mini Loki was even licking Alpine's ears. He got a picture too."

He pulled out his phone, quickly showing you the two pictures that Clint had gotten.

"Oh my gosh." You squealed, taking the phone from Rhodey to look even closer at the pictures. "They're so cute together!"

"Oh yeah, Mini Loki is going to be one proud father." Rhodey grinned. "Gonna be strutting around till the kits are born."

"Alpine's pregnant?" You gasped, handing the phone back to Rhodey.

"Bucky says she is." Rhodey laughed, taking your other hand that wasn't occupied by the leash and the two of you headed back towards the car. "But I swear he's said this multiple times before. Whenever Alpine acts differently, he immediately thinks she's pregnant."

"Fury will freak if Alpine gives birth." You laughed.

"We'll have to catch a video when it happens." Rhodey agreed, opening the passenger door for you.

You thanked him, scooping the puppy up in your arms before climbing into the front seat of the truck.

"Wonder what Stevie will name him." You said, petting the lab who was slowly going to sleep in your arms as Rhodey drove down the road.

"Probably something generic like Pumpkin or Sunny or Buddy." Rhodey stated, driving down the highway now that would lead the two of you back to the house.

"Probably." You agreed. Steve did like simple. Unless it was in bed of course. He was surprisingly rather kinky, only fueled by Bucky and Sam. Loki was rather kinky too, now that you were really thinking about it. Stephen and Tony certainly got up to bondage in bed, especially when Stephen- and Loki- could simply conjure chains from nothing.

So it was always nice to be with Rhodey or T'Challa or Fury, where they were rather simple, but also extremely passionate. Thor was a mixture. Some days he was very vanilla, simple love making and sweetness, and other days. . . well sometimes he let his hammer come to play- literally. Electric shocks- in very light doses- were even better than a vibrator. And he may or may not find it rather euphoric to fuck you with the handle of the hammer. But that was never something you let any of the others know about.

Rhodey parked around back where the cars went, turning the truck off. "Where are we going to hide him until his birthday next week?"

"Oh, Katherine will probably be leaving soon. She's going to take him back to her flat." You responded.

You caught Rhodey's eye and then leaned over the other seat to press your lips to his. His hand trailed to the back of your head. The kiss got more heated as you leaned forward, reaching behind you to snap the seat buckle out.

Rhodey pulled you onto his lap and you could feel him grow steadily harder under you. "James." You mumbled, kissing down his neck.

"Fuck sugar." He drawled, a slight accent pooling as he spoke.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the window and you pulled apart. Katherine was standing there, arms crossed over her chest, a smirk on her face, her eyebrows raised.

You and Rhodey growled in sync before you slid off his lap, throwing the passenger door open.

"Having fun?" Katherine asked as you stepped out of the truck, pulling the puppy out and slamming the door closed behind you. You could hear another door slam as Rhodey got out of the truck too.

"Where's Steve?" You asked, shielding the puppy from any views the house might have.

"Workout room." Katherine rolled her eyes. "He's on his sixth punching bag."

You sighed. "Here's the puppy. He's a boy. Doesn't have a name yet, Stevie's gonna name him."

"Bet he'll have a really fitting name for the dog." Katherine smiled as she took the eager puppy into her arms. "Hey there buddy."

"See you next week Kat." You said, giving her a side hug before she walked over to where her car was.

Rhodey took your hand as the two of you walked back into the mansion that you called home.

"So, shall we start back up where we left off?"

You pulled him down for a kiss in answer.

***

On the Fourth of July, you all bustled around to plan Steve's birthday party. Bucky and Sam had taken him out with Ginny, while all of his close and intimate friends- along with soulmates- came by to help set up.

Elizabeth was busy in the kitchen. She was even better than you at making food- or so it seemed, you were actually rather equal- and she had taken it upon herself to help with the cake.

She stared at the cooled off cake, a dish of homemade frosting next to her.

"Something wrong?" You asked.

She sighed. "I am not. . . the best at frosting cakes, I admit. Why did I decide to make the cake? I should've let a professional do it."

You chuckled, taking the spatula from her hand. "Here, I'll show you."

You took some of the frosting from the bowl, showing her how to spread it on the cake, smoothing it out, covering the edges, so that a nice layer of thick white frosting covered the entire cake evenly.

"Damn." Elizabeth muttered before picking up the red and blue frosting which she used to write: Happy Birthday Steve in cursive. She also used it to make a few decorative stars while you grabbed the candles to put on the cake. They were just numbers 1-0-8, which always made you laugh since he was really in his 40's, having gone into ice at 27, not coming out for 80 something years.

Elizabeth put the cake in the refrigerator when the two of you were done so it would stay refreshed until Steve got back with Buck and Sam.

The party was outside and there were plenty of streamers hanging up in the trees, balloons tied to the backs of chairs, everything in the colours of red, white, and blue. Both as a commemorative to the fourth of July, and also to Steve's soulmate colours.

"You know, I'm kind've excited for my birthday." Elizabeth said, grinning as she helped bring out a plate of hotdog buns for Thor who was grilling.

"Why's that?" You asked curiously.

She set the buns down by the grill before the two of you walked back to get the potato chips. "It'll be Harry Potter themed!"

You laughed, "Of course that's what you're excited about."

After everything was set up, you went and texted Bucky, who let you know that they were almost home.

"Everything ready?" Clint asked, dressed in a purple and yellow Mr Beast shirt with blue jeans cutting off at his knees.

"Yep." You answered, kissing Clint's cheek. "I think so anyways. I feel like we're going to forget something."

Clint smirked a little, drawing his arms around you. "Nonsense. You've been planning this for a while now. You've got the perfect present for him. The only thing I'm worried about is Thor's surprise."

You felt your heart speed up. Indeed, Thor had let all of you know that he was making a surprise announcement for Steve's birthday. Despite your love for Thor, his sweetness, his inability to hurt his friends- on purpose- and his just normally cuddly attitude, you were still a bit scared he was going to say something nonsensical or something that might ruin the atmosphere.

You heard a truck pull up outside. "That's Steve."

Clint kissed you on the lips before disappearing into the house. You quickly grabbed a blindfold, wrapping it around your hand, before you opened the door upon hearing their footsteps come up the walk.

"You're back!" You squealed excitedly, launching yourself into Steve's arms.

"Hey cookie." He said, catching you to kiss and hug you. "What's with all the excitement."

"It's your birthday!" You squealed, before quickly wrapping the fabric around his eyes and taking his hand. "C'mon, I have a surprise for you."

"And no, it's not in the bedroom." Sam quipped behind you guys.

"Yet." Bucky muttered with a chuckle.

You led Steve out into the backyard where everyone was waiting, trying to keep silent. Ginny was let off her leash by Bucky before you untied the blindfold and Steve smiled as he took in the sight.

"SURPRISE!" The others shouted.

"Thanks cookie." He mumbled, kissing the top of your head. He also turned around to thank his boys.

You went around the side of the house where Rhodey was waiting with the golden boy. You picked him up in your arms and you came over to Steve, Rhodey trailing you. "James and I got him for you as a birthday present." You said, blushing.

Steve's grin lit up the whole damn party, taking the puppy into his arms, "Hi Buster."

"Damn." Clint muttered behind me, pulling out a ten and handing it over to Nat.

"That's an adorable name." You said.

"It kind've just slipped of the tongue." Steve grinned, before petting the dogs head. Bucky winked at you behind his back.

You grinned and then after Steve put Buster down, everyone started to settle around the table or on the grass on picnic blankets, eating, handing Steve presents, and just plain having fun.

After a while, Elizabeth finally went to retrieve the cake, very careful to place it in front of Steve before Bucky lit the candles.

He blushed the entire way through the 'Happy Birthday song', especially as Sam, Buck, and Clint made sure to yell inappropriate things in between the pauses, before blowing out the candles.

When Steve opened up the cake, he found that it was stacked in layers of red, white, and blue dyed cake.

"Looks amazing Elizabeth." Steve thanked her, before cake was handed out to those who want it.

"Y/N frosted it." Elizabeth said with a shrug. "That's the only reason it looks good."

Steve grinned, pulling you onto his lap. "Thank you cookie."

You blushed before pecking him on the lips.

You got your own slice of cake, taking shelter under one of the large trees. Loki sat down next to you. "Tired?"

"Hot." You mumbled, watching Clint hit T'Challa with one of the water balloons, making T'Challa jump five feet in the air, before running after Clint with a water gun.

Loki slung his arm over your shoulder, a coolness seeping through you.

"What do you think Thor wants to announce?" You asked curiously, wondering if Thor would have told his brother or not.

"No idea." Loki said, sighing. "Hopefully nothing dreadful. But it probably won't be, he's not drunk."

"He can't get drunk of mortal drink, remember?" You asked with a laugh. There was a bit of beer, though it was mostly sodas that were being drunk at the moment.

"Of course I remember." Loki chuckled. "It's one of the worst things about losing Asgard. Besides, you know, losing our home and all of that."

"I'm so-"

Loki cut off your apology with a kiss. "I don't understand why mortals apologize for things that are their fault."

"Shows empathy." You smirked.

"Are you sad about the wedding?" Loki asked.

"I have gotten used to Elizabeth, Pietro, Vision, Wanda, and Hogun living here." You admitted. "It's kind've nice, actually, to have some other girls here. But all the same, I'm glad that they're getting to move on with their lives. Do you know where they plan on moving after this?"

"Elizabeth wants to move to Florida. Hogun and Pietro don't mind and neither does Wanda, but Vision doesn't like the idea of being so far away from New York and neither does Jessie and Katherine. I'm not sure what they plan to do on that. They'll probably come up with some sort of compromise and just find a farm in New York."

"Right, Elizabeth, Hogun, Wanda, and Pietro all want to live on a farm." You said. "I'm sure everything will be great for them."

"There's also Sif." Loki said thoughtfully. "Hogun and her haven't seen each other for a while, not since he had the bond with Elizabeth, but at the same time, he and Sif have had a long, long time to get to know each other. Plus, Sif still has Fandral and Volstagg."

"What do Heimdall and Kat plan on doing, do you know?" You asked. You had always been curious about the Warrior three and Sif. But Heimdall was just so mysterious and strong looking. Now, without having anything or anywhere to guard, he was happily spending time with Kat.

"Not sure. They might stay in Ohio. Or go to Cali."

You and Loki sat in silence for some time, watching the others mess around. A full on water fight had happened, though no one invited you and Loki into it, knowing that the two of you probably needed some time together. Plus, none of your boys would have dared sprayed you with water. You would've been mad at them.

"Elizabeth has a rather unfair advantage." Loki pointed out as Elizabeth deflected all water missiles, sending them towards her opponents.

"I wonder what it would be like to have her powers." You said thoughtfully. "I wonder how they work."

"I have an announcement!" Thor suddenly shouted and you and Loki quickly got to your feet to join the others at the table.

"Oh for the love of Odin." Loki murmured, low enough for you to hear. "I hope this is good."

You wrapped your arms around one of Loki's and he smiled at you before turning his attention back to Thor.

"And what is this news?" Clint asked on the other side of you. Nat was edging forward, rubbing her fingers together for just Clint to see. They must've made a bet on this as well. That made you roll your eyes.

"It is great news!" Thor said, turning to look at you with blue eyes, "Y/N is pregnant!"

[lonewolflupe]

Home's A Beacon (One-Shot)

This is my entry for week 3 of The Clone Wars Winter Spectacular 2024 / @clone-wars-winter-challenge! There's a lot of conversation going on in this fic, which proved a bit of a challenge since it's between five people. I hope it didn't get repetitive/boring with 50x 'Fives said'/'Echo said'/etc., I really tried preventing that. Also this is my first time writing the Domino Squad together, I loved figuring out their dynamics <3

Summary: after their graduation, Domino Squad searches for a way to properly celebrate their success before being shipped off to their first mission Rating: Teen and up Tags: fluff, sentimental, bickering, vode bonding, Domino Squad Words: 2.318 Characters: CT-782 Hevy, CT-00-2010 Droidbait, CT-21-0408/CT-1409 Echo, CT-4040 Cutup, CT-27-5555 Fives; mentions of: 99 Prompts: Polar Plunge / Holiday Cookies / *Domino Squad* Read this one-shot here on AO3 week 2 < | ↓ | > week 4

The barracks of Tipoca City were filled with an elated atmosphere after recent graduations. Squads of rookies grouped together, discussing their moves during their test and daydreaming about their future missions and destinations. It wouldn’t be long before they would all be shipped off towards the front lines.

Domino Squad wasn’t an exception. They were gathered in the space below their bunk capsules, excitedly talking about their recent success. How Hevy turned out to be a great leader, how Cutup had been observant and Fives a good shot, how Droidbait had honoured his name by drawing the enemy’s fire and how Echo had been the first one at the top, retrieving the beacon for the squad.

Suddenly, Fives jumped from the bench he was sitting on. A glimmer appeared in his eyes; something that happened whenever he came up with an idea, whether it being a serious or mischievous one. “Let’s celebrate,” he proclaimed, a content smirk sliding on his face. All eyes were on him during a brief moment of silent confusement, before he started elaborating: “You know, before we’re getting shipped off to our first mission.” Hevy was the first to shoot him an unimpressed look, his lips pressed in a thin line and his gaze flat. “How do you suppose we celebrate? It's not like Tipoca City has any party locations.”

Before Fives could shoot him some witty comeback, Echo cleared his throat and joined the discussion. “I heard some of the more battle-worn vode talk about a clone bar on Coruscant.” It resulted in a scoff from Droidbait, bumping his elbow into Echo as he shook his head unconvinced. “But we're not currently on Coruscant, are we, genius?” Echo responded to Droidbait’s remark by granting him a serious, stern look. “I am fully aware. I just thought we should remember, if we ever make it to Coruscant.”

“I'm sure you'll help us remember by then,” Cutup snickered, elbowing Droidbait in his amusement. Echo’s eyebrows folded in a grumpy frown as he stepped towards Cutup, ready to confront him, but Fives positioned himself between them to de-escalate the situation. “Boys, boys, we don't need a cantina to have fun!” Hevy, who had been leaning against the wall, reluctantly pushed himself from it to join the group. “Then what do you propose, Fives?” he asked, whilst folding his arms in scepticism.

But it was Cutup who replied. “Let's all visit the best place in Tipoca City!” He looked around with exaggerated movements, before a smug expression slid smoothly on his face. “Done,” he grinned, his voice overflowing with sarcasm, resulting in a chuckle from Droidbait. “Thanks for your contribution, Cutup,” Fives sighed, shooting his brother a side-eyed look.

“I heard-,” Echo started in all seriousness, making Hevy whisper “Maker, please ship me off far, far away from here,” under his breath, whilst Echo uninterruptedly continued his observation: “-the Wookiees are currently celebrating Life Day.” Droidbait and Cutup exchanged bewildered looks, before the former revealed his confusement. “Life Day? What does that even mean?” “Every day is a life day, until it isn't,” Cutup shrugged casually, resulting in an unamused glance from Echo.

Fives ignored the tension between Cutup and Echo this time, focussing on the initial subject. “Well, I'm not sure, but it is a celebration,” was his reply to Droidbait’s confusement, before offering Echo a genuine nod. “Thank you for your contribution, Echo.”

Again, it was Hevy who wasn’t shy in sharing his scepticism about the plan, although it wasn’t really a plan yet. “That's all grand, but how are we going to celebrate something we didn't even know existed?” And again, Echo cleared his throat before sharing his thoughts. “I did know. And I could-,” he started, but was harshly interrupted by Hevy’s steely look and a simple comment: “Please don't.”

Fives was starting to get frustrated by now; he hadn’t thought his idea would cause such a hassle among the squad. Not after their recent graduation showed they were capable of working together. He threw his hands in the air and expressed his frustration. “Who cares? Who cares how we celebrate? I just thought it would be neat to celebrate together. Just the five of us. Who knows what'll happen to us once we leave Kamino.”

The atmosphere grew heavy after Fives’ ominous remark, but as suspected, it was Cutup who lightened the mood. “Are you getting sentimental with us, Fives?” he grinned at his brother, whilst leaning towards him. “Stow it, Cutup,” Fives shot at him, but a playful smirk appeared on his face when he bumped his elbow into Cutup’s side.

“It has to do with the season. It's a holiday,” Echo shared gruffly, returning to the subject of Life Day. It was in his nature to elaborate anyway, despite the fact no one seemed to care what he was saying. Cutup was already lined up to joke with Echo’s observation. “Season? The thing that has to do with the changing of the weather? On landing platform 4 it's rainy, and I can predict the weather for half a year from today: it will be rainy. Sounds festive.”

“Stow it, Cutup,” Fives repeated his earlier words with a sigh, only for Cutup’s amusement to grow. “You’re starting to sound like Echo,” he teased, and Fives noticed how Echo clenched his fists. “Give him some slack. At least he's trying to come up with ideas,” Fives shot at Cutup, hoping he could ease the situation again. He quickly turned towards Echo, granting him the most innocent smile he could muster. “You know you're my favourite, right?” he addressed him, sounding as genuine as possible, only for Echo to return it with an eye-roll and a subtle head shake.

Echo might not believe Fives’ sincerity, but it did give him the motivation to come up with another idea. “What about a polar plunge?” “A what now?” Droidbait gasped, ignorance written all over his confused face. “I heard some folks around the galaxy take a dive into the sea to celebrate a new start,” Echo elaborated in all seriousness. “I'm pretty sure there won't ever be a new beginning if we dive into the sea here,” Hevy grumbled softly, resulting in a stern look from Fives; he didn’t want Echo to get discouraged from sharing his thoughts.

The squad was in for another of Cutup’s unserious comments, but fortunately for Echo, this time it was aimed at Hevy. “Afraid the Saberjowl will get ya?” Cutup grinned at him, but unlike Echo, Hevy kept his composure - at least for now. “Shut it, Cutup,” was his only reaction, before Fives interfered again. “Echo, brother, I appreciate your suggestions, but I'm with Hevy on this one. I’d like to visit at least one other place outside of Kamino,” he explained cautiously.

The thought of seeing any other place outside Kamino excited the boys. “I hope it'll be a planet with colourful flora,” Droidbait said dreamily, his gaze hazily focussed somewhere in the distance, as if he could see the planet he was imagining right in front of him. Cutup woke him from his innocent reverie by flinging his arm around his shoulder. “I'd prefer colourful ladies,” he added with a low, smug voice, making Droidbait shake his brother’s arm from his shoulder. “Stuff it, Cutup.”

“Baking holiday cookies?” Echo tried, getting less enthusiastic with every suggestion, because by now he knew it was going to get brushed off anyway. Fives clenched his teeth as he turned towards Echo; he hated to demotivate him any further, since he was the only one coming up with serious ideas. “Echo, I am so sorry, but I don’t think we’ll be allowed in the cafeteria ever again, outside meal times,” he said softly, his eyebrows wrinkled in an apologetic frown. “Not after what you pulled with the caf machine last time,” Hevy grunted at Fives, whilst shaking his head disapprovingly.

Just when Fives was mouthing an ‘I am sorry’ towards Hevy, Echo came with another idea - one that surprised all his brothers. “What about.. Pulling some prank?” he suggested quietly, the look on his face making it evident that he wasn’t very eager about it himself, silently hoping none of his brothers had actually heard it. But they had heard him alright. Fives and Cutup simultaneously let out a ‘Now you’re talking’ and an ‘I am listening’, whilst Hevy raised one eyebrow.

“What about.. What about letting paint explode in the corridors?” Droidbait uttered, making Cutup’s eyes shine in anticipation. “That sterile Kaminoan white could use some colour,” he continued, making Cutup nod vigorously in agreement. But Hevy raised a hand in objection. “Not gonna happen,” he stated sternly, looking all of his brothers in the eyes to make sure they understood. “Why not? It's not like we'll be around to clean up as a punishment anyway,” Cutup protested in defiance, but Hevy shook his head before elaborating. “Yeah, but I don't want 99 to pay for our tricks.”

Hevy had a point, and none of them wanted 99 to have to deal with the consequences of their mischief. So that was another idea debunked. The boys stood pondering over another plan, and at last, inspired by Droidbait’s idea, it was Cutup who came forward. “What about readjusting some training clankers, to make them shoot fireworks during a simulation?” “That would be majestic,” Droidbait laughed, instantly forgetting the disappointment from his own idea being rebuffed.

This time it was Echo who objected to the plan; not out of spite for all the reactions his own ideas had caused, but because of genuine concern for their fellow brothers. “I really don't want to traumatise any shinies,” he simply stated, crossing his arms to accentuate his aversion. A loud groan from Cutup showed his irritation for the whole situation. “You're all such mirsh'kyramude*,” he sighed, immediately resulting in Droidbait mouthing an ‘I know, right?’ towards him.

*mirsh'kyramude = boring person (brain assassin)

Cutup gestured wildly in Droidbait’s direction, showing everyone how they were on the same page about all the rejections. Both Hevy and Echo readied themselves to start a discussion, but Fives wasn’t going to let anyone ruin his initial idea - to celebrate together. “I have an idea!” he cried out, instantly regaining all focus before all the bickering could evolve into any physical fight.

“It's actually quite innocent and won't affect anyone,” Fives elaborated quickly when both Hevy and Echo granted him annoyed glances. “Not even the longnecks?” Droidbait asked softly, his disappointment not lost on Fives. “Better luck next time,” he sighed in return after briefly rubbing his eyelids. “That sounds so not like you, Fives,” Cutup scoffed softly, before Hevy’s dominant voice took over the conversation. “What is your plan?”

Fives allowed a moment of silence to build up the anticipation, in annoyance to all his brothers. “Echo, aren't trees part of the Life Day tradition?” he finally asked slowly, pretty content with whatever was brewing inside his head, whilst turning himself towards their educated brother. Echo was silent; he looked around warily, not sure if he should continue sharing the knowledge he had picked up along the road, for they always teased him with it. “Well, go on, don't hold back now,” Cutup shot out impatiently, granting him a sour look from Echo.

But he indulged himself in the situation anyway. “You’re correct, Fives. The Wookiees tend to get a tree into their homes and decorate it. They call it a Life Day Tree.” “Creative name,” Cutup grinned sarcastically, but was immediately silenced by a gruff ‘Zip it, Cutup’ from Echo. Droidbait slowly raised a finger, and yet again, he was shrouded with ignorance. “Firstly: what's a ‘tree’, and secondly: where do we get one on Kamino?”

A smug expression appeared on Echo’s face, which was a rare occurrence. “You're not going to find them around here; they're plants growing from earth. But thanks for your contribution, Fives,” he repeated Fives’ earlier words, now using them against him. Cutup started stammering a tirade through gritted teeth, making Fives put his hand on his shoulder to prevent Cutup from advancing towards Echo. To make things worse, the continuation of the bickering made Hevy finally lose his composure. “Why would you come up with such an idea if we're not even able to execute it?” he cried out, putting his hands in his hair out of frustration.

A kark-eating grin slid on Fives’ face. “Who says we need a real tree?”

---

“Alright, everyone ready?” Fives shouted over the sound of the gusty wind and pouring rain, waiting for all of his brothers to nod at him in confirmation before continuing. And when they did, he gestured to Echo to come forward. “Echo, do the honours!” he concluded their activity, taking a step back to behold the result of their hard work.

As soon as Echo fused the last two wires together, the framework in front of them, built on top of one of Tipoca City’s domed structures, lit up in a colourful array of lights. The frame consisted of all kinds of items the squad had found across Tipoca City, including parts of battle droids, faulty weaponry and damaged armour. Echo had done his utmost best explaining what trees looked like, even showing holopics on his datapad to add to his brothers’ imagination. He wasn’t confident to call this a ‘tree’ though, but it didn’t matter. It was their creation, and it was their legacy here on Kamino.

The boys started cheering and jumping from excitement over their version of a Life Day Tree, huddling together in the process. They did it; they did it together. Another success, and they were sure there would be many more successes to celebrate. Domino Squad was finally ready to head out, to be sent off to the front lines. But now, they would always have a beacon to mark their home, once they returned.

Fives + Echo taglist: @welcometo79s @covert1ntrovert

[adyophene]

Hello ! I just have a little question, how do we start drawing ? I want go draw but idk how to start- any suggestion ? Or, if for starting it's better to do it with tutos, any tutorial to recommend ?

Have a great day !

Oooh, this is a tough question to answer! I suppose one the best pieces of advice I have is to figure out, before anything, what you are hoping to draw. What style, what tones, what media.

I have a feeling this might get long, so I will throw the rest under a readmore.

For me, when I started taking my art a little more seriously (I never went to art school or anything) I just focused on finding both tutorials on the fundamentals, and finding tutorials that focused on the aspects of art that interested me, which were animation and cartooning!

They go hand-in-hand, after all, and you'll find you end up honing in on the tutorials that coincide with your interests! IE- I ended up doing a lot of figure, and expression drawing because they would help me express emotion and movement better! I also spent so, so long just training my hand to be a bit more confident with drawing steady lines just because I loved the look of clean line-work!

So try to identify what your personal draw towards art is! By doing both something you like, as well as focusing the basics, I found that, at least in my personal experience, it put me in a positive feedback loop where I could keep seeing results in exactly the type of art I was interested in! And, once you start to feel confident, that is when you start adding in little bits of study from fields you might struggle with! A 90/10 split on what you're comfortable with and then what is new is usually a good way to go about it! Weirdly enough, though I don't watch him, I saw that the youtuber pewdiepie actually had a really good set of videos where he started from being a complete beginner and improving his art over 100 days. I believe its an absolutely great watch for a new artist, because he really does a great job in showing what a brand new journey into art can look like, and explains what he thinks each day. I think my favorite line was, 'after 24 days, I was finally having fun' because that can really sum up the new artist experience. It will absolutely be a slog at times, and can be really disheartening, but when you start to see progress, becomes so, SO fun.

Here is the link to the first vid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLEudGbxQk and his second https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJDtQTTAogk

ALSO- this was just the first video that came to mind because I watched it recently. I would recommend finding other videos about people learning to draw, or doing 30-100-365 day challenge videos. As for my personal favorite channels for art tutorials (though keep in mind, I haven't watched them in a few years ;-;, I need to study again);

There were a number of others that I wish I could link as well, but I am struggling to remember them. I hope any of that is helpful. My own art journey has been very long, and non linear, and I have to say, I'm not even satisfied with my own art! Its a endless mountain to climb, but it is so worth it to do! And lastly, I want to say thank you so much for sending this ask, you've made me dig back in to artists I used to study, and made me want to really focus back in on my own improvement!

[yuseirra]

Seriously...(I need to find another word other than seriously hh)

I've never brought up the fact that I'm a psychology major but I feel the urge to when I read this comic, I never even felt the need to bring that fact up, but this comic makes me do a whole lot of what I don't usually do!!!

I've never gotten too off with reading feelings or seeing the emotional aspects of things, it's never something to be too confident to boast about, and I am aware I can always be wrong but it IS what I consider my forte and interest. I really have fun with it and I really don't have much of a hard time figuring out what the characters feel or what kinds of people they are overall (with real people, I don't try to judge them because they are alive and much more complex with different situations, backgrounds and individuality) it's something that comes off very clear to me, you see how I just pointed out Fatal must be Kamiki's song the moment the song dropped. I am right. I'm usually correct when it comes to these. I get very strong intuition and hunches that rarely miss. I take pride in those, you see..!

And I DID really see through Hikaru's true nature in this case, he had the kindest soul that could be described as "nobility" so I don't think I've been so off regarding my portrayals about him, I REALLY, really do my best with these, although I realize I look at things from my own perspective and lens and have my bias

Just..what is he though?? Maybe that's why I keep writing about this series. I want to make sense of him and get it over with but it's been so puzzling, it is an interesting puzzle but it's also quite frustrating because it doesn't match up??? I think he really is possessed guys??? He's so inconsistent, and he doesn't even appear so much. In that little screen time he has, he has split personalities and I've never given up on trying to formulate an integrated idea of a character before. I just can't with him. What is with him? I really think something's gotten into him. It makes sense. There ARE supernatural elements in this work.

I do have thoughts of what the author plans to do with this character if they intend to form some kind of meaningful message, but you never know with other's works so I can never say it on their behalf..

At least I DID get several things right. I did grasp what I deem as the most important part of this character's core: He does love Ai, and he never intended to harm her. He did not try to scare her. He can't...bear to live without her. The other pieces of this character; uhh... what I feel are solid enough to discuss is that he did use to be so kind. I think he deserved to be the guy Ai loved, there was a reason she found a huge liking to him, but he's certainly not sane now and I'm like, 'what's made him like this?' Something definitely drove him even mad than what he could become of himself on his own, that's the conclusion I'm drawing from this and I think I should be right. I guess what I need to do is to wait patiently but I see him drowning and being dragged off lol. SO WOULD THERE BE A CHANCE for him to be explored even more. Hope so because it's irritating how much they keep covered!! It's the final arc!!! When are they going to reveal it to us if they're planning to do so, or are they just going to sweep it under a rug and forget about it? If Ai is a reincarnation of the brightest star and a goddess like what she's said in the novel~~~ I hope she blesses him! From what I made out of him, he would have been a good father. He's... not the guy who'd try to kill his own daughter, this is so messed up it's getting funny. There is no way Ai dreamed of having a family and living forever with the kind of guy that'd do such things, as I always say, her takes on Hikaru must be right. It didn't have to be there but it is, and it does line up with what I've spotted out of this guy.. till this 162. But it was a planned chapter. I can see how that chapter does fit with the songs and I figure the scene itself is what the creators had in mind for a while, so I hope they come up with ways to make the whole thing somehow fit in together.

I really like the songs btw~ it's become one of my most played song in the playlist and I feel the record won't be beaten for awhile~

This is about something else but what's with boys falling and drowning in waters, I saw that happen in P3R too so I got a deja vu... it does give a totally different vibe though. I really should get back to that game too!///

[moonlight-coffeebean-147]

Doodles featuring @twistedtummies2 ft. Usagi. Or as I like to call it… late night doodles to distract myself from how I’m being boiled alive in my apartment/hj (The boiler’s being garbage)

1. Not much to say other than it’s just based on a meme 😂 And I love Smitty’s confused face here

2 & 3

It’s super funny drawing Elias as dog images 😂 Especially with the second which I felt goes perfectly with that part in Chapter two of his introduction story. There is a third one that is still a w.i.p. But I might finish it. Btw…. At this point I’m basically gonna be known as the “Elias artist” aren’t I? 😂/lh

4. I was originally gonna do all of your Twisted ocs… but I need to at least try to sleep it’s like 3 AM 😭. Plus to me it’d be poetic for me since these four were the characters that were the most developed and I grew the most familiar with when I first discovered your page. With this I added how I drew their eyes… since I’m trying to practice with eye style variety. Technical details:

Nakoda: I’ve actually doodled him once in one of my sketchbooks before. And he was actually fairly easy to draw, I’ve had ocs that had similar hair to him before. And… I have plenty of ocs who are just as flirtatious as he is and have made the exact look I drew him with 😂

Billy: Other than Elias… he was the easiest to draw and figure out how he’d work in my style. I was at first worried about his hair since it was my first time drawing his kind of hairstyle and I’m not that used to drawing short hair. But it actually worked out. It also helped that he’s similar to one of my own giant ocs in terms of personality. Fun fact, to the point where I almost thought he had freckles… which is a trait on my oc… but he doesn’t so… 👌

Elias: Is it obvious who my favorite is 😭

Reno: ……I’m just gonna say it. His hair SUCKED to draw 😭😂 I don’t know if it’s because I’m tired… the heat was getting to me.. or what… but his hair was not working out. Like with Billy I’ve at least drawn hair similar to his in the past… with Reno it was like the first time I’ve ever drawn that hairstyle in general. Even now I’m still not that happy with it… even in the first doodle. Like bruh I just 🥲I know that’s probably just me being over critical of myself since this does count as fanart of someone’s ocs, not just that, but someone who I admire the work of, believe me my years of participating in Art Fight has familiarized me with that feeling but just….. don’t be an artist guys 😭/j. Maybe when I do the others I’ll redo him.

5. ….Usagi going through how I feel right now

Don’t know who’s next to her… could be any of the pred lads… Insert “Twisted Wonderland isn’t an Otome Game” joke here. Though I do think this could be an interesting Vore concept… being so hot and just done that even the idea of being in a warm stomach is just… “bruh can you not?” 😂. Btw… this is how Usagi acts when their in one of her moods… a lot more snappy, sarcastic, and blunt with their wording…. I wish your bois good luck with that. Also fact about Usagi is that they literally have trouble finding pjs their size since she’s a frail little thing.

Also fair warning to all the Vore enthusiasts.. it’s not necessarily a big kink for me, hell it’s why safe Vore is in the neutral section of my pinned post so in turn….. I don’t take it seriously. I very much make a lot more jokes and memes involving it.

6. To end things off… this

Death stare Usagi. Is not something to be messed with. They may be small… but they will bite and is legitimately terrifying sometimes.

Would like to know reactions to not even just Usagi, the Prefect in general making this face 😂

Anyways that’s all from me for tonight…. Or morning technically lol

Moon signing off… wish me luck in this heat. Art is hard

[abysskeeper]

What is that draws you to Ruby x Oscar? (I mean it on a 'pls infodump me' vibe.)

I enjoy committing to the bit of less popular ships in RWBY and suffering the consequences

@flytehwire Ok, seriously, to answer this properly I need to explain something about myself. When I am looking for character pairings, I am looking for, in order of importance: 1. Harmonious themes and rhetoric, 2. Character interactions, and 3. Other, extenuating factors. While other factors can sometimes determine how I view a pairing (romantic/platonic/friend/familial/etc) and character interactions can override the thematic element, I am primarily looking for those sweet, sweet story beats.

So, when you give me two kids carrying the weight of massive legacies they feel they have to fulfill, stepping into leadership roles neither were prepared for, and throw in a smattering of identity issues to boot? Yeah, I'm hooked 100%. These two are important to each other on a base narrative level, before even considering we see they're important to each other in their interactions throughout the show. Their arcs mirror each other, but are different enough that they compliment each other and are not going through the exact same thing.

By which I mean, both are struggling with the very same things listed above, but slightly to the left of each other to make them different enough that it makes them both unique and interesting in their own rights. For sake of time and ease of answering, I'm not going to fully cite my sources, but it became increasingly apparent (especially through v9) that Ruby's whole issue is attempting to follow the legacies of those from before her, starting with the general, Hunter/Huntress ideal and the heroes of stories in the early volumes, and then moving over to the SEWs and her mother in the later volumes. A lot of untangling in this personal arc for her revolves around reconciling the fairy tales she believed in and what is being asked of her in reality, and then determining who she is and what she stands for when it becomes apparent those ideals are more lofty dreams and reality is much more complicated. In essence, Ruby's arc is finding who she was when stripped of everything she believed as a child, and we saw that exactly throughout v9 ("What are you?" // "What is a Huntress?" ultimately boil down to "Who is Ruby Rose?")

Oscar, conversely, I would argue, already had some sense of who he was at the start. Sure, he may have wanted more and was unable to voice exactly what "more" was, but he's young...who honestly knew what they wanted to do with their life when they were 14? Regardless, his arc is less about asking who he is and is more about the fear of losing himself entirely now that he's part of the Ozcarnation line--and thus, it's also more about proving who he is to the world around him as everyone else assumes he's just another copy/paste of Oz. Oscar had to have a strong handle of his own identity at the start simply in order to beat the "he's just Ozpin" allegations, which he eventually did do (with some help from Oz's disappearing act).

And that isn't to say that there aren't echoes of each other's themes as well. Ruby very much does lose herself and must reassert who she is at her core (most evident in v9, but definitely starting in v7). Oscar very much does have to figure out who he is in the Ozcarnation line and how he specifically wants to handle situations (most prominent in the "Her name...is Jinn" decision in v6 and his actions through v7, but also metatextually hinted at when he talks to Ironwood at the end of v7 holding himself and acting like Ozpin, and then getting shot, and then in v8 when he tries to act like Ozma and Salem directly calls him out. It's almost like fate is punishing him because he's supposed to think and act like Oscar, and not try to be those who came before him...). And I think ultimately that's what makes them fun for me, they revolve around this overarching theme of identity in the face of legacies and destinies and leadership and each take a piece to compliment the other.

Of course, that doesn't mean they have to be romantic. And that's correct, they don't! Full transparency, I honestly wasn't fully onboard with Rosegarden until the end of v7/start of v8. Oscar's blush at getting rescued was the first time I felt fully vindicated over a ship, but the ending of v7 is really the beginning for the end of me I think. It was at that point where it became apparent their themes were merging and then splitting off again into the projected trajectories they're on now. And, in terms of interaction, throughout v7 and v8, Ruby and Oscar are shown repeatedly to be in sync with each other and trusting each other (even when they don't necessarily agree with each other!) All of those moments for me boiled down to one single, striking fact: because of what they're going through and how similar each struggle was, Ruby and Oscar to me are the only two characters in the show who could understand each other on a deeper level.

(And as an aside, the release of 'Until the End' and 'Fear' being the last two songs of that volume, and clearly being a Ruby song and an Oscar song respectively, completely altered my brain chemistry. That's a separate 3k essay, but the call and response between 'Fear's' "Who will you see there in the darkness? // When no one is watching who will you be? When you're afraid and everything changes will you see a stranger? // Feel proud or betrayed?" vs 'Until the End's' "I promise I’ll be here until...Our story has been told // 'Til our bodies break down every door // 'Til we find what we’ve been looking for // And stare with pride into the face of fear // In our finest hour, I’ll be standing here // And should we fall to darkness // This power, I will harness // I promise I’ll be here until the end" just does things to me on a personal level).

Others come close. Jaune and Weiss both have similar arcs about breaking legacies as well (Weiss with her family and Jaune with...presumably his family, if not his personal views on what he should be and on his promises to Pyrrha), but they're both on a far more personal and less world-shaping level than Ruby and Oscar. Blake as well, with reclaiming her identity, but that as well is a little more personal and also more about regaining what was "stolen" by Adam, so to speak, than finding herself altogether. And Penny is more about learning everything altogether and learning about who she can and cannot trust more than about who she is at her core. And, as an aside, I am a multi-shipper. I do like several of these pairings with Ruby, and Oscar and Penny is an utterly fascinating concept to me.

The reason why Ruby and Oscar come out on top for me is because at the end of the day, they're still the only two who can understand and empathize with each other on the deepest level. They're the two that appear to be entirely in sync with each other. And they're also the two currently slated to be running the show in the next generation. And if there's one thing I love more than seeing my power couple ships completely in love, it's seeing those two characters entirely and implicitly understanding and trusting each other.

This is of course glossing over a lot too. Their scenes together are often pretty striking: the dojo scene in v5 (Oscar admitting he's scared, Ruby for the first time really opening up about Penny and Pyrrha at The Fall of Beacon), the cane scene in v6 (Ruby being the only one to comfort Oscar and reaffirm that he isn't Oz), Oscar's panic during the fight with Cordo, like...every scene they had in v7, Oscar's blush in v8 and the almost hug that wasn't, and of course, THE scene in v9 (and another 3k essay could be written on why that had to be Oscar, though most of the starting points on my opinion for that are above). They also have some other dichotomies going on in their rhetoric, with the silver/gold symbolism and the sun/moon symbolism; and the extra info in the show with the "Warrior in the Woods" fairy tale and Oscar's allusion to the Little Prince. But several other people have written far better analyses on those than I could ever do currently, and this is getting long enough as is.

But yeah, tl;dr thematically and rhetorically complimentary kids just trying to do their best, figure themselves out, and save the world? Yeah, I wanna see them cuddle and comfort and rely on each other in the way they only can with the other.

[spotsupstuff]

What was your favorite Slugcat to play and your favorite Iterator to draw?

(i haven't played Saint yet) i suppooooooose it might be actually a tie between Spearmaster, Rivulet and Artificer? the movement of the latter two was a lot of fun, but i'm too attached to Spearmaster that i don't wanna leave it out. constant supply of spears took one of my main worries away for the whole game

and favorite Iterator to draw?? oh boy, i don't think i can choose... i do draw my own designs which i did my best to cater specifically to my enjoyment from drawing. it'd be easier to say what i like drawing the most out of their singular designs, so i'll do that (AND i get to ramble about that i love doin that)

originally i talked about like. all iterators i've ever really drawn but then i fucked up n what i had written was deleted so i guess we are doin only few. the main five i think of when trying to figure out which i like drawing the best:

• Pebbles: everything about his head is a joy to me. the shape of it, his marks, antennas.. the shape of his feet is a lot of fun and something about the combination of the Gen 3 skeletal body type and hanfu just... fits for him. along with his angry expression. it's like... a certain regal beauty but there's sharp teeth hiding within it. i like to try my best to imbue certain feelings into my designs and then how i draw them (especially on my own time- when i draw for asks i feel like... this important essence, the characterization, gets muddled at least a tad). with Pebbles i'm going for something like "small flame, burning bright- a fighter, yet so soft and fragile, sharp and divinely glorious, determined yet still so damn scared. i want to hold your hands, understand what the time has done to them and say that i'm very sorry. you shouldn't have had to become so rageful. they made you to be alive and didn't let you live." • Nish: of course *he's* here. from the scarf to the general loosenes of his fit (even though he should be more of a Tube, i'm not doin the kimono inspiration justice n i am sorry) is a lot of fun. the looser the clothes are, the more i enjoy drawing them!! i really like drawing his mark and i'm very proud of my design for his headphone audial things this time around. unlike last time, they are meant to be bigger than others' and they are red instead of dark green. the three holes in them? Especially proud of those. he's specifically high up there with my favorite iterators to draw because of his attitude, though • Boreas: he's so stupid big it makes me giggle. drawing him next to Gen 3s is so??? sir please come down we need to have a chat- hello? do u hear me???- okay but seriously, i'm very happy that i've settled on a chlamys for him. the sort of like. collar that i've decided the cloth will make for him compliments his personality well and i like drawing my collars a ton. it's not visible here because it isn't colored, but his antennas go from dark dark blue to vibrant red thru a gradient and i LOVE it so much. combined with the aggressive shape of them? mwah. also the leaf-like things on his audials are so simple to draw and add so much to his vibes that i always look forward to drawin them. revisiting his design and giving him the warranted love made him so so strong and dear to me... p sure he's currently my favorite from my ocs • Notos: a perfect example of why "less is more" is a saying. i like drawing it specifically cuz it's literally just. a bitch playing on a ghost with a bedsheet except when u look under that hood there are some Feckin yaoguai teeth waiting there. Those are a bitch to draw but i did this specifically to learn to draw teeth like that better. also. special shout out to the interaction of Iterator antennas and a bedsheet over the head. shkika keeps bein weak for those "cat ears" in our dms, it's funny to see Notos out of all my kids get those kind of reactions jglkdscmlksdmlk

• Fish: FISH IS FISH. he has big dumb round glasses what more could i possibly need to enjoy drawing a man. but also those antennas... they make him a lot of fun to draw n i look forward to drawin them each time. my thanks to @/w1ngw0ng and @/medi-bee for bettering them just by being themselves

special shout outs go to Zephyr for being challenging to represent properly (physically relatively weak, fragile, yet burning blindingly bright, sharp, determined and brave- just being a leader of a revolution even though her physical form doesn't really fit it), FAM (@/medi-bee) for bein an absolute freak (i love him. i love Nips even more)

and NRD (@/splynter) for being different yet familiar and for being colored like a dead body. Very Cool Of Them 👍

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 1 - AP Calculus BC

Long red hair swaying elegantly in the air with the gentle autumn breeze, as a young lady exited her car and walked down the school's parking lot, towards her classroom. Her passive smile was graced by a lovely shade of red as powerful as her hair, and the soft glitter of her pink eyeshadow made perfect combination with the dark eyeliner that highlighted her vibrant aquamarine eyes so lovely. Her school bag was hanging low down her shoulder, pressed down by a few lousy books, a notebook and some random crayons, making her outfit look a little disheveled, yet in no way less pretty - A pair of comfortable blue jeans and a black Tshirt sporting a grotesque imagery from one of Iron Maiden - The egyptian picture from the Powerslave album which had just come out. She couldn't name it her favourite album by far, but she had a soft spot for the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which she was humming to herself.

She wondered what kind of curse was she put on to start her last highschool year, on a Monday morning no less, with Double Maths of all things - Not that she considered the subject to be difficult, but more like, particularly boring quite like the teacher himself. It was quite bothersome, but at least it meant having almost 2 whole hours to doodle around in her plant glossary. She loved going in the forest to collect plants, stick them in her glossary, then draw them later, making sure to add medicinal properties and fun trivia - A personal project of hers, encouraged by her wonderful biology teacher - What a lovely old lady that one!

As per usual, she sat down at her lonesome desk and took out both her notebook and her crayons, ready to doodle at her heart's content while the other idiots were struggling to figure out what 2+2 is without using a calculator. One by one, all students gathered in the classroom after the bell rang, and awaited the teacher amidst continuous chatter.

Once the old man arrived, he was followed by a fellow young man that Miss Kitty Kat hasn't seen before - He must be a new student, she thought to herself, admiring him - Billy Hargrove, he introduced himself, coming from California - He looked absolutely beautiful. Eyes light blue like crystals and his hair long and fluffy, a lovely mix between dirty blond and a tint of ginger; His muscular body was toned and tanned, he graced a few pretty freckles on his cheeks; But what intrigued her the most was his outfit - Blue jeans, boots, and a dark red plaid shirt over a black Tshirt printed with the logo of the German rock band Scorpions. A man of culture and wonderful taste in music. She couldn't help but smile, seeing someone like him around. A spark of hope in her heart that she would finally have a friend with whom to chat with all day and hangout, like she sees in movies and comic books... If it wasn't too much to ask, that is.

"Class, this is Billy, as you just heard - He'll be joining on for the remainder of this terminal highschool year. I advise you all to take your classes seriously and get your grades up - The final exams are approaching, and your chances of being accepted into the colleges and universities of your choice depend solely on your performances. I wish you all the best." old teacher Daniel Johnson croaked in a rather weak voice - It was his last year as a teacher before he was retiring. "Billy, for now, you can sit next to Miss Black right there - She is my brightest student, I dearly encourage you to seek her aid if you need help with anything."

"Ergh - Thanks, I guess." Billy swaggered in the seat next to her and let the bag fall on the ground.

"Alright class, I'm not going to lie to you, this year, AP Calculus BC is going to be difficult - Though imperative for those of you who want to pursue careers involving mathematics, such as Engineering, Physics or even the ever-growing Computer Science." the old man coughed a little as the students all groaned in unison. "Let's start with a simple exercise - A remainder, for what we've studied the previous year."

"Wait, it's the first day and we're starting the workload already?!" Billy's expression looked completely crestfallen - He hadn't brought a single school thing. "Ergh - We didn't usually do anything on the first day, back in Cali."

"It's fine - Miss Black can give you a pen and paper." the girl did as instructed, ripping a page from her notebook and giving him a pen. "Alright - Let's see..." the old man opened a book and began writing with chalk on the blackboard. 

Differentiate the following function: f(x) = x3sin(x)

Billy sighed to himself - He wasn't mentally prepared to go through this shit. He didn't think maths was necessarily very difficult (mostly bothersome), but he still had some few lapses here and there; He was no genius, but he worked hard to get where he wants - Go back to Cali and study Engineering. That fuckass who calls himself a 'father' would never be able to touch him there ever again. He would be free, and back home, where he belongs.

He looked to his right and realised, to his surprise, that the red head next to him wasn't even bothering with the math problem - Instead, she was drawing some very realistic flowers in her glossary - What was she doing in this hellhole of advanced math, if she liked plants? Wouldn't biology fit her better?

"Billy, are you done with the exercise?" the teacher asked all of a sudden, naming the newcomer.

The poor boy remained blank faced, incredulous - What the hell was wrong with this old bag anyway? Calling him out on his first day - What was that about accommodating someone in a new place? How annoying. "Eergh, not entirely. Halfway there I guess." he looked down at his ripped page, filled with scribbles, doodles and more letters than numbers. Yeah, not even halfway there.

"That's alright - Come to the board and let's do it together. I'll guide you where you're stuck." the teacher urged the boy - Urgh, Billy hated being seen as a nerd, but it was far worse being seen as a dumbass like the vast majority of his peers.

During his hesitation, he noticed a small piece of paper had appeared in front of him - It contained the solution to the exercise. He looked with wide eyes at the unbothered girl who kept doodling her flowers. "Sure, I guess." sticking that paper in his sleeve, Billy grabbed the chalk and started writing down - At the same time as figuring out what he was doing wrong himself. How could he be so inattentive? It really wasn't that hard of a problem - He shouldn't have fumbled so easily. "We, uh - X^3 becomes 3x^2... And sin(x) becomes cos(x)... That means... The derivate of the function is... The derivate of x^3 multiplied with sin(x)... So 3x^2 sin(x)... and we add it to the original x^3 multiplied to the derivate of sin(x)... So x^3 cos(x)..." and Billy wrote the end result, the derivate of the original function.

f′(x) = 3x2sin(x) + x3cos(x)

"Very good, Billy, nicely done! You've got a promising future ahead." the teacher's praise surprised the student, even making him feel rather bashful. He never did have a fatherly figure to praise him - This was a weirdly nice change, though one he wasn't sure he could easily accept it.

"... Thanks." he muttered, digging his hands in his pockets, yet holding tightly onto that slip of paper. The praise was undeserved - He cheated shamelessly.

"What do you want to pursue in the future, Billy?" the ever existing question... And his ever shameful answer.

"Engineering... I guess." he found himself answering truthfully. 

"It's a well sought-after career these days - I'm sure you'll have a bright future ahead of you, young man!" Billy couldn't look at the teacher anymore; He had a weak smile on his face before swaggering back to his desk and slumping down, waiting for the break like crazy.

Time passed by so slowly watching those idiots fumble around, unable to do simple calculus; How did they end up in this class was a mystery for him; Still, the long awaited lunch break came by after 2 very long hours of torture and boredom; The red head packed up her things and swung the bag over her shoulder, exiting the class like an invisible phantasm, unnoticed by any.

Blinking, Billy crumpled up that paper and threw it in his bag, dragging it along him and throwing the pen in his pocket, trailing for the girl - There was no trace of beautiful carmine hair anywhere, and he was just standing there, lost and standing in the middle of the corridor. It wasn't long before a bunch of guys and girls started flocking around him begging for the attention of the next hotshot of the school, dragging him towards the lunch cafeteria.

He had a pretty okay meal, and he was glad he was noticed so quickly - He had to make a quick reputation as the cool guy; The alpha male around the campus - Just as his father would want. Still, the constant smothering from his colleagues wasn't too bad - He was shown around the place and introduced to people and told what he had to know about the place - Even the hazing ritual, come in the form of drinking beer from a keg at Tina's Halloween party. It was the perfect opportunity for him to affirm himself as the #1 guy in Hawkins.

Just as the break was almost over, he caught a glimpse of the peculiar red haired beauty sitting at the foot of a large oak tree and eating lunch from a wooden box... With chopsticks? They weren't even regular chopsticks, they were pink. Shaking off the people, he walked in front of the girl, his towering shadow obstructing the warm sunlight.

"Hello, Billy." her voice was soft and calm, so serene that it almost sounded like a siren speaking to him. "How do you like the place? Have those guys presented you a nice first impression?" she took a small piece of a dumpling with those chopsticks and delicately brought it up to her mouth. "Oh, how rude of me - I am Katrina - You can call me Kat for short." she introduced herself with a small nod of her head. "Have you eaten lunch? I can share with you if you want." she patted the spot next to her.

"Ergh..." he was a little overwhelmed with how overly nice and polite she was. "Kat - Okay. Yeah, it's an okay place, but it can't compare to Cali. I miss the waves and the sun." he admitted, plopping down next to her. "What's cookin', good lookin' ?" he offered a charming smile, getting closer to her; But his dazzling self was successfully dismissed by the girl.

"These are beef dumplings, these are spring rolls, and this is some fried chicken with rice." she turned towards him and took a bit of rice and chicken in her chopsticks, raising them up to his mouth. "Open up." although hesitant, Billy opened his mouth to eat the bite given to him.

His eyes widened a little, and he started chewing more vigorously. "That's good - Did your mum make this?"

"I did." she smiled, quickly taking half a spring roll and offering it to the boy to savour. "What about this - Is it to your liking?"

"You're a very good cook; Mum never made these things - Where'd you get the recipes?" he asked, silently begging for more; Kat's cooking was flawless, compared to what his biological mum, foster mum and the cafeteria food he's had before.

"My dad said these were grandma's recipes from back home. She would always pack up lunches for him and grandpa. They were both intellectuals, and she believed that a good nutritious meal would help them with their work and studies." Kat smiled, giving him a taste of the beef dumpling.

"I don't know about that, but I can tell you, this is very good." he received one more bite. "At least one good thing when you're stuck in this dumpster fire."

"You don't like it here much, I take?" the girl asked, not even once erasing that serene smile from her face.

"Hate it." he grumped, slumping his back against the tree. "I miss my Cali. I want to feel the hot sand beneath my feet, and have the cool waves break against me. I want the sun to scorch my skin, and play the guitar by the camp fire, with the wind messing up my hair." he sighed, defeated, before turning his head to look at her - She was smiling so beautifully, and her eyes were sparkling with interest.

"That sounds like a reverie, Billy! I would love to experience that some day also! No wonder you loved home so much." she hummed softly. "Although, I think I know what to say that would make you tolerate this place a little." he huffed, as if he wasn't believing her, yet still urged her to go on. "The air is fresh, the breeze is soothing on your skin, and the smell of the evergreen forest, especially when it rains, is so calming. Strolling around offers you peace of mind, and the landscape is magnifying. You can play rock ballads by the camp fire and harmonise with the choir of crickets, toads and nightingales. You can swim in the lake, or play in the ice-cold river. You can hear the rusty leaves scrunch under your boots in autumn, or the snow in winter. And the flowers - Oh, Billy, you should see how many gorgeous flowers and butterflies appear in Spring! The whole place is filled with so many vibrant colours! It's like paradise!" 

The boy looked down at her; The girl was twinkling, emanating so much love and beauty, she was radiant like the morning sun. Not even once had he met anyone as positive and... Absent, in a way. It was like she's never met any bad thing in the world, and she was still living in a dreamy bubble. He... He felt absolutely stupefied to see someone that wasn't completely jaded, like he and everyone around him was. For some very odd reason he felt... A faint sense of protection over her innocence and kindness. "...Sure, doll, whatever you say." his silence and dismissive nature didn't seem to influence her smile at all. "I'll let you show me that."

"I would be honoured to!" and he thought she couldn't twinkle even brighter than she already was.

"Right." he cleared his throat. "What about popularity? What's a guy gotta do around to get the spotlight?"

"I don't think I'm the right person to ask, Billy, forgive me." she offered a sympathetic smile.

"Whadya mean, girly? You must be the most popular babe around!" he leaned in closer, bumping his shoulder into her own.

"Oh no, hardly! My only friend is Nancy Wheeler, but we don't really share classes. We hardly see each other these days. She's very sweet though! And incredibly beautiful - I think she's the prettiest girl I've ever met - And she's very smart too!" a girl hyping up another girl? That's a new one. "Oh, Barbie was also very sweet with me, but unfortunately, she disappeared last year. Very tragic incident. It's a shame, they never found her body."

"You're one weird girl, doll." he couldn't help but chuckle leisurely, and worry-free. "A'ight, listen; Gimme some pointers, and I'm taking you out for a milkshake at the drive cinema."

"Really?! You'd do that?!" the boy offered a dazzling smirk, and nodded his hair, those pretty locks getting even messier. "Oh, I can't wait! This Friday is a horror-movie marathon, because it's Friday the 13th, y'know?! They're going to show Friday the 13th, and Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the new Nightmare on Elm Street! I heard they have discounts for combo deals - Coke, milkshakes, pizza, burgers with fries and popcorn! It's gonna be so fun!" she clapped her hands together full excitement, though her voice remained as soft and lovely as before. What a quirky girl. No wonder she wasn't popular - Few people wanted to stray away from the popular norm; Everything else was catalogued as freaks, nerds, geeks and outcasts. Shame; He really liked her vibe. She was far above the others.

"Okay, doll, okay, we can do that." he chuckled, waving his hand dismissively, before placing his arm over her shoulder. "Now, gimme some tips and I've gotchu."

"I think I've got an idea." with a vixen-like mischievous smile, Katrina quickly ate the last bit of her meal, neatly packed it back before throwing it in her bag; She hopped up to her feet and pulled the surfer up with shocking strength, and dragged him to the large gym where some guys were playing basketball. "You see that shirtless guy with fluffy hair? His name is Steve Harrington. At this moment, he's the king of the highschool. He is the most popular kid here, he has good grades, is the leader of our basketball team, and is said to be a candidate for one of our scholarships." she cleared her throat. "Also, he is a massive douchebag. He humiliated my friend, Nancy - They were dating last year, but got angry she wouldn't make love to him, so he got his groupie to bully her - They even wrote mean things on the cinema front, can you believe that? What ever happened to decent people." she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I would do anything to see this guy face the same humiliation he gave others."

"Oh, yeah? What a fuck ass." he scoffed, leaning forward. "Yeah, he looks like a cunt." he smirked in triumph. "King Steve is going down."

"Thank goodness!" she chimed in happily. "You know - I heard he even cheated on Nancy with many other girls. He's awful!" she approached him to gossip in a hushed tone. "But I'll tell you one thing - None of his groupies are loyal to him - He's a little bitch with fame, but if you take that away, he'll have nothing and no one." she delicately placed her hands on his face, tilting it to an angle before showing him another guy and a cheerleader. "See those two? They are Tommy and Tina, the current IT couple. Tina is the lead cheerleader, the most wanted girl around, and super rich - All the best parties are held at her house. And Tommy is super buff and works out publicly, so everyone surrounds him to gawk at his physique." he loved this kind of gossip - Girly earned that movie date, and more. "If you win Tommy over, you win the whole school; And it's really easy - You already work out, so he'll respect that. All you have to do is keep good grades, join the basketball team and play shirtless, win a few matches - And most of all, with the Keg King title at Tina's Halloween party." she looked at him with a wide grin. "If anyone can do it, it's you." she continued enthusiastically. "And you know who is the current Keg King?"

"That pussy Harrington, huh?" she nodded affirmatively.

"Well, babe, prepare for the fall of a monarchy, because I'm a usurper - And I look far better with a crown on my head, and a pretty girl by my side." he brought her in a side hug, smirking down at her; She didn't seem to react in any way, either positive or negative - She was as passive and serene as always. Was she... Deflecting his flirting? Or completely immune? Could it be that all the complimenting of Nancy meant she was into pretty girlies like her? "Say, dollface, you've got a boyfriend?" she shook her head. "How about a girlfriend?" she shook her head again. "Not interested? School above all? Or strict parents?"

Kat simply shrugged her shoulders. "Nobody asked me before." that perfectly simple and serene answer kinda derailed him. There was no way a girl like her didn't have guys flocking around her constantly, fighting for her attention.

"Nah, no way, I don't believe you." she nodded her head, as if to confirm again. "Really?!" she nodded again. 

"I recommend you don't hang around me too often - Your reputation is going to plummet if people see you around freaky 'Kommie Kat'." she advised, without the least bit of sadness in her voice.

"... Freaky Kommie Kat? The hell is that?" he frowned, leaning back, completely lost.

"I am a foreigner. My dad was Chinese, my mum was Russian - Both are communist countries." she explained non-chalantly. "I moved in Hawkins six years ago, you see - And when highschool started, I tasted a bit of popularity for myself - How old was I... 13-14 or something. Anyway - Steve was my deskmate in History, and I let him cheat off of me at a test, so he could get A like me. We became friend, and he introduced me to Nancy afterwards - We were together in literature." she smiled sardonically. "Steve asked me on a date soon after, and I told him I would be more comfortable if we were just friends, because I thought I was too young to date, you know? It was a new experience in a new place - I wanted to meet new people and discover myself." she chuckled emptily. "And, you see, Steve took that like a rejection - He got very angry and pushed me into the locker - Said I would regret saying no to him. I told him - What's so bad about being friends? And he says friends are for losers." what a jerk, Billy thought to himself, imagining an even younger and smaller version of the girl before him, being slammed into the locker like that. It made his skin crawl, remembering the way his father would slam his mum into the walls. "It's been years, and he still hasn't gotten over that - What Steve says is law; And when Steve said I was 'Freaky Kommie Kat', I was just that, to just about everyone in the school, otherwise, they'd get bullied until they stopped interacting with me."

"All of them, except that Nancy girl?" her smile became happier at the mention of her friend.

"Yes, she's very lovely, don't you think? If I see her around, I'll introduce you two!" she was twinkling again. "I think she hangs around Jonathan Byers now; He's pretty introverted, but not a bad person."

"A'ight, all the more reason to teach that little punk a lesson not to mess with my doll." he slapped his thighs before getting up. "Well, thanks for the help, babe; You more than earned that movie date." he helped her get up. "I'll go enroll in the team - See you tomorrow in Physics." surprisingly for the both of them, he kissed her cheek before leaving the gym.

There were a myriad of things going through their minds - Why did he do that, Billy asked to himself; He didn't want to date, he just wanted to have fun and get the hell over this shit terminal highschool year; He wanted to be Keg King Billy, and win over everyone, and then run the hell back to Cali and study Engineering... So why was he so attracted to this pretty girl? Was it because she helped him in freaking Math? Or because she fed him such fantastic food? Or because she was so kind with him? He hasn't had anyone so nice to him, without him offering something back in some way; It was always about his good-looks and charm, granted, he worked hard to look the way he does, and he was more than happy with what he's done; He was pretty sure his weights weight more than Kat - He could exercise with her instead. Oh, no, those were such weird thoughts in his head - Though he couldn't help but wonder, if her cheek was so soft, and he was encaptured by her sweet perfume so much - How would her lips taste? What lip gloss is she using? Was it cherry? He dearly wanted to know - Many, many times over.

Kat, however, was rooted on the spot, blushing a little - She's never had a boy kiss her like that before, and Billy was so handsome, charming and fun! He was so intriguing, and she wanted to spend more time with him - Was he giving her a chance? Did he want to be her friend? Hopefully, he wouldn't cast her aside after he's gotten his popularity crown, that would be very sad. Almost as sad as Nancy taking Steve's side and still dating him, in spite of how much of a jerk he can be. Not that it was her problem at all, she didn't want to destroy their relationship, but she also didn't like seeing Nancy so upset.

✦ . ⁺  . ✦ . ⁺  . ✦

The next day went like any other day for Kat, with the exception that Billy sat next to her in Physics. This time, he had a single notebook and a pen - He knew Kat would be carrying the textbook for the both of them anyway, and he didn't want to bother too much; He would end up forgetting what class he has in which day regardless, that's how much he cares. Unfortunately, just like the previous day, they started with the more difficult stuff right away, and once again, the students groaned in exasperation. No one wanted to deal with those difficult problems - And that one unlucky loser who would be forced to step in front of the class and humiliate themselves by being unable to solve that idiocy.

Physics class was an absolute drag, more so than math, if you could believe it. The old man's croaky voice droned on about Newton's laws of motion, and the chalk squeaked painfully on the blackboard. Billy sat at his desk, trying his best to stay awake. His mind wandered back to the beach in California, the waves, the sun, the freedom. He couldn't understand how anyone could stay awake during these classes. Still, he was well aware, Physics was one of the core classes he needed to ace, to be properly prepared for University. How annoying.

Next to him, Kat was doodling away in her notebook again, her red hair forming a curtain around her face as she sketched what looked like a complex diagram of some plant. Her aquamarine eyes flicked up to the teacher every now and then, but it was clear she wasn't really paying attention. Billy sighed, shifting in his seat, and his eyes caught on a small piece of paper that had been nudged his way. Kat's handwriting was neat and small, each letter perfectly formed into a small yet adorable message addressed his way.

< Bored c: ? >it read, a tiny smiley face next to the question.

Billy smirked, glancing at her. She didn’t look up, her attention seemingly focused on her drawing. He scribbled back a quick reply and slid the paper back to her.  < You have no idea. How do you stay awake in this place? >

Kat's eyes flickered to the note, and a soft, almost imperceptible smile tugged at her lips. She quickly wrote something down and nudged the paper back.  < Pretty flowers and daydreams. What about you? >

Billy leaned back in his chair, pretending to stretch as he took the note and wrote back. < Thinking about Cali. The beach. The waves. I'd be out surfing now. >

Kat's eyebrows rose in curiosity as she read his response. She shook her head subtly, and Billy noticed the slight sparkle of interest in her eyes as she wrote her reply.  < Surfing looked amazing on TV! I want to hear all about it! >

He chuckled softly, enjoying this small rebellion against the boredom of the class. He scribbled back quickly. < Imagine this: hot sand under your feet, cool waves crashing over you, and the sun setting on the horizon. >

Kat’s eyes shone with excitement as she read his words. She leaned a bit closer to him, the edge of her notebook brushing against his arm as she wrote back.  < That sounds like paradise. Take me there someday? >

Billy felt a weird twist in his chest at her words. He hadn’t expected her to be so open, so genuinely interested. It was... Nice. He scratched out a quick reply, his usual confident smirk softening into something a bit more genuine. Why did he actually feel something when interacting to this complete stranger? This wasn't like him, not at all. He was the playboy, the casanova, he could have anything and everything he wants... So why...?  < Maybe I will, doll. Just gotta get through this hellhole first. >

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. Students hurried to pack their things and leave, but Billy and Kat lingered a moment longer, exchanging one last glance before standing up. "Hey, dollface, I've got basket practice after lunch. Wanna watch me destroy King Steve?" he hung back by her side, picking her bag and placing it over his shoulder.

"Oh, I would love to! Only - Forgive me, I have never watched a basketball match before, and I have no idea what the game even is about, except an orange ball that you have to throw through a hoop." she chuckled softly. "Thank you for holding my bag, Billy, but you really needn't!"

The boy simply flashed a smirk, guiding her out by the very same tree the previous day. "Got any more of that super delish food?"

Kat's smile widened into a grin as she buried her hands in the bag, revealing a small blanket and two lunch boxes. "I had hoped you wouldn't stop wanting to see me overnight, so I prepared lunch for you also - And brought a fork for you, of course. I can't expect King Billy to eat with pink chopsticks painted with tons of flowers." she chuckled, patting the spot next to her. 

For some reason, Billy's heart sunk; Buried underneath that gorgeous, hopeful smile of hers, a deep loneliness was revealed mixed with such a sweet voice. Why did he care so much? Was it because she tried so hard to be kind to him? Although, for Billy, everything she was doing seemed natural; He felt as though everything she was doing came so naturally to her - Her kindness was natural. And he felt like a moth gravitating around the flame.

"Y'think I'm that much of a brain dead sheep, that I'd stop hanging around a pretty girl 'cause dumbass Harrington set the trend?" he slumped down next to her, digging in his fantastic lunch. "Harrington has no clue what he's been missing on these years - If not your pretty face, this damn food would keep a man from walking away." this comment seemed to make the red haired girl hide her mouth with her sleeve, stifling a very amused chuckle. 

"You are being very kind to me, Billy, Thank you." she nodded her head bashfully. "I just hope you won't come to regret it." the young man threw her a shady look and scoffed.

"Are you comparing yourself to those stinky cows, KitKat?" the girl couldn't help but gasp and start laughing - For once, the nickname was so cute - She's never had anyone use a nickname with her! And, for second - Did Billy just call their classmates 'Stinky Cows'?

"Did you just call our classmates -- Stinky cows?!" even just repeating that made the girl laugh harder.

Billy muttered, digging into the food. “Most of the girls in Hawkins are so dull. All they care about is gossip and who’s dating who. No one has any real interests." he continued. "And yes, they stink of very bad cheap perfume." he leaned a little to the side, close to her neck. "Yours is very nice and feminine."

"Oh, thank you, I'm glad you liked it! I worked two years to buy it! I found it on sale, so I managed to get two bottles." two years of hard work to get a proper perfume, and all those trust fund bitches and silver spoon rich fucks can't even find a proper fashion sense. "And - Yeah, I guess our classmates can be annoying and... Pretty plain! But they aren't all that bad - I think! I mean, at least this is the last year we'll see them, right?"

Billy smirked, taking a bite of a dumpling. “Well, it’s true. And don’t even get me started on the guys. Dumb as bricks, most of them. The highlight of their day is probably belching the alphabet or winning a pissing contest."

Kat giggled, shaking her head. “You’re awful, Billy. But yeah, I get what you mean. Sometimes it feels like we’re stuck in this small-town bubble and no one wants to break out of it.” she looked up at the bright sky. "I hope to travel the world some day. It's my biggest dream."

Big dreams for the future, from a little person like them - But what can a man do but dream of a better future built if their own hands, with blood, sweat and tears? "That's a nice dream to have." he nodded to himself. "Keep on dreaming, KitKat."

"What about you, Billy? What's your big dream." what a wonderful question with no real answer.

"No clue." Billy found himself spewing. "Haven't thought that far yet. For now, my only dream is to get that damn scholarship, move back to Cali and get my fucking degree. If I get that far, I'll think of something for the future." he grumbled under his breath. "I just wanna get the fuck out of this god forsaken place."

"You really hate this place that much?" her voice became sympathetic and filled with compassion.

"Bullshit city, yeah." he huffed, stuffing himself with more food. "But not only."

"I understand what you're trying to say." the girl smiled softly. "If you need anything, I'm here for you. Until then - I'll try to help make this year more bearable for you. How's that sound?"

Billy looked right into her eyes; His crystal eyes peered in the depths of her soul, piercing aggressively - Yet he was met with resistance coming from a veil of genuine care and worry for him. What a fool this girl was. Girls like her always end up bad - Not because they do anything wrong, but because the world fails them. Billy picked her chin, leaning in closer to her face. "Don't change who you are, dollface." he said, before letting go and getting up to her feet. "Now come, I'll delight your eyes during practice. Be a nice girl and cheer for me, will ya?"

"If you wouldn't be embarrassed by me being there, then I would love to!" she looked cute - As cute as a little kitten would look, nestled in large blankets.

Billy nodded his head at her to pack everything and get up; They headed towards the gym, where they went separate ways. Kat took a seat in the bleachers, her eyes scanning the court as the players warmed up, with Billy there in the lead. The sound of sneakers squeaking against the polished wooden floor and the thud of basketballs being dribbled filled the air. Billy and a few of his teammates were tossing the ball back and forth as they waited for practice to officially begin. He caught sight of Katrina in the stands, a confident smirk spreading across his face. He had planned to show off a bit, and he was determined to make a memorable impression.

When the whistle blew and practice started in earnest, Billy kicked into show-off mode, playing with swagger, his movements sharp and fluid. He dribbled, passed, and shot with impressive precision, each move showcasing his athletic prowess. Kat had no idea what she was watching, but seeing Billy playing so passionately made her smile brightly.

As the game progressed, Billy’s shirt was soaked with sweat, clinging to his well-defined muscles. He could feel Kat’s gaze on him, and he made sure to put on a show. With each dunk and fast break, he glanced over to see her reaction, enjoying the way her eyes followed his every move. He could almost feel her enthusiasm and see those sparkling gems, even though she was sitting still and had no clue what she was watching.

At one point, Billy executed a fantastic slam dunk, hanging from the rim for a moment before landing gracefully on his feet. He looked over at Katrina, catching her wide-eyed, slightly awestruck expression. He couldn’t help but grin, his eyes twinkling with a mix of pride and mischief seeing her clap with such child-like glee.

During a brief break, Billy trotted over to the sidelines, his shirt discarded and his chest glistening with sweat dripping down his Adonis muscles. He wiped his face with a towel, his confident demeanor never wavering; He casually leaned against the bleachers where she was seated, his body language radiating both charm and casual arrogance. 

“Hey, gorgeous. How’s the show so far? Living up to standards?” his hands were balled in fists against his hips, making sure his body was perfectly flexed. If even his body that had the appeal of a Greek God statue by Michelangelo couldn't make her at least blush a little, than he was sure, this girl was a lost cause.

Much to his pride and joy, however, he saw the girl smiling at him - And her cheeks were just a hue pink, like two beautiful peonies. Success. "I think you were fantastic! You totally threw Steve in your shadow!" she admitted, trying to sound nonchalant but unable to hide her admiration.

Billy’s grin widened, clearly pleased with the compliment. “Figured I’d give you a little private show.” he gave her a playful wink, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Is that so?” Katrina replied, her tone light and teasing. “And here I thought you were just a show-off.”

Billy chuckled, his eyes lingering on her pretty face and that glowing smile of hers. “Maybe a little.” he straightened up, his confidence unwavering. 

"Then are we leaving the private show for some other time?" the girl's mischievous comment was hiding a most teasing innuendo that wasn't lost on the boy - In fact, Billy was quite shocked to see her completely natural and serene flirting with him. Did she even know she was flirting, or did she think it was purely friendly teasing?

"For you? Any time, any day, sweet cheeks." with a wink, Billy jogged back to continue the second half of their match and completely piss on Harrington and his week game. He was feeling even more energetic thanks to the pretty girl's evident appreciation of his skills - And physique, of course. The way he played with effortless skill and charisma was meant to impress her, and he could tell that he was flawlessly succeeding.

By the end of practice, Billy’s teammates were buzzing with excitement, their high-fives and cheers a testament to the intensity of the session. He returned over to Katrina, his chest still bare and glistening with sweat, and plopped down beside her. "Want a hug, doll?" he couldn't help but grin in amusement hearing her soft squeak and seeing her jump away from him.

"Take a shower first, and then we'll talk about a hug!" she was giggling all giddy and cute.

Billy’s eyes softened with a touch of vulnerability, a rare moment of sincerity amidst his usual bravado. “Wanna join? All hot and steamy.”

"Sorry - Too much testosterone and magical wands fighting." she giggled jokingly. "I'm more of a hopelessly romantic kinda girl. Not quite the norm these days, huh?" yes, of course she would be that kinda girl. A sweet girl who daydreams of an endless happy love story, of a Prince Charming carrying her around like a Princess. That type of perfect girl, Daddy's sweet little angel, who should never hang around fucked up and broken bad boys like him.

But didn't all guys want the good girl to go bad just for them? "I'll keep that in mind while I humiliate Harrington with my magic wand." they were such dorks.

  Classes pass by fast, basketball practice was going smoothly, and Billy was gaining traction; His popularity was up there, his grades were up, and finally, his date night with Princess KitKat was approach. He had to get all done up and looking as charming as ever, his Cali magic couldn't fail him. He could get bitches all he wanted, that was easy - But he promised her a nice date, and hopefully, he wasn't too broken and screwed up to provide at least this little. Lord knows she deserved something nice in that lonely life of hers.

Next Chapter >

[harus-simp]

Home, sweet home

-Taerae x reader-

Warning:none (fluffy fluff 😚)

Requested: hiii, do you think you could write a drabble about waking up with taerae and being all domestic ?? <3 (Anonymous)

Author's note: hey there anon, here's your drabble of taerae, so I hope you like it :))

Thank you so much for requesting <3

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Spending the day inside with taerae after a long day celebrating his debut makes you realise how much you love him and how hard would it be for you to not have him in your life.

As the morning person you were, it was around 11 a.m almost and you were still sound asleep. The they before you and taerae had been out all day celebrating him getting 6th place on boys planet, so you were both exhausted from moving around a lot actually.

Shuffling on your bed made you a little bit more conscious, however you wanted to keep sleeping so you tried to for a couple of minutes until you started opening your eyes only to find your boyfriend staring at you with a sweet smile adorning his face.

"Morning sleepyhead"he said ruffling your hair softly as he was using his elbow as a support.

"Good morning"you told him hiding behind your blanket.

He laughed at your behaviour.

"How long have you been watching me?"you asked embarrassed.

"Don't know, I lost count"he said neutrally waiting for you to go out of your little fort.

"Ahhh, seriously, why are you like this???"you whined taking your blanket off you.

He ignored your question and grabbed your hand starting to pull you out of bed to stand up.

"C'mon we can't stay here forever, it's late"

You wanted to stay on bed but figured fighting wouldn't lead you anywhere so you just let him drag you to the kitchen in order to make breakfast.

As you made your way there you both thought of what you could have to eat. Yes at 11a.m, but you both were hungry so who are we to judge?

You finally decided to have something simple as pancakes..., yeah that was the idea because let's say it wasn't going that well.

"What are you doing taerae?"you shouted panick taking over you.

"Aren't you supposed to pour mik now?"

"Yes, but not that much!"😫😫😫

Yeah, so the pancakes didn't turn out that good but well, at least you were having fun together?

After that, you washed the dishes and took a shower because all the goofing around while cooking kinda made you both dirty due to all the flour flying around lol.

Right after that you guys started cleaning the apartment with background music which kinda was a mistake as well 💀💀💀 (you can't do shit without causing chaos, I think junhyeon has infected you lmao).

So instead of finishing everything in a short spam of time you took more time than you had plan and ended your work half an hour later that you had intended to.

Then tarae got the idea of interpreting you hot summer, but an acapella version of it with his guitar as you had requested him to sing days before the song, what can you say you wanted a little spoiler before the finale 🤭

He gathered all he needed and positioned himself to sing in a comfortable place.

As he started singing you were literally hypnotised by taerae's voice (who wouldn't actually), it was true that you had heard it before on the programme but hearing him in person was much better, he knew how to perfectly highlight his skills and you loved how he was able to just draw you in.

After he finished you clapped enthusiastically expressing your love for him and his vocals.

"You are so good taerae, you suit the concept a lot"you complimented him.

"Haha thank you"he said flashing you one of his characteristic smiles.

As you stared at him, you started to realise how lucky you were to have someone like him in your life, he was one the one you always seeked for his face in a crowd when you were meeting for a date, how your whole face and spirit lighted up when you felt his presence or even the heartache you had when you both needed to part ways was enough for you to understand that you wanted to keep him in your life forever.

"What are you thinking there?"he asked curiously as he saw you smiling unconsciously at him, looking directly into his eyes.

"Just how lucky and greatful I am to be your girlfriend" you answered, the smile not leaving your face.

In that precise moment he really felt how time stopped right there and you were the only thing that mattered to him.

You managed to make him so shy he couldn't even look at you back. You simply smiled wider and got closer to him.

"What?I really am"

He trapped you in his arms hugging you tightly and not intending to let go.

"I am more lucky, believe me"

And just like that you spended the rest of the day just being all lovey dovey and clingy 😙

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