#I need to get better at shading orz

[sandwichhour]

Auaahagah grfifin 🤸‍♂️

[bmpmp3]

you have just opened my third eye.

i need to emphasize to my followers who haven’t played Trendsetters that MC Mode is genuinely just a goofy announcer character who’s entire personality consists of airhorn sound effects and he’s really only present in one specific game mechanic (minus some post game stuff). but i think its okay to become really attached to a one note gimmick character sometimes

character trait i made up about him #1: his flashy fits are his lifeblood and he needs to wear at least 3 different clashing patterns at all times or he can’t function in human society

[lalunanymph]

i feel like rin's prone to nightmares considering his daily stress and bottled emotions from his childhood :(( like u see him sleeping with furrowed eyebrows and heavy breathing :(( oh the urge to suck him off while sleeping orz

im so sick for him he makes me crazy, you're so real for this nonnie thank you for letting me play w your big brain idea 🫶🏼

tw. somno, nightmares, established relationship, female!reader, oral s*x, rin and reader are gooey for each other

Silk sheets pressed in between two breathing bodies splayed across the deepening of a velvet night.

Wedged close to your boyfriend, sleep was slowly dissipating, the feeling of him stirring hard enough to pry your eyes wide open. 

You slowly blinked the fog from your mind and rubbed the crust from your eyes.

In the dim slate of the city lights spilling onto your dark sheets, you eased up onto your elbow, recognizing the cadence of his breath; the twitch of his arms.

Rin’s dark green hair was dyed the deepest shade of night, pale lids scrunching and relaxing in stuttering stops and starts—intermittently followed by a pout which tugged on your heartstrings.

“Rin-Rin?” you cooed quietly. When he didn’t stir, you sat up, on alert. “Rin?” 

A whimper answered your inquiring inflection of his name. Seeing Rin now, without the glaring stadium lights and the pressure of Japan’s growing sports industry constantly looming over him like an ash cloud, you thought he looked more like a boy than the man you fell in love with. 

His forehead was covered with a sheen of sweat, fists clenched at his side. The black shirt he wore to sleep stuck to his broad chest that rose and fell with staccato pants.  

“Rin?” 

Another nightmare.

This was the third time in the month.

If you could trace back this strange occurrence, you thought it might’ve been because of his recent match in Spain. 

Through your woozy memories, you recalled another pair of flinty teal eyes. A frigid glare. How Rin hadn’t spoken a word since he boarded the flight from Madrid back to Tokyo, according to Isagi. 

You were worried for him, teeth catching on your lower lip. 

“Rin?” 

Your voice was weak. Hesitant. Afraid of waking up old ghosts.

The rational thought of waking him up was replaced by hesitating contradiction. Rin would get mad if you interrupted his sleep, his mood cranky and uncommunicative for the whole morning. On the other hand, he didn’t look like he was exactly enjoying his dreams, and the thought made your heart twist in a dichotomy of care and crippling worry. 

Trying hard not to wake him up, you pressed your head onto his chest, slowly rubbing his belly. 

It was a trick your mother had taught you—when she had to soothe your own night terrors back in the days. 

Instantly, Rin’s breathing grew deeper, and he stopped twitching. Chancing a peek up at him through your lashes, you drank in the stubborn scowl still etched onto his mouth. 

Even in sleep he was so gorgeous it hurt to even look at him. Those thick eyelashes framing closed eyes, the perfect chiselled cheekbones.

You thought you might’ve saved an entire busload of orphans from deep diving down a cliff in your past life to be able to call Itoshi Rin yours in this lifetime. 

Exhaling softly, the air was fragmented with the thickening of your heart, full to bursting. You swallowed hard, once, then twice—and inched your hand past the waistband of his joggers.

He was warm in your palm, all skin and velvet softness which lost its doughy pliancy the more you stroked along your favourite vein. You felt his heartbeat kick up a notch, his breathing giving a little hitch.

Worried that you might have woken him up, you stopped.

But, Rin didn’t make a move to break your hold on him. Stuck in sleep, you hoped his dreams were taking a turn for the better now that you were here to help.

You just wanted to help, you reiterated in your mind firmly. Your boyfriend needed you, and this was what you were good at; giving him a piece of heaven when he was constantly surrounded by the embers of his draining career and hidden secrets.

A sticky drop was smeared between your thumb and forefinger, Rin’s body responding to yours in kind. Even locked in unconsciousness, he was still sensitive, and you cooed at his reaction. 

Gaining more courage, you dared to lift your head, pecking a gentle kiss to his left pec, as you trailed your way down between his thighs. Tossing the blanket aside, you shivered from the sudden brush of cold air on your exposed cleavage, keeping your eyes steady on him if he should wake up.

Rin and you had discussed this a million times before—the line toeing pleasure and coercion.

You adored it whenever he refused to listen to your whimpers of overstimulation, much like how he would get hard enough to cut through steel whenever you played with his cock at the most inopportune of times.

The memory of him crowding you against a plane’s bathroom door shone in your mind. It was a holiday or another—his monthiversary gift to you. Rin had somehow managed to coerce you to join him in the cramped toilet where he had hooked your thighs under his elbows and fucked into you until you came hard enough to almost sprain your hamstring; both titillated and terrified at the thought of being caught.

This time was no different. Your heart was a pumping mess, beating twice as hard at the thought of what you were about to do.

Grabbing the elastic band of joggers, you tugged it down, enough for his cock to spring up, half-hard and already drooling.

The taste of him coated your tongue, and you hollowed your cheeks, docilely taking him down your throat. You moaned, enjoying clean musk saturating your tastebuds. Bobbing your head, you were dedicated to your cause, freeing Rin from his nightmares and replacing it with nothing but heated sensations and deepening valleys of adoration for his girlfriend who would give him the world.

Feeling his abs constrict under your palm, you sucked on the flushed mushroom tip, the plump nib throbbing hot and insistent, pinning your tongue down. 

Sucking your boyfriend off was your favourite pastime, and if anyone asked, you were happy to spend hours on your knees worshipping his cock. That didn’t mean Rin didn’t show you the same amount of devotion. He was equally as insane for your taste as you were for his, and fate couldn’t have created a more perfect pair. 

His breathy moan filled your ears, and you put in more work to try and get him off; using your throat as a fuck sleeve. What you couldn’t fit down your throat, you used your hands to squeeze and tug.

Massaging his balls, slotting your face closer to his taint to kiss and lick circles on the soft flesh. You were so deep into your act of pure love that you didn’t feel his hand in your hair until a sharp tug pulled you off his cock.

Those beautiful teal eyes were ablaze, nostrils flaring. Seeing him from your angle below, Rin could easily overpower you; using his defined and hefty muscles to pin you down and make you pay for ever waking him up. 

But, he grunted, eyes fluttering shut and opening again, lucidity evading those aquamarine pupils.

“What’re you doing?” he slurred, nose scrunched adorably.

In answer, you smiled and kissed his tip. Angelic and filthy like a devil in disguise.

“You had a nightmare so I was helping you.”

Rin’s exhausted growl rang through the room. He tugged you up towards him, lips crashing insistently on yours with sloppy, heated kisses.

You poured all your devotion and love into his mouth, sweet moans filling him up. 

Neither of you cared for morning breath or anything else but devouring each other; egoist to enabler, predator to prey.

You felt him push your babydoll nightie to the side, exposing your bare pussy which was already soaked for him. Rin never allowed you to wear underwear while you slept next to him for one reason and one only.

He toyed with your soaked entrance using the rough pads of his index and middle finger, strands of dark hair tinged with the faintest hue of dark green in the weak light sticking to his forehead.

“Well, you did more than help,” he started, sinking two thick fingers easily into your willing cunt. Your mewl was lost in his shoulder, tiny fingernails digging into his broad back. 

“So, I suggest you put that slutty pussy to good use and finish what that pretty mouth started.”

screams i need to munch him 😭

©️lalunanynph

[smuttyandabsurd]

Rocket Man (America x Russia)

Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia Pairing: America/Russia Rating: Mature Word Count: 1,987 Additional Tags: Accents, Blow Jobs, Dubiously Consensual Blow Jobs, Public Blow Jobs, Bribery, Corruption, Police, Police Uniforms, Power Imbalance, Power Play, Xenophobia

Summary: Ivan is stopped by a young blond (and not entirely unattractive) traffic cop, and foolishly attempts to bribe his way out of a ticket. Cop!AU.

I spent way too long writing this orz

Read it on AO3.

Ivan was not having a good start to his day. 

Traffic was sparse, but he was running late, and the last thing he needed was a cop stopping him. Shit! he thought at the wail of the siren, pulling over with a jerk of the wheel. “Shit!” he hissed out loud as his tumbler toppled over and spilled hot coffee down the side of his leg. As his car crunched to a halt, he pulled up the handbrake and reached over to right his tumbler, cursing softly now in Russian. 

A knock on the window, two sharp raps on the glass, startled him upright. 

An officer stood outside and motioned with his hand for him to wind down the window, which he dutifully did. The officer leaned over, one hand holding onto the roof of his car whilst the other rested nonchalantly close to his holstered pistol. He smacked his gum loudly as he peered down at Ivan through his aviator shades. 

“Do you know why I stopped you, sir?” he asked. He spoke with a long southern drawl, his voice low but betraying a surprising youth. Ivan hazarded that he could only be in his mid-20s at most. 

“No, officer,” he replied truthfully. “What seems to be the problem?” 

Despite himself, Ivan’s heart was skipping. He attempted to fix his face into one of mild bewilderment, but the sting of the hot coffee sticking to his pant leg twisted it into a grimace. The officer stared at him, his eyes hidden behind Ivan’s uncomfortable reflection.

“Licence and registration,” he drawled. 

Ivan patted down his chest only to realise he wasn’t wearing his suit jacket. It lay slung over his briefcase in the front passenger seat. “Um,” he said, suddenly conscious of his hands which he placed purposefully on the wheel. “My wallet is in my jacket. Do I have permission to retrieve it, sir?” 

There was a short pause as the officer stared at him, head slightly cocked to one side, as if considering whether Ivan was fucking with him or not. “I’ll grab it for ya,” he finally said, and without waiting for Ivan’s acquiescence he reached in. 

Ivan leaned back in his seat, the leather groaning under his weight as the officer stuck in his blond head and all but clambered through the window, stretching towards the passenger seat. His heart was racing at the sudden invasion of his personal space. This close to him, he could smell the officer’s aftershave and the mint of his gum. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant. His eyes darted towards the name tag on the officer’s chest which read “Alfred F. Jones” – and, against his better judgement, he found himself transfixed to Alfred’s lightly tanned skin which peeked out from underneath his unfastened shirt collar. 

“Spilled your coffee?” Alfred said with a pointed look at the puddled mess all over Ivan’s console, breaking the latter man out of his guilty reverie. There was a tinkling lightness to the officer’s tone even as he leered, his lips curling into a gummy snarl, revealing rows of even and startlingly white teeth. 

Ivan let out a nervous laugh. “Yes sir,” he said, swallowing hard and hoping he hadn’t just been caught gawping.

The officer grabbed his jacket and backed out of the window. Ivan watched as the six-hundred-dollar Hugo Boss article was dropped onto the hood and dragged across the dust of the Nevadan desert as the officer rifled through his pockets. Gripping tight to the wheel, he wondered where he would have to go from here to get it dry cleaned.

Finally, the officer extracted his wallet. He unfolded it and flipped through its contents, leafing through multiple credit cards, a golf membership club card, an old outdated library card from a previous address… He stopped when he came across one of Ivan’s business cards. 

“Ivan Braginski, aerospace consultant,” he mumbled. He looked towards Ivan. “You some kind of a rocket scientist, mister?” 

Ivan nodded, smiling faintly. 

“No shit!” Alfred exclaimed with undisguised delight, sounding even more youthful in his excitement. “Man, I always wanted to be an astronaut myself! Like, as a kid, y’know? Course, ya gotta be super smart in school to go to space and all.” 

Ivan felt the tension was starting to melt between them, and he allowed himself to relax. “I merely consult in logistics and parts acquisition,” he said humbly. 

“Huh? Well, shame to have to pull you over for your blinkers then,” the officer said. All trace of friendliness disappeared along with his toothy smile. He had found Ivan’s driving licence, and he unpocketed his ticket book and pen from his breast pocket. “You’d think a smart science guy like you would know how to, uh, acquire some working parts for his fancy car and all.” 

Ivan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Officer,” he began without knowing what to say. 

As he watched Alfred scribble into his book, Ivan felt a wave of irritation wash over him. He was due to take his car into the garage, he had booked an appointment weeks beforehand and was due to go, just as soon as his business was finished. What rotten luck to be caught out on a freeway in the middle of nowhere by some hick traffic cop with something to prove! 

“Officer,” he started again, and Alfred looked up from his book this time. “I apologise for the broken taillight. I have an appointment to have it fixed, I can show you the receipt. I’m just in town for one night from out of state – and I would rather not have a ticket if you please.” 

Alfred stared at him, his eyes still shielded behind his shades, but he had stopped writing. 

“Do you think we could, uh, just settle it here, just between us?” Ivan expanded vaguely. 

Alfred kept staring, his pen still poised over the ticket. The silence stretched taut between them, and just as Ivan was beginning to regret his words, Alfred said slowly, “So you’re offering to bribe me, am I understanding you correctly?” 

Throwing all caution to the wind, Ivan let out the breath he had been holding and indicated towards his wallet which lay abandoned among its strewn contents on the hood of his car. 

“There’s cash in there, about $300. Please, it’s yours, sir, for your trouble.” 

With a snap, Alfred shut his ticket book. He bent down so his eyes were level with Ivan’s as he hissed, “Get out of the car.”

Ivan’s heart dropped. He knew he had been gambling on the potential that the situation would go south but he had not expected this reaction. Reluctantly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. Alfred stepped back from the car, allowing Ivan to step out onto the road. 

“Right, on your knees.”

“Officer Jones, there’s really no need for all thi-” 

“I said, on your knees!” 

Slowly, Ivan crouched down, his hands raised palms up in a show of compliance. Once close to the ground, he folded his legs and knelt, suppressing a wince as the asphalt bit into his knees. He glanced warily up at Alfred. 

“You think you can bribe an officer of the law here, do ya? You goddamn Russki.” 

Alfred spat out his gum which landed horribly close to Ivan, making him flinch. 

“Well,” Alfred said as he pulled out a fresh stick of Wrigley’s Doublemint, “I don’t need your money, Russki, but as it turns out there is something you can do for me.” 

With a crunch of gravel underfoot, Alfred advanced on Ivan, tossing the small gum wrapper onto the ground. As he loomed over Ivan, he pushed his thumbs into the waistband of his trousers. The rest of his fingers pointed almost comically emphatically down towards his crotch. Ivan stared. 

Comprehension slowly dawned on him as Alfred started unbuckling his belt. Eyes widening, Ivan looked up for confirmation, but all he could see was his own apprehensive face staring straight back at him from those maddeningly mirrored shades. He looked back down as Alfred unfastened the fly of his pants and pulled his cock free. 

“Let’s just settle it here, just between us,” Alfred said, echoing Ivan’s words with an ironic smirk. 

With a stab of regret, all the cumulative events of the day that led to him coming to eye level with a cop’s dick hovering less than a foot from his face flashed across Ivan's mind’s eye. 

Swallowing his reluctance, Ivan opened his mouth, and he took in as much of Alfred as he could, letting his tongue slide wetly along the underside of the soft appendage. To his surprise, he heard a pleasured sigh escape the officer’s lips. Closing his lips around the shaft, he gave a hesitant bob of his head, and was rewarded with the sensation of Alfred’s cock hardening. 

“Oh fuck,” Alfred whispered hoarsely. 

Encouraged by Alfred’s reaction and eager to be done with the whole sordid affair, Ivan continued the bobbing motion. The officer’s cock slid wetly in and out of his lips, creating a host of sucking, slurping noises that seemed to crowd all other sounds out from his ears. He maintained a steady rhythm, his eyes closed as he breathed through his nose. Without realising it, he had brought his hands up to hold Alfred by his waist so as to steady himself as he serviced him. 

What felt like a small eternity of sucking off the rogue cop was abruptly broken as Alfred grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him in. Ivan’s yelp, both of surprise and pain, was swallowed by the involuntary gag he made as Alfred’s cock slammed into the back of his throat. To his horror, something hot flooded his mouth, coating his throat and tongue with an acrid bitter taste; spluttering, he attempted to pull back, but Alfred held tightly to him as he finished inside of him. 

“Fuck yeah!” Alfred moaned as Ivan choked on his dick, his nose pressed into Alfred’s groin as a mixture of drool and cum dribbled from his mouth and soaked into Alfred's pubic hair. 

When Alfred finally released his grip, Ivan doubled over and retched. A small puddle of saliva and semen formed on the black asphalt as his eyes watered and his stomach heaved. 

“Well, that’s fucking disgusting,” Alfred said airily, loudly snapping his gum as he zipped up his pants. 

Ivan spat at the ground and fished out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth with it, feeling utterly humiliated. Slowly, he staggered back up to his feet, his head bowed. He forced himself to make eye contact with his tormentor who looked completely unruffled. 

“Am I free to go?” he rasped. 

Alfred’s lips split into a mirthless grin, revealing rows of gleaming white teeth. 

“Sure, mister, you have yourself a nice day!” he said brightly, with all the muster of the south’s famed hospitality, but there was a mocking disingenuity to his tone.

Keeping a wary eye on Alfred, Ivan grabbed his jacket and wallet from the hood and slid back into his car, tossing his belongings haphazardly into the passenger seat as he closed the door behind him. He reached for his seatbelt, which was when he noticed that Alfred had his hand resting on the frame of his wound-down window. 

Suppressing a sigh, Ivan asked, “Is there something else, officer?” 

The scent of mint filled his nostrils as Alfred leaned in and pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss to him. His own mouth fell open in shock, and he felt Alfred’s tongue snake in and plunder him with a searing passion, pushing him back with a surprising display of strength. 

Then, just as suddenly, Alfred pulled back and straightened up. With a small wave, he turned towards his own car and sidled off, whistling cheerfully. 

Ivan closed his mouth and tasted the half-chewed gum Alfred had left behind as a souvenir.

[qilingxiong]

tag someone you want to get to know better

i was tagged by @tavina-writes, thank you!!!

Favourite colour: purples of most shades, and teal + turquoise. also shoutout to black given that it makes up the vast majority of my wardrobe lmao

Last song: according to spotify it's your ex-lover is dead, by stars

Last movie: uhhhh it was probably to catch a killer, starring shailene woodley. my parents yanked me into watching it with them when i was still at home before the school term

Currently watching: technically it's 使徒行者 3 (line walker 3: bull fight), and also i started blood of youth a while back. but my brain is so full of mysterious lotus casebook right now and i might start a rewatch of that so to those other shows, i apologize 😔

Currently reading: i'm still in dmbj land hehe. started reading whichever volume merebear is currently translating last night

Currently working on: my di feisheng/fang duobing post-canon grieving fic. it's intended to be a multichap but god i haven't attempted that in several years and never actually finished one, so we'll see how that goes. need to finish the first chapter still tho Orz

Current obsession: very, very much mysterious lotus casebook. i'm still playing around with some dmbj things in the background, too

Tagging @pastelcheckereddreams, @angryteapott, @xinxiaojie

[dzkust]

rm 11918

[phantasyreign]

Tips on Creating a Color Scheme.

Sometimes, the color selections of a theme plays a vital role in making the users to install the said theme. Some might find it easy to create their own color schemes but there are some people who is not that good in creating their own color schemes... like me orz.

If you��re like me, the kind of person who is not that good in creating their own color scheme, you might understand the frustration of not being able to generate a good color scheme. But that’s okay! In this article, I’ll be sharing with everyone some tips on how to get better when creating your own color scheme by using this method - selecting the colors from your image. By image, I do not mean any random image but rather your sidebar, header, background or even your profile picture.

If you’re interested, do continue reading!

1. Choose an image.

For me, one of the many preliminary considerations before coding is to choose the image that I want it to pop out for my header or sidebar as the focus/highlight of the theme. If I want to make it work, then I will definitely need to make sure that both of my colors selections in my theme and my selected image complements one and another. How to do so? Of course by way of extracting the colors from the image.

Since we cannot extract the colors of the image using Tumblr, we need to use an external tool. For this situation, my go to website will always be HTML Colors from Image. This is a website where you can extract colors from your uploaded image.

What I like about this website, aside from its easy interface, is the ability of it to remain functional despite leaving it for several hours. Some websites, if you leave them hanging for hours, will not be able to re-capture back the image’s color. But definitely not this website.

Other things to consider: If you have decided of wanting to upload a background image, make sure that the background image complements your header/sidebar image and vice versa. 

Example:

The background image for my Page06: Ashitaka complements with the sidebar image as it shares the same colors schemes (blue, green, orange).

2. Study the image

Let’s take my theme03: Qinni Han as an example. I mostly retrieved the colors from its background image.

And it ended up becoming like this:

I believe that common sense and a little bit analysis needs to play an active role when extracting the colors. You cannot pick the colors blindly and hope for the best result. Sometimes, you won’t go wrong in spending a few minutes of observing the image. Here are a couple of consideration that you might want to consider.

Understand the overall ‘ambience’ of an image.

The purpose of this consideration is for you to think what color suits best for your post? The reason why I focus on post per se is that it is essentially the main content of your blog. The visitors come for your content. So might as well make it pop out.

What is the main color that the background image used? Well, if you look at the background image above, you’ll see that the overall color would be blue or purple. So say that your aim is to create a color block (in which that was my aim that time), definitely, you should not picked any of the blue or purple hues as it will make your theme to appear more bland.

Hence, we left with three more hues available in that image - orange, pink, yellow, and green. I ended up chose pink as it is in between of blue/purple and orange. I found that when using this shade, it complements with the background image while making the post to stand out without being too distracting.

See that rarely used color? - Let’s make it as the highlight.

By highlight, of course we are referring to the links, blog titles and post titles. Since such colors were used sparingly in that image, the same thought should be applied when using that color inside our theme. I believe that when artists use certain colors sparingly, they want to highlight that elements. Example in that background image above would be the jellyfishes and the sparks of lights that appear at the lamp stand and the cracks of windows and doors. Thus, I often use these colors to highlight the things that I want.

Another example where I used the rarely-used color of the image can be seen in my Theme05: Kikyo:

You see that the red line of Kikyo’s outline was used for the buttons and other elements like links and tags.

Take Note! -> Of course, at the end of the day, the usage of rarely used color in making it as a highlight is by no means conclusive. This is just a yardstick to ease my process in selecting the suitable color schemes. As I mentioned earlier, common sense needs apply to make it work. If you think that the color is not suitable to make it as a highlight, then choose other colors that pops out more.

Extra tips: If you like the color but you think that it is not the suitable shade to use, don’t be afraid to change the opacity of that color!

3. Don’t go crazy with the color selections

By going crazy, well, say that in that image, it consists of 8 colors, and you decide to choose all or 7 colors altogether as your color schemes for your theme. I’m not saying you cannot, but I personally think that it’ll be best if you limit your selections to not more than 4-5. After that, within those 4 colors, consider where you want to implement it. For example:

This image is used as a base color and concept for my Page 04: He Tian. From all the colors available from this image, I picked 5 but mainly choose 3 colors - the lightest orange, black, and white. White is meant for the text, black is meant for the backgrounds, and orange is meant for the highlight/accent. 

With those three main colors, I ended up creating this piece:

So the reason why I advised not to go crazy with your color selections is quite simple - by going crazy, it will distract other users’ focus in seeing your posts. If, say that for text itself, it consists of 3 colors - for bold, italic, and links respectively, there is a possibility that the users may get confused 

[wollfling]

Hi Allie! I wondered if I could ask you for some advice. I want to draw really badly and create art but I really don't have any skill! I know that in order to get better at art I have to actually do it, but I feel so overwhelmed by how I'm not where I want to be with it right away, and also with where to start with learning to draw. Do you ever feel that way when you draw? And if you do how have you gotten past it?

[I am literally so sorry this is so long oh my God. My mind has been very jumbled lately so I accidentally rambled too much, but I hope it still helps you in any way orz] Oh sweet little anon.. ;^; I do feel that way, a lot of the time if not all of the time! Just recently this week, I felt like I just couldn't draw despite picking up my pencil and scribbling, it just wasn't working partly for that exact reason! Overwhelmed by not being where I want to be with it! These things happen and its frustrating. It's hard for me to imagine as a beginner artist because I've been drawing since I can remember but I will still do my best to offer you some meaningful advice!

But first, to answer your very last question, getting past it can be a little random sometimes. This whole week after being unable to draw, I was laying in bed trying to sleep while reflecting on some heavy feelings ive been having and memories. Suddenly part of an image flashed in my mind and I got up to immediately try drawing it. (The drawing I recently posted and captioned "parade"!) I worked on it completely driven by my heart, and so it didn't matter at the time if it looked good or was anatomically correct, etc. Right now I am working on another heart-driven drawing, but if I tried to work on lets say a study or character drawing instead.. I dont think i could!

My point in all this is that, I think that its important to know/understand why you want to create art, and I think my advice would change slightly depending on your answer. For me personally, I am an emotional artist. I create art that (usually) reflects how I'm feeling or topics I am emotionally drawn to. Illustrations, drawing characters, writing comics, etc.. I think this week, while I'm definitely struggling with my skill level, I was so burdened by some things I've been feeling lately that I couldn't focus on or enjoy anything that I was trying to create, until I was able to release it all in a drawing. (And I'm still not done with them hence why I am now working on another related drawing, but im making SOMETHING and feeling passionate which cannot be said with any of my other attempts this week.) So since these drawings purpose outweigh my current issues regarding my skill, I am able to work on them. If that makes sense?

Okay im sorry with how long-winded this all is so far and all about myself orz but I wanted to give context on how I view art and I think if you asked someone who creates like. Hyperrealistic drawings their answers would be completely different. So! I wanted you to be able to judge if my advice would work for you if that makes any sense at all...!!! Moving on to my actual advice then..!

This is a little general ofc because I dont know what sort of art you are creating, or what your passion behind it is. And if after this you would like to tell me more about your art I would love to hear! 🥺💗 you are welcome to dm me or if you send another anon/ask i think that would be good too since.. well other artists who see can also give their own advice too!

Okay. So anyways lol, first I want to tell you that your desire to create art makes you an artist, despite your skill level. And therefore, everything and anything that you make even now has value. Even if right now you're drawing wonky shaded spheres and cubes! I understand its frustrating when wanting to make something but you feel like your skill isn't "there" and how that can prevent you from making anything to begin with!! But I really want you to try and work through it! Ignore it, disregard it, give your worries about your skill the silent treatment!! And I know its near impossible to do but if its getting in the way of you actually creating well.. thats the worst! We can't have that. If you really want to draw, then you really NEED to draw, you know what I mean? You deserve to draw! The hardest part for like 80% of artists is working around their skill level. I promise you will get there, but for now, you can't let it get in your way. And I realize me saying "oh you feel like you're not good at drawing and its hindering you from doing it? Just do it" sounds like Chad advice but ;---; unfortunately its the reality that comes with being an artist. If you tell me more about what you like to/why you want draw then maybe we can find some alternate lines of thinking that will help you (for example "this tiger i drew looks like shit but drawing all of her stripes was therapeutic and made it worth it!" If lets say you draw as a stim, opposed to "this tiger im drawing looks so bad I can't even look at it anymore " dhsjhd I really hope that this all makes sense lol.)

Moving on, learning how to draw.. this also depends on what you enjoy drawing but my main piece of advice here is study from real life. I grew up drawing cartoons and anime, and now that I want to draw a little more realistically.. its so hard!! If you study real shapes/people/animals/etc it might be easier later on when you understand fundamentals to bend them if you decide to create stylized or surreal art. However if right now you like to draw stylized art, I would recommend to keep working on your personal style while studying from real life on the side simultaneously! Any way you look at it, understanding how shapes, lighting, colour, etc work in the real world will help you out even with the most obscure pieces. And since art is a learned skill yknow you need to build those brain..pathways..and such. Im not a scientist but you get what i mean. Studies are the equivalent to lifting weights! I would recommend the website quickposes (com) they have a library of images that they throw at you at random. The site can explain itself better than I can lmao, check it out!!!

I really hope i was able to offer you something of value here, I didnt mean to ramble so much. I'm excited for you to grow as an artist, I love when I hear about others deciding to learn how to draw ;-; please feel welcome to ask for any clarification (as im having a hard time articulating my thoughts lately) or if you really just want to ask or say anything! ♡♡♡ again sorry if this was more than you bargained for length wise dhsishskshksj

[thatonedracostan]

Yule Ball Dilemma // Draco Malfoy x Reader - Chapter 3

Summary: The Yule Ball is approaching and one of the main problems students are facing besides their studies is who they're going to the ball with. You couldn't care less. You believe that you'll be able to enjoy the ball whether you have a partner or not. Draco, on the other hand, has been thinking about asking you to be his partner.But what's this? Someone else is also planning on asking you out? Will they beat Draco to it or will Draco man up and ask you out first?

A/N: I scratched the original outline for this chapter and redid it and honestly this one's much better lmao. I also scratched the idea of making an epilogue and just merged it in this one because I literally can't stretch the story any longer HAHA. This is supposed to be a oneshot ffs

Sorry this took so long!!! I got sidetracked and I'm now deep in Animal Crossing (Pocket Camp, not NH I'm broke).

No beta since I literally just finished writing this and it's 6am and my beta readers are asleep orz

Anyways! I hope you enjoy it!! I'm going to try to work on the requests without stressing myself out too much because I noticed that I do that a lot :') I might start an actual series soon too but it's still 50-50.

Index: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three (You’re Here!)

Word Count: 2.7k

Tag List: @theres-a-dog-outside-omg @langdonzvoid @romance-geek @slytherclawmalfoy @danadeacon @malfoyswheezes @naomi02hook @sarahthehuffpuff 

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Before you even managed to register what Macmillan just said, Draco lunged at Macmillan. His fist met the poor Hufflepuff’s face which made him stumble backward. Your eyes widened when you saw the bruising around Ernie’s right eye. He charged at Draco and punched him back, breaking his nose. You panicked at the sight of blood on Draco’s face. 

“Stop it! Both of you!”

The two didn’t hear your yells as they were too busy grabbing and trying to hit the other. You tried to pull Draco away but he was too strong and you couldn’t successfully pry him away from the other boy. Everyone in the Great Hall is now looking at two fighting boys. To your luck, Professor Snape has arrived, along with Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. Professor McGonagall whips out her wand and separates the two with a wordless spell. 

“Care to explain yourselves?” Professor Snape’s voice was the same as usual but you can sense a bit of annoyance in his tone. 

“He started it!” Macmillan exclaimed, pointing a finger at Draco. “He just punched me out of nowhere!” Draco tried to raise his fist again but Snape was holding his arm back. “Professor, he was being—”

“No more reasons! Both of you.” Professor McGonagall said sternly. “20 points from Slytherin and Hufflepuff for fighting in the Great Hall. I will also talk to your head of house about your detention.” You heard groans from both the Slytherin and Hufflepuff table. Professor Snape and Professor Sprout then brought the two boys to the hospital wing as Professor McGonagall tells everyone to go back into their dormitories. 

“I’m going to go check on them. You guys go ahead.” You waved your friends goodbye and went to the hospital wing. You were fuming. Not only did the two of them make a scene, but Draco also managed to make your house lose points and get himself hurt. You weren’t really mad over losing points, you were angry over the fact that Draco did something so irrational.

You swung the door to the hospital wing open and walked by Professor Snape and Professor Sprout on your way in. Once you’ve spotted the two boys, you angrily stomped towards their beds. Madam Pomfrey just left to fetch something she’ll need to lessen the swelling on the boys’ faces. They were looking away from each other, avoiding each other’s gaze. Draco tried to open his mouth to explain but you cut him off.

“What were you two thinking?” You yelled at them in frustration. Macmillan looked at you. You could barely see the blackeye around his right eye but the swelling was still there.

“Y/N, you saw it yourself. He attacked me first!” He tried to explain. “That doesn’t mean that the two of you should start fighting in the Great Hall.” You glared at him and he lowered his head. “In front of other students and teachers too! Have you got no decency?” You saw Draco about to speak up in the corner of your eye but before he could, your glare shifted from the Hufflepuff to him.

“And you!” If looks could kill, Draco would have been dead on the spot. He has never seen you this mad before. “I don’t even know what to say to you. I’m so angry at the two of you right now.” You brought your hands to your face and tried to take a deep breath. You wanted to pull your hair out of frustration. You looked at them one last time, with the same angry glare, and left. You can’t handle seeing their faces right now, you needed to cool off. 

—

Draco made his way back to the common room immediately after Pomfrey had healed his broken nose. He remembered how angry you were when you showed up in the hospital wing and he was scared that you’d ignore him once you see him. He whispers the password and the bricks open to reveal the Slytherin common room. 

The moment he stepped in, the first years, who were doing their essays in the common room, hurried back to their dorms. He saw his friends sitting by the fireplace and made his way towards them. They were the only ones in the common room since the moment another student saw Draco, they just hurried back to their dorms. 

“Nice punch.” Theo snickered, Draco just scowled at him. It wasn’t funny. 

Seeing Draco’s reaction, Blaise smacked his potions book behind Theo’s head and mouthed the words “Not funny.” This made Theo shut up, but he was still grinning like an idiot. Three figures sitting on the floor caught Draco’s attention.

 He swallowed the lump in his throat when he noticed that it was you, Pansy, and Daphne. The two girls were sitting across you as you finished ranting to them. You buried your face on the pillow you were hugging. The two girls just rubbed your back in an attempt to comfort you. 

You didn’t notice Draco making his way behind you since you currently have your face buried on a pillow. Pansy noticed him and stood up, followed by Daphne.

“You better make up to her.” Pansy glared at Draco and poked his chest with a finger before she left. Daphne just gave him a sad smile and left. 

You noticed the sudden disappearance of the two comforting figures in front of you and raised your head to confirm that the two girls you were just talking to were now gone.

“Y/N,” You heard Draco say behind you. You felt the anger you felt earlier coming back and quickly stood up. You tried to ignore him and just make your way to the dorms when you felt him grab you by your wrist. The rest of your friends noticed this and immediately scurried back to their dorms, leaving you and Draco alone in the common room.

You pulled your hand away from his and crossed your arms across your chest with a huff.

“What do you want?”

You tried your best to look mad. You felt your heart twist when you saw the sad expression on his face. No. You’re not going to give in easily. He didn’t answer your question. Instead, he just looked at the ground, not meeting your gaze. You exhaled sharply and uncrossed your arms to bring them to your sides.

“What you did earlier was stupid, Draco.” You started. “You didn’t have to launch yourself at Macmillan. You should’ve let me handle it. Look, you even got yourself hurt and cost us points!" You exclaimed. “I promised you I wouldn’t entertain him. Did you think I would break that promise?” Your voice faltered. “Don’t you trust me?” Draco looked up to see the mixture of anger and sadness on your face, mostly sadness. 

“No, It’s not that,” He grabbed both of your hands and held it in his. “I trust you, Y/N. It’s just—I just couldn’t handle seeing him so close to you.” His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he recalls the scene from earlier, Macmillan asking you out, a bouquet in his hand. You pulled your hands away, which made Draco frown. As much as you love him holding your hands, you need to hold onto your angry façade.  

“What do you mean?”

“He fancies you, Y/N.” He explained. You were surprised. Macmillan fancies you? “I just can’t have him asking you out before I do. You know how much I hate competition.” He was now rambling. He wasn’t even looking at you directly and you noticed the shade of pink starting to spread on his cheeks up to the tip of his ears. 

“I was planning to ask you out myself, I just couldn’t find the right moment—” He stopped when he heard you laughing. Your angry expression was now replaced with a smile. He felt his heart pounding in his chest when he saw your face. You wiped a tear from your eye and looked up to him. His entire face was now pink and you couldn’t help but laugh again.

"You could've just asked me. You know I'll never say no to you." You told him as you tried to calm yourself down. He grabs your hands once more and holds them. “It’s not just that.” You shot him a confused look. 

“What—” Before you could finish your sentence, he presses his lips against yours. Your eyes widen. He pulls away to see your reaction. Just like him, you were furiously blushing. Your mouth was hanging open from the surprise and Draco couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“I’ve always fancied you, Y/N.” He cups your cheek with his hand as you stare at him, mouth open. You were still processing the fact that Draco kissed you. Not only that, but he also confessed that he fancies you. You continued to stare at him as you brought a hand to his face. Your thumb gently caressing the bruise by his lips as you examined his face. 

You couldn’t believe it. You couldn’t believe this is happening.  You tried so hard to push away your feelings for him because you were scared and in denial. You were scared that he wouldn’t feel the same and you would end up ruining your friendship. A friendship you both cherished. 

A smile appeared on your lips as everything finally sank in. He likes you back. You prayed that you weren’t dreaming. If this was a dream, you’d prefer not to wake up. Your eyes met his. He was looking at you with so much adoration you might just melt.

“Well then,” You broke the silence. “Are you going to ask me now or not?”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “What?” He has completely forgotten about the Yule Ball at this point. All that matters to him is you in front of him.

“As your date, silly.” You softly laughed and he swore his heart fluttered. “Are you going to ask me out as your date for the Yule Ball?” He chuckled as he wrapped his hands around your waist.

“I have a better question, actually.” He leaned towards your face, your foreheads touching.

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

You giggled as you wrap your arms around his neck. You leaned forward, planting a quick kiss on his lips. 

“Yes.”

Draco started humming your favorite tune. The two of you closed your eyes, foreheads touching once more as you slowly swayed to his humming.

Meanwhile, by the stairs, an annoyed Theo hands a grinning Pansy twenty galleons. The two of them made a bet on which of the two would confess first. They tried to get Blaise to join but he didn’t want to. Theo was confident that it was going to be you, while Pansy believed that it would be Draco. The four (Pansy, Daphne, Blaise, and Theo) watched as the two of you wallowed in your moment. 

— 

It was finally time for the Yule Ball. You examined your reflection in the mirror. You felt gorgeous in your gown. Not to mention the makeup look Pansy gave you made you feel more beautiful. You smiled as you imagined what Draco’s reaction would be when he sees you. You were confident that he would probably be head over heels for you. 

“Y/N, you look stunning!” You saw Pansy’s figure appear behind your reflection. Pansy looked gorgeous. You shot her back a compliment and she just waved it off. 

“I still can’t believe Blaise asked you out and you said yes.” You said as Pansy just rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get it all twisted, Y/N. I only said yes because the ball was close and I don’t want to attend the ball alone.” She said as she crossed her arms across her chest. “Unlike you, not all of us have a boyfriend that could take them to the ball.” Pansy grinned as she noticed your face turning red. Ever since you and Draco got together, your friends would always find a way to rub it in. You don’t really mind but it doesn’t fail to make you flustered. 

“Ugh, I just can’t believe all it would take for the two of you to realize your feelings for each other is to have Draco punch someone.” The two of you laughed. You took one last look in front of the mirror before you headed downstairs.

 The moment Draco saw you walking down the stairs, he swore you were the most beautiful thing his eyes had ever landed on. You chuckled at the sight of Draco staring at you with his mouth open. He shook his head as you approached closer. He took your hand and kissed it. You blushed at the gesture and held onto his arm when he offered it. 

“Don’t you look lovely tonight, darling.” He mentioned as you and your friends made your way to the Great Hall. You caught yourself blushing again once the pet name escaped his lips. Ever since you started dating, he would refrain from calling you anything but pet names. He loved the way you get flustered whenever he says it. You gathered yourself together, trying to brush off the blood rushing on your face. 

“You don’t look bad yourself, Draco.” You replied. He looked ravishing in his dress robes. He chuckled at your response and planted a kiss on your cheek.

“Oi, save that for later when no one’s around.” You heard Blaise say behind you, Pansy in his arm cackling. You just stuck your tongue out at him and returned your attention to Draco. 

When you entered the Great Hall, you almost couldn’t believe you were in the Great Hall. You and your friends made your way to the side as Professor Dumbledore announced the entrance of the champions and their dates. 

Everyone lost it when they saw Granger on Viktor Krum’s arm. She looked completely different. Not in a bad way, even you would admit that. You can’t exactly point out what it was that made her look more beautiful but you couldn’t help but stare, like everybody else.

Well, everybody except Draco. His eyes were fixed on you. You didn’t notice that he was staring at you as you were too busy staring at the champions and their dates. Draco looked at you as if you were the most precious and most beautiful gem in the entire world. 

After the champions and everyone else danced, you and your friends were standing by the sides, talking and occasionally observing the crowd. You were quietly sipping your drink while leaning on Draco, who was playing with your hair when you heard a familiar tune play. You squint, trying to focus on the music. 

Draco was surprised when you suddenly squealed and placed your drink down before you dragged him into the dance floor. Then he realized the music that was playing. It was your favorite. 

The two of you pressed your palms together as you began dancing your special dance. He held your hand in his as he twirled you. Everyone on the dance floor was now looking at the two of you but Draco couldn’t care less. 

All he cared about is how happy you look as his arms slide against yours. As the two of you swayed along to the music. The rest of the world seemed to disappear as he looked at your smiling face.

The song ended and everyone went back to minding their own business. Draco had his arms on your waist and you had your arms wrapped around his neck as the two of you slowly danced. 

“We should get back to our friends.” He whispered at you as you felt his hand leave your waist. You hugged him and buried your face on his chest. He was surprised but he wrapped his arms around you, hugging you back.

“I love you, Draco” Your voice was muffled but he heard you clearly.

You could hear his heartbeat beat faster as he buried his face in your hair. 

“I love you too.” He whispered.

You looked up to meet his eyes. You gave him a warm smile before you reached up to him and kissed him. You felt him smile in the kiss as he brought his hands to cup your face.

This night just couldn’t get any better.

[gryfon-spanish-werewolf]

About the frozen fandom ask :

🎨, ✍️, and 👗

P.s remember to get enough sleep~

@like-redhead-probably I got enough sleep I swear ;-; actually I overslept TBH

🎨- Favorite fanart(s)/ artist(s)?

I’m gonna limit my answers to those who are currently active in the fandom otherwise we will be here all day xD. Anyone who has seen my tags knows this  to be true. My favorite fan artists are:

@giuliaciulia89 - because asdfghjklssh have you SEEN her line art?? And her expressions?? And how she does shading and color (with markers!! Traditional Art YO!!) literally is just... takes my breath away. Her recent Hogwarts Elsanna commission was absolutely delightful, but I am always delighted to see her original content as well such as her 101 Dalmatians au and her All For One And All For Love Three Musketeers au. It has so many mysteries, I’m very intrigued. Watching her process is very relaxing as well, like *sketch, sketch, sketch* and suddenly WHOA, there’s like, a whole concept outlines in no time at all. Incredible

@zero-kiba - because while much more active on Deviantart, I am ALWAYS extremely gay for Copper! That’s been going on 5 WHOLE YEARS Y’ALL! I stayed up until the sun started creeping through my windows catching up on every single page that I’d missed out after about 2017 when I started working full time. Zero-kiba’s work is BOMBASTICALLY expressive and really hits that mark between UTTERLY badass and heart-meltingly soft. Also do yourselves a favor and read their other works too! Tip of the Iceberg is Copper characters in a comedy setting, The Realm is 65 pounds of concentrated whoop-ass, and The Whole Shebang?? Gay has hell. Really gay. I cannot stress that enough (also it’s a little self plug - I help make that one alongside Zero-Kiba, daughterofhel and giuliaciulia89)

@ice-bjorn - because like.... do I even need to....expand?? Y’all have seen my tags. Ice-bjorn’s got the kind of content that just pulls you up short. Doing something? Concentrating? Not anymore you’re not! Ice-bjorn posted new art and you’re gonna FEEL ABOUT IT for the current conceivable future! Unbelievably emotive, you can see all the hard work that goes into each piece (including writing!!). I’ve gone OFF in my tags so many times about their stuff and I aLWAYS anticipate doing it again XD I can’t possibly pick a favorite piece, but this one gives me the warm fuzzies (Edit: although I did link another further down)

@jabs-wocks - because they constantly surprise me. One day ADORABLE! Next day ANGSTY. Next time? New style?? New type of coloring?? Always has a great sense of humor and unique ideas. Also, such an enabler xD Always makes me want to make something in turn <3 Like, remember when I went OFF with that angsty piece of Anna drowning after the dam collapses? Or when I nearly ditched my (already very long) project to idea bomb on about their Skadi!Elsa piece? Yeah, I love their work very much

 @gracepago0314 - because I’m a long time fan from when they had a different username! Great style, strong short comics, and WOW have they come a long way! They already had such a strong aesthetic, but seeing their work at the top of 2020 was such a treat because it was SUCH a change! I loved seeing what I recognized about their unique style and getting to see all the ways they’ve improved and expanded! Also that reincarnation au goes straight for the heart ;-;

✍️- Favorite fanfic(s)/ author(s)?

Limiting my answer to the same for the same reasons. Many of my favorite authors are no longer active, but my heart is very big, and I am always making room for new stories and writers to love!

@fruipit - because every time I get an email from ao3 that they’ve updated I go ballistic. Every story I have ever read (or reread... many times) by them is just SO INCREDIBLE. Their writing makes me make bad decisions: like fighting sleep to make it through one last chapter xD Their work makes me ask questions, their stories flows like a needle and thread, their diction makes me believe. I have nothing but the highest praise for Fruipit’s work, they’ve been writing for years and continue to pick at that gentle thing called wonder. Choosing a favorite work of theirs is GENUINELY DIFFICULT, but I love Risky Business, Koselig, and When Spring Comes very much. Tiny Hearts is a riot tho xD Oh wait and Who Dares Wins! .....Look just... go read Fruipit, you won’t regret it xD

@arendellesfirstwinter - because after years and years they just bang out one badass story after another. Their most recent (and with the dawn, what comes then?) has reduced me to tears twice. No. Three times, I reread a chapter. Their writing is exceptionally raw and pointed, but they are never angsty for angst sake. Their prose has the kind of weight one gets from having a huge amount of intent and care for what they create, and the characters they foster along the way <3

@daughterofhel - because I enjoy the simple pleasures of comedy. Literally just makes me laugh. Her dialogue SLAPS. Her world building is effortless (well, it’s not, she works very hard but it FEELS effortless, which is quite the trick xD). Her stories just WORK, her scenes are so alive and colorful and I adore how she makes characters interact even under the most RIDICULOUS prompts xD Exceptionally creative and silly, I guarantee she will surprise you for the better

@themountainsays - because every story idea is completely fascinating. Even if it’s not like, written yet? Just idea bombing or musing? Totally cool, I love reading them because you can feel the excitement behind them. Or the spite xD. Ara’s writing is also almost lyrical, it’s lovely to read, and honestly? Read out loud too! I’m a huge fan of spoken poetry/spoken stories and Ara’s always gives me that vibe. I’m behind (orz) on Creatures of the Arctic, but it’s SO FUN, I’m always keen on updates :D

@theseerasures - because I adore their frohana stuff. So freaking much. Kristanna + Icebros with so much tenderness that I just stare at my screen and go “holy hell someone MADE that.” Reading their work is like... being given a soft blanket to wrap yourself in, receiving a mug of hot chocolate, and then being told “Okay, now here’s a story that’s going to make you feel feelings really hard,” and you kind of nod back like, “Okay, seems fair.” Idk man they just get me real good, every time. For years.

👗- Favorite outfit? One you’d like to see?

Picking a favorite is hard! But please for the love of god: bring Anna’s military-esque jacket/dress to the silver screen. Holy hell. I’m such a sucker for how absolutely DASHING Elsa and Anna look in masculine/military dress. @giuliaciulia89 and @ice-bjorn both here and here get me xD But I also love their highly feminine outfits? Anna’s coronation dress in F1 is a fav and of course Elsa’s ice-dress is iconic, but my absolute favorites? I don’t know, they’re all so beautiful...

Oh! You know what else I’d want? Casual wear. They’re always dressed up for adventure! Or a fancy party! Let the crew relax more! More day-to-day, more cozy pjs! Kristoff in a big oversized shirt, Elsa in Fifth-Spirit inspired sleepwear, Anna in clothes made by their new Northudran family - complete with little hexagons but like, lined with soft reindeer fur <3. I’d love to see them when the world isn’t falling down around their ears, for more than 5 minutes, please ;-;

Thanks again for asking!! I know this is a few days late but I hope my jabbering made up for it ^_^

[gateau-chocolat]

One more The King: Eternal Monarch post from me! I have a question!

Not very long but still negative, so heads up for that (+ potential spoilers for ep 5?)

So...the pink interdimensional place (which looks very pretty!! kinda reminds me of the bridge from Hotel Del Luna! that's nice!).....like....what is it???? How did Lee Gon and Tae Eul go from being with the others, to being there, to being at the stable? I was honestly convinced that scene had to be a flashback to something that happened as they were transitioning between the worlds and I had just missed that detail, but I just rewatched that part and the way that part is edited doesn’t really make it seem like a flashback?  Since there’s absolutely nothing transitioning it between the scenes before or after, it makes no sense either way imho. orz;;;

(Also like:  Why is there a balloon there??? Just a single balloon lmao??? I get that it’s just for the #aesthetic but especially since this show wants to discuss this stuff in scientific ways like.....you need to make things a LITTLE more understandable.... Edit: Ok the balloon actually was explained!  That one’s on me lol.)

(Edit 2: Tho I just rewatched that bit yet again and I like how he’s like “This place can’t be scientifically explained” and then immediately afterwards is like “anyway here’s how I studied how time works here, using science”, like, I get it, but lol.)

(Also, no shade @ kim go eun’s acting skills, but have you ever been in a situation where a guy is telling you about something that he’s REALLY into, but you don’t understand it and don’t find it interesting, but you don’t want to be rude so you’re like “oh...okay....really?” in response to everything he says, and he just keeps talking? That’s what the dialogue in that bit feels like to me.)

Did anyone have a better understanding of what was going with that part?  Had that location been foreshadowed at ALL before this?

In any case, I’m just giving up on this show because when I was watching ep 5 I realized that I was just really getting nothing from it (there were like.....NO plot points in ep 5, right? apart from maybe the kiss and the setup for whatever’s going on with tae eul’s mom?), and I’m not personally a big enough fan of any of the actors to just enjoy looking at them for 70 minutes lol.  🤷‍♀️  I will continue to consume other people’s reaction posts and pretty gif sets, though!

Btw I did end up starting both Chicago Typewriter and Fight My Way (enjoying both), and even though I don’t usually go for really sad stuff I’ve been kind of feeling the urge to watch Hi Bye, Mama? Anyone who’s still reading this post, was that one good? 

[franeridart]

Hey! So sorry if you already answered this but what application and tablet do you use??

I use Easy Paint Tool SAI and a pretty old wacom intuos tablet! Both questions are answred in my faq, actually~

Anon said:You. You awesome person. You are my new fav artist. 💘💘💘

AW thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I love your art and the style, it’s all so cute and it might give me a heart attack

He c k let’s hope not! Thank you so so much!!! ;^;

Anon said:hey, can ya do more tokage, pls

Sure, I mean to draw more 1B in the future anyway~

Anon said:nori is soo adorable!! I love your art and seromina so much and seeing them combined makes me mega happy!!! I gotta ask though, how are sero and mina as parents and how do they handle nori’s quirk?

They’re disasters as parents but they try their best and are always having fun - Nori adores them! In their house not a minutes goes by without someone laughing, they’re all super loud and cheerful always~ neither of them has any problem dealing with Nori’s quirk, Sero has spent a whole lifetime learning how to deal with sticky stuff and tape and glue so he knows all the tricks to save clothes and furniture from accidental quirk usage and so on, while Mina’s own quirk makes it easy to counter any glue that might end on her - the main thing actually is that the quirk itself was a surprise! Since Nori looks a lot like Mina, both she and Sero had expected her to have acid like Mina so when she started gluing herself around in places and walking along walls and stuff it was a surprise (they had expected to have to deal with the house being constantly half destroyed by acid though, so glue is nothing compared to that haha)

Anon said:Heyy I saw your twitter account and was wondering if you could link some of those “fics about them boys sharing a bed..“ I’ve been following you for a while now and absolutely love your work (: I hope you don’t mind lol. I need more kiribaku in my life gahaha ❤️ thanks !!

I didn’t really bookmark any and most were old things I had read in the past and spent time rereading lately, but the newest one I read is this one - honestly though at this point 99% of the fics set in the dorms have them sharing a bed, you just need to open ao3 and scroll down less than a page to find stuff lol

Anon said:If you’re not an Adventure Time fan this ask will make no sense to you (so skip it), but when I saw your drawing of Katsuki with a guitar, I immediately thought he was singing some edgy Marceline song, like the teasing-aggressive “I wanna bury you in the ground / I wanna bury you with my sound” (which he actually says at some point I think XD) or the romantic and melancholic “Slow Dance with You” and Eijirou M-E-L-T-S.

Not an AT fan, but the concept is adorable so I’m keeping the ask anyway

Anon said:Do you think you might draw more of your fantasy AU children while you’re playing with you’re new pencil tool? It would be neat if you did! Regardless, I’m grateful for anything you draw!

Yup! Can’t promise when it’ll happen but I love the fantasy AU and I love childhood friends AU, so the chances of me going back on it are pretty high!

Anon said:Are you going to draw Mako and Taiyou again? They are so wonderful.

YAH that’s definitely in the near future plans! Thank you for liking them!!

Anon said:I just…I love all your art. It’s so amazing you’re awesome

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!! ;^;

Anon said:Stavo scorrendo il tuo blog e ho notato che hai risposto ad una domanda in italiano? Ho seriamente pensato fossi inglese tutto questo tempo! Amo seriamente i tuoi disegni, i tuoi oc sono meravigliosi e non vedo l'ora di scoprire più di loro.

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH grazie infinite omfg ;^; specialmente per i miei oc, è sempre incredibile per me sapere che alla gente piacciono abbastanza da volerli vedere di più ;^;

Anon said:Hewwo! I’m a huge fan of your artwork!! I was wondering if you have any time could you draw some more of those dorm room scenarios?

Anon I’m sorry but I need you to be more specific, which dorm room scenarios are you talking about? Most of my comics at this point are set in the dorms hahaha

Anon said:I just noticed that on every artwork you sign “do not repost” and I hate it.I don’t hate that you do it, but the fact you NEED to do it. Artists all over the Internet say to not repost their art but people still do it…I hope this will stop someday Sorry for my english btw

Yeah well, I guess as long as people keep on following and giving notes to reposters that’s not really gonna change is it orz

Anon said:You should draw Present Mic x Aizawa *awkward finger guns*

Hell I really should, shouldn’t I

Anon said:my god im gay for your kiribaku like they’re so good aibdjsbsknwnx and i love the interactions between the bakusquad ahh keep being awesome :)

HECK THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

Anon said:Honestly, this might be an odd question I don’t know, but would you ever consider putting your art together in a art book to sell? Cause to be honest, there’s not a piece by you that I don’t adore and I’ve seen some artist do things like that before so I didn’t know if that was something you’d consider. Maybe like all your BNHA pieces or something?

It’s not like I never considered it? It’s more like I dunno how worth all the work to figure out how to make it/where to print it and then to actually make it would be compared to the interest people would have in buying something they can have for free on my blog? It’s just doodles after all haha

Anon said:Would you be willing to draw a little lavi (dgm) doodle for me? Anything tiny, I just love him and your art!!!

I’m not doing requests right now, sorry, but soon enough the new chapter is coming out so I might draw him around then!!! I always fall in a serious dgm mood around the time of the chapter release haha

Anon said:More abuse of the ask function: 1- I love your art and have been for months. On top of that, it often feels cathartic, which is amazing to me. 2- I love how balanced you can make KiriBaku. You even manage to make me appreciate that overrated attention hogger that is Bakugou, you can handle him so much better than the author, because your character dynamics make so much more sense!! 3- I always, ALWAYS find myself reading through all your tags. They’re awesome. Thank you for everything.//Avevo finito lo spazio nell'ask precedente, so I’d only like to add that aside from cutie-smoochy (“It’s not about whether you break” and “I don’t need you” might be my favorite, and for what’s worth, I remember writing something exactly like the latter in the past), you also make mu burst into laughter. Like, the comic where Katsuki is about to out Eijirou on his red hair, I am still rolling. Kiri’s giant mouth is seriously hysterical XD

Thank you for the compliments!! I’m glad I can make you like a character and a relationship you’re not much of a fan of in the actual manga? ? ? Bakugou’s actually one of my favorite characters ever though so………. maybe……….don’t offend him and the way Horikoshi writes him while talking to me………….orz

Anon said:I am starved for Bakukamikiri stuff in this fandom……..But you got some good shit.

I’m!!! happy to be able to help there!!!! haha

Anon said:They mama Mitsuki art you drew 👏💯💖☺️💕👌 I love your art so much

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Yessssss you have Twitter! It is boring at the beginning but then you’ll love it! I can’t wait to see you here and there! Now all my Bakushima favorite artist have one I can die of happiness!!

I’m!!!!!!!!!! Still trying to figure it out but!!!!!!!! For now it’s not that bad? Just!!! Very different from tumblr so I’ll need to get used to it first!!!!

Anon said:Omg do u shade jirous hair like its a heartbeat line? Dhdisbdisb thats so fuckibg good

THANK she actually has it in canon too, tho, so I can’t take credit for this!!!

Anon said:Im crying on how you draw kirishima’s soft hair

S O B I’m glad you like it!! ;^;

Anon said:Can I ask what your stance is on bakugo’s mom being abusive and sorry if you’ve answered this before

I love Mitsuki with my whole heart and while I don’t think she’s perfect I do think she’s loving and caring and trying her best and always looking out for what’s best for Bakugou 👍 no abuse anywhere, for me

Anon said:OMG I LOVE SEROMINA LOVE CHILD NORI

Thank you for liking her???? heck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I wish I could use your art for my phone’s background ;^; You’re amazing! I love youuuuuuuuuu

No one’s stopping you from doing that, anon!!! Unless you don’t have a phone that allows you backgrounds, in which case ;-; thank you for liking my stuff that much tho!!

Anon said:Hey! I followed you way back when your main output was haikyuu!! comics and once you started putting out more bnha, i had to unf because i had no idea who everyone was rip. but now that ive finally had the chance to watch it i’m glad to come back and see how much you’ve improved!

HECK THANK YOU???? I’m glad you decided to come back????? oh man that’s super flattering !!!

Anon said:Yolo bakusquad bakubowl ?

I don’t really like the whole concept of [character]bowl, sorry!

Anon said:I absolutely adore your art style😍 every time I see your art it makes me happy:)

THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Can you draw Hawks and Tokoyami together? You are rlly creative and amazing! So I believe you will produce sth. awesome!!!! (If you don’t want to draw Hawks, could you draw a Tokoyami fusion?)

I can draw that! I’m just waiting to know how tall Hawks is compared to him before doing that 👍 be patient pls relative heights are something I’m stupidly fussy about 

Anon said:Burn the whole world to ashes for you? R U serius?! You always killing me dude. I ascended to the heaven of soft things. I N C R E D I B L E. Im sorry for the break down, i was without tumblr 2 months and the firts thing i do is go to your profile. Keep doing this plis im trully love it 😭💖

mAN I’m so glad you liked that one this much, drawing the boys being unreasonably soft with each other is my fav thing to do tbh !!!

Anon said:Omg I can totally imagine Nori and bakushima’s daughter being friends!!!

THEY ARE !!!!!!!

Anon said:Your seromina is amazing!!! I love that ship I feel like it is so underrated! Thank you for this blessed image!! 😭

No prob!! thank you for liking it!!!!!!! I’ve been in such a seromina mood lately, I might actually draw more soon enough!!

Anon said:Omg imagine a Tetsuwase love child. Something tells me they’d be adorable and one rather angry child, considering who their fathers are

I can see them as being quiet and grumpy………. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anon said:Hey just wanted to tell you I love your art. It’s so soft and beautiful. My dad doesn’t ship any characters from the series, but he does like the series and he thinks your art and style are really pleasing. We were talking about how nicely you shade and that the style is well developed and lovely to look at. Thanks for making such great art that makes me smile and giving me and my dad yet another thing to bond over.

YO THAT’S SUCH A COOL THING TO HEAR!!!! Thank you to both you and your dad for liking my stuff????? h e c k !!!!!

Anon said:Thanks to you I started reading haikyuu.

I hope you’re enjoying it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sicaminion]

//thg+mutant!AU no one really ask for (+my own spin off) i dont even think i have the energy and commitment to ever finish this but whatevaaaahhh for now. Let's just spam this new side blog of mine :))))

{prev.}

.

.

That afternoon Shouyou gave Natsu the bento he promised, wrapped prettily in bunny printed cloth he'd made when working in the printing machine a month ago. Today was Natsu's birthday and as per routine, each year they spent it in the woods at the back of their house. There was a small clearing there, where patches of persistent daisies gathered, facing towards the cliff that looked upon forbidden forest and the endless cloudless sky. Like every afternoons they spend on Natsu's birthday the sky was vibrant with color that day too. Pink, and purple, but mostly orange the same shade of Shouyou's hair.

Hinatas were known for their bright ginger hairs but no one had seen anyone with hair like his before. His wasn't ginger, his was orange. Like orange's orange. Long ago because of his unnatural, striking hair color, when he was little and it's normal for kids to still be without any mutations, people would assumed that he'd be one of the most powerful gifted in history. Old folks said that people with the most powerful gifts were born with some unnatural condition in their body, like the legendary small giant of their district. He had unnatural pupils not unlike a crow, the story said.

Shouyou used to hate his hair because then people saw him differently. The adults were all talking behind his back. They'd whispered and shared conspiracy theories that made him sound like some kind of monster. The other children avoided him like he's a ticking time bomb. 'Mom said that Hinata was dangerous. On the day his gift given he might kill us in accident.’ There were talks like that that made him had no friends till the age of 9. That's when Kouji and Izumi moved in from district 11 to 12.

Kouji and Izumi were both a year younger than him but they already had their gifts present. Kouji could walk himself through any physical matters. That's how he could sneaked from one factory to another without alarming the guards and sometimes helped Shouyou with his tasks. It also helped that his parents worked in the post office so he was the less poorer than the three, thus, he had lesser workloads. Meanwhile, Izumi had the ability to made everything he touched with his two index fingers multiple times heavier (or the opposite if he used both of his pinkies.) The quiet boy would help him whenever they shared the same schedule at the warehouses.

Both Kouji and Izumi had been such great friends to him. Ever since the moment they moved in they'd never been ones to listen to bad rumors about Shouyou. They befriended him then and still did so even when he was declared officially giftless and people started to avoid Shouyou for completely different reasons. ‘That Hinata is giftless, don't come near him or he'll rub his weakness on us!’—other kids used to said to him. It made the quiet, ever polite Izumi rolled his eyes, and spit angry words that would had made Shouyou and Kouji laughed and teased Izumi for losing his coolness after that.

But even giftless as he was, people still sometimes looked at Shouyou's hair weirdly and it made him self-conscious and feeling down that even his friends couldn't cheer him up. Except Natsu, his dearest most precious little sister.

“Nii-san's hair is pretty,” she had once stated proudly in front of other children his age one day when Shouyou came to pick him up from the shabby warehouse where kind Shiba-grandma taught children to read every Mondays and Tuesdays, and they had looked at him weirdly. “Pretty like sunsets and sweet sweet orange! Natsu likes nii-san's hair!”

Shouyou remembered his sister bright smile and the look of adoration in her eyes. One that reserved for her one and only brother that wouldn't be affected by other people's opinions. Because theirs didn't matter. For Natsu, Shouyou's hair was pretty, and for Shouyou, as long as Natsu likes it then he would like it too.

.

“Nii-san here, today's thankyou-bite is katsu.” Shouyou smiled as Natsu prompted him to open his mouth. It was their family tradition—for every birthday, the one who celebrate it should give others a thankyou-bite from their meals. The richer kids probably cut their birthday cake and give it to their loved ones but not the Hinatas—they would make up whatever they could from their meager birthday meals.

“Thank you Natsu.” Shouyou brushed the younger's head affectionately. He made sure he chewed the small bite as long as he could and savored the taste to remember later. Today Natsu was 8 years old. Gradually his little sister would grow up, older and more until the day come when he won't get to call her ‘little’ anymore. Natsu was savoring the food too. Shouyou had seen her praying a bit longer than usual before she started eating. Today was absolutely important for both of them for more than one obvious reasons.

For a moment after Natsu finished the bento there was silence between them. When Natsu took his hand and gripped them between her chubby hands, Shouyou knew what was coming.

“Tomorrow is the day of the reaping,” Natsu started so softly, it almost sounded like she was whispering the words instead. “Nii-san is 15 now.”

“I am.” Shouyou squeezed his sister's hand. “You know what'll happen tomorrow right?”

Natsu nodded. She had her head bowed down that Shouyou couldn't see the look on her face. “They'll make people from the age of 15 to 22 to lined up in front of the podium. You'll be there.”

Shouyou heard the last part told with wavering voices. He lifted up her little sister's face by a tender touch on her chin. There he saw Natsu's eyes had already glistened with tears. “And you will stay with Kouji and Izumi and listen to what they said until I come back,” he told her.

But come back from what? And for how long? The most important questions left unasked and unanswered.

Natsu pulled him for a hug. Her tiny arms squeezed him as she cried quietly as if to hide it from her brother. “I love you nii-san,” she muttered. “I'll wait for you, so please come back.”

Shouyou pulled her in as tight as he could without hurting her. His eyes started to sting but he bit his lips and hold it in. (“You have to be stronger now Shou,” he remembered his mother told him before she disappeared forever, “for both you and her because from now on you two only have each other. Everything is gonna be so much harder but I always know I could lean on you. She would too.”)

There would be times for him to be afraid and scared, to worry and to cry as much as he needed to. Just not now, not in front of his little sister.

Later. He would let go later. Now though, now was for Natsu

.

“I will,” he promised both of them.

—

At night they presented the board and Shouyou was topping everyone with more than 500 points difference. He knew it already but that night he still went to the forbidden forest and cried. When he'd felt better and decided to went back, he arrived at home to Natsu, Kouji, and Izumi encouragements. They all supporting red eyes that night but smiles were shared and hugs were readily given when they gathered around the bonfire at the same clearing Shouyou and Natsu had spent time this afternoon.

Shouyou had also seen some other teenagers and young adults whose name displayed on the board after the announcement. If anyone felt confident they won't get pick after knowing Shouyou's predicament they didn't show it. What Shouyou had seen were grim eyes and sadness, lost and forced smile, shared among children and their parents, between couples, and among friends.

That night Shouyou was reminded once again how they're all just the same one way or another. Oppressed, miserable, helpless, under the tyrants who called themselves The World Government.

—

{next.}

.

.

////alkdjfld this is like prologue leading to the selection and actual hunger games (of kids with supernatural abilities heck yea :) i still need to explain why people in the districts have these powers and shouldn't that made them feeling confident to do revolution anyway? But nah not really, they're oppressed for so so so sssoooo long. They haveave no combat training, they don't even have the number, the resources, or the willpower for that matter. That's also why the WG made these kids go to thg, so they could keep track on the kind of powers the next gen in the districts have and to level the possible threats. They'll sabotage the game anyway and make the most pliable champion win and then the winner of thg will be more or less the WG puppet (and human weapon but sssssshhhh ;)) /////also, aw poor Hinata going to be thrown up to join battle to the death between some questionable characters in the future, all alone giftless (but not helpless! Noooooo) //////THERE WILL BE KAGEHINA OF COURSE!!!!! BECAUSE OTP IS THE ONLY REASON I WANNA WRITE THIS TBH LOL but laterrrrrrr much much later orz

[heinoushangar]

PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER!

tagged by: @billrick! thank you sweetheart. :D tagging: if you wanna blab about yourself, take it!! & tag me. :o

ONE ( ALIAS / NAME ): Red! TWO ( BIRTHDAY ): March 23rd.  THREE ( ZODIAC SIGN ): THE RAM. ARIES. YEA. not a goat.. not a goat... FOUR ( HEIGHT ): 5′1′’. FIVE ( HOBBIES ): roleplay is love. roleplay is life. so are video games and character building & writing. fiction’s eaten my life and i am a-ok with that. SIX ( FAVOURITE COLOUR(S) ): Dark red. Dark purple’s a comforting shade, but I think bc that’s my gf’s fav color. //laughs SEVEN ( FAVOURITE BOOKS ): I am so ashamed but I really don’t do a lot of reading because I have major issues with retaining focus. I want to! But .. yeah. HOWEVER, I’ve been sitting down and slowly knocking out Needful Things by Stephen King and I’m liking that so far? I definitely like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, too!  EIGHT ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO ): It’s A Secret. I love that video so much. i am a very mature 25yo woman. NINE ( LAST FILM WATCHED ): MRS. DOUBTFIRE. didn’t get to finish it bc I was runnin around like a chicken with my head cut off getting thanksgiving shopping and dinner together. orz not being able to finish a robin williams movie Hurts My Soul. TEN ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE ): 

Purgis is playing some low “The Caretaker” tunes, Roaring ‘20s energy music, old crackling music that is so poor in quality you can feel it. Also, looking at some gross gorey body horror, neat skeletal collections, those fine dapper suits/vests/jackets/shoes photosets and funny necromancer posts! .. jesus, she and alastor would be good friends. that’s bad.

Malaria is a lot more closer to home. I just pretty much look at my personal dash and roll back to my 80s goth music along with Berlin and some jams from The Goonies bc man idk why I just draw inspo for her from there.

Wednesday is bacially the same as Malaria’s but without the 80s music. Soap&Skin’s a good band for her mindset. 

Courage is just some soft country music and farm pictures. Also helps when I just go bury myself into our pomeranian and love on her for a bit.

n/a for mandy.

Vaggie’s is just listening to a bunch of Porcelain and the Tramps, sexy music and drawing on my own hot temperament. Also my upbringing. hurray mixed heritage. 

Claudia’s honestly me binging Overly Sarcastic Productions mythology videos and listening to it alongside the Celtic Pagan web pages I read, weeping over Irish music, Oogie Boogie’s song and looking at rural gothic countryside / nature pictures with spooky wolves and axes. I don’t wanna say southern gothic but idk what to call it. THERE’S A THING FOR IT I’M SURE .. but just. woods. axes. scary doggos. also gothic victorian era aesthetic bc of course. and funnily enough, nice sunny summer day pictures. she’s the one dark character I got who actively loves bright weather and embraces summer and spring festivities. --- Claudia’s is so long bc I spent these recent months working on her haHA-

ELEVEN ( MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL ): What’s more ominous than an abandoned airplane hangar out in the middle of nowhere? Empty, vast, incredibly cold and incredibly drafty. Sounds like a good gathering spot for shady characters or hopeless wanderers to me, which this blog aims to focus on. o/ 

[asidian]

How about something about Gladio and Ignis or other Citadel-related people handling the fact that puberty turned Noctis from a cute kid into a really surprisingly attractive young man?

Author’s Notes: I’m… not sure if this is at all what you wanted? H-haha, sorry. orz Anyway, thank you for the prompt, and sorry this got so long and rambly. ^^

===

Notice

===

Puberty comes late to the crown prince of Lucis. At fifteen, he still looks like a child, with a certain softness to his face and a slenderness to his build.

He tries to beg his way out of school picture day, because he knows well enough that, when he stands beside his classmates, he’ll be shorter than all but a handful.

Then comes sixteen, and with it all the trappings of adulthood. Per the king’s instructions, Ignis begins briefing Noct in more expansive matters of state: in boundary disputes and diplomacy; in civic planning and rules of law.

It’s as though Noct’s body rushes to catch up with the responsibility.

He grows a foot in two months; his limbs take on the gangling, awkward look of adolescent puppies. He has to be measured for an entire new wardrobe, and then another, several months after that.

Ignis notes the razor that rests by the bathroom sink now, a point of pride, though he doubts that Noct has much call to use it. He notes the frequency with which the maids have to change His Highness’ sheets, and he sighs, reminds himself of the hormone-driven days he was more than happy to leave behind, and sits Noctis down for the most embarrassing conversation that he has ever had call to engage in with another human being.

It lasts for half an hour. It focuses primarily on responsibilities, and the importance of maintaining the royal lineage. It covers the unpleasant effects of certain sexually transmitted diseases, and what measures should be taken in order to avoid scandal. 

It ends with Noctis in possession of a box of condoms. 

It ends with the knowledge that Noct can turn that peculiar shade of dahlia pink, heretofore unseen.

===

The damn kid has a fan club. 

Gladio’s not sure when it happened, but hell if it isn’t the funniest thing he’s ever heard.

Iris comes home from school one day, all worked up about it, and Gladio knows by now exactly which way to prod to get his sister to talk about whatever she’s excited about. She’s bad at hiding it; that’s just the kind of person she is. If she’s into something, it comes bubbling up out of her.

So he prods, and she begs off answering, and then two hours later, she comes back around while Gladio’s reading in his father’s study. She sits herself down on the couch, and she says, “I wasn’t the one who started it,” and Gladio feels his eyebrow go up.

Iris launches into a tale of intrigue and betrayal, one that ends with two of the most popular girls at their school founding the Prince Noctis Fan Club.

And what else was she going to do? She has to keep an eye on them, to make sure they’re not doing anything that’ll be bad for Noct’s good name. So she joined, too. She might not be first in line to be Shield, but she can shield the prince from some things, at least.

Gladio tells her that she did the right thing.

He agrees that it’s best she keep tabs on membership, for Noct’s sake. 

He sees her to the door, and he closes it behind her, and he sits back down with his book.

Then he laughs so hard tears roll down his cheeks, and bites his thumb to keep from being loud about it.

And when Iris’ class comes to the Citadel on their field trip, he cajoles Noct into playing tour guide.

===

Noct’s new apartment looks like a space that can be lived in, finally.

The cardboard boxes scattered haphazardly across the floor have long been unpacked. Their contents fill the shelves. Ignis saw to most of it, fiddling with considerations such as convenience and aesthetics, while Noct played games on his sofa.

That’s months in the past, now. On the occasions when the space is clean, it actually looks quite nice.

The young man that stands in the center of it, in his trim black suit and sloppy tie, looks at home here. It’s done Noct a world of good, getting some space for himself outside the Citadel.

The new living arrangements come with several specific unfortunate downsides, however. Among them: the time between coaxing Noctis from bed and him walking through the door to the Council’s chamber has dramatically increased.

Ignis glances him over, with a critical eye.

He looks half awake, still. His hair has been gelled, but there’s a certain sloppiness to the way it’s been teased into its peaks and valleys. His face is washed, but the concealer and eyeliner the prince sometimes takes pains to apply is conspicuously absent, abandoned in favor of a few more minutes in bed. The tie knotted at his throat, a beautiful silken blue, looks as though it’s been arranged by a five year old.

“Honestly, Noct,” says Ignis, and steps forward to straighten it up.

His fingers slide against the silk; his touches are brisk and businesslike. But he’s aware of Noct’s eyes on him, that curious shade of night-sky blue. He’s aware of long lashes that truly don’t need the help of the eyeliner. He’s aware of the way Noct’s lips curve up at the corner into a smile, fond and familiar.

Suddenly, Ignis isn’t certain when the chubby toddler he played with as a child turned into this young man before him, who looks every inch the dashing prince from the pages of a fairy tale.

“You do it better, anyway,” says Noct.

Ignis steps back and admires his handwork; the tie is crisp and even, and Noctis looks very much the young gentleman.

“There,” he says. “That will serve.”

It will more than serve. 

His Highness has a photo shoot for a popular girl’s magazine next week. Ignis makes a mental note to ensure they fit this tie into the wardrobe.

It complements the blue of Noct’s eyes quite nicely, indeed.

===

They’re in the middle of training when Noct loses the shirt.

Gladio doesn’t blame him; it’s hot as hell, and they’ve been going at it for damn near an hour and a half. He stripped out of his own at the start of the session, and he’s still sweating buckets.

But Noct hardly ever ditches his.

If Gladio had to guess, he’d say it probably has something to do with the mess of a scar halfway down the kid’s back. It’s pretty badass, honestly, but he there’s no telling what’ll set someone off. 

Whatever the reason, Noct keeps the shirt on, most days. He hasn’t taken it off in training for – hell, probably almost four years now.

He was a scrawny scrap of a thing, last time Gladio saw him without it, but those days, it looks like, are long in the past.

He’s filled out, that’s for sure. The shoulders are broader, and the abdomen is all lean muscle. However much Gladio gets on him to lay off the pizza, he doesn’t need to. Sure, he’s not ripped. Gladio knows for damn sure he can bench press four times what Noct can pull off, easy.

But Noct’s trained in just about every weapon in the armory, and it shows. He’s built like a gymnast, all sleek power. 

It’s a good look on him. No wonder his fan club’s having its three year anniversary next week.

When Noct glances up and catches him looking, Gladio gives an unimpressed snort.

“Gonna have to step up arm day,” he says. “Can’t have the crown prince flexing with those noodle arms.”

“Noodle arms,” says Noct. “Right.” There’s a flash of blue, and the biggest great sword in the Armiger flickers to life in his hands. It’s as long as Noct is. When they started, he could barely lift it, but now he falls into his stance, massive blade out before him, head tipped up in challenge. “That sounds to me like an invite to knock you on your ass.”

Gladio feels himself grinning. He calls up his own sword in one hand – uses the other to crook his fingers, the world’s universal come-get-some gesture. “Bring it, princess. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

===

The Accordan ambassador is tall and amiable, and entirely too familiar with the prince.

At dinner, he’s seated to Noct’s left, and he spends the meal leaning in closer than is proper. After, he blames the drink; Lucian wine, he claims, is far more powerful than what he’s grown accustomed to.

Ignis, who counts himself something of an expert on vintages, knows very well that the alcohol content from most Accordan wines is much higher, but for propriety’s sake, he presses his lips together and says nothing.

After the meal, King Regis and his son retire to the lounge to entertain the visiting diplomat. There are certain concessions in the upcoming trade deal that His Majesty hopes to lay the groundwork for, off the books.

Ignis won’t be needed for the remainder of the evening. He’s free to retire to his own quarters, and nothing pressing requires his attention. It could be one of those rare few early nights, if he so chooses.

Instead, he lingers in the grand hall, seating himself where the tour groups pass to and fro, during daylight hours. Now, the there are no curious eyes about to see the sights. Now, the Citadel is nearly empty.

He’s not certain what he’s waiting for.

He idles there far longer than he can excuse as fancy, tapping notes to himself neatly into his phone for tomorrow’s meetings, for want of anything better to do.

That’s where Gladiolus finds him. The man’s in a suit, hair slicked back. He had a tie at one point, but it’s been removed from its spot around his neck, crammed into a pocket haphazardly.

“What,” says Gladio, slowing to a stop before him. “You don’t have anywhere else to be?”

“Not at the moment,” says Ignis, primly, and taps in the last of his notes before looking up.

Gladio sprawls onto the bench without waiting to be invited, legs spread casually in the manner of ill-behaved thirteen-year-old boys. Ignis spares him a lingering glance. 

“Never seen you not in a rush to do something or other,” says Gladio, bemused.

“There’s nothing wrong with keeping a tight schedule.” Ignis adjusts his glasses, though truth be told they don’t need it. “What of yourself? It isn’t like you to linger after hours.”

Gladio lifts one big shoulder and lets it fall. “What, can’t a guy feel like hanging around?”

It would be hypocritical for Ignis to argue the point, and so he doesn’t. He only opens up a new document for his three o'clock with the minister of finance and begins tapping in something new.

He’s written barely two words when his phone buzzes.

It’s a text from Noct, and it reads, “you still around?”

Ignis replies immediately: “I am.”

There is a moment’s pause, during which Ignis pretends to add to his notes but makes no alterations of any value. Then a new text arrives. “can you come here pls.”

He’s on his feet before he’s finished reading, turning toward the elevator that leads up to the higher-security levels of the Citadel.

Gladio says, “What’s the rush?”

And Ignis, thoughts on the Accordan ambassador blaming the wine, says, “Noct,” and his tone is a bit tighter than he intended.

Perhaps Gladio can read his inflection. Perhaps his posture, more closed off than usual, gives him away.

But Gladiolus is on his feet an instant later, falling into step beside Ignis as he makes for the elevator. “On my way,” Ignis taps into his phone, as the doors slide closed behind him.

They arrive at the king’s lounge barely five minutes later. Ignis knocks on the door, brisk and businesslike, and calls out, “Highness?” in a voice loud enough to be audible through the elaborate paneled wood.

There’s a pause, and then Noct opens the door.

He’s decidedly more disheveled than he was half an hour ago. His hair is askew, and the knot of his tie is sloppy. But more than that, his eyes are flat and guarded, in the way they get when he’s upset about something.

Ignis takes in the scene: a room empty of King Regis, empty of anyone else save the Accordan ambassador leaning casually back against the couch, a glass of half-drunk scotch in his hand. His face is redder than it was before, and he looks a touch disheveled, as well.

And Noct. Noct catches at Ignis’ cuff and stares up at him, and then toward Gladio, standing there in the hall. His grip is too tight, and his fingers are trembling.

That tells Ignis all he needs to know.

“Terribly sorry,” says Ignis. “I’m afraid the Council has announced an emergency meeting. His Highness is required elsewhere.”

Then he holds the door wide and says, “Gladiolus, if you’d be so kind as to see the ambassador out?”

He doesn’t think he imagines the way Gladio’s eyes linger on Noct. He doesn’t think he imagines the tightness in the man’s jaw. “With pleasure,” says Gladio, grimly.

“Highness,” says Ignis. “Shall we? The timeline is rather pressing, I’m afraid.”

Noct nods, and lets go of Ignis’ sleeve. He says, “Lead the way.”

He follows Ignis out into the hall, toward the Council chamber. They walk in silence until they reach the first turn in the hallway. Then Ignis changes his route, circling back around to veer toward the Citadel’s private suites.

It takes them just shy of five minutes to reach Noct’s old room. It’s maintained in his absence, for when an official function runs late and he wishes to stay over instead of returning to his apartment.

He stands there in the doorway, looking somewhat harrowed, until Ignis says, “If he tries to reschedule, I’ll shift his appointments around until his ship sails. After he’s safely off our shores, the authorities in Accordo will receive a request for a new representative.”

“Thanks,” says Noct. He swallows. “My dad had to beg off. His leg gets bad, you know? But I thought, it’s just groundwork, right? I’m okay at negotiating.”

Ignis waits for the rest. He hopes that Gladio was rather less gentle than usually warranted, in seeing the ambassador out.

When the silence stretches too long, Noct says, “He got kinda handsy. I would’ve punched him out, only I thought dad wouldn’t appreciate a diplomatic incident.”

Ignis feels a strange swell in his chest at the words. He says, “The right ties in the Accordan media make certain diplomatic incidents all but disappear, you’ll find. As it so happens, I have the right ties in the Accordan media.”

“So you’re saying I should have punched him out.”

“I’m saying,” says Ignis, tone more fierce than intended, “that it would have been no more than he deserved.”

Noct thaws a little, then. The guardedness slips from his eyes, and from his posture. He looks like he means to reply, but Ignis’ phone buzzes before he can. “Go on,” says Noct. “It’s probably Gladio.”

It is, in fact, Gladio.

“How is he?” the text reads. “Does this guy need to accidentally fall down the stairs before I cut him loose?”

Ignis stifles a smile. “Your Shield,” he says, “is considering something of a diplomatic incident of his own.”

Noct leans over to look, with a huff of something very nearly a laugh. “Call him off. And tell him I’m fine.”

Ignis taps his reply into the phone and then slides it into his pocket again. “Are you?” he says, when he looks up.

“I am,” says Noct. But the longer Ignis stares, frank and even, the less Noct seems able to meet the gaze. “I just didn’t expect it, you know?”

Ignis takes a breath in and lets it out slowly. It’s a rhetorical question, but he finds himself answering, anyway. “Nor should you have had to.”

They stand there for a moment, in silence. At last, Noct says, “Thanks, Specs.”

“I would say any time,” says Ignis, “but frankly, I’m hoping we’ve never cause for a repeat occurrence.”

Noct smiles, wry and crooked. “You and me both.” He turns from the door, toward the couch where he used to play video games at twelve years of age, and sits himself down on the indent that still indicates his favorite spot. “Hey,” he says, almost as though it’s an afterthought. “You mind giving me a ride home, when we get out of here?”

“Not at all,” says Ignis. “Although I suspect we’d best wait for Gladio. Unless I miss my guess, he’ll be along shortly.”

Gladio is along shortly, and he brings with him some choice words about the Accordan ambassador’s parentage. Ignis adds a few thoughts of his own, decidedly less crude but every bit as cutting.

By the time they see Noct from the building, through the meandering back hallways of the Citadel and into the private attached garage, that shaken, uncertain look has been chased from his face entirely.

[storiebookproductions]

April Showers

The tag drabble today is postponed to tomorrow orz....but I have this that I forgot about until like 20 minutes ago

Arthrit, Marc, and Riko are friends.

Arthrit and Riko being friends never surprised him - he’s known Riko forever, before he could even think they couldn’t be friends. Their parents knew each  other and Kanda is Riko’s older sister just as much as she’s Arthrit’s.

They’ve been through a lot. Together and apart.

And Marc - he’s been easy to be friends with too. Marc wants to be friendly. Doesn’t believe in not being kind, just for the sake of it. And despite not knowing each other as long as he’s known Riko, they’re still close - able to sit for hours and not be bored of each other or conversation.

Arthrit’s just surprised at how all three of them are friends. Marc slots so easily into their sudden trio, the inside jokes, and keeping up with Riko’s snark and actually talking to her when she takes it too far.

Arthrit, Marc, and Riko are friends.

Arthrit and Riko being friends never surprised him - he’s known Riko forever, before he could even think they couldn’t be friends. Their parents knew each other and Kanda is Riko’s older sister just as much as she’s Arthrit’s.

They’ve been through a lot. Together and apart.

And Marc - he’s been easy to be friends with too. Marc wants to be friendly. Doesn’t believe in not being kind, just for the sake of it. And despite not knowing each other as long as he’s known Riko, they’re still close - able to sit for hours and not be bored of each other or conversation.

Arthrit’s just surprised at how all three of them are friends. Marc slots so easily into their sudden trio, the inside jokes, and keeping up with Riko’s snark and actually talking to her when she takes it too far.

And it isn’t like Marc is inserting himself between them. He isn’t taking Arthrit from Riko or from Kanda. He and Riko talk at length about whether Star Wars or Star Trek is better, they do each other’s biology and english homework, and they have their own inside jokes that Arthrit can’t keep up with. Riko paints Marc’s fingernails, despite him working in a bakery. She gives him colors that match his eyes, murmuring empty threats for when he chips the polish.

Marc sits at their bookstore, Rising Phoenix  when Kanda asks him to. She invites him to dinner and lets him help in the kitchen, cuing him in on the recipes their parents used to make with each other. Kanda looks after him, invites him to movies, and makes sure Marc knows that if he ever needs it, there’s a place in their small apartment for him.

Marc, after the five years he’s known him, is more family than anything. They go to lunch with his adoptive father, Dean. They can always expect a present from him on Christmas and Birthdays and arbitrary holidays Marc just makes up. Just so he can give gifts.  Him, Marc, and Riko parade around the sidewalks of Ashland, playing Arthrit’s guitar and violin, singing and laughing, accepting bills and pocket change from the people entertained by the way they have fun.

April comes with rain, all three of them, in Rising Phoenix, squished on the backroom’s  loveseat, ignoring the lumpy books underneath the cushion. They read trashy romance novels out loud to each other, doing the strangest accents and voices, trying not to burst out laughing before another sentence starts.

Arthrit is pressed against the arm of the couch, knees drawn up so Riko can lay her back on them, and her legs tangle with Marc’s, pressed against the other arm of the couch.  It’s been raining for the last several days, everything damp and a chill that’s carried over from winter still clinging to the mornings and nights. But pushed against his best friends, Arthrit is warm, spreading from his heart and spreading outward. He smiles just a bit wider from his novel and the rumbling from Riko’s ugly cackling and the cadence of Marc’s broken laughs as he tries to catch his breath puts him at an ease he wasn’t in before.

He’s in love with the feeling. Never wants to let it go.

When the rains stop, all three of them go out. Ashland, Nebraska is by no means a big town, but they manage to find an abandoned field, prairie grasses waist high except under a large sprawling tree where they lay an old downy blanket on the softer trodden grass and set up.

Marc shrugs off his bookbag, Riko doing the same, more mindful, and from his book bag Arthrit pulls out his violin case, handing it to Marc.

He climbs the lower branches of the large planetree, the sun dappling over the exfoliating branches. Marc opens up the case and passes him his violin, Inquiéter. They’re a standard violin - nothing like his guitar H̄wān - and Kanda saved up for the better part of eight months to make sure he had it by the time Christmas rolled around.

And Arthrit begins to play. The song is slow and graceful, not anything he’s learned and the composition is rough, but he likes it that way. The measures fall and wind, not really speeding up at all, but he doesn’t think it needs to be any faster, no especially noteworthy crescendos. Lean against the trunk, on the branch of the tree, blue sky above him, and smooth powdery bark at his back Arthrit is willing to bask and soak in this. His friends - best friends - in the shared space they’ve all had to make for themselves and each other.

The song doesn’t s much as finish but quietly fades away. When he finishes, and opens his eyes and looks down at Riko and Marc. They’re both looking up at him, Marc his blue eye crinkling from how he outright beams and Riko giving him the same blinding smile.

He hands Inquiéter to Marc and scrambles down the tree, plopping down between Riko and Marc.

“So what’s the agenda for today?” He asks and lays himself between the two of them.

Riko flicks his head, not hard and not unkind. “Nothing.” She says. “You already know that.”

Arthrit smiles, looking up at her through his glasses. Riko’s round, pale face looks down at him, her almond eyes a light brown he’s always loved. Her smile is more of a smirk and dotted against her face are freckles that Arthrit was jealous of growing up. Riko always looks like she’s up to something - a quality she inherited from her dad. Her dad - who she looks the most like which Arthrit has always hated considering he was willing to divorce his wife because his daughter was trans.  

He takes her hand. Her fingers are just as lithe as his, but pale, whereas his are a deep tan  and callus from playing Inquiéter and H̄wān.  Her nails are painted her favorite fox orange and Arthrit huffs.

“I know, but Riko, you always have a plan.” He looks at Marc. “Doesn’t she?”

Marc lays down next to him, an arm pillowing his head. “She does.” He agrees and grins at Riko in the way that always makes him feel a little breathless.

It’s been gradual, but lately everything Marc does make Arthrit feel a little breathless.

His laugh and his voice -  the way he’s selfless. Marc wants to help people and strangers are nice to him, flock to him even. His lilting french accent, the way he sometimes forget what words are in english.

Marc with his one blue eye and other grey, blind one. His hands that are dry from constant washing and tough from kneading doughs. His skin is a few shades lighter than Arthrit’s but isn’t anything near Riko’s and there are odd-ended scars scattered against his body.

Circular burns on his fingers and palms from baking. Short, shallow ones on his knuckles from fist fights. Thin scars from kitchen mishaps, criss-crossed scars from tripping up the stairs. And one, medium, vertical scar, underneath his blind eye.

The way he smiles and it’s crooked, but still perfect to Arthrit in every way. His hair the color of polished ebony and onyx, falling just above the tips of his ears. He feels a hopeless sometimes when it comes to Marc, but he’s learning to deal with it.

Riko rolls her eyes and sets to her and Marc’s bookbags, sliding her hand out of Arthrit’s.

“Of course I have a plan.” She says. “No one skips school on a Tuesday, just to not do anything.”

“Don’t regular people go and smoke and do drugs when they skip school?” Arthrit asks. There’s an ant on his fingers and it tickles.

“That and petty theft.” Marc intones and Riko snorts.

“When have we ever been considered normal?” She says and Arthrit actually laughs out loud. He believes they’re all normal, but he knows every kid in their highschool wouldn’t. They’re their own brand of people.

“I think that concept of normal is reserved for straight people.” Marc chuckles. “I think as far as other gay people are concerned we’re pretty ordinary.”

“Kanda thinks we’re all pretty good kids so I guess that’s true.” Arthrit says and sits up. “I mean, good kids probably wouldn’t tell their parents they’re skipping school.”

“They definitely wouldn’t.” Marc grimaces and Riko turns from their bags, pulling out bottles of nail polish and a deck of neon stained cards.

“Okay, so Marc you deal,” Riko tosses the deck to Marc who fumbles to catch it. “And Arthrit you get black.”

“What? Black again?” He complains, but slides next to Riko, already picking at his nails. “Kanda’s going think I’m going emo.”

Marc shuffles the deck of cards. “Does she even know what that means?”

“She knows what it means from the books she reads.” Arthrit grumbles.

“So, no.” Riko laughs and paints Arthrit’s nails a deep black, flicked with specks of glitter. When she finishes his nails, it reminds him of space, the universe. If the universe could be held at the tips of his fingers, in the palm of a calloused hand.

Marc deals their game of Bullshit and they spend the day hidden from the world. Under the boughs of the sprawling tree, Arthrit feels light. He’s needed this break, away from school and teachers and stress.

When Riko told him, they weren’t going to school today, he didn’t protest. He didn’t have to ask if Marc was coming, because at this point, it wasn’t a question of if he was coming, just what was he bringing. She always has the best plans, even if they don’t seem like they are. Riko, when it comes to the two of them, doesn’t think, she just acts and Arthrit is relieved to have both of them in his life.

Just his two best friends and his violin.

Right now, this is all he needs.