#I’ve been having a lot of fun drawing these little guys the last few days

[kelpo-cereal]

Unicorns in the undergrowth

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @themetalhiro

Hi, I’m Metal! I’m a freelance artist from good ol’ New Jersey. My favorite things to work with are a lot of bright colors, exaggerated poses, and candid scenarios. I try to farm sensible chuckles whenever I can, so I’m also big into comics. I love making them about my life, and the media I’m into, and one day I’d like to publish my own series!  Thank you to everyone who has gotten me this far!!

Check out Metal's interview below!

Did you originally have a background in art? If not, how did you start?

I guess so! It’s funny, I don’t remember a single time in my life that I wasn’t drawing as a hobby… somewhere in middle school (a little late, I know.) I put the pieces together that animated movies were made by artists, and that it wasn’t just for fun, they were paid to do it. The moment I discovered people could be paid to make art, I decided I would do that, too. Now I’m here!

How has your style developed over the years?

I think the best way to answer this would be with an example! Over the last few years, I have made more of an effort to draw more intentionally, which sounds silly. Now, I put more thought into my poses and step out of my comfort zone with shape language and composition. I had a phase where I drew everyone with a huge, perfectly circular head and no nose. That definitely did not lend much variety...

Which 3 famous artists (dead or alive) would you invite to your dinner party?

Ack! I’m so terrible at history! I’d love to give a well-thought-out answer about fine artists of old, but I don't think we’d have much in common… Most artists I admire and who have driven me forward creatively are the people behind comics I’ve read. Andrew Hussie, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Eiichiro Oda... these guys have inspired me greatly and had a heavy influence in developing my art style and sense of humor. I’d love to ask them questions about their processes and upcoming projects. I think it would make for an entertaining night!

Over the years as an artist, what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

Outside of pure aesthetics like searing bright colors, layered clothing, and loud noises…. the best and most inspiring moments in my life were those surrounded by friends and loved ones! I cherish the hell out of memories of hanging around in fun locations, trying weird food together, and impromptu midnight walks... so I try my best to capture that atmosphere and my own memories in my work when I can, even if I’m imposing fictional characters on top of them. That’s always the core of it.

What is a medium that you have always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

I would never permanently refuse a medium, but every time I pick up clay, I’m like a baby using its hands for the first time. Absolutely dreadful. If one day I could make and paint a figurine like the ones I admire in videos, that would be awesome... But for now, I’m not counting on it.

How do you want to evolve as a creator?

I’ve had an absolute blast drawing fanart over the years, and it’s certainly played a massive role in my growth as an artist. But my dream has always been to publish my own stories for y'all to enjoy! I have lots of worlds I want to introduce to you before I’m old and gray. I want to get faster, work harder, and get better at drawing interesting settings so I can get the wheels turning as soon as possible. I also want to stop avoiding the color blue like a coward.

What do you wish you knew when you first started out creating art that you know now?

Pay your taxes quarterly. Tablets will break at the exact moment you need them most, so have a spare. Wear your blue light glasses. You’re going to need to wear a brace on every joint on the right side of your body. It can be lonely sitting at your desk all day. The car on the side of the road that costs $1000 cash….. don’t trust it!!!

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

@cranity—They use absolutely beautiful colors and weighty line work. Everything looks so sharp and clean! I wanna put it all up on my wall!

@vewn—Their ability to crank out quality short films and illustrations packed with detail is incredible. The off-kilter perspective they use really sells disorientation and catches your attention like nothing else.

@nelnal—They have absolutely banger character designs again and again, I can’t believe one person’s mind can come up with so many creative ideas!

@jinx88kc—They have a beautiful and recognizable style, and the way they incorporate animation into their illustrations sometimes is SO cool!

Thanks for stopping by, Metal! For more of Metal’s work, follow their Tumblr, @themetalhiro! If you haven't seen their Meet the Artist piece, be sure to check it out here!

[thrillered]

Couples Tattoos | Spencer Agnew x Reader Oneshot

Here's my little blurb about a tattoo I noticed during this vid and I'm obsessed with it. I know the pic is blurry asf but I had to screenshot it from the smosh mouth ep 😭

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"I think I want to get a tattoo.” you mentioned offhandedly while you were working on your laptop, sitting near Spencer. 

“You should, I think it’ll be cool.” Spencer agreed. 

“I just want it to be important I guess.” You remarked, scooting closer to Spencer. “At least for my first.” 

You didn’t have any tattoos. You always wanted to get one but felt nervous about putting something so permanent on your body. Your boyfriend, on the other hand, had many tattoos. He frequently got tattoos; he had gotten 4 since you got together. You adored his tattoos, you thought they were so nerdy and fun but made him extra attractive. 

“Can we get one together?” You asked.

“Seriously?” He asked, turning his whole body to face you, with a surprised face. “That’s a big commitment.” 

“Well I love you and I don’t plan on ever not being with you so..” 

Spencer couldn’t help but smile at this. The sentiment made him giddy and why not? You had been together for years and Spencer planned on marrying you one day. 

“Let’s do it.” Spencer agreed, wholeheartedly ready to make an appointment. 

“Really?” You asked, the widest smile on your face. 

“Fuck it man.” He laughed, both of your work long forgotten. “I’ve gotten tattoos of absolute bullshit, at least this would be meaningful.” 

—

You and Spencer had been brainstorming tattoo ideas for weeks, doing intense research on styles and artists. As excited as you both were, neither of you had any clue what to get. Spencer wanted to let you have the final decision since it was your first. 

You were laying in bed with Spencer, watching a movie. You flipped over, settling your head on his chest and laying your leg over his, straddling his side slightly. This was your favorite way to cuddle, it felt intimate. Spencer knew this about you. It was something he had noticed very early on in your relationship, and he loved it. Something about the way you loved being close to him brought him a lot of joy. You settled into Spencer, sighing when you found the perfect position. 

This was when Spencer had an idea. He didn’t want to wake you, as you were on the verge of sleep, but he immediately wrote his idea down on his phone. 

The next day when you both went into the office he made his way to the art department. “I need one of your guys' help.” He said, walking up to the group of desks. 

“Okay?” Erin Kushner asked, pulling her headphones off one ear. 

“I need a concept design for a tattoo, doesn't need to be anything crazy.” 

“Yeah sure, what's the tattoo?” Erin agreed. 

Spencer explained his idea, getting teased by Erin for how cute your relationship was. Erin quickly drew up a perfect picture for him. He was incredibly excited to show you it, knowing you would fall in love. 

—

He waited until you were home and settled. You were cuddled on the couch with him, watching as he scrolled through twitter. “I think I have the perfect tattoo for us.” Spencer said, pulling the paper out of his pocket. “I thought of it last night but wanted to get it drawn out to show you.” 

He showed you the drawing Erin did, noting the gasp that left your lips. It was a Keith Herring-esq drawing of two figures lying together, cuddled up in your favorite position. 

“Wait, I love it, that’s so cute.” 

“It's the way we always lay together.” He explained, even though you already knew, he was just excited to talk about it. 

“This is the sweetest thing ever, it’s perfect. I love you Spence.” You squealed, smiling into a sweet kiss you placed on his lips. “Wait! We can fill in the one that represents us.” You offered excitedly. 

“I love that.” Spencer smiled, his heart swelling at your excitement. “I’ll book an appointment tomorrow? We’ll probably get in within a few weeks.” 

You agreed, rambling about where you should get it. 

—

Three weeks had gone by and today was the day of your tattoo appointment. It wasn’t until yesterday that you decided your placement, you and Spencer both wanting to get it on your inner arm. 

Spencer got his tattoo first, showing you it would go just fine. It eased your nerves, calming you down before you got in the seat. 

He held your hand the entire time. You told him it was okay and the pain wasn’t awful but he insisted on holding it the whole time to “keep you calm”. 

When the appointment was over you and Spencer had the most beautiful couple tattoos. Your artist took some pictures for you and you both immediately posted them, excited to share it with the world. 

Even though everyone knew you and Spencer were in love, now you both had a depiction of your love immortalized forever.

[blakbonnet]

Artist of the Week!

So last weekend, I announced that I'd like to feature an artist every weekend for both new fandom joinees who might not have seen some of this art and older fans who like the nostalgia. This week's artist is Ash @aha-my-villainous-thoughts 💖 who also, wonderful that they are, agreed to answer a few questions for me!

Which App Do You Use To Draw When I’m at my big set up I use Clip Studio Paint, I love it so much. It’s very straight forward to dip straight in, has all of the bells and whistles you need from an elite drawing program, and the community elements where you can see assets and brushes is a lot of fun - although I still to this day have no idea how to earn coins to buy assets?! I use a XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro Graphics Tablet to draw into the program, although my best tip with graphics tablets is to get a screen protector, mine got covered in marks before I noticed. Recently I also got an iPad 10.9 to use as a digital sketchbook I can carry around, and while I am enjoying Procreate, I think CSP is a better art program overall.

Fave Brushes? On iPad I stick to the technical pen, studio pen and the soft airbrush, along with the textures and the light pen. I don’t think Procreate has great ‘painting’ brushes, whereas on CSP I would marry the Gouache brushes, I love how they blend and texture as you work.

Your favourite piece you’ve drawn? I’m a super self indulgent artist, I try to draw the kind of stuff I like to look at, so it’s a lot of colour, a lot of fabric and details. My fave piece for detail is the one I did for the OFMD RBB last year - Crescente Devotione, there’s a blushing sentient stool in it! For colour I’m in love with this sleepy time Ed in a lil negligee and a Holly Golightly eyemask, he's my lock screen because I'm trash.

Who harder to draw: Ed or Stede? Oh for sure Stede. I love Rhys Darby, but the man has like no lips. I stand by this meltdown.

One essential tip for beginner artists? Comparison is the thief of joy, don’t measure yourself against others - particularly when you’re finding your groove. Be self indulgent af. Also get a screen protector for whatever digital screen you draw on, and BACK. THINGS. UP. Whether in an online account, or on an external harddrive - or both?! BACK THAT SHIT UP.

Why OFMD? I’ve been in a few fandoms in the past, always as a pretty passive enjoyer, little fanart here or there, little fanfic sprinkled around, but there’s just something about the way this fandom feels? It feels like a group of friends who’ve got their own lives and their goals, but they still exist in each other's orbit, it’s like this feeling of returning home to somewhere you’re always welcome. There’s so many good moments in the show for both comedy and some gut wrenching pathos. Sign up for the hot guy in leather and get got by this beautiful delicate little love story. It’s something about queer joy of thriving, not just surviving. Something about finding love and romance no matter your age or what’s past before. Something about found family, and unlikely friendships, and community and silliness. I was already a goner when Taika put on the wig, but then when he teared up in a blanket fort while trying not to die? Excuse me sir, I did not need feelings that powerful. It was literally waking me up at night thinking about his last shot weeping in the nook - like are you kidding me?! I’m supposed to finish watching and be normal after that??

[mossypidder]

If you click the names of the birds below, you will find photos of the actual birds I’m referring to; mostly provided because the second two are morphs

EDIT: So honestly. Contrary to final poll results and my initial lean toward the grosbeak, I think I might just go with the crow. The design’s grown on me and in the last week I’ve collected many bones and observed many local crows and found myself just quietly very drawn to them. Nothing’s set in stone, but. . . It feels more right than the grosbeak- there are still things that draw me to the latter, and I still really love them and might switch in the future, right now I relate more to crows I think.

Rose Breasted/Cutthroat Grosbeak (female)

Similarities (between myself and the bird) - small and chunky - eats mainly seeds, fruits, and nuts - elusive and relatively solitary aside from nesting season - very intricate, unique nest type - monogamous - take care of young for a month after fledging (which is longer than quite a few birds) - dwells mainly in deciduous forests - I honestly think I do look a bit like a grosbeak overall - there is limited information on them (which is obnoxious, but kinda goes with my aesthetic honestly)

Things I Like About Them - very pretty markings, especially on face which makes for fun character design - they were my favorite bird as a child and I would get so excited during the brief period that they would be at our feeder

Differences - females don’t sing as much as males - I am very much a mimic- I echo other people’s words as well as animal noises a lot, mostly without thinking, and grosbeaks do not mimic. The males learn songs from their fathers, but that’s different, and I’m not male anyway.

Black Billed Magpie (cinnamon)

Similarities - eat a lot of fruit and grain - they are skilled mimics - mate for life something I aspire to achieve one day - have only been seen in Michigan ten times in the last hundred years, so it fits the “elusive bird who’s sightings should be documented” narrative - parents allow their young to stay with them as long as needed, sometimes even years - males and females are both very vocal and sing, talk, and chatter quite often - wary of new things and will shy away from bright colors and flashing lights (yes, that includes shiny things) - many widely believed myths spread about them (such as tendencies to thievery, attraction to shiny objects, and hoarding things tho I am guilty of that last one)

Things I Like About Them - Gorgeous wings and tail (though rather plain facial markings which is sad) - they’re just nice, funky little guys and they were one of my favorites when I was younger as well

Differences - not a bird I’d really call chunky lol - they eat meat (mostly bugs) and meat is not my favorite honestly - while some do only stay in groups of two, many others have tribe of up to twelve

Common Crow (cinnamon)

Similarities - will bring people they like random bits of things such leaves, rocks, lost keys, and bones, as gifts - stops for roadkill (though I don’t eat it, I’m just there to steal feathers or check opossum pouches for potential surviving babies) - bones is good, we like bones - also talented at imitating human speech, other animals, and just random noises they find intriguing - mate for life - very family oriented and good at taking care of each other. They’ve even been known to adopt unrelated fledglings - stay in the nest up to forty days after hatching and often remain with a family group for two years, helping their parents look after younger siblings - males and females are very vocal - wants to eat rocks - scavengers - likes fruits, nuts, and seeds - seen as weird or gross by the majority - slow to trust humans, but is very loyal once they do - could be considered chunky - cinnamons tend to have blue or silver eyes

Things I Like About Them - they are just. very good. - wing markings of cinnamons are very interesting, and while I’d like more intricacies to work with for facial markings, they’re still good and simple

Differences - they are very social birds (but most of that social time is spent with their family, which is where most of mine is spent as well, so I’m not sure this is a true difference) - consumes a lot of meat (which, as stated, is not my favorite) - they are very common in Michigan and easy to spot almost anywhere

[phantomwritezstuff077]

The Runt - Billy the Kid

Warnings for this chapter: child abandonment mention, Laurie's mommy issues, Jesse Evans existance is it's own trigger warning, swearing, violence, underaged drinking, angst, sad Laurie

Chapter Eleven

Early the next morning, Laurie saddled up Artax, mounting him with a small smile as she looked around at the rest of the gang, thanks to Billy, Laurie was able to accompany them on this little trip. Once everyone was ready, they took off on their horses in a gallop. 

Laurie didn’t keep track of how long it took for them to round up the chosen cattle that they were going to steal, cantered alongside Billy, making sure none of the cattle tried to escape through the side as Artax snorted, enjoying this little adventure. It was a beautiful day, the sun was up and shining bright, the sky was a bright blue and the rolling hills looked especially gorgeous today. Once the cattle were all rounded and had calmed down, the gang walked along the trail, Jesse and a few guys trotted ahead while Laurie trailed at the very back, helping make sure none of the cattle strayed behind. She pulled Artax to a stop when they got to the army base that the stolen cattle had been sold to, allowing Bob and John to herd the cows into the corral. Once the cows were inside the pen, the gang quickly left, a lot of the men were very rowdy and cheery about the successful round up.

ⅠⅠⅠⅠ

Later that night, when the sun had left the sky and the world was becoming dark, Jesse returned to camp in a wagon pulled by two black Friesans, tossing booze to the excited gang-members as women exited the wagon, greeting the men with smiles. The young teenager watched from her spot in a tree branch, drawing a picture of Artax.

Laurie wasn’t stupid, she knew what these women were – prostitutes. She never really knew how to feel about them, but all she knew was that when she saw them coming to the camp, she would be in for a very sleepless night listening to the guys have their fun with them. The girl rolled her eyes, however just before she was about to turn her attention back to her drawing, one of the women caught her eye. Laurie recognized hat voice and face and it felt like time froze. 

It was Jennifer.

It was her Ma.

She immediately climbed down from the tree, pushing through the crowd of overexcited men to get to the woman. It had been almost 4 years since she had last seen her mama. And it was so surreal to finally see her again.

“Mama?,” the young teenager asked, following the crowd into the house. The older woman froze upon hearing the child’s voice and she turned around with a shocked look. 

What are the odds of seeing the daughter you abandoned at the camp you were going to be having sex with pretty much every guy there? 

“Lauren?,” Jennifer questioned, looking at the teenager up and down. “You’ve grown.” She did not sound as happy to see Laurie as Laurie was to see her. Laurie was stunned for a moment, trying to figure out why her Ma didn’t sound happy to see her.

“It’s been years,” Laurie said, the happiness in her voice faltering into sadness and disappointment, maybe a little bit of anger, even. “Where have you been all this time, Ma?”

“I’ve been around,” Jennifer replied awkwardly, her tone was somewhat dismissive as she tried to go into the house but Laurie grabbed her arm.

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?,” Laure pleaded, her voice breaking. “Why did you leave me? Why? I just need to know why? Was I not enough for you?”

Jennifer didn’t answer, she went stiff, staring at her daughter. She had left because she felt like Laurie was nothing but a burden to her. 

“I left because you were doing nothing but cause me unneeded stress,” the woman snapped, yanking her arm away from Laurie. “You’re nothing but a burden to me and everyone else in this camp, Lauren. I don’t know how you even survived this long, but I want nothing to do with you.”

Laurie was frozen to say the least. Tears spilled down her face, poor Laurie didn’t know whether to be angry or heartbroken. She simply left, crying as she climbed her tree again, she sat in the thickest branch, quietly sobbing as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested the back of her head against the trunk of the tree, cursing herself for thinking her reunion with her mama would have been this heartwarming thing filled with happiness and strong emotions.

She hated herself for thinking that that was how the world works. 

Later that night, a few men were outside drinking and having a good time. Laurie hadn’t left the tree since interacting with her Ma. How could she have just left her alone like that? She was only 9 when she left. She wiped her face, turning her attention when she heard the sound of Billy snapping at Bob.

“Shut the fuck up, Olinger,” Billy snarled, fixing his hat as she stood up.

“You don’t tell me what to do, boy,” Bob shot back, taking a swig of his beer. “Now everyone thinks that you’re something special. You ain’t special. And neither is that runt you seem to have made friends with. I ain’t never seen anything special about you, and there ain’t nothing special about the runt either. She’s just another body to bury.”

That last comment really pissed Billy off, especially because he knew how much those kinds of comments affected Laurie, she wasn’t just another body to bury. “All right, then let’s fight it out.” Billy drew his gun from the holster at his waist and Bob groaned, shaking his head.

“I ain’t fighting you with a gun,” Bob said simply, taking another sip of his drink. Billy glared at the man, undoing his gun belt and tossing it to the side. Laurie could tell he was drunk as a skunk right now, which was probably why he was acting more defensive and impulsive than usual.

“Then lets fight with our fucking fists like men,” Billy replied.

Bob smirked as he stood up, also tossing his gun belt to the side as he approached Billy. “I’ll beat your ass any day.”

Jesse and the few other guys that were still awake started cheering for Billy after Bob threw the first punch, decking Billy square in the nose. Laurie slid down from the tree and approached the fight, the tear stains on her face were all too visible but she didn’t care. Billy grabbed Bob, slamming him into a wooden pole a few times before throwing him over the table. Laurie knew better than to intervene in fights like this, so all she could do was watch as the men all cheered in Billy’s favor. The fight continued as they fell into the empty barn where the rest of the guys were going at it with the girls.

Billy had Bob pinned as he threw a few more punches into the man’s face, hitting him hard, making sure he felt the pain nice and clear.

“Get the fuck up, Olinger, get the fuck up. You wanna talk shit and bully a child behind her back?,” Billy hissed, hitting Bob one more time before Jesse went over, breaking up the fight as he held Billy’s arm into the air, smiling as he announced Billy the winner of the fight. Everyone cheered and clapped, all except for Laurie, of course she was happy someone had stood up for her, but when she caught sight of her Ma in bed with one of the guys, she just shook her head and left. 

Billy noticed this ad pulled his arm away and followed the upset teenager outside. He watched as Laurie picked up a random bottle of whiskey, chugging the rest of the contents before throwing it at a tree, smashing it into tiny pieces as she yelled in frustration. The outlaw felt his heart break for the girl, he had never seen her upset like this before. He walked over to her, gently grabbing her shoulders in a firm grip and making her face him, his face was soft and full of worry.

“Laurie, kid, what’s got you so upset?,” he asked, wiping the fresh tears from the young girl’s face.

“Because it turns out my mama left because I'm nothing but a burden to her,” Laurie snapped, hiccuping as tears dripped down her face. “How could I have been so fucking stupid to think she would actually be happy to see me? I mean, who am I kidding? She chose to leave me, and yet I still fucking believed we would have a reunion and…”

Laurie was a mess, she was rambling by now, not making much sense but Billy got the gist of what she was saying and it broke him upon hearing that Laurie found out her Ma wanted nothing to do with her. The outlaw pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as he tried to soothe the sobbing child in his arms.

God she really is just a kid, a scared and lonely child, he thought to himself as he allowed her to cry on his shoulder. 

Laurie didn’t deserve this, and he knew that.

But did Laurie know that? 

A/N:

I am a part of the Laurie's mother hate club

Laurie deserves better, but will she get that better she deserves? Prolly not idk

Tag:

@slutforsnow

[johnnyshrine]

★ The Johnny Shrine ★

Welcome! This is an altar dedicated to sharing a new daily creation relating to Johnny Joestar, the main protagonist from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run, in the year 2025.

★ the shrine's daily offerings: #shrineofferings ★ updates/non art: #updates

(Post last updated: 01/01/25)

★ Who runs this blog?

Just one guy! You can call me Sen. (he/they/it) ★ @mightysen (art/side blog) ★ @doorintosummer (personal/main blog I follow from)

★ What types of works will you be making?

That’s the beautiful part: it could be anything! For this devotional, I want there to be as few restrictions and barriers to my creativity as possible. There will almost certainly be a lot of works of visual art since that’s my background, but how they look and the tools in which they’re made may vary wildly and may get incredibly inventive. I have so many art supplies and resources I’ve been meaning to use, and I think giving myself a daily excuse to play around and have fun is good medicine. There could even be works that aren’t visual art, such as writing, music, who even knows what I’ll come up with! Some of these works will almost assuredly suck ass, some may be the greatest thing since sliced bread: I cannot guarantee which is which, but I will assure you I’ll show up every day with Something.

More questions and answers below the cut!

★ Why do this daily?

I have done a few private daily drawing and meditation challenges before, and it’s a rewarding feeling to have done a little something each day that adds to your growth. I’m also a bit of a recovering perfectionist, and I fear that if I gave myself a challenge that required more time (let’s say, a Johnny once a week) it might make me lean into my perfectionistic tendencies. I’m already well aware I can sit my ass down for 20+ hours and make something nice, I don’t need to keep proving that. I’m trying to do the opposite: I want to be able to loosen up with my drawing, make peace with making mistakes, be a little bit more vulnerable and sloppy and silly with my soul’s expression. My hope is that by the end of 2025, the vessel of all the collective art will take me into a greater understanding of myself and the world. Ultimately though, this is less about planning the perfect end goal: being present during the bizarre adventure I go on with this JoJo is truly where the magic lies.

★ Why Johnny Joestar? For starters: I think keeping the subject matter consistent is a really good benchmark to have from drawing to drawing. You know WHO to expect, but the shapes and colors and poses and methods in which he’s drawn may vary wildly, which should be fun to watch unfold. 

It also probably goes without saying, but you have to REALLY like a character to be able to commit to something like this. I have a very difficult time explaining in words why I love Johnny without it sounding esoteric, but I assure you I love him a supreme amount and I find a great deal of inspiration in him. His sense of determination is so captivating and I see such a beautiful light in him, so I want to hone in on that and pull off my own great feat! Hopefully my art and dedication will show you what my words struggle to say.

★ Will any other characters show up on this blog? Possibly! It’s not out of the question, but obviously whatever the art is, it’ll still be Johnny centric. You Cannot Escape Johnny. ★ Why are you doing this?

Despite the fact that I am posting these publicly, this is something purely for me. This is the most important step, one that I will have to remember constantly. My greatest expectation with this devotional is to have a death of the audience moment with these pieces, not caring if the art I’m making is “good” or will be “well received”, simply that it comes from the Heart, that is why this practice was founded. I don’t think it’s any secret that the overall collective of artists everywhere are in a place of burnout and dissatisfaction. My own personal distaste for my art lately has come from an anxiety of trying to fit some kind of standard that was self imposed by my own expectations and what I thought others wanted of me, stifling my creative spark by chasing after dollar signs and being a Presentable Brand™. I forgot art was fun. I forgot who I am. This daily practice is how I remember. This is my form of prayer, hence why I’m calling this landing place a “shrine”.

Admittingly, the timing is very ripe to do this in 2025. Steel Ball Run’s manga is finally releasing in English in May, and it’s incredibly likely the Steel Ball Run anime is getting announced on JoJo Day in April. The hype for these things isn’t something for me to cash in on, more like it fuels me and inspires me. I’ve had moments in my life where it felt very hard to go on, but having something to look forward to in the future would always reframe things. I want to keep living and doing my best so I can hold that hardcover manga in my hands and be there when the anime finally drops because this story and its characters mean the world to me! 2025 IS THE YEAR OF THE SPIN BABY, YEEEEEEEEEEEAH WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

★ Why post these publicly if it’s something just for you?

Good question. I feel like the last few years of my life, I’ve kept myself rather obscured, hidden and tucked away parts of myself that felt too authentic and embarrassing and vulnerable. My artistic judgement would be clouded by imaginary ideas of what my “audience” wants from me. But it’s 2025 now, I think it’s time we unlearn shame and do as we please. I asked myself in earnest what I wanted to do in the new year, and he replied “I just wanna draw pictures of Johnny. :D” so who am I to ignore that request? I would like to put a genuine part of myself and my expression out there so that the experiences and people I meet along the way are also genuine. I have zero idea where this challenge will take me, but maybe it might inspire someone out there, to which I share. I just want to be a little more fearless in that regard.

★ Do you have any alternative plans to do anything with the works produced here?

I have a personal project that I require a lot of still images of Johnny for, if that project ever sees the light of day, it will almost assuredly contain some of the art here, however at this time no concrete planning towards that has been made.

Merch isn’t out of the question (I do make that stuff for a living) but I’m really trying to approach this act of devotion as “expression first, outcome second”. Many such cases where I’ve started a piece of art with the sole idea of having it be Marketable and it really stifles you as a person. My hope is that if mass produced merch does arise, it’s mostly a happy accident that it ended up that way.

I also think that, assuming some of these pieces will be physical, it’ll be nice to surround myself with little pictures of Johnny I made. It’s a weirdly cyclical form of motivation, to see the face of someone who motivates you and realize you’re the one that put it there, so I hope that in of itself fuels me further in not just this practice but also my daily life. Go Sen Go!! 

★ Can I suggest an idea for a work?

Sure, feel free to send ideas to my Tumblr inbox, the only requirement is that it must feature Johnny Joestar, obviously. Prompts, poses, expressions, tools, what I draw on are all open to suggestion. Keep in mind, I am under zero obligation to do any of them and some of them might be difficult if not impossible to pull off if I don’t have the specified conditions available, but who knows, you might spark something in me! If your idea is used, it will be credited.

I’m gonna mention this preemptively since you probably would NOT expect it from someone who’s dedicating a year of their life to a SBR character, but: I have NOT finished reading Steel Ball Run yet. I’m about to start reading Love Train. So if you could do me a favor and not spoil anything beyond that in your asks, I’d appreciate it. <3 I will edit this section once I’m actually done lmao, my goal is to finish this month, on or before January 18th. (I sure hope nothing bad happens! :D)

★ Can I take an idea from your works and use it?

Absolutely, go right ahead! Credit if you want, but it’s not entirely necessary.

★ Can I make my own devotional challenge like yours for Johnny/another character? If you feel inspired by what I’m doing, feel free! Alter the rules however you see fit. This idea is as free as it makes you feel. Johnny is yours as well if you want him.

★ Will you continue this beyond 2025?

Time will tell! I make no promises, especially this early in the race. Let me live through this and see how I feel.

[quaranmine]

The Incandescence of a Dying Light (Chapter Three)

In which Grian is not immune to the good times, and both fire and watching happen. 

Chapter Three: 8,718 words

<< Chapter Two | Masterpost | Chapter Four >>

hiiiiiii! welcome to chapter three! this is the other half that i had to split off of chapter two and as you can see by its wordcount, i probably could've split it again if there was a place to do so. lots of firewatching related things in this one, so it was fun to write!

CW: mild conversational talk of past injury, conversation/story involving alcohol/drunkeness. Continuation of the themes of loss/grief. This chapter may contain spoilers for Top Gun (1986)

May 1989

It’s a sunny day, like the day before it and the day before it. Summer is creeping into the mountains, slowly taking the frigid edge from the wind that whips around Grian’s lookout tower. And although temperatures often still dip below freezing at night, the stream in Thunder Canyon is fuller and fuller with each passing day as the snow melts off the southern slopes of the peaks. 

There’s wildflowers on the alpine meadows in the distance, dotted between fresh green grass. There’s birds in the trees. When Grian steps outside, he hears the sounds of running water wherever he goes–little trickles of ephemeral streams borne from the snows of the winter. 

Grian is cleaning his tower today. It’s a day he’s working, so his process goes a little like this:

Sweep part of the floor. After a minute, look up and scan the horizon. Go back to sweeping, sweep the dust out the door, start to scrub on the dirtiest parts of the floor, and realize you’ve got no water.

Go fetch water for cleaning, and haul the heavy bucket up the four story tower from the spigot on the ground. Do an in-depth scan around the tower since it’s been a while since the last time you looked. Work on the floor some more, get bored, set the bucket aside and begin organizing shelves and supplies. Stand up every so often to look again.

You get it. Grian’s not fully sure yet what the best rhythm for looking is–he doesn’t want to miss anything, but surely there isn’t much opportunity for changes if he does it every few minutes. It’s a little jarring to have your attention so split between tasks, but that’s the job. You can do whatever you want in the tower as long as you remember to look. The looking is the reason he’s paid, and as distracted Grian may be, he still intends to do this job with a determination to make Mumbo proud. 

Grian is just about to set out to clean the windows when his radio goes off again. It’s Scar. He sets down his supplies to go pick up the radio. 

“Good morning, Two Forks,” Scar greets breezily. “What are you up to this fine morning?”

“Are you feeling separation anxiety already?” Grian snipes back. “We only spoke an hour ago when we did morning weather reports with the rest of the Forest Service.”

“No! Can’t a man be curious?”

Grian rolls his eyes. “I’m just cleaning. It’s amazing the amount of dust that gets blown in here.” Or tracked in here from his boots every time he ventures into the forest, oops. 

“Hm. At least that’s something to do,” Scar says, before complaining: “I’m bored.”

“I don’t think this is the job for you if you’re bored,” Grian says. 

“Hey!” Scar cries. “I’ve done this job a lot longer than you have. I’m allowed to be bored. Rookies aren’t allowed to be bored.”

Grian’s been here for three weeks, but he’s already accepted his fate that he’s now Scar’s go-to person to talk to when he’s bored. He wants to ask if Scar has ever tried to strike up friendships with the other lookouts in the area, or if he always talks this much to the lookouts he’s supervising, but he feels like that question will only put Scar on the defensive. And really, he doesn’t mind the guy–it’s just this is nothing like what he anticipated when he took the job. 

For some people, the isolation of it all is precisely the draw. 

Grian starts to clean the windows, sticking the radio in his pocket for easy access since Scar’s in a clearly talkative mood again. The windows must always be clean, lest some spot or smudge on the glass make it difficult for smoke to be spotted in the distance. 

After a minute or two of silence, Scar speaks again. “Do you like movies, G? What’s your favorite movie?”

“I don’t know,” Grian says. “I don’t have one.”

Movies were always Mumbo’s thing, not Grian’s. He hasn’t paid attention to anything that came out in the past year or so. It just wasn’t important anymore. 

He smiles a bit though, remembering how Mumbo was always dragging him to the theater near their university back in England. They’d try to sneak into movies without paying sometimes, and had gotten kicked out on three separate occasions. But the owner of the theater had liked Mumbo, with his endearing smile and nervous habits,  and had never tried to ban him from the theater. When Grian thinks back on it, he wonders if sometimes they had just been allowed to stay. 

“I can’t believe you don’t have a favorite movie,” Scar says. “My favorite movie is Top Gun! Did you ever see it?”

“Um, no,” Grian says, although he remembers the name. It was everywhere, for a while. Entertainment about the American military didn’t exactly spark any patriotism in him though, dual citizenship or not.  

“Oh my goodness,” Scar says. “Not only do you not have a favorite movie but you’ve never seen Top Gun! You’re in worse shape than I thought, G-man.”

“How will I ever survive,” Grian says. 

“It’s only the greatest movie of all time,” Scar says. 

“Uh-huh,” Grian says. If he plays this right, he’ll be able to finish cleaning the windows without having to reply at all. “What’s it about?”

“Wait, you’ve never even heard of it? You don’t even know what it’s about? Top Gun? It was like the biggest movie of the year?”

“I guess you’ll just have to tell me about it,” Grian says, and ah–that’s done it. He’s bought time.

“Oh my goodness,” Scar says, and Grian can’t help but smile ever so slightly at how excited he seems. “So it opens with this amazing synth score, and like–the score on the whole movie is incredible, really. And it opens with the great music, and the whole intro is just the jets flying around–it’s about Navy pilots–and they’re real planes! They actually filmed in F-14 fighter jets–”

Grian sets the radio on the deck and carefully steps around it, cleaning the outside windows, sun warm on his back. When it’s time to step inside to look again, he picks the radio up and takes it with him, carrying Scar’s voice along. 

He’s talking about some volleyball scene that’s apparently iconic, although Grian had been under the impression this was a plane movie, not a sports movie. He also talks about which actors were his favorites in the film–some Grian has heard of, others not so much. Mumbo’s probably heard of them all, though. 

Grian frowns at the streaks on the window. He thinks that next time he’s asked to report any feedback, he’ll ask if they can supply his tower with a new squeegee, since the rubber on this one is very worn. He’d been a little surprised that such a specific tool had been in his tower at all given the distinct lack of other amenities–like running water, for one–but it made sense for a room surrounded on all sides by windows. 

The next time he tunes in, Scar is giving him a demonstration of that highway to the danger zone song he’s heard all over the radio. Grian stops what he’s doing and puts a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, as if there’s anyone around at all to hear him laugh. The thing is, Scar wouldn’t be half bad at it if he was taking it seriously but this rendition of the song is…distinctly not. It has no right being as charming as it is. 

Grian lets him ramble for a long time. The exact length of time doesn’t matter, because a location like this lays the very nature of time at your feet, rippling out infinitely along with the hills. There’s just the warm spring sun and cool spring breeze and the clouds in the bright blue sky and the cry of birds and the whisper of wind in the trees and the sound of Scar’s voice. They’ve got forever and a day out here, where Grian measures the passage of time by the length of the shadows on the deck.

“You have to watch the movie,” Scar concludes his spiel with. 

“I feel like I’ve seen it already,” Grian says, and he isn’t exaggerating.  

“No no no,” Scar says. “Something like this has to be seen with your own eyes! Experienced! Felt! It’s about the atmosphere, the music, the feelings! You gotta go rent it whenever you go home.”

“And if I don’t?” Grian says. He’s walked back inside temporarily to scan the horizon once again. There’s no little wisps of smoke to be found. “You’ve done such a good job explaining the plot to me already.”

“Then you aren’t allowed to come back as a lookout next summer,” Scar says petulantly. “I will remember, you know. I’ll ask you every time until you see it. Eventually it’ll get so annoying you’ll have to watch it. ”

And it’s–it’s at this moment where the reality of this hits Grian once again. The wind feels colder than it did a moment ago. Scar thinks Grian might come back next year. And maybe that’s some of Grian’s fault, because he’d played up how much he wanted this job when he was interviewed for it. When he answered the newspaper ad with his resume and application, he’d asked for placement in Shoshone National Forest as his first and only preference. He’d emphasized this location specifically. They must all think of him as particularly enthusiastic for fire-watching. 

But the only thing that mattered about this location, this national forest, this tower, this job, was Mumbo. He just has to get close. He was sent home empty-handed last time, the search parties had eventually turned from “rescue” to “recovery,” searches were altered and stopped due to fires and eventually stalled altogether when the weather finally turned in the fall. So he just…he has to get close, because Denver is too far away, but as long as Grian is right here it’ll all be fine and he can fix it. 

Grian has plans to skip town the moment he finds Mumbo. 

“Do you think I’m coming back?” he asks quietly. 

Scar seems to interpret the question a little differently than Grian meant it. “I think you’re doing great G-man,” he says. “You’ve learned everything so quickly. I don’t see why they wouldn’t hire you for next summer. You’re so thorough and determined to get things right that the Forest Service would be dumb if they weren’t glad to have you.”

“Uh,” Grian says, a little unclear on how to accept a compliment. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Scar continues, “as your supervisor, I can report any issues I see with you, so you’d maybe wanna think about seeing Top Gun. Wouldn’t want me to mark you as deficient, of course.”

“This is manipulation,” Grian says. “I’m telling everyone that this is an unsafe workplace. I’m being coerced! Coerced into seeing a plane movie!”

“Grian,” Scar cries, scandalized. “How could you possibly call it a ‘plane movie’ after everything I’ve just told you! Were you even listening?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Grian says. “Synth, danger zone, F-14s, motorcycles, need for speed, volleyball. Is that all?”

“There’s so much more than that! But, well, maybe that too. It’s a lot of fun.” Scar pauses for a moment, and Grian uses the space to try and think of something else to banter back with, but before he gets a chance Scar speaks again, softer this time. 

“I liked Goose’s death,” he says, before quickly walking that statement back into something a little less shocking. “Or–I didn’t like it, it made me sad but…things happen, I guess. It was an accident. It was preventable. It wasn’t Mav’s fault. But he was still…guilty, when he grieved. And we watched him grieve.”

“Oh,” Grian says, and he doesn’t really know what else to add to that. “That sounds nice.”

“It is. I told you it’s my favorite movie.”

“Maybe I should watch it.”

»»———-　　———-««

June 1989

Some hikers stop by in the early morning, just after Grian makes his weather report of the day. They are the first people he’s actually seen since he started not quite a full month ago, although Scar told him there’d likely be more as they got deeper into the summer. Particularly, he said, there might be more tourists this year since people want to check the extent of the damages from the severe fires last year. A lot of people had been concerned that the whole Yellowstone area burned to the ground after the media firestorm, you see, and wanted to see it for themselves.

The hikers are keenly interested in the tower and happy to ask Grian questions about it, which he answers to the best of his ability. He lets them briefly tour the lookout tower–it’s a small room so there’s not much to see and it’s cramped with three additional people in it. They look out the windows at all of the country they’ve been hiking through and trace their paths along the mountains. Grian points out Jonesy Lake, the place they’d been camping, to the west. 

It feels like being put on the spot though, to answer all these questions with so little experience in the job, so he’s happy when they decide to get going a few minutes later. 

“I saw some hikers,” Grian says into his radio, watching them hike away until they disappear into the forest again. 

“Are they on their way out?” Scar asks.

“Yeah,” Grian says. “I told them about the storm this afternoon and they said they knew about it and were heading back.”

“Hm, that’s good at least,” Scar says. He sighs. “They were leaving on your trail?”

“Yeah.”

“That trail is difficult,” Scar says, and Grian agrees–it’s one of the reasons he’s opted to not go back into town on his days off. It’s just too much trouble. The other reason is that his days off are already preoccupied with a more important activity. “Maybe you should contact the rangers and give them a heads up that these people are on the trail.”

“Like what?” Grian asks. “You don’t think they’re going to make it?”

“They might,” Scar says. He sounds tired. “They might not. Last thing we need is a couple of drenched wet freezing hikers on that trail. If you give the rangers a heads up, they might be able to check the trailhead to make sure they got back to their car on-time.”

 “Copy that,” Grian says. “I’ll be back.”

He flips the radio back to the official frequency, the one that broadcasts forest-wide, and calls in. He always feels a little self-conscious on this line, never quite sure of who can hear him. It goes out to dispatch, fire crews, other lookouts, rangers, and any hobbyist who might know the frequencies to listen in on. There’s dozens of unknown ears listening to his every word.

He waits a moment, making sure he isn’t interrupting any priority call taking place, and proceeds when the channel is silent. 

“Dispatch, this is Two Forks.”

“Two Forks, proceed,” comes the response. 

“Reporting three hikers that stopped at the tower this morning around 9:30 am,” he says. “They were traveling from Jonesy Lake onto the Thorofare trail back to the trailhead. It’s a long hike and I’m concerned they might get caught in the storm this afternoon before they make it back so I’m giving a heads up.”

“Copy that,” Dispatch says. “We’ll check the trailhead after the storm to make sure they made it back. We’ll be able to find their permit too. Pay attention this afternoon, Two Forks, it’s officially fire season now.”

“Affirmative,” Grian says.

He flips his radio’s frequency to the now-familiar channel he and Scar use exclusively.

“I reported the hikers to the Service,” he says. “They said they’ll check the trailhead later to see if they made it back. I didn’t know their vehicle, of course, but I doubt there’s any others there right now besides mine.”

“Oh, good,” Scar says. 

There’s something brushing the back of Grian’s mind today. Scar just sounds different. “How are you this morning, Thorofare?” Grian asks. “It’s been so long since we did the weather report an hour ago.”

“I’m fine,” Scar says with another sigh, which really isn’t like him at all. 

“You sound bad.”

“Thanks, G-man,” Scar says sarcastically before admitting: “It’s the storm. The weather changes always make everything hurt more.”

“Hurt more?” Grian asks. It’s something he’s heard people complain about, but nothing he’s ever experienced. 

“It makes my joints hurt,” Scar says. “More than usual, I guess.”

“Do you have any pain medicine in your lookout?”

“It doesn’t really help,” Scar says. “Not anymore.”

“Oh,” Grian says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to it,” he says, but the slight edge in his voice is telling Grian that used to it doesn’t mean can’t feel it.

“Why does it hurt?” Grian asks. 

“What do you mean why?” Scar replies. “Like, in general? No clue. Weather changes seem to make it worse. It’s also worse in the winter but I’m not in this tower in the winter so I’ve got a little more control over how I deal with it then. But as for why me, it’s because of old injuries.”

“That sounds awful,” Grian says. “Can I help? I mean, I don’t know how since I’m all the way over here but…if you think of anything.”

“You could talk to me,” Scar says. “It’ll either distract me or overwhelm me but we could try.”

“Okay. Um, what do you want to talk about?”

“Tell me a funny story from England,” he says. 

Grian stops for a moment to think. What’s a good funny story? He probably has many of them, but it’s hard to pick one specific scenario out, so he narrows it down to his university years and immediately remembers a good one. 

“Right,” he says. “I had a lot of friends in university.”

“Showing off?” Scar says. “Mr. Popular?”

“Shush,” Grian says. “I’m telling you a story. A lot of people I knew in college, and even a few from secondary school went to the same university as me so I basically already knew them.”

Grian slowly spins around in his tower, giving the hills near and far a glance over. There’s no smoke to be seen, but he can already tell that big clouds have built on the horizon. They won’t all be storm clouds, but the weather is clearly right for it. He goes back to his story. 

“I had this one group of friends: Timmy, Martyn, and Joel. Most of us were studying different things but we had some overlapping time and liked to hang out after class. Joel had made really close friends with a girl named Lizzie, and we’d ended up spending a lot of time with her too. Anyway, in this story though, we’d gone to the pub without her.”

“I don’t think anything has ever gone wrong at a pub,” Scar says solemnly. 

Grian laughs. “Yeah, alright, we all got super drunk at the pub. It’s 11 pm, we’re all drunk, and Joel announces he wants to confess his love for Lizzie. And this is like, the best idea we’ve ever heard, because Lizzie is super cool, maybe even cooler than Joel is. So we’re like, let’s go now.”

“Oh no…”

“Have no fear, Scar,” Grian says. “I told you it was a fun story.” 

Grian continues. “We leave the pub and decide to go find her flat near campus. We got turned around once or twice because Timmy’s awful at navigation and the one person who actually knew where she lived, Joel, was too busy trying to come up with poetry or something. I don’t know. It was nearly midnight when we finally found her flat, but her light was on so we knew she was home.”

“Did you guys throw rocks at her window?” Scar asks. “Like a modern Romeo and Juliet?”

“I thought about that actually,” Grian says. “But she had a ground floor entrance so Martyn just said we should knock on the door instead. Which was probably a smarter option, honestly.”

“Did she answer?”

“Her roommate did, actually, but she just rolled her eyes and went to go fetch Lizzie. The rest of us stood back while Joel presented her with a gift, which was actually just some small yard ornament he stole off of someone’s front garden a little down the street. I didn’t actually remember that part, Lizzie told it to me. She made him go put it back the next morning.” 

Grian sighs and shakes his head a little, a smile on his face at the memory. They’d been so dumb, but he’d give anything to be back there right now. Back then, he had all his friends–now, they were all either across oceans or in different countries, or both. Or…or they were missing. 

He shakes his head again, this time not at the thought of his previous shenanigans, but to dispel the darker thoughts from his mind before the cloud out the funny memory.

He continues, “When she answered the door, Joel had some great speech planned. Well, I don’t know if it was actually great. I did mention we were all pretty drunk. It sounded good to me, though. He said he was in love with her and she was so smart and so pretty and he wanted to go on a date with her. And then she started laughing, so hard she almost started crying.”

“What?”

“We were all confused too. But then she wiped her tears and said, and I remember these words as clearly as if it was yesterday. She said, ‘Joel, we’ve been dating for three months now.’”

“Wait, really?” Scar says. “They were already dating? Did you just not know or forget?”

“Dude, I don’t think I could have defined what was going on with the two of them if I tried. I'm not convinced Joel knew how to define it either until then.”

“That was a good story,” Scar says. “I gotta know, though! Did it work out?”

Grian grins. “Well, they got married a few years later, so I think it did.”

"Aww! I love a fairytale ending," Scar says. 

"Did you go to university?" Grian asks. "We were all so stupid then. I’m not convinced we’re any less stupid now, we just know how to act like we aren’t."

"Uh, no," Scar says. "I did some work in landscaping though. Before all this."

"I was an architect."

Grian wonders if that career is all but shot. It’s an unexpectedly painful thought to have, but it had been his dream job for so long. He'd only been just done with certification and doing his own clients during the time they'd been in Colorado. He wasn't exceptionally experienced or anything. 

He hadn't left the job on good terms either, with a string of no-shows, subsequent disciplinary actions, and a final letter of resignation wherein he specifically wrote he planned to take this lookout job because "nobody believed in Mumbo but him."

He winces. All his past coworkers probably thought he was insane. Maybe he was.

"Ooh, now that's a fancy job," Scar says.

Grian wants to move on from this discussion, before Scar has a chance to ask why he's here instead of at that fancy job, so he quickly says: "It's your turn for a question now. Ask me anything."

It occurs to Grian after he saysvthis that maybe telling Scar to ask him anything didn't exactly save him from the potential of awkward questions and just opened him up to a wider world of awkward questions. He's already tossed the ball back to Scar though, so now he just has to wait.

Scar is silent on the other end of the line for a while, and when he speaks again there's a more somber quality in his voice.

"What's the worst pain you've ever felt?" he asks.

Yeah, he should have just asked Scar to trade another funny story instead. Because he just…can’t answer this. He sucks in a breath, trying to steady the way his heart rate spiked with just that one question. 

It’s a question that pulls him back into that black hole that threatens to break open his chest everyday. He's circling the event horizon. They should've stuck to funny stories. 

Grian scrambles for a safe answer, one that doesn't involve the marked up topo maps in between the books on his desk–hastily slotted out of view from the earlier hikers–or missing posters. An answer that keeps his head above water for this conversation. 

There’s just, there’s just a certain kind of whiplash from talking about funny experiences with his friends in university –friends who weren’t even Mumbo–and then being reminded of the elephant in the room once again. He carries that pain with him wherever he goes now. 

He isn’t the person he used to be in university in England, or when he was an architect in Denver.

He looks down at the radio in his hand that demands his immediate reply, and his attention flicks to his forearm. 

“I broke my wrist two years ago,” he blurts out. “It’s a funnier story than it sounds, I promise.”

This is a safe memory. It’s even a safe memory of Mumbo, because even though the edges of it are vignetted with pain, the memory still sticks out brightly as something that makes Grian smile. It still hurt, of course. Grian didn’t enjoy breaking his wrist. That wasn’t why it made him smile. 

It’s just that the memory of Mumbo following him around their flat like a puppy for a week apologizing to him sticks out more than the white-hot shock of pain when it happened. It’s Grian calmly navigating them to the ER because Mumbo was the one who was almost too freaked out to drive, something Grian teased him about endlessly. 

“Ouch,” Scar says. “I sure know that feeling.”

“I fell off a bike,” Grian says. “Well, that makes it sound too simple. It was more like I lost control on a steep hill, drove it off trail, crashed, and my poor wrist took the worst of it when I tried to catch my fall.”

“Oh no! Did they do surgery?” Scar asks. 

“No, it healed by itself, fortunately,” Grian says, and decides to tell the rest of the story anyway since it makes him smile. “I’d gotten my roommate a mountain bike as a gift, since he was really interested in that stuff. He loved it–although we actually had to take it back and get another one ‘cause he was too tall for the one I bought, but he said it was the thought that counted. He was so excited to try it that he made me come with him and rent my own bike.”

“Which you then immediately crashed?”

Grian sighs. “Pretty much. You should’ve seen his face, though. I think he was panicking more about it than me. I was like, okay, we’ll just walk back to the car and go to the ER, you can help me walk the bike up this hill. But I thought he was going to pass out!” Grian smiles. “I got a lot of leverage out of that, though, since he’s the one who talked me into it.”

“Oh, I have no trouble believing that,” Scar says. “So no biking for you?”

“No,” Grian says. “I’ll just walk, thank you. Besides, I had to pay for repairing that rental!”

“Mm, more options for hiking trails that way anyway.”

Grian scans the horizon again, eyes lingering on Scar’s lookout just a little longer than necessary. “What’s yours?” he asks. “The worst pain, I mean.”

Scar doesn’t answer for a moment. It’s not a long enough moment to assume he didn’t plan on answering at all, but right after Grian speaks it hits him. He wants to slap himself. “Oh. It’s the old injuries you mentioned earlier. The ones that still hurt right now.”

“Something like that,” Scar replies. 

“What was it?” Grian says. “Can I ask?”

“I was in a really bad car accident a few years ago,” Scar says. He’s miles away but sounds more distant than usual. “It nearly killed me, actually. I broke a lot of bones, spent a lot of time in the hospital, recovered for a long time, you get it.” 

“That’s awful,” Grian says. “I’m really sorry.”

“Well,” Scar says. “It happened, I guess. Nothing you can do about that.”

“For what it’s worth,” Grian says, “I’m glad it didn’t kill you.”

When Scar speaks again, it’s quieter than before. “I don’t know if I always felt the same,” he says. “But I think I do now, these days.” 

Oh. Grian doesn’t even have words to say to that, but he doesn’t need to, because Scar is still holding his radio’s button down. Still on the line, preventing Grian from responding. 

Scar sighs. “Listen, it’s been nice chatting with you G, but I have to go feed Jellie and do a few things before this storm hits, so I gotta let you go.” His voice is brisk now. 

“Um, okay,” Grian responds. “Do you feel any better? Did it distract you?”

“It gave me something else to focus on,” Scar says firmly. “But now I need to go. Talk to you when the storm hits, okay?”

“Okay.”

»»———-　　———-««

The National Weather Service in Riverton has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Park County in Northwestern Wyoming, Teton County in Northwestern Wyoming, Fremont County in Northwestern Wyoming, Hot Springs County in Northwestern Wyoming until 6:00 PM. 

At 4:26 PM, a severe thunderstorm was located over Yellowstone National Park moving west at 40 miles per hour. Hazard…60 miles per hour wind gusts and quarter sized hail. Impact…Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, trees, and/or power lines.

Locations impacted include Yellowstone National Park, Canyon Village, Shoshone National Forest, Wapiti, Cody, Powell, Teton Village, Jackson, Meeteetse, Dubois. For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building or get inside a sturdy structure and stay away from windows.

Along with large hail and damaging winds, continuous cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Move indoors immediately. Lightning is one of nature’s leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning…

The message ends with a harsh beeping tone, and Grian turns the volume down before it can repeat itself. The message had cut in and out with static the entire time, probably due to the distance and the mountains, even though it was being transmitted from Cody. A moment later, Grian flips the channel from the National Weather Service frequency back to the one he and Scar use, which is surprisingly stable.

Grian steps out onto the deck surrounding his tower. The sky is dark blue to the west, and the tops of the trees are already being picked up by the wind. It’s a little disconcerting, actually, to be way up in the top of the tower. The thick wooden support beams still allow a little bit of sway when the winds are strong enough. 

There’s suddenly a CRASH from rolling thunder, and Grian flinches involuntarily. Right. The radio had just said that if he was close enough to hear thunder, he was close enough to be struck by lightning. Grian decides that he should step inside, instead of standing around outside. 

Although, if he’s being honest with himself, inside doesn’t seem much better either. All this talk about moving to the lowest floor of a building and staying away from windows doesn’t mean much when your only shelter is a four story wooden tower on the highest mountain top around, encased on all sides by windows. 

But that’s the job, isn’t it?

He doesn’t get to take shelter–if there were a place for him to take shelter in the first place–because his job is to watch from this perch. He’s supposed to be noting and locating every lightning strike he possibly can and looking carefully to see if any of them start fires. Lightning causes even more fires than humans, typically. 

He’s been provided a wooden stool with glass feet to use during the storm since both of the materials are not very conductive, but that isn’t really sparking a lot of confidence in him. And there are some lightning rods and other protective grounding measures, but it’s still a little…disconcerting.

Grian’s glad he turned his radio back to its normal frequency, because Scar calls in a moment later. “Here she comes!” he cries. “I know you heard that thunder too.”

“It’s getting so dark,” Grian says. 

The lights aren't on right now–although he doesn't normally need them midday anyway–so the rapidly approaching weather fills the tower with almost palpable shifting gloom. Earlier Grian had switched off the generator at the bottom of the tower and covered it with a tarp in preparation for the storm. 

“This might be an interesting one,” Scar says. “We might see some of the first fires of the season in this area today.”

“That’s what they said this morning when they reported the fire risk. And what the ranger told me after I reported those hikers.”

“Lightning starts most of our fires out here,” Scar says. “They might let it burn if it’s a lightning based fire, but I’m not sure after how bad it was last year. They might want to suppress it to keep the public happy. Generally though, human-caused fires get suppressed but natural ones might be allowed to burn.”

“Yeah, you told me a few weeks ago that the ecosystem needs fire or something.”

“It gets along pretty well by itself without our help,” Scar says. “We just…like to keep the pretty parts to ourselves. Don’t wanna see ‘em get destroyed.”

“I get that,” Grian says. He sighs. “Do you feel any better?”

“Um,” Scar replies. “Not particularly.”

“Oh. I thought you sounded better.”

“Thanks, I’m good at that.”

"You shouldn't have to be good at that."

"I'd never get anything done otherwise," Scar says.

Grian turns to watching the leading edge of the storm roll in. It’s really beautiful up here, on his little perch. The sky is a dark blue-black to the west and clear to the east. The thunderhead is high and lofty. Grian can see the slopes in the distance disappearing in a curtain of rain, the same blue-gray color as the clouds. 

“Keep an eye on that cloud and right around it,” Scar says a few minutes later. “We might lose visibility when it passes over us but it’s close enough now for us to count the lightning strikes.”

Just as Scar speaks, Grian spots the first one in the distance, darting down quickly to the ground and branching as it goes. It’s beautiful too. Grian quickly lines it up in the sight of his firefinder, spinning the circle around until it’s pointing directly at the strike area. He marks down the general area with a pencil on the map in the center of the disc. 

Just after he finishes doing that, thunder claps and it feels like it rattles the whole cabin. Grian decides maybe it’s time for him to stand on the stool, just in case. 

When the storm draws closer, the lightning will probably be too fast to keep up with. Grian’s already having issues finding them in the firefinder before another strikes. For this reason, he has a profile map of the area around his tower too, with the peaks drawn exactly in the way he can see them from the center of his tower. He marks little X’s in pencil on the areas of the slopes the lightning strikes. 

“This storm has a lot of lightning,” Grian says into his radio. “How do you keep up?”

“Just try your best,” Scar says. “The profile map helps. We’re mostly trying to just remember the areas where it struck, so that later we can keep an eye on them for fire.”

“Do you think it’ll cause a fire?” 

As soon as he lets go of the call button, he spies another strike, way off near Scar’s tower to the North. He dutifully marks it down. It dances down from the sky, landing somewhere in the mountains between them.

“We might not be able to tell until after the storm,” Scar says. “And sometimes it’s hard to tell right after because of fog and stuff. You’ll figure out what real smoke looks like soon enough.”

“Doesn’t the rain put these fires out?” Grian asks. 

“Sometimes,” Scar says. “Sometimes they smolder for a while. We might need to keep an extra eye on these lightning strike locations for a few days in the future, which is why we're marking it down."

The thunder continues to rumble all around him, and soon rain starts to fall. They're big fat drops too, and it takes no time at all for the deck outside to be completely covered. They start to hit the windows too, so Grian squints around them as best he can. Sometimes the lightning just flashes all around him, no discernable ground contact in sight. 

"I'm losing visibility," Grian says into the radio.

Scar replies, but the words are lost in the background noise of the rain and the wind and the thunder. 

It's pouring buckets now, and Grian sets down his pencil. He can't see anything but rain now, and maybe the softest outline of the next closest hill, so there’s nothing to report. Experiencing the storm in this little glass cage is unique. It’s chilly, with the wetness and the clouds bringing the chill back into the normally sun-warmed cabin. It’s also very loud–the rain hitting the glass and the wood and the thunder rattling the window frames nearly drown out Grian’s own thoughts. 

Grian shuts his eyes against the sway of the tower in the wind, as if he can keep it grounded by willpower alone. 

The air feels charged and buzzing. Grian’s fingers feel a little tingly, and the hair on his arm starts to stand up with the static. He’s got enough presence of mind to think huh, that’s weird, before–

CRASH!

There’s a horribly loud noise all of a sudden, and Grian flinches so hard he nearly falls off the stool he’s standing on. It’s accompanied by a flash of bright light that he instinctively closes his eyes against. It’s blinding even against his eyelids. When Grian blinks them open and steadies himself, heart beating wildly out of control, everything just looks…normal. The tower is fine, and so are the misty treetops he can see closest to the tower.

It must have been lightning, it had to have been. Maybe not on the tower or in his obscured sightline, but close enough to nearly send Grian to an early grave from a heart attack. He feels horribly shaky now, and it takes him a few tries to firmly depress the button on the side of his radio. 

“S-Scar,” he says. “I think there was just–there was lightning.”

He can barely hear Scar, but he thinks he says, “Did it hit the tower?”

“No–no I don’t think so,” Grian says. “But it had to be close.”

“As long as you’re okay,” comes the muffled reply. 

It isn’t long before the rain begins to taper off. It isn’t long at all, actually–it’s sort of surprising how quickly the worst of it passes, but the storm had been moving quickly according to the weather service. Through the mist of rain, he can once again see the Thorofare Lookout through his northern window. With the visibility restored, he goes back to marking down lightning strikes. His map is full of them now. 

“It seems like it passed,” Grian says, once the rain is just a sprinkle. “What do we do now?”

“For the rest of the day? Probably not much–the ground is really damp. But we’ll keep an eye out on the lightning strike areas for the next few days for smoke. They might send planes to inspect the forest after the storm.”

“Planes…” Grian says. “You know, it’s a wonder they still hire these jobs with all that technology available now. Why don’t they just use planes, helicopters, radars, and satellites?”

“Well, they do,” Scar says. “This is kind of a dying job? But–the difference with us is that we’re here all the time. You and me, we can get more familiar with this area by looking at it everyday than a pilot could from a couple of flybys. They’ll still need us, for a while at least.”

“For a while,” Grian repeats. “Until they replace the jobs with something cheaper.”

Scar laughs. “I’d be shocked if they can find a piece of technology cheaper than my salary,” he says. 

“God, if that isn’t true,” Grian says. “I don’t know how people afford anything. My roommate wants a computer so bad but they’re, like, all a million dollars so we couldn’t get one. He’d be good at it though, he was learning computer-aided design at work. Best in the office!”

“Maybe you’ll get one eventually,” Scar says. “Not on this salary though.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Grian says. “I didn’t choose this job for the money, that’s for sure.”

The sun is breaking out behind the clouds now. Everything looks fresh and shiny and bright, glittering with illuminated raindrops. There’s a steady drip-drip from the lookout tower’s roof. With the strength of the sun, it’ll be no time at all before it’s all dry. The sky is still a deep blue to the west behind the storm, and the golden sunlit trees against the dark sky make a pleasing contrast. 

Everything feels just a little new, a little fresh. He basks in the feeling. 

»»———-　　———-««

It’s 11 AM. The sun is bright and the sky is blue. 

"I see smoke," Grian says. "I know I was wrong last time but I'm not this time."

The smoke is rising, thin and wispy, from a forested section on the southwestern flank of Trout Peak. 

"Confidence, I like that," Scar says. "Go on and give me the reading, then."

The motions are getting familiar now. The firefinder is a disc that sits in the middle of the tower on a small table. The edge of the circle, its arc, is covered in little degree markings. The firefinder is a type of alidade, which is a turning board that allows someone to determine line of sight for triangulating locations. They date back to ancient times–astronomers used a version called an astrolabe for navigation, telling time, and to locate the position of celestial bodies. 

It's fascinating how, when surrounded by emerging technologies, we can turn to the very tools humanity has been using for millennia. 

The disc has two sights opposite to each other: an upper sight with a peep hole and a lower sight with two crosshairs. Grian spins them around the arc until he is in the vicinity of the smoke, and then looks through the upper sight. He marks the degree that the opposite crosshair has landed on around the arc. That’s the azimuth of the fire. The azimuth is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction–this fire sits northwest of Grian’s tower, and its azimuth is 321°. For a more precise measurement he takes the minutes off of the vernier, another set of markings that rotates around the base of the firefinder. His final reading is 321° 45’.

Then he looks at the map that is permanently fixed to the center of the disc. His lookout tower is situated in the middle. Grian can estimate the distance on the map from a metal tape that stretches across. Given the scale of the map, two miles is represented by an inch–Trout Peak is 5 inches on the map, so it is 10 miles away. 

The upper peep hole has markings that are used to determine the vertical height of the fire, but which ones to use are dependent on if the fire is above or below the lookout. This fire is below Grian’s perch on the mountaintop, so when he looks through the sight to the crosshair on the opposite side of the firefinder, he uses the bottom crosshair. 

It’s measuring -8°, so Grian does a little math. He knows the height of his lookout, he knows the distance of the fire, and now that he knows the vertical angle he can determine how much lower the fire is than him. Once he gets the number he subtracts it from his own elevation. Now he knows the fire is at an elevation of 7,150 feet. 

So to recap: he’s got a fire northwest at 321° 45’, 10 miles away, at 7,150 feet above sea level. 

He relays this information to Scar on the radio. 

“Excellent!” Scar cries. “Here, I can see the fire so I’ll give you my measurements too. Where our azimuths cross will be the exact location. With all of this information, they’ll definitely be able to find the fire.”

Scar already has the numbers ready, indicating he did his own measurements while waiting for Grian to complete his. Scar probably made them faster, too, but Grian’s choosing to be proud of himself instead. This work is a lot more complicated than he expected it to be in the beginning. He writes down Scar’s information on a stray piece of paper nearby. 

“Do you want to make the report?” Scar says. “I mean, you sighted it so it’s yours. It’ll look good for you.”

“Alright,” Grian says, “talk to you in a bit.”

He goes back onto the official channel and reports the fire to the Forest Service. He gives both his and Scar’s measurements, along with a general description of the area and nearby landmarks. He includes information on the probable cause of the fire–lightning from the storm two days ago–and the sort of landscape it is burning in. He gives an approximation of the size of the fire too. It’s a small one. 

They thank him for his report and promise to give updates through the official channel. Scar’s got a second radio tuned to that all the time, so Grian flips his channel back to the one he and Scar use exclusively. 

“I did it,” he says. 

“Good job!” Scar says. “And good eye to notice that smoke.”

“I don’t know if I have good eyes,” Grian chuckles. “I wear glasses, you know. The Forest Service wasn’t very happy with that but I passed the eye test as long as I could wear them so they just made me bring two pairs in case one gets broken.”

“Aw, you have glasses? Are they those big silly ones? I hope they’re those big silly ones, you’d look good in them. So fashionable."

“Scar, you have no idea what I look like.”

“I’m correct though, aren’t I?”

Grian rolls his eyes. “No comment.”

“By the way,” Scar says. “You did good reporting those hikers earlier in the week.”

This snags Grian’s attention immediately. “Did they get lost?” he asks. 

“I don’t think they were lost, but they were definitely unable to get back to their car before the storm hit. A ranger went up the trail after the storm passed and found them part of the way down, soaking wet. He helped them warm up and get back.”

“They must have been cold,” Grian says. “It’s warm out but not warm enough to be caught in a thunderstorm.”

“Oh for sure,” Scar says. “It’s possible they would have made it back fine but it’s also possible that being wet and cold could have slowed them down enough to be in big trouble. It just got colder over the evening and they might not have been able to start a fire with all of the tinder being wet.”

“It’s weird how badly everything can go wrong,” Grian muses. “And how quickly.”

“You did a good thing, though,” Scar says. “You helped someone. That’s what we’re here for.”

“I’m glad they’re safe,” Grian says, and for some reason he has a lump in his throat again. It’s like he can’t get away from it, this pain that rubs against his every movement. He can’t even be happy with a compliment to his work, or proud of himself for spotting a fire, because it always boomerangs right back into despair and self-pitying.

It’s a hole he can’t escape. He helped someone, but he can’t help himself, can’t help Mumbo.

He hopes Mumbo is somewhere warm, right now. 

»»———-　　———-««

There’s nothing but the soft wind in the trees and the crunch of Grian’s boots in the gravel as he steadily climbs the hill to his lookout. The late afternoon light slants on the ground, throwing shadows across his path. But it’s well into summer now, and the sun doesn’t set until 9 PM, so there’s hours of warm light left. 

It’s a little strange that the small cabin feels like home now, but after sleeping in a tent for three nights that’s exactly what it feels like. Grian’s work schedule grants him days off just like any job–sometimes he works 10 days on for 4 days off, like he did this week. Further into fire season, his hours will probably lengthen. 

Most lookouts go into town on their days off for a taste of civilization, but Grian doesn’t. His reasons are twofold. First, he’d rather not sacrifice two days of his break just to hike that difficult trail in and out. 

Second, he’s still not lost sight of his original goal: finding Mumbo. 

He spent most of the last few days searching an area on the edge of his lookout territory called Deer Creek. On paper, it’s a perfect spot–there’s a year-round water supply close by, some sheltered areas between rocky outcroppings and forest, and perhaps even some very old structures from historic homesteads or ranches. 

Of course, he’s coming home once again empty-handed. He saw several hawks, an elk, a fox, and some deer, and no Mumbo. 

As he approaches the tower, the generator is turned off, so Grian goes to turn it on again. The Forest Service had assigned a temporary volunteer lookout to cover his shift while he was gone, but that person had left early this morning in order to get back to the trailhead. They must have turned off the generator before they left to save propane. 

Grian will have to ask Scar if the volunteer was as interesting to talk to as he is. He hasn’t spoken to Scar in several days, in order to save the battery on his radio. His radio’s charger is plugged in at the tower, although he has extra batteries for emergencies. 

The first thing Grian notices when he walks up to the base of the tower is that there’s an object leaned against the stairs. It’s a bicycle of some sort. He first wonders if it’s something the volunteer lookout left behind, but that doesn’t make any sense. It’s too perfectly placed for him to find it. 

It’s too…familiar?

It’s a bicycle of some sort, except that when Grian really looks at it for the first time he freezes, because it’s the sort of bicycle that Grian recognizes instantly.  Grian stops in his tracks, and suddenly his heartbeat is loud in his ears. His eyes dart all over the bike, taking in every tiny detail. 

It’s painted in what was once bright green and yellow, but the color is faded from the sun and rusty from exposure. There’s scratches on it, and the chain looks clearly messed up. 

It’s a lot worse for wear than the day Grian bought it, but he’d never forget what it looked like. He’s been looking for it for a year now. 

Why is Mumbo’s mountain bike leaned against the Two Forks tower staircase?

<< Chapter Two | Masterpost | Chapter Four >>

[willowisapillow]

☃️🍄 Goin' Down To Shroom Park 🍄☃️

Heyo, guys, gals, and non-binary pals. The most wonderful time of the year is upon us, so I wanted to start it off by drawing a winter-themed pic. And also to add it onto the list of crossovers nobody asked for but yet I deliver because I can 😌

And uh, kind of weird timing that I’m posting this considering everyone is currently harping on about Wapeach (or Walupeach or whatever the hell she’s called), so that’s neat, ig.

I'm not sure if y’all knew this about me, but I love South Park. It’s one of my favorite cartoons of all time and one of the few adult cartoons that I actually watch. I do love cartoons in general, but for some weird reason, I just could never really get into adult cartoons, despite half of the unhinged and crass stuff that I love like the Child’s Play/Chucky movies, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and Panty & Stocking. The only ones that I really like and watch are South Park (as previously mentioned), Happy Tree Friends, Daria, and Drawn Together. Other than that, other shows don’t really interest me.

Though I have heard a lot of good things about Moral Orel, and watched a couple of reviews of it on YouTube, so maybe one day I’ll give it a watch.

Back onto the topic of South Park, I always knew about this show’s existence, but I definitely was not allowed to watch it when I was super young for… obvious reasons 💀

It wasn’t until 8th grade, which was my third and final year of middle school, was when I started really getting into the series. I came across a 107 Facts video about the series on YouTube, and clicked on it, despite knowing little to nothing about the series. And then I clicked on another video about the series. And then another. And another. And another. And another. And one thing led to another, and I eventually became hooked on the series. I was always interested in what wild adventure the boys would get themselves into, or what out-of-pocket thing Cartman would be doing this time.

It’s been a very long while since I’ve last watched the show, so my knowledge of it is pretty rusty, but I’m planning on watching it again after hearing about the whole Panderverse thing. Also I love the designs of the Panderverse girls, they slay ✨

I had a lot of fun drawing this, I just wanted to draw some of my favorite Mario characters as some of my favorite characters from the show. At first, I wanted to draw Luigi as Kyle because green hat, but I thought that Waluigi should be Kyle, and I’m probably gonna draw Luigi as Kenny in the future. Daisy would probably be Bebe, Mario is gonna be Stan, and I think we all know who our boy Warius would be lol

☃️ 💜 💚 ☃️

[bartholomew-junior]

2, 3, 4, sips exact same questions from my last ask sure we ball

ok i’m gonna throw in 2 freebie questions 4 this one for fun, if that’s alright, apologies if it isn’t ^-^ i was just eyeing this 4 sips and thought this was a good chance.

2 . you could probably find some1 in the fandom who could ramble and rave about sips’ personality, design, vibes, etc. for DAYS. and i am no different, really. the themes of his character are being lost in the world and trying to find purpose and learning to be vulnerable and heal, which speaks to a LOT of people, as well as his personality (that is kind of infused with dingo’s humor, quirks, struggles). also the way he’s drawn, shit-eating grin and generally being a prick gets a lot of people hooked. basically, his whole design and personality pretty much, but if i had to narrow it down, i would say his special kind of defiance and general prick aura.

3 . i feel like his base design without the croc arm could be spiced up a liiittle bit more and given a few more ornaments, but that’s just me. the combo of open vest and harem pants just reminds me of aladdin lol. but who cares i’m not his character designer and its just a nitpick lmao

4 . same kind of genre as erina, aka obscure old anime. i’d give his a few more shonen elements and jttw inspiration, and a different artstyle kind of like jojo’s bizarre adventure (LOL) with more crosshatching and messier lines, more distinctive atmosphere, and draw sips very similarly to how he is in the series. the original series has a kind of storyboard feel, especially in the later episodes, and i think dull/greyscale backgrounds with some bright colors could make things more visually interesting. also psychological horror

bonus. kind of:

7 . same headcanons they give to ohio jack, which is making him trans, autistic, etc. i do enjoy the more realistic takes on his design, like making him look like a whole ass macaque cuz i think it’s fun. i’ve drawn sips w top surgery scars b4, and i think it’s a cool addition to his character. also, i really, really like that at least this part of the fandom acknowledges that he’s aroace and doesn’t really ship him and instead focuses on his friendships, which i think does his character more of a service than shipping him with gothi. bit fandom will fandom, and i have nothing against shipping, etc. in short, i like this little corner of the fandom :]]

18 . i already wrote about gothi and sips, so i’ll do a different one this time. i wouldn’t say admire like at all, but this one is rlly interesting to me (and if you’ve been looking @ this blog 4 a bit, i do mention this duo), which is xanu and sips (and also the existence of xips). they’re foils, and have so many parallels like in the way they were both experimented on, hold their friends in high regard and everyone else is suspicious to them, etc., but sips seems more aware? which is a rarity when he’s contrasted with other people and both of them bring out a less seen side of each other, with sips meeting an actual Bad Guy and being less murderous compared to him, and xanu being especially annoyed and irritated by sips and kind of enabling him. agh. they should never talk to each other again. sorry 4 the ramble

summary: hehe funny little guy

comiclink: https://www.tumblr.com/dingodoodles/174215134831/doodle-of-a-scene-from-this-weeks-session-sips?source=share

[whumpy-wyrms]

are u in any fandoms? what are ur interests besides whump? u don’t have to answer i’m just curious!!

someone’s asking me about my interests i can’t NOT answer

this got a bit long tho so i’m putting it under the read more for people who don’t care/are only here for the whump

OKOK. so i’m kinda in the starkid/nerdy prudes must die fandom rn but i know for a fact if i finished adventure time and started watching fiona and cake, that would quite literally become my entire personality for the next 3 months because simon and prismo (and marceline and princess bubblegum and all my other favorite characters) make me insane. but i haven’t done that because well. i’ve gotta write tllr yknow..

anyway, my absolute most favorite pieces of media of all time are undertale and deltarune guys. i cant put in words how much those games mean to me holy shit. as i’m writing this i’m sitting next to my jevil and sans and spamton plushie and they are saying hi. anywayyy yeah i was in the deltarune fandom for a bit it was fun. spamton is silly fucked up creature. jevil is my all time favorite tho

AND THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES… my favorite thing ever fr. y’all. LISTEN TO TMA SERIOUSLY YOU’LL PROBABLY LIKE IT!! it’s a horror podcast and it’s seriously the best fuckinf thing ever it’s so amazing seriously. it’s a bit hard to get into at first because season 1 is less story driven BUT HOLY SHIT. AHHHH ITS SO FUCKING GOOD. jon is one of my favorite blorbos ever and so is michael because he’s a silly distortion guy. just trust me and listen to TMA it will actually change your life.

also i love the amazing world of gumball so fucking much. i wasn’t allowed to watch cartoon network as a kid (idk why??) so i first watched tawog last year and holy shit holy shit it’s my favorite thing ever. rob. ROB!!!! ROB IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE CHARACTER. SO IS MR SMALL. AHHHH!!!! anyway i love tawog i’ve drawn a lot of fanart and even wrote a 60k word fanfiction (about what happens after The Inquisition because that ending fucked me up) that i’ve Never and will probably never show anyone because it’s probably Not that good. but it was sooo Important to me back then. tawog just means so much to me it :))) it changed me as a person. nobody’s a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me.

i also really like hollow knight! i haven’t played it in a while but i was at 111% completion on one of my playthroughs (CURSE YOU PANTHEON 4). i’m also super fucking excited for silksong obviously and i will say this now: WHEN SILKSONG FINALLY RELEASES… i will probably go on hiatus here LMAO. sorry but guys. SILKSONG…. honestly same for new deltarune chapters. the second chapters 3, 4, and 5 release it is sooo over for me. i probably won’t post much here for a few months during that. but that’s fine!! i’ll never abandon tllr but sometimes some things are more important to my silly little brain :3

gravity falls quite literally changed my life in 2018. like i can’t even explain it, but it’s how i was introduced to online fandoms and fanart in general. dipper LITERALLY made me trans (not literally but pretty much). it’s how i started watching other amazing cartoons and series i love, it’s literally what made me get into drawing art and writing and stuff. it’s what made me start making ocs. it literally made me an artist guys. which is how i started writing. without gravity falls and it’s effect it had on me, this account might have never existed?? i’m being super dramatic but wowww. i was so autistic about that silly cartoon

minecraft i love. i’ve been playing minecraft for over a decade and won’t stop because it’s like, probably a special interest of mine? i’ve watch minecraft youtubers forever too, hermitcraft and the life series are my favorite. i’m a huge grian fan too, been watching him since the evo days. anyway if u play minecraft and wanna play with me sometime, feel free to ask!!! :D i love making new friends and playing video games with people!!! let’s make a world together!!!

also i like terraria and stardew valley, and animal crossing new horizons but i haven’t played that in a few years. hmm other games i like are oneshot game, NITW, omori, celeste, cuphead, fnaf (although i’ve only played the first 5 games and am super super behind on the lore), ori, dead cells, untitled goose game (this is for u anon), and probably more i’m forgetting! feel free to recommend me some video games and we can even play together :3

other series i love are the umbrella academy. soooo autistic about this show it’s fucking AMAZING!!!!!! klaus is my favorite character. anyway i also like what we do in the shadows. it made me super autistic about vampires (before i watched this show i kinda thought vampires were cringe IDK WHY I’M SORRYY). the netflix show lucifer made me insane a few years ago and is what probably indirectly inspired me to give Dew wings. i also like our flag means death, breaking bad, moon knight, and camp here in there (another podcast i HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend, will wood made the soundtrack!)

i LOVEEE FINAL SPACE!! avocato has been my pfp on this account forever and now i feel like i can’t ever change it (i don’t want to). final space is seriously amazing!!! but it was cancelled and basically got fucked over by the networks- infinity train style. idk, stuff happened and it was removed from hbo max so there’s not really anywhere to watch it (legally) except for netflix international iirc? but it’s getting removed from that too i think. super fucking sad :( it ended on a huge cliffhanger too BUT there is a graphic novel being made!!!! super excited about that!

other cartoons i like are over the garden wall (dressed up as wirt for halloween last year), the owl house, adventure time, regular show, steven universe, infinity train, bojack horseman, rick and morty, mlp, the midnight gospel, and so much more i’m forgetting. OH anime i like are death note, demon slayer (haven’t caught up yet on the latest seasons tho), and MOB PSYCHO 100!! vampire in the garden on netflix is really amazing as well.

this is sooo long but now i gotta talk about my favorite music artists. WILL WOOD (AND THE TAPEWORMS) IS MY FAVORITEEE. I ALSO LOVEEE JHARIAH!!! AND HARLEY POE!!!!! top three of all time. i also like toby fox obviously, and glass beach (LITERALLY GOING TO SEE THEM IN MARCH AND I AM SOOO EXCITED!!!), mcr, shayfer james, weezer, mitski, lemon demon, set it off, tally hall, gerard way, and probably more i’m forgetting. i also like musicals!! (i was in the spongebob musical earlier this year for school! i was larry the lobster :))

so guys. GUYSSS. IF YOU LIKE MUSICALS, GO WATCH NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE!!!! OR JUST WATCH THE ENTIRE HATCHETFEILD TRILOGY!!! WHILE UR AT IT, WATCH ALL THE STARKID MUSICALS ACTUALLY!!! this is my current hyperfixation. the lords in black are amazing, npmd is amazing. i love everything about it. go watch it seriously, it’s fucking awesome and the soundtrack is AMAZING!!!

i think this is it. this got super long but i’m super passionate about my interests so yeah. this is pretty much everything. one very important thing (literally my special interest) that i didn’t mention are my other ocs. i have wayyy more ocs that are completely separate from the tllr ones. i don’t wanna post about them here though, cuz they’re not whump related and i want to keep my main account separate from this account. but they’re my favorite blorbos in existence so…

if u WANT to know about my other ocs, u can feel free to dm me for the username of my other fandom/oc account. that’s where i post other stuff that i don’t post here, like my fanart and my other oc stuff. i don’t post writing or anything like that there, so ur not missing out on that.

anyway those are most of my main interests! things i didn’t mention that im also really interested in are reptiles (snakes specifically), and animals in general. i have two leopard geckos named Lars and Alphys and i reallyyyy want a pet snake but my family hates snakes :(( anyway i’m rambling

thanks for the ask!!

[oliviasecrets]

This is life

VI

“Yeah I’m only here for two days then I play in Ibiza”

“No way I’ve always wanted to go there I’ve heard amazing stories about the nightlife”

“Why don’t you come with me it could be fun”

Johns invitation was very tempting but you had to draw your line

“It does sound like fun but I’m currently under a lot of work I can’t take a vacation”

“Hey I understand how about this give me your number and when you’re free we can arrange something”

“Yeah sure”

What you didn’t know is that a few yards away Jack was watching this interaction and when he saw you trying into that djs phone his blood boiled he tried to fight the feeling of jealous but that overcame

“Jack where are you going… wait up man”

Jack moved fast through the crowd so that he wouldn’t be recognized by any fan that wanted a picture, as he was about to enter the dj area he turn around when he felt a hand on his arm

“Hey if I was you I wouldn’t lose her”

“Emily hey yeah thank you that’s what I’m trying to do here”

“Show her that you really do care, and if you two do end up together please invite me to the wedding”

“You already thinking way to fast but definitely em”

The bouncer tried to stop Jack but luckily for him he was too damn famous know he didn’t need an introduction

“Have a fun night mr harlow”

“Thank you sir”

As Jack was getting close to you he made eye contact with the dj making you turn around from your previous conversation you couldn’t help but to smile and get all excited to finally see Jack after a week of crying over him, you made your way to him and wrap your arms on his neck taking in his delicious LV smell and Jack couldn’t resist but giving you a hard hug and kissing your cheek

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you”

“Yeah I figured that out since it took you a week to call me”

“Come on ma are you making this difficult for me now”

“Yeah actually until you realize how much I’m worth”

That had him smiling from ear to ear

“Oh trust me you’ve been on my mind since I last saw you, even had me writing you a song and shit”

“Is that so jackman”

“Wanna hear it”

“Not really, I prefer having some fun with you”

Jack took your hand and made your way out of the vip area, walking towards the bar you order yourself some shots to make your confidence boost Jack kept placing one hand curled up on your waist as he was getting close to your ear he whispered

“Let’s get out of here”

“Jack we haven’t even danced, don’t you wanna dance with me?”

“I do but I prefer to spend some time with you just the two of us”

“One dance first”

You took jacks hand and made your way to the dance floor the one and only song played my humps by the black eye peas

“Imma get you drunk get you love drunk off my hump”

You turned around so you could grind a little with Jack, he placed both hand on your waist holding you tight and slightly touching your abs and slightly your under boobs making you turn around and wrap one hand on his neck

“You are getting very touchy jackman”

“Please can we just go already”

Jack put a hand on your neck taking care of you while you made yourself outside the club, before leaving you texted em telling her you were leaving with Jack but oh boy what a surprise you were headed towards

“Jack y/n are you together”

“Y/n please over here give a smile”

“Jack how does it feel to be with y/n”

“How long have you’ve been together”

“Please smile this way”

Neither you or Jack knew there was at least 25 paparazzi waiting outside

“just hold my hand and not let go y/n”

You grabbed his hand scared of what was happening then you started feeling people getting crowed and suddenly you felt someone grabbed your ass

“What the fuck don’t touch me”

You let go of jacks hand making him look your way he didn’t really understand what was going on but once he saw you pushing a guy away he saw red

“Get your hands off of her right now, I swear I’ll fuck you up dude”

“Jack please let’s just go away”

“Jack please

Before you realized urban had come out of no where grabbing Jack and preventing him from starting a fight

“Come on babe let’s get going”

“Em where’s Jack please”

“Y/n please just come with me he’ll find us”

The anxiety and being scared of what was going on overcame as you started to cry you walked half a block when you heard Jack

“Y/n are you okay, are you hurt please tell me you’re good”

Once you saw Jack jogging to you you stared to cry even more, maybe it was the excitement that had this effect in you

“Hey I’m here don’t worry y/n”

You looked at Jack and all you could do was kiss him a very passionate kiss wrapping your hands around his neck making the kiss more deep and intense Jack stopped and kissed your forehead

“I’m going to take that as an im okay Jack”

“Please don’t scare me like that again you dick I was so scared”

“I’ll promise I will behave but if someone else touch what’s mine I won’t promise anything”

“I’m not yours Jack”

“Fuck yeah you are I’m never letting you get away ever”

———————————————

Some action plus I love jealous Jack hahah any ideas text me!!

[grimmla-arts]

End of year wrap up and what happens next!

Well it’s the end of the year, and what a year it’s been. I feel like this is the best/worst year I’ve had so far. On one hand I’ve really gotten to spend a lot more time doing what I love to do, which is designing characters and monsters for you guys, and on the other hand the world feels just all the darker.

Ai really took off early this year and it’s been a shadow looming over our community ever since. It’s hard to focus on work when I’m wondering if I’ll be able to continue it in the years to come. I also decided I was going to work on ttrpg stuff this year (another hobby I love) and if you’ve been following that scene you’ll know that it’s been flooded with controversy all year long. X’D

With that being said I’m going to keep a brave face and work towards the future. I love doing what I do, and I think it would break my heart to give it up. It hard, but it’s worth it.

What happens next?

Well first and foremost I’d really like to work on my own personal project more this year. I spent last year doing a lot of writing and plotting, and I’m still working on it, but I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of where I’d like things to go. So I would expect to see more of my own beans running around. (I will be making a point to draw them more often) I need to practice drawing humans more so there will definitely be more doodles.

I admittedly have fallen out of love with the classic D&D dragons set I’d been working on. It was partly fatigue and partly feeling like I was promoting a company that thought it was cool to lay off 1100 employees just before Christmas. I just don’t have the passion for it anymore so I’ll probably work on something else, or go back to monsterhunter.

I’d really like to do more with the creature club this year. (discord for patreon and ko-fi supporters) I had a lot of fun designing beasties for them (all the sketch designs I’ve been drawing have been creature club requests), and this next year we’re going to do something special with give away designs, the first of which I’m thinking I might make public? I haven’t decided just yet.

Anyhow I just wanted to wrap up my thoughts for this year. It’s been a crazy one. I hope that you have all been doing well, and that these next few days are full of rest and relaxation.

Here’s to hoping that 2024 is a little less manic.

[fishedeyelenz]

Oh fishy! That Billy and Camille mood board was…..*sighs dreamily* everything. Agh!! You just have no idea!! All of y’all!! All the billy writers and artists, the billy mutuals, I know I lurk, anonymously…not unlike how billy does, but in my mind y’all are the attic gang. My attic gang, all of us loving and bullying the attic boy, and also the wall boy….I just…aaah…perfection. Anyways, your stories are keeping me alive woof, I’ll be catching up on the latest chapters of rats in the shadows (gee I hope I got the name right lol) later when I can (life you know) and I’m losing my marbles thinking about BEAN. BILLY BEAN BILLY’S BEAN!!! And how sweetly devoted he is to his Camille and Bean!! It’s just….*sighs happily* so so sweet….all these mood boards have been cracking me up they’re so SILLY!! I keep wishing to stick a sticker of canned beans on Beans’ forehead…these dark urges smh…

Okay but yes, right right, I need to get to the actual reason for my silly little ask, okay so, how would billy be with an s/o who’s very musical? We know he loves Camille in all her drawing and painting glory, (does she paint too? I know she draws, I guess I just assumed she might’ve dabbled in paints as well, apologies if not) but what about a musical gal? My family is extremely musically inclined, we all sing and everyone plays instruments (I draw too but again, we have our answers with precious Camille! And Thank goodness, for I’d love to draw with him, or draw a mustache on him while he sleeps if nothing else) and so I always wonder if he’d like music like I do…..I very much rely on music, it helps me, and I wonder if it’d help him too! The beat of the music grounds me, I can copy and mimic almost all the specific voice of all the singers I listen to, it’s patterns that I can rely on….it’s just all very soothing and helps me be happy while also calming! It’s like….a sturdy rock. Always consistent and nice!

And so I always imagine singing with Billy, (I know he’s a terrible singer but it’d be so wonderful and fun still!) dancing with him, teaching how to tap dance, singing and humming to him while holding him and running my fingers through his hair, playing my concertina for him, playing the piano with him, making up sound games, like, me play a tune and he has to mimic it, or him make up a tune and I’ll try to play it for him, it just seems so fun! All of it! Always singing and dancing with each other!! Loud and fast when we are okay! Or softly and slow, very quiet songs when either of us need soothing or comforting….it just all seems terrible sweet to me, I’m just a sucker and have been having so much fun practicing my concertina, so I’ve just been really having this on the brain eheh (btw I feel like a little sailor with my concertina, I freaking love it aaah)

Hello!! Glad to hear from you again dear anon, I was wondering about a couple of days ago actually!! You always leave such sweet messages <333 The part about the attic gang made me giggle heheheh <333 well, if it means anything, if you ever wanna go off anon I at least will be very accepting, and I'm sure others will do. But I respect your decision to stay anonymous if that's more comfortable to you!! I hope you have a fun time reading the last few chapters, I'm quite proud of them!!

Little Beanie baby honestly deserves a little treat in the form of a sticker on her forehead. Little guy <333 Also yeah, Camille is a painter!! Shes a painting mayor actually. Hats why shes in the college, or I guess the academy she goes to. And Camille would draw a mustache on him ough <3 As for the part about a musical s/o you're pretty spot on!! Certain types of music would definitely be very grounding to him, and could help a lot with calming him down. He in general likes simple little songs I think (think Daisy Bell like in the commentary) and I do think he sings to himself to calm down!! Though he is pretty tuneless... and his singing voice is not pleasant even if he tries... though he usually sings the sing badly on purpose to entertain himself lmao. Hes like a very loud, annoying parrot in human form.

That's why he would love to have a s/o who is actually musical lol. At first it would be to annoy them honestly, ruin their flow with singing badly, mock them when they can't reach a high not and things like that. Being a little shit in general. But as time moves on he would grow to appreciate their talents more. Sometimes he would quiet down when they start playing their instrument and listen carefully, maybe even clap for them in the end if he gets exited. Sometimes his lovers would would sing him to sleep after a hard day. And he would genuinely start joining in on them when they are singing, not to make fun of them but for them to share a moment together. In fact, he would use any chance he can to sing with his s/o, sometimes asking them to join in on singing a silly little song.

One thing though, is to watch over your instrument when around him. It's very fun that you play a concertina but there's always a chance he could break it. Whether on accident from being clumsy, or in a moment when he loses control of himself and breaks everything around him, or maybe out of pettiness after an argument. Either way after the fact he would feel immensely guilty, which will send him spiraling and so on and so forth. Not a pleasant experience for either of you.

This reminds me that Bean will be a musician in the future. She will play bass and melodica and will play in a band. I wonder what else I could do with this concept in relation to Billy...

Thanks once again for sending me this ask, I always am happy to hear from you!!

[heatwayve]

“ are you sending something to the other villa ? maybe it should be my mugshot, 'cause seriously, i’ll go off. ” 

who did you share a bed with last night ? how did you sleep ?

“ i shared with stella, or tried to. i didn’t really get much sleep, but that’s not because of her. i couldn’t turn my brain off and i was pretty worried about romi, so . . . yeah, i eventually just got over myself and reached out to her, and we talked through a lot of the night. would it kill you guys to send in someone nice that’s going to treat her right ? surely that’s what the viewers want at this point, too. but, um, yeah, it was really nice to just hang out with her again. i missed her – after, like, an hour, i missed her. it was so pathetic. ” 

are you getting on with any of the bombshells ? who’s at the top of your list ?

“ i don’t really have a list – which, talking about it is sort of mortifying, considering i don’t think i was at the top of anyone’s when they came in here. the past few days . . . you guys sure know how to humble a girl, don’t 'cha ? ” a wry grin crosses her features.  “ i’d say jude is the only one i don’t get on with, but even that feels complicated. like, i don’t hate him, but i don’t think we’ll ever be besties. stella’s like, one of my girls, she’s someone i could see myself getting along with on the outside, she’d fit right in with my friends. angel’s like, the opposite of that in a good way. he’s nothing like what i’m used to with my friends back home, but i feel like we clicked so well so fast ? i could talk to him for ages. it’s really comfortable. this is going to be really embarrassing if he comes in here after this to the cameras, like, fuck that bitch, she didn’t know how to dap or whatever, ” naomi monologues. “ zeke’s pretty cute, but he’s pretty aloof, too. and dante’s really fun – so gorgeous. i think he’s like, waffling a bit between jenny and romi. pretty curious to see how that whole thing plays out, shoutout to someone else’s love triangle. and charlene’s sweet, i think she could tell i had a late night, so she made me breakfast this morning, ” she smiles in spite of herself, “ i really liked that. ” 

do you see yourself starting to focus on one person or are you still exploring ?

“ well, i guess i’m still ‘exploring.’ ” naomi draws air quotes around the word. “ i do really want to focus on one person, though. i think the past few days have really made me realize that. i thought i would be making a more definitive decision about that at the end of this week, but . . . maybe it’s been made for me anyway. i think the hardest part is not knowing. ” 

how was the beer pong game ? what was most memorable about it ?

“ i’m so shit, but after seeing those dares, it’s probably for the best that i didn’t manage to sink a single shot, ” naomi laughs, dropping her head into her hands before she emerges with a sheepish grin. “ i guess the romi, jude and jenny drama is what sticks out the most. i don’t know. i haven’t been jude’s biggest fan, but i would’ve liked to see things work out for romi. obviously a lot of the bombshells don’t see what the big deal was as much, it was a little lost on angel at first, but i’ve been in here with romi since the start, and i’m getting pretty fucking sick and tired of seeing her get shit on – and, yeah, i’m still getting my family’s lawyer involved about the dejan thing, count on it. ”

what was it like seeing the postcard ? what was the most shocking part of it ?

“ right, ” naomi presses her lips together, “ well, it didn’t feel good, so thanks for that. ” her gaze drops down toward her hands, and she releases a gentle sigh. “ i know i’ve been telling you guys that i think dylan should get to explore his options – and i still think that he’s justified. he definitely deserves to, like, i don’t need the lecture on how my feelings have been divided. but it was still jarring to see that before we’ve even had the chance to speak about it, i don’t know. i guess i didn’t expect it to be as easy for him, ” she wipes the corner of her eyes with her palm, gritting her teeth, “ and josh – yeah, i know, everyone and their mother warned me. i’m not surprised. trust me, it’s not like i expected him to be chaste, especially when i didn’t give him an answer last time we spoke. but i really didn’t like looking at it. ” naomi clears her throat, “ can we take a break ? ” 

did the postcard change anything about your perspective moving forward ?

“ well, ” an exasperated sigh escapes her lips and she reaches to apply her lip gloss, a knowing look at the camera, “ i guess i’ve got to crack on for real, don’t i ? what choice do i have ? ” 

who did you vote for the hideaway ? why ?

“ i voted for angel. if i had the option, i probably would’ve voted for callie, too. i think out of everyone, they could probably most benefit from the alone time away from everyone else ? i don’t know if they’ve really talked about frankie or the more serious stuff. and he’s so into her, it’s really cute. it’s nice to see someone that’s actually all about callie and angel seems like he wants the same things she does out of this, like he’s just as serious about a real relationship. they seem like a good match. ” there’s a wistful, almost nostalgic smile on her lips, “ i was so fucking stubborn coming into this whole thing, and callie’s really made me look at shit differently than i normally would, like, several times in here. she’s a fucking force. i’ve never met anyone like her. so, okay, yeah, even if callie and i aren’t ever on the same page again . . . i’m always going to be rooting for her to find that, ” naomi adds. 

[saveahorse-ride-a-cowboy]

When the letter unfolds, it reveals several long paragraphs in Arthur’s beautiful handwriting. Several other pieces of paper fall out, showing drawings he had done for you to show what he was doing and the things he’s seen.

Dearest Miss Harris,

I apologize for such a long time between this letter and our last interaction. By the time you get this, it’ll have been even longer. I still remember our night together real well and with great fondness. Going forward I apologize if my words and writing aren’t fancy like you’re maybe used to. But I’ll do my best for you.

Dutch got the money and he & John have been making fun of me for being a little smitten. John calls me the Starstruck Gunslinger now… bastard. Speaking of gunslinging; I was finally able to settle and write to you only ‘cause I’ve been shot. Got shot twice. Once in my leg, right above the knee, and another in my shoulder. Luckily it wasn’t my good arm, or else I couldn’t write.

I’m goin stir crazy here. Can’t move, need people to bring me things. I don’t like making people cater to me. And I don’t like that I haven’t been able to visit you. Dutch wants to come. He wants to see the land and the home and thank you for helping Heather out. He’s real fond of her, I think. Anyway… none of my business.

John has been hunting with Javier and not me. I think Javier drives him a little crazy. I don’t mind the guy, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little jealous sometimes. Hunting is kinda me and John’s thing. Always has been. He’s like a brother to me and I don’t want these wounds to cause me to get replaced by someone in John’s life.

Anyway, I don’t know why I’m saying all this. John is telling me as I write this that I’ve been writing too long. Maybe I should stop. I don’t want to annoy you. But I want to write and talk to you. I can hear your voice in my head still, just like you’re here next to me. Miss the smell of your strawberry fields and your porch breakfasts. Miss your soap smell.

Anyway, I don’t write this to ask for pity or anything. Been shot plenty of times in my life. I’m just worried about walking properly ever again, I guess. Lots of my lifestyle relies on my ability to move. Mounting horses, dodging bullets, all that. But I think I’ll heal just fine. I have to. For my own sanity.

Enough from me. I really hope that you’re able to write back to me. And that you haven’t found your someone special yet, in these months. If you have, well, I’m happy for ya. Pretty young thing like you deserves a good man. I’m… not a good man. But I thought maybe I could try, sometime, for you.

I’ve added some drawings of things I’ve seen on the way. Mountains. A lake. Some deer. Even saw a bear one evening. I even… drew a photo of you, mid delirium when I was first hurting real bad. Hope ya like it.

Anyway, please write back to me. We’ll be here a while for me and a few others to recover enough to move. It’s cold, at night. Where we are. Wish I could hold you.

Hopefully when we see each other again, if I’m hobbling like an old man and can’t recover fully, you’ll still have me.

Yours honorably,

Arthur Morgan

That’s my real name. Few people know it.

—

Each drawing included in the letter has minimal erasings and/or mistakes, visible proof that he can draw straight from memory without much trouble. The portrait of you is probably the best drawing he’s ever done. Perfect shading, and he captured your resting expression flawlessly.

I grin to myself as I read over his beautiful words and study his gorgeous drawings.

He’s hurt… but it sounds like he’s with a family. And that’s something good.

I decide to go into the city later that day and make up a several many gift baskets, each full of fruit, treats, blankets, and other necessities a camp might need, just for the hell of it.

Then, I stop into an art store and purchase a traveling case of water colors and paintbrushes for Arthur. He has a talent, and it absolutely needs to be explored.

I give two of my stable men extra money and tell them to be careful but to take the care baskets in a coach to Arthur’s last location.

Arthur.

That’s a perfect name.