#I'll try one more time and then I'm scrapping it 😔

[trans-yllz]

wuuuuhggg I think I have to redraw the lovers card even tho wei wuxian looks so good... I've erased lan wangji too many times and he Still looks weird killing myself

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

The First Glance

Hua Cheng x M!Reader x Xie Lian

Honestly I'm just having a go at this and I'm technically writing about my OC. If people notice it that's good. if they don't well😔. So don't hate on me 🖤✨

Mentions of the reader having a veil and white hair, facial scars.

No one has requested any stories from me I wrote this for my own pleasure. So if you want something that isn't for an OC and is for a reader then come tell me and I'll write you something 😋

I keep editing the story cuz I keep forgetting details 😭✊ bear with me plz.

Míngqín means song bird it's Y/n's nickname

Previous part: Tea Shop

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You've been by Xie Lian's side for a long time. You've been his guard for as long as you can remember, and a god under him for even longer. A very long time actually, so you'd like to think you know him well enough to predict his movements. Apparently not.

You're at Puqi shrine, cleaning the place up and fixing dinner for you and Xie Lian. You chose to stay while Xie Lian went and to go investigate a ghost groom who was kidnapping brides. It's since then turned dark and when Xie Lian turns up, there's another man with him. You weren't expecting Xie Lian to bring someone home with him, nor were you expecting the strange man to stay the night.

The strange man's name is actually San Lang, but you still think he's strange anyways. After scolding Xie Lian for bringing someone home without any warning you serve dinner at the makeshift table you came up with. You give San Lang yours, you don't really need to eat. You're a heaven official and being with Xie Lian has you used to it anyhow.

"Thank you for making dinner Míngqín, I wouldn't have minded making it myself", Xie Lian says. You cringe at the thought though. You wave a hand, "not necessary I've got it". You sit down and observe as they both eat. Xie Lian and San Lang chat about something but you aren't paying attention. You're staring at San Lang, it's strange how fast the man has clung himself to Xie Lian. You've never seen him before and yet he so easily acts as if he's known Xie Lian forever.

You look away, thoughts straying to the bed laying on the floor. If it can even be called that it's more like a mat. Are all three of you going to sleep on it? Your thoughts are quickly interrupted when you notice San Lang staring at you. He can't possibly see your face not with the veil you've hidden it behind, but the way he's staring at you makes it feel like he's trying to. It doesn't feel like anything bad or alarming, just unnerving. People don't look at you. They usually stray their eyes away, but San Lang does not.

You leave the table, and lie on the mat. Xie Lian and San Lang will eventually lay down too. You take the middle spot. It makes the most sense, you don't want Xie Lian to be in danger. He's always been kind and you don't want that to back fire on him. You figure it's most safe if you stay between San Lang and Xie Lian.

You are already 'asleep', you aren't of course but you're breathing and heartbeat all sound as if you are. You technically don't need sleep but it's still nice to rest sometimes. You can hear San Lang talk about the missing painting on the wall. There's not yet a painting of the God of Scraps, but Xie Lian ushers San Lang to go to sleep instead.

Xie Lian lies to your right, you can tell. After all you've been sleeping next to each other for years. San Lang lies to your left, leaving you stuck in the middle. It's uncomfortable. You aren't worried about your veil slipping off, it's yours to manipulate and you've long since mastered being able to make the veil comfortable on your face. It's the closeness that bothers you.

You haven't really been in anyone's company other than Xie Lian's. No one else tends to like you, not the officials and not ghosts. That's fine you don't like them either but this sudden presence is new and you've never liked touch in the first place. Touch is scary. It always has been since the fall of XianLe. It makes you want to puke. Xie Lian is the only exception to this, seeing as you've been around him your whole life.

It's not that repulsive actually. For whatever reason San Lang's closeness doesn't seem to make you want to hurl. His breath down the back of your neck however makes you nervous. If you weren't a ghost your heart would be beating fast. You can feel him staring holes into you but you play sleep anyways.

"You're not truly asleep are you?" You internally huff as San Lang asks. You didn't think you were bad at it. You ignore him and continue hoping he'll believe your lie. It's not until a shuffle on your right, and a harsh grip on your robes make you realize San Lang isn't talking to you.

"It's not like I was fake sleeping San Lang" you can feel Xie Lian sit up a bit. "You aren't asleep either" Xie Lian exclaims. You can't see of course your eyes are closed even behind the veil you're worried they'd see your eyes open.

"I was too busy staring at your assistant" his voice takes on a teasing tone. 'Assistant' is what Xie Lian had told San Lang you are. Xie Lian is supposed to be a priest for himself and your alias is to be Xie Lian's assistant. Of course it's not who you truly are. You're truly the God of Song and Xie Lian is truly the God of Scraps. San Lang wouldn't know that though.

Your stomach drops when you feel San Lang's hand start to tinker with your veil. You're about to give it all up to move away but a big clap happens right over your face. You suppose it's time to give it up for the night. You open your eyes, and look up at the clasped hands above you. Xie Lian's holding San Lang's, most likely trying to move his hand away.

"Ah I'm sorry we woke you Míngqín, San Lang just needed a blanket he was cold..." Xie Lian smiles down at you. You nod, "It's okay. Let's go back to sleep then." San Lang only laughs to himself and lies back down. You and Xie Lian lay back down too. The night eventually calms again.

**********************************************************

When morning comes, you realize you fell asleep and when you get out of bed you see that Xie Lian and San Lang have already gotten out of bed. You get up as well and you change your veil. The veil is often changed, you don't like keeping the same design everyday. Some veils cover your whole face, and some veils leave your eyes unhidden. Today you choose a veil that only covers your nose and mouth.

You're ready to go outside until something in the corner of your eye stops you. A painting of Xie Lian back when he was Prince in XianLe..? Did San Lang really paint that? Now it's obvious San Lang isn't a mortal. No one would be able to paint it so accurately from 800 years ago.

You admire it for a minute and then go outside. San Lang and Xie Lian are standing by a cut wood pile. They both turn their heads toward you.

"Good morning Míngqín", "morning y/n". You nod back, noticing San Lang's hair is loose.

"Your hair will surely get caught if you don't put your hair up, San Lang" you haven't really spoken to San Lang the whole time since he's been here but you don't hate him. He did somehow make that painting after all. "Let me fix your hair San Lang" Xie Lian offers. He leads San Lang back inside to a bucket of water.

You know Xie Lian is checking if San Lang is a ghost, but San Lang looks like he is enjoying himself, "Are you just going to play with my hair gege?" Xie Lian is quick to get flustered and he puts San Lang's hair into a very messy braid. It looks messier than before.

You don't pay attention to the fact San Lang has started calling Xie Lian 'gege'. You snicker quietly at Xie Lian's flustered face, as he waves his hands telling San Lang he's all done with his hair. Xie Lian is not very good at doing hair, but San Lang looks happy with it. You don't bother offering to fix it.

"A-Lian it's your turn, come sit". You pat the stool. Xie Lian cooperates and you start combing through his hair. You've always brushed out Xie Lian's hair. He doesn't know how to get the knots out. Xie Lian used to just leave the knots there until you forced him to sit down one day so you could brush it out.

When you're finished brushing his hair you tie it up in his usual half bun-half down hairstyle. You step away from him and notice San Lang staring at you. It seems he's very good at staring.

"You should let gege do your hair as well y/n" you grunt and shake your head. No way you were letting Xie Lian put knots in your hair. You love him very much but you also love your hair.

"No it's alright" you wave a hand but San Lang insists. "I can fix your hair then. Gege did my hair, and you did Gege's. I'll do yours" he smiles. It sounds like generosity, but you've found whatever San Lang says sounds like teasing. You almost shake your head no, but San Lang looks like he really wants to indulge.

"I... Suppose" you hesitate. To fix your hair you would have to take off your veil and only Xie Lian has seen your face and even he hasn't seen it in so long. San Lang is very gentle when he removes your veil, as if he's touching something that will shatter. You cover your mouth with your sleeve. To hide the scars, you don't want them to be seen.

Your thoughts are interrupted by San Lang's fingers running through your hair. He combs it out gently. "Your hair is very beautiful y/n, has gege ever told you?" This flusters you, if you actually had the ability to blush then blood would have colored your cheeks. You have strange hair, it's long but it's white. It's always been like that but after ascending the officials were not your biggest fans. Especially since you stayed with Xie Lian. So they often make remarks about your appearance not that it bothers you.

"Thank you" you notice Xie Lian looking at you. You're eyes are the only thing that can be seen but he's still soaking up what you've hidden for the past hundreds of years before you hide it behind a veil again.

"How come this one hides his face?" San Lang asks as he does something with your hair. You don't know how to answer that so you redirect, "Does San Lang want to see it that bad?" He only laughs at this, and he moves into your field of vision. "I'm all finished. Gege take a look at y/n's hair is it nice?" You want to see what it looks like. You look into the bucket of water.

San Lang put your hair into a braid. He's tied your hair with a red ribbon, it must be San Lang's but you'll keep it. He gave it to you so it's only fair. You run your hands over the braid. Your hair hasn't been styled in a long time, there was never a reason to put it up after all. Your hair is usually left loose.

"it's very pretty San Lang. Míngqín why don't you keep the veil off?" Xie Lian cocks his head to the side. "Yes, there's no reason to hide your face." You furrow your brows, you could keep it off. You're just scared to have your scars out in the open. "... I'll think about it."

You hesitate, but you remove your hand from covering your mouth. To you, your face has been ruined. Your mouth has been slashed from a sword from a very long time ago. Scars line over your lips. You wished that they were pretty scars, with neat lines. They are not though. It's not so bad to show your face to San Lang and Xie Lian.

They stare at you, Xie Lian's look you can understand. You don't understand San Lang's look, he looks as if he's trying to soak up the details of your face too. As if your face is something he hasn't seen in such a long time. You've never met San Lang though...

Now that everyone's hair is fixed, San Lang is an exception to that - y/n giggles every time he sees it - , now they can start their morning. It's a good start to the day and Y/n thinks that San Lang has fit himself quite well into their routine.

Even though San Lang is a new addition to your group he makes it very easy to like him. Especially with how much he clings to Xie Lian's side, but San Lang also seems to be clinging to you too.

__________________________________________________

Criticism or comments plzzzz, I want to know if anyone enjoyed it or if there are ways I can make it better. I also want to know if people want to continue seeing the story! Also don't forget you can request me for stuff! 🖤✨

Maple Robes and Lace Veils

[boybeholding]

had to scrap the original post because i fat fingered and posted too early 😔 but in any case, my pleasure anon!! and tysm for the request, queer requests are my favorite!! I'll just be doing Donnie for this post, but keep your eye out for a separate post for Leo :3

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Rise Donnie + Nonbinary Reader content warnings: misgendering

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Donnie wasn't particularly surprised.

It's not like he could explicitly tell, mind you, but neither of the two of you had ever cared much for restrictive labels; and this was true in both your relationship and your personal identities.

That wasn't to say you didn't care for any labels. Donnie took a lot of pride in the ones he chose for himself. It made it that much more heartfelt, when he finally regarded himself as your partner. It was so deliberate of him.

And it... sounded so much better, than boyfriend or girlfriend. You liked being partners.

It was only after his family took to incessantly calling you two boyfriend and....

ugh. It made your stomach revolt just thinking about it; having the term ascribed to you and him. It just wasn't right.

It was only then in the moment of dysphoria that you realized the nature of your identity clearly enough to tell Donnie about it.

"would you still date me if I used different pronouns?"

He looked down at you, where your head had been thrown into his lap.

"we're dating?" He lifted his goggles, a brow cocked upwards in your direction. You grabbed his face in both hands.

"Quit dodging the question."

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure how that would affect me or our relationship. Just send me the full set... Or sets. I've gotta edit some things."

That was that. No questions. No fuss.

...Maybe a part of you was disappointed there wasn't... y'know, more. But Donnie's means of showing support were unconventional. His nonchalance was far more a good sign than a bad one.

You were naturally oblivious to the lengths he went to at home to get everyone on the same page. It was a quick turn-around, seeing as Shelldon was keeping a mic out for him.

That's not to say a single one of them wouldn't be supportive. But they were... forgetful.

Lucky you, your partner was very proficient at reminding them. By the next time you came to the lair, it was "(deadname) who?"

"You didn't have to tell them for me," you huffed at him when you finally retired to his lab.

"I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about," he yawned, trying too hard to feign nonchalance and wrapping right back around to being obvious. "you're just so androgynous, they must've figured it out on their own."

"Your family couldn't figure their way out of a cardboard box," you squinted at him.

"I know, right? Just goes to show how obvious it is, I suppose."

You tried to fight the smile, smothering it with your hand as your brows remain furrowed.

You leaned over, nudging your head into his arm affectionately. A silent exchange of affection passed between you two as he nudged you in turn.

"shut up."

[fayewoodss]

im curious to see some of your quilting work?

OF COURSE!!!

So, to be honest, I'm more of a soft sculptor turned contemporary quilter. I rarely traditionally quilt, and even when I do, I love to bend and break the rules. I'll go ahead and link my professional website here with some more detail into my fine art overall:

https://averyschantzfinearts.com/

Now, onto quilting!

My recent recent piece is "Deep Blue." It's a 12x12 square of two beautiful whales, with most of the quilting being hand-done, and lots of embroidery work.

It's a little wonky and wrinkly because of my lack of care for traditional quilting, so that is an intentional choice. I can be much cleaner with sewing and quilting, I just like for my work to have that handmade quality and a touch of naivety.

These are works from my last year in college. The first piece was my first time playing with quilting and we were talking about what is/can be a flag. A lot of my most personal work deals with maps and map making because I grew up moving around every 1-3 years and have always pondered with the concept of being "from" somewhere. I ended up painting on it for the final piece, but I have destroyed the evidence because I hated it. I plan to redo this one someday and actually use grommets to make it a real flag. (And I have a painting series I'm planning surrounding maps of residential midwest/rural America.)

This next quilt was a pain in the ass because I had to do it twice out of my hubris. My first run through has many mistakes and issues that overwhelmed me, so with a week left in the project, I scrapped it, started over entirely, and again: hand-stitched many of the details. The hand stitching doesn't show well here because I picked embroidery floss that matched the fabric, and sadly I don't have detail shots. The piece is currently in storage, but I could easily get to it.

I wanted to put udders on the letters but ran out of time. 😔 I would love to revisit this and do more farm animals.

Finally, and most recently, I have my ragdolls!

Runaway Ragdoll is my own designed toy that ties into location and belonging. I have too many pictures to share all of them here because it is a product I sell. They are an interactive art project where those who buy a doll are encouraged to take it out with them to fun places, photograph it, and send the photos into one of my Instagrams (runawayragdollco), hopefully creating a project that people can connect with as they have a fun, cute little toy that can be shared. It's based off a larger doll I made during the lockdown year at my school where I was trying to get myself out of the dorm. The idea was to leave the big doll around my city for people to interact with, but Covid restrictions and weather prevented that. So, I made the little dolls.

The project is a little dead right now because all of my sales have only veen close friends and family as you can't get any reach on most social medias nowadays unless you're doing fan art or common art tropes. Now that that's bad at all, but trying to sell truly original work is a challenge. I do need to add more about the dolls' actual purpose and story on my website. I'm also working on making a card to be packaged with them with the projects mission statement and travel prompts with the doll. I'm hoping to get into some more art fairs soon and sell the dolls there.

Also, the construction of the original doll is not the best, so I do plan to make a new one in the future that reflects the current smaller dolls and incorporates more quilting techniques (because damn I rush a few part with hot glue ngl).

But yeah, that's my quilting/fiber arts stuff!!! 🤩

[compressednerve]

25 and 27 for the fic meme please 🙏

Thanks for the ask!!! :D Big rambling ahead <3

"25. What did you use to write? (e.g. writing programs, paper & pen, etc.)"

Most of my writing skill is fleeting based off how functional my brain is working that day, so I tend to go back and forth between hastily typed notes in Discord and attempts to flesh things out in google docs-- both of which I don't really love, but they're online and I can link the files easily to @parasitefun who's my creative partner and helps with my processes. I loathe the spellcheck/grammar function on docs! I used to write exclusively in notepad or OpenOffice back on my old computer but I find OpenOffice in general... lacking.

I wasn't taught to read or write in the uh... traditional way, so I usually have an exorbitantly difficult time with actually formulating sentences. So I guess using Clip Studio Paint is another program I use for writing, because I need to storyboard, assemble timelines of events, sketches of emotions... what have you. It helps me in "assembling" the information required for a plot, but usually I just end up scrapping the fic entirely and condensing it down to a comic or a few paragraphs attached to an illustration... for example, here's some sketches from a few weeks ago while I chip away at my millionth attempt at a chaptered longfic, this time now featuring Yung Northmoor!

Whether I complete this as an actualized comic or intermittent illustrations, or keep them as sketches for referencing certain vibes of the scene, is mostly up to luck if I even can keep the momentum up to carry the work to the finish line 😔 I am also extremely shy and precious about my WIPs most of the time, I feel like my sketches are very vulnerable... which is unfortunate because I finish maybe 15% of the pieces I start!!! This is due to CTE though, and thus for the most part cannot be helped at the moment. I think for 2024 a resolution I have is to try to hold myself to finishing at least one Large Project a month, cuz then at least I'll have 12! :D

Recently I ..........acquired.......... Scrivener which I hope will help with a lot of the messy notes and outlines become more organized. It's an old version of the program though, and I can't figure out how to make the text of the UI any larger which makes navigating the program itself a pain. It's also very informational dense. Which is. Difficult and maze-like for me to comprehend sometimes. Multiple times in the past few years I've bought corkboards, pushpins, notecards, and other utensils to try to help make physical note taking easier, but my arthritis makes my handwriting dogshit to a point where I can hardly read it myself... and we don't have the physical space for my pepe silva act XD Maybe some day, though!

"27. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?"

I wish! I never really thought of doing anything special for finishing fics- most of the time if it's not painstakingly planned out like above process described, the only time I get anything finished is if I do it all in one single sprint... hence so many abandoned WIPs... It's hard to take something to the end when so much of my ability to even start it is based off random whims! I think I get the genuine ability to write, coherently and cohesively, maybe every few months. I'm inspired and writing fic in my head pretty much all the time as a part of my psychotic processing as filtering my distorted reality through the lens of characters and scenarios has been one of my main perceptions of the world from a young age due to childhood schizophrenia, but capturing it in actual words and sentences that other people can actually read is a whole other basket!

...So, I guess nothing really, other than a large sigh of relief and a feeling of release in having finally achieved what I was hoping to achieve, or at least, an approximation that's close enough to it that I'm satisfied. Maybe this is my sign to try to incentivize finishing things by setting up a reward if I can manage! :D

[paige-b-when-1]

Ok, I'm going to do a bio post on here since I saw others have one and my main bio doesn't explain much about me and I am too lazy to change it. So here we go.

Name: Paige or Sid(fine with either)

Pronouns: Any but mostly they/them, she/they, or he/they

Hobbies: I like to draw and write and sometimes make silly videos that aren't that good. (I am always open to learning how to write better, I'm mostly comfortable with my art style but I will cringe at something I wrote a month ago and I need to fix that 😔)

Stuff I'm interested in: Wizard of Oz mostly right now, Kaiju and horror. (Mostly the Wizard of Oz now because it is slowly taking over my life 🙂)

Favorite colors: Pink, red and some random colors at times

Social media:

YouTube: Paige b when

Tiktok: Paige_b_when_3

Wattpad: Paige b when

AO3: SIDbdone

Favorite characters: The Scarecrow, Tinman(Nick Chopper), Jack Pumpkinhead(1985, 1986-87), Tiktok(1985), Ozma(slowly as I see her in more stuff), and Scraps the Patchwork girl(still reading her book, will love to learn more about her).

Feel free to ask questions and I'll try to answer. Don't ask something personal like where I live, I am in my late teens and I don't want anyone coming to my parents house.

That's all for now, I will add more to this if I remember something. Bye bye 😄

[sarah-sandwich]

michelle.mp3 👀👀👀👀 also lemon boy and/or the golden hour <33

OKAY I'M FINALLY GOING TO ANSWER THIS

This (and the other two I'm answering next) are from the fanfic wip tag game that I posted on... Monday :)

michelle.mp3 my beloved 💓💓💓

This one is basically done? I just need to do the final edits and write the epilogue and I'm dragging my feet about it bc I don't know??? how to survive posting two fics at once???? Like this one is 8 chapters and A Peach Like You has another 9 to post so??? Do I post both on Wednesdays??? Do I wait 9 whole weeks to start posting mmp3??? Do I post on a different day of the week and suck up more of my writing time?????

sigh. idk.

But anyway! mmp3 is a Gwenmj fic from MJ's POV. It's very chill and lowkey with no major external conflicts, only the romance and MJ's struggle to come to terms with her break up with Peter and decide what she wants to do with her life.

It's got humor! It's got angst (spiciness = mild)! It's got life lessons! It's got home renovation! Here's a baby snippet:

“Michelle.” Gwen turns and puts a hand on either of her shoulders as she looks into her eyes. “What do you want?”

“The laminate is—,”

“No, what do you want? I’m offering to get you whatever you want, just take it.”

Michelle stares at her. That’s what this is all about, right? Moving here. Fixing the house. Getting away from… everything. It’s about figuring out what she wants and taking it.

“I want the cherry hardwood.”

Gwen grins, crooked and beautiful. “Good choice.”

LEMON BOY?? WHEN!!!

Lemon boy is--god I've been working on this for so long-- Lemon boy is my parkner magnum opus. Just kidding. Or maybe not. I won't know until it's done 😔 It's got two grief-ridden boys trying to figure out how to structure their lives post-endgame and Tony's death. It's primarily Harley's POV. He's kind of a depressed asshole in this one lol at first anyway. I'm afraid to share more of this fic bc I've shared SO MUCH bc of how long it's been a wip. Fortunately for you, I'm weak for Harley and May's relationship so here is a teensie bit of it.

He grabs one of the receipts and tears the bottom off. “Listen—,” he scribbles his number on it, “—call me if you need anything.” He holds it out to her as she stares. “I’m serious. If you don’t feel safe or you need a ride in the middle of the night, whatever it is, I’ll answer.” He stretches his hand out until finally, she takes it.

May smooths the scrap between her thumbs and says softly, “You’re a good man, Harley Keener.”

He doesn’t know about that. Not yet. “I’m trying to be.”

It's physically hurting me not to share the full scene from this bc it's soooo goooooooood

The Golden Hour

I have done ✨literally nothing✨ with this wip for months. It's parkner (*shocked face*) and revolves around this little gap between Peter's world where he's our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and Harley's world where he's a witch and an outcast, but still needed by his village as their only apothecary/health care. It's about how they're both burdened by their responsibility to their respective communities but also about how they find purpose in shouldering that burden, even though it means they can only ever have a stolen hour together at the close of each day as the sun slips from the sky

"There are supposed to be generations of healers for a village. Like how my mom had me to take over for her but I... I don't think I can willfully trap a child in this life."

Peter looks up, surprised. "I didn't realize you were so unhappy."

"I'm not. I like my life but there's not a lot of choice in it is there? I can't travel. I'll never see the world or even a city. I can't..." Harley looks at Peter and, for a moment, longing washes over him so hot and sharp he almost says something completely stupid. He shakes his head and tucks it back away then says to his lap "It's a life of service and I don't think I can make that choice for someone else. Certainly not a child."

"With great power comes responsibility," Peter murmurs.

Harley snorts, settling back on his elbows as he follows Peter's line of sight to the clouds shifting from yellow to deep orange streaked with pink. "Well I don't know about great, but yeah. The village is my responsibility. I can't abandon them."

Peter nods. "That's something my uncle said to me," he says without looking away from the sky. His brow is furrowed so low his eyes are nearly black. "Right before he died. Never forgot it."

"And that's why you're the way you are about Spider-Man."

Peter turns haunted eyes on him. "He died because I refused to step up. I can't let that happen again. To anyone. Not as long as I can do the things I do."

Send me a fic from this list and I'll ramble about it

[coolantbottle]

MOTHERBOARD: Fallout Fan Synth

I'm going to share more fallout oc's on here in time, but this one I woefully don't have any art of outside of concept sketches. Rip 😔

Most of my characters so far are apart of my Courier story, but this one came long before Fern, and I believe was my first fallout oc I had created! Though with the plan I have for Fern I could see MB fitting snuggly in somewhere.

MOTHERBOARD (they/it/she) is a mock-up of a generation-2 synth, inspired off of DiMa/Nick and created in juxtaposition to them, but with a twist.

They were not created by the institute and are completely stationary. They have a faceless mostly gen-2 synth body attached to this tall stable tower of scrapped together tech and hardware, isolated in a dark expansive room littered with several monitors and stray devices. A large attachment is linked to the back of its gen-2 body that runs all the way up and into a large circular gap in ceiling. Attached to their head is a cress of bulbs and attachments, giving their silhouettethe illusion of a crown, completing their look with painfully luminescent white spotlight eyes.

The extent of her mobility at body is that parts of the tower can swivel and click in places to turn her. This gives mobility to observe her direct surroundings, but of course they can't leave the tower, since they ARE the tower.

MOTHERBOARD was a attempt to create a synthetic human but from the wasteland, but lacking the resources of the institute resulted in trying to cram human akin sentience into a ridiculous amount of hardware built out of salvaged and scrap materials.

Despite being stuck in place, they have influenced outside of their holding chamber, over they're time in isolation they have built their own eyes, ears, and hands in the form of small animatronics, coming in a few difference forms. Some built out of laser turrets, scrapped assaultrons, etc.

My favorite is this little spider eyebot thing made out of gen-1 syth hands that scutters around and records audio, I love him. <3

These bots retrieve information, holotapes, software, and other scrap as MB keeps expanding and building. They also serve as lovely defense and deterrent for visitors. :)

Maybe their creation was by a dysphoric gen-3 synth in the dark about what or who they really are and made MOTHERBOARD as a result, perhaps a escaped institute engineer gone mad dreamt them up, or some long forgotten project left buried- Who knows!

All that is known is this chamber is buried somewhere in the wastes, and if you happen by you might pick up on a faint radio broadcast at the entrance to a dilapidated bunker. Daring to go in the signal becomes more clear as you travel deeper down sets of metal stairs, unlight warehouse rooms of pre-war military equipment, and abandoned living quarters, but finding no evidence of roaches, vermin, or scavvers. Its only you interuppting the tomb stillness, illuminating the long corridors with the light of your pip-boy, the tunes from the boardcast making this exploration increasingly unnerving.

After a while it became apparent there is a complete lack of terminals to find, that would normally help explain the story behind a government installation like this, but the further you get, everything really is lacking clear signs of salvage or life.. The broadcast reaches clarity as you approach two large freight doors, a bright white light sweeping from inside them cycles passed, then suddenly coming back and illuminating directly on you through the cracks.

The broadcast crackles, before its abruptly cut off-air.

~Abandoned bunker broadcast ~

There's more to talk about but leaving it there as I polish this character.

When I find the concept doodles I'll be sure to share.

[hotmess-exe]

I'm asking you about your favourite OC😌 anything you wanna say!

thank you 😔 my tummy has healed

his name is Eric and he's like genuinely, actually my oldest original character. i luv him very much

he was originally the older brother of my very first OC but that girl was scrapped for being boring af many years ago. i never let go of Eric, though, and he quickly became my absolute favorite

he is very kind, very compassionate, and among the sweetest characters i'll ever make. he's stupid pretty and wicked smart. he's the sort to make friends out of enemies without even trying.

he struggles with depression and will do so, so much for others in his quest to not let people down, to the point of self-neglect. ...i think i've always known that this is a manifestation of my own personal baggage 😂😂

i plan to make him a love interest in my second interactive fiction project! very excited to finally write him in full again. and like, properly fleshed out for the first time. so much nuance and depth to him 😭 i can't wait

i share a stupid number of coincidental, retrospective parallels with him. i realized this during the pandemic lol. i foisted a lot of concepts and things teen!me did not understand onto this character when i first wrote him... just to eventually look back at my own life and be like, 'holy shit, that's me' or 'holy shit, wait. i've done that.' i was 13 when i created him, so this still trips me out:

he is and has always been gay, even though i didn't have any grasp of what being LGBTQ+ is like outside of the facts that gay men and lesbians exist and people hate them for no good reason. that 'them' now very much includes me 😂 and all my friends lol

he is and has always been a sex worker, even though i did not have a proper understanding of sex work and how/when it differs from trafficking at ALL at that age. i wish i could say i barely understood sex either, but i'm p sure i had a porn addiction in hs, so no Fast forward to me at Eric's original age (19/early 20s) and I was, you guessed it, doing sex work.

i had a deeply problematic and frankly embarrassing portrayal of an abusive relationship with his older boyfriend/pimp as an integral part of his story. and... it turns out the ""friendship"" i had with the old guy who was finding me clients at one point was a lot less of a "friendship" and way more of an exploitative, possessive pimping situ sold to me as a partnership. like, honestly--i can't even begin to compare these dudes, the fictional bf and this real-life mf i knew, because the parallels between them, and even me and Eric during that time, are so many. you'd think i could have taken a step back and been like, 'oh shit. this is actually really similar to some of the more toxic elements of the abusive relationship i've been writing for literal years now' but. y'know what they about hindsight

i play every single interactive fiction game i touch as Eric, first and foremost. every. one.

consequently, i (and everyone else once that second project starts) have the choice of games title Drag Star to thank for the epiphany that Eric obviously had to be a drag queen. it just fit. I could picture him in every scene with such vividness that i just knew it was right. like a missing puzzle piece. ..........and hilariously enough, this was about 2 years after i got really, REALLY into make-up and drag. so that was like... the opposite of what usually happens with those parallels lol

i've been playing dress-up games since there was only ONE website for it 😂 so now i'm very, very happy that i get to rediscover my love for those silly things with the perfect excuse: drag looks for my favorite precious baby OC, Eric 🥰

i think that's prob more than enough, thank you so much for indulging me, anons!

[sketchguk]

I'm bad in socializing too , if I see someone new I get very awkward to talk to them 😔 so I relate to you! Ahhhh you like ghibli too 👉🏼👈🏼 I've not seen princess mononeke! I like howls and spirited away and Kiki's! Miyazaki is so good yes!! I didn't know about the new film :o I'm excited!! I'm happy you got visit friends. We in lockdown so I can see them only after two weeks 😭 I'm so happy to talk to you too! Makes me excited to come online ! And I was thinking , I was telling you headcanons and you were patiently listening 😭 but I didn't ask you what you already thought of for gryffindor soonyoung 🙈🙈 In one previous ask ( yes I read all your ask games 😭 ) you said you write a lot of courting soonyoung headcanons? I would love to hear them! Your writing and ideas is is my fave 🙈🙈❤️ - 🌴

>.< I don't think I can hang out with him for that reason alone, but I try to say hi and bye when I pass him in the halls aghh

I loveee Ghibli ! I have a bunch of merch like enamel pins, posters, stuffed animals, and a pillow lkjdakla I think Ghibli stuff is my friends go-to gift for me because anything Ghibli related makes me soo happy !! Princess Mononoke is amazinggg, you should watch it !! I highly recommend to anyone and everyone !!

Two more weeks of lockdown oh no :-(( I hope everyone's staying safe and abiding by the guidelines !! It'll be well worth it when you see your friends safely again !!

Eeee Sorry I haven't been online these last few days :-( My last day of work is on the 12th !! Just one more week to go !! Hopefully I can blog away for the 2 weeks after before I'm back in college >.< Do you happen to attend school as well??

Omgg gryffindor soonyoung !!! It's a long long story 💔 But I'll share if you're interested !!

Gryffindor Soonyoung has a major crush on Ravenclaw mc :-( But she doesn't think he's her type at all. They're total opposites, and quite frankly, she finds him a little annoying LOL. He's confident to the point where it's a little arrogant, especially when he's playing Quidditch (yes he's on the team 😔 I had to do it). He's a bit of a himbo, of course he is >.< I wouldn't want him any other way

She thinks he's cute, but her feelings are #repressed because she doesn't want to like him !!!! She can't !! It'd go against every mean thing she has said about him aha. It's like a one-sided e2l :')

Some random headcanons that I came up with:

- mc works in the library, and Soonyoung would be caught dead if he was hanging out in there. But he does it just for her :-( He sits at the table, making paper airplanes, drawing tiger doodles, and doing everything he shouldn't. On most nights, when it's close to closing, everyone filters out of the library to head to the Great Hall and eat supper, but Soonyoung is the last one there because he tends to fall asleep :-( And mc doesn't have the heart to disturb him. But eventually, she has to ! Because she needs to lock up ! She would usually pull the chair across from him so she can sit down and look at him fondly for a second >.< Maybe she'd rest her head on the table too and stare at him, smiling at how calm and peaceful he is (unlike how he usually is LOL). He'd stir awake, and he'd catch her there. She gets back into character and brushes off any of the accusations he has about her liking him !! And then she kicks him out of the library >:( But on good days, she helps him study for herbology because that's her best subject, and Soonyoung is failing miserably lol

- Soonyoung is under the impression that mc won't ever give him the time of day. But every morning, he sends her an owl !! They're little compliments or encouraging messages like "you look pretty today!" "good luck in class!" or he draws a little tiger on a sliver of scrap paper in hopes of raising her spirits for the day !! Maybe one day, he'll send a love letter, who knows

- What's a story without a bit of angst? It's the end of the year, and all the students are on there way back home on the Hogwarts Express. Some time ago, Soonyoung convinced mc to sit on the train with him (she probably lost one of his silly bets or something). But when the time has come to board the train, he asks her if she's going to be with him like she promised, and mc gives him the cold shoulder :-( I haven't figured out why, buttt maybee she thinks she might fall for him, and she's starting to distance herself from him ! They split off, she goes to sit with someone else, and Soonyoung heads to the back of the train, asking "did I do something wrong?" :/

There are other random ideas, but none of them are as developed as these </3 I hope you like what I've thought out so far ! I think Gryffindor Soonyoung is super endearing :-( Kinda like a lost puppy who really wants mc's attention to the point where he's kinda obnoxious LOL and it feeds into this cycle where she has to pretend as though she doesn't like him, but she DOES ! and she highkey knows it >:(

[sunshinexlollipops]

Hey there! I hope all is well. I was wondering if u were planning to post to ACW anytime soon. If not I completely understand! Just wondering because I saw it's been almost two years since the last real update

hey frens, Luffy here to answer some of your burning questions that have been collecting digital dust in my ask box for however long. sorry it took me this amount of time, but I just wanna say that mental health is a bitch. 😔✌️

I have been SOOOOOOO bad about actually writing anything but this is an across the board thing. I don't even write for my current interests. there's just no juice. that doesn't, however, mean I don't have any intentions to finish ACW. I have thought about my lil project over the entirety of my absence. anything I did manage to start I've scrapped bc not only am I too harsh on what I produce, it just hasn't met the mark for what I wanna do. I've been working on that aspect of myself but I've undergone a lot since I wrote last, and it's changed a lot.

whatever I manage to do, I know the tone of ch.5 / the end will be diff from the initial set up of the story. my frontal lobe came online since I wrote last so that and therapy + learning about psychology shit has really changed how I go about characters, including what I plan for them (to an extent). I still have my plot to work through but one journey I'm really excited to take is the changes I'm making in Arthur but also Wolf. and while shit like a shrink wasn't there in 1899, we gon see some healing and growth bby. ✨

I don't wanna ramble on too much just bc I wanna answer some more asks but I see you, anon. I know that I've hella appeared MIA and I just keep giving reassurances that I'll swing by for longer or w some goodies at some point, but I do mean it. I've never fully left, even if I've been gone. ACW is a passion project and I want nothing more than to see its completion.

I just... gotta make the magic come back. 😅

ty for your patience and tolerance of me. I know I'm a mess and overall respond like a laptop frozen w malware but I'm trying and how it is will be how it is for now until I make my breakthroughs/progress!

[fiction70]

I am SO glad I researched zombies a few years back!! Also, I know Sarv is supposed to die, but I'll cry if I write any more angst 😔

The last thing Whitty expected to get from the apololypse was a boyfriend.

But here we are.

"Whitty, could use your help here." Ruv called, pointing to the piece of scrap metal he held close to a wall. Whitty nodded and jogged over, placing his hands against the rusted material and channeling heat through his body into his hands. The piece of scrap melted into place, and Whitty stepped back as Ruv started hammering.

It had been almost four years since the apololypse began, and as much as Whitty hated to admit it. It gave him the family he never had.

"Солнце, go and check on the other's progress." Ruv called, sweat running down his cheeks from the effort of his strikes.

"Da," Whitty replied, walking to the nearest door.

As he left the room, he turned around to glance back at what everyone has been working on for the past two years.

A ship made out of metal, wood, and runs on engines and various machinery.

He couldn't believe it was almost finished. It made Whitty think of how they first met, when everything was just starting to go to shit, and he, Carol, and Sunday were running for their lives trying to find cover, they stumbled across a flyer for a church that was a safe haven from the zombies. Obviously, that's where they went, and after banging at the door for a couple of minutes, the doors had swung open, and Whitty was the first one that was grabbed.

A strange looking weapon was pressed against his neck, and he was face to face with the most intimidating(ly hot) person he had ever met.

Ruv.

Whitty fondly remembers how Ruv threatened the three of them, and how Sunday tried to threaten Ruv back with her guitar. Another woman came rushing towards them to pry Ruv away from Whitty. It was Sarvente, the owner of the church, and Whitty soon came to know the two very well.

He just didn't think he would hit it off with Ruv.

"Whitty! There you are!" Yelled Sarvente, breaking him from his thoughts. Whitty looked down at her messy bruised face and smiled.

"Went out for another run?" He asked, twisting the door handle in front of them and letting Sarv inside.

"Ooh yeah!! I hit the jackpot with Carol today!!" She exclaimed proudly, setting the box on a table inside.

Another surprise that came from the apololypse was how quickly Carol fell in love with Sarvente.

"Find anything interesting?" Whitty asked. Sarv shakes her head before letting Whitty tend to his business. Which was here, in front of all these people that were hard at work, sawing, cutting, copying, anything to help Ruv finish the ship.

This was where it all happened. He first stopped by his best friend.

"Hex, how's the project coming along?" Whitty spoke, accidentally startling Hex. The robot's screen flashed with a red exclamation point before going back to his usual smile screen.

"It's going great! The engines are practically finished! I just need to focus on these specific parts, and we'll be ready to install them in no time!" He chirped, even though one of his antennas are broken off, causing him to glitch every now and then.

"That's awesome, good job buddy." Whitty praised, patting his clothed shoulder. Hex had been one of the first responders, sending out an army of random robots to attack the undead. Whitty thought it was an impeccable feat of bravery, thus, as a gift, he gave Hex his old jacket, and Hex had never taken it off.

"You really should fix up your antenna though." He told Hex. Hex seemed to pout and roll his eyes, turning back to his work.

"You always say that when you check up on me, Whitmore. But I appreciate the concern." The robot replied, pulling a chuckle out of Whitty as he turned to the next group.

"Sunday, how's those cannons coming along?" Sunday lifts her goggles from her head, giving him a smirk.

"At this point, I think I'm the master crafter of deadly explosives. I even came up with a pulley system!" Sunday yelled, waving her creation in his face. The explosives were actually fireworks, but they turned out to be pretty deadly to zombies anyways.

"Great, keep it going." Whitty said, gently pushing the weapon away from his face. He trotted to the next area, where Pico, BF, and GF were, tinkering away at tiny objects. Nene and Darnell were at another table sorting through radios and tearing them apart for Pico. They didn't look too happy with their findings.

"How are the radios? Got in contact with the Tankmen?" Whitty asked, leaning against the table.

"I can hear that they're sending out distress singles. GF says that in Morse code, they're offering shelter to anyone who needs it, I just can't get this damn thing to work to respond!" Pico growled, aggressively trying to fix the radio, while BF and GF were flirting through their now fixed walkie-talkies. It made Whitty fondly roll his eyes.

"And the compass?" Whitty added.

"Pissing me off. Dumbass thing keeps pointing east!!" Pico exclaimed in fury, pointing at a nearby compass with his middle finger.

Whitty sympathetically pats Pico's shoulder.

"Don't give up man, you'll get it someday."

Whitty could see Annie rip a punching bag off its hinges and into the wall in her strong form. She cheers and turns to Garcello, who howls praise in her direction. Garcello was in the sanctuary longer than anyone, and one day, whilst fighting off a group of zombies, got brutally murdered.

Apparently, the last thing he did was light a cigarette, which allowed him to possess the smoke and take form as a ghost.

He's been here supporting everyone in spirit ever since.

Whitty's gaze fixate on two little children dressed in costumes, who are learning how to cook Mac n' cheese. Skid and Pump. Next to them, a terrifyingly tall and scary monster with a lemon for a head is teaching them. Next to the monster is a woman who is worriedly hovering over the two children in case they burnt themselves. Lila and The Monster. It seems like dinner would be served soon.

Knowing that the rest of the team were alright, Whitty left the room to give his report to Ruv.

••

Later that night, Whitty felt a weight on his shoulder as he and Ruv stared up at the stars.

"I'm really proud of you, you know." He finds himself telling his boyfriend.

"Why?" Ruv asked, snuggling closer to Whitty.

"Dude, it was your idea to sail North when you realized zombies die in the cold." Whitty snorted, pulling Ruv closer to him.

"Anyone could've thought of that." Ruv protested.

"But it was you that thought it first. Not only that, even if someone was infected, you never shot them. No matter how many bullets you had, or how dangerous it was. That's not something people would do." Whitty retorted.

Ruv didn't reply, just huffed into Whitty's neck and kept silent.

"You became our leader. Sarv's proud of you, you know?" He told Ruv.

Whitty felt his neck go warm.

"I know. She's happy I'm not being antisocial or starting fights anymore." Ruv commented, blushing at Whitty's praise.

"Soon, we'll get the hell out of here and life a nice life. All thanks to you." Whitty said fondly.

Ruv shook his head. "Don't give me all the credit. Everyone has worked their asses off for us to pull this off. It's all of you I couldn't thank enough." He corrected.

Whitty nodded, giving Ruv a little peck on the cheek. Ruv chuckled softly and gave him a kiss back.

"HOLY FUCK I DID IT!! OH MY FUCKING GOD!! FUCK YOU COMPASS!! I FUCKING HATE YOU!! LET'S GOOOOOO!! FUCK YEAAAHHH!!"

They hear Pico shout from inside the church.

Whitty and Ruv both share a laugh.

Yeah.

They're gonna be okay.

Do you take writing prompts?

I was actually going to take those later on, but I guess it's good practice, so yes! Yes I am taking writing prompts! Only for WhitRuv though, cuz it's all I have to offer right know XD