#I've found new brushes and they're incredible

[thekaiserroll]

I have to brag a little

I'm working on a wintersberg fanart and I think this is the prettiest Heisenberg I've ever drawn. None of my Heisenbergs looked this good. I'm so proud of this one.

[brotherwtf]

14. "Do you know that your eyes actually have three different colours?" "You're very close."

Aah this one for clegan? 🥺

God these bitches are going to be the end of me this will be so damn cute

now hold on just a damn minute chat bcs Austin's eyes are fucking BEAUTIFUL

----

Gale had known John for all of two weeks before he had claimed him as his "best friend".

It wasn't hard, really, John was quick to laugh and quicker to befriend, he talked easily and slung his arm around anyone's willing, or even unwilling, shoulder. Everybody liked Bucky. Not everyone liked Gale.

Gale was shy, kept to himself and did what he needed to get done and did it well, didn't care for the vices everyone else had to get through flight school. He was going to be a fighter pilot, only needed to care about himself and no one else.

But Bucky had completely turned that idea upside down, as he had done with most things in Gale's life. He whined and pouted when Gale told him he was training to fly alone, "what if I need your help while flying? I can't do that when you're in a fighter plane" John would pout and Gale just brushed him off, told him he would be fine, but then he was asked to fly a B-17 with John smiling cheekily in the copilots seat and he had been hooked ever since.

John had practically ripped him out of his shell, and he still found ways to be incredibly obnoxious. Like when he had dragged Gale to the outskirts of the Texas airbase because he "couldn't stand the stuffy weather anymore". When Gale pointed out the weather would stay the same John shrugged, told him it would probably be a little different, right? And of course, Gale begrudgingly followed him.

Now they were laying on their sides, facing each other while John talked mindlessly about his childhood, switching topics from baseball to the rinky dink jazz band he was in when he was twelve. Gale was content to listen, appreciated that John always seemed to fill the space. Even in the silence John seemed to be studying him, eyes flicking over Gale's face while he scrunched his eyebrows. He inched closer until their chests were touching, noses just inches from Gale's. It made Gale's heart pound, John was looking at him intently it almost made him dizzy.

"Did you know that your eyes are three different colors, Buck? I swear I see a new one every time I look," John asks, breathing out a heavy sigh that fans over Gale's face and causes him to almost shudder, even in the hot Texas sun.

"You're really close there, Bucky. And they're nothing special, just blue like my mama," Gale says and tries not to sound like he's gasping for air.

John leans even closer, tip of his nose brushing Gale's and Gale gasps, almost ripping the grass beneath him in the firm fistful he has.

"Nah it ain't just blue. Got some green and grey in there, it's all different shades of blue too. Some like the sky and some like Lake Michigan where I grew up. Damn, Buck, you've got the prettiest damn eyes I've ever seen," John says and his voice is almost a whisper, almost in awe at Gale's eyes.

"Ain't nothing special," Gale whispers and he foolishly lets his eyes slip down to John's parted lips. Dangerous, considering that his eyes are all that Johns looking at.

John notices the quiet flick down and smiles something lopsided, a rogue hand coming up to push a strand of hair that got dislodged by the wind from Gale's forehead.

"It's not just your eyes that are pretty, Buck. Got a fucking face like Lana Turner," John breathes and Gale find that he can't, his breath caught in his chest.

There's only an inch between their faces, and John closes it with ease, lips soft on Gales and Gale gasps, makes a startled noise before letting his shoulders relax and kissing John back. It's a simple press of lips but Gale's head spins. John's kissing him, he can't believe John's kissing him.

The hand that pushed away the wayward strand of hair cups Gale's face, smoothing over his cheekbone as he moves his lips against Gale's, still soft and tender but with the slightest suggestion of heat. Gale lets John take control, willing to just be a passenger for this experience instead of having to overthink every single move.

John pulls away with a slight wet pop, eyes trained on Gale's lips when all he could think about was his eyes just a moment ago. Gale holds onto John's wrist and presses their foreheads together, sighing something deep and heavy.

"Is this okay, Buck?" John asks and Gale nods against his forehead.

"Better than okay, Bucky. Can't believe it took us this long to do that," Gale whispers and John just smiles before meeting his eyes and kissing him again.

[inviisiiblelee]

Alastor & Rosie in a tea party setting, gossiping about anything really up to you, please!

REQUESTS OPEN

———

Rosie was always an incredibly gracious hostess, as far as Alastor was concerned. Before his disappearance, they'd often meet up just like this, Rosie having put together a little table by a window for people watching, tea glasses and pot ready and happy to share. It had been so long, and after the events of recent times, he really wanted to feel a sense of normality again. He arrived right on time, as always, and Rosie welcomed him with a big smile and open arms. They shared a brief hug, before the both of them settled themselves.

“Alastor, it feels like it's been ages!”

“Believe me, Rosie, I feel exactly the same. It's good to have real company for once.”

“Oh, you. Please, help yourself before we really dig in!” And he was happy to, finger foods galore and with the most pleasant of crunches. Nothing quite like a little bone marrow for lunch, indeed. She poured him a nice cup of tea, and he added a dash of cream to it before leaning back. 

“So, tell me, honey, how are things?”

“Insufferable, as usual,” came Alastor’s response, with a widening smile. 

“Oh, do tell, darling!”

“Things at the Hotel are just as miserable as you'd imagine! Charlie is just as fervent as ever, trying to get new patrons, and now that Lucifer is there—”

“So that really was him?”

“Yes, yes, he's chosen to stay there for the time being while he helps. Not that he's doing that much, anyway.” 

“He does seem a little empty-headed, doesn't he?” Her comment earned a laugh from Alastor, and some of the tenseness in his shoulders slipped away. 

“I am so glad you agree, Rosie. I've been doing my best to curb them all, and they're all terribly intrusive. Even Husker has been acting quite clingy."

“Really? He's always been a little protective, but clingy?”

“Exactly! After the end of the battle, he insisted on following after me and staying far too close. Even striking out didn't really deter him.” 

“You poor thing, you deserved plenty of space and rest on your own time!”

“Precisely my thoughts. I am fine, but he even sent Charlie checking up on me. It's been such a nuisance! So it's much nicer to be able to come out here.”

“Well, I am always happy to have you, you know that, Alastor! We all love you around here.”

“Oh, I know. If I could spend more time here, I would. But, please, enough of my silly tirade, how are things in your realm?” Alastor took a long drink of his tea, a delightful chamomile. Rosie grinned back at him, taking a drink herself.

“Things are lively as ever, of course. Susan has been less of a pain, all things considered, you might even be so lucky as to avoid her on your way out. The folks here are fairly happy, although there has been some talk of visiting the hotel from some, they've taken nicely to Charlie, as expected.”

“Naturally. I'm sure she'll be happy to have them in any case.”

“There have been a few sightings, though, of Vox and Lucifer both around these parts.” Alastor raised his brows. “They're both taking to spending an odd amount of time with Susan, I think she's developed some attachments. Whether she likes either of them, I have no real idea, I avoid them all.”

“That's probably for the best. Lucifer is infuriating to share breathing space with, and Vox has become quite the nuisance.”

Rosie peered at him for a long moment, but she brushed on to a new topic. “People have been saying something interesting, though, about someone unsavory coming in!”

“Oh? That sounds interesting, who?”

“Well, you didn't hear it from me … but they're saying it's you!”

The two laughed together happily, and Rosie shared more mundane little stories for his entertainment. She had many from the last several years that he hadn't heard, and he found himself happier than he'd been in some time.

[gliyerabaa]

Oooo how about prompt 4 of the fluff list for gelphie??? 🙏😌

4. “What are you doing up?” “My personal heater went away.” 

okay i tried writing this like. five times. and no idea i had stuck with me. but then this idea came out of left fucking field.

just bear with me. this au I've crafted for this prompt is not everyone.

imagine, if you will, some world where gelphie can have biological kids. whether it be through traditional means (amab enby elphaba) or IVF or maybe strange magical pregnancy. this fic explores that premise.

lots of people have Very Strong Opinions on the idea of gelphie as parents but like. just indulge me on this. i dont know what canon this is supposed to take place in so please dont ask!!

--

Glinda stirred awake, she'd been sleeping so restlessly all night. Pregnancy hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd expected in most aspects. Her bouts of morning sickness had been brief and relatively bearable, her cravings had been all within the realm of Elphie's culinary capabilities, and oh, her sweet dear Elphaba had been so incredibly supportive every step of the way. Maybe that's what had made the experience so pleasant thus far, having such an attentive and loving partner...

Still, no amount of doting could fix her sleeplessness, and she wriggled free from her sleeping partner's embrace to take a quick stroll to the bathroom. She stood up and stretched, realizing she'd need to hurry to the toilet-- the damn baby had situated herself (Glinda was dead certain that it was a girl) right atop her bladder in a manner that was most uncomfortable.

After relieving herself, Glinda took a moment to simply marvel at herself in the mirror. She was six months along now, and had the belly to prove it, complete with stretch marks that her younger self would have despised. But now, she found them almost endearing, a telltale sign of the love and commitment between her and Elphie, manifesting itself in the form of a new human life.

With a hand on her stomach, she spoke quietly.

"You're gonna have such an amazing life, little one. Your auntie Nessarose can't wait to meet you. She'll be your only real aunt, but Elphie and I have agreed to give the boys honorary uncle-hood. You'll have a blast with your Uncle Fiyero's kids, they're all so sweet. And Crope and Tibbs are thinking of adopting once you're born, it'll be like you have a sibling of your own, someone to grow up alongside."

Glinda gasped as the baby kicked. She looked up to see Elphaba standing in the doorway, smiling sleepily.

"And have I mentioned," Glinda said to her stomach again, "That you have the most beautiful, amazing parent in the world?"

Elphaba grinned, then knelt to the ground, pressing a kiss to Glinda's belly. "Hello, my son." (Elphaba was insistent that they'd be having a boy, a rather bold claim for someone who defied conventional gender standards.) They stood up and pecked a kiss to Glinda's lips, "And hello, my sweet."

"What're you doing up?" Glinda asked with a yawn.

"My personal heater went away." Elphaba said, pressing a kiss to Glinda's forehead, "I swear, carrying our son has made you so much warmer, literally."

"What can I say?" Glinda smiled, brushing off Elphaba's insistance that they were to have a boy, "Making an entire human is a lot of work, generates a lot of heat. Feel her, she's kicking!"

Elphaba placed a gentle hand on Glinda's abdomen, smiling as they felt the baby move slightly.

"I didn't just come here to find my beautiful space heater of a wife, you know." Elphaba said, "I came to make sure you were alright."

"I'm doing fine." Glinda answered, taking Elphaba's hand, running a thumb over their wedding band, "Baby hasn't been letting me sleep much as of late. So I've been passing time, telling them stories about just how loved they are going to be. By Nessa and my parents and the boys..."

"But by no one more than us." Elphaba said, kissing Glinda sweetly, "I can't imagine the toll this is taking on your body, but you're doing an amazing job and I'm so, so proud of you."

Glinda, who had never taken praise well, blushed. "Please, this is just a natural bodily process. I wouldn't be doing nearly as well as I am without your support and attention, and most of all, your love."

Elphaba grinned, picking up Glinda in a sweet embrace and lifting her to sit on the bathroom counter, kissing her soundly.

"I love you," Glinda whispered as they parted. Elphaba knelt down, placing a kiss on her stomach before getting to work massaging her aching feet, "You are too good to me, my dear."

--

Two and a half months later, the baby arrived. A healthy girl, who did not have Elphaba's green skin, but did have their raven hair. The midwife had insisted that she'd never seen a baby born with as much hair as her.

There was the matter of a name, then. Elphaba had been taken aback when Glinda had suggested her middle name be that of their mother, but they warmed up to the idea, and so, surrounded by joyous family and friends, they settled on what they'd agreed to be the perfect name: Indigo Melena Thropp-Upland.

[storyofmychoices]

Yoga & Pancakes

[Beckett Harrington x Emma Carlyle Masterlist] 

Pairing: Beckett Harrington x Emma Carlyle (F!MC)

Other Characters: Shreya Mistry, Atlas Ernhardt

Book: The Elementalists

Word Count: ~900

Rating/Warnings: teen, suggestive language

Submitting to: @choicesmonthlychallenge ; @choicesficwriterscreations

Synopsis: Emma, Shreya, and Atlas run into Beckett at breakfast and Emma discovers a new Attuned food.

"Let me guess—" Emma began, quieting Shreya's excited tone. "Some famous Attuned chef I've never heard of but who probably catered an event for you has prepared some incredibly magical treat for breakfast?"

Shreya pressed her hands to her hips, her smile falling slightly. "You make it sound so utterly dull." 

Emma opened her mouth to apologize, but Shreya continued. 

"You've been spending far too much time with Atlas. We've got to get you back to society."

"It's not me." Atlas shrugged. "Don't worry, Emma's still the sunshine of our group. She's just a little cranky this morning... she didn't get much sleep." 

"Is everything alright?" Shreya looked over her friend, beginning to think of healing spells. 

"I'm fine," Emma insisted, brushing off Shreya's worry, shooting her twin a quick don't you dare glance. She looped her arm with Shreya's pulling her forward.  "Now, let's go see what is so special about breakfast today. You were telling me about the chef and his specialties?"

"I wasn't but now that you asked—" Shreya began rambling off facts about the chef and private events she had catered. 

Emma smiled and nodded along, trying to keep her eyes open when she was desperate for a nap. Not looking where she was walking, she bumped into a tall student in line in front of her. "I'm sorry—" she began, recognizing his dark blue blazer before he even turned back.

"Emma?" Beckett couldn't help the smile spreading across his blushing freckled cheeks. "I did not think I would find you here. I thought you were  sleeping in."  

"Oh, yeah," Emma's cheeks warmed as her gaze shifted to Atlas for some help, but she merely found her twin smiling in amusement, watching their awkward encounter. 

"Why would you be sleeping in?" Shreya questioned with concern. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Oh, I think she's feeling just fine," Atlas smirked. "Just a little worn out from some early morning—or was it a late night—'yoga'." She added air quotes to the last word.

The hue across Beckett's face darkened at Atlas's words. 

"And here I thought 'yoga'"—she offered, using air quotes again, "—helped you relax, you seemed quite exhausted but very dreamy—" she mimed gagging, "—when you returned this morning at... what was it... 4:30 am?"

Emma chewed her lower lip. 

"Oh! OH!" Shreya's lips drew into a knowing smile of amusement. "No wonder you're tired. Keeping our girl up all night, Harrington? Impressive! I didn't think you had it in you. I bet you two worked up an appetite."

"I beg your pardon?" He didn't think his face could flush any darker.

"Okayyyy," Emma tried her best to move them along. "Look, we're next. Oooo, pancakes. I love pancakes. Pancakes are so delicious. Did I ever tell you the time when I was six and my parents made me pancakes shaped like a bunny for easter? Oh and they cut up bananas on the pancakes and added chocolate syrup, there's really no end to what you can do with pancakes. Strawberries on pancakes are also delicious. Did you know, pancakes—" 

The trio stared at her, Beckett in relief and Shreya and Atlas with amusement, her rambling words trailing away. 

"Would you like to say pancake one more time?" Atlas teased. "I don't think you've said it enough."

The cafeteria worker handed Emma a tray with 3 large, fluffy, circular pancakes. A look of disappointment fell on her face. "Huh, I expected more. They look just like tuneless pancakes."

"Oh, they're so much better!" Shreya announced gleefully as she guided them to a booth on the side.

"So when do I find out what makes these pancakes magical," Emma questioned. "If I eat them will confetti rain down? Will I make weird noises?"

"Not this time," Shreya replied. "These are no ordinary pancakes. They're shape-shifters. Watch this." She focused on the pancake on the top of her stack, concentrating on a single image in her mind. Slowly, before their eyes, the pancake transformed into the shape of a blossoming orchid. 

"Woah!" Emma marveled. "How?"

"It's a centuries-old recipe passed down. The chef has yet to reveal the secret, but I've been working on wearing her down. She can't say no to a Mistry forever."

Beckett didn't dare contradict her. Usually, he'd love bragging about his superior knowledge—it was rather a simple spell. He had learned it at the age of five— but right now, he didn't want the conversation shifting back to him or Emma. 

Emma focused on her pancake, her gaze momentarily shifting to Beckett, admiring the way the glowing sun kissed his face through the ornate stained glass windows. The pancake transformed into a heart, with a B + E appearing at the center. 

"Bleh—" Atlas choked, before picking up her pancake, which she had turned into a mace, dipping it in syrup, and biting off the end. 

"What are you going to make?" Emma questioned curiously of Beckett.

"I can think of something he could turn it into for her." Shreya wagged her brow, enjoying as the pair blushed. "Thinking about last night, Harrington? Be careful or you never know what might appear."

"Gross," Atlas mumbled through a mouth full of pancakes. "I'm trying to eat. I don't need any graphic "yoga" depictions popping up on the nerd's plate. It's bad enough I've seen them kiss. I can't stab my eyes out with a pancake dagger."

Shreya laughed, holding her hands up in a peaceful truce. Her mind quickly returned to the shopping trip she had scheduled next, the pancakes on her plate following suit, one turning into a long gown and the other a shopping bag. 

Emma and Beckett breathed easier as the conversation shifted. Laughter bubbled between them as the morning sun shimmered around the space. Despite the teasing, their free hands tangled together beneath the table. 

This is just a silly little idea that popped into my head. It's not edited, so please forgive any mistakes.

My Atlas is demiro.

[wickedlyqueer]

do you have any elphaba headcanons? like just in general. your last headcanon post was really fun to read!! :)

Hmm, I feel like I put most of my Elphie headcanons in my fics so after 7 years I doubt there's much new I have to deliver but here goes:

Elphie is intersex, non-binary, aromantic and bisexual. I might stray from this sometimes for the sake of a fic, but it does feel like "straying" from their Original State to me.

Elphaba never makes the first move on Glinda, fully convinced it's one-sided. If you put all my fics next to each other, you'll see a pattern where Glinda pretty much always kisses or confesses first. Or, figures it out and makes Elphaba confess. It's just not in Elphie's self-depreciating nature to move first (which is ironic, if you watched my wicked is gay video. bc I make the case Elphaba is super impulsive and Glinda always needs to think everything through. But, this is the one area where Elphaba restrains herself. And Glinda does move. But only if she's sure it has the outcome she wants—hence why gelphie can be such a delicious mutual pining ship).

Elphaba's character is full of adolescent angst and esp in canon that trauma takes a hold of them. But, as I've gotten older myself and found more stability, I really like to play around with a mature(d) Elphie. Who might still have some negative thought spirals, but has enough life experience to recognize where it comes from, and doesn't get lost in it. Sometimes I do worry it strains too much from their "core" character, but I find it so tempting to play with, because it's such unexplored territory.

Like, Elphie is such a tragic character on a fundamental level, that giving them a happy/cathartic ending is about the most radical thing you can do. Which does feel really in character again, somehow.

Actually, I'm going to stop myself, bc I'm noticing that I'm brushing very broad strokes, which doesn't make for a fun list (like the gelphie one), but that's because — especially when it comes to details — I've always argued that:

Whatever you headcanon Elphie as, you can argue the complete opposite of that, and it still would feel in character.

(e.g. Elphaba has the cleanest room. Elphaba has the dirtiest room, or is Elphaba an incredible cook or a terrible one?)

Both make total sense to me, because Elphaba's character depends so heavily on the context they're in. So if you want more fun/quick Elphie headcanons, I feel like you'd actually need to give me a setting. :') Because through making this list, I realized it heavily depends on that.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

trust prompt 17, percy and scanlan? seasoning of post canon if the chef feels so inclined but also beggars cant be choosers 😭

17. showing them something close to their heart this is really more than percy and scanlan but ig they're the focus.

When Scanlan steps into the foyer of Castle Whitestone, he's startled by the activity whirring all around him. Staff appear and disappear as if by magic, each carrying a tray of food or a stack of linens or some other creature comfort, and none of them seem to notice the bewildered gnome in their midst. He stands there, unsure of where to go or what to do, until a voice from above calls his name. He looks up to see Grog's enormous form at the top of the grand staircase, waving enthusiastically at him.

Scanlan scurries up the steps, weaving in and out of the castle staff. "Hey, big man. Sorry I'm late."

Grog shrugs. "You missed all the screamin'." With that terribly ominous statement, he turns and heads down the hall, and Scanlan has to scramble to keep up.

The castle is labyrinthine, and Scanlan quickly gives up hope of remembering where they are. Honestly, he's shocked Grog hasn't gotten lost himself. After a few minutes, they're in front of a set of grand marble doors, which Grog pushes open without knocking. "Found 'im!"

Inside, Scanlan sees gorgeously appointed chambers, with a roaring fireplace in the sitting area across from the massive four-poster bed that Scanlan could nearly walk under without ducking. Without waiting for him to ask, Grog scoops him up to set him on the edge of mattress, which is covered in a luxurious eiderdown.

Under the covers, propped up against a mass of pillows, is Vex, her hair sweaty and matted around her face, and in her arms, a tiny bundle, swaddled in a lavender blanket. Percy stands just beside her, with tired eyes and a dopey grin. Scanlan feels a swell of pride in his chest, as if he were the one to have brought a new life into this world they've saved. "Hey guys! So, anything new with you?"

Vex huffs out a little laugh. "I'm glad you're here, Scanlan. We wanted you to meet your namesake."

Scanlan faces crumples in confusion. "Are you serious?"

"Fuck no," Vex says with a snort, and okay, Scanlan has to admit that that was a good one.

"Here." Percy leans down to carefully scoop the little baby out of Vex's arms, and then he walks around the foot of the bed to come sit beside Scanlan. Finally, he can see his friend's baby, a pale, sleeping thing with a dusting of white hair and the roundest cheeks Scanlan can imagine. "Her name is Vesper Elaina."

Scanlan reaches a hand over to brush his hand over Vesper's, and her little fingers, even in sleep, instinctively curl around his. Scanlan's breath catches in his throat; this is what he missed, the lost moments with Kaylie he can never get back.

"She's perfect," he says quietly, more sincere than he's ever been in his life. "Absolutely perfect."

Scanlan has never seen such easy joy on Percy's face. "She's the best thing I've ever made."

He can't help himself. "I agree. I promise not to throw this one into a pit of acid."

Percy lets out a half-manic laugh. "I...would appreciate that, yes."

"Unless you think you've got more demon problems. In which case you know I'm here for you, bud."

Percy balances Vesper in the crook of one arm so he can wrap Scanlan into a side-hug with the other. "I know you are. If I ever need to throw my daughter into a pit of acid, I absolutely know who to call."

"If you're going to talk about killing our child with acid before she's even two hours old," Vex drawls, "can you do so outside so that I can sleep?"

Scanlan makes the perilous slide down onto the floor. "Of course, Lady de Rolo." He lets Grog lead them out of the room so that Vex can rest, and as Percy walks so very carefully with his new daughter in his arms, Scanlan elbows his shin to get his attention. "For real, though. This is incredible. What a beautiful addition to your family."

"To our family," Percy reminds him. "You're not getting out of uncle duties, Shorthalt. Someone has to teach her how to be a pain in my ass."

Scanlan salutes. "Mission accepted."

[lookingfts]

Hi

Would you ever consider adding to one of your older AU’s?

First of all. Just found you. Welcome to tumblr. I’m so happy that you allow fans to bounce ideas off you and praise your work. I really love your fics. But I thought that when I read the ‘say my name’ AU that I had found a new favourite AO3 writer. But it wasn’t. I had read you before but wasn’t really paying attention other than loving your story.

That story was the 2 parter with the one night stand gone wrong because Kate was convinced that Anthony was a serial killer. 😄 but it was the follow up that I really loved. Where they role played what that might look like. I loved you exploring ‘role play’ in that sorta dark way. Borderline unhinged with enabler Kate. 🤗 And canon Anthony kinda gives those sort of ‘obsessive’ vibes off anyway. Would you ever continue in that vein with more of that true crime role play. Or something a little darker? I think you’d be killer at it. Pun intended. 🥰

Thank you so much! So I've been thinking about the idea of a Dark!Anthony story (there are several great ones, but it's not something I've dipped my toe into much). That led me to workshopping a dark fairytale fic with the incredibly imaginative @ladykettlechips. Sort of a loose Beauty and the Beast AU except they're both crazy and both have powers. Here's a little snippet! There's a lot of backstory hinted here that would be more in the full thing, of course, but it's Dark Anthony, Dark Kate, murder, lust, magic, obsession. All the good stuff.

--

He was so beautiful.

It was endlessly strange, to hear Anthony speak of the way others saw him. Scarred. Deformed. Grotesque. Kate had tried hard to envision it, to view him as the monster he claimed to be. But he only became increasingly handsome to her as the days wore on.

Especially in the golden light of the flickering fire. Especially when he was looking at her that way, soft devotion in his fathomlessly deep eyes. Disbelief, almost, that Kate was still there, by her own will and not his. In his arms, nothing but the thin fabric of their nightclothes separating them.

“My father wanted a bigger garden for my mother,” he said softly, stroking his hand over her side. “She liked hyacinths. So I created them for her. My father was surprised by how suddenly they had grown, as if overnight. I think perhaps he suspected. He did not have magic, but his mother did.”

Kate waited silently. She was not a patient woman by nature, but she had a lifetime’s worth of patience for the slow unveiling of Anthony’s soul. 

“I did not know.” His voice caught, and he swallowed. “I did not know he was allergic to bee stings. I did not even know the flowers would attract them. I was young and naive and I only��”

Reaching out, Kate brushed her fingers through his hair, watching the lines smooth slightly on his face as he leaned into her touch.

“I only wanted to help. I only wanted them to be happy.” Anthony seemed to struggle with the words, as though his throat was closing. “I promised myself, Kathani. I made a solemn vow that I would never use my magic to please others because all I ever did was fail them. And I have stayed true to that promise for ten years. But now I find myself failing again. Because all I want is to please you. To give you everything you desire.”

He looked up at her, broken and desperate, searching for - she did not know what. Her approval? Her absolution?

Kate had nothing left to give him but herself. Her body, her mind, her heart. “You are everything that pleases me,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to his as she cupped his jaw tenderly. “I desire nothing else.”

Anthony captured her lips, tipping her head back as he pressed her against the pillows, the warmth of his hands searing through her gown. He brushed his nose against her neck, his eyes shut tightly as he inhaled her scent. “I could never create anything so perfect as you, Kathani Sharma.”

[crsssies]

hey angel in the snow (i'm under the mistletoe)

first snow/meet cute/civilian!reader || original lss fic hehe

Summary: Just another winter in DC... same old... same... oh!

Leon wonders if he misses all the festivities sometimes.

DC is decorated to the brim, lights strung up all across alongside the White House, and he doesn't think too much of it. STRATCOM might host a small party or something else alongside that, but it doesn't seem like there's much of a point to get a tree in his place. Raccoon City still feels like not long ago, too close ago. Everything isn't really fair. The recruitment wasn't either.

He just hopes Sherry's fine, at least.

But Leon stops by City Center anyway, looking for a white elephant present to wrap for work, and the Christmas tree is incredible. The colors weave through the pines onto the ground, and he pauses to stare. Green, red, green, red, white. The white has covered the tree to a half degree, or maybe it's just white from the City Center's efforts, but it's nice. Actually, it's probably fake snow, but it's snow... nonetheless.

The air crystallizes in his lungs, and he exhales as the cold fogs up in the air.

"At least it's pretty enoug—"

Leon crashes down onto the ground as someone slams into him, and groans. What the hell?

"I'm so sorry! My friends were..."You glance around, frowning when you notice they're gone. "somewhere. Told me they saw someone super cute and next thing I know, I'm being shoved into them. Here, let me help you up."

"Thank you." He takes your hand, cheeks dusted pink, and you hum. "You from around here?"

"Nah. Moved here for work." You hum. "You?"

"Me too."

"Oo... white house worker." You jest, humming as you glance at the tree. "Government?"

"Something like that."

"Ah." You mumble, brushing off the water from your clothes. "Um, you new here? Because I need to get something for a white elephant and I've never really been around here..."

"I haven't either." Leon hums, glancing at you as he blinks. "Shall we go white elephant hunting together?"

"Yes! I'd be down." You beam. "Sorry, I never got your name, handsome stranger."

"Leon." He nods. "You..?"

You tell him your name, but Leon stares at you like he's starstruck or something. He brings you around and asks if you know much about the capital, and he listens to you as you tell him which brunch places are to die for and which ones are tourist traps. You also talk an extensive amount of the history of the country in general, and he's pleasantly surprised that you know more about the city than the vast majority of his employers. 

You could tell him the names of all of the founding fathers' slaves if you really wanted to. 

"So you study history?"

"Nah. It just comes with living here." You hum, glancing at the pikachu in your hand. "Probably shouldn't be handing my employers a stuffed animal, huh?"

"Any of them have kids?"

"Like, one." You pause to think. "Two. Everyone else is pretty new and young."

"And they won't want a plush?" He raises a brow, staring at the flower pot in his hand. "My coworkers probably won't like an empty pot either, huh?"

"How about a pack of hairclips?" You hold the package up, and he raises a brow. 

"MJ album." He finds the stash of CDs.

"Get a Mariah Carey Christmas album." You hand the album to him, and he pauses to consider it.

"All I want for Christmas is you?"

"Aw... how sweet."

"I don't know..." Leon hums. "Maybe a mug would be safest."

"I forgot about that." You follow him to the mugs, and you watch him pick out a couple. 

His coworkers are mostly older than him. Most of them have kids, so it wouldn't be out of the question to actually get a stuffed animal and get a good laugh out of it, but it'd also be funny to just find a screaming chicken and get it for someone's dog. Everyone lives a more or less white picket fence life in his work circle... minus him

"What are your coworkers like?"

"Most of us are young." You hum. "I'm sure they'd appreciate some humor."

Leon glances at the mug in hand.

"Boss."

"It'd be funny if our boss didn't get it." You hum. 

"How about the duck?"

"The booyah duck..." You glance at the mug, humming quietly. "Maybe."

"We can both get one. Makes for all the funnier."

"Two random people in DC with matching mugs..." You trail off. "Sounds fun. Do you decorate your place?"

"Not really. I don't see a point when it's just me."

"Fair point." You hum, stepping over to the cashier. "You gonna get yourself anything?"

"Not really."

You grin at Leon, and he raises a brow at you.

"You have ten minutes to pick me out a Christmas gift. I'll see you at the check out in ten!" You grin at him, taking two steps back as he blinks at the mug in his hand.

He could leave you. Hypothetically. He could, also, actually find something that you might like at the store. The old thrift is pretty spacious, and he doesn't really know too much about you to be able to pick something out that you might like. He could get the pikachu spotted earlier, or he could—

He locks eyes with the wooper plush that stares into his soul. 

That's the one. He has a strange feeling you'll like that one. 

From what he's learned, you beelined for the plush section first thing and picked up a handful of pokemon plushes before you had considered anything else. Also, you're probably a little younger than he is considering that you almost remind him of himself when he was freshly admitted into his job at twenty one. You're not that young, though. You're probably around his age if anything.

He tugs the plush along with him, scanning it at the check out as he watches you rush over. 

"You were fast." You mumble.  

"Found something you might like." He hums. 

"Yeah? Or just something funny?"

"You'll like it." He nods. "Kind of stupid looking, though."

"Are you implying something?" 

"I wouldn't dare." He raises a brow at you.

"Alright, buddy." You thank the cashier, and he takes you back out to the Christmas tree. "You wanna open it at the same time?"

He swaps the bag with yours, and you watch as he pries it open, stifling a laugh as you swipe open the bag.

"A plush!"

"You found a watch?" He raises a brow, staring at the gift.

"You seem like the type to need one." You hum.

He tilts his head at you, and you giggle.

"A small something to remember me by."

"I'd really like to stay in contact, but... yeah."

"Government work isn't easy." You hum. "Who knows. Maybe I'll see you in ten years."

"Maybe."

You hear your name called somewhere in the back, and you turn around to glance at your friends.

"I'll see you around, handsome stranger!" You call, waving at him before running back to your friends.

Leon hopes those words hold true.

[raytm]

         ❝ Akivili !  ❞  Universe's Laughter comes bounding up to their Trailblazing friend. A title bestowed upon fellow Aeon whether or not Akivili agreed with them. What matters to Aha is that they like the other Aeon, think that they're entertaining and their ambitious drive for adventure can make for an enjoyable experience. Not only that but Akivili is incredibly thoughtful !  Oh, how nice !

     Discerning whether or not they themselves are likable matters little for they do as they please. Boredom not allowed to seep into their playpen and seeking to shake up something for a good laugh. Though, they have readily permitted tears to fall, as it is a natural part of the ebb and flow in the universe. Where there is tragedy, there is room for joy. Joy can also be struck down by mood swings. Tugging back and forth is ultimately amusing to watch. It is as simple as that to the Aeon.

     Gloved hands pat at shoulders  —  once, twice, three times. Hard shell of a mask hides what true amusement might lie beneath, but the curved carving of a mouth seems to be accurate enough.  ❝ I've been looking everywhere for you !  It's almost like you've been avoiding me... Ah, but that's okay. I've found you now !  I have a very important question for you. ❞   Hands smooth off Akivili's body as Aha cants their head.  ❝ Can the Astral Express swim ?  You know, like in water ?  ❞  - @smusmaes ( aha )

For those whose journeys were everlasting who is to say which paths may intersect & which may never so much as brush one another. As if they were the coruscating stars illuminating the uncharted cosmos of planets never before seen, each connection left an impression upon the aeon, etched onto them as bright & memorable as each individual star. The Elation is not so different, ripples of a kaleidoscope of colors surging to coalesce as imminent laughter, with each place they touched the echo of joy rang high & strident. Some faces did become weathered by time, until the memories felt like tones of sepia & the voices waning into incomprehensible white noise. Aha was not one to be gradually forgotten, their presence as calamorous & smothering as their chiming voice in their ear. “ You found me.” Akivili says and their tone possesses no aversion, old friends often met upon the Trailblaze, it was an unavoidable reunion no matter the circumstance. Their buoyant step & encircling makes them more akin to a delighted comrade than an omnipotent portent of all of joy’s finest moments & most unbearable ones. Things were never boring upon that endless voyage, partially because Akivili never cared for stagnant tedium & also because eventually there would always be those like Aha who became entirely unforgettable in the aeon’s heart. “ I’ll have to endeavor to make it harder next time, I cannot imagine you find joy in anything that is too easy to obtain.” As if their fortuitous meetings were somewhat of a game, neither should end up bored as long as the other played their delegated role. Gilded eyes adhere to the other as they pat their shoulders, thousands of minute stars flickering in their gaze, it was more difficult to not wear a smile when the infectious traces of joy pressed down upon them with such intensity. Slowly, they cant their head, masked visage appraising their friend with no shortage of anticipation. “ Swim ?” Akivili echos the thought, ruminating upon it, for all the outlandish things the other could ask was this not a stroke of brilliance. They would have taken off their hat & bowed to the other for it was both preposterous an idea & something that could usher in a new possibility for the express, how could they be anything less than elated. In return, Akivili tilts their head, their conductor’s hat almost toppling from atop starry tresses. “ I can’t say that it does, shall I pick your brain, tell me about this express that can traverse even the vastness of the sea.”

[moonchild-in-blue]

Okay first of all I'm glad I found you in my notifications because I love your blog!! And your art is amazing!! I am in looove.

Also what type of watercolours are you using? And do you like it?

I'm looking into getting a new palette because mine is almost empty but I've only ever used this one palette I still have from highschool art class...

Okay, I'm a slut for compliments so, thank you SO much for that. Million kissies for you, sweet friend 😚💕🎨

As for the watercolours, I'm assuming you're asking because of my little whales. Technically, those were actually made with acrylics! More specifically, the leftover water from when you clean your brushes?

I'm working on a little ST illustration project, and I'm using acrylics (which is my main medium). The whales were just a quick little something to decompress/not let the water go to waste - it was a such nice shade of blue!

That being said, I actually do use watercolours (not that much lately but need to get back into it). I use the 30 colours pallete from Sakura. I've been using them for years, all throughout uni, and I really like them! They're nicely pigmented, very soft, and blend really beautifully.

(I have a few more recommendations, so I'll put a cut here - don't want to clog anyone's dash, oops.)

I will say though, I use a lot of coloured pencils, and the ones I use are water-soluble. I use the original Caran d'Ache watercolour pencils, and the Derwent Inktense - these are my favourites, they're incredibly pigmented and are veery smooth. I usually prefer to use pencils because they're fast drying, easier to carry around, and just plain convenient.

But yeah - Sakura Watercolour pallete, can't recommend it enough. It's super nice quality, nice compact design should you need to store/carry with you, and quite affordable. I've had mine for nearly a decade and never had any issues.

If you're willing and able to spend a bit of money though, the Windsor & Newton watercolours are my dreamies (I'm writing this with heart eyes). There's this quite famous artist, Agnes Cecile, who is their embassador, so maybe take a look at her Instagram page? W&N also have plenty of videos on their pages with demos/swatches, should you want to see as well. They're really unmatchable when it comes to pigment making.

Thank you so much for asking me, and feel to reach out whenever! I'm always, always willing to talk art with anyone. I hope this helped, and happy paintings! 🎨

[riorsonxaden]

Okay, you don't really have to answer this, I don't mean to bring any negativity to your lovely blog, so if you delete this instead of answering, I'll understand.

But I'm just so confused with the Taylor-Matty relationship....one on hand, she says she's happier than ever, which I love for her. But also....Matty has made such incredibly offensive statements over the years, and I'm just very confused here. Half of Tumblr is squealing over him, and the other half is, from what I see, very understandably upset.

I know we don't really know these people and who they are aside from what they present themselves as publicly, I just don't understand what part is an act and what's not. And even if it is an act, are statements that have genuinely offended specific groups of people something to brush off as satire?

Hey nonnie!

Can you believe I typed this answer four times and keep deleting? I just keep rambling. I'm trying to cover all bases here even though you didn't ask for all of that.

POSSIBLE TW: For slight mentions of racism and homophobia

I'd honestly believe Taylor. We have no reason not to. They're happy right now. Maybe he's the one for her and maybe he won't be. But They're happy and despite everything they are trying to make this work. Clearly I'm on the squealing side of this. I've followed both of them for years. The news kinda surprised me first but the more I thought about it. The more they just make so much sense to me. Even if they didn't, It's not my place or anyone's place really to judge. I would have supported it anyway. I don't think there relationship is an act. Not in the slightest. I do however believe they had a looong talk or talks about his past, and his Truman Black persona he does on stage.

If you don't know allow me to explain, Truman Black was a name he used for socials when people found Matty Healy on facebook years ago due to his mom, Denise Welch. He created the name Truman Black instead and used socials. Truman Black is basically this anti woke character that makes an appearance at the 1975 shows. He's used in mockery to modern issues such as political, race, gender identity, etc etc. (If you've seen those "I don't think it's racist to say.." or "I don't think it's homophobic to say.." clips and then Adam cuts him off. That is Truman). (Here's a compilation of these to show it's a bit.)

This is all an act, as Matty is the complete opposite. Matty is a leftist who albeit extremely intelligent and self aware, does not have a filter. He often thinks before he speaks which as we know has placed him in some heated situations. Some within reason and others, have been pulled out of context. He has spoken on the ones out of context and fully explained. The within reason from what I've seen is when his fans are deeply upset and he realizes he fucked up. Then he addresses it. If people are pressed but not troubled he lets it go. Look at the podcast people were upset, especially with comments regarding Ice Spice. He took the time at his show to apologize. (you can find here on tiktok)

Recently, I wanna say in Feb/March he deleted all his socials. When a fan asked he said, "The 1975 is an eras based band and the time of him being an asshole is over." (you can find here on tiktok) I think moving forward Truman is gone. He's done with the act. I think Taylor had some part in that RE: them having long talks about his persona.

Now the podcast...people have a right to be upset. The conversation was jarring to say the least. I don't think it was podcast he should have ever been on knowing fans would listen and majority of fans don't find this satire, dark humor. From my understanding the The Adam Friedland Show's podcast (which was originally called cum town.) lines up with South Park in terms of humor so it seems to be if you get it you get it and if you dont you dont but that's not our fault you didn't get the joke. At least that's the vibe I get from hearing them. What's crazy to me, is everyone is blaming Matty when the dudes on the podcast said he didn't start anything. I do suggest people watch this:

TW: MENTIONS OF GRAPHIC NSFW TOWARDS POC (it's them talking about the buzzfeed article) Hopefully it helps put things in perspective.

Should we brush this off because it's satire? No. we should not. I don't and will never understand why people believe this kind of "humor" is funny. It's tasteless in my eyes due to the topics and the thin line this type of comedy is. At the end of the day that didn't mean intentional harm unlike certain politicians and other people in the world.

One more thing I wanna say before I end this, If you're unsure on your stance on Matty I suggest you look at videos of him with fans, of his talks during shows, and with actual interviews like the ones he does with Zane Lowe. You still might be put off by him and that's totally fine. I just simply encourage everyone to do research and not rely on a Buzzfeed article and what people who admit they don't know him say. I know people who just don't like them much like how some people don't like Taylor. That's okay!

[maccreadysbaby]

Chapter One: Synth Therapist

featured characters: tommy (oc), high rise, h2-22, desdemona, drummer boy, nate (ss)

word count; 3,261

full chapter guide

— "This is an Eyebot. They're my favorite. They float around and play radio stations, and they can shoot lasers and play holotapes if ya’ program ‘em to," The young Railroad Agent explained, brushing her dark hair behind her ears with a sheepish smile. She sat the small eyebot figurine on the table, scooting it closer to the synth that sat across from her. “I have one at home.”

The golden morning sun streamed through the windows of safe house Ticonderoga, the thin layer of green-tinted fog that hung over the Commonwealth leaving hazy rainbows in its wake. The city was sleeping, peaceful for the first time in forever. It was mornings like this, when she could sit and make friends with a newly freed synth, that Tommy didn’t despise living in a radioactive wasteland.

"Why are they called eyebots if they don't have any eyes?" The synth across from her, H2-22, questioned softly. His voice was hardly above a whisper. It had remained his default volume since Tommy and High Rise assured him that it was okay to speak. Shame on Old Man Stockton for telling him he couldn’t. "Do they have hidden eyes that we aren't aware of?"

"Probably. Robots have no shortage of gadgets inside of ‘em these days," She smiled, pushing the figurine further across the table. He took it between his pointer finger and thumb gently. His soft gray eyes trailed over the tiny robot, feathered brown hair falling down in front of them so he had to brush it out of the way .

"These really are neat," He stated. Several of her other figurines were scattered across the table from where she'd been showing him. A sentry bot, a protectron. Some of her comic books, too, a few brightly colored Grognaks. He especially loved looking at the figurines, though.

Tommy smiled, brushing her wavy, brown hair back behind her ears where it had fallen in front of her face again. She kept the length about an inch above her shoulders so it was easy to maintain. Well, easy enough. The old police cap she wore on her head kept her from having to do much on top. "You can keep them."

Despite H2 being a synthetic human, his eyes lit up with nearly contagious excitement. "Really?"

"Of course. I just carry them around when I find them. They're better off with someone who thinks they're... neat."

"Oh boy! Thank you!" He smiled, placing the eyebot next to the Mr. Handy on the metal table. "And... and the comics, too?"

"Of course," She smiled. Tommy collected them, sure, but she could stand to part with a few Grognaks. He wasn’t her favorite unstoppable anyways. Hers was always the Inspector.

H2 smiled brightly, gray irises bouncing between all of his new belongings. "You really know one of these?" He questioned, pointing at the miniature Assaultron. It was a limited edition figurine Tommy had found in an old train car — and definitely hadn’t fought Drummer Boy over.  

"Yeah! Her name is P.A.M. She lives back at my work," She explained. "She's a bit taller than me, and her programming allows her to predict the future."

"How neat. You're very neat, Tommy," He stated, grinning up at her. A stupidly huge smile spread across her face, her big emerald green doe-eyes shining with a pure joy. She tugged at the sleeves of her shirt, fiddling with the clip of the gloves she wore.

"You're neat, too," She stated, letting the happiness that was radiating from her newfound friend pin the corners of her lips into a permanent smile.

H2 shrugged, grazing his finger over the assaultron’s body. "Not really. I don't... I don't even have a life," He replied. 

"You’re awesome, H2. You escaped the Institute. How incredible is that?" Tommy smiled contagiously, nudging his foot under the table with her own brown combat boot."That’s, like, the coolest thing you could’ve ever done. I've never met a person quite like you. You could be the main character of a new comic.”

The synth regained his joy, a smile forcing its way onto his lips. "You mean a robot. You’ve never met a robot quite like me.”

Tommy leaned forward, propping her chin on her gloved hand. “No, I mean a person.”

His smile got even bigger.

She turned and looked out the window. The sun was peeking over the buildings, and the fog was lifting, letting the golden light shine all the way to the ground and brighten the wasteland. She needed to get back to HQ before Desdemona flagged her as missing. She'd left the night before last, so she would be expected to return, like, yesterday.

"Alright, H2. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to head back now," She smiled sadly. "My boss is probably worried."

"I understand. They need you back, you're probably the best agent they have. Maybe you should be the one in the comic," He suggested, fiddling with the hem of his blue overcoat.

Tommy smiled a semi-fake smile, rapping the table with her knuckles . "I'll see you soon, H2.”

He nodded, glancing up at her, then down at his hands. "Be careful out there.”

She smiled, nodding as she stood and gathered her things. Her bag was slightly lighter after giving all of her figurines and comics to H2. She slid her 10mm into her hip holster and her knife into another, grabbing her shotgun and swinging it over her shoulder. Her sniper rifle was connected to her ruck by the sling. 

Her scarlet, waffle-knit long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and brown combat boot combo wasn’t exactly high fashion in the Commonwealth. Maybe the brown, fingerless mechanics’ gloves she had on her hands, or the old, navy police hat she’d ripped the badge off of and wore on her head, or the heavily modified toolbelt she kept around her waist would qualify. It was clipped into the belt loops of her pants, and housed two pistol holsters and two knife holsters. The leather straps extended all the way to her ankles, providing four more pockets. One side held a few stimpaks and medical supplies, and the other, ammo.

“I’ll see you soon, H,” She stated, reaching across the table and ruffling his already messy hair like he was her baby brother. He smiled up at her with no reply.

She sucked in a breath, turning away from the synth and heading toward the front door, shotgun thudding against her torso as she walked with one hand on the stock.

"Heading back to HQ?" Came the familiar voice of High Rise, the main railroad Heavy stationed at Ticonderoga. Tommy turned and caught his dark eyes where he stood on the front steps, nodding. His leather jacket get-up reminded her of home.

"Figured Des might want me back now. Probably some toilets that need unclogging or some floors that need mopping," She sighed, not able to help the venom that dripped from her words. High Rise sighed, shaking his head at her.

"Are you saying your mission was equivalent in importance to mindless chores?"

"No, of course not!" She replied quickly, sending a glance back to the synth who had opened one of the comic books again. "Not at all. I just… wish Des would let me do more than, y’know… helping synths get settled in. That’s all.”

High Rise sighed, shifting his weight on his feet and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don’t need to be jealous of Nate, kid. There’s room for more than one Heavy in HQ.”  

Tommy sighed. She knew she shouldn't have been jealous of the new guy, but she couldn’t help it. It only took him three months to make Desdemona like him the same amount, probably more, than she liked Tommy after she’d worked under her for three years. He was already taking on the hardest missions, the missions usually reserved for Heavies like Glory that’d been in the Railroad for ages. Why didn’t Tommy ever get to do any? She used to get more Heavy missions before Nate came along, but now, she barely got any. Now she was just a synth therapist. 

"I know, I know," Tommy replied, sighing. She shook her head at herself. It wasn't like favoritism was a problem she could fix anyways. 

“I bet you’ll be back on Heavy missions in no time,”

Tommy nodded, sending him a half smile. “Well, I'm not gonna dwell on it any more right now. Stuff needs done. I’ll catch you on the flip side, High Rise."

"Ata'girl, Tommy. Come see us soon!"

"Roger that! Don’t move H2 without telling me!”

“Roger, roger!”

She tipped her hat to him as she sauntered away from the building, disappearing into the depths of the bomb-stricken city. She kept her shotgun clutched close to her chest. Cambridge was usually infested with enemies, human and non-human alike, and she never stepped foot in it unarmed. In fact... she never really went anywhere unarmed. The Commonwealth wasn’t exactly friendly, no matter who you were, no matter where you went. 

As she hopscotched over old debris and played footsie with a few pesky barbs of metal, a small thud erupted from her left. Glancing over, she spotted a holotape perched on the pile of rubble. Had she dropped that?

After scanning the area for enemies and finding none, she picked up the small orange rectangle and spun it around in her hands. It had the date 1/13/88 taped on the front... about a month prior. She’d recognize that handwriting anywhere. She shook her head as a smirk made its way onto her face. How did he always get those tapes into her bag without her seeing?

Zeke, leader of a small gang called the Atom Cats and the Commonwealth's coolest, was like a brother, a father, and a fun uncle all in one. He'd found her orphaned in Diamond City when she was barely in double digits, which felt like ages ago. He was young at the time, and lonely, so he took her with him across the Commonwealth. She'd been with him through the creation of the Atom Cats. They were what got her into technology and robotics — basically her entire life. They were her family.

Zeke was ecstatic when she told him she'd joined the Railroad three years ago. It was something he'd thought about for a long time. Of course — it meant she would spend a lot of time away from the Garage. But she still went to see him. And even when she didn't, he sent holotapes with her when she left to remind her that he was always there. 

She smiled widely, popping the tape  into her bag. She was beyond thankful for the ragtag little gang she called family, and all of the strange agents at HQ she could call friends.

It only took her an hour or so to make it back to the Old North Church. She holstered her weapons as she walked through the grimy catacombs, slinging her shotgun behind her back where it thudded against her sniper. She descended into the big room that smelled of oil and dirt, getting small greetings from agents around her.

"Tommy. I take it your mission was a success," Desdemona commented as the teenager rounded the center table, dark eyes laser focused on the youngest agent under her command. Her red hair made her easily distinguishable from all of the agents that scurried around the room. Not to mention that her vest and scarf duo was definitely not something you’d find on someone who was trying to blend in.

"Yep," Tommy replied, popping the ‘p’ as she grazed her fingertips across the round table. “H2’s therapy sesh is complete.I think I should be getting paid for this. I’ll have Tinker Tom write me up a license.”

“Drop the attitude, Tommy,” 

She was the only agent that Desdemona allowed to go by their real name. Mainly because no one would expect a nineteen-year-old girl to be named Tommy. Also because Tommy was seventeen at the time she joined the Railroad and made way too much fun of everyone else’s nicknames to have her own.

Des also thought it would be beneficial to have an ally down South, even if it was just a small gang. Zeke agreed to let the Railroad use the garage as a spot for agents to lay low if needed, which worked out well, because Tommy was in and out of there anyways, practically using it as a hideout already.

"Good work," The redhead continued, lighting up a cigarette. "I have something else for you."

Tommy glanced at the agents around her. "Nate dead or something?"

"Drop the attitude," The woman repeated, huffing out a cloud of smoke and flicking the ashes away from her. "He's taking care of a missing synth down near the coast. I need you to oversee the movement of additional resources to Mercer and Ticonderoga. Thursday night, tomorrow night. The shipments need to be as fast, quiet, and as under the radar as you can get them."

"Wouldn’t have ‘em any other way, ma'am,"

"We're using the cleared-out sub-station tunnels for the trip," She stated. "And when you're done at Ticon, it's that time."

A smile made its way onto Tommy's face.

"I'm going to need you back Sunday afternoon to start up, though,"

"Of course," Tommy repeated, bouncing on her heels giddily. Since she was still young, Zeke had talked Desdemona into letting her come back to the garage for the weekends, while most Heavies were expected to stay in the bunks at HQ or a safehouse. Somewhere Des always had access to them. 

"Careful out there, agent. Don't think for a second that I won't flag you missing if you're late."

"Wouldn't dare, Desdemona," She replied, winking at her dramatically. The woman rolled her eyes and flicked the cigarette again.

"You and the supplies are scheduled to leave tomorrow around eight p.m. I'm not going to make you do any tasks in your downtime unless something needs urgent attention. Just be here on time tomorrow. I mean it."

Tommy gave her a salute. "Loud and clear."

"Better be,"

Tommy smiled as she walked away from her boss... but that smile faded almost immediately when she saw a familiar dark-headed dimbo walk into HQ. Stupid Nate with his stupid smile and stupid go-getter attitude. And thanks to her naturally occurring bad luck, his chocolate eyes caught hers as soon as he glanced around.

"Hey, Tommy," He announced as he walked toward Des, waving a hand at the younger agent. He was in that awfully gaudy Minutemen uniform, his pointy hat clasped tightly in his hand. That ridiculous excuse for a firearm he called a laser musket, hanging over his shoulder, ran louder than an actual generator. It was a miracle he wasn't dead, thanks to the horrible reliability of those hand-held laser bombs. Not to mention that they sounded like someone had thrown a pair of boots in a pre-war dryer and tried to make it run.

Tommy rolled her eyes and continued to walk the other way, earning a small huff from the newer agent. He didn't try again, thank God.

She took up a post against the wall with her arms crossed, watching him sweet talk their boss into a smile. He was such a suck-up. He'd definitely been spending too much time with Deacon. But to be honest... any amount of time with Deacon was too much for the average human. Tommy lad learned that early on and chose to keep her distance from the shady spy.

That's when she noticed, Nate had no companion trailing behind him today. No Deacon, no scarlet-clad reporter, no Minuteman with an ugly hat, no angry red-head with a weird accent or shiny Mr. Handy. It only made her suspicions of him grow. What was he doing that he couldn't do with a companion? Wasn't he supposed to be killing a Courser? He might've been a good agent, but not good enough to take out one of those murder-machines all by himself.

"Careful staring at him like that. He might think you're into him,"

Tommy turned, coming face to face with likely her favorite person in the whole HQ, Drummer Boy. His light eyes, blue jacket, and newsboy cap was familiar and comforting — the most comforting thing in the Commonwealth outside of Zeke’s Garage. He was their resident Courier and ran the dead-drop system for The Railroad. If you needed messages, locations, encryptions... he was your guy.

He used to be a Heavy. When Tommy first started working for The Railroad almost three years ago, he was the Heavy that trained her. That is... until he stepped on a mine and blew both of his legs to bits. Carrington was able to make them functional again, but due to his permanent lack of speed and agility, Drummer Boy had to be pulled from the Heavy position and given a job that could be completed safely at HQ. 

Not that Tommy was complaining. She didn't know what she'd do if he died. He was the closest thing she had to a real friend besides the Atom Cats.

"If when you say 'into him' you mean 'the mere thought of him makes me want to beat myself with a brick' then yeah. I'm into him," Tommy sassed. 

Drummer Boy snickered from her left, settling against the wall next to her.

"Sounds like it'd be a healthy relationship to me,"

She snickered this time. They watched in sync as Nate and Desdemona chuckled about something. Then, a few minutes later, the new guy left HQ with that cheesy smile he always seemed to have on his face. Why was he like that? So positive? He was definitely hiding something. No one in the Wasteland was chipper.

"You off duty until the supply run tomorrow night?" Drummer Boy questioned. She could feel his eyes on the side of her head as she watched the Vault Dweller leave the catacombs.

"Yeah," Tommy muttered, glancing over at him. "You?"

"As long as nothing surprises us, then yeah. Finished up the map of the run yesterday, and the scouts are getting ready to leave and clear the path for ya," He commented. "Been doing okay in the field?"

"Okay as I can be during a nuclear fallout. You?"

"The two-hundred-year-old duct tape and bubble gum holding my life together seems to be doing a pretty good job at the moment,"

She nodded along with his statement. “Mine, too.”

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the hustle and bustle around the HQ. Carrington was working his medical magic on another Railroad Heavy who had a nasty bullet wound. Glory was gone on an Op; Deacon was... well, off somewhere, doing something, probably something no one actually knew about. Tinker Tom was casually talking to his terminal as he typed on it. Des was pacing around the center table like she always did, spitting orders at defenseless agents every time they passed by. Life in HQ was normal. At least while Nate was gone.

"Hey," Drummer Boy whispered, tapping her shoulder gently with the back of his hand. "Wanna head up to the roof?"

She glanced over at him, tilting her head slightly at the hint of playfulness hidden in his gray irises. The corners of her mouth quirked up slightly as she glanced back at Desdemona, who was paying them no mind. 

"Give me five minutes,"

—

[hildred-rex]

Ooh, these are excellent! I've been looking for something like Floorplanner for absolutely ages!

Anyhow, I thought I'd contribute some of my own hoard, though it skews more toward worldbuilding. Since I tend to ramble, I've bolded my resource links to make them easier to skim to.

I've tried to group them into research, cartography, and space stuff (which I think should be decreasing order of relevance to most people).

Long, so it's below the cut.

Always check your licenses.

Research

Wikimedia Commons. Extensive collection of images and other media, featuring an in-depth (though hard-to-navigate) categorization system. I've linked to "train stations photographed in the 1920s" as an example.

CCSearch. Lets you search several places with creative-commons media from one dashboard. By no means complete; I may make a post with all the other sources I've found (primarily of images) someday.

Some good (partly-)public-domain image collections that CCSearch doesn't cover: Europeana, the New York Public Library, the British Library (hard to search), and the Met.

Archive.org has a great collection of public-domain books (among other things under other licenses), which you can restrict by date; use the search bar under the little colored icons. It's also the group responsible for the Wayback Machine, which is very useful for other reasons.

Wiktionary. A project of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wiktionary is a free online dictionary with extensive coverage and is available in multiple languages -- though the completeness of the version in any given language is going to depend on the number of volunteers who speak that language. English is very good, Spanish seems solid but I've experimented with it less, and Esperanto's coverage is poor.

NGrams. A feature of Google Books where you can compare the relative frequencies of various terms over time, which can give you a sense of how famous various historical people actually were. I've given an example with three writers here, and it does check out with what I know of their relative historical popularities. (Chambers wrote The King in Yellow early on, but then switched over to romances and became extremely popular. Machen had a boom in popularity in the 1920s.)

Zompist.com. The website of a veteran conlanger and worldbuilder, chock full of interesting stuff even beyond what's considered resources. Mostly useful for information; I've linked to a page giving some basic Blender instructions for conworlders.

The resources flair on r/worldbuilding is a great place to look for more, well, worldbuilding resources.

The Public Domain Review is good to keep tabs on if you're interested in the public domain (or just weird old stuff).

Cartography (and Planet Design)

K. M. Alexander's fantasy map brushes. CC0 (i.e., released into the public domain, or more relevantly free!). They're derived from real historical maps and have incredible variety, covering everything from normal geographical features to whole city blocks to battles(?!). They work in GIMP, Procreate, Photoshop, and Affinity Designer (sp?); I've tested GIMP and Procreate myself.

Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator. Exactly what it says on the tin. You can customize the output quite a bit, in terms of appearance and actual contents. Based on some admittedly not very scientific tests I've run it doesn't seem to be fully accurate to climate science and whatnot, but it's much closer than anything I could do on my own and certainly very useful. (To export images of your whole map, use svg export and make a png using some other tool. The png/jpg exports don't save the whole map.)

Free -- and web-based, so it works on everything.

Morality-and-AI disclaimer: Unfortunately, the dev recently created a databank of AI-created characters, made of AI "art" and AI-generated character descriptions, and integrated it as a feature in the FMG. That is called Deorum and appears to be un-removable from the FMG, though you can turn off the popup/actual use of Deorum and delete everything out of the "character" list. Nothing else runs on AI; it's all procedural generation, which sounds similar but is not at all the same thing.

GProjector. Converts maps from one projection to another (with many, many options). Mostly useful for work with the FMG, which outputs equirectangular (a very distorted projection). Made by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, part of NASA. Is a download and requires Java 11+.

Space Stuff

Endeavor. A star atlas, for the sci-fi writers among us. My favorite feature is that it lets you see how the stars would look from other stars. (I've linked to the help page so you get some idea of what it's about.)

PlanetMaker. Somewhat misnamed; unlike the FMG, it doesn't actually make a planet. It lets you make equirectangular maps into something that looks like an artist's interpretation of a planet. It seems to have been made for the website owner's own use, since I haven't managed to find documentation.

JSOrrery. Check out the positions of various solar-system objects at various points in time, as revealed by the power of math!

Solar System Simulator. NASA's second appearance on this list, though this is from JPL rather than GISS. This makes a (low-res) image of what some perspective on the solar system would look like at some date.

Honorable Mentions

Honorable mentions go to to Inkscape (vector), GIMP (raster), Blender (3D), and Khan Academy (miscellaneous knowledge; I'm currently using it to pick up the basics of plate tectonics) for being useful.

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[redtailarts101]

Even though it's got a bug that's pissing me off right now, I'm always gonna appreciate Sketchbook (formerly Autodesk Sketchbook, but now it's own independent company) for creating new features when it released a premium bundle instead of paywalling existing ones. I was worried when I'd found out about Premium that a bunch of features I used would suddenly be behind a paywall but no, the app is still intact, and new free features like steady stroke (a better stabilizer than Predictive Stroke) are being added. Most of the time, companies would just put existing features behind the paywall, but they did what they're supposed to do - create new ones. And I think that was a smart decision too because it avoided people being mad at them and ditching the app for IbisPaint or something. Instead, premium users are happy with the new tools they got for paying, and regular users still get to enjoy the app with all of it's functionality, save for the bug that's causing my layers to corrupt for no reason at all and crash the app. They'll fix it, I've reached out about the bug. But yeah, the choice means everyone's happy and no one hates them. You can make incredible things on Sketchbook without the need for premium features, even if they might make things easier, because most brushes come with a degree of customizability (some more than others), layer blending modes still have great selection, plenty of tools in the toolbar exist, you can customize your preferences, all kinds of shit can be done for free. And that sorta makes it one of the only art apps that has premium features that also has a fully functional, highly customizable base version filled with dozens of tools at your disposal, as far as I'm aware.

[jaderimehardt]

Supplies! \o/

I only ordered a few additional items to help fuel my motivation with pencil drawing, because I already have so many supplies as it is- and they arrived today. One thing in particular was critical, as it was a solvent. It's what's going to give me a "painting" looking effect with my colored pencils on water color paper.

Couple other things were more 'quality of life' things that I've seen my new favorite artists use and I never knew existed. I believe I'm ready to go now! All that's holding me back is time, inspiration (which comes and goes), and skill (that I keep educating myself daily on- but I need practice too).

👆🏻 New stuff I got today.

👆🏻 After I opened the pencils and eraser. You can see how thin the eraser stick is- which is great for getting into smaller areas for finer details. I have thicker eraser sticks and I've used those for years but it could never get into small areas for details and that's something that has always bothered me about it. It's something I always wished it could do.

This matte pencil set really caught my attention as someone who loves the anime Bleach. Even as someone who just loves drawing in the manga style in general. A set of black pencils is a must have, imo 💗. I will be using these a lot. Both of these.

Before I show off more of my junk (lol, I'm not joking, a lot of my supplies are nearing like, 10 years old aside from this new stuff 👆🏻) - you'd be surprised at the shelf life of art supplies.

I want to throw in another art video that I found today that I think would be incredibly helpful for people out there, especially to people who are just starting out or people who are struggling, OR people who are trying to speed up their art poses, OR looking to improve their poses.

It's not mine, it's from the same person I've been linking the past two days now? I think it's safe to say I love his videos 🥰

Drawing poses for me is 50/50. Sometimes I can breeze through them, and other times it's a total miss (takes me forever to figure out what I'm doing). I don't know if it comes down to... I don't know what pose I want to do? Or if I just don't know how to do the pose that I want to do. It's probably 50/50 on that too, lol 😅

I know I struggle with hands and I have to reference hands a lot. But in any case, I liked this vid a lot, and if I could only recommend one art vid to watch, it'd be this one. Or at least it'd be in the top 5.

Cause you don't want to be like me where someone tells you to buy this thing:

Yep, that's right. I own one. I bought it when I worked at an Arts & Crafts store several years ago. (retail job, oh boy~ 🫠)

And you do the thing because you love to draw. You buy it. But you have zero academic knowledge of art, you simply doodle in your free time. No level of object perspective or education/knowledge in shading/toning/coloring. So when you go to draw this "doll" to paper, it looks completely ~flat~.

That vid will teach you how to avoid that. How to NOT do that. So, I suggest watching that vid. You want your characters to look like they have some life, right? 🤨

(Also yes, my bedroom is an octopus playground. I have 30+ octopus plushies. 🐙💓 Think I've mentioned this before in a very old post, but if I post pictures, you're likely to see an octopus.)

When I found all these amazing videos from these fantastic artists, I went rummaging for all my old art supplies and found a plethora of stuff.

👆🏻 Art books. I have a ton of paint brushes too but I didn't take pictures 🖌️. I actually started using some of them for makeup pre-covid (and then stopped wearing makeup entirely), and then I started using some for mica powder with my resin projects.

I need to clean them and figure out which ones I want to designate where 😅. Paint brushes are honestly very versatile, especially as an artist. They're handy to have around.

I found my miniature hoard of colored pencils. I don't have large sets- just a bunch of small sets. So this should be interesting but I don't see this as a bad thing because I'm technically still a beginner. If this does become a hobby I love and dive deep into- sink into, get consumed in... I'll upgrade my "tools", i.e. my pencil sets. But for now this is way more than enough.

👆🏻 On the left (or the very top depending on how tumblr is putting these in order), the black pencils are the snoopy pencil set. This is an exclusive set I got when I went with my Mom and a friend of hers/ours to the Charles M. Schwartz Museam. I remember being on the fence about buying this set because it wasn't exactly cheap 🙃 but the opportunity to buy it again was... well, unforeseeable.

Looking at them now, the price of the set is average (in today's market, but this was years ago so it was rather pricey back then). I just clearly haven't used them much, if at all 😅

And at the time I didn't know you could buy these online. They're here if anyone is interested: https://charles-m-schulz-museum.myshopify.com/products/time-for-school-colored-pencil-set

The image on the right (or bottom) is all my washi tape! This is used for taping down watercolor paper to keep it from warping. I'm actually so glad I found all of this.

There's just a few things I'd like to gather together still, but I have them around the house. I want to put them in my little "drawing cubicle", lol. Like a petri dish and sand paper. Two watercolor glasses... 🤔💭

Just have everything in one place~ to easily grab and have ready to go at any time 😊