#LETS GO OLD PEOPLE

[mania-sama]

👻 trick or treat motherfcker 🎃

oh, what a lovely costume you're wearing! that's right, take a candy from the bowl... and you've got a fic idea! i have tons of those bouncing around my brain.

alright, this idea has been pinging around in my head for a month or so, now. i've thus far written not a single word for it in the google document i opened for it, so i will spill my brains out the best i can into this ask. additionally, with the candy you've pulled out, i will include a very short extra scene to go with it. because ideas are ideas. they invade my mind and don't let go, and god do i love this one.

let me set the scene: an alternate universe of sorts, where everyone is in university. aran is in his final year of university for his RN license, working as an intern at a nursing home as a CNA, in direct care of the residents. he's been working there for a while, but he's recently been put in charge of another resident after one of his coworkers was fired (i like to think something horrendously dramatic, like caught injecting heroine for a second time in a resident bathroom, but that's neither here nor there).

the resident he's now assisting truly doesn't need much help, and it puzzles him exactly why she's even there, aside from her momentarily lapses in memory and clarity. then, while he's entertaining mrs. yumie (as she's already asked him to call her, even though they've known each other less than two hours) over a long game of scrabble, someone knocks on the door. yumie doesn't seem surprised by this, and shoos aran to go let them in.

aran opens the door and greets kita shinsuke, a young man with white-and-black hair, clear skin, and large brown eyes. aran fumbles for a second, momentarily awestruck by the young man's beauty, before he demands their relation. kita introduces himself, learns that aran is the new attending CNA, and makes himself at home with his grandmother. aran doesn't question him, not really; kita doesn't volunteer any information about himself, and yumie seems content to let her grandson and her attendant settle into each other's presence on their own. he leaves them together, after a while. he gets the feeling kita may want alone time with her.

and most visitors only come by once every few weeks or months. a grandson isn't anticipated to be seen but once every few years. so, when aran is once again pulled into another game - this time, dominoes - and there is a knock at the door, aran does not open it expecting to see the same young man again.

and he sees him again the next day. and the next. and the next. and it happens until he realizes that, oh, this is the guy his fired coworker always gossiped about, the one who came by at the same exact time every single day without fail, come rain or shine. his coworker had bitched about kita, though; said he was difficult to get along with, that kita would always make it a point to ask his coworker to leave the room.

aran doesn't get it. kita has never asked him to leave. and while being rather quiet and non-expressive, kita has never been unkind or difficult, either. in fact, aran would say that they are warming up to each other quite well.

and that's where the fic continues. it would go on to describe their budding friendship and general feelings towards each other, as aran finally gains the confidence to ask questions. kita answers them, obviously; he's just not going to volunteer anything, most of the time, aran realizes. and it's not for the necessity of a private life. kita just doesn't pick up that sometimes, he is expected to answer questions that people don't verbally ask. it bypasses him, so aran goes on to make himself more clear.

the situation is this: kita hadn't been the one to volunteer his grandmother into a nursing home. he isn't home a lot. she starts wandering from home, up and down streets. she has lapses in judgement, where everything becomes confused and disoriented. she's sharp, most of the time; that's why she realizes that without kita home with her, since he goes way to both attend the farm and university (a different one than aran), that she is both stressing her grandson out and a danger to herself. so, she signs herself up for the nursing home.

kita visits at the exact same time everyday, at two in the afternoon, since he purposefully scheduled himself to never have class at that time. it's too hot to be outside, either, so he never has an overriding guilt of not overseeing his crops and farmhands at the time. he stays for an hour, then promptly leaves. it's a routine, and he intends on sticking with it. aran is merely absorbed into that consistent routine.

while this fic would have a happy ending, it's important to note that, if i did ever write it, nothing serious would happen between aran and kita until his grandmother passes. having a grandmother with alzheimer's wrecks the soul. when it starts going downhill, it goes down fast and hard. kita would cope with it the best he could. there are breaks when, in the late stages, he couldn't bear the fact that she would look at kita and see a stranger for the entire hour together. and aran would be there, supporting as best as he could, but he's torn, too, having started loving yumie as much as his own grandmother. that stage of pain and grief would be the climax, of sorts. only then would they get into an sort of serious, long-term relationship, after all is said and done.

i would also like to note that it wouldn't just be about kita. it would be about aran, and all of the tribulations that come with the healthcare industry, and especially with the elderly. he is constantly surrounded by grief. it is not easy. it is taxing, and kita would be there for him when it all starts to bear down too heavily. he's the reprieve, the eye of the storm in the thick of the hurricane. aran would be the central character, with his struggles being the one reflected in those around him, not vice versa.

an interesting sidebar: i was going back and forth on whether or not this would be arankita or atsukita. even now, i still entertain the idea of either or. i think they could both work in their respective places, only i probably wouldn't have atsumu by a CNA/RN. he'd probably just be a receptionist or something that hosts weekly bingo night. but regardless, he'd meet kita all the same, every single day.

but, with the ship that i have written entirely in this version of what i will lovingly dub the Nursing Home AU, i want to present to you a scene that i find hilarious. aran is working, as per usual, and anticipates kita's arrival. however, when the knock sounds, it's different. harsher. an alternating pattern that's familiar but most certainly is not kita familiar. when he opens the door, he's face-to-face with atsumu, and osamu ducked behind him. atsumu has a book in his hand, grinning grimly, and says, "hey, aran."

aran looks him up and down, then osamu, who's expression really isn't any better. he demands to know why they are here, and atsumu reveals that they've been friends with kita since high school. aran is old friends with the twins; they playing together in middle school, but aran ended up in a different high school. they reconnected in university, in an off-chance where aran had to retake a class with a lot of incoming freshman and meets osamu, just to find out that atsumu was recruited to join the collegiate volleyball club. queue aran-miya twins friendship, where aran did not know that they were also friends with kita.

and, atsumu tells him, waving a book in his face, they are here to read to granny yumie per kita's orders. kita couldn't make it because he was out with illness and didn't want to drag it into the nursing home, where a bunch of old people with weak immune systems could catch it and die. atsumu's words, not kita's. anyway, aran is worried and it makes the twins laugh a little. they offer kita's address, should aran want to stop by.

osamu says he brought onigiri. and that's really aran's only condolence as they sit through atsumu's terrible reading of In A Grove by Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, a story that would take any normal, sane person ten to thirty minutes to get through, tops. it takes atsumu the entire hour. yumie does not spare an beratings when the time calls for it because, really, a university student should not be this bad at reading out loud.

aran hopes kita never falls ill ever again.

anyway, if anyone reading this ever wants to write about this concept in any capacity, go right ahead. i'm sure i'll never get around to it.

[tawnysoup]

Finally now that the comic is fully public on comicfury, I get to share it with all of you here, too <3

If you enjoyed, please consider supporting by buying a PDF of the comic on itch.io: https://tawnysoup.itch.io/home-in-the-woods

[symphonyofsilence]

Let the poor man rest.

[chimerafeathers]

i really love how intensely Mirabelle reacts to act 5 Siffrin botched friendquest.

Isabeau is mostly operating out of concern and, eventually, hurt. he already knows something’s up before Siffrin gets to him. he knows something truly awful must be wrong for Siffrin to be lashing out like they are, and as soon as he can’t handle the situation anymore, he leaves and asks (with strained cheer) for time apart to cool off.

most of Bonnie’s anger comes from being upset and afraid that Siffrin would willingly put themself in danger for no reason, when that’s exactly why they’ve been so unsettled since the eye incident. they hate that Siffrin values their own life so little, they hate that they’re the cause of any pain or loss for him, and here he is, putting himself in that situation AGAIN. on purpose. it’s loud and explosive, but it’s familiar, too, being “hated” by Bonnie for this reason.

Odile pushes, and keeps pushing, until her concern overwhelms Siffrin and they strike where they know she’s most vulnerable. she gets physical, just for a moment, grabbing his collar before controlling herself and letting go. her fury shuts down into cold detachment, and she walks away.

but Mirabelle—dear, sweet, gentle, loving Mirabelle, “the most wonderful being on earth,” with her secret “ruthless side” that largely involves lightly badmouthing people behind their backs and then apologizing—slaps them. immediately.

and then COMPLETELY RENOUNCES THEIR FRIENDSHIP.

not just “we’re not friends anymore,” but “we were never friends in the first place.”

that’s!!! pretty extreme!!!!

of course, she ALSO starts by asking what’s wrong. something must have happened for him to act like this. but as soon as Siffrin brushes her off, she jumps past that line of questioning and dives headfirst into re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about them as a a person.

if he could say something like that to her and not see anything wrong with it, then she was wrong to treat him as a friend, wrong to read camaraderie into his teasing, wrong to think they must care about them all under their aloof demeanor.

that’s how Mirabelle phrases it—“I was wrong about you”—but i think that there’s a hidden layer of I was right about you, too.

she talks about the way they tease her like she had to convince herself that he was doing it in a friendly way. she says they talk like they “know better than her” like that’s a thought she’s had for a LONG time.

“Always soooo mysterious, Siffrin, always talking as if you're better than me! As if you know me!!! But you don't, Siffrin!!! You're just as lost and useless as I am!!! So stop!!! Talking!!! As if you know me!!!!!!”

none of this comes across as a new, sudden way to view Siffrin for her. it doesn’t shock or confuse her. it makes her angry, defensive, almost like she was waiting for something like this to happen at some point. the feeling of resentment, frustration, jealousy, being patronized and condescended to—this is something she’s been actively pushing down and rejecting this entire time, but they’ve given her ample reason for it all to boil to the surface. violently.

Mirabelle’s kindness is not inherent or easy. it’s a choice she’s making. she treats Siffrin warmly because she gives him the benefit of the doubt—refusing to act based on anxiety-fueled, cynical speculation, and reassuring herself that his actions are driven by care and friendship even if she can’t quite see it.

“I was wrong about you” doesn’t mean she always and without question believed them to be a fundamentally kind, caring person from the beginning—it’s that her first, colder instincts were right, and she was wrong to convince herself otherwise.

never mind that she asked what was wrong at first. she barely gives them time to speak in their own defense, to explain what they really meant by what they said. all of her suppressed doubts and frustrations are getting aired out now, now that all the trust she’d so deliberately placed in him has been betrayed. her pain feels bigger than this singular moment, so when she hurts him back, she makes sure it extends back through the entirety of their relationship for him, too.

“You're awful. You're not my friend, not my ally, not anything. You never were.”

like the others, she goes back to the clocktower and tells Siffrin not to come back until later. but there’s a finality to the way she ends this confrontation that isn’t quite there with the others. Isabeau and Odile reach their breaking point and remove themselves from the situation, asking for space to cool off but still somewhat leaving the door open for Siffrin to tell them what’s really going on at some point. Mirabelle is the only one who tries to fully cut ties—after everything else she says, her “I don’t want to see you until tonight” reads to me somewhat as “I don’t want to see you anymore unless I have to.”

I can’t wait to never see you again.

even back at the clocktower, Mirabelle doesn’t really defend Siffrin’s place in the party when Odile suggests leaving them behind out of concern for their trustworthiness on the most important day of the journey. Isabeau and Bonnie protest out of sentimentality and faith in Siffrin’s abilities and connection to them, and Mirabelle agrees, but…

“I agree, but... B-But would he even agree to come with us, still? Maybe they won't even come back tonight...”

she doesn’t say much outside of that. maybe the stutter and hesitation here are signs of regret about how things happened, but she lacks Isabeau and Bonnie’s confidence that Siffrin even wants to come back to them in the first place. she doesn’t trust that their bond was real anymore. maybe it never was in the first place, or maybe she broke whatever was there herself.

and she’s still mad when they finally catch up to Siffrin at the King! and she makes sure Siffrin knows that—after saving them, assuring him that he no longer needs to fight, that they’re all there for him. she still cares, of course she still cares—she’s still hurt, too, but they can figure that part out once there’s less world-ending stuff going on.

she’s the first to say that they all reserve the right to still be angry at Siffrin later—and that they’ve already forgiven him.

she’s also the first to say we want to stay with you, too. it’s not just you.

she was wrong! she thought they didn’t care but they care so much, it’s overwhelming, it’s world-ending.

i think she’s gonna be wallowing in guilt post-canon the moment she remembers what she said and did TO SIFFRIN and not just what Siffrin said to her. especially now that she knows Siffrin’s exact hangups, and especially especially if she figures out what Siffrin was trying to say.

they put themself through hell out of loneliness and fear that none of the others cared about him the way he cared about them, he was going insane from repetition and exhaustion and hunger and trying to keep them all safe and together, and all they did in the midst of all that was say something kind of mean to her one time (that turned out to not even be MEANT to be mean it was supposed to be HELPFUL they just SAID IT ALL WRONG) and she SLAPPED THEM? and told him that they WEREN’T FRIENDS AT ALL??? how could she!!! she should have known better!! what they said hurt a lot but still!!!

so when they eventually manage to try to talk about it, they end up almost in, like, a guilt competition.

Mirabelle apologizing for how she reacted, that she shouldn’t have yelled or hit him, that she doesn’t want to be the kind of person who acts that way out of anger and she’s sorry that she made Siffrin expect that reaction from her, she should have known better and believed in him more and they only messed up like that because they were losing their mind in a time loop but what’s HER excuse—

and Siffrin going nononono stop I deserved it—(HUH DON’T SAY THAT NO YOU DIDN’T)—and that he should never have said such awful things to her, ever, and she was under so much pressure already with the weight of the country and everyone’s lives and futures and her religion and their whole party counting on her to do this impossible task because she’s the only one who can, all this unbearable expectation and hope crushing her, and they KNEW that but they thought they could skip to the ending as though her feelings didn’t matter at all, like helping her wasn’t as important as saving a little time—

until they’re just. in tears together, apologizing for all the horrible things they did in between complimenting each other’s strength and kindness and resilience and how much they admire each other and saying that no, everything you did was completely understandable, actually, the only one who sucks here is me. which neither of them will accept coming from the other!!

they’re so similar, in ways they couldn’t really understand, before.

warm, affectionate, perfect Mirabelle, the resolute hero, a beacon of compassion and hope for all those around her, who wears her heart on her sleeve, her fear making her courage shine all the brighter—nothing like the insignificant, forgettable Siffrin, too terrified to be known, too fragile to touch, too selfish and disgusting to bear letting go.

cool, mysterious, unflappable Siffrin, the worldly traveler, as charming and silly as they are confident and skilled, who brushed off losing an eye like it was nothing, accepting the risks of this journey with barely more than a shrug—nothing like the anxious, stagnant, undeserving Mirabelle, a fraud and a nobody crumbling under the weight of a mission too important to be entrusted to someone like her, doubting herself, doubting her friends, doubting her mentor, doubting her faith, too weak and brittle to bend and change the way the world needs her to without breaking.

not worth bothering others with their problems. they should be able to handle this alone. stay positive, stay calm. breathe in, and out.

they’ll struggle with it, still—the hiding, the minimizing—but now, they understand each other a little better. they can hold each other accountable for what they leave unsaid.

it’ll get easier, eventually. they have plenty of time.

[teaboot]

I think the number one cure for self image issues is going to a kink club and just making friends cause you will find the most wonderful and sexy old fat disabled transgender queer and freaky people in the whole entire world that you will never see on TV and they will all have a line thirty miles long of dreamers openly begging for a piece of that

[spitedemon]

i really don’t think it’s “typical dragon age fandom nonsense” for people to be genuinely upset about the world state choices. combat, level design, art direction, gameplay gimmicks, those have all varied across each dragon age game. the one thing that’s remained constant are nods to our previous choices.

i wasn’t expecting my HoF to come riding in on a griffon, but i can’t find a monument dedicated to warden tabris somewhere around the anderfels? lucanis couldn’t have some lines about the time that one arainai boy was stirring up trouble in antiva city? you’re gonna tell me that making a mage the new divine wouldn’t have some impact on nevarra and antiva? on the anderfels, the supposed most devout militant andrastian nation in thedas? you’re saying nobody in the north is paying attention to who rules orlais or ferelden? come on.

[selfhealingmoments]

[boomposhpow]

i love them so much everyone draw them happy and old right now

[deikshen]

More DILF Shen Yuan because I woke up from that mood

Shen Yuan has an ex-wife with whom he gets along well, an older daughter who is already of legal age as geeky as he is, two younger thirteen years old twin sons, and his daughter under ten years old. He is closer to fifty than forty, and apparently a traditional life with a wife and children was what was necessary for him to accept how terribly homosexual he is.

But that's okay, he supposes. Accepting his sexuality, learning to communicate better... Necessary things. His ex-wife is now his friend, his children are well raised with lots of love and patience. Shen Yuan does not consider his divorce a failure, as his brothers accuse him, just another experience. He was not happy in his marriage. Why should he remain in a place where he was not happy?

Then one day, Luo Binghe knocks on his door.

Shen Yuan looks at the haughty man dressed in xianxia robes, a sword on his back, says "fuck not today" and closes the door in his face. Luo Binghe enters anyway. Look, Shen Yuan may enjoy the habit of reading and trashing web novels... That doesn't mean he accepts web novel protagonists ending up at his doorstep! Really!!

Luo Binghe looks shocked to see him, Shizun this, Shizun that. He looks at him as if Shen Yuan in his haughty fifties with gray hair and a tired face had two heads or four arms.

Well, it's Luo Binghe. Shen Yuan knows that he has no chance to fight him. It's not even opposed to the idea of fantasy - age drains one's imagination. If Luo Binghe is there, great, damn, he really is there.

Shen Yuan takes a deep breath, scolds him for breaking his door, tells him that he's really not in the mood for games or riddles. He has to finish correcting some important files which must be delivered no later than tonight. Luo Binghe is invited to stay as long as he keeps that sword away from his children. This week they will be with their mother, but not the following week, and that is his only condition. He's not going to let the kids near that sword.

... Luo Binghe surprisingly accepts it.

In reality, Shen Yuan is concentrating on his work so as not to think that there is a xianxia protagonist inspecting every aspect of his house. By the time he submits the corrections he owes, it's not even dusk yet and Luo Binghe is sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching a historical drama that Shen Yuan sometimes watches with a look of surprise. Shen Yuan explains the plot to him a bit and when it seems that Luo Binghe is more lost than found, he actually asks him what he wants. How did he get there? Why to his house? What does he want?

Luo Binghe looks annoyed that he has to explain - as if Shen Yuan should know beforehand or just agree to Luo Binghe's demands without asking! He explains about opening portals with Xin Mo, a strange world where there was another him, a kind Shizun married to another Luo Binghe. Something about a soul exchange, tracing the soul back to... him. Luo Binghe wants that kind Shizun for himself. He wants what is rightfully his. Why would a Luo Binghe have someone like that in his life, and he wouldn't?

Shen Yuan tries to be open-minded enough. Well, it's not like there's any other explanation. Luo Binghe shows him his claws, his zuiyin, and it's clear that he really is who he says he is. Shen Yuan assumes that a version of him (different? Who came out of the closet before marrying a woman?) transmigrated and took his favorite character as a husband, even if it is from the skin of the scum villain. Well, congratulations to him. Shen Yuan wishes them all the best.

But now there is a very real, very demonic, very traumatized Luo Binghe in his living room, watching a transmigration drama, trying to understand everything. Shen Yuan feels sad for him. He definitely needs kindness, good treatment, better care. These are not things he gets in the harem! Always having to be the provider, the protector, the one who gives his all. Shen Yuan had always been annoyed by that part of the story.

Well, now he can change that, can't he?

He tells him that he is not willing to go with him. He has a very good job as an editor, his children have an arrangement to spend one week at his house and one week at their mother's house, he has a good relationship with his ex-wife. Going to another universe would complicate his life as long as he doesn't do it during his vacation season.

However, Luo Binghe is welcome to stay. Shen Yuan will be kind to him, but if Luo Binghe wants to, he must communicate about it. And he cannot talk about other worlds, demons, harem or emperors when his children are at home. Luo Binghe doesn't quite agree, but he agrees. Shen Yuan promises him that he will take a vacation and go to that world of his to meet him, but it won't be right away. Luo Binghe is a little appeased by that.

And so, a few days later, Shen Yuan picks up his children from his ex's house and tells them: "I've brought a friend to live with us for a while."

He explains to them that he comes from far away, that he doesn't know much about the city or technology, that he speaks strangely and that it can be overwhelming. But he is a good friend, he cooks exquisitely, and he will enjoy spending time with them.

(Luo Binghe would not agree to that last point.)

They are somewhat wary, a wariness that goes away when they enter a house that smells of delicious, unburned home-cooked food. After dinner, they are more willing to accept Luo Binghe into their home and their life. And Luo Binghe does his part well: he behaves pleasantly, speaks casually, does not terrify or intimidate the children, he is a functional adult... As soon as the kids go to their rooms he looks up at Shen Yuan with big puppy eyes waiting for pats on the head for being good.

Sweet Jesus. Shen Yuan is too out of the closet for this. How will he survive this Luo Binghe who just wants to be treated kindly without spoiling him and showering him with all the love he deserves?

[outer-andromeda]

So very glad people seem to like my take on Mr. TV hehehehehe. He's incredibly fun to doodle

[thimblings]

viago "fashion police" de riva

[dewwshi]

The people demand more Minlach. ( please more we are desperate and your art of them is so good 🥺🥺🥺)

🫡

my beautiful yuri... sooo critical to me that minthara 1. fell first 2. fell harder. something abt the idea of this self-avowed villain being utterly and inexplicably smitten with the sweetest nicest golden retriever girl in the world

[itshansolo]

Do people who claim that Ron doesn’t “deserve” Hermione simply… ignore that he begged Bellatrix to torture him instead of her?

That he was quite literally ready to die for her?

Like… what kind of cognitive dissonance is that?

[aingeal98]

Something about older Jason looking at the child version of himself, the innocent victim, and feeling the need to defend and avenge him the way no one else will. They'll call him reckless and try to pin the blame for his death on some unique failure of his personality, the problem isn't Robin the problem is he was just a bad fit for Robin! And then older Jason coming back to life and spits on their twisted grief. Fuck you, that innocent child deserved more. You took his memory and ruined it to make yourselves feel better. If no one will give him justice then Jason will take it himself no matter who he has to kill to get there. It's the only way he can move forward.

Something about older Cass looking at this child version of herself, this innocent who has no idea what she was doing when she was tricked into killing, and finding her irredeemable. She will forgive everyone for everything if they need a second chance but she cannot forgive that innocent child. She spends ten years wanting that child to die for their sin, a standard she holds no one else to. And in the end she does have to die. She can never forgive that child until the price has been paid and the guilty, tormented, suicidal mess of a girl is dead and never coming back. Only then can Cass live on. Only then can she smile without feeling the weight of her kill on her back. If no one will give that child the justice they deserve then she will have to do it herself. It's the only way she can move forward.

[goozeghost]

art block a bitch so here's a shiddy traditional doodle of a certain construct while i try to remember how to draw 😔💔😓

got some new lining pens tho so art block fears me. 🤞

[accirax]

💙❤️Blind Date or Die Episode 4, Starring Whit, Eloise, Arturo, Diana, Min, Eva, Veronika, and Jean💙❤️