#She used to wear golden gloves similar to these at work

[fusionsprunt]

Thinking about giving Hunter golden gloves to match his eyes...

[micksture]

hello i’m back on the grind and today i bring you the fullbody refs i nearly did a backflip over 🌞 hope you’ll like em

notes under the cut

CHARLIE

- Former Princess of Hell. She resigned from her role and place in the royal home because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her dream of redeeming Sinners. Her parents had different plans and expectations for her, and deem her as an embarrassment. Charlie lived in a dingy apartment and worked a couple of jobs for a few years to gather money. She struggled, but she finally earned enough to afford an empty, run down building. At the start, she and the gang will have to start rebuilding and renovating it to make the hotel she planned to build :p

- More goat motifs (ears, nose, horns, pupils, legs and hooves)

- Doll-like joints, which make her movements awkward and robotic at times

- Fangs and buck teeth <3

- Fluffy, puffy hair!!! The color is a mix of Lucifer’s hair back when he was still an angel (golden) and the hair he has now, after falling (red)

- One snake on each side of her head. Both of them are different species and have different personalities. They’re also super venomous, but she doesn’t rlly use that ability

- A mole under her left eye because I just couldn’t help myself hehe

- Tail that she can’t retract and has all the time. It’s a bit too short and just bothers her most of the time by accidentally knocking stuff over

- A blue ‘blouse’ (it’s actually a long sleeve top with buttons printed onto it, kinda like those silly faux tuxedo t-shirts) and shoes with accents of the same color, as any variant of blue is a vital part of the very loose dress code for the hotel’s workers. She also wears blue earrings and always adds a bit of blue to her makeup :3

- Other than that I think her outfit is pretty much similar? At least to the Pilot one

- I tried to sneak in some hearts to her design and just overall make her look friendly and awkward lolz

VANHI

- Former Exorcist angel. She gained consciousness during an extermination and was discarded solely because of that fact. Exorcists are programmed to be killing machines that feel nothing and don’t ask questions, so when they gain consciousness (which is very rare), their higher ups ��� so Lute and Adam – get rid of them. Vanhi was found by Charlie two days later, miraculously still alive. Charlie rushed her back to her apartment and slowly nursed her back to health, recognising her as an angel, but not an Exorcist. They’ve known each other for 3 yrs now, and they took some time to grow fond of each other but they’re getting there

- Obviously, the name change… She did used to be called Vaggie (when she was still an angel), changed it after being banished from the holy troops and left behind in Hell

- STRRRONG 💪💪💪💪 probs the strongest one out of the main six characters, at least physically

- Lots of scars all over her body from previous battles

- Long teased hair put up in a high ponytail for practical reasons. The black tips are dyed. Also RACOON TAIL!!!!!!!!

- Some moth motifs, like the antennas that mimic a bow and also her hair kinda resembles the wings of a moth when it is down.

- A funky ahoge (I think that’s what it’s called..) that looks like a halo :3

- A different eyepatch + protective gloves

- She wears a pink and white striped pullover under her blue shirt and she also has mismatched socks 👾

- Angelic spear, obvi.. its’ handle is a little bent in the middle, because Adam tried to snap it in half for dramatic effect and failed LMFAOJEBW BOZO

ANGEL DUST

- He’s a famous pornstar under Valentino’s contract, and he has been for some time now. Before that, he’d perform in clubs

- Lots of Valentino’s influence in his choice of clothing: shorts, boots, the black top, pink gloves + fur scarf, rings and the collar. The only thing that wasn’t gifted to him by the overlord is the pinstriped shirt and hat that he’s had since the very arrival in Hell. ALSO SHOUTOUT TO MY FRIEND FOR THIS IDEA: the buttons on his suit are little flies because he’s a spider!!!!!!

- Six eyes, four arms (but he can also grow out two more), pedipalps and abdomen to rlly play into the spider theme

- His teeth are stained with Val’s red saliva

- He has lots of toned pink spots all over his body. I couldn’t rlly decide on an exact design for his markings and I felt like there was already a lot happening on him so I just went with little pink speckles

- Very fluffy :v

ALASTOR

- Powerful Overlord that came back from his seven years of radio silence to invest in the biggest flop of a project in Hell and stick around, seemingly just to laugh at its’ failure

- Toned down colors yay

- Long, pinstriped crimson suit worn over a beige dress shirt, 1930s inspired shoes (they still have the silly hoof prints on the bottom don’t worry) and a tie because I’m sick of the bazillion bowties 👿👿👿

- Voice box located between the top of the knot of his tie and the bottom of his high neck ruff. He often uses it to speak without moving his mouth

- The two sharp ridges that peek from under his neck ruff and have a white glow to them are actually a part of a collar. He’s forced to wear it because of his deal. It’s made of angelic metal, so he can’t really take it off anyway

- For the deer features, I changed his ears to be a little more deer-like, made his antlers bigger and gave him a deer nose :p He has a tail and hooves too but he hides them as much as possible

- No fuckass bob 🙏

- Couldn’t help myself and gave him a pencil mustache 🕴️

- Staff inspired by a 1930s microphone. It can be shortened to a regular mic or expanded to work as a cane!! It's a sentient being and it often adds to situations/conversations by playing sound effects. And yes it does have tiny antlers hehe

- Different monocle

- Some green accents because his magic is green idk

HUSK

-A former Overlord, long past his prime. His enjoyment of Alastor’s 7 year absence was short lived – now, he has to deal with even more annoying people in the hotel. He works the bar and because of Charlie’s request he’s allowed to only fix up mocktails instead of real alcoholic drinks

- Based his design on a mainecoon cat, so he’s super fluffy. Lots and lots of fur, which is unkempt because he gave up on trying to care for it a while ago

- Owl wings. His right wing is clipped (because of the deal with Alastor) and he can no longer fly. He can’t even expand this wing to its’ full length without having to painfully strain it to get it to move out even a little bit

- boy why u so eyebrow…….

- I live for chubby Husk <3

- A bunch of scars

- A rough beard and a droopy mustache

- A stained, patterned blue shirt with rolled up sleeves and a missed button at the top, tiny magician hat, black pants + suspenders and a green cloth to wipe empty glasses

- Give this poor man a break…

NIFFTY

- Used to work at a tailor shop and one day, she came across Alastor when he went in to get his suit fixed after a fight. Rather than being presented with a deal offer, she offered her soul to him herself. He agreed, of course, but he was so weirded out by this that he decided to spare her life to further observe her antics. They’ve grown fond of each other and now have a father-daughter relationship of sorts

- I rlly leaned into the idea of her being a bug… She’s a grasshopper/ant mix, so she has antennae and mandibles

- Fluffy, glowy hair that she curls with hair rollers every day

- Green eye (same shade as her dress)

- Freckles :3

- Big patterned dress, a matching head scarf, blue apron and blue cleaning gloves

[eolewyn1010]

Downton Abbey Fashion 18 - post-war evening dresses

I feel like all the dresses I personally find beautiful are the ones that are not allowed to come back for another season. Unfortunately, this applies to a large part of Cora’s early wardrobe.

Interestingly, while I’m pretty sure she wears this champagne evening gown at least twice, I think she never wears it without the dark brown velvet robe. At least I don’t remember having seen the sleeves of the dress. The colors are a nice enough match, but nothing on either piece points to them having been made as a set. The dress is embroidered in crystal or glass beads, the coat apparently in pearls. But anyway, this dress is lovely!

More velvet, this time in plum over a pink silk base layer. Plus a little white lace trim. So far, so nice, although I don’t know why they made the sleeves of yet another fabric instead of working out something similar to the deep cowl collar. But fine, the beige works as a nice backdrop to a little flower embroidery.

Cora can’t keep off the velvet this season – time for some black. It’s fashionable black, not mourning black, so Cora can afford to pretty it up with netting on sleeves and shoulders, tassels on the sleeve hems, a big brooch in the front, and some gorgeous lace gloves that I desire with a vengeance. Despite this being a quite heavily decorated dress, I think the neckline would invite a discreet little necklace. Ah well.

*sigh* This red silk work is quite an iconic look, and one that stays into season 3. I’m gonna level with you: I think it outstays its welcome. I don’t like this one. Oh, it’s a fine dress in theory; the embroidery is lovely, the red shades coordinate well with the golden shoulder straps, I’m a fan of the fluttery sleeves. But the cut of this bodice isn’t doing Cora’s figure any favors. Is there any reason to make her waist look so disproportionately short without really hitting the Edwardian empire waistline?

Much better. This goes a lot more into 1920s styles with the drapey chiffon top, and I think the hip overlay (sash?) looks very pretty. It’s the only heavily embroidered piece, which seems unusual for the muted coloring of the dress, but it merges very nicely into the wide sleeve cutouts with the jewel trim.

Yay, black dresses with embroidery are keepers for season 3. Okay, this is not the worst of them; the gold thread with beads makes for a pretty cute look, but why does Cora wear a sleeveless dress for Christmas? Or is this a shirt? The skirt is greyer, so it might be separate.

--------------

There’s something with this season and brown dresses. It doesn’t always work in the wearer’s favor. I mean, I like this pleated wrap style, but the head scarf really washes out Rosamund’s beautiful ginger hair and the dress doesn’t give any other color pop either.

Hey, look, it’s a black dress with golden beading. You know what this means: It’s spectacular enough to stay into season 3! I’m getting very tired of this, but I can’t just bitch. The chiffon sleeves are cute, and there’s this style of little grape bundle earrings that pops up here and there across the show.

A black dress I find remotely interesting? Can only be here for one season. See, this one pulls off the empire waist Cora’s red silk dress didn’t want to commit to. And the top is basically just one big stretch of gold brocade (plus or minus some black chiffon for the sleeves). Damaged brocade, by the look of that second image. Is this an original? Is that why they couldn’t keep it around?

One of the subtler favorites of mine: The use of these black scallops is just delicious, how they open to diamond shapes on the arms (over barely visible chiffon that has exactly the color of Rosamund’s skin) and are held together with actual diamonds. I love it, it’s wonderful despite not having made a spectacle out of it.

These shots are not great, but this is rather a lovely dress, albeit one that is in Edwardian style and is thus beginning to look out of fashion. The skirt is some silverish blue velvet that pairs nicely with the paler-colored top, all crepe-work wrapped in a V over a simple light blue base layer. Also, behold the trim. It sparkles!

[shininglynxie]

OK, didn't want this to be my first post on this account, but I just really wanted to share my thoughts and analysis of the Grand Festival announcement.

I knew they were going to place the new venue near the Crater - the first place we saw all the way back in 2021, when Splatoon 3 was first announced. It was even teased in the Sizzle season 2024 trailer with the jellyfish walking by this same Crater backdrop with merch of all three idol groups.

The Pearlina plane walked so that the Now or Never Seven bus could run. It's just great to see something like that plane again!

The golden replicas of the animals from all the hub worlds that represent each idol are a great touch, too!

Now, to analyze the idols' new outfits! Their shared theme feels very orderly and gives off bleached coral vibes. I wonder what's up with that. Most of them also seem to reference non-cephalopod sea creatures, but I don't know how intentional that is.

The outfits always have to be matching with these two, and I love it! The cut on their skirts point inwards on Callie's and outwards on Marie's. Callie's gloves reveal the base of her arms, while Marie's gloves reveal the ends of her arms or her hands. Both of them are also wearing urchin-themed head accessories.

The way they animated Pearl and Marina's interlocked hands being pointed right at us. It's like they're yelling at us: Yeah, they're gay, dammit! They've been giving us quite a bunch of great Pearlina content lately, and they just had to give us more.

Anyways, their outfits. I love Pearl's big hat! It fits her vibes very well! There's also an Off the Hook logo on it, which is neat. As some people have pointed out already, this is the first time Pearl's showing off her midriff, which is cool to see!

I absolutely love Marina's outfit ,though. It's gotta be one of my favorites of the Grand Fest idol fits! That bra/top paired with the jewelry, the laced pants with the boots, and all those rings combine to create such an awesome look to me! Also, something else of note is the fact that Marina isn't wearing headphones here and showing off her ears. It's uncommon for her to do that, and she's mostly done that outside of the games, and, I think, this is the first time you can see her ears in-game, which is really cool and showcases her personal growth! (Btw, I love the pose Marina's making in the shot on the second pic! It's so cute!

Deep Cut, my beloveds!

This is probably among the weaker fits Shiver ever had, but it's not bad by any means. Those pant boots are kinda weird, and I don't know how to feel about them. But I do like that top she's wearing! It kinda mimics her headdress, which also looks neat! It kinda reminds me of seaweed, dunno if that was the intention. She's also rocking that Deep Cut logo temp tattoo, which is dope! From afar, it looks really similar to the octopus tattoo Callie had when hypnotized by Octavio. The bangs on her in-game model seem to be pushed away a little bit, so you can see her other eye, which is an interesting detail. The expression she has on the official art feels a tad unusual for Shiver. She always acts so cold and aloof, so it's strange to see such an expression of genuine surprise from her.

Frye's outfit is great, but there isn't much to say about it. The buns she's wearing kinda remind me of sea slugs, I don't know if that's what they were going for, though. The ear tie thing she's wearing is also a nice design touch! It's an accessory that utilizes her long ears in a very creative way! I love the way she's grabbing Shiver's waist in the official art, it's so Frye!

Big Man's fit has got to be my favorite! He's absolutely slaying in that fin-like headdress and those spikes, and with that makeup around his eye! It feels very Kiss-inspired. The patterns on his fins look claw-like now. This is something that kinda makes me wonder how Big Man's outfits work in the first place with the various skin patterns he took on during seasonal splatfests. He also seems to have something wrapped around his tail. The best shot I could catch of it is this screenshot below.

Overall, I think the idols' outfits are cool, but they don't wow me like Pearl and Marina's Chaos vs. Order outfits did.

The performance of their new collab song will be so cool! It's gonna feel like a proper big concert!

Speaking of concerts, I might be seeing things, but some of the choreography we see the idols perform in their usual outfits seem to be from the songs other than each idol group's day 1 and 2 songs. The third Splatoon 3 concert just might be held in-game. Which is a great idea and makes a lot of sense! Since most Splatoon fans probably never had the chance to see the idol concerts live, it only feels fitting to create an immersive concert experience inside the game! It's a lot more interactive than a video recording, and it will ensure that a lot more people can see it compared to the in-person concert. Plus, all the idols are in one place already, so they can easily perform the collab songs too! If that does end up happening, I hope that the performances do use the concert versions of the songs, as they're almost always better than original, in my opinion, plus that way they won't overlap with the songs that play during gameplay.

Almost forgot about the theme. Which is most important to you? Past, Present, or Future? With each idol group representing a team, rather than a Deep Cut member each representing a team. I think this quite a solod theme for the final fest, if a bit predictable. The fact that each idol group picked a team for themselves also makes this like an idol fest in disguise, but I'm not bothered by that. I wonder how this fest's outcome will affect a potential Splatoon 4, though, as there's no one clear way how I can see it affecting the game's development.

All in all, I'm very excited for what Grand Festival will bring! By the time it rolls around, this account will, hopefully, be properly active. I'll absolutely have some art to post for the occasion!

[big19boss-blog]

TCF teachers Pt1.

If our dear characters were teaching a subject/major in school/college what shall it be.

Eurahben-nim -> Principal/Dean

I mean the all knowledgeable golden dragon deserves the most respected position though he would walk through halls while muttering 'my poor life' a lot.

2. Choi Han -> A Martial Arts Trainer

This one's a no brainer, he loves teaching and he is good at martial arts. Tough but motivating. Probably smiles a lot after his period ends. And buys random treats to kids.

3. Beacrox -> Chemistry

I feel like both his hobbies of poison knowledge and cooking has similar base as chemistry. It gives him motive to always wear white gloves too.

4. Cale -> Marketing or Client Handling

Cale could teach whatever he wants but he would pick a subject he can bullshit his way through easily. He would be the professor/ teacher who starts teaching other subjects in his class too.

5. Albreu -> Political Science / History

Another no brainer. He would want children to know what knowing history about nations, people and animals help in. And how the nation's actually work.

6. Mary -> Anatomy

And she would make it extremely simple for her students and would often go over her limited class time but no student would stop her.

7. Ron -> Criminal Profiling or Psychology

He would actually understand human physiology from different aspect and introduced children to use it in day to day life.

[basilone]

Ooo maybe 25. Gentle with Brady? Would love to see some more of your writing on this blog again !!

Lovely anon, both yourself and @mercurygray had a similar thought... and I thought, well, why not combine the two? I hope y'all don't mind! 💙 It's been lovely to experiment more in the MotA-side of things writing-wise for sure. 😊

golden & gentle

He never liked hospitals much. John supposes most people don’t – too many tragedies – but it’s the antiseptic that gets to him most. He sniffs loudly. Brushes his tickling nose with his uninjured hand, then sniffs again. Lemmons uses something similar in the planes sometimes. Scrubs them clean. It’s got John sneezing so much that Curt keeps joking about him being allergic to the cockpit.

Kept joking.

He exhales past the suckerpunch that landed entirely too close to his gut. Supposes it’s a small mercy he didn’t say it out loud this time. The dead need to stay dead. Need to be buried somewhere in the past, in some unmarked memories, lest they become ghosts to the living. As far as hospitals go, they’re as near to ghosts as he can tread.

“Take a seat, Captain,” he hears somewhere to his left. “Will be just a minute.”

John makes the mistake of turning into the voice’s direction. There’s a familiar cadence to its lilt, though softer than his memories of it would normally allow. He spies dark hair pulled back beneath a nurse’s cap, dark eyes to match, and one hell of a familiar button nose. Takes a step back when he registers the dimple in her chin. Almost knocks the chair over in his haste to put more distance between himself and… and… and that woman.

That woman actually smiles, though, which gives him pause. “I see you’ve met Ida.” It’s not quite a question, and if it is it sounds like one she already knows the answer to. “My twin sister,” she clarifies, clearly registering his answering frown. “Cressida Dorrance-Jones, and she’ll never make you forget that name while you’re at her table?”

John snaps his fingers. “Her, yes,” he agrees, feeling a cold shiver course over his back at the mere mention of that particular interrogator. “Apologies, Lieutenant Dorrance-Jones, I didn’t realize she has a sister. Let alone a twin.”

“And that, Captain, is exactly why she and I don’t do the same job. You can drop the Dorrance part of the name with me, by the way. Plenty of those around here already, each more insufferable than the last, and I’m as far from the golden child status in my family as a girl’s ever gonna get. Take a seat, why don’t ya? Let me get a good look at that hand of yours.”

“It’s just a scrape,” he minimizes as he sinks down on the chair.

“With the way you lot work,” she says, clearly not quite believing him if the stash of supplies she dumps on the nearby table is anything to go by, “you would still call it a scrape if half your hand was in danger of falling off. No offense, sir.”

“None taken, Lieutenant Jones.” He knows for a fact that Cleven would be one of those fellows. Hell, the man would probably not see a hospital’s insides for himself at all if DeMarco wasn’t such an effective mother hen. “Plane’s damage was a little sharper than it looked, and I wasn’t wearing my gloves anymore.”

Her hand is warmer than his. Her touch far softer than her twin’s would have been. Gentle, even, with the way she presses down around the wound and retracts the moment it begins to sting. John hisses through his teeth when her little finger dances too close to the part that’s been coloring every shade of red and purple conceivable.

“You banged this up real good, Captain…?”

“Brady. John Brady.”

Her answering smile takes the sting out of her touch just a little. “Well, Captain Brady, you’ve got a sweet bruise here. Gonna be a bit of a rainbow there for a while. Scrape’s not too ugly, won’t need stitches,” she assesses with a well-practiced eye, “but you’re gonna need to keep it clean. You come see me before you fly, all right?”

“Sure?”

“I’ll bandage it up when you go up there. Get you a bigger glove, too.” She snorts. “Last time a fella had a scrape like this, he tried to worm his big hand into his little leather glove. I just about had kittens seein’ that, lemme tell ya!”

John winces. “That sounds ill-advised.”

“I know, right? Some fellas are just like that, sir.” A shrug. Another smile. “Can’t do much about that except yell at them, I suppose. I can tell you’re smarter than that, though. Bet you’re gonna be right as rain once we get this cleaned out.”

“And I can fly with this?” he checks, flexing his hand a little despite the pain. “You’re sure?”

“Seen worse. And you’re needed up there, ain’t ya?”

Until I, too, become a ghost to the living. “So people tell me,” he says, pushing all thoughts of a haunting back to his mind’s furthest recesses. He offers her a thin, wan smile of his own. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“Don’t thank me just yet,” she warns, wet cloth in hand. His nose almost twitches at the scent that’s wafting up at him. “This is gonna sting like a motherfucker, sir, ain’t no other way to say that.”

“Appreciate the warning, Lieutenant.”

“I try to be good about that, sir. Them fellas who come in with the frostbite always appreciate it, too. Least you ain’t got that, that’d be somethin’ different to treat…”

Lieutenant Jones, unlike her sister, is an anecdotal talker pulling stories out of her mouth the way a magician would pull a rabbit out of a hat. She hardly seems to expect answers to all of it, though she goes through the niceties spiel of where ya from I’m from Georgia ooooh New York state how fancy and exclaims real-not-feigned excitement about his college classes. John lets the chatter wash over him as he chews on the inside of his cheek to keep the pain in check.

“You’d do all right as an interrogator,” he allows, once she’s managed to pull half his family history to the forefront of the conversation. “I’d already forgotten I’d scraped my thumb on that bike two summers ago until you asked me about that scar just now!”

“I would,” she snorts, “but can you imagine Ida as a nurse? That’s what I thought”– she laughs to his answering shudder –“so I’m right where I should be. As, it seems, are you.”

He can only hope that’s true.

[imonawholedifferentlevel]

𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀɴɴᴇᴅ ᴀ ꜱᴜᴘʀɪꜱᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴏᴜᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴜʀɪ ɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ ꜱʜᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ᴀ ꜱᴜʀᴘʀɪꜱᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀꜱᴡᴇʟʟ

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ᴏʀᴀʟ (ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ), ꜱʟᴀᴘᴘɪɴɢ, ᴄʜᴏᴋɪɴɢ, ꜱᴘᴀɴᴋɪɴɢ, ᴏᴠᴇʀꜱᴛɪᴍᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴏʀɢᴀꜱᴍ ᴅᴇɴɪᴀʟ, ᴛᴇᴀꜱɪɴɢ, ꜱᴛʀᴀᴘ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, ꜰɪɴɢᴇʀɪɴɢ, ᴘʀᴀɪꜱᴇ ᴋɪɴᴋ, ᴅᴀᴅᴅʏ ᴋɪɴᴋ, ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ! ꜱʜᴜʀɪ, ɴᴇᴇᴅʏ! ꜱʜᴜʀɪ, ʀᴏᴜɢʜ ꜱᴇx (ᴡᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴏᴜʀ ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ Qᴜᴇᴇɴ 👑)

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢꜱ: ꜱʜᴜʀɪ ᴜᴅᴀᴋᴜ x ꜱᴛᴜᴅ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ! ꜰᴇᴍ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

•☽────✧˖°˖��˖°˖✧────☾••☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾••☽────✧˖°˖

A thought has always been running through your mind all day. You and Shuri have been dating for two years now, and it has been the best two years of your life. Shuri was the best partner you could ask for.

She was funny, nice, beautiful, and, not to mention, intelligent. Since she had been working all week, you decided to plan a whole day out for the both of you, but you didn't want to tell her because you wanted it to stay a surprise.

You walked throughout the halls with a bright smile on your face, your hands behind your back, getting closer to the lab, somewhere you suspected your girlfriend would be.

When you were just outside the lab, Griot came on, announcing your arrival for you: "Shuri y/n has entered." You stepped into the lab, seeing your girlfriend in all her beauty at her desk, working on something with her back towards you.

You came up behind her and wrapped your arms around her waist from behind. "Hi sithandwa sam," you can see the corner of her mouth curl up into a smile as she continues on her work. "Hello, weirdo," she teased.

You pouted at the nickname, but she just laughed it off and turned her head towards you, giving you a kiss on your cheek and turning your sad face into a happy smile. "So, guess what?" You asked her, and this finally caught her attention, and she turned around, facing her body towards you.

"What?" she asked, confused. "Well, I ended up planning a nice surprise for the whole day just for us," you said. Her face beamed up at this, but then she turned her head back to her work and then looked back at you.

You instantly knew that she was going to try to make up an excuse to get out of it, but you cut her off before she could even say anything. "Nah, don't even try it. You have been cooped up in this lab for hours. You have to do something," you scolded.

She whined like a little toddler, moving her feet back and forth. "But, Usana, I have to finish this today in just two hours, and then we can do something." She tried to give you the puppy-dog eyes, but you just shrugged her off and rolled your eyes, picking her up and tossing her over your shoulder.

She squealed in surprise and pounded her hands against your back.

"Y/N! ndibeke phantsi!" You smirked, not even fazed by her attempts at making you release her.

"I'll let you down when pigs fly," you joked as you walked towards the exit.

She slumped against your shoulder, crossing her arms in defeat. When you made it to the room, you placed her down on her bed and went towards her closet, where you had everything that you had bought the previous day hidden. You opened the door and picked up a black bag from the floor.

With a smile, you walked towards your girlfriend and gave her the bag. She looked at you confusedly, but you said nothing and led her to the bathroom. "Try it on and show me when you come out." She nodded her head and closed the bathroom door.

While Shuri was in the bathroom, you decided it was time to get dressed as well. You went into the closet and pulled out a black suit with small golden dragons embroidered on the sleeves. You set it on the bed and took off your tank top and shirts, leaving you in your sports bra and boxers.

You put on the dress pants, satisfied that they fit just like a glove. You put on the top, buttoning up the top, leaving only two buttons undone.

You looked in the mirror, checking yourself out, until the door to the bathroom opened. Shuri stepped out wearing a nice, flowy dress similar to your suit.

You bit your lip, walking up to her and wrapping your arms around her waist. "Damn, you look fine," you said, smirking. She laughed and pushed your shoulder. "Why thank you? I see you wanted us to match." You nodded your head, smiling goofily. "Sure did!" You cheekily said.

You took her hand and led her out of the room. "Now come, I have everything ready." You both walked out of the room and towards the exit. The closer you got, the more her face started to change into shock.

You led her to a huge garden with fairy lights surrounding you. She spun around, looking at the environment.

"Y/N, it's beautiful!" You smiled, motioning your head towards where you wanted her to be. You both climbed the stairs to where a small picnic table was set up. You pulled the chair out for her, and she sat down.

You opened the basket, pulled out two wine glasses, and put them in front of both of you.

You took out some grape wine and opened it, pouring it into the wine glasses. She smiled and took her glass, setting it in front of her. You took out the food that Ramonda helped you cook and gave her plate to her. You took your own plate.

"Is this my favorite?" she asked. You nodded your head. "What else for our night out?" She smiled and grabbed her utensils.

Yall ate your food, talking and laughing about past memories when you both finished, and you motioned your hand to her, "Do you want to dance?". She smiled and took your hand. You led her down the stairs into the grasslands and wrapped your arms around her waist.

"Did I tell you that you looked beautiful tonight?" She giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you have." You leaned in, kissing her temple.

"Well, I'll say it again. You look really beautiful tonight, baby." She smiled up at you, roughening your curly hair with her hand.

"Enkosi," she said, cuddling into your chest.

"I really enjoyed tonight, y/n." Shuri said, looking up at you with loving eyes. You smiled at her and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"I'm glad you did, baby." You kicked off your shoes and took off the rest of the jewelry, placing it on the nightstand.

"Oh well, I actually had a surprise too." You looked at her, confused, raising an eyebrow.

"Really?" She nodded her head and kissed your cheek.

"Go ahead and get yourself comfortable, my love. I'll be back." She walked away to the bathroom and closed the door while you took off the rest of your clothes, confused but excited at what she had planned for you.

You put on a graphic t-shirt and some black shorts. You sat down on the bed and grabbed your phone, scrolling through TikTok and Instagram for a little while. After some minutes, you heard the door open, and you looked up from your phone, almost dropping it from the exotic sign in front of you.

"Oh, baby," you mumbled, looking her up and down and sitting up on the bed. She had on black and purple lace lingerie with black thigh-high socks. She smiled shyly at you and walked over to the bed. When she was close enough, you smirked and grabbed her arm, yanking and pulling her onto your lap.

She yelled, her body colliding with yours. You wrapped your hands around her waist, and she wrapped hers around your neck. You both slowly leaned on your lips, colliding together. You hummed, moving your hands down to her ass and giving it a rough squeeze with a small little smack.

She whimpered, grinding her hips into yours, trying to create some friction. "I need you," she whined into your lips. You chuckled and tossed her off your lap onto the bed.

You took advantage of that to get on top of her. You trailed your hands down her body, feeling her shiver at your touch. "You look beautiful, Uswiti." She blushed and bit her lip, looking up at you with her big, dark brown eyes.

You lifted her chin up, your lips meeting halfway with hers. She moaned into the kiss, her hands raking up your sides to your shoulders, giving them a light squeeze. You fought the urge to grind your hips into hers, wanting this to be nice and slow.

"So perfect," you purred against her lips, bringing your attention to her neck. "And all mine," you growled, grabbing her throat—not too hard to strangle her but enough to catch her completely off guard.

She whined at the sudden action, her thighs rubbing together, but you forced them back open. You continued your assault on the open parts of her neck, leaving her a whimpering mess. "Oh god," she mumbled, her grip tightening on your shoulders.

You slowly moved towards her bra and ripped the material off. She gasped, looking up at you with a surprised but also upset look. "Don't worry, Sithandwa, I'll buy you some more." You groped her breast, roughly tugging at her nipple. They were small and perky, which you absolutely loved about her.

Her small cries flooded your ears like a flow of harmony, completely locking you in a trance. You chuckled, moving, replacing your hand with your mouth, and swirling your tongue around her now-hard nipple. "Fuck," she groaned, massaging her other boob.

You smiled and leaned up, so you were face-to-face with her. "Will you be a good girl for me, baby?" She immediately nodded her head frantically. "Yes! Yes! I'll be good for you," you smirked, giving her one last kiss before pressing two fingers to her clothed clitoral area.

She screeched loudly, making you squeeze her throat a little tighter. "Didn't I say to not make any noise? You want to make Daddy mad, don't you?" You asked, and your voice got deeper and angrier with each word.

"I'm sorry; I'll be good, I promise." You pressed your fingers to her clitter harder, and she cried out silently, feeling her pants dampen under your touch. You moaned and moved your fingers in small circles, giving her a little taste of movement.

She bit her lip and gripped the sheets above her, bucking her hips to try and match your movements. "Look at you all, desperate and needy for me, my little slut." She started to move her hips faster. "Please," she whimpered, looking at you with pleading eyes.

"please what?" You pressed, moving your fingers a little faster—just a tan bit—but it was enough to almost drive her insane. "please y/n" You growled, ripping her pants off her legs and tossing them across the room.

"That's not my name." You jammed two fingers into her wetness, groaning at how tight she was. She let out a choked gasp, immediately locking her legs around your back, making you feel the material of the thigh highs against your bare skin.

"Please fuck me, daddy, please, please!!" You smirked and moved your fingers at a good enough pace—one that was enough to get a reaction from her. "Oh yes," she moaned out, leaning her head back on the pillows, her mouth going agape. You bit your lip, enjoying the sounds of your girlfriend below you.

"You like it when I finger this pretty pussycat, don't you?" She frantically nodded her head, her whimpers getting louder when you speeded up your movements.

"Yes, I do," she whined. "Say it for me," you whispered in her ear.

"I like it when you finger my pretty pussy!" She cried out when you moved your fingers at lightning speed: "That's a good girl taking my fingers so well."

"Do you think you deserve to earn it with all the noise you were making?" She looked up at you with pleading eyes.

"I couldn't help it, Y/N, please." You cut her off with a hard slap in the face. She yelled in surprise, "That's not my name. You mess up one more time, and you won't be able to cumulate at all. Do you understand?" You snarled, raising an eyebrow. She quickly nodded her head.

"Now, what's my name?" You slowly speeded up your fingers, itching her closer to her orgasm.

"Daddy," she squealed. You moved them faster, feeling her walls clench around your fingers.

"Louder!" You said roughly, "Daddy!" She cried out. Your fingers got soaked with her juices. You slowly helped her ride out her high. She slowly tried to push your fingers away from the over stimulation, but she removed your hand from her throat and held her body down.

"Were you not done yet? Isithandwa, you wanted this so badly, so I'll give it to you." Her hips bucked wildly at your movements.

"D-daddy, it's too much!" You gave her another slap, making her whimper.

"Take it like the little slut you are," you growled, curling your fingers and hitting that spot in it that made her go crazy.

"Bast! Right there, daddy!" You smashed your lips onto hers, silencing her sounds, my tongue invading her mouth, her nails digging into your hands that had hers locked over her head, you hissed biting her bottom lip with your teeth, making it bleed, your tongues swirled together, saliva leaving the corners of your mouths.

The room was basically heating with lust. You felt her clench around your fingers, making you pull away from the kiss with a massive grin. "Your going to cum again for me, baby?" whined you as you let go of her hands, and she immediately clinged onto you like a koala.

A few seconds later, she cried out, her orgasm hitting her like a wave. You gaped at how much she released and licked your fingers, moaning at the taste of her "more please." You looked down at her, shocked, but agreed anyway.

You got up from the bed and went towards the closet, opening it and taking out the box full of sex toys. You pulled out a purple strap, which was Shuri's favorite. You took off your shirt and shorts, put on the strap, and climbed back on the bed.

You teased her opening with the strap before pushing inside. She cried out into the pillow, and you slowly moved, helping her get used to the feeling she clenched onto the pillows. When she eased up, you moved a little faster. She groaned loudly, slapping her hand onto the wall.

I caressed her waist, loving the feeling of her body against mine. I continued my pace, grunting under my breath with each stroke. "You like that, Sthandwa Sam?" you said, delivering a slap to her ass, making it echo throughout the room.

She squealed, and you grabbed her jaw, making her look up at you. She smirked up at you with a lusty, drunken face.

You leaned down, giving her a hot kiss, pushed her upper body down on the rough material, and pounded into her, hitting her g-spot. She moaned loudly into her arms, trying to be as silent as possible, but was failing miserably.

Her nails were clenched into her skin, making red markings. You smirked and turned your quick thrusts into slow but hard strokes, hitting her g-spot and making her feel everything.

Her eyes rolled back as she moved her back against you to try and match your movements.

"Feel good, baby?" She lay on the side of her head, completely dazed.

"Yes, yes, it does!" She whimpered into the material. You felt her clench around the strap and move faster, wanting her to finish with a mind-blowing orgasm.

"Fuck daddy right there!" She cried out into the pillow. You licked your lips and placed a hard smack on her ass.

With theWith the sound echoing through the room, she yelled in pain and pleasure, "You're doing so wellwell for me. You're my little slut, aren't you?" you growled.

"Yes!!" She screamed, squirting all over the strap. You groaned, feeling her juices flow down your legs. You pulled out of her and took the strap off, tossing it to the floor.

Shuri slowly laid down on the bed, caked with sweat and panting heavily. You grabbed your shirt and cleaned it off before putting it back down. You kissed her cheek.

"Did you like the surprise?" she asked breathlessly. You chuckled and cuddled her into your chest.

"Of course I did. Now get some rest, my love. I'll run a bath for us in the morning." She nodded her head and nuzzled her body against yours.

[uselesstaroth]

Okay, Ace Attorney Amy Rose

It's not coming along so I'm summing up the stories in this

Amy's first case, defendant Sonic the Hedgehog, former olympic gold medalist, current Fastest Thing Alive. Framed for the murder of his former coach.

Prosecution is Fang the Hunter.

The case is solved by Amy accusing Fang, and successfully revealing he's not even a licensed prosecutor, and his badge is jammie dodger

Second case

Amy's mentor, Vanilla, gets infect by Metal Virus, and her daughter Cream is the suspect.

Prosecution is Surge the Tenrec. She brings things for her throat to the courtroom cuz she wears out her voice yelling.

Idk how this goes, but Eggman is arrested for leaking that bio weapon and Surge gets really mad.

Blaze's first (on screen) case

Whisper the Wolf is accused of killing her teammates, the Diamond Cutters.

Prosecution is Lanolin.

Lanolin goes through a lot of effort to prove that Whisper is guilty, but Blaze manages to prove that Mimic was the one that did it, by impersonating Whisper.

Lanolin is very upset she almost declared an innocent guilty, so she arranges a meeting with Blaze to apologize and they get to know eachother.

Lanolin keeps calling Blaze "Majesty"despite the latter's insistence on just being called "Blaze" (I have not figured out this plot point.)

The final case

Surge is framed for a crime (idk what) by Starline. Here we learn her and Kit's backstory, that being victims of child trafficking mixed with memory wiping.

Amy, Blaze and Lanolin all end up working together (think Rise from the Ashes mixed with Turnabout Goodbyes) to unravel Starline's underground empire built in the shadow of Eggman Industries.

When there isn't enough evidence to convict Starline, Lanolin finally brings out Kit as the witness, where it's revealed that his memory never got wiped, and instead he's been pretending for years to not know so convincingly that Starline thought he had him. (If written there would be hints)

After the Not Guilty verdict is given and Starline is arrested, and they're walking out of the courtroom, Surge starts tearing up.

Amy gives her a tackle hug, Blaze gives her a soft hug, Lanolin gives her a comforting hand on the shoulder, and Surge starts bawling her eyes out, now that years of being under his boot have come to an end.

The four move in together, and while watching a move they're like "Are they gonna let us see eachother in court now that we're together?" And Lanolin says "One time an attorney sued someone and prosecuted the case themselves, I think we're fine."

The end.

Bonus tidbits:

Lanolin always has a coffee mug in the courtroom. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Surge works in Shadow the Hedgehog's law firm. He wears golden bracelets linked together by a chain as a reference to the inhibitors and to Simon Blackquill. He calls Amy to his office and tells her "Don't give up on Surge." He's known as the "Ultimate Lifeform" because no one has ever seen him take a break or sleep.

Sonic really is the fastest thing alive, having beaten the top speed of the peregrine falcon the year before the events, and the reason he retired from olympic sprinting early.

Since pretty much everyone wears gloves 24/7 cuz it's Sonic, finding a fingerprint is almost exculpatory evidence, and how Blaze proves Whisper is innocent and Mimic is the one that did it.

They do manage to cure Vanilla.

Cream fills a similar role to Maya as Amy's aide.

Vector is the detective, ala Gumshoe. He, Charmy and Espio are also guards in the courtroom and they capture Fang, Bark and Bean when they try to run away.

More pending, will add on reblogs

[hishighnesstheprincess]

Why Blaze is so Cool

There's not gonna be much of a preamble on this, it's basically just what the title says. We're gonna go over Blaze's design, character arc, and personality + miscellaneous, all while comparing and contrasting with Sonic, who she was created to be a rival and a friend to. And hopefully by the end of it I will have convinced you that Blaze is one of the best characters in this franchise. And maybe converted a couple to my Sonaze agenda by explaining just how good of rivals and friends they are, although that is secondary.

Let's go. Put under a cut because I don't hate my followers MOST of the time.

Part 1: Design

Blaze's design, like most characters in this franchise, is simple and striking. In terms of pure aesthetic it's very cohesive, with a good balance of visual elements and an excellent color palette to make her stand out among the already extensive cast of characters.

Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it also portrays her character very well. Her clothing, which is formal yet practical (unlike most princesses in fiction she wears pants instead of a floofy dress) and it also shows that she's of royal blood. Purple, especially darker purple like with her tailcoat and the tips of her tail and "ponytail", is often used to signify royalty in fiction, and that combined with the gold necklace gives attentive audience members multiple clues towards the fact that she's kind of a big deal. The flared out cuffs on her gloves and shoes like just a tiny bit like fire. Admittedly her wearing heels is not very practical, but heels are generally seen to be a formal shoe, again tying into the royalty thing. Additionally, the fact that they are small heels (kitten heels, to be precise) makes it far more believable than if she was running around in high heels, and the fact that Blaze the Cat is specifically wearing kitten heels is adorable. The fact that she is wearing a bindi also is a subtle indication that she isn't from Sonic's dimension, as we have never seen any kind of accessory like that before in this franchise. Finally, Blaze's "hair" being tied back into a ponytail is used to show her personality: withdrawn, restrained, and work focused.

Her Super Form, Burning Blaze, also has an exceptionally cool design. Her colors turn from primarily purple with hints of red, pink, and gold to primarily red, with hints of purple, gold, and pink. Her hair, tail, and the cuffs on her gloves and shoes all turn into fire and drift up, showing just how much her power level has increased that her fire powers are literally leaking out of her. It looks raw as hell, to put it simply.

Okay, so Blaze by herself looks cool as fuck, and her design makes sense for her character. But how was she designed to be an equivalent and yet alternate Sonic?

There's a lot I'm going to go into here, so I'll just start with the big ones right off the bat. Beginning with their color palettes, both of their main colors (purple and blue) are right next to each other on the color wheel, and they are similar, but not the exact same, in hue. Additionally, purple (Blaze's fur color) inverted is green (Sonic's eye color), and blue (Sonic's fur color) inverted is yellow (Blaze's eye color). Other aspects of their designs contrast as well: Blaze has sharp eyes and a small nose, Sonic has round eyes and a long nose. In terms of attire, however, they're actually fairly similar. Both have pure white gloves with pure white cuffs, both have the same shoe design (solid color shoe designed to help them run fast interrupted by a white stripe in the middle) with the only differences being Sonic wearing red boots, Blaze wearing pink heels. They also both wear gold on what is most likely their most prized possession: Sonic has a gold buckle on the shoes that help him run fast and freely, Blaze has a gold necklace on the tailcoat that signifies her status as a royal.

Super Sonic and Burning Blaze are also designed to complement each other. Super Sonic is golden with firey red eyes, Burning Blaze is red with glowing golden eyes. Additionally, in specifically the version of Super Sonic we see depicted in Sonic Rush, his quills are chaotic, almost like they've been windswept: his own powers let loose by the Chaos Emeralds, like Blaze's have been with the Sol Emeralds.

Part 2: The Character Arc

Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure, while having Sonic's name on the title, is basically Blaze's story, with Sonic simply serving as a catalyst for Blaze's development.

Beginning with Sonic Rush, Blaze is introduced as someone who is competent, but alone. She crashlands in Sonic's dimension alone, and if not for Cream's (and later Sonic's) interference, she would have failed in her mission, despite her competence, because she was alone and with no one to back her up. Over the course of the game she slowly opens up to characters other than Sonic (most notably Cream) while also hearing about how cool and awesome Sonic is and how he can help her with her mission, which is something that she absolutely does not want. So when she finally meets the hedgehog himself, and has a proper conversation with him, just like a true Sonic rival-to-be-turned-friend, she lashes out. And just like every other rival Sonic turns into a friend, she ends up needing sense literally beat into her.

(Side note but while obviously in the real world violence is a last resort for conflict resolution, I'm glad that the first female Sonic rival wasn't treated differently than every other male rival up to this point, and it makes sense for both characters that they would fight their emotions out rather than actually talking)

But, after getting all that frustration out of their systems, Sonic is finally able to make Blaze see what's been in front of her the whole time: she needs help just like everyone else, and if she doesn't accept it she's going to get others and herself hurt. Lesson learned with a hopefully minimal amount of bruising along the way, Blaze is able to form an alliance with Sonic, and while they head their separate ways again, it's not out of stubbornness and fear of relying on others on Blaze's part this team: it's because she trusts Sonic to do his part just as she knows that she can do her part.

But Sonic still has one more lesson to teach Blaze, and as cheesy as it may be, he teaches her about the power of friendship, which in franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog the power of positive thoughts and feelings do have real effects on the world all these characters live in. With the alliance between Sonic and Blaze having turned into a proper friendship, the two are able to defeat the enemies threatening the rest of your friends, and they share a sweet moment together (with Blaze holding her hand out to Sonic, for once) before Blaze returns to her home dimension.

Blaze's arc in Sonic Rush isn't exactly complex, but I'd argue that complicated arcs are really only things that the comics have touched on, for both better and worse. The simplicity of her arc allows for it to be solid and easily understandable, and it doesn't magically fix everything or make her an entirely different character. Blaze still has to return home at the end of the game despite literally holding on for as long as she could, and she's still emotionally reserved, quiet, and work focused, but now those things no longer dominate her personality to her own detriment.

Blaze's arc in Sonic Rush Adventure on the other hand, shows that she still has a ways to go. While she did fractionally open up in the original game, both Sonic and Cream are just naturally charming and sweet with few downsides to their personalities. Additionally, she only ever really worked with Sonic himself, who is essentially an equal in terms of competence and power. Marine, on the other hand... well, she's an excellently written character, but that doesn't change the fact that in universe she isn't a super competent fighter, she talks a lot, has a big head, and a plethora of other tiny flaws, all of which add up when you're trying to save the world. Throughout Rush Adventure Blaze first rejects Marine for her relative uselessness, and then learns to appreciate Marine for what she can do as well as the fact that she is trying to get better, just like Blaze once did. Blaze goes from being helped by Sonic to being a guiding figure for Marine, and it's likely that despite no further game appearances from Marine, they formed a bond similar to Sonic and Tails, again showing that Blaze is an alternate equivalent to Sonic (and also that the same goes for Marine and Tails, but that's a whole other post).

Sonic in the Rush series doesn't really have a narrative arc, but he doesn't need one, as these are essentially Blaze's games with Sonic as a consistent helping force.

Part 3: The Personality and the Little Details

Of course, a solid design and decent storyline doesn't really help if the character has all the personality of a slice of bread. Thankfully Blaze has personality to spare, even if she is on the more stoic side of the cast.

Blaze's personality is also extremely cool, both standalone and as an inversion to Sonic's. She's pretty unique among the girls in the series (who tend to be friendly, outgoing, sociable, and personal desire oriented: Amy, Cream, Tangle, Rouge, etc.) while Blaze is more withdrawn and cold than the others (ironic, given her name), and puts the needs of her kingdom ahead of her own wants and her needs. She is duty and goal oriented when we first meet her, not concerned with friends at all, and in fact she has none (basically the opposite of Sonic, except for the fact that he is occasionally goal oriented when the time arises. She's obsessed with being able to do everything by herself to the point of turning down Sonic's help and later attacking him to keep him out of the way, while he reaches out to her on multiple occasions. She is stoic, quiet, withdrawn, shy, has emotional and often aggressive outburts when she thinks she's been personally insulted or if someone gets in the way of her goals, and is primarily responsible. Sonic is enthusiastic, loud, outgoing, bold, does not care what others think of him and will often slow down for personal fun even if there are more serious matters, and is primarily laid back. She over thinks, he barely thinks. I could go on.

The two of them together create a balance. Fire power vs wind power. Wind=Fire Hazard, without oxygen a fire cannot even get started. She is royalty who is strict and honor bound and never seems out fights unless she thinks they are necessary, he is... Basically a homeless adventurer who gets into fights and danger for fun. She has a special link to the Sol Emeralds, he has a special link to the Chaos Emeralds. Her fighting style is based off ballet, his is based off of breakdancing. Fire needs order and focus to burn properly, if let loose it can cause massive damage. Wind needs freedom and space to blow freely, if stifled it will just peter out. Despite being a cat with fire powers she is alright in water but hates height (likely because more height=less oxygen=less fire power for her), he is a hedgehog who cannot swim yet operates quite well in air, despite cats irl being good with heights and bad with water, and the opposite for hedgehogs. "Blaze" meaning fiercely burning fire, the power she controls, (also indicating high speed), "Sonic" meaning relating to sound waves, the speed he can surpass (also also indicating high speed).

Because she's Sonic's equivalent, she's also basically his equal in combat, being the only female to tie with Sonic in a fight while a) not being a literal god cus Sonic fights literally gods and b) not having any power ups. He's slightly faster, but she has more (literal) fire power on her side. Their fighting styles also contrast with each other, I've already mentioned the ballet vs breakdancing thing but also there's Sonic's spontaneity vs Blaze's controlled movements, his rush and agility vs her grace and power, his tendency to annoy enemies into making mistakes and flit around them like an annoying bug, while Blaze just charged them head on and overwhelms them. Sonic's fight style is all based off of learning it the hard way, Blaze's is most likely based off of literal training as she is a princess. They mostly have contrast with some interesting overlaps, showing how they are as similar as they are different.

Another interesting thing about them is that Blaze attempts to keep all her emotions under check and is kinda bad at it, she can rarely conceal more extreme emotions and she gets loud and obvious about them, whereas Sonic initially appears to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but when it comes to more serious emotions and when he gets pushed emotionally he becomes quieter, colder, and more withdrawn. Blaze can become an open book and he slams shut. Blaze being surrounded by people for her entire life but not having any emotional connections with them vs Sonic most likely being alone before he met Eggman and Tails and then choosing to surround himself with friends and loved ones. Their contrast in life stories and their personalities was insanely well thought out and it really shows. And on a more subjective level, they just look really cool when paired together, because that was literally how they were designed.

Anyway in conclusion. Blaze is a fucking amazing character and a great rival and friend to Sonic, she deserves so much more attention in the franchise and fandomoverall and specifically should be played off of Sonic more because she was literally designed to be HIS friend and rival, Rush and Rush Adventure deserve remakes and also a proper sequel, and if they do ever make any of those then I will scream and cry and wail etc. and also Sonaze is the best ship in the franchise prove me wrong

TLDR: Blaze cool

[electriczayre]

RAHHHHHHHH TAKE MY SWAP PPMV DESIGNS (sorry no una </3 she's bapy and i wanted to focus on the adults with the swaps)

(edit: tumblr why did u format the post that way. i didnt ask you to do that. anyway fixed it)

design notes under cut

Flower (Right as Rain):

• Based on Flower's v4 design, for no particular reason other than it seemed fitting

• Patches aren't really shown, but instead of the daisy(?) patch it's a black tulip!

• sports bra/crop top thing goin on bc slay

• shorts and boots largely the same as box flower

• bandana tied around right arm, and bandages on left (can be over or under the jacket sleeve ig since they're for aesthetic)

• fingerless gloves :]

• i wanted to give round goggles bc i thought it would fit Flower, almost going for a steampunk type thing with the round goggles

Flower (Sabotage)

• used v3 because her look RADIATES ghost energy. like look at her. absolute queen

• corset has a heart design in the middle <3

• choker connected to mesh shirt under the corset

• big jacket !!! like the original Sabotage

• her black skirt is plain like Better Off Worse v3's skirt but tbh it could work with box v3's skirt design too

• boots same as box

• not shown, but her "ghost color" is purple :>

Po-uta (Sabotage)

• due to being Dead tm, his hair is light on the top where his roots are! the bottom is dyed yellow

• he wears a golden heart locket necklace

• black turtleneck sweater bc. Po-uta and sweaters yk

• oversized cardigan instead of whatever typa jacket Sabotage Len has goin on bc it's more Po-uta-core

• tighter fitting pants than box Po-uta, but with the cool pockets still. shoes are mostly the same as box Po's

• his "ghost color" is either yellow (or possibly will change to a similar blue to Right as Rain Po's sweater - depending on if i can pull off a shade of yellow or not)

Po-uta (Better Off Worse)

• his roots have grown out real long bc of lack of management of his hair :(

• he wears a big comfy oversized sweater - probably jade green

• boxer shorts under the sweater

• he wears a triple necklack thingy thing

• his long socks are cat themed bc i think Po likes cute things

Len (Better Off Worse)

• his hair's a bit longer! also bc of lack of management

• his hair is also YELLOW bc he is alive ! though perhaps at the ends it's dyed teal

• he wears a sort of muscle tee with white stripes on the sides

• he gets arm warmers to represent whatever the heck those arm things are on box len. socks are also representative of the leg things

Len (Right as Rain)

• Easily the closest in energy to box Len out of the original Sabotage and my Better Off Worse design. Still the same age as Sabotage (which is to say, unspecified but a young adult)

• Hair tufts rounder, made to kinda look like feathers

• stubby ponytail = less hair to get in the way when flying

• bass cleff patch instead of daisy patch

• the jacket sleeves kinda puff out to mimic box len's armwear, and the patches are meant to look like the tech on them

• big socks with design meant to mimic box len's legwear with the tech

• shorts and shoes similar to box len

• yellow hair!!! and goggles similar to the original Right as Rain Po-uta

• teal turtleneck sweater

Extra Note: I wanted to keep some consistency across characters and roles!

• each Flower has a choker and boots

• each Po has a necklace and some sort of sweater

• each Len has armwear/legwear

• each Right as Rain has the goggles and jacket

• each Sabotage has a big jacket and flowy, open bottom of the design

• each Better Off Worse has the shorts and long socks

[crashed-on-pnf-404]

PNF 404 LOG 344: Welcome to our home

Welcome to our blog, a connection to you from pnf 404 documenting what is happening with us on this planet. We've grown accustomed to this place and there is a safe space connection between us, koppai, and hocotate. We even managed to make the atmosphere habitable without space suits.

(This is a pikmin rp blog, Character information underneath cut)

Olimar

A hocotatian that wears a tan space suit with a red antenna and gloves. He's a bit below average in height and he makes up for it with a kind but proper attitude. He's best friends with Louie and the two have an older and younger brother relationship.

Louie

One of Olimars first coworkers and now best friends. His space suit is similar to olimars but the red is replaced with blue and he's a bit taller than Olimar. Louie is clumsy and he loves food (which inspired him to start a restaurant) and he's caused many accidents, not including his and Olimars crash. He runs a kitchen with Charlie and has made many meals with PNF-404's fauna, although some are a more acquired taste than others.

Alf

A young koppaite who cherishes his captain, Charlie, and he loves exploring with his "family" of misfits. Brittany is like a mother figure and Charlie a father, and the three live near Olimar and Louie.

Brittany

She is a koppaite who is very well mannered and loves her job as a botanist and novice biologist, she can often be found sitting in her flower garden and reading a book or revising her notes on the flora and fauna of PNF 404.

Charlie

Charlie is a friendly giant of a koppaite, he makes friends with everyone he meets and sometimes forgets he's a captain while they are out on expedition. He helped Olimar and Shepherd build the defensive wall around their base and he often helps Louie run the kitchen in his free time.

Shepherd

A darker skinned commander from Giya, she is very proper and the owner of oatchi but she loosens up when at the base to hang out with her friends.

Oatchi

Oatchi is a golden furred dog that Shepherd owns and takes care of. He loves to be around others and gets put in charge of keeping Louie intact on missions which the two love. He can only move around with his 2 feet but is faster than everyone in the group.

Yonny

Yonny is a doctor from Ohri with dark skin and green hair. He's worked with Shepherd for many years and it a beloved member of the Rescue Corps. He's able to diagnose and treat almost any injury no matter how severe.

[captain-idkwhattodo]

The Quarry x Wednesday mashup

So I’ve seen all of ‘Wednesday’ and of course the first thing I think about is all of the hacketters as Nevermore students/ outcasts and what creature they would be!

So lets get started,

Kaitlyn

-nagi/naga🐍 (half human half snake)

-I’ve read that nagas are strong, beautiful, and proud creatures who have a semi divine presence. They were also often put on guard duty since they were powerful and I feel like that fits kaitlyn perfectly

-she would have 3 forms: full on giant snake (dark red scales w/a bright red under belly), half human/snake, and a humanish form. Her human look would have patches of scales on her skin, fangs, and snake eyes.

-she can use her eyes to bewitch people and mostly uses it on her friends to stop them from doing dumb things

-she can also swallow big pieces of food without chewing and uses that skill to freak ppl out

Ryan

-Witch🔮 (grandparents practices hoodoo)

-he would be a strong spell caster but I think his specialty would be potions/herbs and fortune telling/ card reading (def using the fact that justice smith can read tarot cards)

-has Wednesday vibes but not as cold but just as quiet. Also has visions but has to directly touch who/whatever so he usually wear gloves

-ironically, actually allergic to bright colors (except white). Like seriously allergic. He told the others this but they assumed it was a joke. Jacob would prank him by leaving pastel colored clothing in his bed. Ryan retaliates by throwing knives at his general direction (Jacob apologizes once he realizes his mistake)

Laura

-Jackalope 🐇 *A/N:I honestly thought they were real so this was a fun dive*

-the lore about them is that they are a powerful and dangerous adversary. They are very defensive, quick, and prefers to face their enemy head on. Leaving their victims bloody and with gouge marks from their horns. Basically Laura

-They could also be persuaded to come to ppl/captured willingly by being offered their fav drink: whisky (this is how her and Ryan became fast friends)

-she has two forms: her jackalope form (a blonde/brown 4ft long rabbit with 1ft long sharp antlers) and her humanish form (her but with 6in long antlers)

-has sent multiple ppl to the nurse for “accidental” injuries

Max

-a normie 👨🏻‍🦰 (you always need one in the group)

-I think it would be so cute for him to try and like look cool in front of the cute, tough girl who is also an outcast and just completely fail but that’s ok cause she’s into that

-he works at an animal shelter and that’s where him and Laura met

-Laura brought Ryan to meet him and by the end of their convo he’s just like “I’ve only know max for 10 minutes but if anything were to happen to him I’d kill everyone in the room and then myself”

-will throw hands if you talk badly about outcasts

Dylan

-werewolf 🐕

-has Enid vibes but has more of a soft boy/ gamer aesthetic and more sarcastic. Complete golden retriever energy

-is very tactile in a ‘little shit’ kinda way and scent marks his “pack” (with their permission of course)

-is definitely a “stoner” ;)

-has 3 forms. Full shift (looks more like the regular werewolves than hairless dogs), half shift (think ‘Teen wolf’ with the wolf features, sharp canines, glowing eyes, pointy ears, and sideburns), and human  

-is the one who’ll howl randomly throughout, causing others to do it too 

Abi

-psychic 🌌

-her powers would work be similar to how Xavier’s does

-she doesn’t have to touch anything to activate it. She will put out her notebook then call on a vision and draw what’s in it

-she can control it but sometimes they will come randomly, forcing her into a trance like state and draw on whatever’s available

-can bring her drawings to life. She has several tattoos that has her magic in it. They come move and also hop off her body if she wants it. If the drawing gets damaged too much then it poofs and reappears back where it was drawn

Emma

-halfling 🧚🏼‍♀️ (half fae, half human)

-like full blooded faes, she’s very beautiful and charming. Enchanting ppl around her (even through a screen). Unlike full blooded faes, she can’t out right brainwash a person. Just make them feel very compelled to do what she asks

-her ‘stage persona’ is still very whimsical/ airhead

-her other abilities are: super strength, because of her glamor ability she can read others emotions but can’t change them, and photokinesis (able to shoot and manipulate light with her mind) 

-in her fae form, her eyes glow completely white, her teeth turn razor sharp, and her fingers turn black and grows long claws on them

Nick

-siren 🧜🏼‍♂️

-wanted to pick something to go with the “puppy dog eyes/ steel BBQ grill under that shirt” comment. Also how Australia has many pretty creatures that can def kill you

-I feel like Nick is such a cool dude (when he’s not putting on an act) that everyone has had a small crush on him at some point. Some think he’s using his powers but no, he’s just like that✨

-his two forms would be: his human form (with bright blue and brown eyes color) and his siren form which has more of “traditional” siren look then what was on the show (his eyes go completely black, razor sharp teeth, and long claws)

-His scale coloring would be a mix of greys, whites, and blues

Jacob

-also a werewolf 🐕

-has Bernese mountain dog energy (saw a TikTok that said guys with this energy are basically himbos, the loudest one in the room without realizing it, and sometimes forget how large they are. Jacob to a T)

-also has 3 forms (full wolf, half shift, human)

-very tactile in a ‘big dog who thinks they’re small/ forgets their big’ way

[gemwing1988]

The Cuphead Show: Dreamstones Edition Sneak Preview 4

Kaichi, the Cup Brothers and the girls arrived in town and had entered an eyeglasses shop, standing at the counter to speak with the clerk working there. The clerk is female anthropomorphic flathead screwdriver wearing glasses, white gloves and a yellow shirt while her handle acts as a skirt.

“Let me get this straight. You mean to tell me these two boys here couldn’t get a cookie jar from a sleeping old man?” The screwdriver lady questioned with a frown while looking over Elder Kettle’s broken glasses.

Before either anyone could respond, the glasses break in half, making the girls cringe.

“Um… yes, sounds about right.” Natty confirmed awkwardly.

“Look, lady, can you fix ‘em or not?” Cuphead asked impatiently and annoyed.

“Cuphead!” Katie scolded.

“Of course. But I don’t like your tone. Hmph!” The clerk scoffed sternly.

“We’re terribly sorry about that, ma’am.” Lexie apologized. “He’s just a little anxious that we need to get ‘em fixed as soon as possible.”

“Patience is a virtue, miss. This will take time.” The clerk stated. “And next time, be sure to teach that cup in red to show some proper manners and respect.”

She turned away and hopped over a large magnifying glass to look over the glasses. Cuphead blows a raspberry at the clerk as he wiggles his finger at her until Lexie scoldingly lowers his hand down and gave him a look that screams, “Be on your best behaviour.”

Suddenly, loud and upbeat music started to fill the air, much to the group’s surprise and confusion. Meanwhile, the clerk just looked annoyed as she turned to them in accusation.

“Kindly turn that down. I hate music!” The clerk snapped.

“It wasn’t us.” Kaichi shrugged.

“We’re not playing music.” The Cup Brothers added.

“I think it’s actually coming from outside.” Katie spoke up as she motioned at the door, which suddenly opened, revealing a young girl who is about the same age as the Cups danced in.

She is an anthropomorphic light yellow chalice a golden-coloured edge and handles as well as an orange and white striped straw similar to Mugman’s. She has a small golden nose, round eyes with eyelashes and a tiny beauty mark under her right eye.

Her attire is a black shirt similar to the Cup Bros’, only hers has a white collar, a light blue skirt, white bloomers, white gloves and orange Mary Janes.

The chalice girl happily dances into the store as she moves sideways with her arms.

Chalice Girl: When you’re feeling

You gotta spread that sunshine all around

She then jumps onto a rolling ladder as she sang.

You gotta turn that frown upside down

And sing across the rainbow

Landing on the counter, she happily tap danced across it, much to the confusion of the clerk. With a big smile, the chalice girl takes the clerk’s hand and spins her around, causing the clerk to suddenly smile, seemingly having a change of heart about music.

Now, the chalice girl skids across the counter until she stops, tap dancing some more. She dances and spins around in a circle. She lays forward on the counter and uses her fingers to tap on Cuphead and Mugman’s heads like drums.

The chalice girl now slides across the counter while laying forward on it while the clerk happily wags her finger to the beat, much to the humans’ confusion.

Chalice Girl: When the world is saying no

Don’t waste your time feeling low

The chalice girl spins the glasses stand and stops it with her finger. The clerk then taps the stand with her back a pair of sunglasses on the chalice girl, who happily stands up and waves and jumps off the counter.

The chalice girl dances some more while clicking her heels. She then dances backwards with a big smile on her face, looking like she doesn’t have a care in the world.

Chalice Girl: Click your heels

Go Go Go!

And dance across a rainbow!

She spins around and dashes off with glee, leaving behind some confetti and sparkles before the door slams shut.

Lexie, Katie, Natty, Kaichi and the Cup Brothers were left speechless and confused by what had just transpired. Meanwhile, the once stern and g formally music-hating clerk was happily waving wagging her finger while cheerily humming the chalice girl is song in the background.

“What the heck was that?” Cuphead asked.

“I have no idea…” Natty answered, lost for words.

[genremarketing]

New York City Fashion Diary: A Sneak Peek Into Local Style Icons' Wardrobes

Grasie is a multi-hyphenated creator of a writer and director as well as an actor as well as a photographer and visual artist. Her blog, aptly called Egg Canvas, features style and lifestyle posts that span from street to dapper. She is able to keep summer fashions current with a short boxy polka dot on brown linen dresses as well as well-fitted with shell and wood embossed jackets.

Cher Horowitz of "Clueless" Cher Horwitz is an Beverly Hills teenager who lives in a mansion along with her housekeepers. She's always informed about the happenings at her school, Bronson Alcott. She uses her social status to assist others in her vicinity. She even arranges a romantic relationship with two teachers to change her grade. Her outfit is a reflection of her personality, with the mix of incredibly juvenile outfits (strap tops over tees and dresses with bows that are under the bust) in addition to more mature pieces for older women (like jackets, suits and twinsets). Costume designers from the film mix this up by mixing very young and trendy styles together, like in the yellow plaid Dolce & Gabbana style that's been updated for this year's '90s style resurgence. Alicia Silverstone recently reprised her role as Cher for a Rakuten commercial that ran in the Super Bowl. The commercial is a remake of her iconic yellow plaid Dolce and Gabbana outfit, plus the other outfits she wore in the film. Holly Golightly, from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Holly is a lively young girl who shares the same place as the story's narrator. Holly is able to sustain herself by dating rich men and getting cash from them. However, she doesn't give this information out to the Narrator. Audrey Hepburn's character is famous for her black dress that is adorned with an strand of pearls. When Paul visits her apartment, Holly tries to establish her own identity in the room by performing actions that are traditionally that are associated with men: she drinks alcohol, smokes a cigarette and wants to stay on his bed. The model also sports a casual jean outfit with the white kerchief tucked around her head and ballet slippers in black. She completes her look with a pair long black gloves, as well as kitten heels. Her most essential accessory but, it's her lavender earplugs, which she comically removes and then replaces in order to hear what her visitor is saying. Emily Cooper from "Sex and the City" Emily (Lily Collins) makes the move to Paris for work and the chance to make a new start. While her American confidence and determination led to her landing a job as a marketing manager dealing with French cultural norms proves to be a difficult task. She makes numerous mistakes due to her lack of French skills, for instance a embarrassing error in communication during a dinner, where she accidentally caught Camille loving Gabriel. Emily Like Carrie Bradshaw, is a woman who is balancing work, relationships, and emotions on a high-speed rollercoaster in this Golden Globe nominated series by Darren Star. The show may not be located in New York but it pays tribute to the city's first location by filming scenes at famous landmarks. Patricia Field, who designed the costumes for SATC is also responsible for Emily's glitzy Parisian look. Emily is similar to Carrie. She makes friends with older sophisticated women like Sylvie Grateau, Mathieu and Sylvie, and she has a relationship with a wealthy, sexy man. There is only one difference: Emily is a young woman and utilizes social media to document her experiences. Carrie is from "Sex and the City". Carrie Bradshaw is not one to hold back her opinions which is evident in her outfits. She wears what she wants without hesitation and mixes vintage kitschy with contemporary fashion. She mixes expensive designers like Oscar de la Renta and smaller brands. She also loves to pair floral dresses with pink trenchcoats, and striped sweatshirts. It's been four years since the last season of "Sex and the City" however, when the show will return with a new 10-episode series in the summer of 2012, viewers will find that Carrie and her co-stars are getting older (and possibly wiser) but still funny, sexy and smart. The new series will feature familiar faces like Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon. Kristina Davis, Willie Garson, and Kristina Davis, who was the first cast member, are also returning. Candice Bergen will also return in her role as Enid Frick Carrie's Vogue editor. Watch the YouTube video

[odditycircus-2002]

Huddle Up

Y'all remember my post about the Black Sun Job where Diyana and Hellboy were stranded in an arctic wasteland for a little over 6 weeks after Hellboy blew up a Nazi's base? Well, this drabble is what came to mind for a bit of what happened between them during those weeks on the ice.

Hellboy huffs to himself in frustrations as he dug at the snow and sleet hoping to find something from the remains of the hangar to use as fuel for the fire, he and his fellow agent only have so much daylight left after all.

"Just more useless crap."

The large red man grumbles, tossing aside scrap metal in a small pile of similar debris. He then looks up to find his fellow agent, Diyana Swann, a little off in the distance; a black setter dog is currently digging deep into the snow. Hellboy watches as Swann briefly disappears into the hole she dug before reappearing, completely covered in snow contrasting brightly against her dark fur but otherwise without any tinder. The dog that is Swann frowns before speaking.

"I have nothin' here either."

Swann lets out a huff before shaking her entire body, briefly appearing as a dark blur that then shifts into a more humanoid form that Hellboy is more familiar with. Despite having the general shape of a human of African descent with black wavy hair, it's not hard to miss the dark rabbit ears sprouting from the sides of her head or the long tail extending from her spine that ends with a tuft of blue-gray fur. Upon closer inspection past the winter boots she's currently wearing, anyone could see that Swann's legs don't exactly resemble a human's either. Sure, they seem normal above the knees, but going down from there, they're more digitigrade in appearance, like that of a four-legged animal.

"You just had to blow up the entire hangar, eh? Deadly job ye did there leaving any kindlin'."

"I'll keep that in mind next time Nazis try to use me as their guinea pig."

Hellboy sarcastically quips back. Swann sighs as she places her hands on her hips before returning to where their impromptu firepit is, which is basically a small hole in the ground with a pitiful amount of wood in the middle, they dug out earlier. Hellboy is not too far behind as he joins his coworker, sitting opposite her.

"I gotta ask though, where were you during that? You seemed to have vanished into thin air when the grunts started pulling out the ray guns."

Hellboy narrows his golden eyes in suspicion at the pooka across from him. Swann waves a gloved hand dismissively with a nonchalant grin.

"I knew you had it covered, 'sides you're able to take those shots than I could anyway."

"Doesn't mean they didn't hurt like a S.O.B."

Hellboy subconsciously runs a hand over the burgundy-colored bruise on his right shoulder where the ray guns first hit him. Diyana grits her teeth as she lets out a hiss at the various bruises and injuries that decorated his hulking form.

"I can imagine, yer gonna be so sore in mornin'. But hey, at least I got ya out just in time before ya could blow up with the rest of those morans."

"That reminds me, you haven't exactly answered my question. What were you doing while I was having my ear talked off by wannabe Hitler?"

Swann maintains the same unbothered expression in contrast to her colleague's persistent gaze. She's the first to break their eye contact as she gives a shrug and a hum.

"Eh, no use keepin' it hidden, 'sides we'll need the kindling."

Swann then reaches into her stylish coat to pull out a small stack of papers. They crinkle in her hand as she shifts through them with an analytical eye; some she throws in the fire pit, and others she tucks back into her coat. Hellboy isn't sure he would like the faerie woman's answer when spotting a familiar symbol on the corner of one of the documents and recognizing the writing to be in German. He isn't going to stop Swann from using her lighter to set the papers ablaze, though. The faerie snaps her lighter close when the kindling does its work for the few wood pieces they can find.

"I don't need to be a psychic to know yer askin' why I have Nazi papers."

"Yeah."

Hellboy confirms, observing as Swann warms her gloved hands over the small fire. She then moves her hands to grab a pack of cigarettes and her cigarette holder from her coat pocket to use the small fire to light one. Hellboy watches Swann take an inhale before exhaling a smoky yellow hand grabbing at the air.

"I'm simply fulfilling the research aspect of your organization as upon my agreement with the Professor and the board members. While you're their smash, I am more of the grab."

The smokey apparition then disperses before Swann takes another inhale to exhale a blue and yellow stream of smoke that resembles the planet, Earth, along with a few of the aircraft that dragged them to their current location.

"If it's any comfort, there wasn't really a lot of juicy intel as much as much as thick crackpot plans for world domination."

Hellboy follows where Swann is gesturing to the ashy remains of the documents she burned, his lips are pressed together in a thin line as he stares intently at the fire. On one hand, he knows that it's always these Nazis' plans to take over the world, essentially. On the other, he's not a fool to accept what Swann told him to be the whole truth. She's come through in a pinch within the hangar and now with the fire, though.

After a few moments of silence, Hellboy looks from the fire to his fellow agent, her cigarette half its original size.

"Did you at least gather any idea on how to get out of this winter wonderland?"

Swann shakes her head to which Hellboy gives a tired sigh.

"You blew everythin' up, handsome. Any vehicles ain't nothin' but scrap now."

"Well, why not teleport us out like you did with me?"

"I'd have to know what continent we're on first to figure out where to go. Though, all I see is ice and snow to the horizon."

Swann then makes a sweeping gesture to the frozen land around them. A icy breeze then blows by which cause the agents' small fire to dance rapidly in the wind, looking almost ready to go out. Both Hellboy and Swann desperately start to shield the flame with their body, the large man begging under his breath for the flame not to die. Once it stabilizes again do both agents back away a bit from the fire.

"Any word on the radio?"

Swann inquires, once she's able to stop her teeth from chattering too much. Hellboy shakes his head before pulling out the blocky radio that was one half of a two-way radio, one of the only things they could find amongst the wreckage.

"Nothing, just static."

"Here, let me."

Swann holds out a hand to which Hellboy obliges. He watches as Swann takes out some small screwdrivers and a plier then starts to disassemble the radio.

"Can ya find a small thin and malleable piece of metal?"

She asks him while wiping the batteries with her coat. Hellboy, again, acquiesces to the phooka's request, finding and breaking off some scorched metal the size of a fist into rough strips the width of his pinky. If there's one thing Hellboy can trust Swann with, it's her way around machines. He watches his fellow agent use one of the metal strips to attach to the radio's antenna, using a rubber band and bobby pin she found in her pocket. Swann appears to pay special attention to a small scorched cube in the radio, then fiddles with the wires within it before returning it to the radio.

"Alright, the batteries seem to be in working order, with no sign of damage or corrosion. Added some length to the antenna to hopefully boost the signal 'fore takin' a gander at the repeater. It seems to suffer a bit of damage from the blast, but everythin' else looks good. Just wish I had my carpet bag on me."

"Only one way to find out."

Hellboy then takes the radio from Swann and switches it on.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is Agent Hellboy and Agent Swann of the BPRD requesting rescue and pick up. We're stranded on what looks to be a tundra. There's snow and ice everywhere. Last known location, is Fletcher's Ice Island T-3 in the Arctic Ocean. Hurry, we don't have a lot of fuel for a fire."

Hellboy then releases his hand from the receiver before glancing back at Swann.

"Fingers crossed that your upgrades worked and somebody heard it, otherwise they're gonna find some strange snowmen by then."

Hellboy gives a dry chuckle while Di nods in agreement with her arms wrapped around her in a death grip.

A Few Days Later

As Hellboy feared, their fire situation worsened to the point that both he and Swann had to dig through their pockets for any flammable miscellaneous items. This includes Swann's carton she held her cigarettes in, her hat minus the hat pins on them, old receipts and memos, and even some of their hair or fur in Swann's case. The latter made their small camp stink as hell to the point it became hard for either of them to choose between getting away from the stench or getting closer to their only source of warmth. Well, perhaps the fire isn't their only warm source.

Hellboy looks up from their only line to the outside world to the woman across from him. On Swann's lap is loose wiring, screw, and more metal scrap as she works on disassembling and picking apart the repeater from the radio. Swann hopes that by making repairs to the repeater or even making a new one, could boost the signal of their radio. However, the faerie woman's progress is slow as is evident by her trembling hands causing her to drop a screw or cause her to start over what little progress she made. The sound of Swann's teeth chattering together is the only other sound to fill the silence between them besides the weak crackling of their fire and howling freezing winds. Hellboy couldn't stand it for much longer.

"C'mere."

The large man beckons Swann toward him with his giant stone hand. Swann tears her gaze away from her work her long ears tilted at an angle to express her confusion.

"W-w-what?"

"I'm not gonna repeat myself."

Hellboy then stands up to shuffle over Swann's side of the fire, securing the radio in his belt before sitting down behind the faerie woman and scooping her up into his lap, bridal style. He then wraps his muscular arms around Swann's shivering form, flinching slightly when brushing against her ice-cold cheeks. Said woman lets out a small squeak at the contact but instinctively clings to the larger red man once fully processing how he's pretty much a living furnace.

"Christ on a stick!"

Swann happily mutters to herself. She wraps her arms around Hellboy's barrel chest as best as she can.

"You're welcome."

Hellboy could've sworn he felt a rumbling sensation coming from her. It seems that Hellboy huddling close to his fellow agent did the trick, as after Swann took a few minutes to warm herself up by greedily taking in his body heat, she is able to complete making a new repeater. She then installs into the radio before handing it to Hellboy, who gives more or less the same message as last time. After taking his hand off the receiver. Sensing he's being watched, he looks down at Swann gazing up at him with hooded eyes and a sultry grin.

"I always knew you were hot, Handsome."

"Don't start. You're lucky I feel like being nice."

Swann gives a shrug before crooning,

"I'll still take what I can."

Hellboy lets out a groan but doesn't object when Swann intertwines her tail around his nor does she say anything when he rests his chin on top of her head right between her small horns. Although, Hellboy does note that Swann is soft and warm to have in his arms. For a while, they both sat in silence to simply bask in what little heat their fire gave and the warmth exchanged from their combined body heats. The silence is eventually broken by Hellboy, who doesn't bother moving from the top of Swann's head.

"You're lucky to have small horns. Must make everyday life easy for ya."

"Aye, how else do you think I'm able to put on my hats or lay my head down on a pillow without tearin' it to pieces?"

Hellboy lets out a huff in amusement, his warm breath brushes against the fae woman's long ears, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine and causing her to tighten her tail around the large red man's. The latter thinks nothing of it, chalking it up to the bitter cold. He raises a brow when hearing a sudden crunchy pop similar to whenever he cracks his neck or spine while stretching. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he can spot Swann's horns lengthening like trees growing 100 times faster. He moves his head from the top of Swann's head in time to catch her horns twisting and curling before settling to resemble a ram's. Swann twists in Hellboy's lap with an amused smile.

"What did I tell ya? Sure, they're grand an' everythin', but I'd prefer a bit less of a hassle. Ya like?"

She runs a hand down one of her horns as if brushing back a strand of hair while maintaining heavy eye contact with Hellboy. The latter gives a barely perceptible shrug.

"Horns aren't really my thing, but they're fitting on you."

Swann then places her hands over her cheeks before using one to fan herself in an overexaggerated fashion.

"Ah shucks, you make me blush, Handsome!

The fae woman then raises her hands to run them over her horns as if sweeping back her hair, causing them to shorten and shrink under her touch until they're back to their usual convenient size.

"Speaking of horns, where's yours exactly, Big Guy?"

Swann gestures with one hand to the smooth stumps on Hellboy's forehead. He glances up at them before lifting his normal left hand to feel the mostly smooth stumps.

"Don't got'em 'cause I didn't want them. I used to be insecure about them as a kid, but nowadays I file them down for about the same reasons as you."

Hellboy gives a shrug in response. Swann gives hum as she contemplates what her fellow agent just told her.

"I suppose that's best for ya,"

The faerie woman then starts giggling to herself, causing the giant red man to raise a brow in confusion.

"What's so funny, now?"

"I was just thinkin' of ya tryna put on a shirt only for two absolutely massive horns-"

Swann holds her hands about a foot from her forehead.

" -to rip a hole through them, leaving ya stuck mid-dressing."

Swann then bursts out into full laughter.

"Or-or-or ya tryna to go through one of the doors at HQ, but ya can't cause the horns are too wide to let ya through! So you're just left havin' to figure your way in, only to get stuck in the doorway!"

A wry grin makes its way on Hellboy's face before he's too left chuckling at the ridiculous imagery.

"Kinda reminds me of when Mac tried to bring in a whole tree branch inside, but he didn't figure that the branch was too wide until after he ran full force at the door frame."

A moment of silence passes between them before both burst out into laughter to the point Swann has to grab onto Hellboy's broad shoulder to keep from collapsing, which is harder than it sounds considering how his shoulders kept shaking from the force of his laughter. Hellboy raises his left arm to wipe at his eyes for any tears that leaked out, which gives Swann a good look at a faded bitemark. A bitemark that's a lighter shade of red than the rest of Hellboy and appears to be the result of a large creature by the looks of it.

"How'd ya get that scar? Looks like it got ya good."

Hellboy glances over at the bitemark on his forearm and flexes his left hand.

"Yeah, but I'd say the mutated mutt got it worse in the end. I can at least say I'm alive."

"Mutated mutt? Do ya mean what happened last year in Rosemead, California?"

Hellboy nods.

"Yup. Guessin', you read the papers about it?"

"Aye, kinda hard not to when your face and name were everywhere.

"I can't help it I got a mug that cameras just love."

The giant red man gives an amused grin at his joke. Swann reciprocates his expression with one of her own and lightly elbows him in the ribs.

"Don't get a big head about it, yours is already large as it is."

"Guilty as charged."

Hellboy shrugs without an ounce of guilt.

"I'd wager though you got your share of scars."

"More than you can believe."

Swann glances down at one of her arms before adjusting the gloves to smooth out a small wrinkle, her grin falling ever so slightly. Hellboy could sense the change in demeanor from the smaller woman, making him furrow his brow.

"What kind of scars are you talkin' about?"

He asks quieter and gentler than his voice was just a minute ago. Swann remains silent, making no indication that she even heard Hellboy. The latter chooses not to push the fae woman, but that doesn't stop him from noting how unusual this sort of heavy silence is for her compared to her normal chatter.

Eventually, the silence is broken when Swann opts to shrug off her coat, revealing the white blouse with long frilled sleeves underneath. She then turns around and stands between Hellboy's legs to drape the blue coat over his broad shoulders. The large red man raises a brow but doesn't stop the smaller woman from smoothing the way-too-small jacket over him.

"You sure you wanna be giving this to me? I don't believe it's my style and I don't really need it."

The corner of the fae woman's mouth twitches.

"It's the best I can do given yer own was cut into ribbons, plus I can't have my personal heater turning into an ice cube."

"Touching."

Crinkle

Both Hellboy and his fellow agent turn their heads, Swann's ears standing at attention, in the direction of a familiar sound of plastic clinking followed by a light thump, followed shortly by a loud clink. Looking over to Hellboy's left side, they find a small packet of airplane biscuits and two mini bottles labeled "bourbon". Both agents look at the unexpected sustenance and then at each other again with wide eyes. Swann then gives a shrug to the large man's silent question.

"Even I sometimes forget what I keep on me."

Some More Days Later

After some thorough searching and Hellboy shaking the coat turns out Swann had half of another airplane biscuit pack in her and Hellboy has a mint broken down into dust in one of his pockets. While it isn't much in normal circumstances, to both BPRD agents, they may as well have found a feast. They both nibble their share of a cinnamon and sugar biscuit, both sharing half of one of the scarce biscuits while engaged in conversation with Swann still sitting in Hellboy's lap.

"....Why Romania? I figured you'd wanna go somewhere warmer like Mexico, Africa, the Sahara desert, the Bahamas, or Florida after this."

"You'd be wrong, Red. For one thing, I still have fur, so what may be mild to ya, is fiercely the opposite. 'Sides, I know a couple of great restaurants there, including one that makes some of the bleedin' best paprika chicken ya ever tasted."

The fae woman then takes another small bite from her quarter of the airplane biscuit, closing her eyes to briefly imagine the paprika chicken she mentioned; she can almost taste the delicious dish on her tongue, not the stale sugar cinnamon of the biscuit. Hellboy opts to wash down his biscuit with a small sip of bourbon, which is barely an ember warming his chest.

"You'll have to take me to one of those restaurants sometime then."

Swann gives a coquettish grin as she playfully bats her eyes.

"Are ya askin' me out on a date, Red?"

Hellboy's brows shoot to his forehead.

"Uhhh, no? Not really."

The large red man reaches his left hand behind his neck, suddenly feeling warmer than he did a minute ago. Swann's grin softens into a small smile as she turns her head to look up at him.

"Date or not, I'd be happy to show ya."

Hellboy gives a soft grin of his own.

"Sounds like a plan. Though, honestly,"

Hellboy leans back against the wall of the pit they dug, craning his neck to stare up at the bright full moon in the sky.

"I'd like to spend some time home. I know the Professor, Margret, and Archie must be scouring the Earth right now to find where we're at. It'd be nice to see them all again, and I'm sure Mac is missing me as much as I miss him. What I wouldn't give right now to be back in my warm bed with him. "

The large red man glances back at the fae woman in his hold, certain he would find her batting her lashes at him before making an innuendo; however, this is not what he finds. Hellboy finds Swann looking over at the fire with a stolid expression on her face as if in deep concentration.

"Swann?"

At the sound of her last name, the fae woman turns to look at Hellboy with a smile that doesn't quite reach her forlorn eyes.

"Ya lucky to have so many folks waitin' for ya at home. At least, I got Romania and all of Europa to head to."

Swann then gives a bitter chuckle. Hellboy doesn't say anything, pressing his lips in a thin line, silently hoping for his fellow agent to elaborate. His patience pays off when Swann gives one final detail.

"It's the closest I'll ever get to going home."

"Why? Are you saying that you can't? Actually, why do you stick around HQ and not Ireland?"

The faerie woman doesn't say anything in response, leaving them both in heavy silence once more.

...

Even More Days Later

Swann didn't speak much after mentioning home, barely uttering a few words. Even then, only when necessary, such as asking Hellboy to hold a few components of the radio as she got to work trying to strengthen the signal again. He watches as she screws and unscrews each piece in repetition with no real progress other than, perhaps, a way to keep her hands busy. While Swann is occupied with the hand radio, Hellboy looks over their remaining food, which, while not a lot to begin with, is nothing more than crumbs. The large man gives a sigh as he looks at the sad crumbs and dust in his normal hand.

"Any luck with the radio, Swann? Cause food's here is just crumbs you'd feed a mouse."

"s-s-sickner for-r-r yaaa."

The Fae woman slurs thickly in reply, stuttering at the same time from what Hellboy figures to be from the cold. He quickly takes the coat draped on his shoulders to cover his partner, even rubbing her shoulders a bit to generate extra heat. Hellboy then presses the back of his hand against Swann's cheek, finding that he may as well be touching the snow around them. He throws a quick glance at the small fire that may as well belong to a candle. Hellboy clenches his jaw tightly as he then looks back at Swann, finding her hands to be moving at a snail's pace and her head bobbing, causing her wavy locks to fall forward.

Before she could fall forward as well, Hellboy uses his giant right hand to catch the fae woman and tilt her back and used the other to place the radio down. He attempts to will away the way his heart started clawing its way up his throat by talking to his fellow agent and putting her coat back on her.

"Hey, Swann? Why don't you take a break from workin' on the radio for a bit? We're gonna need more fuel."

"A-ayeee... an féidir leat an fhuinneog a dhúnadh, le do thoil?"

"I have no idea what ya just said, but I'm gonna need ya to stay awake. Just don't close your eyes, yeah?"

Swann only lets out an acknowledging hum which Hellboy figured is good enough. He then snaps his fingers in front of the woman's cat-like eyes, briefly getting her to keep open without struggle for a few seconds before she's back to struggling with their weight. Hellboy ends up cradling Swann's shivering form, so small compared to him, close to his chest. Hellboy shuffles around, trying to find any flammable debris that both of them may have missed. Occasionally he would jostle her in his arms when she seemed too still, sometimes engaging in nonsensical conversation with her, anything to keep the fae woman from falling asleep and dying.

"I missh the soft ground a-and the grass 'tween toes."

"Uh-huh, and what else?"

"mo dheartháireacha agus deirfiúracha amaideach,"

Di gives a small drunken laugh as she gives a thousand-yard stare without actually seeing anything.

"plainsss, fielllds, winds... Jesusss I misss the aaaale...."

"We can get some ale later, but we can't if you go to sleep."

"Mmmmhhhh... souuuunds goood."

"I hope you mean the ale."

Hellboy moves aside a piece of metal that's roughly his size with one arm, finding something charred in the snow. He crouches down next to the partially buried item and uses his free hand to start digging at the snow around it. His face brightens when he unearthed a mostly charred piece of wood that could've been part of a door.

"Ah ha! A bit burnt but it's still wood."

Swann can only give a breathy giggle.

"bleedin' kelpies... gotta hog waterrr..."

"Right."

The large red man sits in front of the fire, its flames larger than a minute ago, thanks to the charred wood he found. Once he's taken care of the fire, Hellboy turns his attention back to the smaller woman in his arms, the knot in his stomach somewhat lessening when finding her no longer shivering as badly. To be safe, though, he takes one of Swann's arms tightly wrapped around herself to check her pulse.

"Mmmhhh... weak, but at least it's still there."

"A-are we in the w-wetlandsss?"

Swann mumbles out as she starts to kick her feet against the snow with barely enough force to flick a snowflake away. Hellboy is quick to hoist the faerie woman up more into his hold.

"No, we're in the ice lands."

"Ohhh booo..."

"Yeah, I know."

For the rest of the day, Hellboy continues to make nonsensical small talk with the barely conscious fae woman, which admittedly. During one conversation, he stopped to give Swann a few crumbs and the few drops of bourbon left in his small bottle.

"Cén fáth a bhfuil an fuisce imithe i gcónaí?"

Swann slurrs as she tiredly squints at the tiny bottle in Hellboy's hand.

"Sure is, Swann."

The fae woman then goes silent for a moment longer than he would've liked. However, before Hellboy could open his mouth to say anything, Swann speaks again at a volume her fellow agent had to lean down to hear.

"W-why can't I gooo home?"

"What's stopping you?"

"Them..."

"Who's them?"

The demon-like man couldn't make out the rest of what his fellow agent said, but they were swears and curses, given how she practically growled them out. Feeling it'd be better to get straight answers when Swann is more lucid, Hellboy changes the subject.

"You wanna hear about the time I crashed a vehicle when I was a kid?"

"A-aye...hehe..."

"Figured you would. To start, I love reading Lobster Johnson comics and I had something of an overactive imagination..."

Hellboy spends the rest of the night recalling his childhood and the places his job has taken him around the globe, having found that telling anecdotes from his life stories helped keep Swann awake. For the most part, he still had to shake her around to keep from dozing off. Sometimes, Swann would interject with some murmured commentary, which is how Hellboy learns that she's apparently banned from places in Sweden. Something about framing a giant talking squirrel for crimes she committed, but the large red man decided that's a question for another time.

...

He must've dozed off at some point since Hellboy opens his eyes to blink blearily at the rising sun. He then looks to the fire pit, where only ashes, embers, and smoke remains. Hellboy gives a heavy sigh to himself at the idea of scrounging up more fuel for the fire.

"Hey Swann, we're gonna-"

The large man is jolted fully awake as everything comes rushing back to him. He looks down to find the fae woman curled up in a fetal position on his lap with her back with a light cover of frost that gave an almost glazed look to Swann. He feels his stomach lurch as he raises a hand to her neck to try and search for any sign of a pulse, finding her skin to be cold as the landscape around them. Hellboy then feels it sink when he finds nothing.

"No,no,no, no come on."

Hellboy mutters to himself as he picks the smaller woman to squeeze against his body, which likely may not have been as effective as he would like given he's been shirtless in the cold the entire time, with frost forming on him. Yet, none of this bothered Hellboy, who starts rushing around the area with Swann still in his arms, desperately searching for anything he can burn while ignoring the hunger pangs from days of little food. While he didn't find any wood, he did find miscellaneous melted rubber parts from a variety of destroyed machines and items. Hellboy didn't care that it smelled worse than when either he or Swann would use a bit of their hair for kindling, as long as it made a fire which it did.

Sitting as close as he can, Hellboy sits by the fire again to get to work to warm up his fellow agent. After putting his hand directly in the fire for a few seconds, he rubs at her shoulders, arms, and neck to help give and generate heat. When this didn't make the faerie stir, Hellboy wracked his brain for anything else he could do to warm Swann up. He faintly remembers something about skin-to-skin contact being used in cases of hypothermia during the briefing before embarking on this job. Hellboy groans to himself at what he knows he has to do, but his resolve is steeled when looking down at the frozen fae woman in his arms.

Hellboy then starts unbuttoning Swann's jacket, enough so his left hand can slip down to her sternum, just above her breasts. He then starts rubbing counter-clockwise with the intention to generate heat to keep his partner's heart pumping. While not meaning to, as Hellboy was focusing on not overstepping his boundaries with the unconscious fae woman, he gets a glimpse of several stitched-up scars in the shape of claws peeking out from both sides of Swann's ribs. The large red man quickly looks away out of respect and embarrassment. He keeps averting his gaze from Swann as he holds her bare chest against his own bare chest with his beefy arms wrapped oh-so-carefully around her smaller form.

"I just know if you were awake, you wouldn't let me live any of this down. Right now, though, I wouldn't mind since it'll mean you're not dead."

Hellboy murmurs to the still-unconscious faerie.

The large red man sat there for what could've been hours, although there wasn't really any telling given how the sun seemed to barely have moved across the sky. Still, the fae woman didn't stir or give any indicators that she was still alive, not even a twitch. Hellboy knows he purposefully put off checking on the state of his only companion in the wintery landscape; which is why by the time the sun started to lower behind the horizon, he finally decided to grab one piece of metal from within Swann's pockets. Hellboy specifically rummaged for the most reflective piece before taking it out of his fellow agent's pocket and placing it under her nose. After a few moments that had Hellboy holding his breath, he takes the metal piece from under Swann's nose, finding nothing has changed for the metal not even the barest hint of steam.

"Swann? Swann? SWANN!"

Hellboy drops the metal piece to start shaking the unconscious, no, dead woman in his arms.

"Come on Swann! You know it's not the time to be foolin' around, Diyana! Diyana! Diyana please!"

After a few more minutes of futilely trying to wake Diyana up, the reality of the situation finally sinks in for Hellboy.

Diyana Swann is dead.

...

Hellboy may not have exactly gotten along well with the phooka, but he decided the best way to honor Diyana was to give her a proper burial. Well, as proper as he can with a six-foot deep grave, buttoning her back up in her coat, and placing a makeshift cross made of scrap metal. Hellboy has never really been to a funeral before so he doesn't know what exactly he's supposed to do. He spent a good part of his day just sitting at the foot of Diyana's grave, just twiddling his thumbs as he tries to come up with something to say, some nice last words, but nothing came.

Hellboy felt frustration bubbling hot in his chest and mixing in the heavy stone that settled in the pit of his gut. He wishes he could've done more to keep his partner alive, to not have let her down so badly. While he wishes he could've learned more about her, being stranded with Diyana gave him a glimpse behind the flirty and lofty persona of someone much more vulnerable, human even. Hellboy concludes that now, any secrets she hid, died with her, meaning he may never really know Diyana.

Hellboy curls up on himself with the two-way radio clutched in hand, the fire having gone out hours ago. He spends the next few days like this, slipping in and out of consciousness, only moving to eat some of the snow around him. Hellboy ends up staying in his curled position for so long that frost and icicles start forming all over him.

...

crunch

Hellboy slightly raises his head at the sound. What was that noise?

crunch

There it is again. The large red man turns his head in the direction of Diyana's grave in an attempt to pinpoint the noise. Could it have been some fallen snow? No, Hellboy reasons to himself. It's just hills and hills of snow all around him. Besides, he hasn't even moved from his spot to disturb any of the debris around him for days.

crunch crunch crunch

Okay, definitely not falling snow. In fact, if Hellboy's hunch is right, that noise is coming from-

Crunch Crunch CRUNCH

A muddied gloved hand pops from out of Diyana's grave, followed by another hand, then a muddied and snow-covered Diyana gasping for breath. Hellboy scrambles for the gun he swiped from the fae woman to aim it at the latter as she starts dragging her upper half out of her grave. He could only stare slack-jawed as his formerly, dead partner starts to sink a bit back into the loose snow before she starts to claw at the snow to get a good grip on the ground. Diyana's grunts and heavy panting helped snap Hellboy out of his stupor, making him rush to the faerie's grave to offer her his giant stone hand. She takes it, and Hellboy heaves against the snow and mud's suction around her waist to yank her out of the grave onto more stable ground.

Diyana crawls a few feet from the grave before collapsing on her back, taking huge gulps of air she's been deprived of. Hellboy stares down at her with his hooved feet on either side of her head, disbelief in his features. His, now-alive, partner lets out a few coughs before speaking in a scratchy voice.

"Why the fuckin' hell did you bury me alive?"

A long pause sits between them to the point Diyana thinks that the large man didn't hear her. She opens her mouth to repeat her question, but Hellboy finally answers her inquiry, gesticulating with his hands to hammer his words in.

"Why? Why? I thought you were dead!"

"Well, it's fierce obvious that I ain't."

Diyana then rights herself in a sitting position to stretch her stiff arms and crack her neck. She then starts to dust off the mud and snow on her.

"I-I checked for a pulse, and if you were breathing, you didn't have one, and you stopped breathing!"

"Technically, yes, I was dead for a few hours or so, but no, I wasn't really. Help me up, please?"

Diyana raises her arms up toward Hellboy, who obliges and reaches down to help the fae woman to her feet. It's clear that the long period of inactivity in the cold has affected Diyana's leg muscles, given how when she tried to take a step of her own, her legs wobbled before collapsing under her. The whole sight reminded her partner of a newborn deer taking its first steps. Hellboy helps her up again, but keeps an arm extended like an old-fashioned gentleman for Diyana to hang on to as she takes some shaky steps toward the now-extinguished firepit.

"You haven't answered my question, what do you mean you weren't really dead?"

"While my form is humanoid,"

Diyana gestures to herself with a free hand.

"... and follows most of the human anatomy rules, I made a few adjustments to it when I first conjured it, including hibernation for our sort of situation."

"You mean you were going under Torpor?"

The faerie woman nods.

"Aye."

Hellboy then proceeds to help his alive partner to take a seat near the firepit, carefully lowering her down in a sitting position before taking a seat next to her.

"And you're just now telling me this, why?"

Diyana at least had the decency to look sheepish. She places her tail in her hand and starts to pick at the mud still stuck to it.

"See here, Red, I really didn't mean to give ya such a startle,"

"Too late for that."

"... Either way, I was gonna say somethin' about it, but I suppose it slipped my mind."

Hellboy gives a few incredulous blinks. "Yeah, the fact that starving while in freezing temperatures leads to you becoming essentially dead to the world, is totally easy to forget about bringing up."

Diyana raises her hands up in surrender.

"Aye, aye, aye, I get it. But to be fair, I was a bit busy with other tasks at hand and I thought I would go into hibernation later."

Hellboy lets out a heavy sigh as he starts to slouch forward while rubbing a hand down his face and muttering under his breath.

"Goddammit lady..."

He then turns his head to look back over to Diyana with a softer expression.

"At least you're not dead. That's all that matters."

Hellboy recognizes the coquettish smirk that spreads across his partner's face and how her tail curls up in a tight "S" shape.

"Hold on, were you actually concerned for lil' ol' me, Handsome? I didn't think you cared so much."

"I was concerned about going crazy on my own, but at least with you still alive I have someone to blame."

Diyana titters in amusement with the tip of her finger delicately placed over her mouth at Hellboy's deadpan delivery.

"And yet you went as far to give me a nice little burial."

"It's not like I could've just left your "corpse" on the ground like garbage."

The phooka woman gives a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I wouldn't get in a twist too much over that, when I actually die, you wouldn't have anythin' to actually bury. I'd just return to the earth one way or 'nother."

"What do ya mean by that?"

"You'll know it when you see it."

Diyana ends on an, in Hellboy's opinion, ominous note. The faerie woman leans in his direction before speaking.

"Mind if we huddle up again? I'm bleedin' foundered from just having to dig myself out of the snow since somebody buried me alive."

Hellboy rolls his eyes but obliges and places Diyana on his lap.

"Yeah, yeah, I figured. I would've let you anyways so need to rub it in."

"That's grand to know, Handsome."

Hellboy didn't need to see his partner's face to know she was grinning. "This is only because we're in this sort of environment, so this is a one-time thing."

"I have a feeling it won't be just one-time,"

Diyana gives another low chuckle that causes Hellboy to feel more warmth building up in his body than earlier.

"but in all seriousness, I should warn you given our current situation, I'll be falling back into Torpor in perhaps a few hours to a few days."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Oh and Red?"

Hellboy lets out a hum in acknowledgment.

"When I do go into hibernation again, please don't bury me alive."

"Keep bringing it up and I might just be tempted to do so."

...

Diyana stares at the low fire while eating her ball of snow for the evening, cat-like eyes in deep contemplation. Over what? Hellboy doesn't have a clue, as he, too, finishes his snowball. He then wraps his arms around his partner and sets his head on top of her head in their usual position. Hellboy doesn't worry too much when he starts feeling a wave of exhaustion creeping on the edges of his mind, as even in this freezing climate, he doesn't quite feel the unforgiving bite of winter the same as everyone. He's about to doze off until he's interrupted by Diyana speaking.

"Do you remember our conversation about where we would go after this ordeal?"

The fae woman asks in such a low volume that, even when the larger red man gave a low hum in acknowledgment, he could almost write it off as something his sleep-deprived mind conjured. That is until Diyana kept talking, a little louder this time.

"You also asked why I'd rather mingle among our fellow human agents than head back to the Emerald Isle. The answer's simple, I can't go back there because, I was exiled."

Hellboy's eyes widen in surprise as exhaustion starts to fall away.

"Did ya do something extremely horrible?"

Diyana gives a dry chuckle.

"Depends on your perception of "horrible," but I didn't commit any crimes against humanity. In fact, it was because I tried assisting that I can never go back."

Hellboy shifts in his position to get a better look at his fellow agent's expression to gauge whether or not she's lying. However, a part of him already knew that was not the case.

"How was that deemed horrible?"

Diyana sighs in melancholy, her ears drooping to match her feelings. She then reaches out a hand to the fire pit, where the shapeless smoke rising from the smoldering remains starts taking on a humanoid form with a faint purple outline around it.

"Perhaps a bit of visual aid would help to explain."

Hellboy squints at the whispy figure his partner made, recognizing it to be a smaller model of the latter. He watches in quiet awe as Diyana begins to weave her tale with smoke and color.

"Hundred of years and many moons ago, I was the typical young faerie. I would run across the Isle's plains and hills to my heart's delight and play tricks on any passing humans on a whim,"

The faerie woman then waves her hand to make the figure representing her turn change into a horse, then uses her other hand to creature a human-shaped figure that mounted her back. Horse Diyana appears to snicker before bolting off into the air, running circles around Hellboy's head. The horse-shaped apparition then dumps the unharmed and discombobulated person to the "ground" before galloping off. The horse shifts back into a younger Diyana, who turns to spot an entire phantasm village complete with featureless and ghostly men, women, and children milling about. The smoke-made faerie climbs a constructed tree to watch the village from afar.

"Other times, in between playing tricks collecting trinkets, and shining baubles that caught my eye, I would spend hours observing humans and all their quirks. So fickled, many of them are, clinging to rules and then having to adapt to seemingly nonsensical new rules before deciding ta hell with them! Yet, I can't deny how fond I am of their creativity and ingenuity,"

With a flick of her wrist, the village becomes formless for a moment before splitting off into shapes consisting of heavy plows; musket rifles; mechanical clocks; wheelbarrows; a water mill; the spinning wheel; along with much more inventions that the large red man could only vaguely recognize from textbooks on the Medieval Ages. Hellboy can't take his eyes off of the smokey images as they move to reform and reshape the misty shapes into new figures, bending to Diyana's will as if she simply raises her hands. The images then solidify to show the younger faerie passing by non-humanoid figures working with hammers and anvils or on a loom, all to then raise their blades, chest plates, and robes in presentation.

"In that same vein, I would watch the goblins and hobgoblins taking the pretty baubles they collected to make splendid blades and armor for the fae kings and queens,"

Diyana then makes a fist that she brings down on the flat of her palm.

"BANG! CLANG! Went the hammers,"

The conjugated shapes of the goblins raised their hammers and smashed them against their anvils, with sparks somehow flying from within the smoke.

"WHOOSH! Went their great furnaces."

Smoke, tinged orange, surged from behind the figures before dispersing and adding to the weaver's loom; from it, they produce a long unbroken flowing stream of smoke that gently flutters in the air.

"How could I not also love watching the other faeries and queens create beautiful art resulting from all the dedication and intricacy equal to that of the goblin forgers? Eventually, I had enough of simply watching and decided to try crafting, but with my own twist."

Diyana then manipulates the smoke to depict her younger self using her hands to shape formless blobs of smoke before presenting them to changing crowds of faes, including ones with crowns on their heads.

"I would create enchanted clothing that not only was fit for royalty but for battle with layers of their robes and gowns doubling as an arsenal of blades or belts as whips and swords. Soon word spread of my talent, and shortly after, which were sought after far and wide by many kings and queen's courts, including their monarchs themselves!"

"Sounds impressive."

Diyana nodded in agreement without taking her eyes off the image she conjured of another goblin patting her younger self on the back while said self puffed out her chest and beamed in pride. With her focus diverted, Hellboy glances down at his fellow agent to find her pupils dilated and glistening. He then watches those pupils contract into thin slits and ball her hands into fists, the images darkening to match her change in mood.

"In my naive attempt to earn the praise and adoration of both human and fair folk, I tried to gift every human on the Emerald Isle items that I thought could improve their lives."

Diyana then makes a sweeping gesture to the smoke, causing it to writhe around before briefly stilling to create the items she then describes.

" Including mechanical bulls that would be more efficient in plowing their fields so they would not age nor become tired; small portions of lightning to help light and warm their homes; as well as clothing with pockets that are deeper than they first appear."

The fae woman clenches her hand into a fist, causing images, and the smoke disappears without a trace. When Diyana speaks again, her words are terse and have a venomous edge.

"Of course, the higher-ups didn't like that. They wanted to keep all the dwindling magic they could to themselves. When my mentor and the other royals learned what I did, they put me on trial. Heh, if you could call being chained up and forced to kneel while being scolded like a dog a trial. Even though, technically, by their own laws, I did nothing wrong."

Hellboy notices how his partner gripped her knees, causing the material of her gloves to creak. He's sure that if he could see her hands, the knuckles would be white from her grip.

"As the court decided my fate, I hoped I could rely on my friends and mentor, who encouraged my ambition, to defend me... I was wrong."

Hellboy looks back at Diyana, trying to gauge her thoughts, only to be met with a poker face that came from centuries of experience. The only thing to tell him about the pooka's internal state is how her tail twitched like an irritated cat. Diyana let out a heavy sigh, trying to push away the memory of how her mentor looked down at her chained form with disappointment and contempt etched deeply in his wrinkled face.

'If I knew you'd become a traitor to the wee folk, I would've never let ya step foot in my forge.'

She then takes a deep breath, her eyes burning with unshed tears. Diyana willed herself not to shed any before finishing her tale.

"After the court banished me from all of Northern Ireland, word soon spread of my... "treachery." No king or Queen's court would have me on their lands. Soon after, I was banished from setting foot in all of Ireland. So they put me on a boat with nothing but the clothes on my back, where it was decreed, I would never return to my homeland. Otherwise, I would suffer a slow and painful death before returning to the earth."

The pooka woman then leans back against Hellboy's barrel chest with her arms crossed over her chest. Without prompting, Hellboy wraps his arms around his partner, returning to their earlier position with him resting his chin atop Diyana's head. A veil of silence falls between them as the large red man contemplates and takes in what his fellow agent just divulged to him. Unlike when he buried his, presumably dead, partner, he's able to come up with a few words to say to her.

"... Do you ever miss it, your home? 'Cause for what it's worth, I'm glad to have you here."

Diyana feels her cheeks heating up and the corner of her mouth twitching, none of which Hellboy could see. Yet, he could hear the wistfulness in his partner's voice loud and clear.

"Aye, even with so many centuries have passed. I still long to run on its green grassy hills with the breeze in my mane; climb and rest in the woodlands, sometimes making small talk with travelers; drink from the marshes on a hot summer's day; pick blackberries in the brambles as a snack. It was once truly home for me."

"Do you miss anyone there?"

Hellboy catches Diyana's tail flicking in irritation out the corner of his eye.

"I doubt there'd be a welcome party much less a single faerie happy to see my mug. So they can all fuck their collective holes for all I care."

Hellboy lets out a chortle, which then breaks into a hearty laugh that proves infectious as Diyana soon joins in. A much-needed breath of alleviation both agents desperately needed.

...

Up high in the sky, miles the above the snowy landscape below is a chopper with the BPRD's signature logo on the side of the haul. Within the vehicle is Professor Broom and another agent accompanying the former in the search for Agent Hellboy and Agent Swann.

"We should be approaching the coordinates, Agent Muraro, but there's no sign of either of them so far."

Agent Muraro squints at the horizon, spotting what could be Hellboy's large figure crouched over.

"I think I see them or maybe just one, Professor. See something, anyway."

After landing the chopper, the Professor and Muraro approach the silhouette the latter spotted earlier. It turns out Muraro's initial assumption was correct as it became clear it was the two missing agents the closer they got.

"My word!"

Broom exclaims when he can make out more of the agents' states. Hellboy was hunched over with Swann's coat covering his back, although he and the coat were covered in snow and ice. However, the coat didn't do much to hide the large man's emaciated form, showcasing his prominent ribs and sunken cheeks. In his flesh hand was a similarly snow-covered hand-held two-way radio with some apparent modifications to lengthen the antenna. Similar to her larger partner, the faerie was covered in snow and ice with sunken in cheeks as a sign of starvation. Broom then takes notice of Swann curled up tightly in a ball in Hellboy's arms, one dirtied glove held over where his heart is and with both their tails intertwined.

...

Hellboy is the first one to regain consciousness, followed shortly by his partner, who's still in his lap. Diyana instinctively reaches for a knife strapped to her thigh when processing voices not belonging to her or her partner. When she opens her eyes, Broom and another man, another agent the faerie presumes, are standing on either side of her with a gloriously large campfire burning before her, melting the frigid chill from her bones with its searing heat.

"B-b-bruk Mor-r-rph..."

Diyana turns her head in the direction of Hellboy's groan, feeling his entire form shivering under her with both of them wrapped in a large blanket. She could feel his arms tight around her form trying to greedily take in her newly acquired warmth. Diyana opens her mouth to try and tell her fellow agent to ease up a little, but her words too came out as a jumbled mess.

" E-ee-ease u-upmh..."

"I think your lady friend is tryna tell you to ease up a little on her, kid. She's not a teddy bear."

The other agent speaks up for her. Hellboy glances down at Diyana before loosening his hold on her.

"Ssss-owy D-di-i-i."

Diyana gives a thumbs up to show all is good, not making any move to break away from Hellboy but opting to raise her hands toward the fire in front of them. Broom takes note of how at ease the two agents seem with each other compared to their usual quarrelsome interactions. Then again, he reasons, desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Professor then goes on to explain how the Bureau has been searching for Hellboy and Swann ever since they disappeared from the Ice Island for a little over six weeks. Finally, they had a lead when the U.S. department got word from Tokoyo that one of their whaling vessels picked up a BPRD distress call from the South Atlantic. Basically, the craft that took both agents ended up from the Earth's North Pole to its South in little time.

"...I can only speculate that the craft that brought you both here passed through the Earth, somehow. There are, of course, countless legends about the Hollow Earth, and hidden passages that connect one pole to another. I had assumed these to be metaphors for the hidden recesses of the human mind, but they may have a material reality. Perhaps those who constructed the craft had knowledge of such passages."

Swann then takes a sip from the hot cup of joe Muraro served her and Hellboy before handing it to the latter.

"Yer-rr... hmph... You're right the morans who had knowledge of the craft knew 'bout them and it's not too far outside the realm of possibilities for such passages to exist. We fae already use our own sorta of hidden passages to move from one place to another, however, while the Otherworld may be different in geography and built from the mortal realm it's still adjacent to it. I myself use but a fraction of them whenever I teleport."

Broom's eyes widen as his brows raise to his forehead.

"Fascinating, have you ever gotten a good look at these passages from within the Otherworld or this one?"

Diyana shakes her head.

"Nah, I don't really have to look, I more or less just know where I'm going when I'm in there."

"Genetic or muscle memory perhaps?"

"I would say more along the lines of the latter given I had years upon years of practice in regards to teleporting."

Muraro clears his throat to grab both scholars' attention.

"I have a question of my own for either you or Hellboy; what went on down here anyway?"

The man gestures with his head at the debris spread out around them. This time, Hellboy is the one to do the talking.

"Bunch of Nazis. Flying saucers. We took care of it."

Hellboy closes his eyes and takes a long sip of his joe.

...

EPILOGUE: Some Years Later

Hellboy and Diyana stand beside each other at the foot of a Queen sized bed with floral patterned covers and pillows. Hellboy glances between the bed to his fellow agent from the corner of his eyes.

"Um-"

"Let me stop ya there 'fore ya embarrass yerself. We can both share the bed. We're both fully grown adults, not some hormonal youngins."

"I guess you have a point."

Diyana then bites the bottom of her lip as her tail curls tightly on itself.

"But I wouldn't mind if you decide to have a ride with me."

"There it is."

Hellboy rolls his eyes playfully, not so surprised that's where the faerie woman's line of thinking went.

"In all seriousness, look at your sleeping options; we have one bleedin' bed set, there's a hard cold floor, and there's no couch unless you want to sleep on the small table and chair,"

Diyana gestures to the furniture placed right under one of the windows, giving them a nice view of the dense, snowy Norwegian woods with the sun dipping behind the tree line to bathe them in ethereal glow. A thick blanket of snow covers everything, including the only road leading to this middle-of-nowhere motel they're staying in. Hellboy then looks back at the bed before avoiding eye contact with his fellow agent.

"Remind me again why you didn't just spring us for a nice hotel?"

"'Cause the nearest one is about 70 kilometers away from where we're supposed to find some fire giants and this motel is closer."

"Yeah, that checks out."

Diyana then turns her head to look at her partner with a teasing smirk and hands on her hips.

"Is the idea of sharing a bed with me that horrible?"

"Err no. No. It's just, usually we have our own beds and err well,"

Hellboy groans with his left hand rubbing down his face, his tail flicking on its own accord. Without another word, Diyana grabs the pillows and starts evenly lining them down the middle as a barrier. When she finishes, she turns around to face her partner, gesturing to the pillow wall.

“Better?”

“Uh yeah, yeah, much better. “

Diyana gives Hellboy a soft smile.

“If it’s any comfort, it isn’t too different from when we ended up around Antarctica.”

“Right, just without the threat of freezing to death.”

“There we go!”

Diyana then crouches down to reach into her carpet bag to pull out a manilla folder with some papers, including pages copied from old tomes and newspaper clippings pertaining to the fire giants. She hands this folder to her fellow agent for him to review.

"Imma freshen up in the jacks and slip into somethin' more comfortable. Could you review the file meanwhile?"

"Not a problem."

"Thanks, Handsome."

Diyana struts past her partner, briefly looking over his shoulder to blow him a kiss before disappearing into the bathroom. Shortly after, Hellboy hears the sound of pipes creaking and groaning, followed by the sound of running water. He then sits on the right side of the only bed before opening the file and taking out a printed page detailing the fire giants' homeland, Muspellheim. Hellboy is unable to focus on the paper to the point he finds himself rereading the same paragraph over and over again without actually taking really reading it, his mind entirely on something not giant-related.

'What would Di's version of "something comfortable" be?'

In his mind's eye, he could see the pooka in a lacey nightgown that stopped just below the knees and hugged her curves in all the right ways, extenuating her lithe figure. The gown has thin straps, displaying her collarbone and a tasteful peak of her cleavage. Hellboy can almost hear Diyana's flirtatious words while giving her usual coquettish grin before it turns into a sweeter expression, her body language relaxed and at ease. She then opens her arms, beckoning him to-

'NO!'

Hellboy's head shoots up from his reading, wondering where that came from. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he groans to himself, frustrated with himself for conjuring those images.

'Come on, get it together! You're not some horny teenager that loses it by sleeping near a woman, much less a friend. You're a grown-ass man that can control himself! You're just sleeping beside your friend, not sharing a marriage bed!'

Hellboy lets out a long sigh before placing down the file, deciding to head out for a quick smoke. He just got up from the bed before the bathroom door opened with a large cloud of steam pouring out into the main room. Hellboy watches as Diyana's familiar figure emerges from the steam, releasing a breath he didn't realize he's been holding in relief.

Instead of the alluring nightgown he imagined, his partner wore a blue-green sleeping shirt with long sleeves with ruffles at the end; the collar was covered in lace but in a way that completely covered her chest and most of her neck. Diyana's lower half matches her upper half with pajama pants that only expose her from the ankle down. Instead of letting down her loose ebony locks, her hair is confined in a silky purple nightcap. Hellboy notes the single pink hair curler set at the end of his partner's tail with an amused snort. Diyana rolls her eyes with a small smile.

"You finished reading up on the file?"

"Yeah."

The large red man then picks up the file to hand to his partner's outstretched hand. In the back of his mind, he notes something different from his fellow agent's usual attire but quickly rationalizes it to wearing ordinary pajamas. He then goes to the front door with Diyana plopping down on the left side of the mattress with file in hand.

"Heading out for a smoke. I shouldn't be long."

"Aye, Imma do some light readin' here before turnin' in. Just lettin' ya know so you don't mistakenly bury me alive again."

Diyana could only see the back of Hellboy's head as he let out a pantomime groan.

"That was one time, Di."

With that, he opens the door and heads out, not having to look behind him to see his partner's amused grin. Later that evening, after deciding his head is clear enough, Hellboy steps back into the shared motel room. He surmises he may have been out for some time, judging by how he found Diyana fast asleep, curled up in a tight fetal position.

After hanging up his duster, Hellboy tries to move as quietly as he can, trying to be courteous to his fellow agent. Of course, stealth has never been exactly his strong suit and the fact he's walking against a hard floor with hooved feet didn't exactly help. He tenses up and stops dead in his tracks when his partner lets out a groan.

"Sorry, Di."

Hellboy whispers to the faerie who, besides a twitch of an ear, didn't seem to react to his words. Diyana shifts a bit in her slumber when HB finally lies down on the other side of the makeshift pillow barrier, causing the mattress to dip under his greater weight and the springs to creak, causing him to cringe.

"Sorry again, Di."

"Mrrhhh..."

Came the faerie's only response before stretching a bit and nuzzling into her pillow with her hands gripping the soft material. Hellboy glances over and suddenly hit him about what seemed so different about his partner.

'So she can take them off.'

He takes a moment to look over Diyana's ungloved hands, almost feeling as if he's seeing something he's probably not supposed to. Yet, he can't stop his eyes from noting her short black claws or the faint scratch lines and uneven skin from scars that dot the skin, possibly from years of working with machinery and or in the clothing business. If he were to hold one of these hands, they're probably a bit calloused from centuries of labor. Would Diyana let him hold her bare hands, he wonders? Realizing he may have been staring too long, Hellboy is quick to lie down with his back to his partner and a giant stone fist hanging off to the side.

...

Dawn barely broke out from behind the horizon when Diyana woke up. She lets out a yawn before huddling close to the source of warmth in her arms, her mind in a sort of haze as it stood between sleep and consciousness. In the back of her mind, Diyana finds herself wanting nothing more than to stay surrounded by the warm cozy thing and its pleasant smell that reminded her somewhat of roasted peanuts. Yet the sound of light snoring has Diyana opening her eyes, filling them with crimson.

She pulls away a little to find the warmth she was cuddling is actually Hellboy. She glances away from him to find the pillows she set up yesterday scattered all over the bed, leaving nothing between them. Sometime during the night, he moved onto his back so his massive stone hand was still hanging off the side of the bed, but his left arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Diyana is on her side, tucked against Hellboy, with her bare hands pressed against her fellow agent's chest, one hand right over his heart. While their legs were still covered by the comforter, the faerie woman could feel her leg hooked on the inside of her partner's leg, their tails intertwined.

Diyana feels the back of her neck all the way to the tip of her ears grows hotter with each passing second, unintentionally giving Hellboy's tail a squeeze with her own. In return, the large red man gives Diyana a small squeeze of his own while muttering something too incoherent for her to make out. After spending a few minutes biting her lower lip to keep from screaming, she then takes a deep breath, willing her racing heart to slow down, which works, sorta. Diyana could still feel the prominent blush on her cheeks as she tucked her head back under Hellboy's jaw, the sound of his soft snoring in one ear and the sound of his heart beating strongly in another. She then closes her eyes, a small genuine smile on her face, and lets herself believe that, just for one moment, they're not merely co-workers and friends sleeping next to each other; instead, this is a-

'No. No, I just want to enjoy a few more minutes of shut-eye.'

Diyana fervently tries to convince herself before deciding to just let herself relax in Hellboy's embrace.

When her fellow agent began to stir awake, the faerie quickly popped into the bathroom to get ready for a day of giant hunting. Back in bed, Hellboy fully stirs awake and looks over the collapsed pillow barrier.

A/N I have no regrets for making such a long piece! Stay weird, my fellow humans!

[tlacehualli]

@femtaile

The sun's setting already, although the hour isn't particularly late. Still though, she turns on the faint light on the roof of the limousine the two of them rented so she can see herself better in the make up mirror. The hacker had somewhat less time to dedicate to herself, so she's particularly cognizant of the edges of the lace front wig she's wearing. It looks fine - her dramatically colored hair is tight against her head underneath the cap the wig is partially secured to. It's a deep chestnut brown and wavy and the contacts that cover her cybernetically enhanced eyes are an ever deeper brown next to black.

This is what she would have looked like at this age, had she not become a cyborg. It's pretty. Plus it has the advantage of looking very natural with her skin tone. She doubts any of the fools they'll meet at the Gala will suspect a thing. Her dress shows off her back and along with it, all of the metal and tech that lays against her spine, but - generally that's covered up and the circuits on her skull are not. A good trade.

"Should be fine." She looks over at the Widow too and the Widow, even from the short distance between the two of them, looks remarkably human. Normal. Sombra did good work. Although the Spider's expression is still severe, drawn, worn - her skin tone is now a light tan with a hint of color at her cheeks, lips drawn in a deep red that echoes the mulberry shade of Sombra's. The hair she chose was a similar, deep red the color of merlot - the eye color she'd picked out from her many shades of differently colored contacts was a similar brown close to black like her own.

It would have been strange to paint Widow in Ami's colors. So she hadn't.

-x-

"You know, I've never had the chance to use clown white before." Sombra's voice is quiet, focused, like it is when she's talking to someone whilst a large part of her is distracted with something else. Her hand is steady, layering the stark white powder over the assassin's face, her neck, her ears - just about anything that would be visible in the dress they've picked out. It doesn't show too much skin - mainly because this process is rather painstaking.

-x-

The limousine's dropped them off now and Sombra's got an arm slung loosely through the Widow's. They're not here as a couple, of course, but the act of physical closeness would do well in deterring others from touching them. It's the 2070's after all - people didn't assume as much, but neither did they wish to challenge the possibility so openly.

"Just to recap. You're Madame Genevieve Rousseau, you are the owner of a small but very old winery in Alsace. I'm Rosa Castillo Rivera and I've been working with you on social media marketing." Sombra's voice is low, just loud enough so only the spider can hear her. She isn't distrusting on the Widow's capacity for remembering these little details - she's also reminding herself as well, so that when they reach the man who's asking their names in front of the building, she smiles more easily and slips into that role.

"Rosa Rivera," the hacker speaks indulgently with a smile that could kill. "This is my boss, Madame Rousseau. We should be on the guest list." Easy as pie, they're waved right on through and she's already getting to work in ways that would be difficult for anyone save the spider to read. She has one lace glove, colored in filigree gold (which is actually copper covered in a thin golden layer, connecting underneath said glove to the port in her wrist that connects to her spine), and the fingers on her glove are moving minutely. Her eyes are taking in everything as if she's full of wonder. In actuality, she's recording every piece of data that she can - auditory, visual, and any other sense she deems important.

They won't have that much time here so she wants to make the best of it.

-x-

"Honestly, all you have to do is just keep me from looking too stupid while I'm trying to get as much information as we can." The Widow's make-up is done and now the hacker is carefully winding her brown-and-lavender hair around her head along with pins that secure it tightly against her scalp. She has to be careful not to mess with the circuits on her head, but it's nothing she hasn't done before.

"I'm probably gonna have to get into a bit of jargon, which sucks. I'm gonna be your social media manager. I fucking hate social media but that's just a bunch of bullshit I can google. Already spoofed a huge Instagram account for us with pictures going back around 8 years. Here, I'll pass it to you." She reaches into the phone on the table with hardlight, then sends it across to the Widow's device. The two of them hardly needed phones, really, but it was useful when they were on the job and trying to seem more normal.

-x-

"Chido." The two are still arm in arm, now overlooking the gala. Filled to the brim with the sort of people Sombra deeply dislikes, but what she did like, what she loved really - was taking them for everything they had.

She looks over at the Widow and offers her a mischievous smile. "Ready to shine?"