#Tangos origin story

[montydrawsstuff]

Espio finding and taking care of tango.

He first found tango abandoned, a baby dark chao with a name but no owner. He found him to be very sad and afraid, obviously mistreated by his original owner. He took care of him till he could evolve but was not able to stop him from becoming a dark chao. He was nervous to keep a dark chao at first but realised the appearance didn't make him a bad chao. Now they're best friends

[post-apocalyptic-fantasy-au]

Tango's room was... not a cell, exactly. It was comfortable, and he had all the books and trinkets and furniture he wanted. He'd painted the walls himself, in fiery sunrise colours to match him, and the carpet was soft enough that his toes sank into it when he walked around. He even had his own separate bathroom with no cameras in. But the only window was a mirror on his side of the wall, and the door locked from the outside, and cameras near the ceiling monitored his every move, and he was only allowed to leave when one of the many scientists interested in him decided he could, and even then, he never left the lab.

Still, it was all he knew, and he'd learnt as a kid to make do with a little.

Besides, it's not like the scientists were bad to him, not anymore. After 105 years, he'd become a sort of mascot to the palace labs, and it was taboo among the scientists to mistreat him. The tests, while annoying, never hurt, and for the ones that did they provided him with powerful anesthetics that made him loopy and completely numb.

The tests themselves varied. They took cells from all over his body for the geneticists and microbiologists. They took samples from his scalp for the chemists trying to figure out how the fire on his head works. They tested how his body reacted to various types of radiation for the radiologists. The list went on and on, even after 105 years, of things they didn't know about him and wanted to find out.

He'd outlived four kings already, and more scientists than he could count, and they were no closer to discovering how much longer he was suspected to live. He still felt as lively as ever, so the general consensus was that he still had quite a while.

He was sitting at his desk, fiddling with the mess of wires and parts between his hands, when the door opened.

Tango looked up, confused, and saw Cub standing in the door frame.

"More tests?" Tango frowned. He'd already sat through a whole host of tests that morning; he thought he'd be free for the rest of the day.

"No quite," Cub told him.

He was a man on the shorter, rounder side, but you wouldn't notice, not with everything else going on with him. Cub was the lead geneticist in the lab, and often conducted many of his experiments on himself. As such, he had a pair of tattered wings too small to be anything more than decoration, borrowed from the genes of a feathered dragon; a full set of sharp teeth not dissimilar from Tango's own, with which Tango had seen Cub snap a bone in half, borrowed from a mermaid; and pitch black hair and eyes, as well as traces of death magic, from a dark elf. He was the only person Tango knew who was older than him, though no one knew which race Cub had gotten the longevity from. While he was by no means human anymore, he got away with walking freely around the palace without hiding any part of himself by being a perfect mix of friendly, unsettling and indispensable.

It was Cub who had first combined the DNA of a pygmy dragon with that of a human, resulting in an infant with a mix of human and dragon traits, ie, Tango himself.

Cub studied Tango for a second with those almost soulless eyes, before announcing, "The king is dead. The new queen has ordered that all Vis being held against their will in the palace be released."

Tango blinked, reeling. "What?" The king was dead? He'd only been crowned a few years ago - that had to be some kind of record for shortest rule of the era. And the new queen...

Tango had met her once. Rebecca Argnum. She'd come to the lab the day before she disappeared two and a half months ago, and she'd sworn that she'd help him see the world some day. Tango hadn't put much thought into it - her brother was still young, after all, so by the time he died, he would have children of his own, and Rebecca wouldn't be next in line anymore - but still, it had been an tantalizing prospect ever since. Now that it was suddenly a possibility - not just that, but a reality - he didn't know what to do.

Finally, he managed to get a question out of his brain and into his mouth. "What about Torchy?"

"Last I checked, he's still a Vis, too. He's as free as you are."

"But can he come with me?"

"If he wants to."

"Where is he?"

Cub eyed him up a moment longer, before smiling smugly, pointed teeth on display. "I sent Doc to fetch him. He's on his way."

Relief pulled Tango's shoulders downwards. Torchy, the pygmy dragon that half of his DNA came from, was usually in his room with him, but he'd been taken out earlier that morning for reasons no one would explain to Tango, and hadn't yet returned.

With the first of Tango's questions answered, the rest started spilling out. "Where do I go?"

"Wherever you want."

"Where am I allowed to go?"

"Wherever they'll have you."

"What happened to the king?"

"A group of rebels killed him."

Good.

Before the next question could make itself known, Doc M stepped up behind Cub, a tiny, writhing mass of red-gold scales twisted around his cybernetic arm.

"Torchy!" Tango grinned.

The dragon lifted his head, spotted Tango, and pushed off of Doc's arm, with a happy growl of, "Tongo!" Torchy struggled more with speech than most pygmy dragons, and often his words came out garbled. Most of the time, no one besides Tango had any idea what he was saying.

Torchy reached him and settled on his shoulders, twining happily around his neck.

"Don't use me as your errand boy again," Doc snapped to Cub, though Tango knew he wasn't actually mad.

Doc seemed intimidating to those that didn't know him, because he was abnormally tall, had a resting scowl and held a grudge like a champion, but those who actually knew him knew he was really a big softie. He was the chief engineer in the lab, often working side-by-side with the geneticists, and was almost as strange to look at as Cub. An undercover mountain nymph, he took great care to conceal his the goat-ish parts of him: he wore his dark hair long and hid both it and the goat's horns the hair didn't quite conceal under a cap. His skin was more grey than pink, and he had a goat-like beard growing from his chin. Much of the right side of his body had been replaced by bionics, leaving him with a glowing red eye, an arm rather more "muscular" than the other, and a limp due to his right leg being human-shaped and his left being goat-shaped. No one knew what had happened for him to require the additions, and whenever someone asked, he always refused to explain. Doc was the oldest person in the lab, apart from Cub, and took orders from no one except Cub and the king himself.

Although, it was probably the queen herself now, Tango reasoned.

Everything Tango knew about engineering and electronics, he had learnt from Doc. Everything Tango knew about genetics and biology in general, he had learnt from Cub. In return, Tango didn't put up a fight when they wanted to do any sort of test, even the uncomfortable ones. The three had formed an unlikely crew of mutual benefits and mix-and-match bodies.

Doc held out his flesh arm, a messenger bag swinging from it. "I got you food and some real clothes - you can't wear Cub's old lab coat in public."

Tango looked down at the lab coat he wore. It was scorched from where he'd lost his temper a few times, stained from where he'd spilled seadust on it, and torn from both his and Torchy's claws. Cub had gifted it to him years ago, after the previous lab coat got incinerated due to events entirely unrelated to Tango's flames, he swears it.

"Thanks," he said, accepting the bag from Doc. He flicked it open and peered inside. All he could really identify from the pile of folded clothes was a dark grey vest, though he definitely saw both yellow and red fabric beneath.

"Go get changed, then you can throw some of your things in the bag and we'll walk you out," Cub told him, gesturing at the bathroom door.

"Got it."

*

Half an hour later, Tango was standing at the palace's side gate with Torchy coiled around his arm, Cub on his left and Doc on his right.

He'd filled the messenger bag with books, seadust and seadust-related components, and as much of both his and Torchy's hordes - a small collection of gears and springs for Torchy, and a handful of pieces of wood he carved himself for Tango - as possible.

Tango loved the outfit Doc had picked out for him - though part of it was, of course, due the fact that he had never had real clothes before: in the summer, the lab coat sufficed, and in the winter he burrowed under the blankets and slept most of the time.

But he had real clothes now. The long-sleeved yellow shirt was tight enough to keep wind out and heat in, and the grey vest he wore over it was buttoned all the way down to keep it from flapping around. A pair of thick, baggy trousers made his thin legs look far bigger than they really were, fuzzy grey boots kept his feet warm, and fluffy bands around his wrists kept his hands from freezing off. Without the carefully warmed conditions of his room in the lab keeping him just the right temperature, added measures were a must to ensure he didn't freeze; as such, a long, thick, black coat lined on the inside with blue fur was hung neatly over the bag, ready for when it was needed.

Tango only hoped it was enough.

"Keep walking east," Cub was telling him. "You'll reach the Subsol Woods in about two days, if you make good speed."

"To du?! Toy cu wok to du!" Torchy protested.

"You won't be doing any walking," Tango reminded the little dragon, holding up his arm to look him in the eye. "You'll probably barely even do any flying, for void's sake!"

Doc chuckled, but then sobered up quick. "Just make sure you ration your food and don't eat it all at once. In the woods, you'll find both a faerie and an elf camp, though you'll probably come across the elves first. Tell them Meyer sent you, they'll take care of you."

Right. Tango kept forgetting that "Doc" wasn't the engineer's real name.

"Got it," Tango nodded.

"Good luck," Cub said.

Tango took a deep breath, and took his first step out of the castle gate.

"WAIT!" a voice called before he could take a second.

They all turned to see a young woman - barely more than a girl, really - running towards them. The queen.

"Thank goodness, I was worried I'd missed you," Queen Rebecca panted when she reached them.

She'd been crying; Tango saw the red rings around her pale brown eyes right away. If it weren't for that, though, it would have been impossible to tell. Her red-gold hair still lay in perfect waves, her back was still pencil straight, her head still held high. A queen through and through.

"Your majesty," Cub and Doc said together, bowing.

Wordlessly, Tango copied the motion.

The young queen waved her hand at him. "Ah, no need for that. Once you're outside those gates, you're officially free - you're barely even under my rule anymore."

"Oh," Tango said, because what else was he supposed to say?

"I wanted to give you this before you go." The queen held out a small drawstring pouch.

"What is it?" Tango asked curiously, taking it and weighing it in his hand. It was heavier than he expected, considering how little it seemed to hold.

"Something that'll help you later - trust me, it's saved my life more than once."

Tango started to open the pouch, but the queen hurriedly said, "No, no! Wait until you're alone."

Tango frowned. "Why?"

"It's..." She hesitated. "It's the sort of thing best opened in private."

"Right." Tango nodded, like that made any sense at all.

As he was tucking the pouch into the messenger bag, she went on, "I also wanted to wish you luck. I told you I'd get you out, and I did."

"Thank you," Tango said, and meant it with his whole heart.

Finally, finally he was getting to see the world.

He turned back to the city beyond the gate. He'd have to navigate that before he even reached the plains that stood between here and the Subsol Woods, but he'd memorised many, many maps of the country in his time, including one of the city as it currently stands. He didn't think he'd have much, if any difficulty with it.

After another deep breath, he took his second step out into the world.

And just like that, he was walking, a free male, his best friend on his arm and a mystery pouch in his bag, and Doc's call to "be careful!" in his ears.

He had no idea where he was going or who he would meet, but he was prepared. He was more than prepared - he was ready.

[gtwscratch]

Homeward

Summary: Sometime after Double Life, communications manage to get set up between Hermitcraft and EmpiresSMP. Tango tells himself he’ll apologize to Jimmy as soon as it’s set up (spoiler alert: it takes a while).

Part two of my little Ranchers story! I highly recommend reading part one first to have the full experience :) 

CW: None!

Word count: 1,202 words

[Part 1] [Part 2]

===============================

It’s… been a bit since Tango’s gotten to talk to Jimmy.

He didn’t end up speaking to the half-avian anymore after their permadeath, and since getting back to Hermitcraft, he’s felt a bit guilty about it. Sure, giving Jimmy space (and taking space for himself to cool down, kind of literally) was the right choice, but a part of his brain nags at him that he should have apologized. That he shouldn’t have left them on bad terms. No one knows when they’ll be pulled into the games again. They don’t know who will be pulled. It could be a very long time until Tango can properly talk to Jimmy again and apologize for what happened.

So when Xisuma announces to the server that he and Pix had managed to set up communications between the two servers, it’s safe to say that Tango is more than a little surprised. And when the surprise ebbs into anxiety, he immediately starts making plans to talk to Jimmy.

After thinking it over for a few hours, he grabs his comm and scrolls to Jimmy’s name. Tango is going to apologize. He is going to tell Jimmy how sorry he is, how much the Ranch meant to him—how much it still means to him—how he was never actually upset with Jimmy but with the crappy situation they were forced into.

He’s going to..

To..

Huh.

Tango’s hands aren’t usually this shaky when he holds his communicator.

It’s just.. It’s just because he has a lot to say, right? Yeah, yeah, that’s it. There’s just a lot to apologize for, and he doesn’t want to miss anything. Maybe… he should make a list? Yes! A list. A list will keep him on track.

Tango sets his communicator down and looks for a pen and paper, finding a crumpled scrap and a nearly-out-of-ink marker amongst the mess that is Decked Out 2 planning. He gets to work making a list on what topics he wants to talk about.

1.) He’s sorry for yelling at Jimmy.

2.) The Ranch always meant something.

3.) He never blamed Jimmy for their permadeath.

4.) He wants to start over.

Tango looks long and hard at the list, going over it again and again to make sure he hasn’t missed anything. He picks up his comm again, but.. it still doesn’t feel right. Maybe getting Impulse or Etho to look it over and make sure it’s good will help with his nerves? Once again, another great idea. He hastily grabs the paper and shoves it into his pocket before equipping his elytra and going off to talk to his friends, leaving his communicator behind.

===============================

This goes on for days, and then weeks, and then months. Tango keeps making excuses on why he can’t talk to Jimmy yet, even ignoring any messages that Jimmy’s sent. It’s not at all that he doesn’t want to talk to his rancher friend. He desperately wants to set things right! He’s just.. absolutely terrified that Jimmy will never forgive him and that they’ll never have each other like they did before.

So… yeah. No pressure.

One day, when Tango is about to wrangle the ravagers back into their proper places inside the dungeon, his comm pings. He pulls it out and sees that Grian has sent a message to everyone.

<Grian> Everyone meet at the Rift

<Grian> Something weird is happening

About fifteen-ish minutes later, all of the Hermits are in the cave where the Rift appeared. Tango can’t say he’s been here very often, but even in his short visits, it’s given him the heebie jeebies. Despite Tango’s few and far between visits, even he can tell that the Rift is different. Its regular light purple glow has turned into something much darker, and the usually-calm surface swirls angrily, like a Nether portal but worse.

Grian claps his hands to get everyone’s attention, quieting the Hermits’ chatter down. “Right, so when I woke up this morning and came down here, the Rift was like this.”

Cleo crosses her arms, tilting their head to the side. “And this needed everyone’s attention because…?”

Something flashes in Grian’s eyes, so fast that Tango figures that he’s imagining things. “I think we should go through.”

That receives quite a few mixed reactions, some of the more easygoing (*cough cough* reckless and chaotic *cough cough*) members simply shrug and nod, ready to do whatever. Others are more hesitant, in the middle of big projects and not wanting to leave them unattended for any extended period of time.

“Quick question,” Impulse speaks up from the crowd, “do we have any idea what’s on the other side?”

“Oh, not a clue,” Grian responds with a smile. “I just have a feeling that it’ll be fun.”

“A feeling?��� Xisuma questions.

Grian hums his confirmation, his grin only growing. “A feeling.”

After a few long moments, Xisuma sighs. “Alright, anyone who wants to go in can go. I’ll be going to make sure some of you,” he makes a pointed look at Grian who just grins even wider, “don’t get into too much trouble.”

One by one, Hermits start to walk into the portal, a few staying behind. Tango should stay behind. He still has a bunch of work to do on Decked Out 2, but.. a break sounds really nice. He’s long overdue for some relaxation, and maybe once his head is cleared, he can actually message Jimmy to talk about things. Of all of Tango’s procrastinating plans, this one is by far the best one, he thinks. 

He waves to the Hermits who’ve decided to stay behind, and he walks through the portal. It’s a weird sensation, unlike going through a Nether or End portal. It feels like he’s moving through cold honey, and Tango thinks he’s in that space between dimensions for much longer than usual. When he finally exits the portal, he stumbles onto the stone on the other side, being caught by Impulse before he can fall. Tango looks around, a bit surprised to see structures off in the distance. 

Must be another server,  he thinks to himself. To double check, he pulls up the tabs list on his comm to see if there are other people who aren’t Hermits present, and he quickly sees that he was right. With their group's arrival, it seems as if they’ve doubled the player count on this server.

Tango glances over the names, wondering if he’ll recognize any of them and he’s pleasantly surprised to see so many names from the Life Games, looking forward to talking with them without the whole threat of ‘we need to kill each other eventually’ looming above them. And then he sees it.

Towards the bottom of the list, sitting right above his own name, lies the name SolidarityGaming.

Oh.

Oh shit.

They’re on the EmpiresSMP server.

Tango quickly turns around to dart back through the portal, but it’s already closed. And if Grian said it was just active like it was when he went down to check on it, then they have no way to get back to the Hermitcraft server. Which means Tango is stuck here. It means he can’t avoid his dread or Jimmy anymore.

===============================

So, remember when I said this was going to be a two-parter?

What if... I told you guys that while I was writing this, I changed my mind and made it three parts???

Uh.. surprise?

[writingdevil]

Spark-[Hermittober24 Day Three]

(Warning-Violence,death,being burnt alive- Prompt list created by @collierose1 )

Xisuma hummed,flying through the night sky,his obsidian dragon wings melting almost perfectly with the darkness of the night.

The dragon hybrid flew through the air gracefully, looking for the next best thing for his treasure.He needed more gold for his horde,and he refused to stop until he knew that it would make his treasure more extraordinary.

"Oh,there we are,"he said happily,spotting a nice little village in the distance,a warm glow lighting the area up,like a welcoming beacon for all-and it would be rude of Xisuma not to answer that call.

He twisted his body around,letting the moon shine down on his dark scales and horns,even through his helmet,as he quickly fell through the sky, hurdling further and further to the village.He even put his hands behind his head, humming a tune to himself,until he began to hear gasps of surprise and yells of shock from the residents of the village.

At the very last moment,Xisuma growled in excitement,spinning around so swiftly that he knew he looked like a dark blur,and he spread his wings out wide to catch himself,and he easily glided onto the ground.

Xisuma smiled at his own landing,satisfied,then gazed at the village around him.Unsuprisingly,he had garnered a crowd,but that was exactly why he made his entrance that way-to get everyone's attention.It would make things go a lot smoother for them.

People were either staring at him in fear or shock, probably having never seen a real dragon hybrid before,which was a shame.Xisuma would love to mingle with soft little humans more,but he was constantly busy.

But this was as good a chance as any,so he smiled brightly at them all,waving enthusiastically as he said,"Hello everyone!It's a beautiful night for a fly if I do say so myself."

There was a round of hushed whispering going through the crowd,and people were either clinging to each other's arms,or giving him wary looks. Well, no matter.You can't change who you were.

He wasted no time in asking,"Can I ask a favour of you all,actually?"He saw some people instantly reaching for the swords at their hips,or raising shields in front of them,but that just made him lightly chuckle,hoping that his helmet muffled the sound.

He was a dragon,one spark from him and he could burn half the world down.

But that wouldn't be very fun,so he didn't think about doing it too much.

"I've been searching far and wide for some pretty pieces for my treasure,and I was wondering if you kind people could help me out."

Nobody answered him,continuing to give him apprehensive looks.He sighed,then growled out, "Gold,if you please."

Xisuma chuckled in amusement as some people jumped and yelped in fright,and some were instantly patting themselves down for anything of value to give.Xisuma never really minded what it was they gave him,as long as it made his horde bigger,and more glorious.

The most people could give him were some golden armour,or any small pieces of jewellery that they were wearing.No matter-Xisuma was more than pleased with what he had received.He should remember the location of this village so that he could come back to it.

The next few minutes were filled with Xisuma stuffing his new possessions into his inventory,the urge to just fly off and place them with his treasure, getting stronger by the second.

But then-he spotted something just out of the corner of his vision,and his tail almost wagged at the sight of it.

It was a redstone block.

It shouldn't matter much to a dragon,but it meant a lot to a redstoner like Xisuma.He had used the last of his redstone supplies on a little project,and he knew that his treasure would love this addition.

"Excuse me,"he politely said,pointing over to the block "but can you also bring me that,please?"

"No!"

...What?

Xisuma felt heat travelling up his throat,as he slowly turned to face the foolish man who denied him what he deserved.

Spark.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me!No!"the man yelled in anger,body trembling in a way that Xisuma knew meant he was terrified."You've already intimidated us into giving you our gold,and that's all you'll get, you greedy lizard!"

Spark.

Xisuma could feel something igniting at the back of his throat,bubbling up until smoke began to drift out from the corners of his mouth,fogging up his helmet quickly,but he didn't care.He didn't care about these people.

"That block powers my entire house-"

"Oh really?Is that all then?"

Some people had backed away once the shouting began,but many had drawn courage from it,more weapons being pointed at him then before,but they were merely kindling for Xisuma.

He lifted the helmet from his face,just enough so that his mouth was exposed and the torrent of ashy smoke poured out of him,and he simply said,"Well,I can fix that."

Fire!

Xisuma barely had to take a deep breath in,before he roared at the house,sending a stream of blazing fire at it,and the puny little cottage caught fire instantly,and he reckoned that it wouldn't even take ten minutes before it was nothing but ash and cinder.

"GET HIM!"

"Oh,goodness."

Arrows,potions,and trident came flying at him,but Xisuma just hummed as he took off into the air and batted them all away,feeling lava under his veins,a need to feel the scorching heat on his scales-

-and all it took was a single spark of flames.

Xisuma cackled,as waves and waves of fire poured out of him,catching everything and everyone in its wake.There were screams in his ears,but Xisuma could only focus and appreciate the crackling of the flames.

He is a dragon.

He destroys anything that threatens his treasure.

His heart is a blazing inferno,and he doesn't give a damn about who gets caught in it.

*

Xisuma smiled as he flew closer to his cave,his home,and he spotted something with a red,scaly tail moving around.

"Guess who's back!"

Xisuma landed at the entrance of his cave,redstone block tucked under his shoulder,as a small boy with red wings and scales ran up,messy black hair amongst horns,and a joy in his golden eyes that Xisuma will never get tired of seeing.

"Daddy!"

"My little treasure!"

His son ran up to him,and Xisuma wasted no time in picking him up with one arm,bouncing him in the air and making him squeal in delight.

"I missed you,my little Mumbo Jumbo!"

"I missed you too Daddy!"

Xisuma's face hurt with how hard he was smiling, and he let Mumbo clumsily take his helmet off,so he could see the happiness in his son's face all the more clearly.

He gestured towards the redstone block and said, "Do you like the gift I got you?I think you'll be chuffed to bits."

Mumbo's face scrunched up in confusion,until he glanced down and saw the block,apparently having not noticed it before,then screamed in delight.

"Yay!More redstone!Thank you,thank you,thank you,Daddy!I love you!"

Xisuma smiled softly,and hugged his son close, because this was a treasure worth burning for.

"I love you too,my little treasure."

[featheredenby]

Ranchers Apocalypse AU Chapter One

“It’s been thirty-six days since the world started to fall into pieces and as I was in the city where the outbreak started I had to flee with the supplies that I managed to find in my apartment. I saw the chaos in the streets and as fast as I could I gathered my things and left.”

Written by: FeatheredEnby

Word Count: 1,714

Part One of: Ranchers Apocalypse AU (Based off of hybbart’s art series)

A Ranchers Centric Zombie Apocalypse AU

The Hermit Times - Live News Channel Transcript - October Fourteenth, 2020

Reported on by: Grian X. Helios

Grian X. Helios : Excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?

Gemini Tay  : [Breathing Heavily] Yes?

Grian X. Helios : What exactly happened here?

Gemini Tay  : I’m not entirely sure, we were conducting an experiment and something went wrong, you have to go!

Grian X. Helios : May I inquire as to why?

Gemini Tay  : It’s not safe we need to leave, that’s all I know.

Grian X. Helios : Miss, I’m a reporter and I really need to-

Gemini Tay  : No! You really don’t understand do you? I was there and something happened, like I said I don’t know what but it’s not safe.

Grian X. Helios : Are you sure? It might not be as bad as you say-

Gemini Tay  : No, I’ve already told you. We have to go, I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but listen to me when I say that it not sa-

Zombie in the back : Uuuuurgh.

Grian X. Helios : [Jumping up] What the hell is that?!?

Gemini Tay  : I don’t know! Just run and put down that camera!

[More groans can be heard in the background and panic ensues. The camera is dropped and static starts to play.]

-

Journal Of Tango Tek

November Seventeenth, 2020

It’s been thirty-six days since the world started to fall into pieces and as I was in the city where the outbreak started I had to flee with the supplies that I managed to find in my apartment. I saw the chaos in the streets and as fast as I could I gathered my things and left. As I ran away I saw a few of my friends going in any direction that they could head. Let's just say that I hope to eventually find them again. I stole a bike that someone had abandoned on the edge of the road and rode it out of the city until I reached a stone quarry where one of the tires popped. I searched around the area but found no supplies of use. The place had clearly been abandoned for a long amount of time. Every so often as I travel across the expanse of the area I hear the groans of the undead and even less frequently I see their faces. They don’t appear to have noticed me so I’m continuing forward.

It’s started to rain so I have lit a torch and taken refuge in an abandoned mine. I just have to hope that the light of the flame doesn’t attract any zombies. However, given the fact that my hair is made of fire and my tail ends in a flame I think it’s likely that the torch will attract them. I’m currently sitting in a deeper cave that the mine has granted me access to, now my only concern is the monsters that often inhabit areas this deep.

Water started to drip into the cave I was sitting in so I have started moving farther into the darkness of this mine. I can’t imagine how it’s getting down here but I have no interest in trying to keep my tail and hair lit so I journeyed down but as I wandered I found a canary hybrid seemingly knocked out in one of the caves. I decided that it might be helpful to have someone to continue my trek with. I warmed them up and gave them an oxygen mask that I found while going deeper into the cave system. It could still be a while before they wake up however it will be very much worth it when they do as I will have a companion and canary hybrids are known to have a good sense when it comes to danger.

About an hour ago the person that I found woke up and introduced himself as Jimmy. He doesn’t seem to remember how he ended up down here but he has agreed to join me in my travels as long as I help him with oxygen filters. This isn’t too much of an issue. We’re planning on leaving the caves when the rain stops tomorrow. It’s nice to have some company again.

Journal Of Tango Tek

November Twenty-Sixth, 2020

The rain lasted longer than expected so we only ended up leaving the caves a few days ago. While Jimmy and I waited we discussed what we had been doing when this chaos started. Apparently he had gone shortly after the apocalypse started and found a patch of bad air which luckily only caused him to pass out. I explained to him how I had ended up there and he suggested that we head over to a different nearby city to salvage supplies and I agreed. Once the rain stopped we started the trek back out of the cave system and thanks to his senses managed to avoid any monsters that could be lurking around. When we exited the quarry we headed north for a few miles to Double City where we found an abandoned strip mall. When we entered we looked around for a bit and found some concentrated oxygen and a few other supplies. We made camp in the back of the food court so that Jimmy could rest and I could try to get the oxygen machine working. We found some signs of recent struggles but Jimmy couldn’t hear anything so we waited there for a few hours.

Once we had rested up we started heading to the nearby children's hospital to find proper tools to use so that I could repair the oxygen machine for Jimmy. We should arrive there tomorrow night and are hoping that no one dangerous has claimed it as theirs. However if there are people at the hospital it’s possible that we could trade some help in exchange for medical care and a working machine and full oxygen tanks.

Journal Of Tango Tek

November Twenty-Seventh, 2020

Earlier today we arrived at the children’s hospital and found that two shady fellas had set up inside of it. One of them has brown hair and also used oxygen tubes. He introduced himself as Scar and the other, who has black hair and is wearing a lab coat, said his name is Cub. They agreed to help us with getting the filter set up in exchange for us helping with work around the place. The two of them seem to be pretty nice but despite this and the important services that they provide not many other survivors have visited so far. I can’t quite place my finger on why but then again there aren’t many things that I can understand about our current situation. It’s especially hard to wrap my head around how the world collapsed so easily. There are plenty of militaries on the earth and the outbreak could have easily been contained if people put their minds to it. I guess that in the panic people might have just not been able to properly contact authorities.

I’m planning on staying here with Jimmy, Scar, and Cub for a few days while we help with work and I get the oxygen tanks properly set up. I’m very busy with it and might not write again for the duration of our time here unless something noteworthy happens but until then it’ll be nice to get a longer rest in.

Journal Of Tango Tek

December First, 2020 

It’s been a few days and me and Jimmy are planning on leaving the children’s hospital and taking a shortcut through the city. We helped Scar and Cub get some things sorted out and they gave us some medicine for the road. We’re getting ready to leave now and Jimmy’s pretty nervous as things are fine here, but we barely know these people. There’s also the fact that eventually our supplies will run out. I’ll add more to this entry once we get through the city.

It’s Jimmy not Tango putting in this entry, we tried to shortcut through the city but ran into some… unpleasant people. Tango got hurt pretty badly, I got hurt too but it’s much worse for Tango. It might be a while before we can try to steal our stuff back but we need to find a place to stay since we can’t get back to the children’s hospital without our supplies. 

I had to carry Tango around while searching for medicine and I found a seemingly empty gas station. I walked into it and found it uninhabited until someone walked around the corner. He greeted us and offered to help with the few medical supplies he has. I learned that his name is Keralis, he doesn’t seem to have the best medical skills but it’s the best option that we have. Hopefully Tango will become coherent soon.

Journal Of Tango Tek

December Fourth, 2020 

Winter has started to arrive and with our luck as I’m recovering from my injuries I caught a cold. We might end up having to stay with Keralis’s group for a while with how things are going. The good news is that they have generators and were able to steal some of our stuff back, they were kind enough to replace some of the supplies that they couldn’t take back. I’m concerned about Jimmy though as he’s wearing himself a bit thin. I should be better in a few days and once I’m better we’re planning to try and find a vehicle to hotwire from a nearby parking lot. The gas station has become a little bit snowy, so Jimmy’s been staying inside with me.

Journal Of Tango Tek

December Sixth, 2020 

I’m feeling much better today so Jimmy and I got ready and another person who’s living there, named xB, showed us the way to the parking garage. The garage seemed pretty safe and stable except for a large part that was overtaken by veins of sculk. We wandered around it for a while until Jimmy heard a strange whining sound coming from a corner of the area. This of course led to a precarious situation staring down a terrified dog? It might have just been a small wolf. Anyways it had been abandoned to the infection of fungus luckily it still seems to retain some of its mental control. We managed to get some sedatives into it and Jimmy and I are going to attempt to remove the infection.

[cradletotomb]

just saw roxie hart hate. some people clearly don't appreciate a problematic queen.

[hermitcraft-8]

Deiforms, Chapter One: The End of All Things (Part One)

masterpost

“All roads lead to Rome” is a stupid phrase. All roads don’t lead to Rome. In fact, very few roads do lead to Rome these days, only five major ones, which is about the same amount that leads to your average shopping mall.

To be honest, there’s more roads leading to Rome, West Virginia, and that’s not saying much.

There’s the main road, of course, a highway that rolled through the middle of the town, which carried most of the passerby through, on their way to Charleston, or DC, or further. There's Church Road, which is more of a street than a road, and Penelope Street, which is more of a road than a street. There’s also a good few other roads, smaller, coming through Altus or Snyder, that carry locals and people who know the area.

In total, there's seven roads that go through Rome, West Virginia, which is two more than the amount of roads that go through Rome, Italy.

It was on one of these roads that Sean O'Lainey crashed his car into a mailbox, late one September night, although he didn’t stop until he reached town.

This was for two reasons- first, he knew who owned the mailbox he’d just bowled over, and knew that his consequences would not be particularly merciful. Secondly, and more predominantly, because he was drunk, and a little sleep deprived, and really shouldn’t have been driving at all. He neither thought to pull over or think to check on the mailbox until he was long out of sight.

But once he was stopped, he stopped for real, stumbling out of the car and sitting on the sidewalk, staring up at the neon light for the local diner- the only one in town. After a few deep, shaky breaths, he fished his phone out of his pocket, squinting at the screen for a few good minutes, before finding what he needed.

The phone rang for only a few moments, before, with a click, it stopped.

Neither spoke for a moment, before Sean remembered who he was talking to, before he remembered that he would have to be the first to talk, and sighed. “Hey bro. How much to convince you to pick me up?”

“Twenty. You at the party still?” The voice, a dry, hoarse, smoker’s voice came through, the faint sound of keys being grabbed in the background.

“Nah, I left, I’m at Frost’s.”

“How the hell’d you get from Jean-Paul’s to Frost’s?”

“Drove.”

“You drove?!” There was a long, fruitful pause, before a huff. “Did you wreck your car?”

“No,” Sean said, before pausing, thinking, and shaking his head hard. “I ran over the Robyn family.”

“What?”

“Not the family. Their mailbox. I don’t know why I said the family,” He thought. “I’m kind of drunk.”

“Man, you’re a lightweight. I’ll be there in ten. You gonna need to pick up your car tomorrow?”

“We have school, don’t we?”

“It’s a Sunday.”

“So…?”

A sort of huffed laugh, and the sound of an engine starting. “No, Sean, we don’t have school tomorrow.”

“Okay, then, no.”

“Yes, you do, or it’ll get towed.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Bitch.”

The line went dead.

Sean stood up, stretching his arms over his head. The air was finally starting to cool off, and the hem of his t-shirt wasn’t quite enough to cover his stomach. He shuddered and lowered his arms.

Sean was, to put it simply, an odd looking young man. He was tall, easily six foot, and lanky, with pale pale skin and a buzzed head of bleach fried hair. His eyes were mismatched, one pupil perpetually dilated and surrounded by pale blue, the other surrounded by dark brown. His skin was covered in freckles, his face full of piercings. His clothes were all the wrong size, his shoes held together with duct tape. He looked like a Frankenstein’s monster of a man, all the wrong bits in the wrong places, but the result was very nearly a positive one.

A car pulled up.

Unlike Sean’s rattly old pickup truck, this one was a good deal newer, and in a much better condition. Some would even call it a nice car.

The passenger side window shuddered down, and Sean stumbled over, leaning his head in.

“Hey cutie. Need a ride?”

“I’m not supposed to get in strangers' cars,” Sean fired back, but reached through the window to unlock the door, climbing into the familiar car that he’d been climbing into for the past two years without a hesitation. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“You didn’t wake me up,” Ash Costello lied. “You feel alright?”

Sean shrugged, letting his head roll to the side while he gazed at his best friend.

He was short, and stout, with a mohawk of curls that were ever so slightly longer in the back than the top. His face was permanently scrunched in a scowl, almost a look of disgust. He had the saddest little goatee in an attempt to make his baby face any less of a baby face, and it didn’t quite work. The braces didn’t help.

“You smell like shit,” He said, finally, glancing at the rearview mirror. “Did someone throw up on you?”

“No,” Sean grumbled. “But your cousin tried.”

“Kyrie?” Ash sounded nearly surprised. “Kyrie went to a party?”

“Yeah, and got drunk off his tits,” Sean picked at his cargo pants. “Think Lori drove him home.”

“Hm.”

Sean stared out the windshield. “Are you mad?”

“Mad at Kyrie? Why would I be, he’s 18, he’s a big boy-”

“Mad at me.”

The car was silent.

Sean groaned, letting his head hit the window with a hollow thunk.

This was a song and dance they’d done nearly every weekend for two years, up until about a month ago, when Sean had finally gotten his own truck. They both thought that would be it- the end of Sean’s pathetic dependence, the end of Ash having to haul his friend home.

“Why didn’t you call my sister?” Ash finally asked.

“What?” Sean scowled. “Why would I-?”

“She’s your girlfriend.”

“And you’re my best friend-”

“You don’t get it, do you,” Ash snapped, suddenly, stopping at a stop sign and twisting to look at Sean, look him in the eye. “She’s your girlfriend. You’re supposed to be her problem.”

Sean blinked at him, stupidly, before the words registered, and he clenched his jaw. “Yeah, well. Well… well-!”

Ash exhaled, hard, turning back to the road. “I didn’t mean… I don’t know, you’ve been avoiding me for this whole time-”

“-Have not-”

“You ditched me at lunch, Sean,” Ash cut him off. “You sit with her, and Dean, and that Robyn girl-”

“-Lillian, she’s actually really nice-”

“Sean.”

“Ash,” Sean whined. “I didn’t mean to ditch you, I just… you and Miki and Lori… you’re cool, but you guys are… you’re just…”

“Not cool?”

“No, you’re-”

“-No, no, I get it,” Ash said, firmly, pulling up in front of Sean’s house- not going up the driveway, just stopping at the mailbox. “Don’t worry about it.”

“...Would you rather I had called Madi?”

Ash stared out the windshield for a moment, before sighing, looking around, eyes finally landing on Sean. “No. Maybe, I don’t know.”

Sean hissed out a breath through crooked teeth. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Monday.”

“Whenever.”

And he got out.

Neither said goodbye. Neither said I love you. Neither said anything they’d always said. Ash drove away and Sean walked up his driveway, and neither of them slept well that night.

And somewhere in the world, an abacus clicked.

[dolores-hazy]

I think I like a mutual friend if it is what I think it is, then this one will be the second person ever that I've laid my eyes upon :)

Fascination to fantasies

Say you'll take a chance on me

Been fancy-free and now

I want to dance with somebody

Who moves to the same beat

On light as air feet, grooving in time

Floating along the street

Growing closer in glowing harmony

Grand steps tried with grace

A taste of whirlwind

Yet in the pocket of familiarity

Still passion plays across the floor

Dip me, darling, and grant me

Endless encores

[karimationkat]

Queen Cherry AU

Aka an AU where MT/KO & Purple swap roles with Cherry & Gold except their backstories are based on the canon avm stuff.

After Cherry finally got Purple away from Navy and wanted to make things right with them and become a better parent for them, only for minecraft to take them away from her. Not to mention that she was dying due to an illness she kept a secret from Purple. So, with nothing to lose, she decided to get rid of the thing that stole her child.

Gold, similar to MT/KO villain origin story, was in minecraft during a fair and almost got swallowed into a corrupt minecraft file but MT/KO managed to break the glass and pull Gold out of it. But in the process got himself sucked into it. Gold, not wanting to believe that their father's gone, went back into minecraft to search for him. Meeting CG and befriending them. No betrayal here. Later, while being in the outernet finds the wanted posters from Cherry and wants to help her. After finding out that she is planning to get powers to take minecraft apart, Gold immediately thinks about that maybe, while taking minecraft apart like a lego house, they might find their father in there and therefore helps Cherry.

[willowshine61]

LIFE SERIES MEMBERS ON WHETHER OR NOT I THINK THEY ATE DIRT AS A CHILD. (please do not take this seriously, everything here originated from my not very smart brain-hole.)

Scar: Yes, and he has a story about how one of his brothers convinced him to do it.

Pearl: Someone jokingly dared her to and to their surprise she actually did immediately.

Gem: No but she convinced other kids to eat dirt.

Cleo: Yes, but only like for a little bit when they were really little.

Lizzie: Someone told her dirt was edible and she fell for it but spat it out as soon as she tasted it and then proceeded to chase the person who told her around with a stick or something.

Skizz: Of course not, he instead stopped other kids from eating dirt and took this job VERY seriously (he did actually try it once but no one needs to know that).

Impulse: No but is the only one who knows that Skizz has.

Ren: Pretended to as part of a bit but accidentally actually ate the dirt.

BigB: No but told other kids that he has to mess with them in some way.

Martyn: He pretended to eat dirt to impress someone. They ran away.

Bdubs: Yes. While making eye-contact.

Tango: Almost got peer-pressured into eating dirt on the playground but chickened out.

Jimmy: Oh 100%.

Scott: What? Ew no way, why would he do that?

Etho: I'm going to say no but this man's real life is such a mystery that I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Grian: Yes.

Mumbo: Does falling on your face really hard into the ground count? But outside of that, probably.

Joel: If you ask him he'll respond with "well it depends on what you define as 'dirt'" and then will tell you a really bizarre short story that he probably made up but you're not sure and then change the subject.

[shepscapades]

37. GUY.EXE — Superfruit

Okay so this song started as a joke, because I wasn’t originally going to have Skizz be an android; I thought it would be really funny if this Normal Guy was just always surrounded by his robot besties and the Perpetual Odd Guy Out. But, the more I listened to this song, the more I realized how much funnier it would be if the narrative/this song was basically “Doc, Impulse, Tango, Etho, and Mumbo all set out to create the ~perfect android~ together but are ridiculously silly and gay about it, and also the perfect android ends up being Skizz, and also also the design elements suggested by our fellow hermits here are uh. Not indicative of anything at all. Nope!” And the concept was just way too fun not to run with :]

Again with this one, you really won’t get the vibes here unless you know or listen to the song— the second shot is actually a redraw from the music video, so kudos if you got that reference LMAO I was SO hoping someone would request this number, so thank you joi >:D Incredible opportunity for me to draw these guys with ridiculous poses and expressions alongside finally getting to share Skizz’s spectacular origin story <3

[c-rose2081]

A Tango of Fate

I’ve been asked about the ending of Legacies Undone before…so here’s some vibes.

Briar was never meant to have dark fairy magic, which means by the time Apple (kinda sorta) comes up with a solution to get back to their original world, Briar is completely overtaken by evil intent—as per her new part as the evil fairy. Mix that with the desperation to not fulfill her story as the next Sleeping Beauty and anger towards Apple for abandoning her to die at the hands of her destiny, she’s too far gone to reason with.

Apple meanwhile is now grappling with the realization that all of this was her fault. She didn’t listen to Briar’s needs. She didn’t pay attention to her friend who was hurting. She pushed destiny on those who weren’t sure, or were scared of their futures for the sake of her own happiness. Apple can only see her best friend in the evil, vindictive, angry creature that she became, and has to decide: kill someone she loves to save their world…or die trying to reason with someone who can’t be reasoned with.

[keystonepublishing]

Dirges in The Dark by WixWrites

Before I start, let me just say: Ranchers! Scarian! Hermits and Life Series and Empires characters! Sheriff Jimmy! Sheriff Scar! Criminal Tango! the Wild West! Treebark and Ethubs!

RANCHERS. THE WILD WEST. CREEPING ELDRITCH HORROR.

Whoo, that was a rush.

I'll be honest; I think this book would have come out much sooner if not for my decision to add-in a whole lot of stuff into the text and pages. It got to the point that the original cover would have been a wanted poster at the front and a sheriff's report at the back!

I had to restrain myself, lest this book would never get finished at all. It's already been 59 days since my last post, and doing the original cover would have stretched the days even further. So I had to follow the mantra: Finished, not perfect. Besides, nothing says I can't make another version in the future...

From the moment I finished this fic, I knew it would become a book. But at 143,412 words, Dirges in The Dark by @twodiamondhoes would stretch my ficbinding skills to the limit and would be the second-ever bind that would reach past 250 pages (the first was an MCYT Sleepy Bois fic that predates this blog that I want to redo).

Eventually, the full typeset took up 520 pages! And as such, I finally decided to use extra support for the entire textblock. From an old pair of pajamas, I backed strips of fabric with glue and paper before cutting it into tapes, forming a crucial support for the various weaves along the spine. I then covered the entire spine in brown wrapping paper for even more strength.

For the title and headings, I scoured for and found several typefaces, dingbats, and vector graphics which really evoked the fic's Western and Gothic vibes. I also took some inspiration from fellow ficbinders in the Renegade Publishing group for the style of layout and formatting throughout the book, such as using faded images in the background of these pre-story pages.

I wanted the reader to be immersed in the Wild West from the get-go, so having such images from the start — before the story even begins — felt very appropriate. I tried to make them thematic to the information presented, like a singing cowboy for the music playlist pages, but I think I made the image too faint to be seen!

As for the chapter openers, I experimented with some layouts before finalizing on what you see: photos taking up one entire page on the left with the chapter titles and opening paragraphs on the right.

Just like my last bind, I want to make the reader feel immersed in the story and also bring out the mood of that particular chapter. This, however, led me to entire days of scouting and scouring stock photo sites just to find the right pictures for 11 different chapters. 4/10 would not recommend for sanity.

Given that the story uses a number of foreign words, old slang, and specific Wild West-era terms, I added a plethora of footnotes at the bottom of some pages for extra context and meaning.

I also wanted to be playful and make certain story parts, such as characters receiving letters and notes, really look like they're a part of the story. So I cropped old paper textures and fished out old fonts from the past to make them look as if they're actually there, pasted against the paragraphs!

More importantly, there were some specific parts of the fic that felt super important and I wanted to highlight these passages, especially the Deals made by the characters throughout their arcs. Given DiTD has a certain affinity with eldritch darkness, I decided to highlight such paragraphs by backlighting them against a band of pure black. Besides being thematic as hell, I made the bands have curved edges and decorative lines to add a certain western-gothic touch!

It was from this that I begin to think "what if I can color entire pages to convey the mood and setting?"

...Which led to the madness in these pages. I can't reveal too much because of spoilers, but there are certain times when the characters end up in situations where the very light turns to dark. Or they end up in hellish situations. Or the eldritch creatures began to speak.

It took some creative brainstorming to figure out how to show the mood of such scenes in printed pages, but I eventually figured out that I need find the right fonts, change their colors from black to white, and then change their backgrounds from white to dark to highlight them all! The power of formatting!

There's a lot more pages where I went wild with such shades and fonts, but I ain't revealing in public because spoilers!

But undoubtedly, this is the biggest experiment I have made with this bind. There is a certain part where Grian and Pearl spoke in eldritch R'lyehian / Cthuvian, and I want to convey the sheer strangeness of the speech and it's meaning. Something outside the box.

Luckily, I have an inspiration in fellow fanbinder @mythrilthread, who made an amazing fanbind that used vellum overlays to showcase the speaking of alien languages and what they mean in English. AND IT LOOKS SICK AS FUCK. When I finished reading Dirges, I knew I had to emulate this form of language translation, so I printed the eldritch speech, cut it, and pasted it onto the spine to give a similar effect of strangeness, and IT LOOKS SO COOL!!!

And lastly, I just had to include some of the amazing fanart made by readers into the book! All of these are placed by their corresponding text and chapters, and they all look so cool!

So I want to give a special thanks to @azzayofchaos, @leafdoodles, @hybbart, and @foxyola for granting their permission for me to include their incredible works into this bind! The dark shades and page formatting is one thing, but these works truly make this book feel so much more alive!

All in all, this bind was an odyssey in the making. I experimented with page formatting, layout wizardry, and bookmaking methods that I haven't tried before. While I know I could do better, I am beyond happy to see this work finished!

And once again, a thousand thanks to @twodiamondhoes / WixWrites for crafting an amazing story!

[junkdrawerfics]

Giddy Surprise

Jasper Whitlock X Reader

Summary: You can't convince me Jasper doesn't miss having horses -> You have a surprise for Jasper. A furry, hay eating, clippity clop kind of surprise.

Word Count: 1082

Warnings: None, no beta, barely edited, I was really tired writing this, but I hope it's okay!

---

You are practically buzzing with excitement the second Jasper sets foot through the door. He can feel it all the way from the entryway. You don’t conceal it either, waiting impatiently for him in the living room, all but bouncing on the balls of your feet.

“Hey Jas,” you greet him with an absolutely giddy grin.

“Hello, darlin’.” He presses a kiss to your forehead like he always does, lips twitching into an amused smile. “How was your day?”

“Good, good, I have something to show you!” Patience really never was your specialty. Not when it comes to Jasper at least.

Originally, you had a big plan to reveal your surprise. You were going to pretend to read when he got home, let him get comfortable after a stressful day around humans, and then suggest going for a nice, mid-afternoon walk. That’s when you’d take him to his gift, and boom - surprise!

That plan went down the drain as soon as you heard his car pull into the driveway.

“What do you want to show me?” Jasper asks, already knowing you won’t tell him, but it’s worth the little conspiratorial look you give him.

“You’ll have to wait and see!” 

You take his hand and drag him into the woods, twisting and ducking between trees along a barely worn path. Jasper, being the patient saint of a man he is, follows along without complaint, content to just soak up the electric warmth of your excitement. You can’t even get a word out, that giddy smile never leaving your face, and Jasper can’t bring himself to look away.

He’s always loved the vividness of your emotions. Even when you were human, they would fill a room, your happiness like sunshine bursting through the heaviest clouds, your sadness like the weight of the air before it rains. He never could understand how one person could feel things so strongly. Not only that, but you’ve always been so unwaveringly positive, always smiling, always trying to love others the best you can.

Like this. He can’t imagine someone other than you being so excited about a surprise. Jasper doesn’t even care what it is. Your overwhelming joy is so pure, so contagious, he finds himself getting swept away in it, smiling like a fool.

It’s only when a familiar scent drifts past him that he drags his eyes away from you. You glimpse over your shoulder, catching the flash of recognition on his face, and your excitement only builds.

A few more feet and you break past the trees into a large field. Jasper comes to a sharp stop beside you, eyes going wide at the sight before him.

“Surprise!”

In the middle of the field stands a little stable, rustic and simple, with a gated fence stretching around the pasture. Right beyond the fence stand a small group of horses, grazing on the long grass without a care in the world.

You turn to Jasper expectantly. He looks completely stunned, lips parted, eyebrows shooting up. It almost makes you laugh, since he kind of looks like an adorable goldfish, but you smother it behind your hand. This was totally a good idea.

The idea started sprouting when Jasper first told you about his past. You remember the night, back when you were human. It took time to earn Jasper’s trust, but it was worth it, because that night he shared all kinds of stories about his childhood. It was the night you learned of his love for horses growing up, and how much he missed them.

So you got together with Emmett and Alice to design and build the stable. Emmett did most of the hard labor (you bribed him by promising to get Jasper to fight him again, since he was still petty about losing the last one), while Alice jumped at the chance to design the whole thing. Meanwhile, you focused on finding the perfect horses.

“The tan one is Whiskey, the appaloosa is Tango, and the chestnut one is Juliet,” you start, pulling the shocked vampire closer to the fence, “I was going to get just one, but when I was doing research, it said horses need friends, so I got three! It felt like a good number, and this way, we can go riding together!”

Jasper’s jaw clenches and unclenches rapidly.

He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know if there’s anything he could say.

When the two of you reach the fence, one of the horses lifts its head, ears swiveling towards you. For a moment, Jasper expects it to start running, as most animals do when they sense the predatory aura of a vampire. As soon as the horse lays eyes on you though, it gives a low snort and trots right over.

Right to him.

The moment the horse nudges its nose into his chest, something shifts in Jasper, like magic. The vampire loosens up, gold eyes practically glowing as he lifts a hand to rub its muzzle, the motion so natural despite the hundred of years he’s gone without being near one. The horse leans into his touch, head almost flat against his chest, ears flicking to the side as Jasper scratches his neck. A small, easy-going smile pulls at the blond’s lips, and you’re all but starstruck watching him. 

It's quite possibly the cutest thing you've ever seen.

“Do you like them?” You ask, barely above a whisper.

Jasper chuckles, ruffling the horse’s mane as he looks over at you, eyes warm, “Darlin’, this is the best surprise I’ve been given in a long time.”

You light up, “Really?”

He takes a step away from the horse, much to its displeasure, and wraps his arms around you instead, pulling you close. You stretch up to curl yours around his neck, humming happily when he leans down to kiss you. It’s soft, overwhelmingly soft, filling you to the brim with a fuzzy warmth. 

When he pulls back, he doesn’t go far, lips still brushing yours as he murmurs, “I’m certain no one has ever gone to such lengths for me. Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You are very welcome, mister. I'd go to the ends of the earth for you.” You give him another, chaste kiss, soaring on cloud nine. “Now! Why don’t you show me how to ride? I think they’re itchin’ to get out of the pasture!”

“It would be my pleasure, ma'am.”

Safe to say, you end up falling off a few times. Apparently the whole vampire grace thing doesn’t apply to riding massive, moving animals.

---

This came to me so randomly, and I loved it, and I don't think I did it justice, but I needed to just write it! I might re-do it, we'll see!

[alicerosejensen]

Tags: Dad!Leon(Older), Leon is the girl's father; fluff.

Warning: There are none.

He was really afraid of becoming a father. It's not so much the news of your pregnancy that scares him, but the likelihood that an innocent child may be harmed. His child. Leon is paranoid to worry about you and the baby. He'll probably get drunk before he puts that thought in his head. Don't get him wrong, he wants a family, he had plans after completing the police academy to get married in a few years and have two children, he still wants a family, but his fear devours this desire entirely because he knows that if something happens to the child and you one day, he just won't survive it.

It takes two to tango so I don't think he'll start getting angry and blaming you for everything. Leon just needs a little time, but when this happens and he thinks it over, he will want to transport you to some place that he thinks is safe.

You might have to get into a long debate with him, but this guy doesn't want anything like the Winters family to happen to his family. If someone kidnaps his child, he will simply go wild.

Due to the fact that he is a government agent, all information about you is classified. Also, if a bioterrorist attack suddenly occurs, you will be quickly evacuated along with your child. At least that's what Leon wants to believe.

The house will be nice and simple (perhaps like the Baker's house but without additional extensions) I think Leon likes something classic and cozy rather than modern and abstract. It is unlikely that you will be against it, especially since he does not skimp on quality items and excellent appliances.

Your child will definitely have a great room at all stages of growing up. But when the baby is born, Leon will still insist that the baby girl sleep next to him and with you for the first time. He would have put her in the middle of the bed, but since it was not safe, he agreed to just put the crib on his side. He's just calmer that way.

“Look, I found a catalog with a whole selection of cribs. There are different options, classic, round, even some very strange ones, what position should the child lie in?”

You will laugh, but in the end you will find the right option. Not too expensive, but first you need to explain to Leon that the baby in the first months of life will definitely not be whimsical in which bed he sleeps on. Leon, of course, knows this, as well as the fact that many of the toys that he has already ordered will not be needed by his daughter until at least six months, but he cannot do anything about it.

Choosing a name is a whole challenge. You two will have a debate about this when you find out the gender of the baby. Leon will want a simple name and will roll his eyes when you read him rare names from your notebook.

"Laura, Mary, Ashley, Sarah, Jessica, Kate? These names are for weaklings! Need something crazy and original, right?"

It will really be difficult, but he will win and his daughter will have a normal name.

When his baby is born and Leon holds her for the first time… you will see tears running down his cheeks. He would have kissed this pink, swaddled bundle of joy, but he just sat there, held her in his arms and cried from the fact that he was now the father of a little girl.

This girl will be lucky as hell. Her father would literally give her the whole world at her whim so you're a little worried that she might grow up spoiled. However, while she is a baby, your only problem is the fact that your daughter loves to be held in her arms because Leon constantly carries her around the house, showing her things and telling her some stories.

Leon will wake up at the first cry and immediately try to calm her down. Change a diaper? hungry? If you are not breastfeeding, Leon will easily prepare the formula and feed her. Sometimes you think that he is a better mother than you.

The best toys, a special children's area when your daughter begins to explore the world around her, beautiful and comfortable onesies. Your daughter will definitely have a bodysuit with the inscription "daddy's princess"

A stern special agent in the White House and on missions, Leon becomes an affectionate bear at home.

He is a truly caring dad. Watching cartoons with her, coloring coloring books, playing games when she grows up. This child is the only person who can attack him from behind and Leon’s reflexes simply won’t work.

Often he needs your help and advice on what to do best. He will especially need your help when her first childhood love and first broken heart happen. Because he can get really angry at anyone who causes his baby any pain. He really doesn’t understand how it’s possible not to love her, but more on that later.

At the age of 3-6 years, Leon can only be seriously shocked by some accidental injury or illness. Be serious but he will panic even if it is a common cold. You will have to work hard so that he doesn’t drop all his business and take your daughter straight to the doctors for all the examinations. Of course, you will dissuade him, but he will repeatedly check the baby while she is in bed. He will kiss her on the forehead and lie with her for a while so that she does not worry (even if she was initially calm). It would also literally break his heart if Leon heard you sneeze.

She will definitely be daddy's princess. She almost literally walks on his head, does her dad's hair with pink bobby pins and combs his bangs, and paints his nails with polish. Leon allows her to do almost everything to him. But of course he won't come to work with pink nail polish.

Support any hobby. It could be dancing, drawing or playing football. The main thing is that she likes it herself.

What Leon definitely won’t allow is to look into his safe where he stores weapons and ammunition. The password will be complex and only he will know it. This is one of the few things that Leon forbids his child.

He, of course, loves his baby and is ready to do anything for her, but… he won’t have a second child. Every time he returns home, a terrible thought comes to his mind: “What if something terrible happens to my family.” He often has a nightmare in which you and your daughter have turned into zombies, so he will need a drink.

I think one day, when your daughter woke up, she left her room and went down to the first floor, holding in her hands the plush bunny with whom she usually sleeps. She saw her father sitting at the table with a bottle of whiskey as he simply looked thoughtfully into his glass.

Leon, of course, immediately noticed her and looked at her. God, tears will immediately flow from his eyes when he stretches out his hands to her and your daughter runs to him. His arms wrap her tightly in his arms and pull her onto his lap. You will see this picture and the perplexed look of children's blue eyes turned to you when your husband is just sitting at the table, holding his beloved child and crying because he is fucking AFRAID!

You understand why Leon behaves this way. He finds it difficult to get rid of these thoughts because of his job. He survived Raccoon City, Tall Oaks, saved the president's daughter in Spain from parasite-infected fanatics, and a whole bunch of other crap that you probably don't even know about. He has every reason to be afraid and sometimes you regret that you did this to him. Although you know that Leon loves your daughter with him, the very thought that something like this will happen to her simply destroys him to the core.

Your little girl wipes the tears from his cheeks and kisses her daddy on the cheek, telling him that he doesn’t need to cry. Leon simply presses her too tightly, feeling her scent. If he could put an end to zombies and their creators once and for all…

Leon will take her and you back to the bedroom. Next to the two of you, he will be able to sleep a little peacefully, but you know that his sleep is never sound.

You try to talk to him but he pushes you away. He really loves you, but he hates it when people mess with his brain. Of course, whiskey is a bad medicine and Leon himself does not want his daughter to find out that her dad sometimes has the weakness to drink, thereby ignoring his problems, but still… no matter how hard he tries to be perfect, he is not perfect.

When your daughter goes to school, Leon will rejoice at any of her successes. She will also help with homework as much as needed. He will explain everything in detail, clearly and without shouting (sorry, this is a sore subject for me).

He will not always be able to attend school events, unlike you, but if possible he will not miss them. However, he asks you to record everything on camera.

Oh yes, on his desk at home there is a framed family photo of the three of you in the park, joyful and carefree.

So, adolescence is…complicated. Leon understands that his baby will begin to grow up and has no problem organizing small changes in her room. And he also understands that hormones are coming into play. Sometimes screams and anger accompanied by loud slamming of the door are simply inevitable.

That's the time when he can really start to get angry and swear in response, so you realize you need to cool his temperament… The truth is that you really have to punish your daughter when she crosses all boundaries.

Nevertheless, if something suddenly happens, she will always run to Leon, knowing that he will protect her. He may be angry, but as mentioned above, he will do everything possible so that nothing happens to his family.

Partying with friends at night? Absolutely not! Never! Have pity on the old man's heart. Leon will find a bunch of reasons not to let her go anywhere at night. After all, there will be alcohol, shitty guys who can offend her or get her drunk and take advantage of this by ruining her life. Perhaps Leon will exaggerate, but until the age of 16 he will definitely be adamant about this. Sometimes being the daughter of a government agent just isn't possible.

And then, before letting her go to the party, he will sit her down on the sofa and give her a long lecture, telling her to always watch her drink, drink only what she pours for herself or is poured in front of her. If are distracted, do not drink under any circumstances, but take another glass! If someone pesters her, he will show several self-defense techniques and immediately tell to call him. Well, the cherry on the cake - he still won’t allow her to stay there all night. He also won’t bother with calls, but she will need to respond to all his SMS, if not… he will come right away.

Even you yourself will get tired of this overprotection, realizing that Leon often goes too far.

But you ask your daughter to be more lenient towards her father, because he is simply worried about her life. However, when you are young and have not seen what Leon saw, it is difficult to understand his actions and behavior.

There will be conflicts and there will be a lot of them.

The only thing that can make your daughter understand the actions of her father is if someone kidnaps her and confronts her with the infected, forcing her father to go to another wilderness inhabited by the infected. (bad version of events).

Leon will immediately go after her, promising you that he will return her safe and sound. He remembers how he saved Ashley, but she was already an adult girl and not a teenager who, at most, had seen horror films on TV.

Leon, like Barry or Ethan, is ready to kick the ass of any bastard who hurts his baby. In any case, he will do everything to save her.

I imagine this concept as a teenage girl hiding behind her father's back, holding on to his kurta or vest while he shoots enemies, sometimes throwing improvised objects like bottles or stones, stunning the opponents.

After returning home, she will hug you tightly and cry for the hundredth time, promising her father that she will no longer contradict him.

There is no need to say what condition Leon himself will be in after this personal rescue mission. All three of you will experience extreme stress after what happened.

In a good scenario, bypassing the kidnapping, peace between father and daughter would most likely have come much later, when the teenage years would have been long behind us. Probably this realization would have come to her when her naive view of the world ceased to be naive and she began to understand what her father had been struggling with for many years.

Oh yes, about first love. Leon would definitely be vigilant and keep a close eye on everything. He has a whole database and he will immediately run through all the boy’s data, having learned everything about him, and yet he doesn’t really like the idea that some dubious guy is hunting for his daughter.

If Leon realizes that this is an ordinary bastard who runs after every skirt… well, he will find a way to take him away from his treasure. If not and he's just a normal guy… he'll just watch and give a couple of warnings.

The first parting… Leon consoles as best he can, but he has no idea what to do. He himself got drunk and slept through his first day of work, but this option is definitely not suitable. That's why he needs your help again.

"Movies, books, maybe give her something? What can I do to stop her crying into her pillow?! I don't know what else to tell her!"

In the end, he will gain strength and give a good speech, comforting your daughter's broken heart. After all, life does not end with one boy who, in Leon’s opinion, only proved that he is not worthy of his daughter.

He's a good dad. Not ideal, but your daughter wouldn't want it any other way. Of course, she is sad that he may not be home for a long time and sometimes he is too suspicious, but he is her dad who will move the earth for her.

[elodee]

HERMIT A DAY MAY - DAY 23

TangoTek x Yu-Gi-Oh

For Tango I picked Yu-Gi-Oh!!

Most people know Yu-Gi-Oh! as a cartoon and card game, but in the original story the pharoah spirit who possesses Yugi is known as the King of Games, as in, all games. So who better to represent Yu-Gi-Oh! than the creator and dungeon master of Decked Out, the ultimate game within a game?

To learn more about Yu-Gi-Oh! and see my style references, continue below the cut.

@hermitadaymay

(The King of Games would definitely donate to Gamers Outreach)

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a manga and anime series about a boy named Yugi Mutou who solves a cursed puzzle from ancient Egypt and is then possessed by the spirit of a ruthless Pharoah who has lost all his memories.

"Ruthless?" I can hear fans of the anime saying. "The Pharoah is a good guy!"

Incorrect! He only becomes a good guy later. Early on he is literally Ancient Egyptian Jigsaw.

In the manga, the Pharoah takes over Yugi's body whenever Yugi is in danger, whether he wants it or not, and manipulates people into agreeing to rigged, high stakes Shadow Games. Once they inevitably lose, he traps them in a Penalty Game (a poetic justice torture scenario) for the rest of their lives or possibly all of eternity depending on the situation. It's really messed up! Highlights of early Yu-Gi-Oh Penalty Games include:

Lighting a guy on fire

Blinding a guy

Telltale Heart-ing a guy

Driving a guy so crazy his rips out his own eye

Blowing a guy up

Envenomating a guy with his own pet scorpion

Electrocuting people

Forcing a guy to endure an illusion of eternal zombie attacks

Trapping people in hell forever

...and more!

The show is way more family friendly and follows a significantly mellowed-out Pharoah and his friends as they battle bad guys with card games that summon monsters to fight on their behalf. It's pretty fun an campy!

However, Yu-Gi-Oh! the show is fairly well known so I also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce everyone to season 0 manga Pharoah, who is literally a serial killing ghost with a gambling problem that's possessing a 16 year old.

If you had an Egyptology phase as a kid, give Yu-Gi-Oh! a watch. If you watched Yu-Gi-Oh! as a kid, go read the early manga.

Style references:

There he is, the King of Games. The heart of the cards guides him but he also full on just, like, cheats too.

Malik, on the left, and Bakura, on the right. These two are villains from the show who are also teenagers possessed by (evil) Egyptian spirits that were trapped in cursed metal knick-knacks. Everyone in this show has Hair with a capital H.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! title design.