#The Next Step AU

[merp0515]

"WHAT IF WE MAKE IT CANON!?"

Based on my homie @shygirl4991's solo fanfiction called "Next Step With You" ! I had a ton fun drawing this scene out! Definitely go give it a read! It's so good! For the AO3 version it's this and for the Wattpad version click here !

[lazycranberrydoodles]

Who is this sassy.. lost child?

I can now recreate most of chapter 8!!! / bonus features below the cut / follow for more cool stuff

Jin Ling's sprites:

His share code is MVDLXY :)

Congrats, Jin Ling! You have 3 different poses, showing three different levels of irritation, making you the most complex character so far.

His sprites were traced off of Cody Hackins from 1-2. His little puffed-cheek sprite screamed Jin Ling.

(NASA announcer voice) Aaaand we have soundtrack. I thought Luke Atmey's and Furio Tigre's themes both suited Jin Ling pretty well. Other contenders before I decided on Moderato 2004 were Allegro 2002 and Investigation - Middle 2002.

Will take a break from these for Art Fight probably but they have been sooo fun to make. Plus I get to show off my objection.lol skills outside of stupid discord arguments.

Jiang Cheng's sprites & Nie Huaisang's sprites / masterpost

[shygirl4991]

My birthday is here!

Another year survived its a day for me! Thanks to all my friends and love ones that started making my bday already special you all are amazing. And to everyone that follows me for my fics thank you for all the support here's to another year!

here is a gmod art of my sona with a few characters from my au's! thanks to @b-r-i-n-g-x and @cherrihoney that help make some of these characters possible

[luuxxart]

💫FIRST | PREV | NEXT | COMICFURY💫

🌟updates Saturday and Sunday🌟

✨(read tags for extra info!)✨

[varpusvaras]

The doctors had told him that things would get easier after the first trimester.

Fox had believed them. He had kind of had to, to preserve his own sanity. He had to believe that at some point, he would stop throwing up, sweating and shivering and being so damn tired that he'd fall asleep just about anywhere.

It had, in fact, been true. Of course he still occasionally felt a little sick when he smelled something unsavory, but it was only occasionally. He didn't wake up to being hot and cold in tandem so much anymore either. He was tired, still, but only to a degree that he had to sit down a couple of times a day, and maybe take a nap. Otherwise, he had been feeling pretty good during the start of the second trimester.

But then, a new challenge had crept up on him.

It had started small, so small that he had barely even felt anything at first. When he had noticed it for the first time, he had actually been happy about it.

What a fool he had been.

It had only gotten more frequent from then on, and most importantly, stronger. So much stronger.

So much stronger, in fact, that he had looped back around being tired, since every time he tried to sleep or even rest for a moment, it would start again.

It was happening again now, as he lay in their cooled bedroom, the lights dimmed and the blinds shut to escape the summer heat. He would've loved to take a nap, but he was yet again realising that sleep would not be happening.

There was a light knock on the door, and Breha peeked in.

"You're still awake?" She asked. She kept her voice quiet, in case Fox was somehow sleeping.

"Yes", Fox answered. "I don't think I will be getting any sleep."

Breha made her way to the bed, and sat on the edge of it next to Fox. Her fingers very quickly found their way into his hair, pushing it back from his face.

"Try to at least close your eyes", she said. "It's better than nothing."

"I know, I know, I'm trying-" There it was again, cutting his words into a breathless gasp.

Breha sighed softly, continuing to pet his hair.

"Is it that bad?" She asked.

Fox pressed his hand against his abdomen, and poked at it slightly. It was still, for the most part, hard muscle he had spent so long acquiring during his training, and had took even more time and effort to keep during serving. He hadn't even needed new clothes, yet, apart from a pair of dress pants he had very much liked and sorely missed now.

Fox had no idea how there was a whole baby in there, somewhere, but there was no mistake of it, not since-

Fox hissed slightly when there was a blow straight into his ribs.

"Yes", he said. "I'm going to send Bail a very pointed message. Those are definitely his elongated legs kicking my insides around the clock."

Breha barked out a laugh, that she quickly tried to cover up behind her hand.

Fox turned to glare at her.

"You think this is funny?" He asked. "You think it's funny that our husband's giant long-legged offspring is trying to break my bones?"

"No, no, of course not", Breha hurried to say, but she was definitely still grinning behind her hand, and-

-and maybe Fox was tired enough, because the longer he laid there and watched her laugh about it, the funnier it suddenly got in his mind as well.

"How dare you", he said, trying his hardest to keep himself from breaking out into laughter as well. "How dare you make me laugh when I'm miserable."

Breha could no longer hold it in. She broke down into loud, bright laughter, and Fox could only hold his own in for a few more seconds, before he eventually followed her suit.

[cerise-grenadine]

Relaxing after a long day at Hogwarts.

drawn after that screenshot of Adrien Brody in The Pianist, which i guess is why his face looks a bit different here. i'll probably fix it if/when i paint it, but it might take a while and i wanted to show off my sketch :D

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 07

PREVIOUS

The thing about Nicky knowing that FF knows Russian and therefore understands every single excruciatingly sweet, ear-reddingly spicy, or shockingly mundane thing that Andrew and Neil say to one another is that he is objectively the 3rd worst person to know this secret.

First place is, of course, Andrew Minyard the man who has now asked him about his family 3 times in the last week and a half. FF doesn’t really care if Andrew goes after the majority of his ‘family’ since it’s just his step brothers and step dad but Andrew might go after his Grandma too so he just says “We don’t talk” every time it comes up and deletes his entire chat history with his grandma that way Andrew won’t know how close they are. If that means that Andrew thinks that no one would look for him if he happened to disappear into a shallow grave FF doesn’t know. He’s already doomed so the least he can do is save his gran.

Second place is, of course, Captain Neil. Captain has mentioned quite a few times that a lot of people stay with friends or people they’re close with over Thanksgiving break. It’s meaner than Captain Neil usually would be off of the Court reminding FF that he has friends but none close enough who would want to spend a holiday with him. He plans to go see his Gran for Thanksgiving and she plans to feed him a truly ridiculous amount of food. It’s the same plan he’s had pretty much every year since he was 13.

Third place is Nicky Hemmick. Nicky is a very nice guy who got him a paperboy to hyperventilate into a couple times and would absolutely never intentionally OUT somebody and compromise their safety! Nicky’s talked with FF about some of his background so FF has full confidence that it’s never going to be something that Nicky intentionally outs to anyone. But there are two main reasons why Nicky is the third worst person to find out about this secret.

The first reason is that Nicky Hemmick just unabashedly loves gossip. FF has heard that with the graduation of the girls the previous year had gone Allison Reynolds who had multiple running bets on multiple teammates and a whole cache of gossip. Now Nicky has access to the ultimate accidental gossip magnet in the man who no one notices, who knows any language the Foxes speak and is too awkward to get up and leave when they start talking.

Nicky will never tell another soul his secret but he also HAS to know what Neil and Andrew are saying to one another and when Nicky lies to cover for him the charge is one free conversation translation.

He’s absolutely hooked on getting translations the since the first time he had asked what Andrew and Neil are hissing at one another one morning practice.

FF translated it awkwardly feeling like a creep and like he’s invading their privacy but Nicky had helped him eat the four slavic letter flashcards he had made up to help a friend study the language when Captain Neil and Andrew had come back early from a weekend alone in Columbia.

Nicky had even assured him afterwards that the ink was probably non-toxic and given him floss so he could get the flashcard wedged between his molars out.

So….

“Andrew’s mad that Captain Neil skipped breakfast because they’re working to make him eat something for every meal. Captain Neil’s mad because Andrew’s the one that kept him in bed so long that he didn’t have time to make anything.”

Nicky squeals in delight

The second reason, which is just compounded by the first, is the fact that Nicky had promised not to tell another Soul. However Nicky Hemmick, the romantic that he is, believes that he and his Fiancé Erik share one soul since they are soulmates. Therefore Nicky Hemmic had barely even registered FF’s tears of gratitude before he was calling Erik to tell him about FF.

The sheer number of close calls that have happened because Nicky HAS to tell Erik about something Andrew and Neil said to one another or something someone else is saying is the reason FF started getting ulcers.

Watching Nicky talk to Erik about him knowing Russian is like watching a member of the three stooges walk through a construction site blindfolded. FF nearly kills himself stopping Nicky from outing him numerous times and at the end Nicky’s smiling, unscathed and unaware of the sheer number of close calls he had sauntered through.

FF can’t wait to go home and bury his face in his grandma’s lap, stress eat two apple pies, and tell her about how he thinks he might just become an electrician or a plumber or an underwater welder because one of his language professors wants him to come and speak to a lower level class (a gen-ed with over a hundred people in it) about the usefulness of LATIN for all their majors since they can parse the meaning via root word and he had panicked and said ’Sure’.

***

The thing about being the only person on the team that knows that FF speaks Russian and is riddled with social anxiety is that it’s absolutely hilarious most of the time.

Every once in a while he has to step in to help the guy.

So sometimes he’ll eat flashcards. Sometimes he’ll distract his cousin with a salacious comment so FF can escape a dangerous conversation with his drunk friend. Sometimes he pushes FF to go talk to Abby about his tummy troubles. Sometimes he’ll hand over one of the brown paper bags he keeps in his backpack nowadays so FF can wheeze into it and sometimes he’ll assure his cousin that FF’s passing out after he offered to teach him how to use a knife was probably because of his stomach ulcers not because FF is terrified of Andrew stabbing him.

Nicky is the only member of the Foxes that FF regularly seeks out on his own to hang out with and Nicky just loves how hard Andrew and Neil are trying not to be jealous about it.

“I want to ask Smith if he wants to come spend Thanksgiving Break with us.” Andrew says out of the blue a week before the aforementioned break when it’s just Aaron, Neil, Nicky and himself in Nicky’s dorm room.

Nicky thinks about FF talking about going back to his hometown in Washington State and how he waxed poetic about spending Thanksgiving Break with his Grandma and how he was going to eat his weight in pie and Macaroni and Cheese.

“He’s planning on going and seeing his grandma. He won’t shut up about it.” Nicky says still glad that FF has a family member like his grandma.

Everyone else in the room look at him.

“He won’t shut up about it?” Aaron asks with an eyebrow raised. Aaron likes FF just fine and appreciates how FF has helped Katelyn start to grasp the fundamentals of the German language so quickly so she can understand what’s being said. “So what he said it twice?” He continues.

Nicky remembers FF’s ability for catastrophizing every conversation with the Foxes into one where it comes out that he speaks Russian and Andrew stabs him. As far as the other Foxes are concerned he’s a man of few words.

“He’s been talking about it all month. If I hear about his grandma’s apple pie recipe one more time I might demand he sneak a slice back for me through TSA.” Nicky loves stoking the flames, especially when the fire is harmless. He watches Aaron shrug and the skin around both Neil and Andrew’s mouths tightens. “You can ask him, the worst he can say is No.” Nicky shrugs.

Nicky is there when Andrew does ask him and he can see the prolonged internal scream of terror on the utterly blank face (or maybe he just imagines it.) and in a way Nicky is a little sad when FF shakes his head and says “No, I have plans with my Grandma.” In an utterly blank voice that means he has functionally blue-screened before turning and walking towards the nearest door so he can reboot in solitude.

“The offer stands if you change your mind.” Neil says and Nicky is impressed with the seemingly very casual thumbs up FF gives as he power walks away.

A little less than a week later Nicky finds Andrew next to FF and FF looking down at a cancelled flight notification after coming in from a truly monumental storm.

Andrew offers Thanksgiving in Columbia again.

Nicky tries to stop it from happening he can see that FF is a little lost in his disappointment over not being able to see his grandma and not thinking clearly but before he can snap him out of it.

“Sure.”

NEXT

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242

[snowleopardcrk]

Jumping onto this cool train as well

This is the Beast AU that the talented artist (Love your Transformers art btw) @cuppajj made! This is Moonflower Cookie, she narrowly escaped being vaporized by her dad. She was originally running away with Strawberry Crepe but they got quickly separated, but Moonflower managed to make her way to the Creme Republic. Yes, she has one single Raisin crow with her. But lets just say, she hunkered up in a random location in the under city to do her research. While her research has made some useful contributions, she is not very approachable or friendly to anyone who knocks.

Anyway, next OC, more of a rough draft for her. Sweet Dream Cookie!

She's been with Golden Cheese since long before she ever obtained her soul jam, and when Golden Cheese became the Beast we know now, Sweet Dream followed her every step of the way with unwavering loyalty. If Celestial Cheese wills something, she helps to execute it down to the last word. Here she hopes to rebuild the kingdom anew and for it to flourish across earthbread, from the deserts to the cold tundra no matter what it takes. What a good wife /silly

And the final Cookie on the list is just Snow Leopard Cookie, she apprentice to Crunchy Chip. Not much to say about her aside from shes following Crunchy Chip in trying to help Caramel Arrow Cookie </3

[mayasaura]

I think if I were really going to insert Harrow into the Ace Attorney setting tho, she'd be a defense attorney. One with an even more extreme philosophy than any in the game so far. She specialises in sentencing trials and plea bargains, representing guilty clients.

She knows that the falsely accused aren't the only ones who need someone in their corner when it feels like the world has turned its back. She learned that a long time ago, from a childhood.... friend. Someone she owes more than she could ever possibly repay, who believed in her and forgave her even when they both knew she didn't deserve it.

[kusakichan15]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Thank you @thosegayoldmen for the tag!! I finally have something small to share 😂😂😂

[pjsk-headcanons]

*deep breath pt 3*

VIIIIIIIVIIIIIDDDDD BADDDDD SQUAAAAADDDD BABEYYYYYY

or should i say...

vbs: emu (unit leader), haruka, honami, minori

vbs -> PASSION P♤NIC (my brain is out of juice have you noticed)

-emu and haruka both attended RAD WEEKEND, it is still the end goal lol

-haruka quitted ASRUN earlier and thrn picked up singing after RAD WEEKEND. rad weekend was a lot later this time around i guess nagi you have to wait to die/j

-thought this would be funny that the event pp♤ had equivalent to Light Up the Fire would be haruka finding out about nagi with an (mixed event key story other than the anni ones hear me out)

-emu finds honami (i dont know how, maybe just a school-related thing happened) they become the P♤NIC part of the group name. honami is very cautious at first (because iykyk x2) but slowly gets into it

-haruka finds minori still trying to spread hope through being an idol (65+ attempts rejected this time) is impressed, they become PASSION.

-their sekai is called city SEKAI. (shoot btw s•s is still stage sekai i forgot to add that last time)

TRUST RANKS

emu - honami -> "P♤NIC!", "faith in you", "to keep that smile warm" (cried i didnt think id be this attached to this group this is the one i liked the least)

haruka - minori -> "PASSION!", "my idol...a street artist?!" (minori originally only join bc "i cant miss a chance to work with THE HARUKA KIRITANI!! not knowing shes gonna be a street artist), "understanding that hope" (minori o7 our true goat)

minori - emu -> "pure smiles☆~", "always cheering up!", "more than surpassing" (again- up to interpretation hehe)

honami - haruka -> "getting back into it", (they both are recovering from...something iykyk yahaha) "calmer smiles☆~", "so that i can be myself again"

minori - honami -> "dog walk pals!", "brought in by friends", "with hope, with fear" (hahhdhdjshahdhsjhd *sobs*)

haruka - emu -> "bright hair...!", "that night", "setting a spark for that tomorrow" (emu and haruka dream of being able to make songs that makr people hope for the "next day" - kind of equivalent to vbs want to "take over the world" for nagi because she couldnt? parallels sigh)

asking mod for some things:

1. should i make group songs (like a list of some sorts) after im done with loreposting? or focus on sekais? ill get to both eventually but i want to see what you mod and maybe others think

2. forgot to mention that i was not the one who spun the wheel. these groups were made as an april fools for a unit swap fic called reCYCLE. hehe

anyways. wxs next, eight characters left! any guesses for next time?

🌐 anon

.

[gifti3]

i wrote a really small thing related to this post! I've been getting back into OIs so i came up with this arranged marriage scenario in a Victorian setting for Asmo and MC and have been chewing on it for the past several days lol I think I'm gonna come up with more stuff for this later but I just wanted to post this for now φ(゜▽゜*)♪

The weather was nice out today so you decided to go for a walk around the estate garden and rest in a somewhat secluded spot. Unfortunately, someone had managed to find you. How did the two of you keep running into each other in place so vast?

"Sooo….." Asmodeus leans into your space to look at the pages of you book. "What are you reading?"

"…A book."

"…Well yea, but what is the book about?"

You hold back your sigh and answer instead. "It's just about something I took interest in recently…"

Asmo stares at you for a moment. "You know, I'm starting to realize something about you."

"You are?"

"Uh huh," he nods. "At first, I thought you were a cagey person, but you're just really socially awkward you know? You kind of remind me of one of my brothers."

You close your book without making note of the page you were on. "I'm going back inside. Goodbye."

"Wait, I didn't mean it in a bad way!"

You sigh. "Are you sure? Cause you've been pretty rude to me several times before. So I'm having a hard time believing that."

Asmodeus makes a face. "It was an observation?"

"Okay. Can you just…let me read please?" The request came out harsher than you intended but maybe you were feeling a little defensive.

So what if you were "awkward". You weren't expecting to talk to anyone when you came out here.

Asmodeus huffs and leans back on his hands. But he doesn't leave…. for some reason. Maybe he was bored?

You flip through your book trying to find what page you were on.

"Page seventy six."

You look over at Asmo who has already busied himself with inspecting his nails.

"Thanks."

[shellyseashell]

idk if i’m just busy or if i’m losing a hyperfixation or if i’m starting to get burnt out but i just cannot write and now is not the time for this to happen

[i-did-not-mean-to]

Lindir x OC

At the last hour, @fleurdemiel-145 has sent in a slew of prompts. I'm always happy to write for someone, so here is my short ficlet about Lindir (who might be Maglor, who knows?) meeting his salvation.

Prompts: ennemies to lovers, soulmate, mythical creatures, fairytale, one bed, mutual pining, meet cute...

Why didn't you say so ?! - Are you very sure ? - What's the next step ? - Oh you ARE strong ! - Make me...

Pairing: Lindir x OC

Words: 1,6k

Warnings: Solitude, trauma, carrying a woman down a hill

“Don’t be daft, honey!”

Zahra pulled her shoulders up as if that could protect her from the devastating blow of her friend’s cold, cutting words.

“It’s just a book!” Standing at the foot of the small hill, girded in swirling mist, the group with which she’d set out on this hiking trip stared up at her impatiently.

“You can go ahead without me,” she called back stubbornly. “I’ll catch up soon enough.”

She called them “friends”, but—at the end of the day—they were just a ragtag group of people who were all desperately trying to outrun their respective lives and problems by trekking through the wilderness in search of a peace that stubbornly evaded them.

Huffing and puffing, the others ultimately left without a second glance, leaving Zahra behind as she stood, perched precariously on a small rock, overlooking the rolling fields pensively.

At their last stop in a sleepy town, three days ago, she’d drifted into a cosy bookshop where she’d found herself inexorably drawn to a dusty, evidently well-read second-hand edition of local fairy tales.

Once upon a time, she’d loved that kind of story, and she’d been unable to withstand the instinctive attraction of a fond memory from her past.

An avid reader whose imagination knew no bounds, Zahra had consequently devoured the tome at once to the point where her companions had started mocking her for trying to read even while walking.

At first, she’d been well aware of the whimsical nature of the charming, fantastic tales, but—as the road wound on and on through dense forests and across gurgling streams—it became increasingly harder to draw the line between the landscape unravelling under her weary feet and the scenes of drama and doom playing on repeat in her mind.

When the group had halted in a sunny clearing earlier in the day, she’d skimmed through a narrative she’d already read thrice to pass the time, and—looking up from the yellowed pages—she’d suddenly glimpsed the silhouette of an old ruin on a nearby hill.

Even now, as she struggled up the steep, slippery slope, Zahra couldn’t quite believe how perfectly the description in the book matched the forlorn spot beckoning to her.

The rational part of her heart and soul winced as she looked around hopefully—her friends were right, there would be no mystical king of yore holding court in his hall of fog.

She was simply wasting everybody’s time.

“Hello?” she called softly, feeling utterly foolish.

The air around her seemed to ripple and flicker for a moment, and then a warm, melodious voice said something in a language she didn’t understand.

“Hello?” she repeated and stepped through the curtain of wavering grey. The bleak weeks she’d spent on the road had made her wary, though, so she gripped the small utility knife she’d taken from her belt a little tighter.

Too often, her sweet, trusting nature had led her astray in the past, and she’d learned how to survive on her own the hard way.

The mist parted, and the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen stepped out as from a different realm.

Tall and ethereally slender, the vision of dark hair and pale skin seemed to glow from within. At a glance, she could discern the unusual shape of its ears and the alluring curve of its smile, and her heart started pounding in her chest.

Half-dream and half-nightmare, the anthropomorphic being kept walking towards her, dark eyes alight with ancient wisdom and long hair flowing in a non-existent breeze.

Zahra gasped in surprise and shock.

“No, no, don’t distress yourself!” the being exclaimed, lifting two long-fingered hands to show that he—for his build and demeanour suggested a male—was not even trying to reach for the impressive sword hanging from his narrow hips.

“It’s been a long time since last someone came here,” the stranger mused in the same pleasant, oddly enchanting voice. “Who are you? I heard someone call you ‘Honey’. Are you a beekeeper?”

At that, she scoffed in disbelief. In the stories, fairies and cursed princes were usually smart and suave—they didn’t ask silly questions.

“Well, are you?”

She shook her head. “I’m neither a flower—for which I was named—nor am I a beekeeper. That’s not how names work.”

“It is where I come from. So tell me, Lady, what brings you here?”

Zahra blew up her cheeks—how was she to tell this fantastical apparition that she’d been led into a wild goose-chase by an old book?

“Who are you?” she asked instead of answering, suddenly aware that she’d put herself in tremendous danger. No doubt, her friends had already continued their way without her, and if this beautiful man was not a mystical fairy king but a very mundane murderer, she’d be in serious trouble.

“They once called me Lindir.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure? Are you very sure? I’ve never heard that name before.”

“I’ve not heard yours at all,” he gave back sharply, his dark eyebrows puckering to mimic her expression of bated hostility in the face of an unexpected ambush. “I am who I say I am, at least partially.” “Are you cursed?” Zahra asked, deeming that caution was a luxury she could dispense with in the current situation. “Or why are you all alone here?”

“My people have left, yes,” Lindir replied, a shadow of age-old sadness and undeniable guilt rippling across his handsome face. “And I don’t know how to join them.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” she cried out, letting her rucksack slip from her shoulders and extracting the accursed book from it hastily. “I know exactly how to help you.”

His dark eyes zeroed in on the cover, and his stern mouth fell open in astonishment. “You’ve found it,” he gasped. “I’ve been looking for that!”

“It was not for you to find,” Zahra, who’d read more fairy tales than she’d ever admit, informed him haughtily. “According to the legend, someone else has to help you.”

“And I have to accept that help,” he groaned, lifting a pale, slender palm to his forehead dramatically. “Oh, the Valar really have an odd sense of humour.”

He sighed before turning his compellingly deep eyes back on her distrustful face. “What’s the next step then, oh Mistress of the Book?”

Used to being ribbed, Zahra curled up on herself once more.

“Sorry, that was unnecessarily cruel. It seems that I’ve forgotten how to be civil, even to the fairest of maidens. Ages of loneliness will do that to you. Forgive me,” Lindir admitted sheepishly as he extended a conciliatory hand to her.

As her mystified gaze swept along the horizon searchingly, Zahra debated whether she wanted to catch up with her so-called friends at all. All her life, she’d yearned for an adventure, and she was loath to forego the one that had fallen into her lap in favour of her travel companions’ insipid conversation.

“We have to find a place to sleep tonight,” she declared, wishing she had a map to see how far it was to the next village. “Do you have any money?”

Lindir shook his head, bemused and a little ashamed. “What are you even?” she asked as she pondered the perilous descent down the hill ahead of them—the light was fading fast, and the verdant grass had been as slick as mud on the way up already. She didn’t want to think of how undignified any attempt at getting down again would be.

“I’m of the—” he bit his lip. “I guess you’d call me an ‘Elf’? Is that correct?”

“Long hair, pointy ears, otherworldly beauty—yeah, I think that might be the right term,” she acquiesced quietly, her mind still consumed with purely logistical matters.

“Then I’m well afraid that one room is all we can afford,” she finally scoffed, eyeing him critically.

“I don’t mind sleeping with the horses,” he replied with an air of noble self-denial that made her chuckle under her breath.

“There are no steeds, good Sir. We’ll have to walk…well, first, we must get off this blasted hovel!” Zahra grimaced in dismay.

“Allow me,” Lindir smiled. “I’m quite strong. In the absence of equine support, I’d be honoured to serve as mule and destrier to Milady.”

His pompous tone made Zahra laugh anew. “You’re a funny one,” she giggled and then squealed when he lifted her into his arms and bore her down the hill effortlessly.

“My,” she breathed. “Oh, you are strong indeed!”

When they reached even ground, she expected to be thrown back on her sore feet, but Lindir kept going as if she and her pack weighed nothing at all.

“Set me down,” she prompted. “I can walk!”

“If we’re to share a room tonight, we might as well get better acquainted,” he replied calmly as his stride grew bolder with every step. “What is your name?”

Breathing in his clean, slightly floral scent, Zahra realised that she felt as inescapably drawn to him as she had to the book. Mayhap, this laughably improbable meeting had been fated.

“Very well,” she said, leaning back in his gentle embrace. “Tell me all about you and your people!”

Lindir sucked his teeth. “Make me,” he teased. “For every question I answer, you shall owe me an information in return. We have miles to go before the next settlement, so we shall have more than enough time to find out why you were chosen to find one who’s evaded detection for so long. Let’s start with your name!”

@fellowshipofthefics One more

Thank you so much for reading, my beloved!

⤻ Masterlist

[doughguts-art]

AU Bandit Shenanigans

These doodles feature SMS Bandit and a School AU design created by @enbyhoneyfluff (hope it's alright I made fanart of this old au! I found some posts talking ab it and love it aa) Also please lmk if tagging you in this old stuff is ok cuz I wanna credit your ideas but FGHJK bringing up old stuff may be weird

These are currently the only AUs that have Bandit as any semblance of Human (SMS people aren't human, but they're more humanoid than regular elsen), so I thought I'd group em' together

[citrine-elephant]

hungering for super secret spy leon (last reblog mmmghnh + death island comic scuba thing + re6 concept art)

apocalypse idea. like. actual threat of world destruction. meteor impact.

aliens