#The colors are different from what i normally do

[anonf1writer]

“but please shut up” — ln4

summary: from the SINGLE PARENT UNIVERSE and based on THIS request, I present to you 2k words about the moment Yn first said the three words to Lando, and then told him to shut up (or something like that). reader x lando norris (use of Yn, yes) word count: 2k

NOTE¹: as a fic writer AND reader, i'm aware of the whole AI talk that's been going around. and as i was writing this, i realized how the thing that pisses me off the most about this whole thing, is how the use of dashes (—) became synonym of the use of AI. because i LOVE using dashes. i think they look beautiful and they tell things in a different way. the pause it's different. the information after one dash or between two dashes feels different. so i overuse them naturally. bc i love them. but now any time i add one, i take it back. bc i dont want to be associated with the use of AI. and the more i do it, the more it pisses me off. bc i want to be able to use my dashes. my writing might suck. i might be the worst around here. but i WANT to use my dashes. so please don't take my dashes away from me okay? ok. thank you.

NOTE²: so yeah, that being said, i went back and added a few. and that's it. <3

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Yn and Lando had been dating for no longer than six months when the words finally slipped out of her mouth. 

It was a Saturday morning. A sunny one, to be precise. One of those rare occasions that normally meant peeling Olivia away from the TV and getting her ready for a picnic at the park, or for riding a bike, or for doing just any activity that allowed them to soak the sun as much as possible. 

On that particular Saturday morning, though, the clear sky wasn’t the only rare thing happening in London.

For starters, Yn wasn’t at her place, but at Lando’s apartment. Something that had never happened before. Not in the morning, at least. Not as a result of spending the night there. 

Then, of course, because she wasn’t at her place, there was also the fact that Olivia wasn’t there, with her. Instead, her sister had taken Olivia to Bristol so she could spend a fun weekend with her cousins. And so Yn and Lando could have some time alone. 

So, yeah, of course—things were different that morning. 

And yes, maybe she could have sensed that something else would happen, something she didn’t see coming because it also normally never happened. 

But she didn’t.

All she did was wake up wrapped in Lando’s arms, kiss him good morning, and drag herself out of bed. On her way across the bedroom, she grabbed one of his hoodies and put it on. Warm, oversized, and smelling like him. Exactly how she liked it. 

Once she made it to the kitchen, the space opened into sunlight and sleek surfaces. Fancy. Clean. Organized. Looking not even one bit like the messy home she owned. With no crayons forgotten on the table, no mermaids and unicorns in the mugs and cups and plates, no colorful drawings stuck to the fridge. And yet just as comfortable and cozy in its own Lando Norris’ way. 

It made her smile, for some reason. A smile that she kept on her face while trying to decide what to make for breakfast, and that only grew bigger when Lando finally joined her in, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder while she cracked four eggs into a small bowl. 

“Hmm, you look really nice in my kitchen,” he murmured, his morning voice sending chills down through her spine. “Wearing my clothes… Smelling like me…”

She tilted her head slightly at that, leaning into his curls as he kissed her neck and just settled there, keeping up with her movements. With the whisking of the eggs and the soft clink of the fork echoing in that quiet morning. 

Yn could tell Lando was happy with that setting, with spending the morning together after also having spent the night together. Something they couldn’t really do very often, considering she still wasn’t ready to add him into Olivia’s routine like that. Not without making sure—making fully, fully sure—that this wasn’t just a temporary thing for him. That he was staying in for good, and that he was actually willing to have a role not just in her life, but also in her daughter’s life. 

Which, to be honest, was becoming more and more easy to see as time went by. 

Like when he stepped away to grab the milk from the fridge and very casually asked, “Talked to Liv yet?”

“Not yet,” Yn said, then waited until he had splashed a bit of the milk into the small bowl to keep going. “Told my sister I’d give them a call after breakfast.” 

She sprinkled in a pinch of salt and went back to whisking, meanwhile Lando got himself busy by grabbing a pan and dropping a knob of butter into it. 

“I hope she’s having fun,” he said, distracted as he switched on the hob and placed the pan above the humming heat. “Y’know, I was thinking about what it’d be like to take her to the beach.” 

Yn paused. 

She paused and stared at the bowl in front of her. 

And Lando laughed. And the butter sizzled gently. And then the smell of it filled the space. Warm. Comforting. 

“Sandcastle chaos, for sure,” he added.

Still chuckling. 

Still nonchalant. 

As if mentioning he had been thinking about her daughter and about how it would be to spend time with her didn’t bring this funny feeling to her chest. As if it wasn’t a big deal. As if it was normal. 

Yn swallowed.

When it came to Lando, to be fair, it actually wasn’t weird. Because he did that a lot—dropping how much he cared in the most subtle, random ways. In the little things. 

But this morning, for some reason, it seemed to happen more than usual. 

He did it again, for instance, as they were sitting around the small table and having breakfast. As he was telling her about these new clothes he had bought online. Casually, randomly. Just by asking, “Purple’s her favourite, right?” 

To which Yn furrowed her brows and mumbled a simple, “huh?” 

“Liv’s.” He scraped the fork against his plate, gathering the scrambled eggs, and shrugged. “I saw these really cute tiny trainers that made me think of her.” He scooped up the food and shoved it inside his mouth. But he didn’t stop, he just chewed as he talked, muffling the words. “They were… Mmph… Puh’pul… Yeah… Puh’pul’s her fav’rite… Innit?”

 “I— Yeah. Purple’s her favourite color, yeah.”

He smiled, swallowed and nodded, all proud of himself. 

“I knew it.” He took a sip of coffee, then focused on the beans still left on his plate. “Didn’t get them though…” He shoved the fork back into his mouth. Words mumbled as he chewed again. “Didn’know’er size, so… Oh!” He swallowed and shuffled on his seat. “Shit.” He coughed, choking a little around the food that had gone down his throat. “Um… Just remembered… Did I tell you about this… About this new idea we had for the next collection? I didn’t, did I?” 

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Right. Yeah. So, listen to this…” 

And so he rambled about something else. 

And Yn listened. 

Trying to absorb as much as possible. Trying to understand. Trying to make sense. 

But then, as they were putting the dishes in the sink and talking about the next few weekends and how busy his schedule would be, he did it again. 

He brought her up again.

“I’ll try to come home as much as I can,” he said, “but y’know, if you ever want to come to a race one day, I’d love to have you there. Not just you, but Liv, too. Like, not now, of course, but later, when you’re ready. I’d like that.” 

And like a cherry on top, while Yn had her hands submerged in warm soapy water, he asked, “Hey, is it weird if I frame that little drawing Liv made the other day?”

Yn stopped.

And blinked at the plate she had in hands. 

“The one she said was for good luck?” Lando added, pacing in the kitchen. Not in a nervous way, but in that very particular excited version of him. Full of caffeine. Hair sticking up in three different directions. Hands moving along with his words. Babbling. 

Always babbling.

“Or maybe not frame it but put it on the fridge or… I don’t know… Something. Somewhere I can always see it… Y’know? Would that be weird?” 

She blinked again.

“Because I won’t if it’s weird… Don’t want to make it weird…”

Eyes still fixed on the dish in her hand, she mumbled, “Lando…” 

“I mean I don’t know what the protocol is here… I know you said you wanted to take things slow when it comes to her, and I totally get it… I mean you know way better than I do, so I trust your judgment… It’s just that she’s so great, y’know? And that drawing is so cute. It’s been back and forth with me for weeks now, but I wanted to check with you because I—”

“For the love of God!” She dropped the sponge and the plate and turned around, water dripping from her fingers as she glared at him. “Can you just—I mean… Lando I swear, I love you so much, but can you just please shut the fuck up for a moment?”

Lando stopped. 

No. Lando froze.

Mid-step. 

Not even looking at her.

Just.. Hand reaching into the cabinet. Eyes fixed ahead. Blinking to the clean tableware. 

And Yn didn’t even notice, so she just sighed. Loudly. Dropping her shoulders. Grabbing a tea towel to wipe her hands. And then trying again.

“Sorry. I don’t mean like, shut the fuck up, but just… Y’know, give me a minute to think? You’re like… Nonstop right now! Just going on and on and on about Livie and it’s just—”

“What did you say?”

Yn looked at him.

He was still facing away, still frozen on the spot.

“That you’re going on and on about—” 

“No. Not that.” He dropped his arms to his sides and turned towards her. “Before.”

Yn frowned, searching inside her head for whatever she could’ve said that made him look like that right now—pale, shocked, terrified. On the verge of freaking out.

“I don’t—”

“Love me,” Lando murmured. “You said you love me.”

“What?”

“You said,” —he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if gathering the strength to say the words— “Lando I love you so much but can you please shut the fuck up.”

“Oh.”

“You said you love me.”

“Shit, Lan…”

She stepped forward, and he stepped backward. 

“Nuh-uh.” He raised one finger and pointed it at her. “Nope. Stay there.”

Her lips tugged up.

“Babe… C’mon.”

“You love me.”

She tilted her head. “Mhm.”

Lando dropped his arm.

Then opened his mouth, then closed it again. 

And then he looked away, dropping his posture like he had just been punched in the stomach.

“Holy shit,” he said. “I didn’t—I wasn’t—wow. Wow. Ok. Okay. Yeah. That’s—That’s just… I mean, did you—You really meant that?”

Yn laughed. 

“Lando…” She dropped the tea towel on the counter and took a step forward, a tiny one. Just to make sure she could. “Baby. Just breathe, okay? You’re sweating.”

“I’m not—” He raised his arms, checking underneath. And then he shook his head. “Maybe, who knows. That’s not the point.”

“Then what’s the point?” she tried, softly this time. Stepping just a bit closer.

“That you love me.”

“Mhm.” Standing in front of him, she placed her hands on his chest and nodded. “So? You’ll get used to it.”

Lando snorted and looked at her, his own hands instantly finding her waist. Almost involuntarily. As if they belonged there. As if it was the only natural reaction when having her so close to him. 

“You knew this would freak me out, didn’t you?”

He pulled her closer, and when she nodded, she also smirked at him.

“Of course I did. Been holding myself from saying it out loud for a while now.” 

He flinched at that, chin and head jerking back slightly. “Why would you ever do that?”

“Really?” She laughed and slid her hands up his chest, then up his shoulders and neck, until she was able to link her fingers through the short curls on the back of his head. “Did you see your reaction just now?”

Lando shrugged and stepped forward, slotting his feet with hers and crossing his arms around her waist. Getting rid of the little distance between them. “Just because I’m weird and freak out like this doesn’t mean that I… Y’know… That I don’t… I mean I just…”

She nodded and hunched herself forward, kissing his cheek before landing back on her feet. 

“I know. I know you do, babe. So whenever you’re ready. That’s okay.”

He sighed and leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. 

“I’m gonna wait until you least expect it. Freak the hell out of you, too.”

Yn laughed and arched forward, barely lifting off her heels as she reached for a kiss.

Lando reacted quickly, closing his eyes and kissing her back.

And then, around his lips, she murmured, “Bring it on, babe. I dare you.” 

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[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

ngl I got so caught off-guard by Silver's Relaxation Room outfit-

like they just supersized Aurora's face, slapped it onto the sweater and called it a day 😭😭

It doesn't look bad though, the colours are soft and complement each other mostly well. Though now I do wonder what the backstory of it is; correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the first time we see a Disney Princess image explicitly in the game, as opposed to vague references/anecdotes?

is she another revered figure, or a famous film character in the in-game universe? I do hope Silver's vignette will acknowledge his PJ origins 😅

I was expecting a sweater on Silver for his Relax in Room card, but not that particular design... I find it sorta ugly (colors are fine, but that design is no for me), but in that somewhat endearing way?? Like how people find ugly Christmas sweaters fun. It also very much fits Silver, who doesn't have much fashion sense (though the voice lines confirm it's a gift from Lilia, which also makes sense, given his penchant for cute, novel items.

And nope! This actually isn't the first time we've seen a Disney Princess depicted outside of references and anecdotes. There has previously been furniture items that outright show the princesses and/or heroes, such as the limited time A Firelit Sky statue, "Fireworks Admirers" (although there is no story or history attached with the statue).

More explicitly, the Platinum Jacket series of vignettes shows multiple Disney princesses and heroes in addition to villains via paintings. Often times, the NRC boys will comment on the artwork and/or talk about a brief story related to it.

The Three Good Fairies appear in Trey's vignettes:

He notes that it is a depiction of "fairies gifting magic to celebrate the birth of a princess of a certain country." However, we cannot see the princess in question from the shot of this painting.

All of the Diasomnia Platinum Jacket cards do feature Aurora in some way though, and 3 out of the 4 of them very clearly show her face. Lilia sees the same painting as Trey did, lamenting that the fairies blessed the princess with beauty and song instead of the strength to break her own curse.

Sebek witnesses a painting of Aurora in her peasant dress, before she learned of her birthright as a princess. He describes the artwork as "a human chatting with some animals [...] about her dreams" and says that he saw this scene in a book his grandfather gifted him.

Malleus sees a painting of Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora dancing at the ball. He recognizes her as "the princess blessed by diurnal fae" but doesn't state more about her history than that. So it seems like the story of Princess Aurora and the Three Good Fairies are recognized to be from the same tale.

Finally, we have Silver, who sees the same painting as Malleus does. He implies the painting is "well-known" and that it depicts a scene from a storybook that he often read as a child. (So both he and Sebek mention seeing this princess in a book; is it the same book, or different books based on the same material?)

Silver also characterizes Phillip as someone who fought bravely. Because of that, he came to admire the prince and aspired to be like him someday.

At this point in time, all that we know about Aurora's standing in the Twst world (not counting anecdotes; these are strictly tied only with visual depictions of her) is:

She is a princess blessed by diurnal fae at her birth

She danced with a brave prince

She speaks with animals about her dreams

Her story is written in books

Aurora must be an important historical figure in some way, as she is depicted multiple times in the Land of Dawning's National Museum of Art alongside the likes of the Great Seven and their henchmen. It's not too strange that she has storybooks about her; we know thanks to Tapis Rouge that it seems normal for people to make creations based on Twisted Wonderland's historical figures. For example, the Fairest Queen has had an animated film and now a live action made in her name and the Card Soldiers were similarly in a children’s book from the Queendom.

In case you were wondering, Silver's Relax in Room vignettes do not talk about the princess or the character depicted on his sweater. It's just the usual bedtime + morning routines and responding to the school survey that have been depicted in all previous Relax in Rooms.

[sovonight]

finished my colorblock t-shirt dress, plus a matching shrug :)

pattern: honeygirl dress, easy bolero shrug with some minor adjustments

fabric: cotton pointelle in two colors. the colors are of slightly different weights, and i just hoped that it wouldn't matter enough to ruin the project and went for it anyway. the white fabric is a little heavier and stiffer than the green, so the green stretched out more easily when i was hemming everything. i still have to see if/how the weight difference affects how the dress sits on the body over time, but so far it doesn't seem too bad!

needle: i figured out that i needed a different needle!! i was using a jersey/ballpoint needle before, but i used a 75/11 stretch needle this time and the fabric finally behaved the way it was supposed to. my relief was immeasurable

mods: i scaled up two sizes at the hips, like before. for the length, i originally cut it at just about knee length, but it didn't really look like what i'd envisioned so i cut it back to the pattern's default mini dress length, with an added 1" at the sides and 2" at the back just to make me feel a little more secure. for the collar, the default crew neck felt a little high for me (when i wore the maxi dress, the collar kept hitting my neck whenever i raised my arms and i got annoyed) so i lowered it at the CF by an inch, and extended the collar pattern piece to match the adjustment. so far, i think this collar height is more comfortable for me!

colorblocking: i was worried i'd cut the wrong halves out of the wrong colors, so i drew a little guide for myself to follow--which was good, because i nearly made a mistake while i was cutting the fabric at first. i bought a little extra to account for mistakes, and i'm glad i didn't have to use it. i have ~0.75 yards left of each, which i could turn into a t-shirt, camisole, or shorts... still pondering what to do with it!

time: it only took me four days to cut the fabric and sew both the dress and the shrug, making it probably my fastest project so far? my neck and shoulders got really sore from hunching too hard over the sewing machine though 😭

would i wear this outside?: yes, it is very normal, plus i've finally made something that fits the current weather :)

overall: i'm surprised this came out pretty much exactly as i planned it! i also feel like i nailed a lot of details--i switched out thread colors multiple times in order to match most of my thread colors to the changing fabric colors, including seam finishes that you can't even see on the outside. and you can't see it in the photo, but my seams are pretty well aligned across the whole dress, especially at that crucial point at the front collar. and actually, originally the front collar was going to match the front halves of the dress, but when i was sewing i decided to flip it so that they're contrasting, and i'm glad i did--i think it adds a subtle point of interest that the front really needed ☺️

[crow-crafting]

My first foray into dyeing fiber!

I have 4 colors of Jacquard acid dye, and I want to see what I can do with them. The colors I have are what are typically sold in one of their starter kits: Sun Yellow, Turquoise, Hot Fuschia, and Jet Black.

First up, a depth of shade exercise. I am doing five different depths of shade, 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.25%, and 0.125%, measured from a 1% stock solution.

I am using bare merino roving, as I do not have any bare wool yarn. I have two (approximately) 1 pound sections of this wool (actually 440g each rather than 454g which is 1 pound), so in order to do this experiment and the next one (or two, depending on how I break it apart), I tore it into approximate 10 gram sections.

I plan on separating these 10g sections lengthwise, and then spinning half of each. So I will end up with 5g of roving and 5g of yarn that was spun after dyeing. For the particular roving I was working with, 10g of wool was approximately 16.375" long. Tearing into 16.375" sections gave me pieces that weigh between 9.2g and 10.8g.

I started with 16oz leftover containers, and soaked each piece of roving. Because of work and my (lack of) energy after work, these soaked for 4 days in plain tap water.

Using the depth of shade calculations for 10g of roving, I planned to add dye as follows: 20ml for 2% dos, 10ml for 1% dos, 5ml for 0.5% dos, 2.5ml for 0.25% dos, and 1.25ml for 0.125% dos.

Using this math (20+10+5+2.5+1.25=38.75), I mixed up 0.4g of dye with 40ml of water. This did not give me much room for error with my measurements, with only 1.25ml of each color planned to be left at the end. I saved this extra dye for a possible future experiment. I weighed the dye powder with a dedicated art scale, that will never be used with food.

I gently squashed the saturated roving between my hands and added 8oz of tap water to the container I had soaked it in. I put the roving on the container's lid, next to the container. Once I had 5 container prepared, I added the appropriate amount of dye to each cup to get all 5 shades.

Once all dye had been added of one color and the containers stirred to distribute the color, I slowly lowered the roving back into the container. Because the wool was already wet, it sank into the solution easily, and the roving fluffed back up to a more normal size.

All of the roving is completely submerged, so I did not yet add any extra water or vinegar. I set the twenty containers in the garage, which seems to be about 85°F and very humid. Tomorrow morning, I might move them outside to get nice and hot.

I plan on checking the containers tomorrow at about 7pm, and added water if needed and white vinegar to assist with any dye not yet absorbed. I plan to let these soak until Monday or so, when I can get back to my dedicated dyeing equipment in order to steam set everything.

Initial note: the black seems to be a very lovely shade of dusky purple, and the yellow dye either did not dissolve fully or separated quickly, as there is quite a bit of sediment left in the yellow dye container.

Secondary note: make sure your gloves fit. Too large of gloves can make your movements clumsy, and can result in dye where you do not want it, including in the glove, and then on your hands. Remember! Acid dyes work on protein based goods, and your skin is very much protein based enough for the dye to be happy to stick and stain you. Not that I was just reminded of this, or anything. Just a random note. Pay no attention to the blue thumb.

[whereispearlescentmoon]

Hermit-A-Day Day 18: Favorite Build

This one is going to have a more normal fic formatting and is not related to my Glitch universe. Instead, it's related back to a post I made a long time ago on my main blog before I even made this one about Season 9 Pearl being over taken by an alien plant parasite. It is also somewhat inspired by "Can you tell I have no floor?" by allbluestarling on AO3 which is just a really cool fic you should read if you haven't. If you couldn't guess from the banner of this blog, my favorite build is Pearl's season 9 base.

@hermitadaymay

CW: Parasitism (not vividly described or gory but if that wigs you out in general I wouldn’t read it)

It Wears Her Skin

It's been weeks since Gem has seen Pearl. Weeks since anyone has seen her, really, but Gem is her best friend and so it makes absolutely no sense why Pearl won't respond to her messages. Generally, Gem has tried to give her some space. Pearl is an introvert who gets overwhelmed sometimes and needs to be alone and Gem respects that. It's just... she hasn't seemed right all season. She's a perfectionist, sure, every builder is. Gem gets lost in her builds too, has had days this season working on the castle or the tree where she forgot to eat or sleep until she was reminded to do so. But the last time she had seen Pearl- well it just wasn't right. So three weeks after the last time anyone has seen Pearl, Gem decides to hop over the river and bother visit her at her base.

The ground sinks slightly under her feet. It's all wet moss, Gem had watched from her side of the bridge as Pearl placed thousands of moss blocks by hand. The terrain rises up around her in deliberate shapes, molded over days and weeks of work. Custom trees litter the landscape, in vibrant colors that should not work together and yet do, oranges and pinks, blues and yellows. Creeping purple vines claw their way out of the ground and sway in the wind. All of it made of blocks that were so deliberately chosen for tone and texture that it isn't until you get right up next to one that you would notice it isn't actually organic. And that's just the landscape. Looking up, Gem watches the swaying petals of the two massive plants that tower over Pearl's base, one a massive flower and other shaped vaguely like an animal's head. It's all gorgeous, a beautiful display of creativity and design, of form and color.

Then there's the contrast of the buildings. The industrial grey and red blocks placed on the landscape like they don't belong, like something alien and jarring. They work against the land rather than with it, so different from the way Pearl usually tries to wrap her bases in with her extensive terraforming. The "human" part of the build, Pearl had said. Gem knows that below her feet is the tunnel with its rotting vehicles and flickering lights and stained medical bay. For just a moment, Gem stands in awe, staring at her friend's work.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice asks from behind her in a very unfamiliar tone. Gem turns, startled. Pearl stares at her, blue eyes icy and expression unyielding. She laughs awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.

"What, I can't pay my best friend a visit?" She tries to tease, forcing a grin, "I miss you, it's been too long and everyone else is boring me,"

Pearl grunts in acknowledgement but turns away from her, staring at a patch of mossy ground that's still empty. Her eyes narrow, a deep line forming between her eyebrows. Her teeth catch her bottom lip as she stares at what looks to Gem to be nothing.

"You planning something?" Gem tries, getting closer. She puts a hand on Pearl's arms and Pearl flinches away like she's been burned. Gem snaps her hands back to grip the fabric of her dress. Her and Pearl are normally both open with things like casual hugging or touching. It's not like Pearl to reject it like that.

"I just need to-" Pearl cuts herself off with a horrible sounding cough. She reaches into her overalls for a small notebook with jerky and frantic movements, hands shaking as she grips her pen. "There's something that should be there- there was something there. There was something there, there was something there, there was- there was,"

She's borderline hyperventilating as the sound of scribbling fills the air. Gem approaches carefully, like she would a wild animal. If Pearl didn't want to be touched before she surely won't want to be now. But she isn't quite sure what to do here.

"Okay, we can put something there then," Gem tries to sound comforting, to sound calming. But Pearl is still scribbling and muttering, not even seeming to remember that she's there. She takes the moment to really look at her friend. Pearl is clammy and too thin, dark circles bruising under her eyes. Her nails are bitten and jagged down to the nail bed and the skin around them is torn and red like she's been ripping it. Wait her hands. Her hands which are still sketching fervently. Something catches in Gem's throat. "Since when were you ambidextrous?"

Pearl stops suddenly, turning to look at her. And she drops the pen. From her left hand. She stares straight into Gem's eyes and how had Gem not noticed before that the blue is all wrong? They're less cerulean and more cyan, bordering on green. They glow, just slightly, in the shade of the giant flower. They're the same color as it's petals.

"I'm not ambidextrous. What are you talking about?" Pearl questions defensively. It's like she thinks staring hard enough will make Gem forget what she just saw. Gem lifts her head up, resolute, and meets her gaze.

"Can I see the sketch, Pearl?" She keeps her tone light, kind. "Must have been something really impressive to have inspiration strike like that?"

Pearl barks out a laugh that is not Pearl's laugh. "Yeah, sure yeah. Inspiration. Sure, I don't see why not, I guess," And with obvious reluctance, she hands the notebook over to Gem. She can identify the unfamiliar tone from earlier, now that she's heard Pearl speak more. It's like someone who isn't used to Pearl's voice is trying to speak with it.

Her suspicions are only confirmed by the drawing. The lines are thick and short, roughing out another industrial building, a signal tower maybe, in the space. Pearl's designs, even the quick ones, even the blueprints, have thin lines. She never pushes her pencil to the paper too hard, she typically builds shapes on top of each other rather than the choppy lines she's just done. This doesn't look like anything Pearl has every drawn that Gem has seen.

"Who are you?" Gem asks the thing using Pearl's body. She (they? it?) startles back, blinking rapidly. A nervous smile (not Pearl's smile, too crooked, their mouth is closed. Gem has spent so long encouraging Pearl to smile with her teeth) spreads across their face.

"I'm Pearl!" They insist. Gem just stares and their smile drops. They look.. scared? "I swear I am, really,"

"No, you aren't," Gem reaches to her side, wrapping her hand around the hilt of her sword.

"She gave me permission!" They shout suddenly, hands going up in surrender, "She wanted to help me!"

"What did you do with Pearl?" Gem growls, drawing the sword. The thing that is not Pearl backs up.

"I didn't do anything! She's still here she's just... letting me use her body for a while!" They insist, "When I'm done I'll give it back!"

And it... admittedly sounds like something Pearl would agree to. Especially if she really felt like whoever this is needed it.

"Why?" Is all Gem can think to ask. And the thing that isn't Pearl tilts their head, like somehow they hadn't been expecting that question.

"Why Pearl or why do I need her body?"

"Both, I guess,"

"I met Pearl in the void between worlds. She floated with a group. I stuck myself to her, tore a hole in her suit to touch her so I could speak to her," They've dropped trying to imitate Pearl's pattern of speech at all. Gem can't tell if it makes it more or less unnerving to hear this stranger’s cadence coming out of her best friend's mouth, in her voice, in her accent. "I told her my plight. I am lost. Humans had been to my world and they had disappeared. I was curious about what happened to them so I wanted to find some. I found Pearl,"

"She's not a human and even if she was she wouldn't know what happened on your planet," Gem interrupts. She can't tell what she's feeling right now. Her body is just cold.

"Yes, I found this out. Her being a shapeshifter is actually what made this possible. I asked her what the humans had been doing on my planet and she had no answer for me. But she agreed to help me recreate where the humans had been so I could do my research when she arrived in her 'next season'.” The thing using Pearl's body takes their right arm out of their black long sleeved shirt and shows Gem where, presumably, they had burrowed in. A cyan flower, maybe the size of the palm of her hand, grows out of Pearl's bicep. “I burrowed my way into her and she allowed me to use her knowledge of this world and it's resources to rebuild my memories. If she were a human I would not be able to use her form like this and leave her alive. I’ve melded with her code,"

The skin around where the flower sits is slightly discolored purple and just under the skin Gem can seen the spreading of dark blue roots. It isn't as gross as she expected it to be. It doesn't look super painful or super invasive even as she knows that this is some kind of parasitic plant using Pearl's body. Maybe they tried to be gentle.

"Is she gone?" Gem is afraid to ask the question. The alien puts their hand on Gem's shoulder reassuringly.

"No, she isn't. I am not always in control, only when I am working on this. When she comes to your meetings, that is Pearl. I am only borrowing her body for this. She is still speaking right now, even. She helps me know what materials to use, she guilds me in my building. I will leave once I've figured out what happened to the humans and my work is done," They slip their arm back into their shirt as they speak. Gem feels better, at least, knowing that Pearl is still there.

"So why haven't I seen her in weeks? And why do you look so worn down?" Gem questions. The alien blushes, looks down at the ground in shame.

"I am of singular focus, often. I don't always recognize how long I've been working. I forget that Pearl's body has needs, like sleep and food. My species photosynthesizes," They admit. Gem tuts, putting her sword away finally.

"Honestly, every builder gets like that sometimes, even those of us that know how an animal body works. But that's my friend's body you're using there. You should take better care of it," Gem insists.

"Right, yes," It agrees. "I will."

"Maybe try some soup. It's good, I promise,"

[elliespassagerprincess]

oooo how would professor ellie be and helping reader deal with baby brain??

Headcannons: professor!ellie williams x reader

masterlist

professor ellie masterlist

☆ Ellie immediately noticed the baby brain getting worse after Arnold’s birth—when you tried to warm up formula in the freezer.

☆ She didn’t laugh. She just kissed your forehead and said, “Okay, we’re labeling the appliances now.”

☆ She actually made laminated, color-coded labels for everything in the kitchen, even labeling the fridge "cold mama box."

☆ Ellie started carrying around a mini notepad just for you—so whenever you said “remind me to…” she’d jot it down, rip it out, and stick it to the fridge later.

☆ She downloaded four different baby apps on her phone and synced them to yours “just in case you forget the login.”

☆ Ellie started doing all the grocery shopping herself. She says it’s because she “doesn’t trust you not to come home with twelve cucumbers and no wipes.”

☆ She leaves sticky notes in the most random places—on your hairbrush, your favorite mug, your side of the mirror—saying things like:

“Brush hair, drink water, kiss your genius wife.”

☆ If you forget what day it is, she’ll tease you with, “It’s Monday, babe. I teach. You nurse. Aurora bosses everyone around. Classic schedule.”

☆ Ellie took over organizing Aurora’s school things and Arnold’s paediatric appointments without telling you—just quietly made herself the admin on everything.

☆ She keeps emergency snacks in her desk drawer for you. They’re labelled: “Reader’s sanity bites.”

☆ When you forgot your phone at home for the third time in a week, Ellie drove back from campus during her break just to give it to you—with a protein bar and a coffee.

☆ She never scolds or sighs—she just wraps you in her arms and says, “We made a whole human. You’re allowed to forget what the stove is.”

☆ Ellie started handwriting a “day summary” in a little journal next to your bed. Just a few lines like:

“Aurora told her class you invented apples. Arnold tried to poop on me. I love you.”

☆ She began calling reminders out loud like an AI assistant. “Hey babe! You were going to fold the laundry! Or…was that past-you’s mistake?”

☆ Ellie bought you matching necklaces engraved with the kids’ initials—"A & A"—because she knew you’d keep misplacing the baby bag.

☆ When you cried over losing your car keys (which were in your hand), she cradled your face and whispered, “I’d forget my own name if you weren’t around to moan it.”

☆ She started calling baby brain “Mama PhD syndrome”—so it felt less like a flaw and more like some grand cosmic achievement.

☆ Ellie writes little affirmations in your notebooks like:

“You made Aurora. You made Arnold. You are literal magic. I’ll remember everything else for us.”

☆ She never lets you apologize for being forgetful. “You pushed out a kid and made milk. My brain would have exploded.”

☆ Ellie sometimes wears a pin on her cardigan that says: “Ask me about my sleep-deprived wife.”

☆ She draws stick figure comics of your day—like the time you put a diaper on backwards—just to make you laugh.

☆ She once caught you putting a bottle in the dryer and quietly walked over, replaced it with laundry, and kissed your cheek like it was completely normal.

☆ Ellie created a shared “baby survival” spreadsheet. Color-coded. With tabs like “Did I eat today?” and “Arnold’s poop log.”

☆ When you forget to eat, she sits you down on her lap, feeds you bites of toast like she’s the professor of nourishment.

☆ Ellie calls you “mama genius” ironically when you do silly things like put your keys in the fridge—always with a teasing grin and a soft kiss.

☆ She puts tiny hearts next to your to-do list items, especially the ones you keep forgetting. “Drink water, mama. For me.”

☆ Ellie started carrying a spare pacifier in her jacket pocket “just in case you forget his again—no shade.”

☆ She lets Aurora scold you gently. “Mama, you put Daddy’s lunch in the diaper pail again.” Ellie’s behind her, trying not to laugh.

☆ When you space out during a conversation, she touches your wrist gently and says, “Hey, come back to me, space cadet.”

☆ Ellie plays memory games with you—not to fix anything, but just to be close to you. “Okay, five things you touched in the last ten minutes. Go.”

☆ She started organizing your makeup by use frequency and labeled the drawers: “Stuff for when you care,” “Stuff for five-minute glam,” and “You’re hot no matter what.”

☆ Ellie bought you memory supplements and stuck them inside a chocolate bar wrapper so you’d actually take them.

☆ She made a “baby brain emergency” bag with chapstick, mints, cash, wipes, and a picture of the kids. It’s in her office.

☆ When you forgot where you parked, Ellie just quietly activated her phone tracker on your location and found you without judgment.

☆ Ellie installed a key tracker app and pretends it’s because she loses things too. (She doesn’t.)

☆ When you forgot to pack a bottle and panicked, Ellie offered you her office coffee mug. “It’s clean. It’s desperate times.”

☆ She started a bedtime routine where she lists all the things you did remember today. Even if it’s just: “You kissed Arnold. You said ‘I love you.’ You were patient.”

☆ Ellie kisses the inside of your wrist when you say “I’m sorry, I’m just so dumb lately.” She says, “You’re exhausted, not dumb. You’re brilliant. You’re mine.”

☆ She taught Aurora to give you a kiss when you look overwhelmed. “Kiss Mama’s forehead. That’s the reboot button.”

☆ Ellie wrote a journal titled “Things Reader Forgot That Made Me Love Her More.”

☆ When you forgot your coffee on top of the car and drove off, Ellie bought you a spill-proof cup and wrote “Reader’s Lifeline” on it in Sharpie.

☆ She sets gentle alarms on your phone named “You deserve a break” or “Stretch & hydrate, my love.”

☆ Ellie started doing baby signs with Arnold early so he could "help remind Mama" when he's hungry or needs a change.

☆ She learned how to tie your shoes one-handed for when you were holding Arnold and couldn’t bend down.

☆ Ellie whispers soft reminders into your neck when hugging you:

“Keys in your purse. Phone’s on the charger. You’re not alone in this.”

☆ She makes “proud of you” playlists for when you make it through the day without crying or forgetting Aurora’s lunch.

☆ Ellie sets the GPS for you automatically, even if it’s just to the grocery store. “Not because you can’t, but so you don’t have to.”

☆ She bakes your favorite muffins with little paper flags stuck in them that say things like: “Hot mom fuel” or “Memory boost: unlocked.”

☆ When you forgot your name at the pediatrician (true story), Ellie just smirked and said, “This is my wife. She's magic, just momentarily unplugged.”

☆ She always rubs your back in the kitchen when you’re staring at nothing. “Baby brain’s a bitch, huh? Good thing I’m here.”

☆ Ellie added an extra whiteboard in the hallway just for “Mama Notes” where she writes reminders, love notes, and cute drawings.

☆ She refuses to let you feel embarrassed around her. “You can forget everything but I’ll always remember who you are to me.”

☆ Ellie got Aurora to memorize your morning routine so she can bossily direct you through it. “Mama, brush your teeth. No, your toothbrush.”

☆ She bought you a necklace with Arnold’s birthstone and said, “Now you don’t have to remember. It’s always with you.”

☆ When you forgot to change out of your pajama top before going out, she just handed you a hoodie and winked. “Still hot.”

☆ Ellie created a memory jar labeled “Things You Did Right This Week.” She puts in notes when you’re asleep.

☆ She holds your hand tighter when she feels you spiraling. “One thing at a time, babe. Just one.”

☆ Ellie started sending you gentle check-in texts:

“Hey, love. Did you eat? Hydrate? Breathe?”

☆ She gives you small tasks, like folding a single onesie, and celebrates like you just aced an exam. “Ten outta ten, Professor Mama.”

☆ Ellie learned how to braid your hair so she can do it for you when you forget or don’t have the energy.

☆ When you accidentally called Aurora “Ellie,” she just laughed and said, “We’re both obsessed with you, so it tracks.”

☆ She bought you new glasses because she said, “You keep misplacing your brain, let’s at least help your eyes.”

☆ Ellie whispers “I got you” into your temple when you’re lost in a fog, grounding you like it’s instinct.

☆ She bought a wall calendar just to put gold stars on it for every good day you had. Even if it’s just “didn’t cry before 10am.”

☆ Ellie encourages you to nap and will lie beside you, watching over you like you’re the rarest research specimen she’s ever found.

☆ She plays memory-based games with Aurora and invites you to join, saying, “Let’s all forget things together.”

☆ When you forgot your name again, she just kissed your hand and said, “Doesn’t matter. You’re mine.”

☆ Ellie started carrying around a mini photo album of you and the kids and hands it to you when you feel overwhelmed. “Proof you’re doing it. All of it.”

☆ She gives you forehead kisses more often than usual—because she says it helps "charge your RAM."

☆ Most of all, Ellie never makes you feel like your forgetfulness is a burden. She makes it feel like just another part of loving and learning each other—just another thing she remembers how to hold, so you don’t have to.

[bandtrees]

Random Dialtown Society Headcanons

a handful of decades ago there was a big boom in parents who saw mobile phones as the future giving their kids heads of things like mobile phones and computers. this fizzled out as mobile phones and computers became integrated as everyday objects and became generally agreed upon to be kind of hard to actually live with. so there's an entire generation of sad millennials whose parents had both the money and ambition to give their kids these heads - this is how we get randy. presently, mobile phone heads often carry the stereotype of a hipster at best and a depressed young neet at worst

faux-retro phones also have a hipstery connotation, and specifically the idea that your parents were trying too hard. heads like these are the equivalent of naming your kid something like Oakleigh (joke courtesy of friend fig)

"apple head" as a phrase means the opposite of what it does in real life - flat and small, as in an apple product

smartphone heads carry the connotation of a soulless influencer, youtube family channels and their kids with cocomelon on their smartphone heads are the topic of many a video essay by pretentious blackberryheads about the downfall of society

there are some batshit insane parents out there like Oh my beautiful baby cares not for societal norms which is why i have given them a tuba head and that poor person is just baby tubahead forever

having a screen on your head a decade ago carried the connotation that you were smart and well-read - think our society's equivalent of glasses - now, though, they tend to be associated with vapidness/dumbness with the connotation that you need to see things on a screen to understand them

the less common/higher society equivalent to mobile phones to phoneheads is computers for typewriters. furthermore the act of having a keyboard is perceived as somewhat feminine and if you dig deeper there are a subset of individuals who will call you gay if your head has buttons on it

the difference between an incel and a chad is a few millimeters of bone (this is about the height of your rotary phonehead)

teen protagonists in movies, especially teen dramas, tend have mobile phone and laptop heads so you know they’re immature and out of touch with the values of their parents. This is almost always a visual shorthand thing and despite being a known stereotype no attention is ever drawn to the fact the parents would have chosen to give them those heads

typewriters were not gendered until after the dialup - think the equivalent of pink not being seen as a girly color until recently

there exist tech giant corporations in the dialtown universe who co-opt the story of callum crown to justify changing their heads to their new products as advertisement. whether or not this is a moral thing to do always becomes a topic of discussion all over the internet for like a month and then is promptly forgotten about, and then the next month they're back to having normal heads

having the same head as an animal is basically telling the world either you're a furry or your parents really wanted you to be a furry. it's a common shorthand for animal motifs in fiction to the point where it's seen as on-the-nose

there are semifrequent controversies about celebrities giving their children gimmicky objectheads

having toy heads ie little billy is relatively common in children, having them as an adult, depending on the crowd, can make you come off as either fun and whimsical or somewhat stunted

hospitals come stocked with very basic objecthead shells for sudden deliveries

in art, objectheads drawn with facial features is a relatively common thing in works for very small children but is seen as deeply uncanny in anything more

collecting phones/typewriters/other objects is seen as somewhat macabre or shlocky but not an outright red flag. however there have been scandals that come from people customizing them to be the size of human heads

[moookar]

arthur and john reading poetry in a garden, for the painting asks???? i know it would be lovely in your style <3333

I put them in a park in early fall because I’m SO ready for summer to be over. Arthur remaining blind even after separation has a very special place in my heart

[thebrainrotsreal]

Eve, Kate, Mark and Rex! Nailing some ideas down on how I wanna draw them in the future, and enjoying messing with their designs like usual! Not a fix-it whatsoever just fun + ref for the future! I cannot do realistic styles so translating them into something I can do while still being recognizable is peak. I will mess with Rex's suit more. Trust. I Kate so much now. Look at her <333333

[callsign-coolsquirrel]

The General's Daughter

@g-backto505

[loveletterworm]

fall guys miku fanart (fall guys miku fanart)

[marblerose-rue]

click for better quality!

are you gonna start climbing, or what? / needletail

[sergle]

I think my favorite thing about doing ginger red hair instead of cherry red hair is: lying to people about it

[jamiethebeeart]

I'm so very very normal about Dani, I promise (lineart by @five-rivers ) @green-with-envy-phandom-event

[dasistmeinpferd]

charia + little sisters

[gravestone-sys]

guys for the love of god can we STOP WITH HOW WE TREAT COLOURBLINDNESS!!!!!!!!! I'm colourblind. I said I was colourblind in front of some people and immediately it was "oh yeah? what colour is this? lol!!" THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE DO TO PEOPLE WITH GLASSES. AND IT'S SO FUCKING ANNOYING. PLEASE STOP. YEAH THAT'S BLUE YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT KIND OF COLOURBLINDNESS I HAVE. I CAN SEE A DEEP FUCKING BLUE.