#VERAS BESTIES OVER THERE

[premamelody]

BAJSAJJDJAJD

DISASSEMBLY DRONE BAND CALLED LOVEBITE

mine hehe heh >:)))

[acaciapines]

VERA'S A GODDESS NOW????????

[crplpunkklavier]

"if dahlia was alive she and kristoph would be prison besties and bond over conning phoenix" tired. tired. tired. if dahlia was alive she would take one look at kristoph and start bullying him like they're both children again. he wakes up with gum in his hair. he comes into the cafeteria to find that everyone has been instructed not to sit with him and the most humiliating part is that it does kind of upset him. there are mean things about kristoph gavin graffitied on every bathroom wall in dahlias handwriting. it's not even that she's protective of phoenix or vera or whatever it's just that she would know immediately that kristoph tried so hard but could never be her, and she would carve his heart out and eat it in front of him to bask in that feeling forever

[sssilverstoned]

sympathy for the devil ꩜ cl16

type: fluff? besties to lovers? let's say that. a friend is done dirty but is she really a friend? debatable. flashbacks, angst-ish (a guilty conscience is always a great outfit addition, no?)

word count: 4.6k

warnings: language, suggestive but no smut (finger sucking. i was in a mood,) charles is a reformed cheater, so let's say some moral ambiguity all around

lily said: hello hello! welcome to the inner workings of my hyper fixation on summer romances and a couple of bestieeeees who should just be a couple. now that this guy is out the way, i'd love to formally open requests! a drabble, fic, oneshot, hit my line ! we can get into the details of who i do and don't write for later <3

You are not a terrible person. You're not even a bad person, truly. It's something you repeat to yourself like a mantra as you look away from Charles's side profile across the long table.

He's looking like summertime, soft like an afternoon nap, but sharp like a stinging on your skin from too many 5 more minutes called from the patio. His neck is elongated slightly, trying to hear Joris's story over Mirabel's loud laughter. When he leans like that, you can see a peak of the remnants of the hickey you sucked into his pale skin the evening before. Your stomach hurts.

Charles's own nose is red, he's scrunching it on occasion like no one will notice his discomfort, and his necessity for aloe vera. You've packed it in your bag because you know he wouldn't have. He knows to ask you for it later.

You excuse yourself from the long table, your dinner in front of you looking great, but you were nowhere near hungry. When you push your chair back to stand, it makes a low noise against the floor of the garden, and his head whips to you immediately.

It was your friend group's traditional holiday you were gathered for, an annual week at Mirabel's family home right on the water. 4 girls and 5 boys, room assignments remaining relatively static throughout the years. There was that one year Clara and Sammy shared a room, but, as both of them would easily say, it wouldn't be happening again.

"Everything okay, y/n/n?" Peter asks from your diagonal, which makes more heads turn to your now standing figure. You let out an uncomfortable huff, disguised as a laugh. Charles can read you like his favorite book.

Your linen dress clings to your body, yet flows off you effortlessly. He remembers seeing it on a hook in your room, wondering how it would look on your figure when he pretended to not watch you change tops. Reality was always better than fantasy, this he knew for certain.

"I'm alright, just chilly. Want to grab my sweater."

"I'll go with you, want to charge my phone anyway," Emma smiles up at you from her seat, standing up as well.

Charles follows your figure with your eyes until you disappear into Mirabel's villa, then continues to pretend to be listening to whatever Peter has begun rambling about.

"Did you see the way he and Oliver left the pantry in disarray this morning?" Emma's practically hissing her disdain, her shorter legs pumping overtime to catch your gait. You were hoping she couldn't.

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"Charles," she gags. "Tried to cook breakfast, and of course it was shit. Can't believe you didn't know."

You did, you helped him clean it up.

"I feel like it's quite hard to burn oatmeal," you snort, scrubbing the pot.

"Too much sugar in the pot, I suppose. That's how you make yours, yes? With brown sugar?"

You look back at him from where he was leaning against the counter, watching you help him fix his mess. Oliver had cleaned up the spilled flour on the floor of the pantry, then ran out to get pastries from a bakery before the rest of the villa woke up and threatened his life.

"Surprised you remember how I like my breakfast," you say.

"Why?" he asks, cocking his head. "I know a lot about you."

You click your tongue, suddenly shy under his intentional gaze. Your focus is back on the pot, and a stubborn clump of congealed oats. Charles peers around the kitchen quickly, before coming up behind you, a large hand circling your waist.

"How did you sleep? I realize I didn't ever ask," He drops a kiss to the crown of your head when he finishes speaking, and your breath hitches. Not with love or affection, but with a strike of fear, almost. It was an open air kitchen, and while everyone seemed to be sleeping in, you never really could know who may be stirring about.

"Slept fine. Kept the windows open," you shared a room with Clara on these trips, you two were always the closest of the girls growing up and never minded sharing. She didn't say anything when you came in at 2 am with mussed hair and swollen lips, and you were grateful for it.

"You could have stayed, Joris didn't come in until late."

You finally bristle, dropping the pot onto the drying rack. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that."

You turn in his grasp, eyebrows frayed in the middle of your face. He hates when you look at him like this. "Y/n, we're not children anymore. We're two consenting adults."

"Emma will hate me."

"And is that worth your happiness? Whether or not your friend, who you aren't that close to, by the way, is mad at you?"

"You cheated on her, Charles."

You clear your throat as you blink away the memory. Emma scoffs again at the thought of Charles. "He even had the gall to come out on the patio at the same time as me this afternoon."

"Everyone was on the patio, Emma," you level, already getting irritated with her tone. She irritated you often, Charles wasn't necessarily wrong about your lack of proximity to her. She was always a bit bratty, but had too much history with the group to be left behind, no matter how much she seemed to irk everyone. "You can't expect him to walk on eggshells around you, he's still a part of the group."

Emma stops walking, but you keep pace. "Are you defending a cheater, y/n?" You're glad you didn't stop.

Your eye twitches, and you're glad that she can't see it. This conversation was draining you, yet it's barely started, and already, it's over. She did this nearly every time they were in the same vicinity, and it was getting old. Or maybe, it was the guilt that you were fucking her ex-boyfriend.

It was a mistake that they dated in the first place. He had just broken up with his long term girlfirend, someone you all never seemed to get along with, and Emma's eyes were always slightly googly for the boy. Her attention was more palpable, and better received, than the rest. So they began to fool around, began to hold hands a bit more at group dinners. You heard her say 'boyfriend' much more than he did, though.

The cheating was a bit egregious, even for Charles. For the sake of everyone's friendships, his romance with her was kept under wraps, the superiority of a professional PR team apparent over gossip columns and nosy fans. It was the nosy fans, unfortunately, that had found Charles in a club somewhere in Italy with his tongue down some model's throat.

She cried, shouted, did everything but rip her own hair out at the photos that surfaced. Perhaps it hurt her most that people were excited to see Charles with the woman, finally seen with someone that wasn't an engineer or Vasseur. They didn't know about her, and frankly, they never would. She was never terribly important to Charles, everyone knew that, and now she did too.

The group had moved on, sans Emma. No one really made fusses about it in the first place, their relationship running its course over only about 3 months. The boys saw it coming and, well, the girls had warned her. A rebound was always obvious to those watching.

The worst part, the part that made you feel so ill all the time, is Charles wanted to be yours, and you wanted to be anywhere but the villa.

You grab your sweater off of the chair at the vanity mirror in your room, bristling at the chill coming from the open window you had left during the night, and now day. You hear the laughter of your friends, of Peter shouting over Oliver, and Charles laughing from his belly. You hate that you can tell his laughter from the rest.

When you sit back down at the table, Clara waits for you to scoot your chair back in and place the napkin in your lap. "You lost her inside, eh?"

You crack a smile, Clara was your most blunt, and funniest, friend. "Had to, lest I hear about Charles's trespasses again."

Clara chuckles into her wine glass. "If only she knew."

In a lowered voice, you turn closer to her. "I think she may actually lose her mind if she found out, Clara."

She rolls her eyes. "Find out what? That you two are obsessed with each other, yet you won't take him seriously? That she was collateral? Shit happens."

"That's not what this is."

"Please. He'd marry you tomorrow if given the opportunity, y/n. Deep down, she knows that was never her anyway."

When you look back up at Charles, he's already looking at you, looking so endearing that you have to look back down at your chicken and roasted vegetables. You're still not hungry.

꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜

It happened quickly, but the buildup seemed to make it inevitable. You were always a friend of the leclercs, your mother's growing an affinity for each other when you were quite young. You grew up alongside the boys, Charles always having a soft spot for you in particular. Charles escorted you every time your father hosted a gala, and voluntarily was your designated driver on nights out. One in particular, 6 months ago, sealed fates.

"Charlie, just take one shot."

"If I take a shot, I won't be driving," he laughs at you, looking at you with little twinkles in his eyes. He and Emma had just finally broken up, the past 3 months couldn't be categorized as anything but odd. After they had notified the group, in their own respective ways, you had seemed to have gotten your fun loving, a tad awkward, but always down for what you were plotting, Charlie back. He had agreed in a heartbeat to meet you and Clara at the club. It makes you grin.

"That's fine, uber exists. Have fun for once, please?" You pout, tequila speaking for you. Everything was already a bit hazy, much funnier than normal, and less serious.

"Yeah, come on Chaaaarlie," Clara giggles knowingly. He'd do anything if you asked for it, this was a fact.

With a shake of his head and faked disdain, he downs the shot, hears your cheers, and suddenly, one shot is seven and you're both screaming the lyrics to an old Fergie song that blasts through the speakers.

Heels were a bad, but stunning, idea. You felt cute and confident, but by the time you had stopped dancing like a mad person to get a drink of water, the balls of your feet began to throb.

"Please don't take your shoes off in this place," Charles begs.

"Don't be my father," you frown. "My feet hurt."

"Your feelings will be what's hurting when someone steals these off the section couch," he points to your feet, and there was a touch of validity. They were Jimmy Choos, after all, and cost more than you could comprehend. Charles often went overboard on your birthday gifts.

"I'll take that risk."

"I'll hold them."

"You won't," you say with a laugh, used to his dramatics. But he shocks you, gingerly picking them off the couch and holding them on his index and middle finger.

"Charlie, put my shoes down."

"I will do no such thing."

Somehow, somewhere between promising Clara you'd text her when the uber dropped you and Charles off at his place, helping him get the key into the lock of his door, and sitting on his kitchen island, Charles finds himself in between your legs, staring into your eyes that had glitter and mascara surrounding them.

It wasn't normal of "best friends" to be around each other like this. He knew that. He hadn't wanted to be just your best friend in a while though, but having you in that capacity was better than nothing at all. Especially when he had seemingly bounced from one girlfriend to the other, and deep down, he knew it was because he was bored. They weren't you, no matter how much imitation was attempted. Perhaps the only person who was aloof to his truest desires, was you.

"You looked very pretty tonight, y/n/n."

"You looked dashing yourself," you wink, "the girls in there told you that though, no?"

He rolls his eyes. "That wasn't anything. Just fans, same shit as usual."

"You usually are being hit on by pretty girls, is what you're saying?" You continue to tease. Charles can't stand your smart mouth sometimes, especially how much he can't help but love it.

"To be fair, I don't really notice. I'm always looking at you, anyway."

You don't have a response for that. He's never said it outright, never crossing the line. But now he has, and there's no going back.

"Charles, you just broke up with Emma."

"I know,"

"You cheated on her."

"I know,"

"I'm your best friend."

His turn to grin. "I know."

In a fashion completely unlike you, throwing caution to the wind felt like the only option, pulling him in with your legs, locking around the back of his waist, lips pressed onto his, hair between your fingers. He tastes like tequila and mint gum, like the things you regret yet adore. He wonders if this means the same to you as it means to him.

When you wake up in his bed, makeup removed and your favorite shirt of his draped over your body, you inhale deeply when you feel the familiar soreness stretching through your lower half, and the weight of his arm roped around your body. Now that you've gotten your taste, you weren't giving it up.

"Did you pack the aloe vera?" You hear him from your doorway, blinking back from yet another memory.

"'S in the bathroom, look in the blue toiletry bag," you call, not looking away from where you were taking your hooped earrings out in the mirror. It was a domestic encounter in a way, like a scene taken out of context 20 years from now. Maybe one day, you'd be on holiday with a family of your own, enjoying silence once your kids were asleep after playing in the water all day. Maybe you'd be actually sharing a room, instead of whatever the fuck this was.

"You seemed off at dinner, everything okay?" Charles asks, rubbing the gel on his soon-to-be-peeling nose.

"Fine," you shrug, turning back to look at him, and not just his reflection. "Just wasn't so hungry. And cold, like I said."

He chuckles a little to himself. "I could tell," he nods with his head down to your chest. Your nipples had pearled, and supposedly, had been pearled, and were obvious through the thin fabric of your fitting dress.

"Jesus Charles," you berate, turning back to your mirror. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm a man," he corrects. "Who's seen what's under that dress and thinks it's a great sight. But I also like your mind and your personality and all that, of course." Idiot. He sits on your bed, making himself comfortable against the headboard as he watches you get ready for bed. Domesticity. "Will you be going back to Monaco after this?"

"No, visiting Clara's family in the states for a little."

He makes a discontent noise. "How long?"

"A week," you answer. "Miami."

"Fun, going to go out?"

"What is it to you?" You ask, half jokingly, half alerted by his series of questions.

He shrugs this time. "Care about you, want to know what your plans are. Is it a crime?"

"No, just makes me fear you're in love with me."

"I'm on my way to that, I tell you that all the time. And you make jokes because you know it's true."

You stand up from the vanity, looking at him with an expression that makes his heart hurt. It's that wounded puppy look, the way you used to look at Arthur when Charles would tell him to fuck off from trying to hang out with the two of you as teenagers.

"I don't really know what to say when you say those things." He stands up from your bed, meeting you where you stand in the middle of you and Clara's room. He still smells just like all your favorite aspects of summer, and that tired look in his eyes from a day of relaxation and release melts you. "I know I'm in my head."

"'S a good head to be in." He moves the strans of your hair that were falling over your forehead behind your ear, smoothing his fingers over your jawline until his fingers lift your chin. "That's better. Couldn't see your face."

"What is this, Charlie?" Your eyes search his, and he hates how scared you look. "Like, seriously. We, we fuck, we sleep in the same bed more than we don't."

"We always have done that, you've shared with Enzo and Arthur before too I'm sure."

"Don't be dense."

"I think that's just how I am, mon amour."

"Such a shithead," you mutter with a huff, annoyed with his smug expression. "I'm being serious. If sex is just what you want, or need, right now, I don't think I can do this anymore."

"It's much more than that to me, don't insult me," He no longer has a grin on his face, mouth turned much more stoic. "My actions precede me, yes," you withold commentary on that, "but I'd never do anything to hurt you, y/n/n. I care about you, think about you all the time, want you wherever I am, always."

A part of you thinks this is what you've always wanted to hear. A gorgeous, successful, personable man who you've grown to trust infallibly your whole life is 5 feet short of professing his love for you, and yet, you can't let yourself fully be happy. Because for the last 6 months, you've ducked and dodged your own friends, not wanting them to know about the two of you. He did cheat, for crying out loud. On someone you have baby photos with. No matter how annoying, or selfish, she comes off, Emma wasn't going anywhere in your life. And you'd be devastated if she did this to you, so he remained your dirty little secret.

"Am I interrupting?" Clara says teasingly from the doorway, a wine glass still in her hands. "Sorry, Mirabel wanted me to check on you."

You clear your throat and step away from Charles. "Not at all. Charlie's got a sun burn."

"Ah. You are pale," Clara notes. "Figures."

"Thanks, Clar."

"Still drinking?" You nod toward her glass. "Pour me one, will you?"

"Sure will." She turns, and you make to follow.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, I think."

"Y/n,"

"Not right now," you say firmly, "please?"

And you've got that withered look, that look that screams exhaustion. Guilt's gonna kill him one day, he's sure.

"Fine."

And with that, you head out the door, leaving Charles in your room, regretting not telling you how he felt about you when his girlfriend told him to. Before Emma took that mantle instead, and before you started looking at him like it was hard to do so.

꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜

Sammy brings it up first, but the entirety of the day was the beginning of the end of secrecy.

The next day had been decided as a boat day, everyone prepared for another long day in the sun, this time on the open waves. The girls had all gone below deck, in search of champagne and a bottle opener, and Sammy and Charles were far enough from Oliver, Joris, and Peter for them to hear a conversation.

"I've got a question I think," Sammy asks. He makes an affirmative noise, head leaned back against the cushions of the lounger, sunglasses sliding down his still peeling nose. "Are you and y/n hooking up?"

Charles immeditely looks up at Sammy, mouth open in a scramble for the most believable way to say no. "No, ah, why would you say that?" oh dear.

"Mate," Sammy winces.

"Fuck me," Charles yanks the glasses off and wipes both hands over his face. He keeps them there when he asks, "how?"

"Leaving hickeys is one thing, her jewelry on your bedside table is another." The central heating unit for their floor was in Joris and Charles's room, Sammy did go to adjust it yesterday morning. Fuck. "Does Emma know?"

"No," Charles says quickly. "No. Y/n doesn't want anyone to."

Sammy quirks his mouth to the side. "Well, are you dating?"

"No,"

"Ah." Sammy looks out on the water, stewing over this confirmed theory of his. You all suddenly appear from inside, cheering with a bottle clutched in Emma's hand, you with the opener. When he looks back at Charles, he sees that even though all four of you stand there he's looking at you. This must be sympathy for the devil, Sammy thinks, because why else is he feeling bad for someone whose problem was multiple attractive women had feelings for him?

"Charlie, can you help?" you pout, unable to get the cork loose from the bottle. It was obvious you were tipsy, drunk even, you all had been drinking since the sun came up.

"Fucks sake y/n, use your arm!" Clara groans. Sammy looks back at Charles, willing him with his brain to not be at your beck and call for once.

"I've got it," Charles chuckles, like an idiot, if you ask Sammy. He pops it, a cheer coming from the group at the appearance of bubbles and spray. It gets all over his hands as he attempts to hold the bottle away from his body, and he shakes the excess off as the cheers continue. Oliver whisks the bottle away to be divied up between everyone's cups, and Charles goes inside to wash his hands off. You slink off behind him, unbeknownst to him, or the rest of your friends, except for Emma, whose interest is piqued by your sudden absences.

"Thanks for the help," your voice is sweet in the silence of the kitchenette.

His head whips to your figure, slightly startled by your presence. You're barefoot, a brown bikini only covering what's absolutely necessary to be covered. He can't tell if he loves it or he hates it. Your open button up shirt tossed on as a cover up intrigues him, because, is that his?

"Is that my shirt?" Charles repeats, out loud this time, eyes trained like heat seekers as you move close. His hands lay in the towel, champagne still dripping off his fingers. You've seemed to have distracted his process.

"No, but it seems like you would love it if it was."

He raises his shoulders. "You're welcome to them."

You hum, "good to know." You're looking at him like prey, it makes his throat dry and he's not sure what to say. You're always the bubbly one, the sunshine when he's being grumpy and difficult.

Charles lifts his hands from the towel that he still hasn't utilized yet, pushing his luck by placing a hand on your hip. He plays with the string on your right hip, fingers begging to untie the bow. "You only like talking to me when we're in kitchens, huh?"

He makes you laugh with that, or maybe it's the alchohol making you do it. "I always like talking to you. It's you that can't keep hands to yourself."

A hand slides up his chest, resting casually, yet his heart races faster. That familiar, warm feeling settles in his lower stomach, and he wills himself not to harden like a teenager. "We both have a problem with hands, I see."

You tilt your head in challenge. You pull his hand off of your hip and lift it, analyzing the digits still drenched in champagne. And to his utter surprise, you take his index finger into your mouth. The eye contact you hold as you do so has his mouth dropping open slightly in a daze, mind going to static as he feels the warmth and wetness, the pucker of your lips. You hum as you release his finger with a pop, licking your lips.

"Don't think I have a problem with your hands at all, Charles."

Charles, not Charlie. He's ruined.

How you saunter away after that leaves him gobsmacked, flustered, and most of all, hoping this boat would be docking soon.

꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜

"I have an offer for you," is how you start the conversation. You're all showered, evening attire thrown on and awaiting the metaphorical dinner bell. The two of you plus Peter were sat out on the patio, and were left alone when Peter ran in to the bathroom for a moment.

"When I come back home, we should go on date."

Charles thinks he mishears you. "What?"

"A date, Charlie. You know, when two people who share a romantic interest go out toge-"

"Enough, smartass," He stops your condescension. "You would go on one with me?"

You take a deep breath. "Yeah, I would. I like you, and all that."

"And all that," he repeats. "What every man wants to hear."

"Do you want to go on the date or not?"

"I do, I really do. Have wanted to for a while, you know."

You smile softly, resting your head on the lounger. "I know."

"Dinner's ready," Emma comes out to announce. When she sees it's only the two of you, her expression changes slightly, something only you'd notice after years of experiencing emotions from her. "Where's Peter?"

"Bathroom," you answer easily. Emma looks at the two of you intently, and Charles turns towards the water, not really interested in making conversation with the woman who's profusely stated her aversion to him.

"Hm. Well, come down soon."

When she closes the glass doors, Charles all but laughs out loud. "What a nightmare."

"Your ex," you rebut, "can't believe that to this day. If you didn't like her, why'd you do it?"

"Because I didn't think I could have you."

His veins fill with regret when he says it, he knows its not fair. But it's true, you know it as well. "Well, no more collateral damage, then." You stand up from the lounger, brushing down your dress. "Pick a good restaurant for the date."

Dinner begins well, Mirabel telling stories and Oliver denying them all. It's when the laughter dies down after Joris recounts their last trip to Nice that things begin to slant.

"Y/n/n," Emma calls from down the table. You turn to her, as everyone does.

"Yeah, Em?"

"I just have been dying to know," she starts, clasping her hands under her chin. "How long have you and Charles been fucking?"

Peter chokes on his wine. The table is utterly silent, and everyone's face carries the same shocked expression. And, wow, you've pictured this moment dozens of ways and hundreds of times, but honestly, this one was rare form. But after everything, especially today, caution was once again to the wind.

"About 6 months," you calmly answer, reaching for your glass. "Give or take."

"You bitch," she hisses. "Are you not even ashamed of yourself?"

"Are you not going to address Charles in the slightest, or is it just y/n's fault that they have sex?" Clara asks, and Mirabel and Oliver can't help the snicker in their chests. Sammy takes another piece of salmon from the middle platter.

"Yes, I could have said something," you mull.

Emma looks around, utter disbelief on her face as it seems everyone's refusing to intervene on this one. You can't blame them, and those who did know, well, their wine glasses are filled.

Emma gets up from the table with a curse of Charles's name and a disgusted look your way, and Clara clears her throat.

"So, anyone have any recommendations for clubs in Miami?"

[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog #43 | 7.30.24 ๋࣭⭑

tis the season of crescence x fenir

It's peak hot girl summer time. Not sure how many of you saw the sunburnt art trend going around on twitter, but of course I had to take part in it with the other hot girl in the Alaris cast, Druk.

look at those 34DD's

I drew this early this month, but I am still thinking about it. Let us take a moment to appreciate this gift together.

Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's get into the devlog!

I've been jumping around a lot between different routes this month, but it's been fun since I definitely enjoy the polishing/editing part of writing more than the drafting part. This past month, I got my hands into Fenir, Druk, Etza, and Kuna'a's routes LMAO.

For Fenir's route, I actually have bittersweet, but exciting news! OG Alaris followers may remember I had Vi (of @nextinline-if fame) helping me with line editing. She did an amazing job with Kayn's route, but unfortunately she isn't able to continue working on Alaris due to personal/professional obligations. I, of course, support her and wish her all the best in all her future conquests and am super grateful to have gotten the chance to work with someone as talented and kind as her <3

Stepping in to help is close friend, Allie Vera! Allie helped me with intertwine, and hails from besties' Lost in Limbo and Blooming Panic fame (amongst many other cracked VNs). I'm very excited to get to work with Allie again, and they are already knocking it out of the park with Fenir edits! Everyone please welcome Allie to the Alaris team ^^

On my end, I've been doing my own line editing for Fenir and Druk's routes now that I'm able to revisit the scripts with fresh eyes. As usual, Etza developmental edits continue forward, and we're getting into the last stretch. We've added in a lot of cute moments and really fleshed out the romance more so Etza's romantic side can shine <3

With Kuna'a's route, I'm doing the same-old, same-old. Fleshing out scenes, ironing out plot details, etc. Because I was bouncing between so many routes this month, I didn't have as much time to sit down and really Write Kuna'a's route. But I will say I'm already pretty happy with the script. I've added a couple more emotional beats and, in general, have been connecting plot points that already make the route feel stronger, so I'm excited for you all to eventually see it!

My little notion word tracker showing word goals (left), actual word count (center), and words left to write (right)

In the last bit of exciting news for writing, we are approaching an exciting milestone!!! I told you all when we started Kuna'a's route, we had approximately 100k left so were finally getting into the "double digits". Well, now we are approaching the last 50k!!!! All of the routes are ~50k, so 50k is my benchmark for one whole route. It's exciting to see that we are getting to the last bit AUUGGHHH

As you can see, the writing front was pretty busy this month. Because of that, I wasn't able to make much headway on art. I do have this sneak peek of a Druk CG, as I try to make progress on his beta!

licks him

Final count for CGs right now is 20, though! Out of an estimated 54. So we're slowly approaching the halfway point, which is super exciting \o/ And this doesn't include the handful of CGs I already have sketched up and just need to be rendered (sketching is the most time-consuming part for me, so once a sketch is finished, the CG is basically done in my eyes LMFALSIDJ).

Finally, this past month we've been working on Fenir's beta testing!! It was his birthday month this past month, so happy birthday to our little grumpy guy <3

Birthday piece gifted by Extremely Talented @endys that I still cry over. If you haven't played Snow White Ashes....... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??

Beta testing has been going well. Here's a couple of gems from feedback so far:

giggles like a madwoman

he's like a little kitten in a wet cardboard box all alone

Kayn, looking at Fenir: I want that twink Obliterated... so cute.

If you'd like to try out his beta, sign up for Hydra on my Patreon!

The beta will be running a while longer as I make progress on Druk's beta. The time span between Kayn and Fenir's beta was about a month, but honestly trying to get the beta out in that amount of time while balancing the rest of dev kinda killed me. So Fenir's beta will be running for a bit longer than a month. I'll let you all know when Druk's beta will go up so that you can hop in on Fenir's before it ends if you want. But just remember, each beta route only runs for that period of time, so get access to it while you can!

For market research this month, I played a couple of games but unfortunately haven't really had time in the way of fanart <\3 I'd like to get back into doing that since I feel like it helps me with art progress in general, so we'll see ;(

I do want to highlight a game that just dropped its demo this month and is currently running its Kickstarter! I'm sure many of you have heard/seen Save the Villainess on your timeline, and I hope you all check out the demo!! The art is stunning, as many people have said, and the premise is super interesting, inspired by many villainess manhuas.

If you're into darker stories, meta-commentary, and murder mysteries, please consider checking out and supporting the devs (@bestlaidplansproductions) as they've worked incredibly hard on this game!

As you can see, a lot of this month was spent on writing. With where the routes are at right now, I'm thinking I'll be able to focus more solely on Kuna'a's route this upcoming month and finally get that knocked out of the park. I also hope to make progress on the CG front! Wish me luck there... LOL.

That's all for this month! Hope you're all doing well (and surviving the many heat waves hitting the world), and I'll see you all next month <3

[c00kietin]

WUAAAHHHH, i made something for u cookie :3

The slugss!!! Also some funfacts!!! Regarless of you know them or not...it was fun searching stuff for u fren :DDDDD

Here are also some funfacts about sea sheep:

They’re neither leaves nor sheep

Leaf sheep are actually a species of sea slug. A term used commonly to describe marine invertebrates, sea slugs resemble terrestrial slugs. However, they come in a wide variety of shapes and colors. Sea slugs are closely related to gastropods, such as sea snails and mollusks, with the main difference being that they don’t have shells. Along with leaf sheep, nudibranchs are another type of sea slug.

What looks like sheep���s ears are actually scent and taste receptors.

Leaf sheep have rhinophores on their heads that look like the ears of a sheep in perspective to their faces. They also resemble antennae on insects. The lead sheep’s rhinophores have fine hairs that sense chemicals in the water, enabling lead sheep and other sea slugs to find food sources.

Leaf sheep are about the size of a grain of rice.

Leaf sheep are only about a quarter of an inch, or a little over 5mm long. Yet, even at this size, their physical appearance is incredibly detailed. Some say they remind them of succulent plants such as aloe vera.

Their scientific name is a combination of Latin and Japanese.

Leaf sheep’s scientific name, Costasiella kuroshimae, is a combination or Latin and Japanese. Costasiella indicates the genus name of all sea slugs belonging to the sacoglossa group. Kuroshima, in Japan, is where they were first found. They are also referred to as “sap-sucking sea slugs.”

I won't make this ask longer then it is-

Hope this wasn't annoying for u, you don't gotta answer this

:3

GRIPPING YOU BY THE SHOULDERS AND SHAKING YOU VOILENTLY/vpos

BESTIE. BESTIE I LOVE THIS SM THANK YOU FOR DRAWING THESE LOVELIES AND GIVING ME INFO ABOUT THEM TOO!! I did not know about the naming or their size so you did teach me new stuff about my favourite silly!!!! <33

[otmaaromanovas]

What was Vera Gedroitz like? I have heard that she was “mean” or have heard her been talked about in a negative way, but honestly she is someone to look up to. A openly gay nurse, like that’s someone that I would look up too. Did the girls like her? Did the little pair even get to know her because she wasn’t at their infirmary? Thanks bestie! 🤍

Hi! Thank you so much for the question - sorry for the delay! I do love talking about Vera, so here we go...

Vera's personality

Vera was known to be gruff and commanding. Unfortunately, little is written directly about Vera's personality, as much of the primary sources focusses on her "unusualness" instead: her way of dressing (always masculine clothing), speaking in a low, gruff voice gravelled by years of cigarette smoke, and her relative openness about her sexuality. However, there was a warmer, more romantic side to Vera. She wrote poetry, sought the companionship of literary circles, and turned the grief of losing her brother during childhood into a truly revolutionary medical career. She could be brusque and private, possessing a no-nonsense attitude, but also incredibly compassionate and kind. She spent the last years of her life running a pharmacy with her wife, giving medicine and medical aid to the poor completely for free.

Was she liked by OTMA?

We can infer that she was, indeed, liked by OTMA, or at least by Nicholas and Alexandra. As a doctor to the royal household (who was specifically requested by Alexandra) she would have been held in high esteem. It is believed that Vera was also an occasional doctor to the imperial children: Nicholas and Alexandra's tendency to dismiss staff which they saw as behaving immorally, or being difficult in some way (especially when it came to those caring for their children) implies that they had warm feelings towards Vera due to her continued employment.

In fact, fellow nurse Valentina Chebotareva's diaries are very revealing of this relationship: when Anna Vyrubova was struck by a train, she noted in her diary that the Tsar "spoke for a long time" with Vera, entrusting her with Anna's care. She also wrote in 1917 that "I talked to Vera Ignatievna about the past. How close the Empress had been to her at the beginning of the war", implying that their relationship did decrease as Rasputin's influence monopolised. Vera had no time for Rasputin - one quite famous anecdote describes him standing in her way and Vera physically pushing him into a corridor to be rid of him lol. Despite this strain on her relationship with the Romanovs, and her activity in revolutionary groups during her youth, Vera remained fond of the family. She had, after all, taught Alexandra, Olga, and Tatiana personally during their nursing training. When the abdication was announced, Valentina wrote that Vera "sobbed like a helpless child."

It is from Tatiana's diaries where we learn the most about the sister's relationship with Vera. Ever detail-oriented, Tatiana's diaries are a beautiful patchwork of notes and observations about her patients and fellow workers. Interestingly, in her 1914 diary, Tatiana usually refers to Vera as "The Princess", reference to her royal title, rather than by her name in line with the doctor/tutor role that she had with the Grand Duchesses. This later changes to her first name and patronymic.

Monday 8 September 1914: "...Had tea with Papa and Mama, then the princess came over."

Wednesday 24 September 1914: "...From there to the infirmary with the princess... Had a lesson. The Princess was here."

Thursday 25 September 1914: "Had a lesson in the morning. At 11 o’clock again, like yesterday, we picked up the princess and went to the infirmary."

Letter from Tatiana to Nicholas II, 19 November 1914: "They took out a tiny fragment from Gogoberidze’s leg, but it was so small that the Princess was looking for it for almost a half hour and finally found it with difficulty. It was about this big “O,” no bigger."

Letter from Tatiana to Vera Cheborateva, 14 April 1917: "And where do Rita, ... and Vera Ign. live now?"

Letter from Tatiana to Vera Cheborateva, 8 January 1917: "We heard what Vera Ignatievna has turned into, and how she is walking around. How fast people change— it is even funny!"

Letter from Tatiana to Rita Khitrovo, 23 January 1918: "[The Baron] also wrote to me and said that he saw Vera Ignatievna at the infirmary. She is [wearing] epaulets, large boots with spurs, did not even ask the Baron how he was doing. So shameful. I did not expect how fast she would change. Although lately she had been very strange."

It is interesting here that Tatiana remarks about Vera's clothing - many photographs show that Vera had always dressed in the masculine style around the infirmary (suits, long coats, even masculine medical outfits), including in the presence of the Romanov family, so this would not have been a new or unusual phenomenon for the Grand Duchesses. Vera even sent this photograph of herself to Olga in 1915 - wearing a masculine style! She was not subtle.

(That's one happy patient!) ... From these photos and documents you can clearly see that Alexandra, Olga, and Tatiana were very happy working alongside Vera who clearly more traditionally masculine clothing - I've pointed out Vera for ease of identification.

Perhaps Tatiana was pointing out this social irregularity in light of what she saw as a betrayal: I think it's very important to highlight the difference in their diaries before and after the Revolution. Vera stayed in the capital for a brief time, and could not openly support the Romanov family without compromising her work as a doctor. Eventually, she joined the 6th Siberian Rifle Regiment (which was still technically considered imperial) in order to provide surgery on the front lines which simultaneously escaping the capital. Valentina Chebatoreva's diaries make it very clear that Vera did not keep up correspondence with and/or show support for the Romanovs as it would have compromised her medical work: "Vera Ignatievna finds that it is impossible to answer each one [letter] so as not to give the impression of a "party"." I'm of the opinion that Tatiana's souring opinion towards Vera came from her mistaking Vera's self-preservation of herself and her work through not showing active support or maintaining correspondence to have been a betrayal.

Vera's whole life was medicine: she emigrated to Russia to study medicine, she became the first Russian woman doctor, she served in the Russo-Japanese War, First World War, and Revolutionary conflicts, she found her life partner Maria Dmitrievna through medicine, and even in retirement worked tirelessly to deliver healthcare and treatment to those less fortunate than her. It appears to Vera that, in order to continue to save lives, correspondence with the Romanovs was too much of a risk.

Did the little pair know her?

This is a great question! Off the top of my head, I can't recall any direct references to Vera in their diaries. Unlike Olga and Tatiana's diaries, the little pair's letters and diaries aren't available to read and search online, so I'm having to rely on my memory of reading those books unlike the ability to digitally search the big pair's for any mentions of Vera.

If we look through their albums however, we can see multiple photographs of Maria and Anastasia visiting Olga and Tatiana's infirmary and being photographed with the staff: including Vera. There are also photographs of Olga and Tatiana with Vera in the little pair's albums, implying that they took the photos. They may not have known her as well as Olga and Tatiana, but considering their visits to the big pair's hospital and Vera's visits to the palace, she was definitely an acquaintance.

To conclude: Vera definitely wasn't to everyone's taste, especially those who preferred the image of a conservative, reserved woman. She was authoritative and determined - brilliant qualities for a doctor, though not encouraged within noble women. The Romanovs, during their friendship with her, truly appear to not have cared about her sexuality of her preference for masculine fashion (there are some gender historians who would have a much more nuanced take on this) - it was only after the Revolution, and her perceived turning against them, that these qualities were problematised. Vera was different, brilliantly so. She fought for what she wanted, what she needed. And, despite the definite constraints of the time, she was free.

I hope this answered your questions! I'm always happy to talk about Vera :)

Sources:

Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar : Diaries and Letters, 1913-1918 by Helen Azar and Nicholas B.A. Nicholson

Photograph of Princess V.I. Giedroyts with a gift inscription to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. 18 March 1915. GARF. Ф. 673. Op. 1. Д. 243. L. 1 ob

The Princess who Transformed War Medicine - BBC

Princess Vera Gedroits: military surgeon, poet, and author by J.D.C. Bennet

[everythingateezbackup]

ATEEZ and your sunburn

You got a really bad sunburn during your beach girl with your besties. This is the way each of the ATEEZ members would react after you came home that evening.

Mingi

As soon as you walk into your bedroom and Mingi sees you, he shakes his head dissapointingly.

"I wore sunscreen-" you tried, but he interrupted you with a tsk-tsk-tsk.

"Now this just wont do." he said, leaning back on his pillow. "Come closer so I can inspect the damage.

You sulk over, and lift your top to show off your back, but once again he tsk-tsk-tsk you.

"Now you know that won't do baby. Strip." he demands. And so you do, because who are you to argue back to your man.

After you are completely naked, he sits up and pulls you to him. "Now why would the sun damaged daddy's previous goods like this?"

San

When you walk into your house, San is already sat in the living room waiting for you.

"I heard you got burned Kitten. This isn't acceptable." he says getting off the coach, before you could even take if your shoes.

"How did you know?" you manage to get out, before he reached you.

"I had your friend give me hourly updates regarding your whereabouts and events. But no stress, Sir has already booked you a Aloe Vera full body massage. We are leaving this instant." he says, putting his own shoes on.

"San, you really didn't have to do that." you say as he guides you out the door.

"Please call me Sir y/n. And no worries, it's the least I could do. Afterwards, we will get Five Guys."

Hongjoong

When you enter your bedroom, you see Hongjoong laying on the bed with a face mask on, half asleep.

"Hongjoong~" you say gently, while starting to pack your stuff away. "I'm back."

He stirs awake quickly at the sound of your voice, and start stretching. "How's my babygiiiirl?" he says with a yawn.

"Not the best, at the beach I-" you begin, but he cuts you off.

"Not the best? I will hurt however put you in a bad moo- oh god, oh no, oh god, what happened to my precious babygirl's skin!" Hongjoong says when he finally sits up and sees your burnt state.

"The sun burned me" you say pouting.

"This wont do!" he says, jumping of the bed, removing his face mask and putting it on your burnt face. "Wait here!"

He runs to the bathroom, and when he returns he's got a tube with aftersun cream. "Lay down on the bed."

You do, and he spends the next hours rubbing you with lotion.

Junho

You walked into the room, and at first Jongho didn't notice your bright red face and burning legs and arms, because he was playing Minecraft on this Nintendo Switch. You guys did your greetings, and you just headed to the bathroom to take a shower and apply your aloe vera.

When you came back into the bedroom, and Jungho finally looked up on you, a confused expression crossed his face.

"Y/n.. why are you red all over..." he said, while slowly lowering his switch.

"Because I got burned." you sigh back, while sitting down in the bed.

"Burned...? I don't understand." he said.

"By the sun? Like sunburned?"

His mouth opens in a shocked expression, and he looks you up and down.

"Oh no!! How dare the sun do that!! I will kissy kissy it all good with my healing mouth!" he said, before lifting your shirt and giving you kisses all over your tummy.

"Ow, that hurts!" you say, but he is busy moving on to your legs.

Seonghwa

You walk into you apartment and are met with Seonghwa sat on the floor in the living room, building a LEGO set.

"Seonghwa I'm home!" you say making your way into the living room, and you see him smile at your voice. However, when his gaze lifts up to you, his smile turns into an awkard grimace.

"Oh wow y/n! That's, ehh, that sure is one hell of a tan!" he says awkwardly

"It's not a tan, I got burned Seonghwa, badly aswell." you say, showing him your arms and legs. By this, his eyes widen.

"Oh no.... y/n, do you know what percentage the sun UV's need to be at for you to get burned like that! And do you know the statistics for how much excessive sun can turn into skin damage, or worse, cancer! You need to calculate all the outcomes before you put yourself into suck ris-" he starts panicking, but you break off his nerd-spew by kissing him. You break the kiss after a while, and grabs his head. "Shut up, and help lotion me up bad boy."

Yeosang

As soon as you enter the door to your apartment, you hear the American national anthem blasting from the living room. Extremely confused, and in alot of pain, you walk in to see Yeosang and Seonghwa in matching pj's, having a little traditional jig.

"Wha-" is all you manage to get out before Yeosang waltzes over to you.

"My dearest, why do you appear so scarlet? Are you quite well?"

You sigh and shake your head.

"No, I got burned today at the beach Yeosang."

"Oh no, what a terrible outcome! I wish you best recoveries, however I must continue entertaining my company. I will see you in the bed chamber later." he says, before waltzing back over to Seonghwa. You sigh, and go to the bathroom to take care of your burns.

Wooyoung

When Wooyoung first lays eyes on you as you enter your apartment, you could feel his whole soul sinking.

"Woo.." you tried gently, but he turned around, not wanting to look at you.

"I promise I was careful-" you try again, but he cuts you off.

"What was it all for? All the aloe I grow, the premium sun screen, the cover ups and the umbrellas?" he says, a whimper in his voice telling you he is about to cry.

"Oh, Woo.. I'll be okay." you say, walking up to him and embracing him. Feeling your touch, he can't help it - the beasts within him dies down and he starts crying, hugging you back.

"I just don't want Woo's girl to be in pain." he hulks.

"I know Wooyoung, I know."

Yunho

You come home, and Junho is dead asleep. You try to wake him up, but nothing works so you leave him be and go take your shower. When you are done, he is still fast asleep, so you give him a little nudge.

"Junhoooo~" you try waking him up, mostly because you want someone to feel sorry for you for the painful burns all over your body.

He finally stirs a little, and you lean down next to him, with a small pout.

"Wahh.. what's up, y/n?" Junho says tiredly, with a yawn at the end of the sentence, still with his eyes shut.

"I got burned today at the beach" you pout. He finally opens one eye, looking at you quickly, before he yawns again.

"Damn, that sucks." he says, before turning over and falling back asleep.

[jokerislandgirl32]

So Zach, you used to be a villain but when Varina was born you became good and started working with your besties, the wild kratts? But when you youngest started dating a villain you went back to villainy again? What happened? How did Violet feel?

Hehe, *pulls collar of sweater,* this question?

Ugh, fine…Below the cut because it’s a long explanation…

Well, I can’t say I’m proud of this decision…I truly changed my life for the better after Varina was born, and it created a wonderful life for me, Violet, and our children for many years. There was no fear of losing everything from my villainous actions, I reconciled with the Wild Rats Crew (yes I still call them that, that’s never changed), and it helped me gain such a great appreciation for animals, nature, and others around me. I was finally able to get over myself long enough to well…to put it in words that’ll make Violet squeal in adoration: “see the beauty in the world around me.”

This change in my life affected me so dramatically that it caused me to eventually develop an aversion to the general thought of villainy. I ended up having to go to therapy to try to get past the pain and anxiety I experienced on a daily basis from self reflection on my past actions.

I had just gotten to a much better place mentally when Victoria, our youngest daughter, approached us with the revelation that she was involved with a man who was quite a bit older than her, but worse yet was a villain. The man, Eric Espinoza, rose as a villain after command of the Wild Kratts Team was transferred over to Vera, Nolan, and a handful of the other former Wild Rats Kids.

The new Wild Rats Team, the former Wild Rats Team, myself, and Violet, along with my reformed villain friends, teamed up to take down this threat to the creature world. This jerk, Espinoza, created a powerful device that was able to control any animal via a special chemical compound, you can think of it as something like pheromones. All he had to do was press a button on his remote, and it would trigger any varmint that was exposed to the chemicals to react violently.

He was causing such great destruction to the creature world we were at a loss for what to do to stop him, that’s when Victoria stepped up and said she’d go bargain with him, because she figured given the nature of their relationship he would listen to her. Well, it appeared she did more than bargain because after a few meetings with him she came to us with the joyous news of her elopement to him. It turns out they decided to marry secretly because they feared with his status as a villain we would not accept him.

Eric and Victoria’s Elopement Pic Picrew Link

She figured right….I was livid. Not only was this older man trying to seduce our daughter, but he was also trying to corrupt her! I knew he was trying to convert her to a life of villainy too, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and end this threat against my family and the creature world.

I honestly felt like I’d lost control of my life with this revelation, and I decided the only way to combat the feral varmints Espinoza was creating was to pit them against the failed inventions of my past, albeit with modifications. I set to work gathering up all the necessary varmints for the battle against him. I equipped the varmints with their battle wear and pitted them against Eric and his army of violent animals.

By some miracle I was able to defeat him…I was able to get access to him long enough in the middle of the battle that I got ahold of his chemical compound, and I was able to reconstruct this compound to make an antidote to save the affected varmints whenever he tried to unleash the chemical compound upon them.

But, this didn’t bode well for my family, Violet was furious over my actions and Victoria was so hurt that she stopped talking to me and her mother altogether. Violet and I only mentioned divorce or separation in our marriage twice, and this was one of the times. The confrontation was quite intense, but eye opening.

“Zachary! I know you were hurt by Victoria eloping with Eric, I know you were upset about the horrible acts he was committing. But you don’t understand what you’ve done. When we had Varina you made the decision to turn your life around for the better. You made the choice to not harm innocent animals ever again or use them as spare parts. You made the choice to be a better man for your children, for me, and for yourself. And you’ve gone and thrown all of that away just because you didn’t approve of your daughter’s partner and his occupation?

Victoria isn’t a child, she can make her own decisions, Zachary! Sure, she may have decided to elope with an older man, with a villain…but she only did that because she was so afraid of what you would think, of disappointing or hurting you! She thought that by marrying him maybe you would come around, maybe you would even use your experience of becoming a reformed villain to help him change his life for the better. But you didn’t!

You were so angry that you didn’t think about the consequences! You hurt innocent animals, you hurt our family, and you’ve hurt our marriage. I’m not going to divorce you, I’m not going to leave you, I love you and care for you too much to do that, but we’re not in a good place right now. I might need some time away from you…ARGH! I feel so angry! I feel like you’ve betrayed me and everything we’ve worked so hard for! I never thought the day would come that my own child refuses to speak to me, but it’s happened and it’s destroying me.

In case you’ve forgotten…I fell in love with a villain too. But I saw the good in him, and I loved him flaws and all…I still do…so, I know exactly how Victoria feels…I just wish you had realized that too…because now it’s too late.”

Violet and I soon reconciled, I completely swore off villainy for good, but it took longer for Victoria to come back around…it was the death of her husband Eric and learning she was going to become a mother that brought Victoria back into our lives. And now Victoria, little Eric Zachary Espinoza, and I are inseparable.

[latibvles]

Poet i am obsessed with the Mouse Hole crew and have been rereading some of your fics about them! Just wondering if you had any hcs for the more (imo) underrated gals of the group like Lorraine, Lena, Harriet, Fern and Carrie? Keep up the great work, love your writing!!

Hi friend!!! Glad you’re rereading and enjoying them!!! It feels like a good start just to know people read them, let alone go back and reread. I definitely do because all 10 of them rattle around in my brain like ping-pong balls. For the sake of the fact that I’m a yapper I’ll throw them all under the cut and break them up by character: I have a lot to say!

LORRAINE IVANOVA

So I think I’ve said this to friends but Lorraine’s older sister Vera is the one who writes their stories down after the war. Which says a lot because I think Lorraine’s relationship with her older sister is… strange, a little strained because they’re so different. But the love is there.

She’s bilingual! She speaks Russian and English. She and June are the ones who were raised by immigrants who didn’t have English as a first language.

She’s the second tallest out of the girls at a whopping 5’9”

She has a lot of respect for Jack Kidd and I think that, if they had spent more time around each other, they could’ve been very good friends.

I wrote about Lorraine being the one to get into some trouble in this fic for the prompt list. Of which to say I definitely think she and June are a bit of a tandem when it comes to fights. Lorraine is a woman of action and very few words at the end of the day.

LENA CONNOLLY

No siblings and apart of the only child club. I always imagined that she’d work with cars or something after the war because Lena is still a very hands-on person.

Out of all the guys in the 100th she and Crank get along great, but predictably Curt is the one she jives with first as two New York Irishfolk.

I’ve always wondered if she gets with anybody after the war / if it would be a OC or an opportunity for a crossover moment with BOB or TP. She has a very “brothers I never had” view of the guys she served with so she isn’t exactly going home with a wartime sweetheart.

Most often Fern’s co-swindling conspirator. And the one scrutiny June by the neck to keep her from getting them kicked out of a pub with her short fuse.

Very good at baseball, and a big fan of the sport. It’s something she and Major Egan bond over in the POW Camp.

HARRIET MORGAN

I’ve said this before: biiiiiig crush on Helen when they first meet. She’s all heart eyes over her for a little while like a schoolgirl until things start getting Real for Harrie in terms of the war itself.

I went “how neat would it be to crossover her and Malarkey and make them friends” because of their extremely similar circumstances (losing their best friends since training, cold trauma, etc). So I think they end up in a similar circle after the War.

Harrie has a way of worming herself into everyone’s hearts but if I HAD to pick a 100th Bestie™ for her, it’s a toss-up between Blakely and Dougie. She and Blakely have a brother/sister dynamic in my head

Rainy days are her least favorite. So we can imagine that she’s struggling a little in England. Good at persuading officers into giving her free bike rides.

I think out of everyone, her shift in personality from the start or the war to the end is the one that’s most noticeable for better or for worse. My sweet girl.

FERN CARMINE

If she didn’t make it in the USAAF she was going to become a USO Girl for the obvious reason: she has the voice and the charisma for it.

Went to boarding school for most of her life & her first kiss was with a girl. And has been the first kiss / awakening for many girls since.

Has always been close to her father and her dark secret is that she still wrote him even when he initially wasn’t writing her back. Eventually he starts though.

Gets interviewed a lot at the beginning because she’s apart of an Old Money Family. This tapers off just slightly when they get to England, but she was photographed with Viv for a TIME cover (which she enjoyed quite a bit, to be fair).

She and Curt would dance together quite a bit at Thorpe Abbotts. His is the death that hit her the hardest.

CARRIE HUGHES

As nervous as she gets, she really hates the days when the 349th flies a practice mission while the others go on a bomb run. The waiting aspect of it makes it considerably worse for her.

Her dad is a cop and her mom is a school teacher! Carrie is very girl-next-door-like in nature, the type to hide behind her mother’s skirts as a kid.

She painted sets for school musicals when she was in high school! I think she’s very creative but is also humble to a fault about it. Always a little nervous when asked to talk about herself.

A fairly decent darts partner though, mostly taught by friends in her neighborhood.

Her favorite part of the flight is being over the channel because she has a very romanticized idea of the ocean & the beach. She really loved the flight from Greenland to England guys

Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing those!

[aa-power-of-nine]

More nicknames!! Now this extends to the rest of the (PO9-ified) Agency and their friends! (The dead folks and mostly just acquainted folks would need their own posts if/when I get to it)

Trucy — “Truce” to Apollo and Phoenix (and Athena sometimes), “Trucy-doll” to Eldoon, “T” to Wocky.

Vera — Wocky calls her “V”.

Wocky — Apollo and Athena occasionally call him “Wock Star” (also spelled “Wok Star”) when he took interest in playing guitar.

Machi — Sometimes, Apollo and Wocky call him “Mach”.

Kay — Self-nicknames as “Kay-Kay” when being cheeky. (She doesn’t care too much for Delicia’s “Kay Fay”)

Sebastian (aka Eustace Winner) — “Seb” to willing nicknamers, though to Kay he’s “Sebbie”. (Maya steals Delicia’s fan nickname of “Besty”.)

Pearl — “Pearly” or “Pearls”; most prefer the former.

Juniper — “Junie” to Athena (and Robin on occasion), “Woods-chan” to Simon, and Wocky is trying to get “Junes” to stick (he can’t always just do one letter names 😂)

Hugh and Robin — They are not really on the nickname train, but Sebastian has tried “Hughie and Robbie” on them, which they are not going for XD. (Though when teaching the young ones - that being Faitah, Faith, and Sadie when they come to visit - about opposites, Athena used them in their “Hot and Cold” example and now the kids usually end up calling them that 🤣)

Larry — Usually “Larr” from Phoenix and Lotta. When he started going by Laurice, the former went back to his actual name while the latter picked up “Laurie” as one. Datz goes with “LD” when referring to him (yes, them meeting would be as chaotic as it sounds).

Rayfa — Datz calls her “Ray-Ray” (though not when Raymond is present). Raymond called her “Little Ray” once (because “Mini-Me” would have gone over terribly worse).

Nahyuta — “Yuta” or “Yuty”, of course, but barely anyone can get away with those nicknames. Armie often still refers to him as "The Holy Man". Even when on better terms, Simon still calls him “Sad Monk” (the only one he’ll tolerate).

Lana — No one alive has nicknamed her, aside from Ema in a far off point in her youth calling her “La-La”. (Mia called her “Lan” before though)

Ahlbi — Phoenix goes to “Ahlb”, Datz to “Ahl”.

Armie — She has no nicknames of her own either, aside from “Sarge” (which Dhurke is the only one who still calls her that) but still passes out ranks to the people she’s around the most (except for Ema and Klavier; she’s stumped).

Uendo — Datz is partial to “UT”, but not while Nahyuta is present, to avoid confusion. (As for the alters, Owen has turned down “Owie”, but Athena and Wocky have gone for “Patchy” and “Kisi” for Patches and Kisegawa, which they tolerate.)

Datz — Apollo used to call him “Uncle Datz”, but does it far less often. Faitah and Faith are now partial to it, though.

Beh’leeb — The locals call her “Madame B” or “Miss Leeb” because it’s easier to them.

Jinxie — “Jinx” to Trucy, Wocky, and sometimes Betty when visiting.

Betty and Bonny — “Bette” and “Bon-Bon” respectively, Wocky came up with them but Robin also uses them.

Myriam — “Myri” from Athena. Juniper uses it on occasion.

Ellen — “Elly” from Larry still, but Maya, Ema, and Kay are partial to “Ell”.

Sorin — Only Ellen has tried nicknaming him. She went with “Sori”. (Larry tried and got exactly 11 passive-aggressive paper cuts for even daring to say it.)

Sasha and Marlon – Surprisingly, they do not have nicknames either. They do prefer their stage names when they’re acting in character around others, though.

[ashes-writing-corner]

So I'm back with another set of facts/headcanons for my fantasy/dragon rider AU. This time featuring Soap and his dragon, Andraxys, or just Draxys (Drax) for short!

Soap and Draxys

Soap

1. One of the younger riders, only Gaz is younger than him.

2. Came to the kingdom of Athana after hearing they had dragons, was not ready or even thinking of the responsibility that came with being a Rider! Really just wanted one cause it seemed cool at the time.

3. Was orphaned at a young age, grew up surrounded by gangs and in child/teen gangs himself.

4. Joined the Athanian military as both a soldier and a translator, as he seems to have an uncanny knack for picking up other languages (he actually speaks six already).

5. Does translations as a form of meditation. Still does this for fun, but finds flying to be far more meditative.

6. THIS. MAN. LOVES. TO. FLY!!!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. Johnny spends more time on dragon back than anyone in the 141st. He loves the thrill, and likes to do over the top tricks to awe people.

7. When he first came to Dragon's Keep, he wasn't sure which dragon he wanted until he laid eyes on Andraxys, who'd been riderless for about twenty years at that point. Soap thinks Andraxys is the most beautiful of his kind, and made it his goal to claim the less than willing beast...

8. Johnny won Andraxys over through food. He'd bring the best sheep to the keep to feed him, much to Ghost's annoyance (as Dragon Keeper its his job to feed them and provide for the dragons).

9. Soap feels, at first, like Ghost is too uptight, too strict in his own way. However, he does come to learn, understand, and respect why he is that way. The two become best friends through mutual understanding.

10. Likes to race Ghost and Brightfire over the kingdom, still doing his crazy tricks and showing off. This always gets a playful eye roll from his bestie.

Andraxys

1. Only had 1 other rider than Johnny, but it was short lived. Didn't want a rider after losing his first, and grew bitter towards humans after the loss. Has mentioned that he wants Johnny to be his last Rider.

2. Is considered one of Ghost's "cousins", and they're relatively protective of each other.

3. Is a younger dragon, probably about 50 years old, younger than 60 definitely.

4. Known as the Sky Pearl for his gorgeous, pearl like coloring. His flame is mostly white with veins of pastel blue, purple, and green.

5. Refuses to wear anything close to a saddle or a harness, so his riders have to wear protective gear for themselves cause his scales are sharper than most other dragons.

6. Has a deadly serious dislike for Graves' dragon, and well, Graves in general. Vera took off one of Draxys' horns while Graves keeps it as a trophy. The two have to be kept separate in the Keep, or there's going to be a blood bath.

7. At first thought Johnny MacTavish was an absolute nuisance, and he wasn't entirely wrong. However was impressed with his skill in languages and his surprising maturity when it mattered.

8. Is protective of Johnny, but isn't afraid to take risks with him. He's never far from his Rider and cares deeply for him.

9. Best way to his heart is through his stomach. He loves, loves, LOVES to eat, but flies it off so he's always in good shape.

10. If Johnny ever died in combat Draxys would absolutely lose his shit and go on a burning rampage...

That was fun! I intend to do Gaz sometime soon, as he and his dragon are also really interesting! Let me know what you guys think ^^

[mosviqu]

okay it's question time !

Mutual you can always rely on?

Mutual who never misses a post?

Mutual you share the most interests with?

Mutual you were most surprised to become moots with?

Mutual that gives the best advice?

Mutual you have the most in common with?

Mutual who has the best jokes?

Mutual you look up to or admire?

Mutual you'd run away and live in a cottage with?

Mutual you most want to be classmates/friends irl with?

Spouse material mutual?

Mutual with the best personality?

Mutual that never fails to make you laugh?

Mutual with the prettiest theme?

Mutual you'd have a crush on if you knew them irl?

Mutual you absolutely cannot live without?

Mutual you want to get to know better?

it's so bold of you to assume that i have enough mutuals to fill this in, dear anon. therefore don't come for me if i mention the same people over and over again thanku

mutual you can always rely on? my bestie tina @shinachiro mutual who never misses a post? dont have one. and with the amount of shitposts i make, thank fucking god. mutual you share the most interests with? hmm i dont actually know. perhaps tina @shinachiro again?? mutual you were most surprised to become moots with? vie @koishua i was her fangirl and also toffee @neo-shitty mutual that gives the best advice? i dont actually like getting advice bc i think i can figure everything out myself LMAO mutual you have the most in common with? my soulmate tina @shinachiro mutual who has the best jokes? tina @shinachiro mutual you look up to or admire? vera @koishua bc she is so young and doing so much with her life?? literally how??? mutual you'd run away and live in a cottage with? i'd hate that mutual you most want to be classmates/friends irl with? @kiachiako @shinachiro @yaesnovels @flowerjun spouse material mutual? @cactiijoonie we are married mutual with the best personality? @feyregels fey is such a sunshine and sweetheart i cant:(( i aspire to be as nice as her one day. mutual that never fails to make you laugh? tina @shinachiro mutual with the prettiest theme? izzy @decembermoonskz leiqi @effulgentfireflies toffee @neo-shitty and tina @shinachiro mutual you'd have a crush on if you knew them irl? sam isn't on tumblr anymore but her instagram posts have me all heart eyes mutual you absolutely cannot live without? tina! @shinachiro mutual you want to get to know better? @effulgentfireflies perhaps??

[toothycollections]

As per the text post: tell me about your fav oc!!

It's Vera. They're my little, initially human, creature that is forced to dimension hop upon each death that they or their best friend, Briar, manage to stumble into. They don't know why this is happening to them and their bestie. But, through every universe that they are catapulted they learn more about what's going on while feeling like there's less and less control over any of this and the possibility to do something about it grows smaller each day. And their hunger grows with each jump refusing to be satiated by anything but the flesh of other sentient and sapient life.

To say that they're stressed and desperate is an understatement.

Despite this, they keep trying to make jokes and lightenthings up a bit. Every absurd story they pull from nowhere to tell Briar is a tiny escape. Bad puns and inappropriate joke are an effort to remain human and sane. It's tough.

Sometimes, no one seems real to them outside of Briar. And it gets so easy to just push people into unknowns and see what happens to them, like they're video game characters you toss into a blender to see if violence was programmed into the game. But, it's not a game. It's reality, and it makes it so much worse when their empathy clicks back into place and they realize what they've done.

So, before a breakdoen can overtake them, the jokes continue and weave themselves into darker corners, and Vera doesn't know what it means to be a person anymore. They know feeding, fighting, hiding, death, and pained laughter. Briar is still there, but they both shift - in skin, in bone, in organs, in being organic at all - with each jump and neither can recognize the sludge coming out of their wounds for the split second before it heals back up.

Hovering on the edge of reality is something that keeps them going and ot has a voice that only Briar can hear. Can't break down when Briar is around, having it worse, and Vera making it worse with their appetite chewing away at the few friends the two of them make. Solutions have to be somewhere, and they'll dig through every book and bone to find one.

But they break down. Dig through the flesh of their own body to see what's beneath, eat the pieces of themself that have been used as weapons even though it does nothing to sate hunger, pain, or fear. Then they have to get up again because there is no death, only this endless cycle. And it's better to try and make someone laugh.

Briar belongs to @machinedemon and I definitely recommend rping or just world and story building with friends.

[a-mess-of-a-crow]

MORE RED MASS STUFF

So as promised more stuff about Frisk and Sans (Dee)

I'll write it like a profile, Age won't be added to because they literally don't remember how long they exist.

Frisk

Pronouns= they/them

Gender= Gender fluid, due to having a body made of dust and the fact that what they identify as changes, they can change their body accordingly.

Sexuality= Panromantic, demisexual

Favorite color= Red/ purple

Favorite food= Chicken noodle soup

Favorite desert= Tiramisu

Favorite movie genre / favorite movie= Horror (due to sadistic tendency) / Megan

Hobbies= Drawing, knitting, crochet, animation, painting, sculpting, sewing, knife tricks, acting, programming (Robot personality, they especially like Ai)

Skills= Fire, Metal (Chara's trait), Determination

Relationships=

Employees (the robots)

Vera= Good friends, Frisk doesn't like Veras 'other hobbies' (420)

Bun= Frisk thinks he is adorable

Cupcake= He freaks Frisk out

Celery= Frisk is their bestie

Zinc= Big sister energy to Frisk

Kat= Coworkers

Shade= Coworkers, Frisk knows about him, and sometimes teases him of his little taints of humanity

Sans (Dee)

Pronouns= He/him

Gender= male

Sexuality= heteroflexible

Favorite color= blue, black, grey, purple

Favorite food= Papyrus's spaghetti...

Ramen (Tonkotsu ramen)

Favorite desert= Panna cotta

Favorite movie genre/ favorite movie= Sci-fi horror / Alien

Hobbies= Engineering, learning morse code, learning anatomy and medicine, collecting almost everything (especially weapons), playing games, learning 'human magic' (Card tricks mostly), knife tricks (inspired by Frisk), playing with coins (when he is extremely bored)

Skills= Bone magic, teleport magic (not shortcuts), Fire magic due to Frisk, Determination

Relationship=

Vera= Best friends with Dee (420)

Bun= takes care of Dee's Blasters, so they are dog daddies

Cupcake= Matches Dee's energy

Celery= Good friends, Dee and Celery are both very passionate about Food

Zinc= Big sister energy to Dee

Kat= Friends with Dee

Shade= Nags Dee constantly for his work

FRISK AND DEE

They spend a long time in the Void together, fighting and killing each other to no avail. After escaping the void, at first, Dee hated Frisk a lot.

But over time, he warms up to them. Frisk appreciates it and they both become good friends. Still, Dee has morals that are completely against Frisk's philosophy.

And due to other circumstances, they decided to try and influence him for the better.

Now they are best friends who know each other inside and out.

They joke with each other, tease each other and are generally very comfortable with each other's company.

Dee would never admit verbally how much Frisk means to him, but they know. Dee is the only person who knows them, they can never let him go.

I hope you liked a little bit of character description :)

[enigmasandepiphanies]

I am supposed to write a poem but I can't and I haven't written in a year and I really wanted to write on this ever since I had a convo with my childhood best friend about how there are people in my city who have roots. That's the term she used. Roots. They have culture, community, they feel they belong, they miss the city, and the city misses them, their mother tongue is here, their families and friends are and they wanna come back here after all this time and I have been born and brought up in this state but the language is not mine. I don't know anything about my ancestry and my grandparents refuse to talk about how they came into this country, how their religion was stamped on their hands as a plea to keep them secure

and it's fucking hilarious that ik Shakespeare, Premchand, Korean nursery rhymes but the only sentence I can say in my mother tongue is "my name is my name" and that's the only sentence I have spoken to anyone who has asked me to talk in my language and I don't know why that's the first thing, maybe I am trying to prove my name exists in my mother tongue

but it is okay, sun poured heat little by little over my maa's aloe vera plant and I grew up with it, making my own culture like yogurt, like bacteria, like fandom. what is a cultural crisis but a stories that end in a comma rather than a period? I grew up reading books, licking the plate of stories from my dad's mythology tales to my mum's same old lion and the mouse story to second hand books from book fairs to young adult novels

and then I discovered fandom and fan culture and fan community and listen, it wasn't online it was irl at the heart of my two childhood best friends with whom I cried over gay characters because they were prisms of our tattered angsty adolescent selves, I sang kpop songs so loud even though I didn't know the lyrics, yet they were more home than my mother tongue. perhaps home is where all attempts to escape cease to exist

and it was a warm home, stories that matter to me, that i giggled over with a lovenote of shared eye glances in literature classes, guess the character games during sports days and dressing up with our fave story characters on a friend's birthday, jumping in corridors, doing the taekook handshake in the homeroom till we almost missed our school bus, narrating character analysis and fanfic plots in early morning bus rides at fucking 7 am but my bestie's ears didn't bleed because in this city, the only place I belong was in fiction, in stories and languages which I didn't know but called home

but we grew up, some stories remained and some became a ruin without a city, without a location, like language, like my mother tongue

perhaps stories meant so much to me because the people did. in my university's literature class, we talk about adaptation and transformative works but how do i tell my professor that we shape stories as much as they shape us, how do i tell them that i don't ever scream to 'you need to calm down' or 'kiwi' without seeing my best friends face in my head, that when my uni friend texted me about do you know hayley kiyoko i didn't tell her about how I loved her album only because my childhood bestie made me listen to it on my scooty (she's lesbian jesus so ofc ik her), how do I tell new bts armys in the movie theatre where I watched the suga documentary that I forgot taekook handshake because the girl who did it with me lives cities away and forgets to message me sometimes but everytime I meet her she hugs me and my 15 year old self, how do I tell a uni friend that run bts is not the same because the person who laughed with me the most during the new years eve is the same one I said bye to this new years

and then there are other stories of how I haven't eaten raw mango popsicles since a year because I was scared I will get sick. the only reason I wasn't getting sick before was because the person-who-laughed-with-me-during-run-bts told me to shut up and enjoy it , how I can never tell someone about fanfic plots is because my childhood friend lives far away and only she knows what I actually mean when I say love is stored in fan fiction. how I can never sit behind her activa while she tells me the meaning of decalcomania. how the people who reshaped those stories with me never knew how they were so important to me because we were reshaping them together. They were not escapism, they were an explanation to who I am. But perhaps they were escaping their homes and found solace in mine, perhaps they were building my home and their home with me too

and will they ever know that i was giving them the tenderness of my mother tongue? well, ocean vuong said sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof you have been ruined. maybe that's why my mother doesn't say any endearments in our mother tongue, because it always ends in partition, a slip of the tongue.

people often tell me that my tenderness is not the tenderness they wanted and it sucks because I try and try and still fail at love languages. sometimes I think I don't know how to give tenderness because I wasn't taught my mother tongue and I constantly seek refuge in another language. how to give tenderness when you have been unkind anyway?

but stories, they are my migration certificate. my uni friends don't realize that. when they don't understand why fandom and stories are so important to me, I close my eyes and think about how longing is such a gullible word for something so predatory.

oh btw decalcomania is a technique used by some surrealist artists which involves pressing paint between sheets of paper and when you open it it's symmetrical. in the song she and I loved it meant when two people have something in common

but what storytellers and storylovers like to forget is when someone joins you on the page of your book, they will not stay on that page for long

because stories continue and goodness, I actually love life because stories continue

and in the end, I am a fan of many fandoms and ik people who know how much that story meant to them will come back to it, write fics and tumblr posts and lovingly caress that annotated page where we first joined hands

shit I still can't write the poem and this one ends with a comma, but hey stories continue

okkiee lol this was brought to you by this mindfucking convo I had with my friends, but also some of this will actually end up in that poem , this is just a mishmash about cultural crisis, career crisis, do I wanna settle in abroad crisis but in the end stories are always home literally like some people don't understand how big it is for me

and sidenote my friend who has "roots" said this which I think is very sweet ahh