#added more detail to his eyes and clothes to make up for it cuz i was originally gonna leave it plain

[inks-lil-quiet-corner]

Day 2 of drawing one brother each day- Mammon!

[bl4z33467]

(Cracks knuckles) Alright folks I remember how to draw

Fat fuck Vulpes by yours truly, Blaze Lander. Inspired by the lovely drawing by @yourmateyoya ,egged on by @legions-top-dog , and because i force you to deal with all my shitty drawings, @noomycatz

Yes, once again, i have put too much effort into a shitpost. Roughly 2 hours as I reused a canvas on ibis paint for a 5th drawing lmao

Yall can burn me at the stake later lol

Process below hehe i like to ramble

And just because i like to talk about my drawing process for characters with complex outfits, this is how my lobotomy brain does it:

First i do silly fun colored sketch. I use different colors to differentiate the "skeleton" from the, euh, fleshy bits, and the clothing. You can see lots of lines that would not be shown in the final product so it makes it confusing to look at.

Next i do a clean sketch.

This is where i clean up everything before doing the final lines. I use one color and a thin brush to make it easier to line over. Here i add any extra bits (like the top football armour) and "render the physics" as i call it, so properly drape cloth and the uhhh squish of stupid fat fuck vulpes' boobs and stomach. I also will balance the drawing here by flipping it and redrawing or using the drag tool.

Next is lining.

For this drawing, i used a 9.0 digital pen with a taper. Its my standard :þ. I kept my pen at the same size for this piece. Sometimes i line the outside darker to make the drawing stand out more. I decided not to as i wanted to give the drawing a more "serious" tone. (How serious can this be though lol-)You may notice on the arms little bits of the lines are missing, thats because i gave him some arm hair. I like make little details like that show over the lines. But since the one shading technique i used works with clipping masks, i had to but the arm hairs on a layer lower than the line art. Next is colour:

I colour in the drawing with midtones. Simple as. I tried to stick with warm colours besides his eyes, which are grey blue. Idc if they arent, im too lazy to google it. I mostly use flat colors but i did make his shirt a gradient. Next is do simple cell shading:

Depending on how i feel i shade with or without the colours in the back. I went with a sorta "non decrepit" light source here. Didnt want too much intensity. I used a deep marronish orange on a multiply layer on 45% opacity. Soft shading/lighting next:

I get intense with the soft shading. I use the airbrush with a deep maroon to add dark gradient and airbrush with a light pink to add a bit more depth. I usually use less light and more dark because im evil i like the intensity. I keep the layer the same amount of opacity and multiply it with the darks and soft light for the lights. Next are the shine highlights:

I use the dip pen hard with a taper to add light highlights of white on shiny bits like metal and eyes. I uses pure white, set the layer to 25% opacity, and use normal blending.

I also shade the lines because it makes the lines softer. I use a clipping layer on the line art, set the whole thing to a dark grey, and airbrush in darker and lighter parts. (I felt like a picture wasnt needed cuz its hard to notice.

For the background, i used a dark red i stole from the cell shaded layer, drew a vine pattern with the kaleidoscope ruler, and added a vignette. Vignettes are my cheat code for background hehe~ it makes the subject stand out while keeping suave, seriousness and formality. To make a subject pop out more, put the vignette behind the character but in front of the background. For more intensity but it on top of both.

Also- I usually draw with a level 10 stabilizer (i got shaky hands) but i drew with a 2 stabilizer so im surprised it came out so smoothly-

Also i gave him goggle tan lines because if i have to have them from playing tennis with sunnies, so does he.

[madebyteenagefury]

this post made me fill an entire page wtf did you put in it.

GNC WHIZZER ALL PRONOUNS TRUTHER!!!!!! FUCK YEAH. i personally like a lil he they because what can i say i am a projector but he she whizzer,, rahhhh okay brainrot beginning here (it’s the timeline, i got so,, so carried away,,,) stuff in quotes are from my notes and [] are stuff i’ve added in as i’m typing (idk why that’s important but i felt like mentioning it so 🤷)

so imagine, the snowball metaphor. at this point we are at the top of the hill, making the snowball, it isn’t rolling yet. ofc we know marvin is queer and knows he’s queer from a very early age. for the sake of this post, i imagine he doesn’t really go into explicitly queer spaces until he’s an adult. most of his encounters up till now have been eyeing someone and praying or sex workers i’d say. he’s rich and closeted yknow? so my notes say, “Marvin goes into queer spaces. “omg trannies??” with this doodle next to it

you get it. then, “First time marvin experiments, he uses trina’s makeup, shortly after jason is born.” i don’t know how, maybe she’s with jason at a mom and baby meeting or something, maybe she’s just getting groceries and it’s up to him to watch jason and he’s asleep, not sure. i wrote (trina took him [jason] to her parents? realistically her parents would come to them but whatever)

“He goes out presenting fem for the first time when jason is in grade school. he caught wind of a place where ‘dykes n transsexuals’ hang, from a fem dressed man at one of his haunts (in hindsight they were probably trans, but marvin didn’t know or chose to ignore it) it’s not much, makeup and the most neutral while also being slightly feminine clothes he can find. maybe he borrows something of trina’s -if he can get over the guilt and find something that fits that is. maybe he uses her old maternity stuff.”

“That’s where he meets whizzer for the first time. whizzer is already into his transition, well into it. marvin is nervous and anxious but whizzer clearly likes him [and lets say marvin’s definitely had a drink. i think whizzer would be presenting masc, androdg/male passing, because if he weren’t i doubt marvin would go for it. he’d think some lesbian was coming onto him and wouldn’t have that at all.]

“Their first sexual encounter is very important to me. [i havent thought through all the details and maybe this alone is too much thought but; some background] marvin i would say, at this point, has only bottomed once. he was very uncomfortable with how he felt, [of feeling like a girl and hating it, but hating himself because he dared wonder if he’d liked it]”

“i feel like he’d try, in the spirit of going out fem, he’d try again. i haven’t really gotten farther than that, i’m not sure how he would react. [but it would be chaotic for sure. i have more thoughts but for the sake of this not being super explicit i’m not going to go into lots of detail, but] i will say i think by the end of the night marvin gets whizz to bottom.”

“Fast forward to the end of in trousers/beginning of march of the falsettos, i don’t think marvin is properly out yet. i also haven’t decided if i think his and trina’s divorce would go the same. i’m not sure if she would catch him and whizzer, because trina catching her husband with a cisgendered man vs a gnc butch trans person to me seem like they would elicit very different reactions/aftermath. i think marvin just Left, because he can’t live like this anymore, he doesn’t want to lie, he doesn’t want to sneak around, etc, and gives trina some half assed reason, [which he’d feel terrible about] or he would just tell her he’s gay and leave citing that excuse [which i guess isn’t entirely wrong]”

back to she her for marv cuz im not referring to her direct past anymore! so a couple more tidbits i came up w as i was typing this; think throughout marvin’s kinda journey, at first she considered herself to be someone who enjoyed cross dressing, not a transexual. a man who sometimes enjoyed going out as a woman. by the start of march of the falsettos i think she knows she isn’t just a man that likes to cross dress. but at that point she still never goes out like that unless it’s to a queer space, at night, with whizzer. i think their breakup between motf and falsettoland also has some new reasoning. i don’t imagine marvs personality to be Super different in this universe, still an ass, still the marv we know from in trousers and motf. but with the added layer of transphobia and worse misogyny. i think a big factor in their breakup is the transphobia she pushes on herself and by extension whizzer. hey remember gnc whizzer? yeah she has No concept of that. you’re either a man or a woman, what?? and if you’re one of those freak trannies, then stay in your damn lane. she pushes patriarchy onto whizzer, expecting him to act like the Man, and then when whizzer acts or presents in a way that marvin perceives as failing to comply to male gender roles, she goes right back to ‘well then why even try? just go back to your dresses and shit. you were born a woman, act like one.’ something along those lines. whiz has none of it ofc, ‘sorry you hate yourself but i can’t deal with the overspill of that, it’s not on me stop putting it there. fuck you.’ something like that. i think by the time falsettoland rolls around, she’s fully presenting fem in public. charlotte and cordelia were a huge help, and their Tough Love was very needed. (they were also having none of her transphobic misogynistic shit, and she was tired of hating herself.) i start to get a little muddled here, less of a linear timeline more of just little events here and there and interactions i think take place. whizzer takes marvin to get her ears pierced, same place whizz got them. he charlotte and cordelia help with a new wardrobe. marv tells her family (trina and jason. slowly. i don’t know how yet. and eventually they meet whizzer but i’m unsure when/how. i think in motf, because i like whizzers dynamic in their family especially with jason, and i don’t want to give that up. esp w catboymoses’s headcannons about jason and whizzers relationship and how seeing whiz changed jason’s perception of a lot of things.)

eventually things work out. it’s really bumpy, but they do. that’s all i have for now sorry that it’s so damn much. please anyone let me know what you think!!!!

okay while i’ve been scrolling the dykesettos tag/looking for references ive got to thinking about whiz and marvs dynamic and how/if it might change in the context of them being lesbians (and even more in the t4t context?? transfem marv transmasc whiz??) i love yall oh my god im THINKING!!!!! dykesettos soon im having too much fun drawing them

[catgrump]

"Get on your knees" for.... uh.... Soudam? Maybe 👉👈 You are so good!!!

Oh yes I do anon. Yes I do.

I’ve been wanting an excuse to write this specific scenario so thank you for this gift.

This takes place in My Specific Theatre AU BUT this piece has nothing to do with theatre and can be looked at on its own. But for context: they attend university together and share a 2-bedroom apartment. This takes place around the start of “Maybe This Time”, my Theatre AU piece on AO3, if you need to know the timeline

🌹🌹🌹

Read it under the cut!  Warning for sexual content!

The movie was over. Netflix was asking if they were still watching.

The beer bottles and wine glasses weren’t going to clean themselves up

So why was Kazuichi still lazing about— with his head in Gundham’s lap, no less?

It’s not like Gundham seemed to mind, oddly enough. He took strands of his roommate’s damaged hair in his fingers, twirling it and bringing it up and down through the air

“I’m glad it had a happy ending,” Kazuichi said to anyone who would listen (and since he and Gundham were the only ones in their apartment, he sure was hoping Gundham would listen), “It was like... there’s someone out there for everyone, you know?”

Gundham could tell Kazuichi was tipsy. Hell, Gundham was tipsy, too. He had his fair share of wine to get through that ridiculous teen rom-com. They originally started watching it to make fun of it, but the more beer (and some of Gundham’s wine) Kazuichi put in his system, the more genuinely invested he became.

“Yes, I suppose that’s a fair takeaway from the... shoddy script,” Gundham replied, continuing to mindlessly toy with the flourescent hair in his lap

“If there’s someone out there for everyone,” Kazuichi said, his words seeming to spill out of his mouth, “Why don’t we have girlfriends, man? I mean, look at you; you’re hot as shit.”

Gundham scoffed as Kazuichi lifted his arms up in the air to emphasize his statement. “Well perhaps it’s because you still say things that imply you think everyone around you is heterosexual,” he retorted

Kazuichi slowly picked himself up and turned to face Gundham, his shoulders slouched over, “C’mon, man, you know I’m still trying to get used to that. I’ve only been out for like a year and a half,” he whined

“And I understand that eliminating the ‘Straight is the Default’ setting in your brain can be challenging, but you live with someone else who is bisexual,” Gundham elaborated, “We’ve lived together for years.”

Kazuichi chuckled, “Remember when I thought I was straight in freshman year?”

“I was amazed how in denial you were.”

And now it seemed like Kazuichi couldn’t stop laughing. The laughter was slow, almost sounding deliberately rhythmic. “Hey, Gundham... can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.”

He had a stupid grin on his face. After living with Kazuichi for so long, Gundham knew he got... silly when he’s had a bit to drink. “You have to promise not to tell anyone,” Kazuichi added

“I won’t tell anyone.”

Kazuichi shot himself up, pointing a finger toward Gundham, “AND you have to promise not to get mad.”

After living with Gundham for so long, Kazuichi should know that Gundham is blunt when he’s had a bit to drink. “I won’t be angry with you,” he said. He meant it.

Kazuichi’s grin extended, practically reaching his ears. “Have you ever maybe uhhhhhh jacked off while thinking about your roommate? Cuz I have! Multiple times!”

Kazuichi was stifiling laughter, and almost missed Gundham’s rather immediate response. “Oh. Sure, I’ve done that a few times.”

“Haha, good; I’m glad I’m not the only one,” Kazuichi swayed back and forth, as if he were on a boat, smiling obliviously

If Gundham had wanted to— as Kazuichi so eloquently describes it— get shitfaced, he would’ve taken another swig of wine in disbelief during the silence they shared. Instead, he just shook his head.

Then, Kazuichi seemed to instantly sober up. “Wait.”

Kazuichi must’ve remembered that Gundham loses his filter when he has alcohol in him. But he didn’t ask Gundham to elaborate. Gundham didn’t need to go into detail about the times he’s had to control himself when Kazuichi walks around shirtless. He didn’t need to go into detail about the times he’s moaned Kazuichi’s name when he was home alone. He didn’t need to go into detail about the time he heard Kazuichi masturbating through the wall seperating their bedrooms, and got himself off on the sounds of his pleasure. He didn’t need to elaborate on any of that. He grabbed Kazuichi’s shirt collar in his fist and pulled him close. “You are such a fool.”

Regaining his balance, Kazuichi latched on to Gundham’s arms, feeling how toned they were for the first time. He looked up at Gundham in awe, seeing his hair down, framing his defined face.

As soon as Kazuichi looked him in the eye, he couldn’t hold back any longer. Gundham brought his hands to Kazuichi’s face and they kissed with more intensity than they had ever kissed anyone before.

Kazuichi’s hands gripped Gundham’s biceps, then frantically migrated across his chest and back, wanting to feel every muscle he didn’t know Gundham had.

Within seconds of their lips meeting, Gundham felt Kazuichi’s tongue asking to be invited inside, and Gundham instantly accepted, being sure to hold on to Kazuichi’s jaw and neck as they explored

Kazuichi tugged on the hem of Gundham’s shirt as he gently bit Gundham’s lower lip. Gundham grunted and grabbed Kazuichi’s wrists.

“You like that?” Kazuichi teased

“I do,” Gundham’s low voice reverberated through Kazuichi’s body as he whispered in his ear before he was suddenly pushed backward, his back landing on the seat of their couch

Kazuichi was not expecting to be, but he was instantly hard. Gundham throwing him down like that, followed by him taking off his shirt himself, shaking out his hair after he tossed it aside... Kazuichi felt like he needed air to prepare for whatever was in store.

Kazuichi had seen Gundham’s naked torso before. The moments were brief, but he— willingly or not—committed the images to memory. Suddenly, Kazuichi was feeling that body against his own as Gundham kissed him again. Kazuichi brought his hands to Gundham’s back to pull him closer, wanting no separation between their chests, stomachs...

Gundham pushed Kazuichi’s hair away as he created a path of kisses, trailing from his lips to his jaw to his neck. Kazuichi gasped when he felt Gundham steadily increase pressure on his neck. He was going to leave marks. Kazuichi craned his neck to give Gundham more of a canvas to work with.

Gundham was multi-tasking. As he sucked on Kazuichi’s neck, he was unbuttoning the shirt Kazuichi had on. It would only be fair.

Gundham pushed Kazuichi’s shirt aside, exposing the torso he’d always wanted to touch, never breaking contact with Kazuichi

One of Gundham’s calloused hands found its way to Kazuichi’s pecs, and his chest felt incredible in Gundham’s palm; against his fingertips

And Kazuichi bit his lip as he writhed in even the simple sensations of Gundham’s mouth on his neck and Gundham’s fingers grazing a nipple. God, how long HAS it been since someone ELSE touched Kazuichi like this?

Gundham had moved to Kazuichi’s collarbone and bit. Hard. “Fuck,” Kazuichi was so tempted to reach for Gundham’s belt

But if Gundham wanted to leave marks, Kazuichi thought Two can play at this game.

Kazuichi dragged his fingernails across Gundham’s back, slowly, and that got Gundham to lose his composure, practically collapsing on top of him. He gasped and shut his eyes tight, muffling moans into Kazuichi’s shoulder

There was no mistaking how turned on the other was. When Gundham brought himself down to be flush with Kazuichi, they both took notice of the other’s hard-on

And while Gundham gave in temporarily, he relished too much in making Kazuichi squirm to let him take over.

He resumed his assault on Kazuichi’s neck, taking hold of his hair in his fist, and pulled as he grinded his hips against Kazuichi’s.

The friction was driving Kazuichi insane. His curiosity was overwhelming him, too. He had to find out how big he was.

Kazuichi bucked into him, doing his best to tell Gundham he wanted to take things further without saying anything.

But that wasn’t enough for Gundham. “Tell me what you desire,” he whispered a demand in Kazuichi’s ear, nibbling on his earlobe after he spoke

Gundham ran his hands over Kazuichi’s pecs and shoulders, rolling the fabric of his shirt further down his arms. “Y-you,” Kazuichi nervously muttered

“What was that?” Gundham’s hands moved lower and lower, tracing Kazuichi’s waist and his remarkable hips. His fingers played with the waistline of Kazuichi’s pants, making Kazuichi bite his lip in desperation

“Gundham, please,” Kazuichi felt embarrassed being candid, especially with Gundham straddling him with a sexy smug smile, his hands pressed against Kazuichi’s chest

Gundham ran his hands across Kazuichi’s body again, and drifted his hands lower, rubbing them into Kazuichi’s inner thighs. Kazuichi needed them to get naked. Now.

“Use your words,” Gundham beckoned, inching closer and closer to Kazuichi’s dick

Kazuichi’s face was red. His whole body was hot and he felt way too restrained with his clothes still on. He shut his eyes so he didn’t have to look at Gundham when he blurted out “I want your cock”

Gundham huffed out a laugh as Kazuichi brought his hands up to his face to try to conceal his embarrassment.

Gundham brought himself up and Kazuichi peaked through his fingers when he heard the buckle of Gundham’s belt come undone.

In a bit of a frenzy, Kazuichi sat up and pulled his clothes off, casting them to the side in a chaotic pile

He couldn’t help but notice Gundham look down and smirk once Kazuichi’s dick was out

But Gundham’s pants were still on. His legs were spread across the seat of the couch, and his arms draped across the back. “Get on your knees,” he commanded

Kazuichi quirked his brow, but didn’t have any doubts in his next move once Gundham revealed what Kazuichi had been waiting for. He’s hung.

Kazuichi’s horny ass did as Gundham asked and got inbetween his legs, putting a hand on Gundham’s thigh, only slightly disappointed it wasn’t skin-to-skin contact.

His other hand took hold of Gundham’s dick, and brought it to his lips, relishing in Gundham’s sighs as Kazuichi wrapped his lips around the tip

Gundham grabbed Kazuichi’s hair again, biting his lip as he felt Kazuichi envelop his cock in his mouth. It was warm and every time Kazuichi sucked Gundham had to resist thrusting

And Kazuichi’s dick twinged every time he felt Gundham’s dick twinge inside him. Using the hand that was on Gundham’s thigh, he took hold of his own cock and started pumping, using his pre-cum to self lubricate

As he worked himself while sucking Gundham off, he couldn’t help but moan against Gundham’s dick. And that sent Gundham over the edge. He lost control of his hips and grabbed Kazuichi’s hair tighter

Feeling Gundham trying to fuck his mouth only made Kazuichi work harder. His head bobbed back and forth as quick as his hand went up and down his own dick. He was so close just from Gundham’s cock in his mouth.

“Kazuichi, wait,” Gundham moaned, and Kazuichi bucked into his own fist hearing Gundham moan his name, muttering a few curse words himself

Kazuichi released Gundham and looked up at him. He watched Gundham swallow as they made eye contact. “Yeah? You okay?” Kazuichi asked

“Allow me to do something for you,” Gundham requested

God dammit, he was so close and NOW Gundham’s offering? And Kazuichi was sure Gundham was about to finish, too.

Gundham stood up from the couch, and started walking out of the living room. “Are you going to join me?”

Kazuichi blinked and quickly left the floor to follow as Gundham walked through the hall and into his bedroom, and gawked as Gundham finally finished undressing, taking in the new sight of his toned thighs and firm ass.

His eyes grew wide when he saw Gundham reach into a drawer in his desk and retrieve what was so obviously a bottle of lube. He was officially in uncharted waters, and that excited him and wracked his nerves simultaneously

Kazuichi had kissed men before and gone down on men before... but he didn’t have any experience with what could come after.

Gundham climbed onto his mattress and propped himself up on his knees. He looked to Kazuichi and used his eyes to invite him to the bed

Kazuichi swallowed as he mirrored Gundham’s position, and pursed his lips as Gundham put a coat of the lubricant on his fingers.

Using his dry hand, Gundham grabbed Kazuichi’s ass and pulled him in close so their bodies were flush. Kazuichi yelped as he caught himself on Gundham, pressing his hands against Gundham’s chest.

Kazuichi’s heart was practically bursting out of his chest as he anticipated what was about to happen. Gundham had a devilish grin as he watched Kazuichi try to hide his nerves

His lubricated hand grasped on to Kazuichi’s ass as well, and he was sure to slide his fingers close— “Fuck!” Kazuichi gasped out

And Gundham paused. “Kazuichi... have you never done this before?”

Kazuichi was taken aback by Gundham’s surprise. His face turned red again as he said, “No...” and then Kazuichi had a sudden thought, “Have you?”

Gundham simply replied “Yes. A couple of times now.”

“What? When? With WHO?” Kazuichi pulled back, feeling sudden... jealousy?

“Do you want to know that, or do you want to cum?”

That sent shivers down Kazuichi’s spine. He was back on track, and he didn’t just want to cum: he needed it.

Kazuichi fervently nodded his head.

“Yes what?” Fuck, he’s doing it again.

Kazuichi felt every part of him except his boner shrink. He mumbled “makemecum”

“Don’t be shy, Kazuichi,” Gundham’s deep voice was so fucking sexy when it was breathy in his ear

“Gundham, please—“

Gundham’s dick twinged whenever he heard Kazuichi beg. He took a hand off Kazuichi’s ass and took hold of his cock, and Kazuichi instinctively shut his eyes and bucked his hips into Gundham’s hand. Kazuichi had been waiting for too long, but Gundham relished seeing him like this. “Tell me what you desire.”

“For the love of god: make me cum, please,” Kazuichi succumbed, burying his head in Gundham’s shoulder

“With pleasure,” Gundham cooed into Kazuichi’s ear. Kazuichi melted feeling Gundham’s voice against his body

And he trembled feeling Gundham’s slick fingers practically trace circles around his asshole. Kazuichi picked his head up and took a deep breath, attempting to relax

Gundham was stroking Kazuichi’s dick with his other hand, basking in Kazuichi’s body anticipating his next moves.

Kazuichi gasped and lurched forward, clinging to Gundham’s arms as he felt a finger be pushed inside

Gundham repeated Kazuichi’s taunt back at him as he continued pumping his cock and slowly thrusting his finger, “You like that?”

Kazuichi pressed his forehead into Gundham’s chest and moaned “So fucking much.”

Gundham took that as his cue to add another finger, and Kazuichi practically keeled over with a shout. He reached under Gundham’s arms to take hold of his back. This time his nails digging into Gundham’s skin was because they couldn’t get any closer

Kazuichi’s face was buried in Gundham’s shoulder again, muffling every sound Kazuichi made, and he wasn’t shutting up. It was difficult for Gundham to keep quiet, too. Hearing Kazuichi’s cries of pleasure made him wish he had a free hand to help his dick out. Kazuichi was too overcome to do anything but take it.

The instant Gundham curled his fingers, Kazuichi cried out his name and dug his fingernails into Gundham’s shoulder blades, making Gundham’s cock twitch against Kazuichi’s skin

“D-do that again,” Kazuichi whimpered against Gundham’s neck

Gundham didn’t need to toy with him anymore. He did as he asked and found Kazuichi’s prostate again, feeling Kazuichi’s hips follow his motions, taking pride in knowing this was Kazuichi’s first time experiencing this sensation as Kazuichi continued to moan and swear and call his name, digging deeper into his skin with his fingers

Gundham picked up the pace. Kazuichi was panting. Gundham heard his name muffled into his shoulder over and over and over again and knew Kazuichi was close.

Third time’s the charm. Gundham curled his fingers once again, slowing down the motion as one last tease, and Kazuichi cried out as he came. Gundham continued to use his fingers through Kazuichi’s orgasm but switched to rapidly pumping his own cock, not needing much to finish himself— the sounds Kazuichi made and remembering the feeling of Kazuichi’s mouth around him were plenty.

Their breathing eventually relaxed, and they pulled away to look at each other.

Their hair was destroyed. The hickies on Kazuichi were already turning purple. And they were covered in each other’s cum.

And all they both could think was What now?

Prompt from This List: feel free to send a request!

If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving me a tip on Ko-Fi if you can! 💛

[misterewrites]

A Part of Something Bigger (Welcome to the Underground!)

Hello everyone! E here, hoping you are safe and sound and doing good! The new chapter of the Underground is here and I'm excited for this and the next chapter. I am so happy I finally get to reveal something I’ve had in my head since I first started creating the Underground! Man am I cheek E. oh puns, I’m terrible. 

:D

I hope you are all have a great week! Stay safe, wash your hands, take care of each other, get the vaccine if you can, push for companies to give it world wide all that jazz. Feel free to comment (I love feedback) tell your friends, reblog I appreciate it all!

If you’re new and curious what the heck I’m talking about, feel free to check out the whole story and have access to my other work right in the link below (cuz I’m 95% Tumblr has shadowbanned me) 

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/68094967 (first chapter)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/78927370 (latest chapter) 

Have a great week, E is out!

Summary:  Turns out Oliver is a part of the Choir, a secret organization that operates within the Underground. Something big is happening tonight and It's up to Oliver and his allies to ensure it does not. However, the bard has to figure out what's going on before anything else.

-----

Oliver had been many things in the 18 years of his begrudging existence: An orphan, a thief, a con-kid, hopelessly in love, a scout, fry cook that one week and an aspiring minstrel. Many masks and different roles to survive each new day.

The one he took a quiet pride in was being a member of the Choir, a secret organization whose goal was to keep the Underground free from malicious and devious intent.

Every society had their dark, treacherous shadows where evil did its business (Oliver assumed. He only really ever lived in the Underground but you know universal constants and such.) The Choir’s purpose was to ensure those plans never came to fruition.

Rather than being an openly known identity, the Choir was more a loose collection of independent agents operating under secrecy. The organization employed any and everyone who was willing to fight for the cause, each in their own way: Merchants passed coded information, tavernkeepers offered safe havens, those with some level of magical proficiency gathered to study abnormal phenomenon. Fighters fought, clerics healed with lords and ladies used their influence for the greater good.

Sometimes, as is the case now, one individual was too limited for what was required of the organization’s purpose. In these rare moments, agents were granted permission to request help, often leaving hidden messages and imagery for other wandering members to respond to.

That’s what brought Oliver here to this dark alley in the middle of the night: When he first arrived to the capital, he caught sight of the coded symbol asking for any Choir member to lend their skill set to a mission tonight. No details added but that was par for the course.

Terri was the first to recover, her slivers eyes wide with wonder “A soprano? No joke?!Flora, he’s like you!”

Terri was tall, taller than anyone else here. She wore a red vest with torn off sleeves, probably because her muscles were too thick to actually allow them to exist in the first place. Her long jet black hair was elegantly tied into braids with her dark blue leggings tucked into thick hiking boots.

Flora pursed her lips thoughtfully, irises of lavender giving Oliver a curious look “A fellow magic user? Interesting. Wizard?”

“Bard” Oliver corrected “You?”

“Druid.” Flora spoke before drifting into an uncomfortable silence. Oliver suspected she wasn’t impressed by his response.

Flora seemed unassuming but Oliver knew better than to be lured in by appearances: Long silvery hair with petals of green and yellow flowers scattered within. She wore a white blouse with splotches of brown dirt and a long green skirt. Her feet were bare and free to be soiled by the floor.

Terri rushed over to the petrified Tyrell, dragging him into a bone crunching hug “Tyrell here is a baritone like me!”

Tyrell, the youngest beside Oliver, shifted his brown eyes away from anyone’s gaze. He wore rather well kept clothes: A tunic of purple tucked under a leather vest, his leggings were dark gray that blended fairly well in the darkness. His footwear seemed a little too fancy to be workman’s shoes.

“Fighters” Oliver nodded in understanding “Always useful. And you mysterious stranger in the darkness?”

The cloaked figure had pulled back deeper into the shadows, red eyes gleaming in the shades of night. They were trying to hard to hide their appearance but Oliver caught sight of a smooth featureless bronze face. Metallic armor of a matching color and sheen covered the rest of their body, an automaton it seems.

“You may call me Sel. I’m a tenor.” the figure responded, their voice tinged with scratchy static.

“You are going very useful. Lockpicking?”

Sel shrugged casually “Among other less savory techniques. As per usual for tenors.”

Oliver nodded “Okay, fill me in.”

Flora took a step forward, pulling a letter out of her pocket as she did so “Are you aware of one Reiner Brambleoak?”

“Oh fucking hell” Oliver rubbed his eyes tiredly “Him again? What’s he planning this time: Gonna burn an orphanage? Or maybe sell moldy food to the poor? Wait, I know!” Oliver snapped his finger “He’s going to be a terrible piece of shit.”

“Right on the money!” Terri growled.

Sel let out a mechanical click “He is planning to tear down several homes in West Haven.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes “I thought it was illegal to tear down homes in that area?”

“Not if the owners signed them over.” Flora explained “Then he would have the authority to do whatever he wished with them.”

“Let me guess, he tricked them?”

Terri flexed her muscles angrily “His representatives would change languages and double talk when they spoke to the poor folks. Most hadn’t the slightest idea what was going on and the orc thugs his people brought didn’t exactly make them feel warm and safe.”

“So.” Oliver stretched his arms “He’s strong armed his way into property, going to evict helpless folks onto the street and probably fill them with his own thugs to get the rest of the neighborhood to fall in line.”

“Unless we stop him.” Sel spoke with righteous fury.

“Tonight.” Oliver chimed in “Throwing another party?”

“You are good.” Tyrell whistled.

Oliver gave a playful wink “Naturally. What’s the plan?”

Flora reached into her pack and handed Oliver a letter: it was written in such a fancy hand he swore he was getting a headache just looking at it.

“One for each of us.” Flora explained, distributing the rest to the others “A fellow Choir member secured these tonight’s mission.”

“Helpful. Alright here’s the plan….”

“Wait” Flora interrupted “Who said you are in charge bard?”

“Me” Oliver countered with a grin “Because I’ve been to these types of festivities. Have any of you?”

Flora opened her mouth then promptly closed it, irritation in her glance. Tyrell gave a sheepish but unhelpful smile, Sel remained silent while Terri gave a thoughtful scratch of her chin.

“Thought so.” Oliver tried to keep the smugness out of his voice “Look we just need to work together for tonight.”

“Agreed.” Flora spoke with a softness that did not match her glare.

Sel inched closer to the group “What is the plan Oliver?”

“Where’s the party? Merchant Ward? I assume he’s using his office to host it.”

“Correct” Sel confirmed “His office has been chosen as the venue. He claims to be throwing the party as some sort of fundraiser for a charity that is no doubt a front for his illegal operations.”

Terri huffed, crossing her arms furiously “Probably making some more deals to trick people out of their hard earn money.”

“Without a doubt” Oliver agreed “But without any hard proof, we’re not taking him down tonight. Our mission is to ensure those contracts he forced people to sign mysteriously disappear.”

“Will that actually stop him?” Tyrell frowned unhappily “What’s stop him from forging new ones? Or just bullying people again?”

“He can’t forge new ones” Oliver explained carefully “They’re a special type of document only found here in Haven’s Nest. You can only get them from city hall and they’re magically enchanted to be untamperable with. He’ll need to get the ones he has to city hall on open court day which I assume is soon.”

“Indeed. Tomorrow in fact.”

Oliver continued on “So since open court day is the only day any major changes are allowed to be introduced to the city, if we grab them he’ll have to wait a month for another chance of snatching up that land. He’ll no doubt try to bully the folks again but now that they know what he’s up to, hopefully they’ll won’t be as easily pressured and if a few rough looking folks who can take punches and give them back start hanging around the neighborhood when his goons come knocking again…”

“They’re gonna be less eager” Terri cracked her knuckles cheerfully, already savoring the feel of bruised skin and broken bones that would bless her hands.

Oliver caught Tyrell’s eyes “One problem at a time. If you look at the mountain, you’re going to get scared.”

Tyrell nodded timidly in agreement.

“So.” Sel’s voice crackled with curiosity “What is the plan bard?”

Oliver closed his eyes, mentally mapping out the Brambleoak bank: three stories of corrupted, immoral finance who preyed on the helpless and lost. He could still see the faded green hue and cracked paint of the building in his mind’s eye. The ground floor would no doubt be where the bulk of the party would be taking place: a large space with an elevated stage normally reserved for long winded speeches could easily repurposed for a band or some sort of entertainment. His guests would range from any and everyone with any amount of influence or wealth. The second floor were the offices of his lecherous employees while his office took up the entirety of the third floor.

“Alright” Oliver spoke after a moment “I have a good idea what to expect. We’re going to break up into two teams.”

Everyone stared him expectedly.

Oliver gestured to Terri and Tyrell “You two are going to hang out at the bar across the street: The Stinkeye. Charming place, ran by a former pirate captain. Sunday is sea shanty night I think."

“Whoa, wait a minute” Terri grumbled unhappily “I am not letting Flora go into that place without me! It’s enemy turf and I don’t feel comfortable with the idea."

Flora took Terri’s hand within her own “Agreed sweetie.”

“Look this isn’t exactly a fist loaded, knives out situation. Any sort of brawling inside will be dealt with swiftly and painfully. Brambleoak doesn’t like anything scaring away the prey and causing a scene inside won’t accomplish anything. Outside, however.”

Terri’s eyes knowingly sparkled, Tyrell just looked dumbfounded.

Oliver gestured with his hand, muttering a phrase under his breath as magic formed around his hand in a golden light. A small image appeared in his palm: A heavily scarred elf with ashy blonde hair, one eye a brilliant forest green the other dull and cloudy. He wore an elegant officer’s uniform, dark green with various medals pinned to his chest with a long flowing red cape that trailed behind.

Oliver opened mouth to speak but Terri’s low snarl beat him to the punch.

“Lea Foot.”

“Acquaintance I guess?””

Flora nodded, gently squeezing Terri’s hand to get her to calm down “Lea has been a constant thorn in our sides. I believe he suspects we are a part of some greater organization. He has never seen us but he sends his underlings to bully us.”

“So I don’t need to explain his whole mercenaries for hire deal. Been exclusive to Brambleoak for a while now.”

“Can I punch him?” Terri murmured darkly.

“Yes, can she?” Flora chimed in, unable to keep the plead out of her voice.

Oliver shook his head “Maybe but we’ll see. He’s gotta show up at some point but I doubt he’ll be there right at the start. Likes to push old people around, probably eat a child or two before ‘working.’ Your job is to keep him distracted at all costs. He’s a sick man that likes to watch a good fight and the longer he’s out there, the better chance we’ll have.”

Sel tilted their head quizzically “Why is it important to keep him outside?”

“Basically” Oliver cracked his fingers “He’s very perceptive and the person most likely to catch our plan in action. His crew is made up of a nobodies with a perchance for cruelty and a thirst for violence but Lea is an old hand. Keeping himself outside is the best chance for success and if you guys accidentally get too close and managed to stray a hit his way…”

Terri chuckled manically the idea. Tyrell just looked sick.

“Meanwhile Flora, Sel and I will be inside. We’ll be looking for a chance to get Sel into the stairway so he can break into Brambleoak’s office. Without any sort of information, there’s no point to flesh out a full plan but we’ll make it up as we go. It’s a giant party of people who think they’re special. Shouldn’t be too hard to cause some drama and distractions.”

Flora said silent for a moment before speaking up “It’s not a lot to work with but admittedly better than anything I would’ve come up with.”

“Agreed.” Sel added “Without proper intel, it would be pointless to attempt to formulate any sort of long term plan. This works best to our strengths. Wait and create an opportunity,”

“That’s on us.” Oliver cut in “Your job is to get in and out. Preferably without being seen but who knows what will happen.”

The group, previously lost and anxious, glowed with renew sense of purpose and determination: 10 minutes ago they had no plan and now they were ready to do what they signed up for.

“Get ready team” Oliver gestured about “We leave in five.”

Everyone broke away to prepare for the mission: Terri cracked every bone in her body, ready for any brawl she would start. Sel slunk back into the shadows and remained still among the darkness. Tyrell held leaned unevenly against the brick building nearby, trying to steady his breathing.

Flora, on the other hand, approached Oliver, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Oliver.”

“Flora.”

“I have a question for you.”

Oliver was confused “I’m not sure what about but go ahead.”

Flora pursed her lips “You were coming from West End, delivering a package to a Choir member out there correct?”

“Yeeeeees.” Oliver unsure where this was going “The old man. Lady Rozalin said it was the upmost importance.”

Flora bit her cheek nervously “Before you left, did you see him?”

His stomach turned cold as he remembered how uneasy he felt the day he left with Archie and Abigail, the chill that ran down his spine “No, why?”

“We haven’t been able to contact him. He is not responding to our wizards long range message spells. We’re…..worried.”

Oliver could feel his skin crawl with anxiety, his pulse raced as a horrible realization dawned on him.

“He’s missing.” Oliver spoke what Flora did not.

She nodded in response “As a high ranking member, he is important to our cause and since you were the last person to see him, the higher ups were wondering if anything suspicious happened the last day you spoke with him.”

Oliver remembered it clearly: The free money, rushing them out the door, his ‘tiredness.’ There was no such thing as free money in his mentor’s eyes and Roland was never known for pushing a guest out of his house or being tired in the middle of the day. He was attempting to get them to leave to prevent something from happening.

“He was acting weird.” Oliver admitted “At the time I found it strange but he gave me little room to argue. Now I’m wishing I had.”

Flora’s face was indifferent but Oliver could hear the sincerity in her voice “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this. If you need a moment…”

“No” Oliver cut her off quickly “I’m good. We have a mission to do and we need to focus on that now. Afterwards we can talk about finding out what happened to the old man.”

Flora gave a simple nod before wandering over to Terri’s side, lightly kissing her cheek with affection.

Oliver took a deep calming breath: There was no point to let his mind wander, to worry about things out of his control. Even if he wanted to do something, he was needed here and now. Besides the Choir would investigate Roland’s disappearance and there were agents far more experienced than he about.

He would leave it up to them. For the moment he needed to balance out the universe and root out the evil that laid in the shadows.

[ask-spider-man-61610]

The Infiltration: Part One of Three

To say that two shapeshifters stood in the basement laboratory of a government building wouldn't be quite accurate. One shapeshifter stood in the basement laboratory. The other could more honestly be described as meticulously sculpted into shape. The particles that made up his body were arranged into the shape of a standing man, held in place by static cling, but that wasn't really standing. It was a rough approximation of standing, just like everything about Flint Marko was a rough approximation of a human being. He'd long since gotten used to the fact, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant.

The other shapeshifter, Reed Richards, leaned against a table that was great for projecting holograms but terrible for holding papers or drinks. Fancy and impractical equipment like this was one of the Cape Code Authority's most well-known features.

A third man stood in this laboratory too, off to one side. He was, in a way, the exact opposite of a shapeshifter. More on him later.

"I've taken some time to look into your request," Richards said as he tapped a few icons on the tabletop. "Here's the basics of my thoughts so far. A shell to house your nervous system and respond to electrical signals."

There was a sound like sand sliding down a dune before Flint began to speak. It had taken him a long time to relearn how to talk after becoming the Sandman; even now, it took effort to hold the shape of those granular vocal cords as he spoke in a deep and raspy voice. "Yeah. Y'said that last time, Doc. What's changed?"

Richards, in response, pinched an image on the tabletop and widened it out, his fingers stretching like rubber bands to expand the picture further. He raised his arm--he seemed to ignore his joints, the entire limb bending like a garden hose--and flicked one finger up, and a hologram rose out of the table's display to cast a soft white glow over the room. The hologram looked like eggshells glued to an Erector set, arranged into the shape of a bipedal form that lay on the table as if it were a stretcher. "What's changed is that I've done some research into actually making that shell. Take a look, I've drafted up a basic schematic for what it'd look like."

"And you decided it'd look like a Phantom?"

Richards snorted, but ignored the question. "The outermost shell is solid-light holography," he continued, making a vague swiping gesture through the air above the image. The eggshell faded out, revealing the bare animatronic beneath, which (judging by the sculpted face made of sand) Flint found even less impressive. Frowning, Richards looked down at the hologram again and added, "We could, given some finagling, calibrate it to resemble an actual human. But generating these 3D models is a pain, so I didn't bother."

Perhaps a more critical mind would have asked why, if 3D models were such a pain, they bothered to use holograms at all instead of pen and paper. But Flint's mind had never been an especially critical one; he was in no way stupid, but for all his life had tended to take things as they came. Instead he asked, "Is that why it looks like a Phantom? 'Cuz you're just recycling a picture you already had?"

"Not letting that go, eh?" Richards replied, the ghost of a smirk on his face as he glanced up at the Sandman again. He waved his hand again, and the computer misinterpreted his gesture and deactivated the projection of the suit. Rolling his eyes, Richards reactivated the hologram and said, "No. Well, partially. It looks like a Phantom because that technology is what a lot of my idea is based on. You see, what you're asking for is very similar to how the technology works anyway--an artificial support structure for a unique nervous system. The only difference is that your nervous system is two gallons of granulated silica, whereas the Phantoms are currently working with--"

And here he stopped, falling silent and stoic. His eyes, suddenly devoid of their smiling crow's feet, glanced Flint's way before his disgusting elastic fingers returned to typing on the touchscreen between them. The pile of sand, insomuch as it could, looked confused.

"What?" he said, in a voice like a seashell crushed underfoot on a beach. "What're the Phantoms workin' with? I thought they were just robots."

This was a common misconception, and Richards, like most of the Cape Code Authority, had a vested interest in upholding it. "Phantoms" were the colloquial name for Perpetual Holographic Avatar/Nano-Tech Offensive Monsters. Bipedal, autonomous drones with light weaponry, they were the foot soldiers of the CCA, the beat cops, the cavalry when an agent wanted reinforcement. They had been in development since the War of the Worlds had brought the Chitauri and all their technology to Earth six years ago, and some of the core technology of the drones was better kept unknown. What Richards had said threatened to jeopardise that secrecy.

The third man in the room chose then to speak. Stepping forward, his black cloak obscuring the entirety of his six-foot-plus form, he spoke with a voice that was digitally altered to be an octave deeper. "They are robots," he said, his white face mask moving like genuine flesh. "Their processors have a unique method of operation, though. They have some of the most sophisticated A.I. in the world, and their microprocessors are similar enough to a human's that it won't require too much tinkering to render it compatible with your...situation."

This was Scrier--or rather, a Scrier; one of many--and he was a champion liar. Nobody quite knew when he had joined the CCA or what level he occupied, but the executives of the organization seemed to treat him as a special case. He never answered distress calls, except to break up protests and strikes. He had no patrol routes, no assigned partners, and the only training courses he attended were the ones he taught--the ones about corporate rights and the agency's responsibility to them. Agents weren't allowed to try and investigate Scrier's identity. For all they knew, he was an undercover boss trying to hear his subordinates' opinions on him.

This was true, but it was a little more specific than that.

"Yes!" Richards said, gesturing towards the man gratefully. "Thank you, Scrier. I didn't know how exactly to put that. Yes, Phantoms run on a very human-like system. In theory, adapting it to suit your nervous system should be far easier than trying to create something out of whole cloth."

"I thought you were like a super genius," Flint said, sounding a bit annoyed. "You've invented flying cars and indestructible fabrics that let you go to space. You have yer own interdimensional portal. Why is this taking so much thought? Why does this need to be made out of other stuff and spit and prayers?"

Richards gave him a blank glare for a few seconds before sighing. "Okay," he said, leaning on the table. "First of all, I am a genius. I'm one of the smartest people to ever live, but that doesn't mean I know everything. I have to research and experiment. Any innovation, even one from me, takes time." He waved his hand again and the hologram vanished. "Second of all, remember: I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart."

"You're doing this because that was my condition!" Flint shot back, and the pile of sand swelled slightly and grew almost half a foot. He raised his arms; granules fell from the sculptures and scattered across the floor. "That's what I said when I joined this stupid super-cop thing! I hate being the Sandman, Doc! You guys offered to give me this--this job of disrupting protests and taking down unregistered super-guys because your bosses told me you could make me...not."

He glanced down at his hands. And indeed hands they were; years of practice had let him sculpt the sand at the end of his arms into an incredibly realistic form, with perfectly jointed fingers. You could almost see what must have once been his fingerprints. But as he looked at them a small stream of sand fell from them to the ground.

"I'm not expectin' you to make me human again," he said. "But just...something that'll make me feel more human. Something that feels like a body." His features hardened again, sand dunes into sandstone. "If you're just half-assing that--if you're just giving me something that-that makes people treat me like a Phantom and that'll break in like a week--"

And here he stopped. There was more than just a salary that kept agents of the Cape Code Authority in line. You had a lot of wiggle room as a superhero registered under them: you could slack off on the job, you could issue arrests for what you were pretty sure was a crime, you could stop and frisk anyone you liked, you could be sure that the beatings you gave to unarmed suspects were graciously forgiven by your superiors. But one thing you couldn't do was leave. Quitting the CCA was a surefire way to bring the coworkers you had once trusted down on your head; no longer registered, you had no more immunity than a child experimenting with the most basic powers did. Nobody wanted to find themselves imprisoned in Complex 42--stranded inescapably in the Negative Zone, tortured by armed guards and experimented on to replicate your powers, only protected from the hostile, annihilating environment outside the prison by a few wafer-thin force fields. But that was exactly where Flint's line of thinking threatened to take him.

"...Forget it," he mumbled, defeated, and as he slumped down slightly his face and body lost much of its detail.

Richards stared across the table with an uncomfortable air. Glancing down at the table, he tapped a few keys on it and the hologram vanished. With one hand he pushed his glasses up, and then his arm stretched the five feet across the table and patted Flint's semblance of a shoulder.

"Look," he said. "I can't make any promises. You're...unprecedented, Marko. The only shapeshifter of your kind. I'm doing the best I can to help you. But if I can use technology we already have to do it, then I'm going to. You're not my only job in the CCA. But I'm working on it." He took his hand back, and then needed a second to brush off the sand that had come with it. "...It's getting late. We ought to call it a day, I need to head home."

"Have to convince Susan not to walk out on you again?" Scrier suggested, already heading for the door.

Reed just dragged his hand down his face, his features stretching in his grip, and didn't answer. His eyes were bagged and his posture tired. Instead he began to trudge towards the door, each leg bending like it was made of plasticine, and followed by an animate pile of sand.

The light of streetlights and storefront signs shone through the windows as the three of them stepped out of the laboratory. About ten feet away, a custodian looked up from the floor he was mopping and gave the trio a quizzical expression, but the only one who paid him any mind was Scrier, whose expression was hard to parse through the prosthetic mask. Richards and Flint just began to head the opposite direction down the hall.

"Hey! Scrier! Don't you have some skulking to do somewhere else?!" Flint called back.

As the door to the lab swung closed, the janitor adjusted his grip on the mop and looked back down at his work. Scrier, after a second more of staring, turned away and began to saunter off.

It was a long hallway. They kept walking for a good long while before they turned and were out of sight. And for all that time the janitor continued to mop and silently sweated, waiting for them to notice that the security cameras weren't moving like they usually did. Even when the three Cape Code Authority agents were gone, the custodian continued to work. He worked until the vibrations of their footsteps through the floor had faded into the background tremors of the environment. And even longer than that, until the buzz of spider-sense in the back of his mind had subsided slightly, no longer quite so focused on them.

[goodolreliable-crows]

Nightmares and confessions 

Bumswiftery cuz this ship needs more content.

Smoking cw

Skittery stood in the bathroom area of the lodge, debating whether pumping water to wash his face would be too loud and wake the other boys. It was late, although he didn’t know the exact time. He had been trying to save up for a pocket watch but never could scrap together the funds. Judging by the soft sounds of the boys deep in slumber in the next room over and the crescent moon in the sky, he determined it was around midnight. 

He had woken up clammy from a nightmare and didn’t feel like trying to fall asleep again. He had seen some of the other boys have nightmares- Blink mostly, who frequently woke up screaming at any hours of the night before Mush had to rush over and comfort him. He never had dreams like that, which he was thankful for. He couldn’t imagine what that boy had been through to continue to be tortured by his own mind like that. 

The nightmares he had were just vague unsettling things that continuously crept over his mind the rest of the day, or at least until he snatched a cigar from someone. They were usually about improbable, sometimes childish things he felt guilty for letting bother him- monsters, his little brother getting hurt, or his family finding out something about him that he didn’t want anyone knowing. 

Not that he had any secrets that bothered him like that. That’s what he told himself. 

He decided it wasn’t worth it to get water, instead leaning his elbows on the trough and setting his head against his forearms. The cool breeze from the early spring rainstorm drifting in from the drafty windows felt nice against the clammy, bare skin of his back. 

He just wanted to sleep. He was so tired every day no matter what he did. 

After a few silent moments, listening to the rain, he felt the warmth of fingertips creep suddenly onto his shoulder. He jumped up, turning around and instinctively taking a defensive position with his fists balled. It was dark, but the curly mop of brown hair, hazel-green eyes, and toned muscles, visible even through his undershirt, told him who it was. Swifty was always doing that, sneaking up behind people and startling them whether he meant it or not. He was too nimble, too light on his feet. 

“Jeez, what’d ya do that for?” Skittery  whispered furiously, his face growing hot as he wished he had pulled on a shirt when he was leaving his bunk.

“Sorry, wanted to make sure you’s ok,” Swifty whispered back, his cheeks slightly red. 

Of course it had to be Swifty, Skittery thought to himself. Swifty had to be the one to wake up, when he was one of the two causing all these problems in the first place. 

Skittery didn’t blame the two boys for the feelings he got. It wasn’t their fault that he got lost in his head whenever Bumlets flipped his hair out of his face, or that he got a funny feeling in his stomach when Swifty adjusted his clothes. And it certainly wasn’t their fault for that sour, jealous mood that he couldn’t seem to shake after he walked into the lodge early one day, finding Bumlets being pushed up against the wall by Swifty, kissing his neck with his hands at his waist. 

That wasn’t his business. He just wanted a lover- he was jealous for the relationship they had, that was all. He wasn’t going to let his silly envy get in the way of his friendship, or let it bother whatever they had going on. 

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.” 

Skittery watched as Swifty sat down on the weathered floorboards, much to his dismay, his dangling suspenders clattering on the hardwood. He wasn’t in the mindset to stay up with someone. He glanced back to his empty bunk, briefly pondering if he could return to it without seeming rude. He decided against it, reluctantly joining the boy on the floor and crossing his legs. 

“You sick or something? You felt hot,” He asked softly. Swifty knew how hard it was to get Skittery into a conversation when he didn’t initiate it. It was somewhat of a skill, trying to carefully word his sentences to draw him in. Unfortunately, he was still groggy himself, meaning he wasn’t as slick with his tongue as he could be. 

“No, just had a nightmare,” the tall boy mumbled back. 

“You wanna tell me about it?” Swifty patiently asked. 

“Already forgetting it.” 

Swifty nodded, resigning himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to get much of a conversation out of him. After a beat of silence, he dug around in the pockets of his shorts and procured a cigarette, offering it to him. Skittery’s gaze flicked from it back to the other boy's eyes, before taking it from him and setting it in the corner of his mouth. 

After successfully striking a match and lighting the cigarette, tendrils of smoke curling into the air, he leaned back on his elbows and looked Swifty up and down. 

“What about you, huh? What are you doin’ up so early?” 

“Just couldn’t sleep. Have a lot going on in my head,” he answered, somewhat relieved that the cigarette seemed to do the trick to get Skittery out of his shell, at least a little bit. 

He hesitated for a moment, as if deciding whether he gave a fulfilling answer, before holding out the lit cigarette, embers glowing bright in the otherwise dark room. Swifty eyed him curiously, his bright eyes picking out details of the other boy's body best as he could in the darkness. 

“When I get nightmares I cozy up to Bumlets, ya know. You ain’t got someone like that? A gal or a fella or nothin’?” Swifty asked, after passing the cigarette back. 

Skitterys expression stiffened as he tried to ignore the knot forming in his stomach. 

“No, I ain't got a gal like that. And I ain’t like you either.” 

“Like me?” The curly haired boy replied, his eyebrows raising. 

“Ya know with the,” Skittery’s eyes darted to the floor, unable to meet his eyes. “With the fellas.” 

Swifty pulled his legs against his chest, narrowing his eyes. “Well jeez, that ain’t what I was askin’.” 

“It ain’t your business.” 

Swifty sighed, knowing he had ruined what little softness he had pried out of him. “Don’t see how. You’s a looker, Skits.” 

Skittery felt his face flush, accompanied by a strange fluttering in his chest. He hated it. These feelings were stupid, impractical, and most importantly, could never be replicated. Swifty had Bumlets. They were happy together, and Skittery would just have to suck it up and bear through the agony that came with seeing them cuddling at night, or exchange kisses on the cheek in the morning, or playfully ruffle each other’s hair before buying papers. 

It had never occurred to him how much these things bothered him until he had Swifty all to himself, with nothing else but a shared cigarette and that wretched insomnia. 

“I’m going to try to sleep,” Skittery mumbled suddenly, Standing up and heading back towards the threshold between the bathroom and the bunks. In one motion, Swifty grabbed his wrist, pulled him back, and pinned his waist to the counter, gazing up at his face through the thick darkness. 

“What the hell’s up with you lately, John?” He whispered furiously, tightening his grip below his ribs. Skittery stood like a statue, his mouth gaping open as he prayed his weak knees would hold him. Their chests were almost touching, and he could feel the steady rise and fall of his stomach against his own in the brief eternity before he could cough out an answer. 

“Nothin’”, he said, his voice coming out small. His heart drummed as he watched a lock of Swifty's hair uncurl itself from his bangs and fall neatly onto his forehead. His eyes glistened in the shadows, filled with suspicion and curiosity.

“Nothings goin’ on with me, why’d you think that?” 

“I dunno, maybe how you can’t seem to stand being around me during the day?” 

Skittery took a breath, his arms glued to his sides. “It’s just me bein’ dumb, alright? Don’t worry about it.” 

“Worry about it?! Skits you...” he slowly released his grip, his hands trailing down from his waist to his hips. “You ain’t...”

“I ain’t what,” Skittery breathed, barely audible over his heartbeat.  

And in a split second, Swifty closed the gap between their mouths, his eyes fluttering shut as Skittery’s hands found their way onto the back of his neck. It was a tender, slow kiss, filled with questions and curiosity. Every thought or strange feeling left over from his nightmare had vanished. He wasn't sure if the rain was still falling- he couldn't hear a thing. Skittery discovered the other boy's lips were surprisingly silky, and he pulled away, chest heaving, with a fruity taste on his tongue. 

“Why the hell did ya do that?” Skittery said quietly, his fingers biting into the shorter boy’s shoulders. 

He shrugged in response, apparently more agitated from his response than alarmed from kissing his friend. 

“I don’t get you, Victor,” he said uneasily as he saw Swifty’s face drifting up towards his again. 

“Stop.” He pushed him away by his shoulders, struggling to put space in between them. “We can’t do this, Vic, what the hell is wrong with you?” 

“Do I really gotta walk you through why it’s ok to kiss a fella?”He answered in a bemused tone. 

“It ain’t that, Swifty!” he said furiously, forgetting to lower his voice. “You think I don’t wanna do that every time I see ya?! You think I've been putting myself through this shit for nothin’? I ain’t meant for romance. And whatever feelings that gave me ain’t exactly exclusive to you either. I couldn’t make no one happy like they want me to. Nothin’ like that will ever work out for me.” He shoved him away, walking a few paces towards the windows. “And how could ya do somethin’ like this to a sweet fella like Bumlets?!” he added, his voice quiet again. 

Swifty was strangely composed, standing straight up with his hands in his pant pockets. It was strange to see his friend like this. Skittery always spent most of his time contemplating everything, analyzing conversations and movements to make sure he was completely understanding what was going on. He never let a thing go misinterpreted. He was better with being told things straight out- it surprised Swifty that a kiss, which to Skittery might’ve meant anything, for once got his point across efficiently. 

“That’s what you’s worked up about? That I kissed you while I still got Bumlets?” He asked, collected despite the fact his heart was still racing. “Me and him have been talkin’, Skits. He likes you too.”

The other boy froze, the words sending a peculiar feeling down his spine. “What do ya mean by that?” 

“I mean he likes ya, I like ya, and we like each other.” He slowly approached him, as if to not startle him away. “I’m sayin’ if you wanna be in on whatever we got going on,” he trailed off, tenderly slipping his arms around his waist again. 

“Ya mean it, Victor? You two…” he mumbled tentatively, his own hands creeping onto his midsection. 

And before he knew it they were kissing again, searing and passionate. It was something that happened on instinct, a thing Skittery didn’t let control him very often. It was as relieving as it was terrifying. 

Skittery pulled away abruptly, responding to Swifty's confused expression by holding a finger to his lips. He peered over him through the darkness at all the boys seemingly still asleep in the next room over. They were too visible for his liking, especially since he knew many of them pretended to be asleep to pry into others' business. 

He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into one of the bathroom stalls, where they whispered little confessions in between long kisses, all the way till light started shining in from under the door and the clamor of waking boys told them they were moments from being discovered.

__________

The next day was gray, with rain that sprinkled heavily on and off. Normally, this would send Skittery into a worse mood than usual, causing him to barely get any papers sold, rather spending his day under shop awnings with the stack over his head. However he barely noticed the rain, and although his mouth was in a tight line and his eyebrows furrowed, there was a pink tinge to his cheeks that he couldn’t get rid of. 

He remembered saying a lot to Swifty the night before, mostly embarrassing, sappy things that he carried on his shoulders with an air of shame. He remembered something about being in love, something about his heart melting when he sees Bumlets, something about him not being able to believe that the two handsomest guys in the lodge liked him. Recalling it made him cringe. He couldn’t believe he would let his guard down like that now that he was out of the moment. 

He knew he had to talk to Bumlets soon and work out his feelings for him as he did with Swifty, but he could barely stand to be in the same room with either of them. He left early, turning away after hearing one of them call his name. He was aware he was just avoiding something that would have to be dealt with eventually. He was no good with feelings, or change for that matter. 

Luckily the opportunity presented itself sooner than he preferred, when he settled on a bench under a damp umbrella in the park. It was a particularly heavy batch of rain, making him shiver no matter how tight he pulled his coat around him. He suddenly felt himself sandwiched by warmth, one of the boys on each side of him. 

“Hey Skits,” he heard Bumlets say, although his gaze stayed fixed on the patch of ground in front of him. “Heard you was bein’ sweet with my fella last night,” he said in an amused tone, hitting his shoulder with his own. 

Skittery felt paralyzed, staying silent as both boys looked at him expectantly. He felt a raindrop snake down his neck and down his collar. 

“Why don’t ya tell Bumlets some of those things you told me last night,” Swifty added once it was clear that he wasn’t going to respond. 

“Won’t you two leave me alone till later,” he finally answered, snapping his head up and looking at the boy on the right. He immediately regretted it. Bumlets’ damp bangs were drooping onto his forehead, his brown eyes illuminated curiously by the  raindrops coming down. His shirt was half unbuttoned, revealing his collarbone dotted with freckles. 

“We ain’t gonna leave you alone, Skits, not with weather as romantic as this!” He motioned wildly with his hand, collecting a few raindrops in his palm before drying it off on Skittery’s knee. “But we also ain’t gonna pressure you or nothin, right Bumlets?” Swifty added. 

Skittery let both boys set their arms around him, although his shoulders were stiff and his face was hot. The three sat there, listening to each other breathing for hours with their arms tangled. The tall boy in the middle indulged himself just a little bit more by the minute, letting himself grow comfortable between them. He knew that's what he wanted. He knew that that’s what he had been dreaming about subconsciously for a lot longer than he cared to admit. It would take time for him to adjust, as it always did for him with new experiences and changes of his life. 

But he was trying to get better at change. Maybe that’s why he let Swifty kiss his cheek, after checking that the rain had driven everyone out of the park. Maybe that’s why he let Bumlets take his waist and kiss him softly, when the moment felt right. And that’s why they walked back to the lodge, shivering, with their arms still hooked around each other, the tallest boy feeling on top of the world.

[shortnfantastic]

I was wondering who your inspirations are when it comes to art style. I think yours is really soft and cute and I can't stop looking at it lol

Hi!! Wow I didn’t know how to answer this question at first because I draw art style inspiration from a lot of places. I don’t have a who, as to a which movies... It’s no secret I love Disney style so a lot of my inspiration draws from Disney movies.

I love the art in 101 Dalmatians especially. This is my absolute favourite background style.. it’s like sketchy but looks so professional and though through. Just beautiful. I despise drawing bgs but if I ever do them I’d like to reach a similar sketchy style.

I also love the weight they have in that middle picture, this is exaggerated because they’re wet, but pulling details of your characters down like clothes makes everything look super cute. You’re telling your viewer that this character is so tiny and Smol that something that normally doesn’t weight a lot like clothes is pulling them down. It makes them look smaller and younger. I used this for Patton’s sweater paws. Also The blanket on top of Janus’ head. Using props to make things look cuter is very helpful.

I love adding tiny things to my style from other art styles... like the way the puppy’s lower jaw is drawn, note how there’s a line that separates it from the main head shape. It’s friggin adorable... Now go and take a look at that snake plushie on my comic. 🙃 I didn’t make that up, I’m grabbing things I like from the masters and adapting them to my own style.

Cats don’t dance has a wonderful fluidity to their style that I wish to achieve in all my poses no matter how insignificant or unimportant to panel they might be, i try to make them fun like cats don’t dance, that way I kind of trick myself into having fun with them too. Just ahhh.. Their expressions follow their face structure and are fun and dynamic, I sometimes try to exagerate the eye sizes and distort them a bit to match the direction they’re looking to get a more cartoony look. I usually have a reference open too, just for good measure. Also look at her sleeves, they’re so puffy and look cozy and comfy. Go check out Virgil’s hoodie and you’ll probably find something similar.

I don’t need to mention sword in the stone or the iron giant cuz you all have picked onto that, but yes I draw inspiration from their styles as well, sword in the stone has wonderful child proportions that I love and Arthur’s profile is great for learning purposes. Notice how his eyes are placed in the middle of the head, no towards the top? The lower you place the eyeline the younger they will look. Just careful not to push it too hard unless you want a super cartoony look. Also if you put them in situations and places where you empathize how short they are, maybe by giving them a huge piece of clothing... they will also look cuter. If you make them look like they can’t reach somewhere, to the point where only their eyes visible because they can’t reach... that’s going to make them look even smaller. Increasing the cuteness factor. If you squish them they will look soft and round and plushie like.

Draw refence from sources you like, they don’t have to be animated, use real life for ref, or paintings or maybe 3D or stop motion. Don’t be afraid to look at what other artists are doing. See the way they’re simplifying features, or the type of lines they use, maybe they’re all round, or maybe more geometrical. I’m not saying copy 100 percent of what they’re doing. That’s honestly no fun. But the combination of little things from different sources will make your art unique to you. Eventually every feature you borrow from somewhere else will slowly evolve into your own adaptation, that is inevitable. None of us is ever going to have a 100 percent original style, it’s the combination of things you like, your interpretation that’s gonna make your art unique.

And I got carried away again... so sorry about this super long post. I uh, draw inspiration from a lot of places when it comes to art style, anon. ☺️

[skunkandgrenade]

Cosmo Series: And Makeup

Prev Next

Taglist: @rat-father

Here’s a reference to Cosmo’s makeup look to help y’all visualize it. Also, it’s finally gonna be three parts, the third being Photoshoot (which will obviously be the photoshoot) cuz Cosmo will eventually be a display whumpee. I have a lot of ideas for him in mind

CONTENT WARNING: conditioning, slight nudity mention, dehumanization, anxiety, fear of punishment, fear of being stabbed in the eyes, Stockholm syndrome, intimate whumper, creepy whumper, lots of eye-talk

And Makeup

Master looked at it from head to toes, making it feel even more naked.

“How do you feel in them? Are they comfortable?” He asked it as he rearranged its shirt.

“It-its feeling good, M-Master... com-comfortable...”

“Great.” He smiled and lifted its chin with his fingers, forcing it to look up at him. “You don’t have to be shy, darling. You look radiant.”

It blushed even more. “Its s-sorry...”

He kissed it on the forehead gently and then took its hand.

“Come here.”

He brought it to a leather stool and made it sit. He then flipped on a big lamp and flashed it in Cosmo’s face, making it whimper.

“Come on, darling, don’t be difficult, now.” He said as he brought another stool in front of it. “I’m gonna do your makeup, so I need light and I also need you to stay still, understood?”

“Y-Yes, Master...”

Cosmo was unsure about having Master be so close to its eyes, especially with small sturdy brushes, but it knew better than to resist.

So it watched him bring the small black box over and sit in front of it, looking very happy and excited.

It smiled, trying to convince him it was excited too, despite wanting to run away.

He seemed pleased to see it smile and Cosmo felt relieved. It had to be good, especially right now. Who knew what Master would do if it misbehaved while he had something hard near its face?

It didn’t want to think about it. It had to concentrate on pleasing him.

It waited patiently with its eyes closed, feeling the little hair of the brush against its skin, and managed not to flinch. It could feel Master’s breath on its face and it could feel how concentrated he was. It couldn’t help but be excited to see the results, curious as to what he was putting on it.

It had understood the whole space thing quite quickly, its name, the clothes, the colours, and it did enjoy it; space was pretty cool.

While it waited, it couldn’t help but think about the front door again. It had that annoying feeling that it was forgetting something. What was so important about the door? It just lead outside. And outside was scary. It was better here, in the only place it remembered. It didn’t know what was behind that door. So why did it still think about it? If it went outside without permission, Master would be so mad. And it didn’t want to make Master mad.

So stop thinking about it! It internally yelled at itself.

It was so annoyed at its own mind. The door wasn’t important, pleasing Master was. If Master was happy, Cosmo was safe. It wouldn’t risk doing something bad and get sent down to the basement and get punished again... it would be so good, so so so good.

“Open your eyes, darling.” Master ordered, pulling it out of its thoughts.

It obeyed and looked at him.

He took it by the chin and moved its head gently side to side, analyzing it carefully.

“Mmh... okay, next up is eyeliner. This part, you really can’t move.”

“Yes, M-Master..”

“Close your eyes again, darling.”

It did as it was told and soon felt the wet tip of the eyeliner. It felt familiar and not in a bad way.

Master pressed hard on its eyelids but it didn’t complain and did its best to not twitch or flinch.

It unconsciously played with its fingers and hands, unable to stop stressing about being stabbed in the eye.

But as time passed, it was able to relax and come to enjoy the intimacy of this moment. It was warm and personal, and it couldn’t help but feel good. Master could have a calming presence, apparently.

“Okay, keep your eyes closed, I’m adding some details, okay, darling?”

“Yes, Master..”

It felt Master’s fingers on its skin sticking little things around its eyes. It wasn’t very pleasant nor comfortable but it didn’t complain.

“Okay, you can open your eyes again, darling.”

When it did, its eyelids felt a bit heavier.

“Now is mascara. Don’t blink, okay?”

It nodded and kept its eyes as open as it could.

It saw Master be at a few inches from its face, fully concentrated and holding the little brush next to its eye.

The mascara was the quickest part and quite easy if it ignored the burning and watering in its eyes.

“Good boy.” Master praised. “Now there’s just the blush and lipstick left.”

It looked at him while he put some colour on its cheeks and felt warmer towards him.

It felt torn, knowing that the man in front of it being so nice and soft was also the man that put it in a basement, shocked it, whipped it and made it feel so scared all the time...

But right now he was nice, he wasn’t hurting it, so it was okay to genuinely enjoy his company, right? It wasn’t obeying out of pure terror right now, it was obeying because it wanted to.

Was that okay? Was it supposed to be constantly scared?

It didn���t know. It didn’t remember.

What was it supposed to do? How was it supposed to feel towards the man that took it away from home? Was it allowed to relax in his presence?

“Open your mouth, darling.”

It obeyed without even thinking, still stuck in its head.

It had no idea what it was supposed to do or act like.

And the door thing kept bugging it.

Was it supposed to run away? But Master would be so mad... and Master was being nice right now, it didn’t want to disobey him or annoy him. It wanted to be good, it wanted to make Master happy.

As long as Master was happy, it was safe.

“Okay, darling, I’m done. There’s a mirror on the wall behind you if you want to see.”

It suddenly got excited and dropped all of its thoughts. It couldn’t wait to see what it looked like.

It turned around on the stool and didn’t recognize its own face for a second.

Its eyelids were blue and shiny and there was a dark purple surrounding it. The eyeliner was a light purple, making an open triangle at the outside of its eye with another line under it and two in the inner corner of its eyes. There were little plastic stars under it and it looked beautiful with the black mascara. Its cheeks were a blue-ish purple and its lips were a dark matching blue with its eyelids.

It couldn’t help but find itself beautiful.

“Now, are you ready for a photo shoot, darling?”

[imaginedcreaderinsert]

Maybe for requests, Jason x reader with unrequited love. Jason being the one in love and the y/n never truly loving Jason the same way. Maybe an established friends with benefits relationship. Smutty angst ? Xxxxxxxx

SUMMARY: explained by the ask......... might or not might have added some cheating, WHOOPS.

WORD COUNT: 3685

TW: Angst and smut. Some cheating might have been implied. Read until the end! You can decide on which end you want first by commenting!

A/N: Tomorrow (today cuz here it’s 6:17 AM!), I’ll answer another ask I have pendant from some time ago, and I’LL START ON MY FIRST PART TWO, BABIES. I know that Heal, Cool Girl and others have attracted a lot of attention, but I think I’ll start on Heal, cuz I have it all planned. On Cool Girl I was planning on doing some endings: two with Jason (good and bad), two with Dick (good and bad) and one neutral but... Well, angsty. Tell me what you think!

People that asked to be tagged: @sarcasmismyfirstlove, @dora-the-grownup

I just want to be yours — Jason Todd x Reader (x Dick Grayson, implied)

You told yourself this would be the last time. Fucking this up this much shouldn’t be a thing, should not happen this often; people joke around the big mistake that is fucking with an ex, and the worst thing is that you actually joked about those things: as if you could ever do such a thing! How pathetic can someone be, right? The room is dark, and it takes you a bit to actually find your clothes; disorientated as you were when you first opened your eyes, this is a really big step. Your bra is somewhere near the bed, and your underwear between the covers. The rest you can maybe take here and there, as long as you find your pants. Jason won’t mind.

           His wounds are slightly fresh, even when you had taken care this time with your nails; seeing how beat he had been, you had tried to take care, not leave more red marks behind this time. Looking back, drunk and high on adrenaline, letting him walk you to your door had not been the best option; but who knew Jason would get into a fight for you on that same night? People think of Jason as someone smaller than Dick, and that may be so in age, but in no means in weight or height. He is the biggest of all of the Wayne adoptees, and maybe the one with the worst self-control too. You used to like that when you were going out, but that was getting old, right? Still, he had taken you out of that bar in his bike and it all had felt so juvenile, like the first time he’d done something similar. He was irresistible when you two met, and it had been lust at first sight - you could swear on that. Now? All that was left were ashes of a very intense but mediocre romance at most in terms of deepness.

           Sex was easy, no questions asked; the problem always was when Jason got clingy, a bit antsy and inquisitive. It made you flee. Thus, you get up as quietly as you can, drag your clothes out, take one of his shirts, and escape the house. If he finds you, you think you won’t be able to say “no”.

***

           “I don’t-I don’t know”: You frown, holding your cellphone between your ear and shoulder. It’s getting hot, and you hate that, but your hands are a bit busy. Fuck you hate your job.

           “I think you do, (Y/N)”

           “Ugh, I hate it when you call me by my name, Richard.” You emphasize your voice in the last noun, making him chuckle because of your revenge. He hates his name too. “I’m just-look, you don’t want the details. We both wanted it, that’s it.”

           “(Y/N)…”

           “I know, I know! Shut up, I swear to God I planned on having some drinks and going back home. Just that. I actually like talking to him”

           There’s a bit of a silence on the line, enough to make you know what he’s going to say. The thing he has been insinuating for the past months, of course.

           “You know he hasn’t gone out with anyone, right? He didn’t go to your stupid set-ups with other girls.”

           “Yeah, they’ve told me. How is that my fault?”

           The tiredness in Dick’s sigh makes you feel guilty, because of course you know whose fault it is. How can he move on if you are constantly moving back in his life like that, being all unfair? And you know, you know, but you love talking to him and sometimes, just sometimes, things go back to how they were before it all got messy.

           ***

           “But why?”

           “I don’t know, just because I don’t.” You answer, exhausted with yourself. It feels like a trap at times talking to him, and you hate that.  Jason is not being clingy, but he can’t quite make why you are so opposed to it. And he should.

           “It’s just meeting the rest of the family, babe. It’s not that big of a deal.”

           “You gave me a fucking drawer, Jason. It is a fucking big of a deal.”

           He drops himself into the sofa, sighing, quite exhausted. You are too, lax in the comfortable armchair you’ve made almost yours throughout the time you’ve spent with him.

           “Listen, that is because you are here almost everyday, (Y/N). I’m not going to ask you anything.”

           That calms you down, somehow, but there’s hurt in his eyes. You can remember it clear as a day; it had been a couple months after you’d meet, started to fuck here and there — and he had given you a fucking drawer in his bedroom. Like you two were something.

           The fact that you feel so anxious for meeting his family, knowing him a bit more, and having a drawer had not been good signs. Both of you had entered the relationship making very clear it was merely sexual, but now touches were becoming more usual, nuzzles and the occasional naps taken together…

           He is falling in love with the little thing she does, like walking around the apartment in her cold bare feet and putting them up Jason’s lap any chance she has, just so that he can “warm them up”. He finds that adorable for some reason, instead of annoying. Or the way her hair looks like that of a superstar when she takes her scrunchie off, occasionally – her hair is amazing, almost as if styled, but its purely natural, unintentional. He is falling in love too with the way his hand perfectly fits her waist when he hoists her back to him, grabs her by the naked lateral area showing skin before sleeping, calming him up immediately. He loves how she just seems to roam around comfortable around him, enough to laugh out loud like that, be in silence, or fuck him all sweaty and without a care in the world. He loves it when she starts things, making him feel so wanted, so loved.

           Jason has never felt wanted. Not much anyways. Dad fled and mom OD’d; Bruce Wayne (not Dad) had his touches, yes, but how could he win against golden boy, always perfect, always first in everything? Not to say the years he was dead, where he did nothing to avenge him, just mourn. He kind of just knew that things would have been different if it had been Dick, if it had been Tim – and Jason hated himself for thinking like that, but he couldn’t help it. People didn’t stick around him too long before leaving, and usually in bad terms. They left him behind, but then you came along, always soft, sweet, sarcastic – but never cruel. You fought to reach him, talk him out of certain bad thoughts, ruts where he didn’t feel like waking up and even confessing dark and unspoken secrets.

           No one but the social services knew how you had been abandoned in a bus stop by your mom when you were three years old. How long you’ve stayed there, hoping no one would grab you, take you, kidnap you or worse things – you had cried but you had stay in your position, hoping she would come back and just make it all a bad joke. You never understood or fully assimilated the problem, thus becoming the broken shell you are with twenty-two years old, a victim of the broken foster care system – just what Jason would have become had Bruce Wayne not appeared. Not everyone has an angel watching their back.

           You had expressed your tremendous trust issues, your desire to flee from happy things, good people: they made you feel broken, unwanted, less of a person, and worst of all small. You hated being small, being walked upon – there were people who when threatened, they made themselves smaller, bowed down their head in submission. But not you. Fear made you stronger, you knew how to take every blow and give it back with if not as much force, even more. Relationships made you feel caged, clingy, and Jason knew that when he had asked you stay the first night, uncomfortable as you had been the first minutes before falling sleep, maybe because you had stressed yourself enough or because you were truly tired and he had noticed.

           He noticed the smaller things. Jason wanted to know that her small things were big and loud as shouts for him. He noticed, he knew.

***

           She knew too.

           “I see you, (Y/N) (L/N).” He tells you one night, cuddled up against him, laughter dying in your throat from the self-deprecating joke. You can’t even remember what it was about, but his eyes, his gorgeous eyes had made you feel bashful, almost timid.

           And that scared you to death. You know what he means, what he sees – you, in your rawest form, your most humane and vulnerable sides. And he stays anyways.

           “Well how could you not with your stupid frog-like eyes, dumbass?”. You retort before laughing, pushing him from your body almost too scared.

           You have to fight, or otherwise you’ll lose. You knew that back then and you know that now. Falling in love with Jason is almost too easy, giving up into his eyes and his big cuddly arms, the loving monster that he is – and you mean that in a good way, always in a good way. You knew of his vulnerabilities as much as he knew about yours, and you had something deep, tainted by moments that made your stomach flutter, your cheeks blush at times.

           There’s only one remedy against that.

           ***

           Jason pushes you against your wall, making you gasp and the pictures behind you flutter, scaring you for a second – but then you forget, his incredible mouth on your neck making things, sucking skin, so deliciously that your thigs trap him deeper. His arms, holding you up by your ass against the wall, squeeze the flesh even with clothes between you. He groans, his bulge pressing against your hot core, mewls coming out of your mouth. It’s so easy to start, why hadn’t you done this before?

           Oh, right, because sex fucks things up like love. It’s the second most dangerous thing after opening your heart to someone, and you know that this is it. He will take you, and after that, he will be done with you, like the rest of men in your life. You grab him harshly, taking him back from hair so that he can look at you, with your very serious and commanding eyes:

           “Sofa, now.”

           He takes you there, almost pushing you into it as he descends. You take off your blouse, bra – and like a dog, by instinct, he attacks your chest, hardened nipples to play with as you moan, trousers becoming more and more uncomfortable.

           “Take it off, take it all off, Jay.” You beg, this time, helping him in the process before he starts taking clothes off your body, worshipping almost. That’s dangerous.

           You thought Jason would be a selfish lover – he seemed like the type, himself coming first before the rest (no pun intended), but to your great surprise you get to cum two times before he finally lets himself in, with your very tired but pleasured permission. You are in love with his body, you can say that much, as his cock and his dominating presence is all you can see, your legs opened for him, about to enter your dripping entrance-

           “Jay!”. You moan, nails going for his arms, the closest thing to you at the moment. He fucks you without abandon, mere lust and want behind, no love to be seen on a couch-fuck that will never be spoken of again.

           You get on top of him and ride him, as he meets your thrusts halfway there. He gives and gives and gives, thinking he will get something in exchange, maybe you will say something stupid like the stupid things he wants to say as he gets to see your pleasured expression, blissed out face and moaning and whimpers – but there’s no “I love you’s”, no “I want to be more”, no “I kind of haven’t been thinking of you as just a friend for the last past months”. He has been often thinking about it these last weeks, but there isn’t that kind of realization as he finishes you.

           But if that’s what you want for now, he will respect it. He will if it means holding you close to his body in your most vulnerable time, after coming down from an orgasm and grabbing her neck as she calms down. Jason takes her to bed after cleaning them up, and slowly, almost groggily, falls asleep, protecting her from the rest of the world. He just wishes he could have kept that night longer, eternal. Nothing is the same after that.

           ***

           The first times after that are incredible sex-wise, but there’s no communication. There’s moans, dirty talking and kinky conversations that they hadn’t touch on before, but nothing deep, most definitely not loving. But slowly, they make their way into something else, in the precious pillow talk that becomes his favorite moment after making her cum again and again.

           “No, no, that’s the thing! Everyone loves Picasso, but not a lot of people know what a misogynistic ass he was! There are far better alternatives than him, way too underrated and unknown from the same movement! And that goes for the little racist bitch that’s Lovecraft! He has his freaking cult and he was the worst person to exist on-“

           She rambles, rants on about writers, painters, artists which she loves and hates, things she seems to want to share with him. He loves that, her passion, how intelligent she is, and how he looks at her, expectantly before he shares his own, which most often than not is with hers. She likes that. Sometimes they don’t coincide, but that’s okay too because she gets even more fired up, and they end up kissing, just to “make-up” even when there’s nothing to make up for. But he likes that, he adores it. He just wonders how long that precious period will last before problems arise, and he’s right in doing so. Jason is prepared at least.

***

           “I just can’t say.”

           “But why? It’s just-we’ve been through so much together, Jay! I’ve told you everything, and I thought you had done the same, how can you not then? Trust me with that?”

           “That” happens to be his vigilante life, one he plans on keeping form her as long as they live. He’s seen people die, get attacked, be kidnapped – he won’t forgive himself if someone is to take you, especially with the Joker back in Gotham once more. To Jason, the more he loved and opened to you, the more you became a target, a weakness: his weakness. It was the eternal superhero’s dilemma, wasn’t it?

           “No, fuck you! You knew how big my trust issues were, you knew how long it took me to open up! And then you just can’t take that big step for me? Are you serious, Todd? I really don’t know where we are headed, it’s just a mystery at this point! Sometimes you-you do that where you stare at me with-with love! And then there’s this comfortable silence, the kisses in-between! I’m not comfortable with the idea of taking things to the next step, but if it’s with you, I can make do! But not if we are going to be like this, if you are going to be this way”. Your finger accuses him, almost making a hole in his chest. It hurts, because more than anything she’s disappointed. Dealing with anger was easy – take the blow, the insults, let them steam off, and then hug. Nothing more. But with disappointment, he never knows what quite to do. And she’s a bit like that as well. “I need space. Don’t wait on for me.”

           ***            You still fuck for the months to come, but there are few kisses in between, just on the stupid days you let yourself be swept on by his charm, his hands that undo you more times that you can remember. It’s easy to concede a bit, be sweet for a time before retreating, hiding yourself – nothing has been the same since the fight, and Jason is desperately trying to gain the closeness he’s lost in the months that this has been going on.

           There’s movie marathons, still you come to his apartment and he comes to yours late in the night – but whenever he comes from a vigilante mission, she kinda somehow knows because of the hours and thus, Jason always finds her asleep, giving him her back before getting into bed. He kisses her nape, the naked skin between neck and shoulder, and presses his head into her back as if saying “sorry”. It never works, because you never turn around, as wake as you are. It won’t make the cut, because he’s still not talking.

           But then the unimaginable happens.

           Jason discovers that (Y/N) and fucking Dick Grayson are keeping in contact.

           Things spiral down from that point on.

           ***

           You fall slowly in love with Dick. He has a girlfriend and insinuates so in one of your hangouts (they are no longer meetings, just friends chilling), but you couldn’t care less. Dick has something that Jason hasn’t quite show you: honesty, undoubted charm, and easy-going attitude. Nothing is intense, you never go home angry or disappointed, upset that he doesn’t trust you. Richard Grayson seems to, to your own surprise, hold you in great admiration. In between some things because you are Jason’s girlfriend – and the rest because of your personality, the charm he says you have.

           “It’s like I never fully get to know you. Some days you say this, and then you say that – it’s fascinating.” You take it as a compliment, chuckling with slightly pink cheeks as you look at his eyes, dilated and flirty.

           “Well, that keeps things interesting, doesn’t it? You’ll never get tired of me.”

           Sometimes he gets nervous; others he fully blushes and other he flirts back; you are sure of that. And the comfort of his arms around you when you say goodbye is something you aren’t sure you can ignore for much longer. The meetings started as informative reports, if you are to define it in some way; the relationship with the Wayne’s was not at his best, but still Dick wanted to keep in contact, see how Jason was doing, seeing as he had no apparent job. Things started politely enough, brief talks before parting ways, until you started giving in more of your relationship problems (or whatever the hell Jason and you had, seeing as you are not officially going out) and Dick slowly started to voice things out.

           And it all seems to go good enough so that Jason starts to get worried. Then he plainly follows you, stalks you, one of your days – he observes you eating out with someone else, which makes his instincts calm, but the moment they step out into the cold and the guy helps her with her coat, he can catch the profile of his face. And he launches himself before he can think about it through, going for his face and making his head bounce almost back from the window.

           ***

           You shout his name and grab a hold of his arm as you take him back, try to take him apart from Dick Grayson, whose stomach he’s currently going for. No one else seems to want to step in, thus making your job more difficult. But you’ve seen it before, and he won’t stop – he doesn’t know how to stop when this kind of things happens, something gets triggered inside his head. He’s told you so many times that you can actually remember, and you can fully understand the feeling – he’s lost control. But still you grab his arm, try to push his chest back and make him look at you. When you make contact two times in a row, he stops, letting himself be slightly pushed back, stopped.

           People are staring, and Dick is on the floor coughing; Jason’s knuckles are red and slightly bruised, and Grayson’s shirt is dark and dirty because of his boots. He hates that, losing control, you know – you grab him by the jaw before telling him sweet nothings, making him relax almost in your touch. He’s explosive, dangerous like that but you still stay. That amazes him.

           ***

           He takes you desperately, like fucking his way into your body until you can’t remember anything anymore, you will get tired of him – when will it be, when will it be? He wishes he could stop thinking that as he makes his way inside your body, desperately bruises your lips with love, as if making you understand: I love you, he too timidly mouthes into her as her eyes close, on the ceiling out of pleasure. It’s a slow rut, but deep and pleasurable – you cum once and then he finishes off on your stomach, kisses in between, (Y/N) whispering sweet confirmations, phrases of pure love and desire:

           “You can let go, you can cum. Cum on me, get me dirty too, baby. You are fine, you are safe, I need you. I need you, just you. Okay? Okay, Jay, baby. Just go, let go.”

           He does. He kisses you. You kiss back, and soon after, turn to sleep.

           Slowly, you are slipping away.

           ***

           The inevitable happens: sex stops, and you stop talking. Sometimes you don’t ever get to see each other. What’s the point? You cut things off, and Jason just accepts. How had it been that easy? You cannot fully understand, but it’s something you definitively appreciate. Were you in the wrong perhaps? As Dick opens his mouth, apparently to greet you, you realize. It’s clear to you as the day:

           “I have to tell you something.”

[euphoricdumpsterfire]

To the Moon and Back (Peter Parker x Stark OC) Chapter 2

Master list

Warnings: Mild Profanity

A/N: Hey guys sorry if I kinda updated late, and for the next few days I’ll be extremely busy being a student poll worker for the elections so Chapter 3 might come out hopefully by next Friday, but do watch out for a link to a playlist that I specifically made for this fanfic! Anyways, have a great day <3

Word Count: 2216

Summary: Nixie meets Peter Parker and makes friends with him. Moonflower goes on a patrol around Queens and finally meets Spiderman in person.

Nixie had stayed up all night researching whatever she could find about Spiderman and the only things that she saw were videos of him on Youtube just swinging around the city and saving lives. There wasn’t anything else particularly interesting about him besides the fact that he can shoot webs, Nixie thought, although she was still curious as to why she’s been seeing visions of this specific hero. 

Nixie stared at her screen intently watching the same video of Spiderman over and over again, analyzing every single detail of the video. Then her door creaked, it was Natasha. “Rise and shine early-” Nixie turned her head to look at Natasha, “And you’re already awake!” She exclaimed as she entered the room.

“Actually, I’ve been up all night.” Nixie answered,

“Well that explains the dark circles…” Natasha replied as she looked at the computer monitor, “Have you been watching Spiderman this whole time?” She asked and Nixie nodded.

“Seems like you already have a thing for him.” A smirk formed on Natasha’s face 

“What? NO!” Nixie retorted, “I was just simply researching… I was  hoping I could find some more info on him, but all I could find are these youtube videos.” She added.

“Well, you’ll find more info if you start getting ready. It’s a long trip from here to Queens.” Natasha said as she walked towards the door and waited for Nixie to get up.

“Ugh, I better be an Avenger by the end of this…” Nixie muttered as she got up and started to get ready for the day.

Once she was all dressed up, she headed straight to the kitchen and prepared her coffee in her travel mug. “Morning Moonie.” Tony would only refer to his daughter Moonie when he’s terribly concerned, “I heard you stayed up all night…” Nixie looked up at her father with a tired stare.

“I did.” She answered,

“Look, when I said I wanted you to find out who Spiderman is, I didn’t mean that you go out of your way and stay up all night looking him up.” He replied,

She wanted to tell him about the visions but something inside of her is telling that it wasn’t the right time, “I know, but... It’s just that... I don’t know. I can’t really think, the lack of sleep is getting to me.” Nixie yawned as she poured a bit of milk into her coffee. 

Tony looked at his daughter with deep concern as her face was pale, making her dark circles even more prominent. “God, you look like you came out of a Tim Burton movie.” Nixie rolled her eyes at her dad’s snarky statement.

***

Meanwhile in an apartment somewhere in Queens, a young Peter Parker had just finished getting ready for school. He tied his shoelaces, grabbed his backpack, and made his way to the door, “Hey hey, wait!” his aunt May scurried to the door and handed him his lunch bag,

“Thanks May.” Peter said with a smile,

“Remember, after band practice, go straight home got it?” May said with one eyebrow raised, Peter nodded and waved goodbye.

He walked to the subway station which was extremely packed. He stood next to a guy whose armpit hair reeked of rotten vinegar which Peter had to endure for the rest of his trip. Once he got to his stop, he breathed heavily before he could start walking to the campus.

The campus was surrounded by huge trees and a few bushes here and there. Peter walked through the courtyard as he listened to music, he kept walking and didn’t even realize that he was about to bump into someone. Once it had already happened, he finally snapped out of reality. He bumped into a girl who was holding a few books and a travel mug, the coffee spilled everywhere and mostly on the tree that she was standing next to.

“Oh no, are you okay?” Peter thought the girl was talking directly to him but his eyes were fixed on the fallen textbooks and did not notice that she was actually talking to the tree.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Peter asked as he picked up her books and the girl turned around to look at him.

“Uh... Right, uhm yeah I’m good...” She awkwardly answered,

“It was my bad I wasn’t looking...” Once Peter got up, he finally got a good look at the girl, he tilted his head realizing that he had never seen her before. 

“Well, I didn’t get a stain on my clothes so it’s all fine.” She answered,

“I don’t think I’ve met you before...” Peter said as he handed the girl’s textbooks.

“That’s cuz I’m new,” the girl chuckled, “I’m Nixie.” the name sounded so familiar but Peter could not point his finger at it until after a minute of registering it. His jaw dropped in astonishment. 

“You’re-” Before he could even actually say a full sentence, Nixie nodded.

“Yup. I’m Stark’s kid.” She replied.

“But I thought you went to Knox?” Peter asked,

“Wait, people knew which school I go to?!” Nixie exclaimed,

“Well yeah... You’re dad’s famous, that makes you famous.” Peter replied and just when Nixie was about to open her mouth, the school bell rang. 

“What class do you have?” Peter asked and Nixie showed a piece of paper showing her class schedule. 

“We both have the same classes together, I’ll just walk with you to show you around if that’s fine with you.” Peter said and Nixie smiled,

“Great, thanks!” She replied.

Eventually, they were joined by Peter’s friend Ned who was a bit more outspoken and had expressed his love for computer games. All three of them had the same classes and Nixie was lucky enough to sit next to them in almost all of their classes except for Art, where she sat next to a girl named MJ and Liz.

Because of her world famous father, everyone couldn’t help but look at her and start whispering which made her feel uncomfortable and awkward, but thanks to Peter and Ned she the discomfort and awkwardness faded away as she felt welcomed and appreciated by her two new friends.

When it was lunch time, Peter, Ned, and Nixie sat down and ate their lunch. Nixie couldn’t help but notice that MJ was sitting one table away from them. “Shouldn’t we... Like invite her over here?” Nixie asked the two guys who sat across from her.

“Nah, she always sits there by herself.” Ned answered,

“Yeah but-” 

“I’m just a table away, I can hear you guys loud and clear.” MJ said, she then turned her eyes to Nixie, “And I’m fine sitting here, thanks.” MJ went back to reading her book again.

“See?!” Ned whispered loudly

“So Nixie, how does it feel like being around the Avengers?” Peter asked,

“Well... Steve’s like an old grandpa but you can definitely count on him for some good old timey music, Natasha’s like an aunt to me and she’s extremely cool, then there’s the new people, Wanda and Vision. I haven’t really talked to them but that’s mostly because Vision creeps me out.” Nixie answered,

“Whoa... It must be chaotic when they have missions...” Ned said

“Trust me, it is...” Nixie replied, and then it was time to finally ask the million dollar question, “So, what do you guys know about the spiderman dude?” she noticed that Peter dropped his fork and froze right after the question, but Ned shrugged.

“No one really knows his identity, but I do know he’s pretty cool.” Ned continued, “Why’d you ask?”

“Nothing… I just thought he’s really cool, Moonflower’s better though.” Nixie said as her eyes were fixated on Peter’s reactions to the discussion of Spiderman, he remained frozen, as if he was guilty of something.

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen some of her videos on youtube too. She’s pretty cool.” Peter finally spoke.

“Is she part of the Avengers? I can’t remember…” Ned replied,

“Nah, she’s just roaming around Manhattan, basically like Spiderman.” Nixie answered.

“How’d you know that? Have you seen her before?” Peter raised an eyebrow at Nixie,but she couldn’t answer. Thankfully, she was saved by the bell and they all went to their classes. 

A week has passed and Nixie still doesn’t have information on Spiderman, but she suspects that her friend Peter might know who he is. So one day after school she runs after Peter. “Hey Pete!” Peter was startled by Nixie that he was ready to throw a punch, “Whoa there… If I were you I’d think twice about that.” Nixie said while her hands were raised as if she was ready to block him.

“Sorry, I thought you were a thief…” Peter replied as he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. 

“It’s all good, I was just wondering if you could help me with my literature assignment. I’ve been struggling with some parts and I could really use that brain of yours.” Nixie asked expecting he would say something like, 

“You know what… I would if I could, but I-I have plans…” Peter stuttered,

“Oh, so where you off to?” Nixie asked,

“Just some part-time job at a… Deli! Yeah, I just got a part-time job at a dei.” Nixie immediately knew that Peter was lying but she went along with it.

“Oh that’s totally fine, I’ll probably just ask MJ. I’ll see you around!” Nixie waved goodbye, 

“Yeah, see ya!” Peter waved back. Once Nixie turned and left, he let out a sigh of relief immediately ran to the subway station to finally start his evening patrol.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Happy looked at Nixie wearing her usual suit who planned to go around Queens as Moonflower in hopes of finding Spiderman and hoping that whoever she’s suspecting is indeed the masked hero. 

“How else am I gonna get information on him? And besides, it’s good publicity!” Nixie teased and Happy rolled his eyes.

“Fine, and if you don’t come back to the car by 10 pm, I WILL LEAVE.” Happy emphasized the last three words and Nixie just nodded as she put on her mask. 

“Alright, see ya later.” Nixie winked and stretched her arms out, thick vines grew on the brick wall that she was facing and climbed onto it to get to the top. She walked around hoping to get a sight of Spiderman but there was nothing. She moved from building to building, until she saw a woman who stood closely next to a man with a ski mask. The man had a gun pointing at the woman’s head waiting for her to open up her bag, and all of a sudden, a string of web sprouted out of nowhere leaving the man unarmed. It was Nixie’s chance, she immediately used her vine and slid down to the bottom of the building and hid in the shadows. 

“Who’s there?” The man yelled as he pulled out a back-up knife and pointed it towards the woman’s neck. “Give me back my gun or she dies!” The man yelled. Then, the person that Nixie’s been waiting for stepped out, Spiderman shot out another web taking the knife from the man and threw a punch at him. The man laid unconscious on the ground and Spiderman stood in front of him with his hands on his hips.

“Not so scary now are ya?” Spiderman scoffed. It was Nixie’s first time hearing his voice and it sounded really familiar to her, but figuring out who he was wasn’t the priority right now as she saw a group of men whom she assumed was with the other guy were cracking up their knuckles and were ready to ambush Spiderman who was completely clueless.

It was finally her moment, Nixie touched the ground and vines with sharp thorns started growing out and wrapped around the legs of the men, one was close enough to throw a punch but before they could even do it, Nixie yelled, “YO SPIDERMAN WATCH OUT!” Spiderman immediately swerved making the other man fall to the ground. It wasn’t long until the other men got rid of the vines so Nixie threw small grenades that would release a pungent odor similar to the corpse flower once thrown at the target and would immediately make them lose consciousness. It released green smoke and once the scent hit their noses, the men dropped to the ground like dead flies. 

Spiderman was already busy making sure the woman went home safely as Nixie tied all of them together with her vine rope. “So… Moonflower eh?” She turned around to see Spiderman.

“Glad we could finally meet, Spiderman.” She replied.

“I must say, those stink bombs are pretty impressive.” Spiderman said as he crossed his arms against his chest.

“I know right?! They’re pretty sick!”,  “The cops are on their way to pick these losers up.” She had a huge smile that seemed familiar to Spiderman. “But I must say Peter, those web shooters are far more impressive than my stink bombs.” She added.

“Well, I mean they did take much work but I don’t think…” Spiderman paused and looked at Moonflower who had a smirk on her face. “Did you just call me…”

“That’s right, Peter Parker.”

[gaymortagokat]

Sleepover at Camp Jupiter

Read the whole collection here

Reyna's place was quiet. Aurum and Argentum laid in front of the couch curled up together. While their owner sat on the couch reading The Great Gatsby while her girlfriend sat on her lap. A pastel blanket laid over them. It was an addition from Drew. Since her and Reyna began dating Drew would add or recommend things to make Reyna's place more homey. 

They've been together for a little over a year now. Drew graduated  from high school a week ago and will be attending UC Berkeley to study psychology and art. Reyna noticed how great Drew is at helping people believe in themselves and suggested she do something with that. And Drew ran with that idea deciding to become an art therapist, though she isn't sure if she wants to specialize in child psychology and development yet. 

Drew pointed at a line of text. "Remember this, Reyna."

"Why? It's just a billboard?"

Drew turned to look at her girlfriend. "It's important if it was written in here. And it's a symbol of something mortals can't see. The eyes are judgmental like Hera."

Reyna nodded. "Juno isn't all that bad. What do you mean it's a symbol of something mortals can't see?"

"It's kind of like love. You can't physically see it. You can see it in things but you can't see it in things."

"Unless you've met Venus."

"Hmm. I guess so. But speaking of Venus she's a god. We can't see her true form just like mortals can't see the person in the billboard."

"So the billboard is a god judging American's."

"Capital 'g', Reyna. Fitzgerald is probably talking about the Christian god."

"And this Christian god doesn't like what Americans are doing."

"Yes that's what many readers believe."

"Does everything in this book have dual meanings?"

"No. I've found that only things that show up throughout or are highly detailed compared to others are symbols. Like if a detail is emphasized."

"So is the car a symbol?"

"Not sure. I know the billboard is because a teacher told me it was. Let's continue reading." 

Reyna nodded and looked back at the book. 

They continued reading occasionally pausing for discussion. Drew was the one who began these reading sessions. Reyna loved reading. It was how she grasped a better understanding of English. She has a high reading level despite reading mostly comic books. Because of this Drew decided to introduce Reyna to some classics and had created at least a page long list of literature she added to every few weeks. 

They started with names Reyna knew like Plato and Homer. They read The Allegory of the Cave and pieces of The Odyssey where Reyna told her Circe no longer turns men into pigs but animals occasionally less smelly and easier to manage, Guinea pigs. She Also told her that Percy made a very cute Guinea pig. Drew wished Reyna had the opportunity to take a picture.

A knock on the door interrupted their quiet weekend. Reyna's dogs ears perked up and their ruby eyes turned towards the door watching to see if the person behind the door was a threat.

A key slipped into the lock and Reyna groaned. "I should have never given her a key."

"Who?"

"Your sister."

"Pretend we didn't notice?"

"Of course." 

They returned to their book as the door opened. College aged Piper, Jason, Leo, Percy, and Annabeth walked in carrying bags for an impromptu sleepover (even though Percy and Annabeth live in New Rome and see Reyna nearly every day) with Nico.

"Why does Nick always describe Gatsby that way?"

"Cuz he's gay."

"Isn't the author straight?"

"Was anyone straight in the roaring 20's? When swing music existed and women wore more revealing clothing, smoked in public, cut their hair, and everyone lived in excess?"

Piper coughed.

Reyna looked up at her friends (except Leo he was still on thin ice). Percy looked like he just rolled out of bed sporting a five o' clock shadow while his girlfriend looked like she had been up for hours. Piper was as gorgeous as always wearing skinny jeans, a loose shirt, light sweater and vans. Jason looked like Annabeth, but he had done a better job at brushing his hair (his straight hair is easier to manage than Annabeth's curls), and much to Reyna's annoyance, Jason still had the rivet in his hair from the bullet Percy's brother fired at him. Jason had kept his hair trimmed like that for two years now. Reyna, Piper, Drew, and Nico were tempted to shave his hair while he slept. Nico wore the jacket Will gave him on their first Christmas together, and his mirrored sunglasses hung from the pocket. He had gotten a haircut. The sides of his hair did not touch his ears, but the top that he left long would in a few weeks. Leo looked exactly the same as he did two years ago with scorch marks on his fingers and arms and small bandages one a few of his fingers.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I wanna say that they made me come."

Reyna smiled at her little brother. 

"Oh come on Nico. It's not like we had to force you." Jason said putting his arm around the fifteen year old who now reached his eyes. 

"Friday night sleepover." Piper said. "We always have them."

"One, no we don't. It's more like twice a month. Two shouldn't most of you be at some college party? Three it's Wednesday."

"So we're a little early." She answered sitting on the only empty spot on the couch. 

"Percy and I did all our homework that's due tomorrow early." Annabeth added taking a seat at Piper's feet with Percy close behind. She petted Aurum behind the ear muttering something about them being a good dog.

Nico sat on the other side of Reyna's dogs while Jason and Leo sat in front of him. Well, Leo sat closer to Percy than Nico. Reyna's dogs weren't his biggest fans and had no problems making it obvious to him.

"What piece of literature do you have Reyna reading this time, Drew?" Jason asked, adjusting his glasses like they would help him see the page better.

"Gatsby. We're almost done with this page. Do you mind being quiet for a few more minutes." Drew didn't wait for an answer; she turned all her attention to the small book.

Leo struggled to stay quiet. He kept opening his mouth to say something then quickly close it. He distracted himself the best he could by planning out the most fun night ever. First some of the greatest movies ever paired with the best snacks and drinks. Did Reyna even have the best snacks?

Leo didn't stay on that thought long. As soon as he heard the book close he spoke. "Okay! What movie does everyone want to watch." He dug through his bag. "I've got 50 First Dates, The Nanny Diaries, Love Actually-"

"Leo, I love you. But I don't think anyone wants to watch romcoms."

"What do you have in mind, Pipes?"

"Horror, action, thriller."

"Horror sounds fun." Nico stated.

"As long as no one throws their popcorn on me I'm good." Drew added. 

"Reyna, got any horror movies?"

"The Sixth Sense, maybe Friday the 13th."

After a bit of arguing they settled on The Sixth Sense. The boys minus Nico prepared snacks. Nico and Annabeth made the hardwood floor more comfortable by adding a quilt Reyna had buried in a closet and laying out the blankets everyone brought. 

Snacks were finished and everyone ended up with their own container. Nico with popcorn and chocolate chips, Jason with popcorn and m&m's, Annabeth with popcorn and butter fingers, Percy with blue m&m's, Piper with sour gummy bears, and Reyna and Drew sharing Jelly Beans and sour straws. Drew had made Piper make sure Aurum and Argentum had a plate with a few dog treats and marshmallows, and Nico had tossed a blanket over them.

As the movie played Leo Jason Percy and occasionally Annabeth yelled at the characters on screen. Piper occasionally stated behind the scenes facts. 

During a particularly tense moment, Piper, realizing her hands were cold, poked her sister's foot that was barely out of the blanket making her yelp and Piper roar with laughter.

"Gods-damn it Piper!"

Piper waited a few minutes then did it again. Then a third time. 

"Piper." Reyna warned.

"Alright, alright." She scooted closer to the arm of the couch and waited. 

She looked over at Reyna and Drew. Drew was watching the movie one hand on the bowl of candy and the other on Reyna's, but Reyna on the other hand was watching Piper. She shook her head slowly with a slight glare. Drew, feeling Reyna move, looked up at Reyna then at Piper mimicking the Puerto Rican's glare.

Piper glared back then looked away pretending to barf. They were almost disgustingly cute.

A few minutes later she scared Drew again this time receiving a harsh kick.

"Ow! What was that for?" Piper yelped, rubbing her arm. 

"I didn't kick you that hard." 

"You totally did, Reyna."

Not even Reyna kicking her was enough to stop her. She tried one more time to scare Drew. This time she was unsuccessful.

"Hermanito." Reyna said. 

And suddenly Piper was freezing then she found herself on the floor. She looked at the couch where she was once sitting and found Nico curled up with the darkness partially swirling around him. Actually, the dark in the entire room seemed to be moving as if Nico was making the room appear as dark as it did when she was afraid of it.

Piper settled in her new spot petting the nearest dog. 

It was towards the end of the second movie when Drew tried scaring Piper. It worked only once. Piper nearly jumped out of her seat surprising Jason and Percy who were way more afraid of the movie than they let on.

Beginning of the third movie was when Reyna began to mess with Piper. She used a bit of magic she picked up from Circe and tried to make it feel like a spider was walking on her. It worked for a few moments then Piper figured it out and began ignoring the sensation. 

Reyna switched tactics. She poked Aurum with her foot who pressed their cold nose into Piper's side hitting her ticklish spot. 

Piper pressed her palm against the dog's nose and turned it's head away. "I know that was you, Reyna."

"I don't control their every move."

"Oh please. They would do whatever you asked."

Reyna opened her mouth to respond when Drew silenced her. "Ssshhhh. We're at the good part."

Reyna kissed her head and returned to watching the comedy. The older boys insisted on one happy movie to negate the scary before bed.

By the time the movie watching session ended Reyna was sitting between her girlfriend and her best friend/little brother. And both of them were nearly asleep on her shoulders.

"Nico, it's time for bed."

Nico nodded, sitting up and gathering his blanket. A second later he disappeared into the shadows and probably into Reyna's guest room / home office. 

"Nico gone?"

"Sí, Amor. It's time for bed." Reyna told her standing up. She offered Drew her hand.

Her girlfriend shook her head. "Too tired. Carry me?"

Reyna smiled while rolling her eyes. "Alright." She picked up Drew with ease (something that made Jason and especially Percy jealous) and walked to her room. Aurum and Argentum followed, nudging the door open as they got closer. 

Reyna set Drew down carefully. It wasn't the right moment to drop her on the bed. They were both too tired for the game that would begin if she did.

Reyna moved to the door and locked it. 

"What kind of pajamas do you want today?" She asked, grabbing her own.

"I'm good."

Reyna turned around and saw her gorgeous girlfriend sitting on her bed shirtless. Today had been a stay at home no bra necessary day. Reyna looked down briefly and felt her cheeks grow warm. She put her pajamas away and joined Drew on the bed. 

Drew kissed Reyna tugging on the edges of her shirt. “You don’t need this.”

Reyna let her pull her band tee (courtesy of Thalia) over her head. “What do you want to do?”

Drew ignored her and tugged at her shorts. “You don’t need these.”

Reyna slipped them off and tossed them aside. “What do you want to do?”

Drew rested against Reyna. “I’m too tired to want to do anything, but I’m too awake to sleep.”

Reyna turned off the lamp and rested her hand on Drew’s stomach. The pair laid down, and Reyna kissed Drew’s shoulder. “Thank you, for reading with me today.”

“No problem, Amore. I love reading. Especially with you.”

“What would you like to do tomorrow?”

“Walk on the beach?”

“Alright.” Reyna kissed Drew’s shoulder once more. “Want to go swimming?”

“Sounds nice.” Drew said quietly. “Hey, why did Annabeth say she and Percy had finished their homework early? Isn’t it summer?”

“It is. Annabeth convinced Percy to take a few summer classes so their schedule can be lighter during the year and they can graduate a bit early.”

“What is Percy studying again?”

“He started with Marine biology, but he realized it was going to be a lot of science. I think he’s doing physical therapy now and keeping Marine Biology as a minor.”

“Physical therapy?”

“Yeah. Annabeth showed him a video of a pool being used as part of someone’s therapy. He’s been interested ever since. That and he can heal using water.”

“I guess pool is not a bad thing to smell like.”

"Neither is the beach."

"Think we can leave everyone else out?"

"Maybe every one but Nico and Will."

"Will isn't here."

"For now. Nico will probably go get him to avoid being a third wheel."

"Double dates are fun."

"Glad you think so."

Reyna kissed Drew's shoulder blade and pulled her closer. She breathed in her scent noticing Drew's perfume and sweat. Reyna settled down more and closed her eyes and fell asleep. 

As soon as Drew trusted Reyna wouldn't wake up at the slightest movement she changed positions to face her gorgeous girlfriend. She also moved Reyna's arm so she wouldn't be laying on it. Reyna often let her sleep on her arm only to later wake up because the limb had become painfully asleep. Then she settled down draping an arm across Reyna's ribs. Her fingers traced an old injury. She didn't know the story behind the scar but trusted one day Reyna would tell her.

She spent the next few minutes trying to relax enough to fall asleep. She loved snuggling with her girlfriend, but said girl was always a furnace. Don't get her wrong, she felt incredibly lucky to have someone as amazing as Reyna. She would have never expected to be this happy a year ago, and yet here she was laying with the hottest girl ever. 

She adjusted the blanket so her feet would stick out and settled back down.

She was nearly asleep when a whimper startled her awake. She lifted her head and spotted the source. Two sets of glowing ruby eyes were watching her. "Come on." She whispered.

Given permission the two fully grown greyhounds jumped on the queen bed. The siblings spun around a several times (accidently hitting each other a few times) and plopped down laying on the teens' feet.

The cold metal was too cold for comfort; Drew pulled her feet out from under the dog and instead lowered the blanket uncovering her shoulders. Drew relaxed once more and fell asleep.

[diamond-punk0963]

RWBY/Alice In Wonderland Crossover: Mad Hatter! Ironwood AU

~Aesthetic~

"Trust can be a crazy thing to hold. Sharing it with someone can be event crazier. The craziest thing with trust is when it’s broken. That’s what ignites the path into madness."

~Outfit~

(Not Pictured: A silver pocket watch necklace that has the atlas logo on the cover. Either worn around his neck or wrapped around his hand)

~Playlist~

(Note: I’m open to suggestions if anyone finds a song that fits him!)

~Headcanons~

(Special thanks for @anirondaddystan for helping me with these headcanons. It wouldn’t be the same without you!)

The BIGGEST Tea/Coffee addict you’ll ever meet!

He’s very elegant, cunning, and eccentric.

His favorite tea is earl grey. However, he does like to spice it up when he feels like it.

As for what he uses is for him to know and you to find out. ;)

Looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll.

But at the same time, he can and will kill you if you get on his bad side.

He’s also very skilled with combat due to . . . . reasons.

He does have a popular rhyme about himself that leaves people confused about him.

However, if you listen closely and know a bit more about him, you may uncover a secret or two. ;)

When you first meet him, expect him to be cold and lifeless around you.

Due to his past, he has a hard time trusting people and letting them in.

However, there are two ways he can earn your trust.

Either A) you preform a task that convinces him that you are worthy of his trust or B) he invites you to a small tea party that ends up with you waking up, tied up on a chair and asks a couple of questions that determines wether or not, he can trust you. There’s no inbetween.

He does have a rare/uncommon gene with his eyes that it changes shades based on his emotions.

Light shade when he’s sad, a darker shade or black when he’s angry, and a bright shade when he’s happy (or when he trusts you.)

He doesn’t admit it but he does have a sweet tooth.

His favorite type of candy is basically anything with chocolate.

Don’t be surprised if any chocolate that is left around the area 'disappears'.

“I see chocolate. I eat it. End of story."

His usual routine in his day to day life consists of five things.

Wake up, Eat, Survive, Sleep, Repeat.

He would often hang around the village for more supplies for the week or possibly spy on you.

If not, he would be at his home that’s deep within the woods.

The only way you would find his home is either a) you wandered far enough into the forest that you just so happen to find a house in the middle of nowhere or b) he gives you directions to his place because of the level of trust he has in you.

Low key, James can sing and dance. He keeps the fact unknown because he doesn’t want to draw attention towards himself. That and he hates it when people bug him about it.

He doesn’t do it often anyways. It’s due to . . . . reasons he doesn’t want to talk about. It’s rare to find him doing either one. More so if it’s both!

If you find him doing either or both (and he trusts you), he’ll pretend that he doesn’t see you and keeps on at it. If he doesn’t, I highly reccomend you make a run for it.

The only time he ever sings is when he’s alone or just bored. As for dance, that would be at the rarest moment you find for him. (Once in a blue moon kind of rare.)

If I had to describe him in musical lyrics, "Sorry, not sorry about what I said. I’m just having some fun. Don’t worry, Don’t worry. Don’t lose your head! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone." That or, "Don’t be bitter. Cuz I’m fitter.”

(Kudos if anyone gets the reference)

Back into the whole 'Trust' scenario with James; The more he trusts you, the more crazier he becomes around you. It’s his way of being more comfortable.

Along with that, he gets attached to people that are deep within his trust and protective as well.

Like if he sees you hurt, you can bet anything that he would be there for you.

And if he finds out that someone hurt you (and you allow him), he’ll make sure that it will never happen again.

After that, cuddles and sweets for the day/night!

Aside from that, James is really into astronomy.

Every night that he’s alone and can’t sleep, he would go to the roof and look up at the stars.

He would count every star that he sees and comet that comes across the sky.

He also has a stargazing journal to keep track of his sightings.

He swears that he saw a shooting star, one night and will not forget it.

Onto the next headcanon (and probably the most obvious one), he does throw some tea parties. However, he doesn’t have anyone to spend tea time with due to his trust issues and him being anti social.

So most of the time, it’s just him. Alone at a table, outside of his home. He doesn’t mind the silence but it can get boring sometimes.

If he does have the urge to find someone to spend some time and tea with (or he’s just bored out of his mind), he would invite someone he could trust. The last time he invited someone he knew and didn’t trust . . . . He rather not talk about it. >_<

He may not look like but he takes tea time very seriously. Like he’s either starting tea time early or right on time, EXACTLY!

The same goes for his guest(s) If he ever invites any. He expects them to either come on time or early. Otherwise, he’ll just get annoyed and that’ll put him off his tea.

And trust me, he doesn’t like being off his tea and annoyed. However if you want to cure that, give him a riddle. He’ll be interested and occupied, if it’s good enough for his interest to be peeked.

Speaking of riddles, he does love to confuse people with his words. Their reactions brings amusement for him and he loves it when people can’t find sense in his words.

If someone were to figure out his words of nonsense, he’ll reward them with a little secret. ;)

Speaking of secrets, James knows a lot of the secrets and half-truths of his world. He knows who’s hiding what and why. How does he know? Why, the cards told him so.

He’s into tarot cards, playing deck, and zodiac signs. The reason why he does is because he likes to discover things that people would say behind closed doors. It gives him a sense of power, just by knowing alone.

Not only that, his cards can even give a glimpse of what has been and what’s to come for the people around him. It gives him a better description of who the people around him REALLY ARE than what they let on to be. Not only that, he knows bits and pieces of what will happen to them. Wether that is good or bad, he’ll let you know if he wants to.

Creating a mysterious side, he has secrets of his own. No one knows who james once was or how he came to be. He just came into town as the man he is now, one day. But if you listen closely and follow the right path, you may find a hint or two of him. Just don’t let him catch you. If he does, it was nice knowing you.

He is as mysterious as he is a trickster. He loves to trick people as much as he can confuse him. It’s one of his favorite past times besides reading and just wandering around in the forest alone.

There was this one time that he put a little something extra into a villager’s drink and since then, he’s been avoiding the village so that way he wouldn’t get attacked.

Adding more into it, he does have a set of potions that he uses for a number of reasons. One of them is pranking people.

As for what those potions can do, they make you act like stuff and basically make you go crazy for a little bit.

He uses the potions for three reasons. The first being for pranks. The second is to cheer up/confort the people that he trusts, and the third reason is a bit angsty.

There are times that he gets stressed out to a point where he just can’t take it. He takes one of the potions so that way he doesn’t deal the stress that badly. So if you find James crying like a baby with frosting all over his face, don’t be too surprised. Also, help the poor guy out.

If/when you do find him in that state (and he trusts you), give him some comfort with a hug and give him a cookie. He’ll be fine from there. Or start to be, at least.

The guy does have a hard time dealing with stress due to personal reasons. Not only that, he’s an anti-social because of personal reasons he doesn’t want to talk about. He doesn’t like to be around big crowds as well due to personal reasons.

Along with that, that’s why he lives in the forest alone. He doesn’t like to be around people due to . . . . . reasons.

The only time he ever talks to people is when he’s interested in them, seeing that they could be trusted, or he’s off to buy some things for the week.

Speaking of people that interest him, he does have a secret interest/fondness in the outsiders that drop from the world above him. More than what he lets on, tbh.

He can also tell whether or not you’re an outsider or an 'Alice' if you want to speak it in better terms. It’s all on the body movement, eye movement, and the clothing that they wear. He has a sharp eye for details.

It’s rare for an Alice to drop in but when one does fall from above, expect James to have an interest in you.

The reasoning behind his interest in alices or outsiders is because they’re not from his world. They’re different. Just like him.

When he finds an 'Alice', he usually invites them for tea and asks all sorts of questions about them. Like, who they are, where they live, what their life is like, likes, dislikes, hopes, fears, and anything else that’s an interesting fact about them.

Aside from that, James does have a liking for scented candles. He usually lights a couple at night for two reasons. One, it helps sets the mood for nighttime tea. And two, he uses the scent as a way to calm him down.

In case anyone was wondering, his favorite scented candle is blueberry. Also, if you come into his place and smell blueberries, that is why.

His perfect night-time event is having tea, outside in the stars. Especially if it’s on a summer’s night.

He would light up the table with scented candles and have some tea close to him. That plus a couple slices of cake or possibly some cupcakes nearby. He would also decorate the table with some blue and black rose petals for the aesthetic.

From there, he would just drink tea and gaze into the stars at night. That would be the best time for him to truly relax and finally feel free.

After some time, he falls asleep at the table and if he moves unconsciously, he might get some sweets on him. Like seriously, he woke up, using cake as a pillow and has no idea how he fell asleep in the first place.

Ironwood’s favorite season in wonderland is winter. He has a varity of reasons why but the two main reasons why is because the atomsphere and aesthetic of the enviroment.

Taking walks during the winter season are also a favorite thing he loves to do during the winter season. That also connects with his fondness of the winter atomsphere.

Along with that, he can not confirm or deny the fact that he may or may not like to play in the snow. He will not say anything on that matter or at the least, not publically.

That’s also the reason why he doesn’t have many tea parties during the winter season. He would rather spend the time during the winter season with his casual walks which helps him calm down in certain scenairos.

With that, he also likes the cold and crisp air that the winter weather has. Not only that, he likes it when the hot tea that he makes warms him up from the cold weather.

Back to the fact that he has a fondness for ‘outsiders’, James can tell wether a that person came into wonderland from a dream state or not. If they’re troubled from a nightmare or not, he would take them under his wing with a cup of tea for a bit.

James would give them an item that they would find when they wake up as a sign to say like, “Hey, that wasn’t a dream. Don’t worry about the problems of the past. Just know that you’re not alone. In the realm of dreams, I’ll be here for you.”

Secretly, he does take care of people in the dark. He has a huge sense of sympathy to the people that have been ‘abused by the world’.

He does this as small things such as leaving coins, food, clothing, and important items for them to use. He knows the world is a messed up and broken place. He’ll do what he can to help the lost people in the world.

This also applies for any outsiders that he finds in wonderland as well. This is mainly due to his past experiences that he doesn’t talk about. As for why, he won’t say.

He has seen the harshness in his world and from that, he would make sure that no one has to suffer anymore than what he went through.

If he were to find out that one’s suffering came from a person, he would have a ‘talk’ to that person and after that, comfort the people that were hurt by them.

He knows the light and dark of the world and he would do anything to make sure that the light will never get hurt and fall into the dark.

He may be crazy but hurt the people he trusts and you’ll regret it. He doesn’t take dark and evil people, lightly.

He does have a secret hero side to himself that only few see. When they do, it’s really a sight to behold. His weapon is two pistol guns; blue that’s laced with silver.

He always has them hidden under his jacket in case he needs then, which is pretty rare. That’s also why he doesn’t let anyone touch him. Doesn’t want to accidently shoot his foot. He had that almost happen once. He doesn’t want that to happen again.

Lastly, he’s also skilled in hand to hand combat. To the few that have seen James fight, they wonder how he became so skilled. He usually responds by saying something about the past that leaves people curious about him.

~Things James Said At Some Point~

"Why am I surrounded by idiots?”

"What day is it again?"

"Believe me when I say, you don’t want to know what goes on in my mind."

"Sh*t! It’s going to be tea time."

"Yes, I care about tea time. What’s your concern?"

"Why is my life like this?"

" . . . Do trees have emotions?"

"You must take a seat. Having tea alone can be quite a bore, sometimes.”

"The pain and misery of betrayal can leave more scars on you than you believe it can leave."

"Don’t flatter yourself, child. You’re not impressing anyone."

"Sometimes, giving trust to someone can be the bravest task anyone can do."

"I wonder if I could reach out to the stars. It would make a very good night light."

"What you see before you is just fantasy. Reality can be . . Harsher to survive and far more brutal to grow up in."

"Craziness is only bad if you think of it to be."

"As you can tell, I’m not exactly . . . . Normal, so to speak."

"Look. I know you must be scared at the moment but I can assure you, it’s for the best if you listen to me."

"What if I told you that I could tell you what happens next?"

"Do you want to hear a secret?"

"I’ll share a secret with you if you have the right price."

"If you’re looking for people that are normal, I’m afraid that you won’t find much around here."

"Everyone is crazy. Some are just better at hiding it while it becomes apart of others, one way or another."

"In a world filled with nonsense, why would you want make sense of who you are?"

"I don’t know who or what you are but you do interest me. Care for a cup of tea?"

"Child, don’t be afraid. I’ll be your light in the darkness of my world."

"Now, why would you want that?"

"The world can be a brutal place. The people that live here? They can be worse.”

“It’s your luck that my licence to cause havoc just expired.”

“Then again, when did I ever let anything stop me from stopping the filthy people like you from hurting the innocents and purity of this world?”

“The past can teach you as much it can leave scars. It all depends on how you move on from it.”

“There’s many ways to say that you’re different. People just tend to say it negatively.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with not being like everyone else.”

“My lady, can’t you see that you’re perfect? Just the way that you are. People just don’t see prefection when they see it, sometimes.”

“You have a spark that can ignite change in this world. Don’t let anyone blow it out.”

[primehorded]

Biomechanical Horde

I came into watching She-Ra as someone pure and untainted by the old series. Everything I learned about the characters and the universe, I learned from this show, and I wanted to write a breakdown of all the is-he-a-robot-is-he-an-alien evidence we see from Hordak, his brothers, and Big Brother himself, Horde Prime. (IDK if it was in the original but - Big Brother is watching, big brother sees all...inch resting and not at all political. Insert eye emoji)

FIRST we meet Hordak. Hordak appears to be a humanoid of no specified race, sharing some attributes with other races depicted in the show, but having some characteristics reminiscent of a robot. He has hair, he has ears that move and reflect his moods, similar to Double Trouble and Catra in that regard.

He also seems to have some proponents that are distinctly unnatural-looking. There isn’t enough detailing to be quite sure - no metallic glint on his skull-shaped face, for instance. Yet his eyes very distinctly to glow with light, even in darkness, and he has markings on his face and neck that could be where plates of metal/whatever unnatural material might meet, seams between the different parts and pieces he is made up of. However, these neater lines that look like plate seams also flow neatly into curved lines indicative of more natural-looking facial features. 

He has very sharply defined cheek-hollows the same darker grey as his neck - but also going into his ears, which  do not seem mechanical. 

Then we later start to get a better idea of what Hordak is, when Entrapta walks in on him changing (tee-hee). Here his unnaturally white skin seems to be changing color, affected by his declining health, the dark blue spreading like tissue damage. He also is physically frail and dependent on clothing engineered to hold him together and allow him to function. Also, he’s in a halter top here. You’re welcome.

After Entrapta nurses him back to consciousness, he admits to her that he is a clone, and reveals a series of pods where more clones seem to be growing. He says he was created with a defect, and cast out because of it. It is unclear if the clones are still growing or if they were failed experiments, but I’m leaning towards failed experiments. It is also not specified if Hordak was intending to clone himself in order to add to his army, or if he was trying to create a new body to somehow transfer his own consciousness into later. Horde Prime is shown to have gone through many vessels himself, and also states his brothers “lend their life force to him” so that he can live indefinitely. Considering how expendable Horde Prime’s “little brothers” are to him, it seems doubtful that he would even bother allowing them their own indefinite lives through some sort of life-force taking or vessel changing. There is a possibility that Hordak might know a little bit about how Horde Prime’s process of doing so works, seeing as he seemed to be a clone closer to Horde-Prime before his defect was discovered. We are not given any clear answers on this. (I tried to find a cap of Hordak’s attempted clones but typing in anything like “Hordak’s Clones” into the search engine didn’t work cuz, ya know)

The only creation he seems to have successfully cultivated is the imp, pictured above in the lower right-hand corner. The imp also seems to have some biological properties - ears, hair, even eyebrows, as well as a distinct nose shape and seemingly natural wings. Flesh wings. Not metal wings or whatever. I don’t like referring to stuff as “flesh” though, my overlord says it really blows my cover. The imp definitely has mechanical properties as well though - glowing eyes similar to Hordak’s and, most notably, the ability to kind of tape-record things he can hear. When he catches Catra sharing some secrets and brings them back to Hordak, he doesn’t repeat them as if remembered or even imitate them, but just opens his mouth for the duration, like to allow access to a speaker in the back of his throat, and a tinny voice-recording of Catra’s voice can be heard. He also uses this ability to mock Hordak, because he’s a little asshole. Otherwise, the Imp doesn’t speak, other than a few vague noises like hissing. Do we ever find out what happens to the imp? I feel like we don’t. Rip

Entrapta creates a new kind of suit for Hordak, this time built like an exoskeleton to allow him to move and function beyond the ability and energy his original body can give anymore. It functions like part of his body, but isn’t surgically connected to him or anything. At least, that we see. Entrapta do be a freak like that tho. 

When we finally meet Horde Prime, he too seems to share a mix of biological and mechanical aspects. He has the same snow-white skin, with markings that could resemble creases between plates/materials. He also has glowing eyes, as do his other clones, but he has white pupils that show in any body he inhabits when he moves his control/consciousness, as he seems to be able to fluidly among his clones and anyone chipped.

He has a few attributes that his clones do NOT share. He has extra eyes on his right side, with pupils of their own that are often looking other directions. This is the only part of him that is not symmetrical, and all of his clones are created and dressed in symmetrical clothing and features. He also has metal finger attachments on his index-fingers, which is very sexy but seems to cover a finger rather than replace them. 

The other attribute he has that none of his other clones bear is them GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS LOCS. I mean I’ve heard of cyber locks, but this is ridiculous. Bad joke. At the crown of his head, his hair appears white, the same as his skin and the hair on the heads of all of his clones. There appears to be two beads or sections, one on each side at the parts of his hair that frame his perfect evil face. Further down though, the pseudo-dreads turn a medium grey, and then are capped off with sharp tips that DO reflect light the same way metal drawn in the show does. So do the metal creases under the tops of his shoulders - cheeky off-the shoulder armor, or metal joint? 

He also has the ability to travel in the hive-mind network of every chipped being (including his clones), and access information like a file. Entrapta later “hacks” it like a software. Can you uninstall Horde Prime? Does he have ad-blocker?

We also see him utilize an unspecified green liquid, a pool of which he uses to make Hordak “pure”. Hordak alights in sparks when he enters it, like a toaster in a bathtub. This obviously effects him though in a very natural physical way, crying out in pain, and Horde Prime remarks that his suffering is necessary for his purity. If he was just throwing some water on him to short out his mechanical processors for a HARD hard reboot, he wouldn’t have any reason to have this lime green pool of...whatever. And whatever this substance is, it’s important enough to be the only color in or on Prime Horde or any of his clones. I’m gunna call it Horde Juice. It’s not the quenchiest.

Back to the hair. His “hair” is kept back and tied out of the way for most of the time, except for in the finale, when we see it being used to kind of funnel the Horde Juice straight into his brainicals. Horde Prime’s hair tubes connect into his back, with a few pieces left down cuz he’s a stylish ho. Now you can see very clearly some of the locs are actually CLEAR TUBES that only appeared light grey against his dark grey (skin?) and now they are pulsing with Horde Juice. However, we can ALSO very clearly see that not every tendril of his hair is alight with The Juices, indicating that some part of his hair are just that - hair, like his clones. It also has lit up a technical looking pattern along some creases in his body. His arms, his neck. His boobs.

There isn’t really a good point I can end this on, other than to say I thought it was a really creative and interesting design that was incredibly effective. It’s not easy to make a universe make sense with advanced futuristic weaponry and also medieval fantasy magic. The amazing design of the characters, weapons, architecture, and fighting styles made it look seamless, and Hordak’s design in particular really lead well up to introducing an insanely high-tech spaceship full of mind-controlled clones, dropped into a world filled with and dependent on magic. This was a spotlight specifically on Hordak/Horde Prime’s...race? Race.

I’m really curious for more information about the universe, even though from what I’ve heard the new She-Ra has changed a lot and the old She-Ra didn’t much prioritize world-building specifics. If I learn some more looking some stuff up on this series as well as the old one, and anyone is interested, I’ll add a part two and link it below!

[soul-music-is-life]

👋🏼, I was wondering if you could do a prompt where Alison and Emily finding out that this time around they’re having a boy? I love all of your prompts, thank you for writing them 💞☺️💛❤️🐢

It’s been a while since I’vedone a prompt (ie, I’m out of practice with them). But I have a lot of nice asks in my inbox, and this one has been asked more than once. These prompts have been in my inbox for a long time. I’m pretty sure they’ve been sitting in my asks since before “The Perfectionists” aired. All my AU family prompts take place in a universe in which Alison did not go to Beacon Heights. If you want a refresher on where my AU Liars are with their families, check out THIS prompt or THIS one. But this one can be a stand-alone.

***

Family was everything to Alison DiLaurentis-Fields. She’d spent so much of her youth trapped behind fake smiles that hid tumultuous secrets. She’d been suffocated by the pressure of existing in a picture perfect family, unable to tell her friends that behind all the jewels and riches there was a twisted sinister world in her household.

It had taken her years to build up the trust to let people love her. But when she finally found her chosen family in her childhood best friend, Emily, she realized that even broken children could become whole again. Their love story was anything but textbook. They’d been through hell together. But they managed to come out the other end.

The circumstances behind the conception of their twins sent both girls careening into a dark place. It had been the most trying time in their lives. But when the girls were born they loved them.

Grace and Lily were conceived in the dark, but they were raised in the light. They knew the strength of family. And Alison loved that family. Extending the family, however, was more than a little nerve-wracking. Yet, that’s exactly what they were doing.

“That’s definitely a penis.”Grace stared at one of her mother’s ultrasound photos.

“That’s a finger, Grace.” Lilyrolled her eyes. “You see the other four just like it?”

They were studying all of theultrasound photos of their new baby sibling to try and make their decisions aboutthe sex before the gender reveal party their moms were having that afternoon.Grace looked at the photo again.

“Maybe he’s an alien and he’s gotfive little willies.”

“This explains why you’re failingBio.”

“Excuse me, what?” Alisonpeered in through the kitchen doorway.

“Oh, shit.” Grace jumped, knockingover her books. She glared at her sister. “You woke the sleeping dragon.”

Alison walked into the room. Shehadn’t gained a ton of pregnancy weight yet, but she was already showing,though it was mostly in her face and chest. Her stomach was a rounded pouch.She was carrying high. If she wore loose fitting clothing no one could tellthat she was pregnant. Though her mood swings rivaled that of a hormonalteenage girl. When she lost her cool she was like a volcanic eruption, leavingdisaster and disarray in her wake.

“Grace, what have we told you aboutthat mouth of yours?”

“I’m going to stand really stilland hope it doesn’t see me.” Grace muttered through her teeth. She had animpish grin on her face.

“You’re hilarious,” Alison saidflatly. She pointed to a container on the counter. “Swear jar.”

“She said ‘damn’ earlier, too.”Lily smirked.

Grace whipped her head over towardsher sister, fire in her eyes.

“Lily, why?”

“Cuz I’m bored.” Lily shrugged.“And it’s funny when she gets mad at you.”

“You’re like the worst sister ever.I hope it is a boy. And I hope he pees on you every time you change hisdiaper.” Grace gave her sister a nasty look as she walked towards a jar on thekitchen counter.

She muttered under her breath asshe pulled a crumpled up dollar bill from her pocket and shoved it into thejar.

“What’s this about you failingBio?” Alison gave her daughter a disapproving look.

“I’m not failing exactly.” Grace replied. She had a sheepish expression onher face. Sometimes she felt a little inferior to her sister. Everything cameso easy to Lily. Grace wondered if the new baby would be as smart asher sister. It wasn’t really a big deal, but she did act out because of it. “Ijust got a few points knocked off of my grade for getting in trouble in class.”

“Why? What did you do?”

Lily snickered from where she wassitting at the kitchen table. Grace shot her a dirty look.

“Grace, I’m not going to ask youagain.” Alison glared at her.

“I glued boobs on the anatomymodel.”

Lily’s little snickers turned intofull blown cackles. Alison’s mouth dropped open, but she didn’t say anything.She was conflicted between being pissed off or laughing at the situation.

“Lily dared me.” Grace pointed anaccusatory finger at her sister.

“How…” Alison wasn’t sure shewanted to know the details. “What did you even use for…just…how?”

“I found this humongous bra in thelost and found. I cut out the pads and filled it with ziplock baggies full ofpudding and then glued the backs closed and stuck some pepperoni on the centeron each side.”

Alison wanted to be mad, but shewas impressed with her child’s ingenuity. If she only applied herself in otherareas she could be running the world…

“I…may or may not have given ademonstration on lactating women with your pump…”

“You took my pump to do this?” Alison exclaimed. “That was brand new!”

“It’s only slightly used now.”Grace shrugged.

“Yeah, with a hint of stalepepperoni smell.” Lily added with a laugh.

“You’re not helping.” Gracefrowned.

“Not trying to.”

Grace cut her eyes at Lily. Shegrabbed another dollar from her pocket and shoved it into the jar beforelooking at Lily and proclaiming,

“Bitch, I will cut you.”

“Keep talking. I’d love to go onvacation on your dime.” Lily grinned.

Alison looked at her two bickeringgirls and realized that she and Emily were officially certifiable for wantingto bring another child into their lives. Alison rolled her eyes and walked overto where Grace’s books had landed on the floor.

Lily and Grace hustled to get themup before Alison could lean down to grab them. They’d been overly protectiveabout her pregnancy.

“I can lift a two pound book,girls.” Alison frowned in annoyance.

“Totally.” Lily nodded. “We justdidn’t want you to see what’s in them.”

“Banned books haven’t been a thingsince the 1980s.”

“Not true. I read a news storyabout how To Kill a Mockingbird and Harry Potter were both banned this year.”

“Why would anyone ban Harry Potter?” Grace questioned. “It’s amagical journey of friendship and love.” She thought about it for a second.“Dumbledore was kind of a dick, though.”

“Grace…jar.” Alison pointed.

“Crap.” Grace muttered.

“You’re not wrong though.” Alisonnodded. “He was a dick.”

“Hey, how come you can say it, butI can’t?”

“Because I’m your mother. Do as Isay. Not as I do.”

“Can I write my English paper on Harry Potter and quote you on Dumbledorebeing…uh…that part of the male anatomy?” Grace asked.

“As long as you use the propercitations.” No child of hers was going to get points deducted for not doing herworks cited page right.

Lily put Grace’s books on the tableand then looked at her mother.

“Seriously, don’t look in these.The boobs were nothing in comparison to what’s in these things. We don’t wantto warp the baby’s fragile little mind.”

“You’re the baby’s sisters. This kid doesn’t stand a chance.”

“You’re the one that raised us.”Grace smarted back.

“Grace Estella DiLaurentis-Fields…”

“Grace, don’t taunt your mother.”Emily walked into the kitchen with a water bottle in her hand.

Her brow was lined with sweat andher cheeks were bright red. She’d been running on the treadmill for nearly halfan hour.

“Why? Is it bad for the baby?”

“No. It’s just that I have to deal with the hormones.”

“I’m going to kill every single oneof you in your sleep.” Alison glared at her family.

“You see? You see what you’ve done?”Lily looked at Grace and then motioned towards their very agitated mother.

“So? We’ll just feed her somechocolate and let her be for a while.”

“Go get ready for the genderreveal.” Emily lightly smacked Grace on the back of the head. Grace smiled ather mom before she walked out of the room. Emily looked at their otherdaughter. “You too, Lily.”

Lily grabbed her things andfollowed her sister.

“Everyone is going to be here atfour.” Emily put her water bottle down. “Hanna has the supplies and Aria ispicking up the cake.”

Alison walked over to where Emilywas standing. Emily grabbed a glass and filled it up with water. Alison assumedEmily was going to drink it, but instead the brunette gave it to her.

“How was your nap?” Emily asked.

Alison had been taking a lot ofpower naps, because she didn’t sleep well at night. She had indigestion and hadto pee almost every thirty minutes. And when she did sleep she had weirddreams.

“Short.” Alison took a sip ofwater. She put the glass down on the counter and reached up and rubbed herneck. “Our little darlings weresniping at one another loud enough to wake the dead.”

Emily gently put her hand againstAlison’s neck and slipped her fingers against her shoulder. She could feel themuscle tension in Alison’s neck. She gently started to massage a knot shefound. Emily rubbed her shoulder, trying to work out the kink in her neck.

“Everything okay? You’re really tense. And you seem a littlejittery.”

“I’m fine. It’s just…I can’tbelieve we’re really doing this.” Alison moved her neck to give Emily betteraccess.

“I know they’re kind of tacky, but they’re apparently all the rage…”

“No, not the reveal.” Alison cut Emily off. “This.” She motioned to her stomach. “Wealready have two little Tasmanian devils we can’t control. Why did we think weneeded a third?”

“How can we have a three-ring circus if we don’t have a trioof children?” Emily quipped.

Alison couldn’t help but laugh.

“I have no doubt that Grace would be front and centerleading the show.” She looked over her shoulder to face Emily. “Do you have anyidea what your child did at school?”

“Oh, she’s mychild when she’s in trouble?” Emily chuckled

“I still maintain that the reason she’s such a ham isbecause you encouraged her bad behavior when she was a baby.”

“How?” Emily scoffed.

“Did you or did you not laugh until you cried every time shedumped food on her head or slung it at Lily?”

“Okay. That’s fair.” Emily didn’t disagree. “But come on…a baby covered in spaghetti? Who doesn’t laugh at that?”

“The parent who has to pick noodles out of the bathtub drain.” Alison replied dryly. “Did you know she’s acting out in school now?”

“What? You mean the boob thing?”

“You knew?”

“Yeah, the school called me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I haven’t had a chance yet. It just happenedyesterday. Grace and I had a conversation last night. I’m handling it. I wasgoing to talk to you about it tonight after the party.”

“What are we going to do with her?” Alison shook her head.She felt a flutter in her stomach. The baby was moving. She moved her hand toher stomach. She smiled. “What if this one is just like her?”

“We would be so lucky.” Emily moved her hand down next toAlison’s, waiting to feel their little one move again. “Maybe the third timewill be the charm.” Emily leaned down and pressed a kiss against her hot skin.

“You know we could have just borrowed one of our friend’skids if we were desperate enough. Finn is still young and cute.”

“Aria says he bit Ezra the other day.”

“Another reason to love him.” Alison laughed.

They both felt the baby kick, drawing their eyesight downtowards Alison’s belly. Emily smiled.

“So, are you thinking boy or girl?” Emily asked.

“Is it bad that I hope it’s a boy? I just don’t know if Ican handle any more estrogen in this house. So that probably means it will be agirl.” She peered at Emily. “What about you? What do you think?”

“Wouldn’t it be something if it was twins again?”

“Emily Catherine DiLaurentis-Fields, I will smother you witha pillow…”

Emily laughed softly. She kept her palm against Alison’sstomach. She was silent for a few seconds.

“I think no matter what the sex is, this baby is going to bebeautiful, just like its mama.”

Alison felt blood rush to her cheeks. She shook her head.

“No, you don’t get to get out of the question that easily.The whole point of this gender reveal nonsense is that we get to lord it overpeople when we’re right.”

“Oh? Is that whatthis is about? Not about celebrating bringing another life into the world?”Emily teased.

“Come on. Just make a call. Boy or girl. You have to.”

Emily moved down until her eyes were level with Alison’sstomach. She lifted her shirt and kissed her belly. The baby responded. Alisonwasn’t surprised. The baby always responded to Emily. Emily stood back up andtook Alison’s hands in hers.

“I think Grace should have hung a hotdog off of the anatomydoll instead of boobs.”

“So, you think it’s a boy?”

“I do.”

There was a beat of silence and then Alison grimaced.

“Shit. I don’t know anything about how to raise a boy.”

“Aria says it’s a lot like raising girls, but with more dirt,more wiggling, and more geysers of pee erupting like Old Faithful.”

“I think I’d prefer that to the hormones in this family.Grace is already testing my last nerve and Lily is moody as hell.”

“That’s because they’re growing up. Relax. We’ve got thisparenting thing down. They may get into trouble every now and then, but they’regood kids.”

But Emily was singing a different tune two hours later afterall of their friends and their kids showed up for the gender reveal party.

Theyhad refreshments and then went outside for the reveal, which Spencer and Hannahad set up with the help of their husbands and daughters.

Spencer had been in charge of the gender reveal, mostlybecause they knew Hanna couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it. Theyhad set up a large dart board with several opaque balloons filled with paint.There were darts on a tray near the patio.

Emily’s mother Pam gave a beautiful speech about the day sheand her late husband had found out that they were having a girl. Hanna told a similarstory about her daughter while her husband Caleb pinched their little girl’scheeks and annoyed her. Spencer talked about both of her girls while sharingloving glances with her husband Toby.

The kids fidgeted, because they were ready to get to thegames. It was Aria’s little boy Finn who drew the attention away from theadults.

“I didn’t grow in my mommy’s tummy,” Finn said quietly. He looked sad.

“Because you grew in her heart.” Lily tapped his nose.

“And that makes you more special than all of us.” Grace added, tousling his hair.

The shy little boy smiled at them and then hugged them. Hestayed attached to them until their mothers called for them.

Lily and Grace jogged over to where the adults were standingin front of the dart board.

“I don’t know if arming these two with darts is such a goodidea.” Emily frowned.

“Oh, but they’re goodkids, remember?” Alison shoved Emily with a teasing smile on her face.

“Don’t worry. I’ll behave.” Grace threw her hands up in theair, palms forward.

“You don’t know the meaning of the word.” Lily laughed.

“Would you be mad if I accidentally stabbed her?” Gracelooked at Alison.

“We want to see pink or blue. Not red.” Alison warned her.

“Sweet. Our blood is technically blue inside of our body because of our oxygen. Loophole.”

Alison glanced at Emily, impressed that Grace knew that. Perhaps she wasn’t doing as poorly in Biology as they thought.

Spencer handed them each a dart and then she gave one toEmily and one to Alison. They lined up next to one another and took aim at theboard.

“Ready?” Spencer asked. She glanced at everyone watching,making sure all the cameras were rolling. “Aim…”

“FIRE!” It was Grace who made the final call, and hers wasthe first dart to go sailing through the air. It landed a few inches next to aballoon.

Lily, Alison, and Emily threw their darts. Alison’sbounced off the side of the board. Emily’s dart landed right next to Grace’s.And Lily’s hit the top of the board. They all grabbed another dart and threwthem again. This time, two darts hit balloons. Grace’s and Emily’s. Blue paint splatteredall over the place.

Alison’s face brightened in joy. Emily threw her hands up inexcitement. Grace turned to Lily and exclaimed,

“I told you it wasa penis! IN YOUR FACE!!” She yelled.

Alison and Emily embraced one another and shared a kiss.They were so wrapped up in the fact that they were having a baby boy that theydidn’t notice that Hanna was handing their children water pistols.

“Hey, moms?” Grace called mischievously.

Alison and Emily faced the twins and saw them both aimingthe guns at them. Emily saw the huge grin on Hanna’s face and she knewimmediately that the guns were filled with paint.

“No. No, don’t you dare!” Emily ordered.

Lily and Grace looked at one another and then aimed theirweapons and pulled the trigger. A stream of blue paint shot out across the yardand splashed off of Emily, hitting Alison in the process. Alison made a noisebetween a squeal and a laugh. Emily looked down at the blue paint coating herclothes. Lily and Grace ran off, spraying one another with the pistols.

“This was your doing, wasn’t it?” Emily looked at her best friend.

“Consider it payback for helping Cami get her hands on those glitter bombs for my birthday. I’m still cleaning confetti out of my carpet.”

“Well, I guess we need to get used to messes again.” Emilychuckled.

She felt Hanna needling her side.

“Here.” Hanna handed Emily a pistol filled with paint. Shetossed one to Alison, too. “Go get ‘em.”

“What do you say?” Emily looked at Alison. “Just like oldtimes? We’ll tag-team them. I’ll take Grace. You take Lily.”

“No. Leave Grace to me.” Alison grinned. “She’s going to goto school looking like a smurf when I’m through with her.”

The two of them felt like children again as they sprintedafter their daughters.

The adults passed out paint guns to everyone. It became anall-out war. First it was parents against their children. Then it split up intoboys versus girls.

The backyard was filled with more laughter than they’d everheard. They had a ball. Hanna’s daughter Cami dive-bombed Spencer’s girlsBailey and Violet. Finn ran up to his dad and smeared paint all over him beforeEzra picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder, eliciting a loud squeal oflaughter. Caleb threw a balloon filled with paint at Hanna, but it accidentallyhit Toby. Toby retaliated with two balloons, painting Caleb blue.

Alison and Emily cornered their girls and all four ofthem doused each other in paint. Most of it managed to miss Lily. But Alison,Emily, and Grace all ran in at the same time and trapped her in a family hug,dousing her with the blue paint they were covered in.

Alison took a moment to pull away and look at the hugesmiles on their faces. After the party she started to feel better aboutparenting in general. She was excited about meeting their son.

Later that night when she was lying in bed with her wife shecouldn’t stop touching her stomach. Every little hiccup felt like an entirelydifferent experience.

She felt the bed shake and when she looked up she sawEmily leaning on her elbow, smiling at her. She still had a hint of blue in herhair. She wasn’t surprised. By the time they had finished the paint war the backyard had looked like the movie Avatar had exploded.Alison peered at the blue paint. She smiled when she thought about their son.

“We’re having a baby.” Alison smiled at her. “We did this.We’re doing this.”

“We are.” Emily rubbed Alison’s belly with a smile onher face. “Our baby boy.”

Alison thought about the pure joy she’d felt with her familywhen they were playing outside, and she realized what bliss it was to have themin her life. She couldn’t wait to bring her son into their lives. She couldn’twait to start making memories with him. Because family was everything to Alison DiLaurentis-Fields. And her family had her heart.

[salmonthestoryteller]

Would You Like Fries With That?

Prompts from @roswellprompts

outsider pov of liz and michael’s budding friendship

when liz won’t stop calling michael ‘mikey’ he retaliates by calling her elizabeth

Would You Like Fries With That?

A Roswell: New Mexico Fanfic

The first time Arturo ever saw Michael Guerin he was an underfed preteen sharing a table with Max and Isobel Evans.  He only ordered a side of fries the first time, and paid in all change. If Arturo had made sure the side of fries was bigger than it would normally be, no one was the wiser.  In the years that followed, Max Evans would make sure he ordered first and buy two meals. The other boy never looked happy about it, and insisted he would pay him back later. It wasn’t until his teens that he ever ordered a full meal for himself  - after he’d been hired by Sanders’ Auto. If his best cooks all knew to make the size of the meal slightly bigger when they saw the teen’s name on the ticket, it was a shared secret.

In the years that followed Rosa’s death, Arturo didn’t see the young man as often.  Nor did he ever seem to be with the Evans anymore. He’d come in, always alone, and always order to go.  Roswell was a town that loved to talk, and Michael had two different reputations. There was the drunk with the speeding tickets and the gambling charges.  Then there was the young man the ranchers and Sanders talked about. The mechanic who could fix anything, and never missed a day’s work. Of course, among the ranchers and ranch hands all three listed offenses were more par for the course than a shocking example of poor behaviour.  Despite holding a better reputation among his co-workers than the townsfolk, Arturo still always saw the sullen young man alone.

The first time he saw Liz talking with Michael after she returned to Roswell was an afternoon - right before she headed into work at the hospital.  They stopped outside the Crashdown Cafe to talk. He couldn’t hear a word they were saying, and at first he wondered if it wasn’t about Max Evans. Liz had admitted to feeling conflicted over her feelings for Max, seeing as they knew so little about each other’s lives in the years apart.  If she wanted to know more about Max’s life in Roswell, he supposed she could be talking to his friends. However, the conversation went on a far longer than he expected, and they both seemed to be very animated about whatever the subject was. Liz suddenly looked at the time on her watch, and it was clear she was cutting the conversation short as she went to her car.  MIchael came in to order his meal to go as if nothing new had just happened. If he still slipped him extra fries, Michael didn’t catch on.

The next time he saw Liz with Michael together, it was when he’d come in to order his usual meal to go. Liz had taken his bag to him, but ten minutes later he was still at the counter, nibbling fries out of his to-go container and talking to her. This time he heard enough of their conversation to know they were discussing chemicals, which was definitely not the conversation topic he’d expected.  Nor was it a topic he expected two people to seem to enjoy so much or have such strong opinions on. Apparently he was wrong on both accounts, though, because Liz and Michael seemed to have very strong opinions on chemicals and were able to discuss them for another fifteen minutes until Liz had to get back to the counter. Of all the people to suddenly break the bubble of solitude around the young man, the last person he’d expected was his daughter.  Especially when Liz seemed determined to live in a bubble of solitude of her own.

Apparently Liz’s bubble was breaking, though.  She went with Maria on a trip to Texas, and upon her return was smiling like he hadn’t seen her smile in a long time.  The next morning, over another batch of her frankly terrible healthy version of churro pancakes, she told him that she was thinking of pursuing a relationship with Max.  Arturo would be lying if he said he didn’t approve. Max Evans was a good man, and he knew he’d always had a soft spot for his daughter.

When Michael showed up in the afternoon to pick up a late lunch, Liz’s eyes lit up the same way they would have if Maria or Alex had walked in the door.  “Look what the cat dragged in from Texas.”

“I’d say something witty about my truck making it back in one piece, but that would only be if you got to drive, cuz Max drives like an old lady.”  Michael told her.

“Yah, he obeyed the speed limit.”  Liz admitted readily. “Even on the rural highway where everyone else was driving over a hundred.”

“Told ya.”

“I’ll work on it.”

“Yah, I don’t want details when it comes to you and Max.”  MIchael shook his head.

“Should I be insulted?  Cuz I’ve been told I’m pretty hot.”  She gestured to herself, despite being dressed in the cafe uniform.

“It’s not you, it’s Max.”  Michael assured her. “Or possibly the antenna.”

“So if it was me and Kyle you’d want details?” Liz tormented.

“Gross, I was hungry, Ortecho.”

“You just don’t have any taste, Mikey.”

“Okay, seriously?  Mikey? I thought that was a drunk Liz moment. Nobody calls me that.”

“Well, I think it fits.”

“No.”

“I’m going to call you that from here on out.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Look on the bright side, you’ll always know when it’s me calling you.”

“So I can run the other way?”  MIchael gestured to one side in exaggeration of the idea.

Liz only smiled at his teasing.  “How’s Maria? I have to stop by still.”

“Oh, as delightful as always.”

“You seemed into it in Texas.”

“I was drunk in Texas.”

“Aw, did you get shot down, Mikey?”

“Did you and Max seriously get separate rooms, Elizabeth?”

“Elizabeth?”  LIz repeated. “Okay, no.  No bueno.”

“I think it fits.”

“Okay, Mikey, we’ll see how long you can last at this.”

“Sure thing, Elizabeth.  Anyhow, I’m here for lunch.”

“Oh, you’re buying me lunch?”  Liz grinned. “That’s so sweet.”

“Why would I buy you lunch at your family’s cafe?”

“So you’re buying me lunch elsewhere?”

“You aren’t getting a free lunch out of me.”

“I’m hurt, I thought we were closer than that.”

Friendship, Arturo decided, looked good on both of them. And if he still added extra fries, only Liz gave him a speculative glance over it.

Fini

I needed something fun and light, and not angsty.  

The timeline from the return from Texas actually has me confused.  Cuz somehow Liz gets back from Texas, goes to the lab, then to the cave.  They leave the cave for some reason - basically so their kiss is scenic and not in the pod cave and so Noah can find Isboel - but then they go back into the cave to give Isobel the serum.  Then take Isobel to Max’s, but Liz somehow needs to go to work, again, even though she seemed to just come from there. Somewhere, sometime, Michael found out Isobel was awake cuz he goes to the hospital to make sure she’s alright.  And he’s wearing different clothes than he and Alex’s initial face off in the junkyard - because then he was in his clothes from Texas. Wait, isn’t he in different clothes when he and Alex talk and he shows him the bunker? Did Alex just hang around outside while he showered or something?  The bottom line is, I have no idea if their scene at the Crashdown can believably occur cuz I’m super confused how much time passed. LOL But for the fic's sake I’m saying somewhere a day passed and it happened.